The Forex Trading process

June 15th, 2008 expert

Many online Forex Traders think that forex trading is all about geting the direction of a trade right.

To enter a successful forex deal it is likely that a trader will have gone through the following processes to arrive at the strategy to be applied to the particular deal:-

They will have developed a trading strategy that evaluates the trading environment, has a method of scanning the market for potential transactions, has trigger and signal required to enter a transaction, has decided how the transaction will be managed, has a predetermined way of exiting the transaction and a record keeping process.

Before this they will have developed their dealing station skills (entering orders, stops, targets etc) and Charting skills. They will have determined the timespan they trade in and risk they are prepared to adopt on every trade. They will have backtaded, demo trades and tested a number of strategies to reach the one that they are comfortable.

They will be aware of most of the technical analysis tools and indicators and a number of trading setups. they will know the difference between a signal and a trigger. They will know what kind of target to go for on their trades.

The diagram below summarises this process and creates a framework for the notes that will be available through the Forex Trade of the Day process and Expert-4x notes.

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Money management and trade position sizing (How many lots to trade)

May 24th, 2008 expert

Online Forex Trading concepts: Money Management, Position sizing

The Expert-4x subscription service has produced exceptional results recently!! 836 pips in 14 days!. The question is how much money can one make for a good run like that. Money management is one of the most neglected trading skills of Forex Trading. The trick is to match your money management approach with your personal Trading and risk profile. One has to strike a balance between capital preservation and trading risk.

If you have found a trading technique that is reasonably consistent and profitable (an average of 400 pips per month per annum will do) we would suggest that you consider the following Money Management techniques:

Always risk the same percentage on each trade.

For example:- a trader (John) has $30 000 in his trading account to trade and has decided to risk 2% on each trade. He has his money in a mini account ($1=1Pip) for reasons you will see soon. This means that if John considers a trade with a target of 100 pips and a stop of 40 pips (the risk) he would calculate the number of lots he can trade in the following way. 2% of $30 000 is $600. He can therefore risk $600 on his trade. He calculates the number of lots by taking the $600 divided by the 40 pip = 15 lots. Thus if the deals is successful John will earn 15 lots x 100pips = $1500. If the deal is unsuccessful he will lose $600 which is the 2% that was prepared to risk.

If the risk was 45 pips he would calculate the number of lots;- $600 / 45pips = 13.33 or 13 lots. Always round downwards, even if the answer is .9. This also shows the importance of trading mini accounts (1 pip = $1) rather than the main accounts (1 pip = $10). If John was using a main account he would be trading 1 lot for a long time.

Risking the same % on each trade builds in an interesting dynamic. When the trading results a good you automatically increase your number of lots and when trading result are poor you would end up decreasing your lots. A good trading approach in general.
Use the risk approach that matches your personal trading a risk profile.

If you are a conservative investor and the capital you use to trade the forex market is not completely risk capital then you could consider risking 1% (or less)of your capital per trade. This means that over time you would only loose your capital once you have more than a net of 100 negative trades. In general these traders sleep quite well during the evenings. They could still double their account in 8 to 10 months.

If you are a less conservative investor and the capital you use to trade the forex market can be exposed to more risk, then you could consider risking 2% of your capital per trade. This means that over time you would only loose your capital once you have more than a net of 50 negative trades. In general these traders are reasonable secure if they have found a technique that generates an average of 300 per month. They could double their account every 6 to 9 months.

Some more aggressive traders risk 4% of their capital per trade. The risk is higher and therefore they have to have a fairly consistent trading technique. These traders double their trading account a number of times a year. They can effectively, on average, get it wrong 25 times before they loose their capital. After doubling their money, they would often bank their original capital and then use their gains as their risk capital. A nice position to be in because your original capital is secure.

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Retest of support / resistance (kissing the the breakout point goodbye)

January 18th, 2008 expert

Online Forex Trading concepts: Double Top reversal price patterns, Momentum divergences, Moving average crossovers, Trendline violations, retesting of support / resistance, trading signals, trading targets.

Although not a spectacular gain, the EURGBP provided a great example a technical analysis principles working together to provide a good technical trade.

The EURGBP was trading in an upward sloping channel. A double top formation (reversal price pattern) was formed. At the same time sell divergences were made on the MACD momentum indicator which gave a forewarning of a possible sell transaction. Further more the MACD crossed over the 50 line a went into the sell zone. The 4 and 6 moving averages based on the price highs gave a crossover sell signal. The final sell signal came when the price violated the lower channel line / trendline. Normally this would trigger the sell transaction. However we missed it.

In general it is not a good idea to chase a missed entry. When there is a trendline violation the price often returns to the trendline for a 2nd time before it resumes the trend. We made use of this principle to place a sell order behind the price near the violated trendline. In this case the price did retest the trendline (Support become resistance) triggering the sell entry and then heading south as all the signals indicated. We exited before the last low which represents a support level.

This raises the point that traders need to establish which technical analysis indicators are SIGNALS and which ones are TRIGGERS. Signals warn about a possible transaction but the TRIGGER is the activity that creates the entry. In this case the double top, the moving average crossovers, the momentum divergences, the MACD moving into the sell zone were all SIGNALS. The trendline violation would normally have been the TRIGGER for the transaction but we missed it so the retesting of the violated trendline became our TRIGGER.

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Protected: 475% return in 1 month: Main learning points

December 31st, 2007 expert

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Protected: 500% Return in 1 Month trading the online Forex market !!!

December 30th, 2007 expert

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Protected: 475% return in 1 month: Position sizing transactions

December 29th, 2007 expert

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Trendline violation trade (27/6/07) GBPJPY +125Pips

December 28th, 2007 expert

ONLINE FOREX TRADING TOPICS: Trendline violations, leading indicators, lagging indicators, relative volatility, Exit methods, following stop

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The JPY was again one of the most volatile currencies yesterday. We traded the GBPJPY as the JPY’s volatility is sometimes increased in this GBPJPY cross. Yesterdays range for the JPY was 112 pips, the EURJPY 111 pips and the GBPJPY 266 pips (Enough said).

Today’s topic is leading indictors. Most indicators are lagging indicators as they tell you what has happen in the past (eg moving averages). There are many indicators that give an indication of what is going to happen in the future. These are leading indicators.

One of the most powerful leading indicators is a straight support or resistance line. This line need not be horizontal. All that it has to do in join the tops of bottoms of turning points in the price movement and extend into the future. This extension represents possible support or resistance in to the future – therefore turning it into a leading indicator. It is also referred to as a trendline.  In fact 90% of our trades use a trendline violation (Crossover) or bounce at the entry trigger.

Yesterday the GBPJPY was trending downwards quite strongly. We drew a resistance trendline over the tops of turning points on the candles to establish our resistance trendline. As the price started turning back slowly it came closer and closer to the trendline. On the strength of the buy signal on the momentum indicator (Also leading in this case) we anticipated a violation of the upper resistance line and placed an entry order just above this line and a stop at the last low. The price broke through the trendline (resistance line) and started trending upwards quite nicely. We had no target in mind for this trade so followed the price movement with a following stop that was moved to the last low every time the candle closed. We were stopped out when the price retraced giving back over 60 pips to the market. In hind sight closing the deal at +150 would not be a bad days trading.

The momentum indicator again showed good measurement of the 2 wave nature of the Forex market as discussed earlier this week.

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Momentum Wave signal trade (26/6/07) JPY +38 pips

December 27th, 2007 expert

ONLINE TRADING CONCEPTS:   Momentum signals,   Trading markets,   Waves

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Yesterday was a particularly lacklustre day with the JPY showing with only signs of life.

Momentum indicators can give reasonable signals in a sideways market. There are however a few principles to bear in mind when putting on a trade based on momentum signals. Here are a few:
1. NEVER trade momentum signals in a trending market (When the price is making new highs or new lows), NEVER.
2. Although not commonly known momentum tends to measure trading waves and we have found that there tends to be 2 major down waves and the 2 major up waves and so on (Sorry about that Mr Elliott). The waves must move through the momentum Buy/Sell line to be valid. 2 waves in the either the sell or the buy zone don’t count.
3. Trendline violations after the 2 wave are reasonably good trading signals.

Yesterday a momentum trading opportunity presented itself on the JPY (Also on the EURJPY and GBPJPY). The price was between a recent high and a recent low (confirmation of a sideways market), there was a trendline violation on the momentum indicator after 2 fair sized waves.

This was further supported by some other signals which we will discuss in future daily trade reviews. We put on a sell on confirmation of the signal (You have to wait for the candle to close), a stop at the last high and our initial target was the last major low at 122.80. As the deal progressed we exited on the next momentum buy signal (a trendline violation after 2 waves with the price still being between a recent high and low).

Gain 38pips $30,  Risk 12pips $ 10 Return on risk +300% (Time Taken 7 hours)

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Head and Shoulder reversal (26/7/07) - 400pips!!

December 26th, 2007 expert

Online Forex Trading concepts used:  Price patterns, Head and shoulders reversal formation, using expectations for exits, relative volatility of currencies.

The Head and shoulder formation is not always pretty and horizontal as can be seen from the trade below. We noticed that the GBPJPY again started forming a Head and Shoulder reversal formation and was battling to break through the breakout neckline. There where 3 blue candels next to 4 red channels where the price tried to break through. We placed a sell order below the the neckline and a target at 400 pips lower which was the expectation established by the approximate height of the channel in which the Head and shoulders formation formed. The price broke out and reached the target very quickly!! (only 2 x 4hour candles). The GBPJPY is the most volatile currency and these big moves are not uncommon.

26julygbpjpy2.gif
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Using Forex Candle spikes to spot revesals

December 24th, 2007 expert

Online Forex Trading Topic: Candle Spikes, Reversal formations, trend indicators.

When in doubt about where strong support or resistance is it is often a good idea to look for candle spikes. These spikes normally show areas where the price slipped into but where very quickly sent back from where it came. This shows strong support or resistance. The chart below shows how they could have acted as good trading support signals. Remember that long blue candle next to a red candle (or the other way round) is often also a disgusted spike because if you add them together they become a spike.

A stronger reversal formation is candle tweezers where 2 spikes occur directly next to each other (not shown in the chart).

candlespikes1.gif

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Free Online Forex Trading charts, dealing stations and data feeds

December 22nd, 2007 expert

Online Forex Trading concepts: Trading charts, dealing stations, data feeds, technical analysis.  

One of the first things a forex student has to do is obtain free charts, a demo trading account and a knowledge of how to operate both the dealing and charting software. There are a number of brokers who offer demo accounts, trading charts, basic training and support.

When visiting these sites please review all the information on the sites. It is good to read 3 or 4 sites to obtain different perspectives of the same topics. Below are some suggested brokers to get started with:-

FXCM:

www.fxcm.com. FXCM supplies al the tools a new trader would need to get started so spend some time getting to know the company and the services offered. They are particularly good at offering live support on any questions you may have on virtually every page of their websites. There is further support given on their site www.dailyfx.com.

Demo account registration:  http://www.fxcm.com/open-free-100k.jsp
Charts:    http://www.fxcm.com/charting-options-exchange.jsp
METATRADER:

www.metaqoutes.net  MetaTrader supplies numerous brokers with there integrated charting and dealing software. The charting system is particularly good in that it supplies considerable history.

MetaTrader 4   http://www.metaquotes.net/downloads/
Technical analysis courses http://www.metaquotes.net/techanalysis/

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Trading Ranges of Forex crosses over the last 10 months

December 19th, 2007 expert

Online forex trading topics:- price ranges, comparitive volatility.

Below are charts showing the range in which various currencies traded over the last 10 months. Clearly the GBPJPY has made some big moves ranging almost 5000 pips. It is not unusual for this currency to move 200 to 300 pips a day so it has high volatility.

On the other hand the EURGBP has only ranged 500 pips over this period which means that this currency pair is not good to trade if you are looking for big runs. volatile2.GIF

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Using long term charts to review the trading environment

December 17th, 2007 expert

Online Forex Trading Topics: Long term charts, analysing the trading envirinment, new highs and lows, trendlines violations.

Most of the currencies have either broken through major trendline resistance / support or started making new highs / lows. This is a period when the bulls and bears have their biggest fights. The monthly and weekly charts below shows the status of all currencies. The analysis of the relative strength of currencies available on the blog shows how weak the US$ and JPY is compared to the EUR and GBP. We will therefore be favouring buying the EUR / GBP as they are strong and selling the USD / JPY as they a weak in the next few weeks. We will also be increasing the size of our stops and targets.

Please click on the charts below to enlarge them.

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Protected: 475% return in 1 month: AUD transaction 21 +73pips

December 16th, 2007 expert

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Fundamental and Technical Analysis Forex traders

December 16th, 2007 expert

Trading concepts: Fundamental Analysis,  Technical Analysis, Trading Calender

Traders fall into two schools when it comes to ways to analyze the market and find trading opportunities. There are trades that use mainly fundamental analysis (news and events and reltive strength of currencies) and those who use technical analysis(Charts reflecting the historic movements of currencies). The fundamental analyst concentrates on the underlying causes of price movements, while the technical analyst studies the price movements as reflected on the chart.

Technical Analysis
• Technical analysis focuses on the study of price movements. Historical currency data is used to forecast the direction of future prices. The premise of technical analysis is that all current market information is already reflected in the price of that currency; therefore, studying price action is all that is required to make informed trading decisions.
• The primary tools of the technical analyst are charts. Charts are used to identify trends and patterns in order to find profit opportunities.
• The most basic concept of technical analysis is that markets have a tendency to trend. Being able to identify trends in their earliest stage of development is the key to technical analysis.

Fundamental Analysis
• Fundamental analysis focuses on the economic, social and political forces that drive supply and demand. Fundamental analysts look at various macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth rates, interest rates, inflation, and unemployment.
• However, there is no single set of beliefs that guide fundamental analysis. There are several theories as to how currencies should be valued.

Technical Analysis or Fundamental Analysis?
• Most traders abide by technical analysis because it does not require hours of study. Technical analysts can follow many currencies at one time. Fundamental analysts, however, tend to specialize due to the overwhelming amount of data in the market.
• Technical analysis works well because the currency market tends to develop strong trends. Once technical analysis is mastered, it can be applied with equal ease to any time frame or currency traded.
• Technical analyst traders can not however ignore the fundamental aspects of trading as they must know the times of important economic announcements as these times represent higher risk conditions.
• Fundamental analyst need technical analysis to get an optimum entry into the market.
• On the whole traders should be able to trade in both ways as fundamental information generally creates the reason for a trend and technical analysis provided the way to best benefit from these trades.

For more information on fundamental and technical trading please go to:-

http://www.financepoint.net/intro-forex.asp

http://www.easy-forex.com/en/Forex.forecast.aspx

http://forex.easy-forex.com.au/learn_fx_trading/technical_analysis/

http://www.internettradebureau.com/article/forex-trading-an-a249.html

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Online Forex Trading principles

December 13th, 2007 expert

Some interesting trading perspectives are presented below. Please read them carefully as many online forex traders have found that understanding only a small number of these perspectives has dramatically changed the way they trade. Most of the points presented have cost traders a lots of money to learn the hard way. This is an opportunity of learning from others mistakes.
 

1.     You DON’T need to know the direction the price is going to go to trade the Forex market.

This surprises many new Forex traders but straddle trading techniques will help you to have successful trades even when you are unsure of the direction the price will move.
 

2   The probability of a transaction being successful is dependent on the potential volatility behind the transaction. The amount of PUSH behind the move

Most traders spend 90% of their energy trying to find the direction on a move and only 10% on volatility. What’s the use of getting the direction 100% right when the move only goes for 15 pips.

3.    Trade ahead of the market. Anticipate the transaction before it happens.

High probability trades with appropriate entry points can normally be anticipated well in advance and programmed trades using entry orders (waiting orders) with targets and stops can be used.

4.    Knowing the rhythm and nature of the market allows you to trade appropriately.

Learn how to read the trading conditions of the FOREX market and how to take advantage of natural movement (Waves and channels) of the market. Also know when not to trade.  Most Traders ignore this and try to impose a technical analysis technique on inappropriate market conditions. This is probably the biggest cause of beginner  trader frustrations.

5.    Have a simple trigger that will get you into the market.

Firstly know which are trading signals and what is a trading trigger.

In the end the simpler you can make your trading techniques the better. Having hundreds of indicators makes trading complicated and confusing. Having simple but effective signals makes easy to make trading decisions (Pull the Trigger)
 

6    Use leading indicators to warn you about a potential transaction well in advance. Most indicators are lagging and give late signals.

The Forex market is faster than other markets and you need as much advanced warning about potential moves as what you can get.  Learn about leading indicators that give signals well in advance of the more traditional indicators.

7   Keep Emotions out of the trade as much as possible.

There are many ways of automating all the elements of a trade so that you don’t have to watch the screen all day long and become emotional about the outcome of the transaction (using entry orders etc.)

8    Before you trade live thoroughly back test and demo trade your technique.

Properly test and improve your strategies before going live. 90% of new traders start trading a technique that they have not personally tested. They go on the trust of what they have been told.

Testing a technique ensures that you can apply it under any conditions and that you understand it. It also gives you an opportunity to add improvements.

9    Keep your safety stops out of the traffic.

In appropriate placement of stops is a mjor cause of trading failure. In many cases an unsuccessful technique can become successful by just increasing the stop levels. Spend time finding your personal comfort level in this area. There are a number of techniques to not use stops at all.
 

10    Successful traders find the exit of a successful transaction is the most difficult part of trading.

Exiting transactions optimally takes experience.  many ways are discussed on this glog.

11     Assume that the market will trend in the direction that it is currently going until you see conclusive proof of a possible reversal

The objective of trading is to enter a new trend and stick with it until it is over.

12     Money and risk management is essential to a long term relationship with the Forex Market

Many methods used by successful traders are presented for your consideration. I don’t make recommendations or give advice in this area but knowing the alternatives enable you consider am appropriate one your way of trading

13     Technical Analysis techniques have strengths and weaknesses. Know both. Know then to use Technical Analysis and when not.

Certain indicators only work in trending markets and others in trading markets. Some trades can be done without charts. learn as much as you can about trading.

14    A trading strategy contains the time frame traded, warning signals, trigger signals, ways of managing the transaction, way of exiting the transaction, money management approach and risk management. It is not only about the entry

Find a personal trading strategy that takes your personal circumstance into account.

15  The trading process consists of doing an environmental scan, identifying possible future transactions, entering the transaction, managing the transaction, exiting the transaction, doing a post mortem and reviewing your trading strategy.

Build competency in all these areas.

16     In general the longer term charts (Daily, 4 Hr and 1 Hr) give more reliable signals than the shorter term ones (30min, 15 min, 5 min and 1 min) which are subject to noise.

Be aware of the many scalping (short term) and position trading (longer term) strategies available to trad the Forex market.  Knowing the alternatives will help you develop a personal strategy

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Channel trading (10/7/07) CHF +100pips

December 12th, 2007 expert

ONLINE FOREX TRADING CONCEPTS:  Channel Trading,  trendline violations entries,  Establishing the trend direction,  Exiting using targets,  Automated transactions

Currencies tend to trade in channels quite consistently. Much more than many traders realise. This is also supported by the Dominant Angle theory that the price channels downward and upwards between sets of trendlines that repeat the same angle. This is discussed under another topic.

There are many ways of establishing channels but drawing straight trendlines is the simplest and most efficient. One only need 3 reference points to draw a channel as illustrated on the accompanying chart. Once 2 strong pivot points (turning points 1 and 3) have been established an extended trendline is drawn joining the 2 pivot points. This establishes one of the channel lines. The next channel line is simply drawn by drawing a line parallel to the already established trendline that touches the turning point 2. You then have a channel. The great thing about this is that this technique can be used in trending and sideways trading markets.

Way to trade this is then to find an entry point that will allow you to trade from 3 pivot point to the project 4 pivot points. Once the 4 pivot point is reached you can then trade the 4 to 5 leg and so on until there is a strong breakout from the channel which normally means a trend change or the formation of a new channel. Nice simple and effective way of trading.

11julychf100pips1.gif

As can be seen on the chart a good channel was establish for the CHF which was trading in a stepping down fashion within a channel. We missed hooking the number 3 bounce off the upper trendline (which became a channel line) so we were looking for a reason to sell the CHF. The best we could find was a trendline joining the recent lows. We placed a trendline violation sell order just below this line which was activated.

As we were trading the 3 to 4 point channel move the target became to projected bounce at point 4. We placed an automatic limit order just short of this so that our transaction would be automatically closed when the price reached this level. Fortunately it did and 100 pips were banked on this deal.

Because this was an automated deal it was also an alert on our UK alert service. For more information on the Expert-4x US and UK alert services please go to www.expert-4x.com.

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Protected: 475% return in 1 month: GBP transaction 19 +35pips

December 11th, 2007 expert

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Protected: 475% return in 1 month: GBP transaction 20 +86pips

December 10th, 2007 expert

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Relative strength of currencies (9/7/07)

December 10th, 2007 expert

ON LINE FOREX TRADING CONCEPTS: Relative strength of currencies, crosses, trends.

Yesterday was not a great trading day and the market seemed to consolidate and trade with very little volatility. This would be a good time to review the importance of knowing the relative strength of the currencies compared to each other.  Knowing this you can establish the trend of currencies compared to other currencies.

At Expert-4x we have devised a very simple technique to do this. We use the monthly, weekly, daily and 4 hour charts to get a view of how currency crosses are performing against each other. In this table we have used the USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CHF. This can be extended to the AUD and CAD or any other currency you wish. We determine the trend of the crosses by using simple indicators such as the direction that the 3 moving average is pointing, or the direction that the quick MACD signal line is pointing, candle formations and trendline directions. On the table below we then simply record the trend as UP, DOWN or FLAT. The table then gives an overall reading on how currencies compare with each other by showing how a currency compares against all the other currencies in a particular timespan. The 1st reading on the monthly part of the table shows that the USD is down against all currencies except the JPY.

table9july.JPG

By doing this for all the currencies for all the timespans and accumulating the readings we very quickly can tell that the USD has been the weakest currency and the JPY not far behind.  The GBP has been the strongest currency with the EUR the second strongest.

So how do we use this information? You should always try to trade crosses that are trading the strongest currency against the weakest currency. For example we should look for buy opportunities in crosses such as GBP/ USD or GBP / JPY to trade in the direction of the major trend.

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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With the Trend trendline Bounce (6/7/07) EURJPY+120Pips

December 9th, 2007 expert

ONLINE FOREX TRADING CONCEPTS:  Relative strength of currencies, Non horizontal Support trendlines,  Weekend market close exit, Following stop, Triangle breakout.

6julyeurjpy130.gif

Currently the JPY is one of the weakest currencies depreciating against all other major currencies (except the US$). The GBP and EUR are currently the strongest major currencies appreciating against all other currencies. This information is obtained by comparing the trends of all the major currencies compared with all the other major currencies on a monthly, weekly, daily and 4 hourly basis. A future trade of the day will feature this analysis.

We were therefore looking for any excuse to use the JPY’s weakness and the EUR or GBP’s strength to trade motivate a trade. We noticed that a strong non horizontal upward sloping trendline was giving the EURJYP strong support as it trended upwards on the 1 Hour chart. We therefore followed this trendline with a buy entry order place in a position that would anticipate an upwards bounce off this trendline. This occurred at 166.85 when the price went to retest the support line. The trade soon went positive and the next concern was that the price was trading in a triangle and that the upper triangle resistance line would bounce the price back. The stop was moved to breakeven when the price reached the 167.25 area but it soon broke through and headed north.   Our target was the top of the upper channel but we decided to close the deal at the close of the weekend market as we were +120 pips at that stage, which is what we did. Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

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The Rhythm of the Forex market

December 6th, 2007 expert

It is important that new and experieced traders are aware of the various rhythms of the Forex market. It has an Annual, Quarterly, Monthly, Weekly and daily Daily rhythm

Annual Rhythm is about times when not to trade such as Xmas / New year period,
Easter Week end and public holidays. It is also about knowing the impact of Daylight savings on the major markets.

Quarterly Rhythm is mostly about trading volumes and movements when Forex Options expire.
The Monthly rhythm is knowing the Announcement schedule and important events impacting the Forex market.

Weekly rhythm is about having open deals over weekends and which days are the most volatile.

The Daily rhythem is about knowing the charactristics of the various markets Tokoyo: Quiet,  European: Volume increases, UK Open: Good trends, US Open: High volume and high volatility.

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The public holiday trade (4/7/07) Eur 0 pips

December 5th, 2007 expert

 ONLINE FOREX TRADING CONCEPTS:  Trading Calender,  Environmental analysis, Public Holiday Trade

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Online Forex traders must always be aware of how events in the world can impact the exchange rates of the various currencies. Major events impacting currency movements are events like elections, interest rate changes and economic announcements. There are also events that have a calming impact on the market. These are public holidays in some or all of the trading markets. Essentially the market represents the views of human beings. When these human beings go on holiday there is very little interest in the Forex market. Yesterday was Independence Day in the USA (the 4th of July). The chart above reflects the EURUSD chart with the EUR only showing a range of 23 pips for the day.

On the whole major public holidays are good days for online Forex Traders to get out and also have a holiday. Even if the price moves a bit, so what, the market will still be there tomorrow. It is always important to not try to squeeze movement out of the market that just is not there. We did very well to breakeven yesterday. Sometimes the best trade you can make is not to trade.

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Trading Moving Average Envelopes (3/7/07) GBPJPY +110 Pips

December 4th, 2007 expert

ONLINE FOREX TRADING CONCEPTS:-    Sideways trading market,    Moving Average envelopes,    Channel Trading,    Straddle Trade

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Results from channel trading are particularly good in sideways trading market although channel trading can be applied just as profitably in trending markets. The application of channel trading in trending markets will be discussed in another trade of the day. There are many ways of identifying trading channels eg. Using trendlines, moving average channels, etc.

Moving average envelopes are normally found under the indicator options of most trading packages. These indicators are based on envelopes around a moving average. At Expert-4x we like using fast moving averages of between 3 and 5 but traders must experiment to find the moving averages that meet their trading needs. There is no fixed setting for the width of these moving average envelopes. Traders must use their own judgement to try to capture 90% to 95% of the price movement within the envelopes. By definition only exceptional price movements will poke out of the channel occasionally making this a great retracement trading system.

Yesterday this system was used very effectively to make 110 pips on the GBPJPY. See the trading chart. The 4 hour chart and using envelops that capture 95% of the price movement was used. To make sure that we were in a sideways trading market we made sure that there was a high higher than the existing price levels and a low lower than the existing price levels. We place a sell entry order at the level of the upper envelop and a buy entry order at the level of the lower envelop thereby straddling the price. The price went up and activated the sell entry order before returning back into the envelope and heading south were the lower buy order acted as a great target.

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Trendlines as leading indicators

December 3rd, 2007 ForexKing

Online forex trading concepts: leading indicators, trendlines, bearish and bullish lines, price patterns, non horizontal trendlines

One of the most used leading indicators is also the simplest indicator. So simple that people forget that it is a leading indicator. We are of course talking about the straight line.

The straight line when used as a trendline or used to identify a price patterns tells us where potential support and resistance will occur.

Example of a bearish (downward) trendline
Example of a trendlines identifying a price pattern
Another conception is that these lines need to be horizontal. They don’t. Non horizontal trendline occur way more than horizontal ones are in many cases more reliable.

Example of a horizontal trendline

Example of a non horizontal trendline
So why would we classify a straight line as a leading indicator. Any extension of a trendline becomes a future support or resistance barrier where the bulls and the bears will put up a fight as to whether the price will bounce or break through the support or resistance.

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Bulls and Bears

December 2nd, 2007 expert

Online trading terms use: Bear market, Bull market.

In trading terminology the expressions Bear market of Bull market comes up quite often.

The expression bull market refers to a market that is moving upwards. How to remember this is that a bull kills it pray by stabbing it with an upward movement. An upwards move in the market is regarded as bullish.

The expression bearish market refers to a market that is moving downwards. How to remember this is that a bear has large paws that it uses to slap its victim with a downward movement. A downwards move in the market is regarded as bearish.

The market is all about the battle between the bulls and the bears. The bulls want the market to go up and the bears want it to go down

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Weekend Straddle (29/6/07) AUD +15 pips

December 1st, 2007 expert

ONLINE FOREX TRADING CONCEPTS:-    Weekend straddle,     Volatile breakouts,       Forex Brokers

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The weekend straddle is a novelty trade that has made many people lots of money. In general when you expect the price of a currency to have a volatile breakout but you are unsure of the direction it is not a bad idea to hedge your bets by placing both a buy and sell order above and below the current price. Should the price break upwards the buy order is activated and the sell order can be cancelled and the other way round for break downwards. The technique is successfully used for volatile news announcement breakouts, breakouts out of price patterns (e.g. Symmetrical triangle) or to a lesser degree weekend price movements.  

The major risk involved in straddle trades is a whipsaw where the price does a mock breakout to the wrong side and reverses strongly in the other direction taking both the buy and sell order in the process. Sometimes this is not the end of the world as the proceeds from the last order could exceed the loss on the 1st stop out.    Straddles should be thoroughly demo traded to make sure that you are happy with the concept. 

Such an opportunity developed on Friday where due to anticipated Australian events over the weekend we anticipated some movement on the AUD. These events could be elections, G7 meetings, political events etc. Anything that you can anticipate that may create news impacting the currency.  The weekend straddle requires some sharp dealing station skills because you need to place the buy and sell orders as close as possible to the existing price right in the last minute of your brokers close for the weekend. This is because the weekend movements can sometimes be very small. Depending on the volatility you are expecting you should try to go for small targets so that your target is sure to be hit. 

On Friday we placed a buy and sell order 5 pips from the existing price on either side of the price in the last minute of trading. Each Broker differs in this respect and some will only allow you to place orders within 10 pips of the price.  On Monday morning when the market opened the AUD had jumped (Weekend Gap) more than 25 pips upwards. This activated our buy order and activated the target limit at the same time and 15 pips were made instantly.  Very Important:- You need to know your Brokers policies on GAPS to be able to trade this trade. Some do not honour the transaction values of the trade and others do – you will have to do your homework in this respect.  

Best to treat this as a novelty or fun trade than to try and make a living from it. It does however show the importance of using the straddle technique when you are not sure on the direction of the price movement.

www.Expert-4x.com is a sponsor of this free educational blog and uses many of the concepts high lighted in these postings for its daily alert services.

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Disclaimer:-The information on online Forex trading presented on this webpage should not be regarded as forex or currency trading advice. Currency trading and fx trading is highly speculative and should only be done with risk capital. Foreign Exchange prices rise and fall and past performance from currency trades is no assurance of future performance. This online forex trading webpage is a currency trading information and technical analysis webpage only. Accordingly, we make no warranties or guarantees with respect to the correctness or validity of its content. Forex traders making use of the online currency trading information presented do so at their own risk. The information provided herein does not take into account their forex investing objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. This site is not intended to by used as the only source of currency trading information or forex education. It is important and assumed that traders use sound trading principles when using the online forex trading information on this currency trading site. This includes trading common sense, sound money and risk management and full personal ownership of any trading decisions. Investors should obtain individual financial advice based on their own particular circumstances before making any foreign currency investment decision