A fairly quiet Tuesday session, but the NZD set up for a fairly quick short late in the session.  The key to the setup was that price had done its range and was reversing in the US session with US news behind us.  Once the candles look convincing to the downside… we enter short.   We’re not really trying to get a 3:1 or 2:1 R/R with only 2 hours left in our session.  We want to capture as many pips as we can to the downside from one level to the next and ideally tag Target 2.  We want to see how price reacts as it tests each level, completes our pattern – all before our session ends.

Price moves down quickly and completes our first pattern which corresponded with yesterday’s high.  At this point the European market is closing and there is an hour left in the overlap of the UK and US traders.  Price goes sideways after bouncing at yesterday’s high.  We have moved our profit stop down to protect 15 pips and remain optimistic that price may dip further.  It doesn’t, and we are closed at our profit stop for modest gains.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow if we find a trade.

Finally a day of activity!  The GBP set up was my favourite trade and moved further than expected.  After a couple of weeks of compressed trading ranges, we finally got some action today to end the week.  When trading ranges are very tight, we need to be careful not to get lured into dismal trades that go in our favour a by a few pips and then against us by a few pips.  It’s been like watching paint dry the past couple of weeks.

We had a big hint this week that the direction for the EUR and GBP would be down.   This is evidenced by what happened at the options barrier of 1.40 for the EUR and 1.70 for the GBP.  In other words, the BIG traders would not let it through and sold hard!  The Daily chart is screaming this message.  This is not a random reversal.

Looking closer at the GBP on an hourly chart, my students will see price moved down in the UK session and closed below 2 important tools that we use that aligned close to the 1.6900 figure.  Knowing many institutional traders are seeing the same message, we go short on the break near 1.6894.  I’m not keen of the R:R in this case, but the confluence is too powerful to resist.  A stop loss of 16 pips above structure seems expensive to get to Target 2 which is only 19 pips away.  Our stop loss is a hard stop in the event of extreme volatility in this case.  If the market goes against this trade, I can always click out and take a 6 or 7 pip hit, but I need a hard stop loss in the event that something unforeseen occurs and the trade moves against me violently.  If this ever happens to a trader just using a psychological stop…that is a stop loss in their head not in their platform…they typically find themselves to be like a deer in the headlights, as price erodes their account while they stare in disbelief and are unable to react.  Trust me…I’ve been there years ago and it cost me dearly, and you never want to go there a second time!

Price today moves down stalling at our targets as we anticipate.  This allows us to protect these levels so the market takes us out if price reverses… but we have locked in profits at strategic and statistically significant levels…and let the market do what it will do.   As price continues to move in our favour, we tighten our profit stop down and end up being taken out for a nice gain after giving back 13 pips from the session low.  All in all, a nice way to end the week.  Other trades set up after this one closed but this was the trade that made the week fun.

Good luck with your trading!  Enjoy your weekend!

Back Tuesday if we find a trade.

Tricky trading so far this week with pips being few and far between.  I don’t usually show small trades but I’m not finding any large ones so far this week.

It appears that a number of USD long hedge funds decided enough was enough and liquidated their positions earlier this week.

With Janet Yellen stating today… late in the session that, “a high degree of monetary accommodation remains warranted” we know why the longs were frustrated with their positions.  Never fight the market!

As the EUR bottomed today and reversed, an entry long is taken.  Price rises above the the Asian session highs but is unable to close above.  We move our profit stop to below the Asian session highs…more precisely just under the UK session quadruple tops and we are promptly closed on the next candle as price begins to retreat downward.  With Yellen’s testimony around the corner, we remain out of the market due to the potential volatility.

Let’s hope for some high probability setups for the balance of the week.  If you don’t see what you like, it’s best to come back another day.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow if we find a trade.

With all the news this week, we have been hoping for a more active market and so far have been rewarded.  It’s nice to see life back in the majors this week.

The GBP and JPY (not shown) had very tradeable setups today later on in the session.  The GBP set up giving us a greater than 3:1 Reward to Risk ratio.  Price was clearly moving away from the Asian session lows as buyers continued to enter.  Price eventually moved to our Target 2 and we are taken out at our profit stop protecting this level – missing the last wave to the upside.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow if we find a trade.

The CHF tested both sides of its Asian range before beginning to climb higher.  After ranging for a couple of hours, it began to look bullish and a long is taken with a 6 pip stop loss giving us a better than 5:1 Reward to Risk ratio setup.

As the US traders began their trading day, buyers entered and we reached our Target 2 well in advance of the pending US news.

Lots of important news releases this week – hopefully we will get back to more normal trading ranges soon. As always, I encourage focusing on tight stops and and protecting profits while in a move.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow if we find a trade.

Beautiful setups in the CHF and JPY after the US economic new releases this morning.  After the Easter long weekend the beginning of the week was a little slow and tricky to trade.  I have often found the latter half of the week produces the most pips.

The JPY stair-stepped higher during the first half of the session.  Sellers entered above the Asian session highs – where it had difficulty climbing higher several times during the early Asian trading.

The confluence with the CHF and a better than 3:1 Reward to Risk ratio made both trades very attractive and both pairs moved down quickly.  The JPY is shown below.

Good luck with your trading!

Back tomorrow if we find a trade.