An overview into new Forex trading systems:
Foreign Exchange trading systems are configured to provide for end users to deal currencies on-line in a real time, secure, private and effective manner. The greatest topics that a foreign exchange system must handle are:
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السبت، 14 أبريل 2012
Forex Trading Systems
MT4 navigational tips and techniques
MT4 navigational tips and techniques
(NEW MATERIAL IN RED TYPEFACE)
Hi all
The following post used to be a sticky in the MetaTrader forum, but it appears to have been lost. Hence I'm re-posting it here.
Use of the mouse and mousewheel, and their keyboard equivalents
Scrolling the chart
Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse in the main chart area, to scroll left/right.
Or you can also simply roll the mousewheel down/up, or use the left/right arrow keys, to likewise scroll the chart view left/right.
To scroll a whole screen at a time, use Page Up (scroll left) and Page Down (scroll right).
To reposition to the leftmost bar on the chart, press Home.To reposition to the most recent (rightmost) bar, press End.
To step forward one bar at a time, press F12.
To step backward one bar at a time, press Shift-F12.
Scrolling a chart beyond the leftmost bar will add historical bars to the beginning of the chart, until no more are available from MT4's historical database.
Moving directly to a certain date/time
To re-position immediately to a certain date, press Enter, then type in the date in the form DD.MM.YY and press Enter again. Leading zeros can be omitted (e.g. to move to 4 July 2005, type 4.7.5). To re-position to a certain date/time, use the format HH:MM or DD.MM.YY HH:MM (e.g. to position to 8:07am TODAY on a 1-min chart, simply type 8:7).
You can also use the "Fast Navigation Box" to change either the currency symbol, or the period, thus:
Vertical zoom and re-scale
You can re-scale the chart vertically by moving the mouse into the vertical axis area at the right of the screen, and then dragging downwards (with the left button held down) to compress the chart bars, or dragging upwards to expand them.
Double click to reset the chart to its original scale.
Horizontal zoom and re-scale
Similarly, you can adjust the width of the price bars by moving the mouse into the horizontal axis area at the bottom of the screen, and then dragging right (zoom in) or left (zoom out). Or simply use the "+" and "–" keys to achieve this.
Indicators
Double-click on or near indicators with the left mouse button, to call their parameter setup windows.
Right-click to call the indicator's context menu.
If the screen is cluttered with overlapping indicators and/or objects, making it too difficult to select the desired indicator, press Ctrl-I to call up the Indicators dialog window. Double click (or click the Edit button, or Alt-E) on the indicator to edit its properties (parameters, colors, etc), or click the Delete button (or Alt-D) to remove it from the chart.
You can use the Home, End and Page/arrow Up/Down keys to navigate up/down the list.
Objects
Double-click on or near an object (line studies, texts, arrows, geometric shapes) to select the object. Once selected, you can move an object by left clicking on it (or in the case of or trendline or shape, it's center handle) and dragging it to the desired destination. Shapes, trendlines, channels etc may be extended by dragging the handles on the relevant edges. The number "X/Y" appears, where "X" = the width of the shape in candles, and "Y" = the height of the shape in pips.
Right-click on a selected object to open its context menu.
If the screen is cluttered with overlapping indicators and/or objects, making it too difficult to select the desired object(s), press Ctrl-B to call up the Objects dialog window. Left click the check boxes on/off to select/deselect relevant object(s). Double click (or click the Edit button, or Alt-E) on an object to edit its properties (parameters, colors, etc), or click the Delete button (or Alt-D) to remove it from the chart. To quickly delete a whole block of objects, repeatedly press Alt-D or hold it down (careful, they disappear rather quickly!)
You can use the Home, End and Page/arrow Up/Down keys to navigate up/down the list.
Click on the 'Name' or 'Description' heading area to sort by name, or description, respectively.
Left-click to select an item. You can use Ctrl-click to add individual items to a selection, Shift-click to add a group of consecutive items, or press Ctrl-A to select all items. Then click the Edit button (or press Alt-E) to edit all items in the group consecutively, or the Delete button (or press Alt-D) to delete all selected items simultaneously (careful!).
Alternatively, from the chart window, press Backspace repeatedly to delete the most recently added object(s) on a last-added-first-removed basis (useful if you want to quickly check out a Fibo or regression channel, then remove it). Then press Ctrl-Z to undo any accidental deletes, in reverse order.
Or press the Delete key to remove ALL SELECTED objects.
Parallel Trendlines
Ctrl + left click on a selected trend line to draw a parallel trend line (create a channel). Can also be used with vertical and horizontal lines.
Duplicating objects
The 'Parallel Trendlines' concept extends to ALL objects (vertical, horizontal and trend lines; shapes - triangle, square, ellipse; text and labels; arrows and symbols; and studies like channels, Fibo, Gann, Pitchfork, etc). Here's how to duplicate any object:
-- Select the object by clicking on it**
-- While holding down the Ctrl key: move the mouse over any one of the object's handles, and, holding down the left button drag the mouse to where you want the duplicated object to be located
This shortcut also duplicates all of the proprties of the parent object, e.g. if you have red, green and blue objects, and you want to create a green one, simply duplicate it. This is quicker than creating a new object, and then changing its color to green.
** Object selection options
Press Ctrl-O and then select the 'Objects' tab.
-- "Select object by single mouse click" - if checked OFF, you must double click to select an object, and right click to modify its properties. If checked ON, single click to select an object, and double click to modify its properties.
-- "Select object after creation" - if checked ON, any object is automatically selected immediately after you create it.
-- "Show properties after creation" - if checked ON, the property modification window for the object is displayed, immediately after you create the object.
OR
Press Ctrl-B to display the objects list. Click on the checkbox (at left) for each object you want selected.
Information Bubble
Hover the mouse cursor on or over an element, object or indicator to see the prompt (help information bubble).
Crosshair mode, and ruler tool
Click the mousewheel to switch cursor to the "crosshair" mode.
This can also be achieved by pressing Ctrl-F, or selecting the crosshair icon from the toolbar. The crosshairs also display vertical (price) and horizontal (date/time) co-ordinates at the right and bottom of the chart.
Simply left-click to exit crosshair mode.
Now, here is something extremely useful that I haven’t found in the on-line help:
While in crosshair mode, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to obtain a ruler-type tool that measures vertical (number of pips) and horizontal (number of bars) from the center of the crosshairs. The tool displays counters in the form "A/B/C" where A is the number of bars right or left of the crosshair, B is the number of pips from crosshair to cursor, and C is the price at the cursor.
I find "B" extremely useful for measuring the number of pips between any two points, thus:
1) move the mouse to the point you want to measure from (the "anchor" point);
2) click the mousewheel to enter crosshair mode;
3) then hold down the left button and move the mouse to any number of destination points, to see the number of pips between the anchor point and the current mouse destination.
This saves having to calculate this distance manually, as the difference between two prices. Pretty cool!
You can also use this facility to count price bars (reading "A") between any two dates/times.
Reference and anchor points
At the lower left of the chart there is a dark colored arrow. Dragging it with the mouse sets the reference (anchor) point for the chart. Now when you zoom in or out, or even change the timeframe, this point remains anchored at its existing location.
At the upper right of the chart there is likewise a dark colored arrow. Drag it left or right with the mouse to set the location for the last (most current) bar on the chart (i.e. set the amount of empty "whitespace" at the right of the chart).
Removing all indicators and objects from your chart
Load a blank chart (the pair/timeframe doesn't matter), then change the settings (press F8) to set colors, grid, etc to suit your preference. Then save this as a template named (for example) Z. (menu option: Charts > Template > Save Template……)
Then, whenever you want to instantly remove all indicators and objects from your chart, simply load template Z, by quickly using the hotkey combination: Alt-C T Z
List of hotkeys
There are many other useful hotkeys. Here is a comprehensive list:
Left arrow — scroll chart to the left;
Right arrow — scroll chart to the right;
Up arrow — quickly scroll chart to the left or (if the scale is defined), scroll chart upwards;
Down arrow — quickly scroll chart to the right or (if the scale is defined), scroll chart downwards;
Numpad 5 — restores chart vertical scale to its original default. If the scale was defined, this returns the chart back to its visible range;
Page Up — scroll a whole screen to the left;
Page Down — scroll a whole screen to the left;
Home — move the chart to the start point (first bar);
End — move the chart to the end point (last, i.e. most current) bar;
"–" — zoom out (there are 6 levels of zoom available);
"+" — zoom in;
Delete — delete all selected objects;
Backspace — delete most recently added objects, on a last-added-first-removed basis;
Enter — open/close the fast navigation window;
Esc — close any dialog window;
F1 — open the on line help "Userguide";
F2 — open the "History Center" window;
F3 — open the "Global Variables" window;
F4 — open MetaEditor;
F5 — switch to the next profile;
F6 — call the "Tester" dialog window for testing the expert attached to the chart window;
F7 — call the properties dialog window of the expert attached to their chart window, in order to change its settings;
F8 — call the chart setup dialog window, allowing basic chart parameters, colors, etc to be changed;
F9 — call the "New Order" window, allowing the entry of market, limit, stop orders;
F10 — open the "Popup prices" window;
F11 — enable/disable full screen mode;
F12 — scroll the chart one bar to the left;
Shift+F12 — scroll the chart one bar to the right;
Shift+F5 — switch to the previous profile;
Alt+1 — display the chart as OHLC bars;
Alt+2 — display the chart as OHLC candlesticks;
Alt+3 — display the chart as a line (closing prices only);
Alt+A — copy all test/optimization results onto the clipboard;
Alt+W — call the chart management window;
Alt+F4 — exit the program;
Ctrl+A — arrange all indicator window heights by default;
Ctrl+B — call the "Objects List" dialog window;
Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert — copy to the clipboard;
Ctrl+D — open/close the "Data Window";
Ctrl+E — enable/disable the attached expert advisor;
Ctrl+F — switch to "Crosshair" mode;
Ctrl+G — show/hide the vertical/horizontal grid;
Ctrl+H — show/hide the OHLC line;
Ctrl+I — call the "Indicators List" dialog window;
Ctrl+L — show/hide volume data on the main chart;
Ctrl+M — open/close the "Market Watch" window;
Ctrl+N — open/close the "Navigator" window;
Ctrl+O — open the "Setup" window;
Ctrl+P — print the chart;
Ctrl+R — open/close the "Tester" window;
Ctrl+S — save the chart prices (OHLCV) in a file having extensions: "CSV", "PRN" or "HTM";
Ctrl+T — open/close the "Terminal" window;
Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4 — close the chart window that's currently in focus;
Ctrl+Y— show/hide date (period) separators;
Ctrl+Z or Alt+Backspace — undo object deletions in the reverse order they occurred;
Ctrl+F6 — switch to the next chart window;
Ctrl+F9 — open the "Terminal — Trade" window and switch the focus into it, allowing trading operations to be entered via the keyboard.
Attaching indicators to indicators outside of the main price chart
You can attach moving averages and other indicators to indicators on other than the main chart. For example, if you want to use a moving average to smooth RSI, do the following:
1) Create a lower window with RSI in the normal manner.
2) Open the navigator window (press Ctrl-N).
3) Click on the "Indicators" heading in the Navigator window, if necessary, to expand it.
4) Move the mouse to the "Moving Average" item, then (holding down the left button), drag it (a rectangle appears under the arrow cursor) into the RSI window.
5) In the ensuing dialog box, got to the "Apply to" drop down, and set this to "First indicator's data". This will cause the MA to be attached to the first indicator in this window, i.e. the RSI.
6) Adjust other parameters as desired, and press Enter.
NOTE:
-- To create an indicator in a separate window, right-click on its name in the Navigator, and select "Attach to a chart".
-- To create an indicator in the same window as another, drag it's name into the relevant window.
Adding custom-defined indicators to MT4
One of the most powerful MT4 features is that it has a comprehensive but friendly programming language that allows custom-defined indicators, scripts and expert advisors to be written. Here's how to import an already written indicator into MT4's charting facility:
1) Go to a web resource that has the source code for the indicator. A good one is http://www.xeatrade.com/trading/11.html
Note the "# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z" index.
So if you want to add (for example) the PPCI indicator to your charts, click on "P" to see all the custom-developed indicators starting with a "P".
Left-click on the PPCI hyperlink. The source code for PPCI appears in the middle of the screen. Left-click inside this window, then press Ctrl-A to select all of the text, then Ctrl-C to copy it.
2) Return to MT4, and press F4 to load the MetaEditor, a tool which allows to create and compile your own indicators, scripts and experts.
3) In MetaEditor, press Ctrl-N to create a new indicator using the Expert Advisor Wizard.
Select the "Custom Indicator" radio button, and click Next.
Type in the name (e.g. PCCI) that you want to use to reference your indicator in MT4, ignore the other fields, and click Next.
On the final dialog window, ignore all fields, and click Finish.
4) Now left-click in the body of the screen, press Ctrl-A to select all the text, and then press Ctrl-V to paste the text you copied back in step 1, completely overwriting the previous text.
5) Then press F5 to save and compile your indicator.
Hopefully, the message "0 error(s), 0 warning(s)" will appear, indicating a "clean compile", i.e. that the programmer wrote the source code correctly, without syntax errors. Press Esc to close the dialog box.
Presto! If you now return to MT4, the new custom indicator should automatically appear both in the Navigator, and also under the menu option "Insert > Indicators > Custom" if you prefer to add it to your chart in this manner.
You can also add scripts and experts in the same way.
In step (1), select the "MQ4 Scripts" or "MQ4 Experts" hyperlink in the left menu.
In step (3), select the appropriate radio button.
Note that these objects are stored in the following folders:
Experts: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts
Scripts: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/scripts
Custom indicators: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/indicators
Include (program code, e.g. .MQH) files: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/include
Templates: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/templates
Data files: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/files
NOTE: As an alternative to the above, if you simply copy the .MQ4 file into the relevant folder, and then (exit and) re-start MT4, the expert, script or indicator will automatically be recompiled, and appear in the Navigator.
Some other good sources for MT4 indicators (apart from FF's search facility):
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=62722 (see ZIP file attached to post #1)
http://www.forex-tsd.com (perform a forum search)
http://codebase.mql4.com/ (peform a site search)
http://www.forexmt4.com/_MT4_Indicators/
http://www.greattradingsystems.com/f...-4-indicators/
If you want to delete an expert, script or indicator (CAREFUL!), use Windows Explorer to go to the appropriate folder, and delete the relevant file with the EX4 extension. For example, if you decide that you no longer want to use PCCI, delete file PCCI.EX4
That will effectively remove PCCI from the custom indicators list in MT4
The file PCCI.MQ4 contains the source code for PCCI (which you copied from the web resource), the PCCI.EX4 file is the executable code that was created when you did your compile back in step (5). If you want to re-instate the indicator, all you need to do is reload the source into MetaEditor (press Ctrl-O and open the relevant file), and then press F5 to compile it, which re-creates the executable file used by MT4.
A more simple way of deleting an expert, script or indicator is by using the Navigator (press Ctrl-N). Click on the item you wish to delete, press the DELETE key, and click Yes to confirm the deletion. Note that this deletes both the source (.MQ4) and executable (.EX4) files.
Happy charting!
David
Footnote: the above is repeated in the attached Word doc. If you prefer, you can download the doc, add your own notes to it, and/or print it out for handy reference.
NOTE: More tips here.
March 27, 2012: Added attached document "How to create a ruler to measure multiple R-multiple profit targets".This is handy if you want a measuring tool where you want to vary a SL setting, and have multiple TP settings (that are R-multiples of the SL) adjust themselves automatically. It uses MT4's in-built Fibonacci Channels facility, so there's no third-party indy required.
(NEW MATERIAL IN RED TYPEFACE)
Hi all
The following post used to be a sticky in the MetaTrader forum, but it appears to have been lost. Hence I'm re-posting it here.
Use of the mouse and mousewheel, and their keyboard equivalents
Scrolling the chart
Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse in the main chart area, to scroll left/right.
Or you can also simply roll the mousewheel down/up, or use the left/right arrow keys, to likewise scroll the chart view left/right.
To scroll a whole screen at a time, use Page Up (scroll left) and Page Down (scroll right).
To reposition to the leftmost bar on the chart, press Home.To reposition to the most recent (rightmost) bar, press End.
To step forward one bar at a time, press F12.
To step backward one bar at a time, press Shift-F12.
Scrolling a chart beyond the leftmost bar will add historical bars to the beginning of the chart, until no more are available from MT4's historical database.
Moving directly to a certain date/time
To re-position immediately to a certain date, press Enter, then type in the date in the form DD.MM.YY and press Enter again. Leading zeros can be omitted (e.g. to move to 4 July 2005, type 4.7.5). To re-position to a certain date/time, use the format HH:MM or DD.MM.YY HH:MM (e.g. to position to 8:07am TODAY on a 1-min chart, simply type 8:7).
You can also use the "Fast Navigation Box" to change either the currency symbol, or the period, thus:
Code:
1. time (hours:minutes) example: 08:30; 8:30; 2. date example: 2004.10.16; 16.10.2004; 16.10.04; 3. date and time example: 2004.10.16 8:30; 16.10.2004 8:30; 16.10.04 8:30; 4. symbol example: GBPUSD; EURUSD; 5. chart period example: M1; M5; M15; M30; H1; H4; D1; W1; MN; 6. symbol, chart period example: GBPUSD, M30; EURUSD, D1;
You can re-scale the chart vertically by moving the mouse into the vertical axis area at the right of the screen, and then dragging downwards (with the left button held down) to compress the chart bars, or dragging upwards to expand them.
Double click to reset the chart to its original scale.
Horizontal zoom and re-scale
Similarly, you can adjust the width of the price bars by moving the mouse into the horizontal axis area at the bottom of the screen, and then dragging right (zoom in) or left (zoom out). Or simply use the "+" and "–" keys to achieve this.
Indicators
Double-click on or near indicators with the left mouse button, to call their parameter setup windows.
Right-click to call the indicator's context menu.
If the screen is cluttered with overlapping indicators and/or objects, making it too difficult to select the desired indicator, press Ctrl-I to call up the Indicators dialog window. Double click (or click the Edit button, or Alt-E) on the indicator to edit its properties (parameters, colors, etc), or click the Delete button (or Alt-D) to remove it from the chart.
You can use the Home, End and Page/arrow Up/Down keys to navigate up/down the list.
Objects
Double-click on or near an object (line studies, texts, arrows, geometric shapes) to select the object. Once selected, you can move an object by left clicking on it (or in the case of or trendline or shape, it's center handle) and dragging it to the desired destination. Shapes, trendlines, channels etc may be extended by dragging the handles on the relevant edges. The number "X/Y" appears, where "X" = the width of the shape in candles, and "Y" = the height of the shape in pips.
Right-click on a selected object to open its context menu.
If the screen is cluttered with overlapping indicators and/or objects, making it too difficult to select the desired object(s), press Ctrl-B to call up the Objects dialog window. Left click the check boxes on/off to select/deselect relevant object(s). Double click (or click the Edit button, or Alt-E) on an object to edit its properties (parameters, colors, etc), or click the Delete button (or Alt-D) to remove it from the chart. To quickly delete a whole block of objects, repeatedly press Alt-D or hold it down (careful, they disappear rather quickly!)
You can use the Home, End and Page/arrow Up/Down keys to navigate up/down the list.
Click on the 'Name' or 'Description' heading area to sort by name, or description, respectively.
Left-click to select an item. You can use Ctrl-click to add individual items to a selection, Shift-click to add a group of consecutive items, or press Ctrl-A to select all items. Then click the Edit button (or press Alt-E) to edit all items in the group consecutively, or the Delete button (or press Alt-D) to delete all selected items simultaneously (careful!).
Alternatively, from the chart window, press Backspace repeatedly to delete the most recently added object(s) on a last-added-first-removed basis (useful if you want to quickly check out a Fibo or regression channel, then remove it). Then press Ctrl-Z to undo any accidental deletes, in reverse order.
Or press the Delete key to remove ALL SELECTED objects.
Parallel Trendlines
Ctrl + left click on a selected trend line to draw a parallel trend line (create a channel). Can also be used with vertical and horizontal lines.
Duplicating objects
The 'Parallel Trendlines' concept extends to ALL objects (vertical, horizontal and trend lines; shapes - triangle, square, ellipse; text and labels; arrows and symbols; and studies like channels, Fibo, Gann, Pitchfork, etc). Here's how to duplicate any object:
-- Select the object by clicking on it**
-- While holding down the Ctrl key: move the mouse over any one of the object's handles, and, holding down the left button drag the mouse to where you want the duplicated object to be located
This shortcut also duplicates all of the proprties of the parent object, e.g. if you have red, green and blue objects, and you want to create a green one, simply duplicate it. This is quicker than creating a new object, and then changing its color to green.
** Object selection options
Press Ctrl-O and then select the 'Objects' tab.
-- "Select object by single mouse click" - if checked OFF, you must double click to select an object, and right click to modify its properties. If checked ON, single click to select an object, and double click to modify its properties.
-- "Select object after creation" - if checked ON, any object is automatically selected immediately after you create it.
-- "Show properties after creation" - if checked ON, the property modification window for the object is displayed, immediately after you create the object.
OR
Press Ctrl-B to display the objects list. Click on the checkbox (at left) for each object you want selected.
Information Bubble
Hover the mouse cursor on or over an element, object or indicator to see the prompt (help information bubble).
Crosshair mode, and ruler tool
Click the mousewheel to switch cursor to the "crosshair" mode.
This can also be achieved by pressing Ctrl-F, or selecting the crosshair icon from the toolbar. The crosshairs also display vertical (price) and horizontal (date/time) co-ordinates at the right and bottom of the chart.
Simply left-click to exit crosshair mode.
Now, here is something extremely useful that I haven’t found in the on-line help:
While in crosshair mode, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to obtain a ruler-type tool that measures vertical (number of pips) and horizontal (number of bars) from the center of the crosshairs. The tool displays counters in the form "A/B/C" where A is the number of bars right or left of the crosshair, B is the number of pips from crosshair to cursor, and C is the price at the cursor.
I find "B" extremely useful for measuring the number of pips between any two points, thus:
1) move the mouse to the point you want to measure from (the "anchor" point);
2) click the mousewheel to enter crosshair mode;
3) then hold down the left button and move the mouse to any number of destination points, to see the number of pips between the anchor point and the current mouse destination.
This saves having to calculate this distance manually, as the difference between two prices. Pretty cool!
You can also use this facility to count price bars (reading "A") between any two dates/times.
Reference and anchor points
At the lower left of the chart there is a dark colored arrow. Dragging it with the mouse sets the reference (anchor) point for the chart. Now when you zoom in or out, or even change the timeframe, this point remains anchored at its existing location.
At the upper right of the chart there is likewise a dark colored arrow. Drag it left or right with the mouse to set the location for the last (most current) bar on the chart (i.e. set the amount of empty "whitespace" at the right of the chart).
Removing all indicators and objects from your chart
Load a blank chart (the pair/timeframe doesn't matter), then change the settings (press F8) to set colors, grid, etc to suit your preference. Then save this as a template named (for example) Z. (menu option: Charts > Template > Save Template……)
Then, whenever you want to instantly remove all indicators and objects from your chart, simply load template Z, by quickly using the hotkey combination: Alt-C T Z
List of hotkeys
There are many other useful hotkeys. Here is a comprehensive list:
Left arrow — scroll chart to the left;
Right arrow — scroll chart to the right;
Up arrow — quickly scroll chart to the left or (if the scale is defined), scroll chart upwards;
Down arrow — quickly scroll chart to the right or (if the scale is defined), scroll chart downwards;
Numpad 5 — restores chart vertical scale to its original default. If the scale was defined, this returns the chart back to its visible range;
Page Up — scroll a whole screen to the left;
Page Down — scroll a whole screen to the left;
Home — move the chart to the start point (first bar);
End — move the chart to the end point (last, i.e. most current) bar;
"–" — zoom out (there are 6 levels of zoom available);
"+" — zoom in;
Delete — delete all selected objects;
Backspace — delete most recently added objects, on a last-added-first-removed basis;
Enter — open/close the fast navigation window;
Esc — close any dialog window;
F1 — open the on line help "Userguide";
F2 — open the "History Center" window;
F3 — open the "Global Variables" window;
F4 — open MetaEditor;
F5 — switch to the next profile;
F6 — call the "Tester" dialog window for testing the expert attached to the chart window;
F7 — call the properties dialog window of the expert attached to their chart window, in order to change its settings;
F8 — call the chart setup dialog window, allowing basic chart parameters, colors, etc to be changed;
F9 — call the "New Order" window, allowing the entry of market, limit, stop orders;
F10 — open the "Popup prices" window;
F11 — enable/disable full screen mode;
F12 — scroll the chart one bar to the left;
Shift+F12 — scroll the chart one bar to the right;
Shift+F5 — switch to the previous profile;
Alt+1 — display the chart as OHLC bars;
Alt+2 — display the chart as OHLC candlesticks;
Alt+3 — display the chart as a line (closing prices only);
Alt+A — copy all test/optimization results onto the clipboard;
Alt+W — call the chart management window;
Alt+F4 — exit the program;
Ctrl+A — arrange all indicator window heights by default;
Ctrl+B — call the "Objects List" dialog window;
Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert — copy to the clipboard;
Ctrl+D — open/close the "Data Window";
Ctrl+E — enable/disable the attached expert advisor;
Ctrl+F — switch to "Crosshair" mode;
Ctrl+G — show/hide the vertical/horizontal grid;
Ctrl+H — show/hide the OHLC line;
Ctrl+I — call the "Indicators List" dialog window;
Ctrl+L — show/hide volume data on the main chart;
Ctrl+M — open/close the "Market Watch" window;
Ctrl+N — open/close the "Navigator" window;
Ctrl+O — open the "Setup" window;
Ctrl+P — print the chart;
Ctrl+R — open/close the "Tester" window;
Ctrl+S — save the chart prices (OHLCV) in a file having extensions: "CSV", "PRN" or "HTM";
Ctrl+T — open/close the "Terminal" window;
Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4 — close the chart window that's currently in focus;
Ctrl+Y— show/hide date (period) separators;
Ctrl+Z or Alt+Backspace — undo object deletions in the reverse order they occurred;
Ctrl+F6 — switch to the next chart window;
Ctrl+F9 — open the "Terminal — Trade" window and switch the focus into it, allowing trading operations to be entered via the keyboard.
Attaching indicators to indicators outside of the main price chart
You can attach moving averages and other indicators to indicators on other than the main chart. For example, if you want to use a moving average to smooth RSI, do the following:
1) Create a lower window with RSI in the normal manner.
2) Open the navigator window (press Ctrl-N).
3) Click on the "Indicators" heading in the Navigator window, if necessary, to expand it.
4) Move the mouse to the "Moving Average" item, then (holding down the left button), drag it (a rectangle appears under the arrow cursor) into the RSI window.
5) In the ensuing dialog box, got to the "Apply to" drop down, and set this to "First indicator's data". This will cause the MA to be attached to the first indicator in this window, i.e. the RSI.
6) Adjust other parameters as desired, and press Enter.
NOTE:
-- To create an indicator in a separate window, right-click on its name in the Navigator, and select "Attach to a chart".
-- To create an indicator in the same window as another, drag it's name into the relevant window.
Adding custom-defined indicators to MT4
One of the most powerful MT4 features is that it has a comprehensive but friendly programming language that allows custom-defined indicators, scripts and expert advisors to be written. Here's how to import an already written indicator into MT4's charting facility:
1) Go to a web resource that has the source code for the indicator. A good one is http://www.xeatrade.com/trading/11.html
Note the "# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z" index.
So if you want to add (for example) the PPCI indicator to your charts, click on "P" to see all the custom-developed indicators starting with a "P".
Left-click on the PPCI hyperlink. The source code for PPCI appears in the middle of the screen. Left-click inside this window, then press Ctrl-A to select all of the text, then Ctrl-C to copy it.
2) Return to MT4, and press F4 to load the MetaEditor, a tool which allows to create and compile your own indicators, scripts and experts.
3) In MetaEditor, press Ctrl-N to create a new indicator using the Expert Advisor Wizard.
Select the "Custom Indicator" radio button, and click Next.
Type in the name (e.g. PCCI) that you want to use to reference your indicator in MT4, ignore the other fields, and click Next.
On the final dialog window, ignore all fields, and click Finish.
4) Now left-click in the body of the screen, press Ctrl-A to select all the text, and then press Ctrl-V to paste the text you copied back in step 1, completely overwriting the previous text.
5) Then press F5 to save and compile your indicator.
Hopefully, the message "0 error(s), 0 warning(s)" will appear, indicating a "clean compile", i.e. that the programmer wrote the source code correctly, without syntax errors. Press Esc to close the dialog box.
Presto! If you now return to MT4, the new custom indicator should automatically appear both in the Navigator, and also under the menu option "Insert > Indicators > Custom" if you prefer to add it to your chart in this manner.
You can also add scripts and experts in the same way.
In step (1), select the "MQ4 Scripts" or "MQ4 Experts" hyperlink in the left menu.
In step (3), select the appropriate radio button.
Note that these objects are stored in the following folders:
Experts: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts
Scripts: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/scripts
Custom indicators: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/indicators
Include (program code, e.g. .MQH) files: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/include
Templates: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/templates
Data files: c:/program files/<mt4 broker name>/experts/files
NOTE: As an alternative to the above, if you simply copy the .MQ4 file into the relevant folder, and then (exit and) re-start MT4, the expert, script or indicator will automatically be recompiled, and appear in the Navigator.
Some other good sources for MT4 indicators (apart from FF's search facility):
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=62722 (see ZIP file attached to post #1)
http://www.forex-tsd.com (perform a forum search)
http://codebase.mql4.com/ (peform a site search)
http://www.forexmt4.com/_MT4_Indicators/
http://www.greattradingsystems.com/f...-4-indicators/
If you want to delete an expert, script or indicator (CAREFUL!), use Windows Explorer to go to the appropriate folder, and delete the relevant file with the EX4 extension. For example, if you decide that you no longer want to use PCCI, delete file PCCI.EX4
That will effectively remove PCCI from the custom indicators list in MT4
The file PCCI.MQ4 contains the source code for PCCI (which you copied from the web resource), the PCCI.EX4 file is the executable code that was created when you did your compile back in step (5). If you want to re-instate the indicator, all you need to do is reload the source into MetaEditor (press Ctrl-O and open the relevant file), and then press F5 to compile it, which re-creates the executable file used by MT4.
A more simple way of deleting an expert, script or indicator is by using the Navigator (press Ctrl-N). Click on the item you wish to delete, press the DELETE key, and click Yes to confirm the deletion. Note that this deletes both the source (.MQ4) and executable (.EX4) files.
Happy charting!
David
Footnote: the above is repeated in the attached Word doc. If you prefer, you can download the doc, add your own notes to it, and/or print it out for handy reference.
NOTE: More tips here.
March 27, 2012: Added attached document "How to create a ruler to measure multiple R-multiple profit targets".This is handy if you want a measuring tool where you want to vary a SL setting, and have multiple TP settings (that are R-multiples of the SL) adjust themselves automatically. It uses MT4's in-built Fibonacci Channels facility, so there's no third-party indy required.
No SL No Leverage Strategy - working so far
Hi all,
I want to share my strategy and get your opinions comments and views.
The strategy I'm using is very simple and has been very succesfull so far.
My rules:
1. NO leverage
I have a 1000 eur account and I'm trading only 0.01 lots right now. I will start to trade 0.02 lots as soon as I reach 2000 eur margin and so on (or you can decide to go even slower by trading 0.02 lots only when your account has 3000 eur margin etc.)
2. SMALL TP
I have a set TP of 15-20 pips on every trade, trading only pairs with low broker spread.
3. NO Stop Loss
I do not set SL, so basically trades close only when TP is reached. (I'll explain later why)
4. No more than 5 trades open at the same time.
Entry Condition:
LONG when H4 PA closes above 5EMA
SHORT when H4 PA closes below 5EMA
That's it!
I have been testing this method for 3 weeks now,
Opened 29 trades in total
Closed with TP 27 trades
Still pending open trades: 2 (TP not yet reached)
Making money trading 0.01 lots makes it really slow, but I'm slowly building account margin so I can start trading bigger lots.
I dont use SL for this method, and that has been the key of success:
Even when the trade reverses on me and goes -200/-300 pips against me, the fact that I'm not using the leverage, makes it affordable (you can whitstand such a reversal with no leverage and still open other trades!)
The only bad thing is that a trade can stay open for days or weeks before reaching TP. But as I could see by testing, more than 90% of trades reach TP within 48 hrs.
I try to compensate for the negative rollovers by entering in trades with positive rollovers (for example long on AUDUSD)
What do you think of this strategy?
I want to share my strategy and get your opinions comments and views.
The strategy I'm using is very simple and has been very succesfull so far.
My rules:
1. NO leverage
I have a 1000 eur account and I'm trading only 0.01 lots right now. I will start to trade 0.02 lots as soon as I reach 2000 eur margin and so on (or you can decide to go even slower by trading 0.02 lots only when your account has 3000 eur margin etc.)
2. SMALL TP
I have a set TP of 15-20 pips on every trade, trading only pairs with low broker spread.
3. NO Stop Loss
I do not set SL, so basically trades close only when TP is reached. (I'll explain later why)
4. No more than 5 trades open at the same time.
Entry Condition:
LONG when H4 PA closes above 5EMA
SHORT when H4 PA closes below 5EMA
That's it!
I have been testing this method for 3 weeks now,
Opened 29 trades in total
Closed with TP 27 trades
Still pending open trades: 2 (TP not yet reached)
Making money trading 0.01 lots makes it really slow, but I'm slowly building account margin so I can start trading bigger lots.
I dont use SL for this method, and that has been the key of success:
Even when the trade reverses on me and goes -200/-300 pips against me, the fact that I'm not using the leverage, makes it affordable (you can whitstand such a reversal with no leverage and still open other trades!)
The only bad thing is that a trade can stay open for days or weeks before reaching TP. But as I could see by testing, more than 90% of trades reach TP within 48 hrs.
I try to compensate for the negative rollovers by entering in trades with positive rollovers (for example long on AUDUSD)
What do you think of this strategy?
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
#1: In order to fully understand this system it is essential that you spend one full week experimenting with the trading details found in the first 8 posts. You must become proficient at picking out these types of Consolidation Zones (CZ's) regardless of the pair or the Time Frame by simple visual confirmation alone -- aka, Naked Trading. Posts 1-8 teach you how to do exactly that. Skipping over this phase of your self-training is only going to cause you a lot of grief later on down the line. So please, no shortcuts. Stay with the program and get this part down solid before continuing past the first couple of pages. This is your primary confidence building step. It starts right now. If you pass it over, then you can't expect to have the required confidence for what comes after.
#2: This thread was started as a naked trading system. See paragraph #1. We do have a custom indicator now, but we didn't start out with one. After nearly 9 months we still have traders working off of naked charts with hand-drawn CZ's, so using the custom indi is certainly not a requirement. If you like it, use it. If you don't, then don't. It's use is completely optional; pips have been made either way. But if you decide to include the indicator as part of your Stairsteps trading, then you are expected to learn how to use it with absolute minimal outside assistance. Demanding that other members or myself provide you with our own custom settings or templates for the indi is a sure way to get yourself banned from the thread.
#3: This thread is unlike most every other system thread offered here at the Forex Factory in one very important regard: I am not teaching theory here. This is a proven system that has been traded by the OP with a very high degree of success for the last 5 years. It does not require refining. It does not require extra indicators or filters. It is being presented as a time-tested and fully mature system of trading the Forex market. The proof is that after 8.5 months and over 500,000 hits, no major details about the system have been altered, save for the addition the our custom indicator and the necessary adjustments this has brought into the thread. Other than that, the core system of Stairsteps remains completely unchanged. Not because I am adverse to change, but because so far none has been needed.
#4: I expect anyone who participates in the thread to do so only after reading it all the way through. Save your questions and comments until the end. It may take a week to read all of it (in addition to the week of testing from para.#1), but it's worth the effort. Consider it an investment in your future. Jumping to the end and expecting special treatment is another sure way of getting banned. When you're finally ready to participate and add to the general discussion, you will be expected to post pics of your charts and your trades.
#5: There is no single post or page that says it all. You will need to read the entire thread to get the maximum effect. The regular members (and I) can pick out fakers a mile away. Please don't insult our intelligence. Scammers and trolls and time wasters are not welcome here. On the other hand, serious students that aren't afraid of putting in the time and effort are always welcome. Do yourself a favor and treat it like a marathon to get the full effect. Not only will it improve your trading, but you will earn the respect of your fellow Stairstep traders too. We've all passed throught the fire already and have come out tempered on the other end, and we welcome your company!
#6: As you read over the thread you will notice that I do not provide trading signals, nor do I provide indicator templates. I do not post pics of on-going live trades, but I do post pics of recently closed trades. In other words, I do not make it possible for members to follow my trades while they are still live. There are two main reasons for withholding this type of information: First, being spoon-fed keeps you weak, and it places the mentor above you and keeps him there forever. A real mentor wishes that his students will become as strong as he is, or even stronger. A real mentor never wishes to be the center of attention forever, just long enough to get the student on their feet and going strong. So you should expect to see a lot of "tough love" in this thread, and not a whole lot of spoon feeding. Noobs with questions already covered in the thread will be ignored; persistent noobs looking for a handout will be instructed to go back to Page One and try again. Noobs that don't get the first 2 hints usually don't get to stick around. Second, is that by providing such detailed information in a public forum, some poor soul could get the impression that I was suggesting that everyone reading my posts should follow suit. But what happens if that trade fails? Am I now responsible for everyone else's losses too? There have indeed been other Forex Factory mentors sued over losses in just this way. I don't intend to become a member of their club. So yes, out of an over-abundance of caution there are questions I simply will not answer until I am prepared to, if at all. Intelligent folks will understand this concept and respect my wishes. Those less intelligent will ignore my wishes and continually ask for my private trading details. Of the 2, guess which ones get banned and which ones don't.
#7: As of April 8, 2012, we've had 515,250 hits... the PDF in post #1 has been downloaded 10,901 times... and the custom Squlaou indicator in post #1 has been downloaded 4369 times. Also, the core system remains unchanged and is still as solid as ever.
******************************
******************************
The original first post:
Some traders swear by man-made indicators. Some swear by technicals and analysis. Today I will be presenting one of the ways I trade using breakouts based only on pure price action and simple hand drawn breakout boxes.
This method is so simple it's hard. Most traders overlook this style of trading not because it is ineffective, but because it just isn't as "sexy" as a method that employs lots of colorful lines and graphs and special lingo and complicated algorithms. This system may not be sexy (it isn't), but it is highly effective -- for me. YMMV.
Let's get right to it.
Pic #1 is highlighting the type of consolidation zones we are looking for. There is no hard and fast rule here. Simply "eyeball" the chart and pick out these types of zones, and then cover them with a rectangle from your MT4 tool bar. Later, this rectangle will be a uniform height, but for now just draw the boxes free-hand and pick out as many of these zones as you can.
This system will work for any pair on any TF. But for those who wish to follow me I am showing a G/U M15 chart from this week (ending July 1).
Paris Van Java Thread
Let share our trading analysis (a technical chart is a must ) for any
pair here. Posting without technical chart is welcome also, but for
fundamental analysis, issue and rumor only.
Thank you
Thank you
USDX
A lot of traders are referencing the USDX, so thought it should deserve its own thread.
I'm looking for a breakout below the 73,50 level for a continuation of the overall downward trend with resistance around 74,35.
USDX H1
I'm looking for a breakout below the 73,50 level for a continuation of the overall downward trend with resistance around 74,35.
USDX H1
Planetary Cycles Trading (EUR/USD)
2008.08.01 Total Solar Eclipse, change the trend.
2008.09.08 Pluto Change the direction, change the trend again.
and now,
2008.09.24 Mercury change the direction and mars opposite saturn(euro chart),
maybe this means not a trend change but i think it's time to sell.
http://www.forexfactory.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150549&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1222151153
2008.09.08 Pluto Change the direction, change the trend again.
and now,
2008.09.24 Mercury change the direction and mars opposite saturn(euro chart),
maybe this means not a trend change but i think it's time to sell.
http://www.forexfactory.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150549&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1222151153
Andrews Pitchfork (Median Line)
Update January 22-2012
FREE LIVE WEBINAR HOLD BY ME FOR ANYONE WHO WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDIAN LINE (NOTHING TO SELL OR ANY CATCH)
HERE IS THE FORM WHERE YOU SHOULD ANSWER COUPLE OF MY QUESTIONS REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE (GOOGLE WEBFORM)
I HOPE I CAN KEEP THIS WEBINAR IN ONE OR TWO WEEKS BUT THAT DEPENDS ON RESPONSES WHAT I WILL HAVE
Hello all
I like to open this thread for trading with andrews pitchfork on euro/usd
I have all median line books and e-book from Tim Morge, Greg Fisher and Gordon
I want to say i still practice but all my trading is live on mini account.
I hope we can help each other and i will try to post evry day with euro usd market update.
Regards
Catalin
FREE LIVE WEBINAR HOLD BY ME FOR ANYONE WHO WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDIAN LINE (NOTHING TO SELL OR ANY CATCH)
HERE IS THE FORM WHERE YOU SHOULD ANSWER COUPLE OF MY QUESTIONS REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE (GOOGLE WEBFORM)
I HOPE I CAN KEEP THIS WEBINAR IN ONE OR TWO WEEKS BUT THAT DEPENDS ON RESPONSES WHAT I WILL HAVE
Hello all
I like to open this thread for trading with andrews pitchfork on euro/usd
I have all median line books and e-book from Tim Morge, Greg Fisher and Gordon
I want to say i still practice but all my trading is live on mini account.
I hope we can help each other and i will try to post evry day with euro usd market update.
Regards
Catalin
vsa with Malcolm
Hi guys ... this first posting is going to be short and sweet.
This thread is to have an area where I can post my vsa charts and setups.
For those that do not know what vsa is get your hands on Master the Markets by Ton Williams. Since being guided to this form of trading by my friend and mentor , DR Geppygenius my trading has come on leaps and bounds.
Vsa . or volume spread analysis , is a way to read and understand what the pros are up to.
I am not going to spend a lot of time dedicating posts to all the rules and principles of VSA, this would take weeks and weeks. I urge you to get your hands on and read over and over Master the Markets.
This thread is a hands on approach , with potential set ups before they happen.
Keep following along for postings of vsa set ups .
This thread is to have an area where I can post my vsa charts and setups.
For those that do not know what vsa is get your hands on Master the Markets by Ton Williams. Since being guided to this form of trading by my friend and mentor , DR Geppygenius my trading has come on leaps and bounds.
Vsa . or volume spread analysis , is a way to read and understand what the pros are up to.
I am not going to spend a lot of time dedicating posts to all the rules and principles of VSA, this would take weeks and weeks. I urge you to get your hands on and read over and over Master the Markets.
This thread is a hands on approach , with potential set ups before they happen.
Keep following along for postings of vsa set ups .
EURUSD
I'm short from 1.2176 sl: 1.2265. I took the position Friday
morning around 8AM EST. I wanted to trail the stop, but
fell asleep because of whacky sleeping patterns last week.
Luckily price didnt suddenly reverse on me through my stop
again. I'm thinking about moving the s/l asap to 1.2170, about
breakeven. I'll cover on another bounce around 1.1205 area,
but I'd like to leave the trade open and hopefully make some
decent gains on a break below 1.2060 area. I wish I wouldve
gotten in earlier, but have been focusing on the GBPUSD and
USDCHF lately.
Is anybody in this trade?
What do you think about moving my stop to 1.2170? Too tight?
I placed it here because I'm thinking there is at least two levels
of resistance from where we are now on Fri close @ 1.2124:
1)1.2140 Fri high after bounce from 1.1203 (near Fri low) and ~50%
fibo from Friday high to 1.1203
2)just above 61.8% fibo (1.2159)of 1.2213->1.2077) and a prior intraday
support for Friday
If it breaks these, then I will wait until a break of 1.2213 to glong
or play smaller fibos to look for small pip gains until there is a clear
direction??
I want to be in a somewhat of a decent position just in case if it
breaks out of this daily consolidation. I might be able to re-enter
on a bounce of 1.1205 area and back down off of 1.2200 area. What do you
think of my reasoning?
How can I improve this type of fibo support/resistance analysis ... maybe with some indicators? I noticed the intraday and daily double tops and headandshoulders, btw, but didnt mention them. Both are trend reversal signals, so it is a high probality we will see more downside, but it's still kind of iffy as to when for me.
Thanks
morning around 8AM EST. I wanted to trail the stop, but
fell asleep because of whacky sleeping patterns last week.
Luckily price didnt suddenly reverse on me through my stop
again. I'm thinking about moving the s/l asap to 1.2170, about
breakeven. I'll cover on another bounce around 1.1205 area,
but I'd like to leave the trade open and hopefully make some
decent gains on a break below 1.2060 area. I wish I wouldve
gotten in earlier, but have been focusing on the GBPUSD and
USDCHF lately.
Is anybody in this trade?
What do you think about moving my stop to 1.2170? Too tight?
I placed it here because I'm thinking there is at least two levels
of resistance from where we are now on Fri close @ 1.2124:
1)1.2140 Fri high after bounce from 1.1203 (near Fri low) and ~50%
fibo from Friday high to 1.1203
2)just above 61.8% fibo (1.2159)of 1.2213->1.2077) and a prior intraday
support for Friday
If it breaks these, then I will wait until a break of 1.2213 to glong
or play smaller fibos to look for small pip gains until there is a clear
direction??
I want to be in a somewhat of a decent position just in case if it
breaks out of this daily consolidation. I might be able to re-enter
on a bounce of 1.1205 area and back down off of 1.2200 area. What do you
think of my reasoning?
How can I improve this type of fibo support/resistance analysis ... maybe with some indicators? I noticed the intraday and daily double tops and headandshoulders, btw, but didnt mention them. Both are trend reversal signals, so it is a high probality we will see more downside, but it's still kind of iffy as to when for me.
Thanks
The Really Useless Thread
Hopes for This Thread
Just a place to share a little about our methods and discuss what is and isn’t working…your strengths and weaknesses, etc. Hopefully a few seasoned people join in, and through “the beg, borrow or steal” method…er, collaboration…we can all pick up a few gems from one another to improve our own methods. No need to give away the whole farm…your edge, so to speak…though. Share as much, or as little as you like. Contribute what you can…take away what you like.
I also find I get asked the same questions quite often. I often find it a pain to re-type a response…or to dig back through my posts to find a link to post for someone. I’m just going to use this thread…and particular posts which I will update over time, as the link I provide in such cases. If you find that happens to yourself often, too…and you don’t have a thread of your own for people to reference…bang out a post with some of your method. Keep it updated…and use that link as your answer to people on the often asked questions.
Rules of the Thread
Not a lot, really. I have set the vouch level required to post at the maximum, just to reduce some of the noise. If there was an option to make a “private” thread, I probably would have done that, but there is not. Vouch limit and my “ignore list” appear to be the only method to control posting rights. My “Iggy” list is empty…so that is not much use. 10+v and anybody on my “buddy list” can post. I have never really used my buddy list before, but I will update it over the next little while with this thread in mind.
If you don’t have enough vouches and really want to post something you think is valuable, you’ll probably find me in the EU thread. I roam these halls in Invisible mode, so I’m not sure if my PM feature appears active? I have it setup to be, but am unsure what Invisibility does to its status. If it is active…anybody is welcome to PM me at anytime. If it becomes problematic, I’ll step out of the shadows and become visible again. Also…If anyone has some obvious choices for me to include on my buddy list…let it rip.
We don’t have to post live calls or anything like that here…but feel free to if you want. I picture more of a reference type thread…an ever-expanding textbook, kind of thing. Post some charts and explain a bit about your method. Try to ask and answer a few questions…if they’re good. And of course…no amount of humor is too much! Bastards…”that’s what she said’s”…all welcome!
And now…a few words from Magix, that I have reprinted “without” his permission, because he has gone out drinking Guinness and eating curry for the night!
If he wants me to pull them, I will…but I would just be rephrasing
what he has already eloquently stated. I also need to thank Magix for
helping me get this intro…and general direction of the thread together
through his own experience starting threads. And last but not least…for
the title of the thread! I was going to go with “The Really Useless
Thread,” but Magix felt it might have the opposite effect to what I was
hoping for.Edit: There is already a thread titled “The Boardroom,” Mag. Had to go back to my original Useless name.
Alright…take it away, mate…
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW TRADERS
You wanna sit and hang, perhaps learn a little something from the seasoned vets, all are welcome, BUT:
1. The market has already publicly traded since the birth of the internet, so
- Your question has already been answered. (google it or use the FF search engine)
- Your view is already shared. Again, (google it or use the FF search engine)
- You look like a fool with your tinfoil hat, and these perspectives simply are not welcome.
2. Though we all hope to gain by a collaboration of experience, we already appreciate that we are a slave to our own market experience and though hope to improve, are not looking to START our careers as traders.
3. This is not your guide to getting rich quick. If you have taken entry as posted here, use your best judgment to take profit or cut losses. Those that participate do so of their own free will, not because "You" cannot pay your rent.
4. The use of the words "Fuck", "Feck", "Fak", are not reasons to report a member to admin, they are not a lack of respect nor professionalism; they ARE words that will get used.
5. The Senior members that post here may or may not have their PM's on to answer questions for you, do not abuse that privilege. If they do not have their PM active, they may have no intention answering your question nor wanting to, leave it at that.
6. Have fun and MAKE MONEY.
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Thanks brother, Mag!
Well…that’s about it, folks. We’ll see where it goes. Thanks in advance to all that contribute…and to those that I have already learned a lot from. There are some good heads here, and I consider it a privilege to be in contact with many of you when time permits.
All the best…and much success…you bunch of bastards!
Not that it matters a shite, but…
I started and ran a particular business for almost exactly 10 years to the day. What that business was, or did, is unimportant…I sold it in 2008. Clients were large multi-nationals…think Oracle, HP, Google, Vodafone etc. etc. I was paid initially in Irish Punts…and eventually in Euros. My suppliers were mostly US based. Through one of two situations, I was often paid long in advance for goods before they were required on-site.
1- The facility wasn’t complete yet.
2- They wanted to pay out of the current fiscal year’s budget, but weren’t ready to roll out for months…sometimes over 12 months.
Figures involved were often xxx,xxx in size…and occasionally x,xxx,xxx. The first time this happened, I got lucky; by the time I ordered from my suppliers, USD was cheaper to buy than when I initially quoted and received funds. Great! I made a couple extra percent, but didn’t give it much thought. A little over a year later, the same sort of situation arose, except with funds from three new clients. This time…not so fortunate! I got my ass kicked…dollars were a lot more expensive to buy than when I quoted! I had to do some research and find ways to prevent that from happening again.
First thing I did was cut my bank out of the equation. One familiar word…bastards! I started using XE to handle all of my transactions…the savings were quite significant; 1% or so…but it added up quickly on the amount of funds being transferred. Then in trying to find ways to basically “hedge” my funds…the world of “leveraged” forex appeared before my eyes! I started lurking around here in late 2005, I believe. Joined in 2008, but was crazy busy selling a business, a house…and moving another business, a dog…and myself across the world. Have only fairly recently kind of “settled down” a little bit…hence, my blossoming post count!
So...that's me...and how I got here. Lets roll!
.
Cesarnc's market talk, gossips, rumours & fun
I decided to open this thread since the other one I use to participate
is turned into a horsetrack betting house, more than anything else.
Besides, I'm not a cable freak anymore and recently I've slowed down on my trading, since this market turned upside down, mostly on the US subprime crisis + economic outlook + Fed's BS.
This thread, now, is dedicated to daily market talk, as all the markets seem to be reacting to the last hours news, gossips and rumours. Specially acute in the stock market, but currencies at large are also bumping with high volatility responding to all those undertainties.
Those looking for tips, go look for a job as waiter, this won't be the place.
Those intending to catch up with what is next in the market are welcome.
Besides, I'm not a cable freak anymore and recently I've slowed down on my trading, since this market turned upside down, mostly on the US subprime crisis + economic outlook + Fed's BS.
This thread, now, is dedicated to daily market talk, as all the markets seem to be reacting to the last hours news, gossips and rumours. Specially acute in the stock market, but currencies at large are also bumping with high volatility responding to all those undertainties.
Those looking for tips, go look for a job as waiter, this won't be the place.
Those intending to catch up with what is next in the market are welcome.
GBP/USD and EUR/USD
Hello Traders,
I opened thread for discussion, analysis & trading GBP/USD and EUR/USD currencies. And EUR/GBP as related.
Hope in this thread, All traders can exchange ideas, discuss, analyze and share his experience.
I don't give many rules too much (additional later)
RULES (Update 17 March 2012)
1.
To keep the Thread clean, request that Members provide the post with good and serious consideration.
And I don't hesitate to put the Muppets into Ignore List, without Notice or prior Warning.
Because this Thread requires Focus, due to 2 major Currencies in Trade.
2.
Just give the sign ICON Pounds/Euro when Posting.
With the mark, the other Members can understand the Trading post.
Or enter the WORD Cable/Pounds/GU or Euro/EU to the begin of words while Posting.
This needs to be taken, so that other Members can immediately capture the Currency.
You can choose One pair or Both of the Trade...
3.
Enter the WORD EUR/GBP or EU/GU to the begin of words while Posting. Currency as Related.
RESOURCES (Added 19 March 2012)
A. Education
1. Baby Pips
EurAnalysis (EUR/???)
Welcome to EurAnalysis
Yes I know it sounds like urinalysis but in a way the purpose of this thread is to do more or less the same thing. The only difference is that instead of urine, we are analyzing the Euro against its most major counterpart; the US Dollar.
I invite all participants to contribute what they know about the EUR/USD as well as any other Euro related currency pairs.
Before I get started with submitting my first post, I want to lay down the ground rules of this thread. I only have a few rules but they will be strictly enforced.
1. During market hours, please keep the discussions strictly on issues directly related to trading the Euro and any other instrument which influences (or is influenced by) the Euro. This can be technical analysis of charts and indicators, Fundamental analysis of political and economic factors which directly or indirectly affect the Euro, or any other information you wish to exchange with others that you feel will be of help in determining general market sentiment or providing trade ideas. During off-market hours, you are free to engage in any discussion that you feel the other thread participants would find of interest. Just keep it clean please
2. If you are going to make a bold statement and represent it as fact, please back it up with authoritative references. This could be a chart for a trade call or technical analysis, or a link to a reputable news source for fundamental analysis.
3. Vulgarity, personal attacks, name calling or bullying of any kind for any reason will not be tolerated here. Neither will any posts claiming that the poster's trading methods are the only ones that work, and everybody else's is crap. Generally the only acceptable posts are the ones that offer value to other posters and I will determine whether any such posts meet that criteria at my sole discretion. Obviously healthy and clean debate is always welcome and encouraged. Furthermore, any poster who ignores any instructions given by the thread starter & moderator (that's me), will be immediately blocked without notice or explanation. This is done in order to allow me to maintain focus on my trades and other posters. If I have found reason to issue a fair warning to you, it means you have already gone too far so it is time for you to listen up and take notice.
4. In the interest of privacy and security for everyone who posts here, divulging your capital balance, profits or losses in any live trading account is very strongly discouraged. I cannot prevent you from doing it but it is not wise of you to do so on any public forums. If you want to tell other traders your profits and losses booked to balance, you may use aggregate pips based on the 4 decimal place system, or you may express it as a percentage of your capital. The same applies to floating profits and losses... pips or percentage of capital. Obviously this rule does not apply if you are trading in a demo account as long as you make that fact clear to others while posting your numbers.
Please note that failure to adhere to the rules of this thread by any member or visitor will result in a warning the first time and a possible suspension (at my sole discretion) on a repeat offence.
That's it for now but I reserve the right to add more rules as I see fit. If you have any ideas to share about some rules that will keep this thread clean and resourceful for others, please feel free to submit them.
Peace
=================================== =================================== ==================
SOME POSTING GUIDELINES:
(Added 23 October 2011)
I have noticed that at certain times, there was some discussion about certain posts made by certain members wherein text from linked articles was copied and pasted in line with the post. More specifically, the comments were more directed at these members making several such posts in succession and thereby "spamming" the thread.
While I agree that any such successive posts seem somewhat abusive, I cannot agree that they do not meet the requirements or that they violate any current rules or guidelines in this thread.
However, I would like to point out that in the interest of fairness to all, I would prefer to see less successive long postings from any one individual. If you feel a need to make a long post, please allow some time after your post for others to post their views before making another long post. The alternative would be to keep your posts short, or if you have much to say on a variety of topics, then please include them all in one post.
I must stress that these are guidelines and not rules.
I want to encourage everyone to post their views as they see fit and if an external article or news item describes it better than they can, I see no harm in quoting excerpts from any such external links.
One more thing though, which I believe I have made clear in the past and is also a rule.
During peak market hours, especially from Europe open to US close, I would like to see all philosophical, speculative and historical discussions kept to a minimum as this is the time for fundamental/technical analysis and trade calls.
=================================== =================================== ==================
DISCLAIMER:
Any trade or analysis related comments made in this thread by myself or any other person should not be interpreted as anything other than a point of view by the respective poster. It is your responsibility as a trader to decide what information to use and what to disregard and you do so at your own risk.
Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all traders or investors. Before deciding to trade the foreign exchange (Forex) markets, you should carefully consider your objectives, financial situation, needs and level of experience. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your funds and therefore, you should not speculate with capital that you cannot afford to lose.
=================================== =================================== ==================
FF EMAIL SETTINGS:
(Added 12 October 2011)
Here are some instructions regarding emails you receive from this thread.
Once you post to this thread, depending on your current profile settings regarding email notification, you may start receiving an email for every post that is made on here after yours.
In order to change those option, you have to perform the following steps.
1. Go to your profile and click on the subscriptions link in the left hand column. That will give you a list of all the threads and news items you have posted in.
2. Put a check mark in the far right column of the ones you want to change.
3. At the bottom of the list you will find a pull-down menu. There you will find the subscription action options. Just select the option you want.
4. Click GO
You're done.
=================================== =================================== ==================
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM:
Hmmm Mar 25 2012.pdf
Hmmm Apr 01 2012.pdf
Hmmm Apr 09 2012.pdf
=================================== =================================== ==================
RESOURCES:
(Added 14 October 2011)
This is a new section which will list a variety of resources for new and seasoned traders alike. I will organize it and build on it as I see fit but welcome suggestions any time.
EDUCATIONAL:
1. Baby Pips School
2. Raghee Horner's 'Best of the daily trading edge" e-book
3. Chart School from stockcharts.com
4. Explains by cnbc.com
5. John Murphy's Ten Laws of Technical Trading
6. Forex trading systems collection revealed!
7. Martin J. Pring’s 19 Trading Rules to Beat the Markets
8. Trading the Forex with Bonds - - -
MARKET CHARTS:
1. Futures from Finviz.com
2. Major Currency Pairs from finviz.com
MARKET NEWS:
1. Yahoo Finance Currency News
2. RTT News Earnings Calendar
3. Forex Factory Events Calendar
ANALYSTS:
1. Marc Chandler @ SeekingAlpha
2. John Mauldin @ JohnMauldin.com - Frontline Thoughts
FF THREADS OF INTEREST:
1. Twelve widely believed forex myths
2. Trading with Deadly Accuracy
OTHER LINKS:
1. World Clocks
2. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York foreign exchange swap agreement web page
3. The latest 10 Year Government bond yields
4. The Swede's primer on options.
RISK ON / RISK OFF:
1. Overview of Risk On/Off
2. Following Example
3. Risk On, Risk Off and the Gold Trade
4. Risk On/Off and Global Currency Flows
5. Overview of Carry Trade
6. Baby Pip's Carry Trade Criteria and Risk
7. The Carry Trade: Get With It Or Get Run Over By It
8.
PRECIOUS METALS:
1. USA Gold
RECENT ARTICLES OF INTEREST:
1. The Fed resumes printing (February 2012)
=================================== =================================== ==================
SEARCH FOR KEYWORDS:
If you would like to search this thread for a particular post you previously saw that is of interest to you, you don't need to go through all the pages looking for it. The folks at Forex Factory have provided us with a good keyword search tool which you will find just above the first post on every page as a small box called "Search This Thread". Just type in your keyword and search. Try it, it's easy.
=================================== =================================== ==================
EU Crisis (Key Dates):
--Tuesday, April 10: Greek T-bill auction.
--Wednesday, April 11: Italian T-bill auction. Settlement of foreign-law Greek bonds under PSI.
--Thursday, April 12: Italian bond (BTP) auction.
--Tuesday, April 17: Spanish, Greek T-bill auctions. German April ZEW economic-sentiment indicator.
--Wednesday, April 18: Extended deadline for some Greek foreign-law bond holdouts to tender their bonds.
--Thursday, April 19: Spanish, French bond auctions. Meeting of Group of 20 deputy finance ministers (through April 22).
--Friday, April 20: German April Ifo business-climate index. Annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank (through April 22).
--Sunday, April 22: French presidential election, first round.
--Tuesday, April 24: Spanish T-bill auction.
--Wednesday, April 25: Allotment of ECB three-month long-term refinancing operation.
--Thursday, April 26: Italian T-bill auction.
--Friday, April 27: Italian bond (BTP) auction.
--Monday, April 30: Euro-area March M3/private-sector loan data. Euro-area April inflation data.
--Wednesday, May 2: Euro-zone April manufacturing PMI data.
--Thursday, May 3: Spanish, French bond auctions. ECB rate decision and press conference in Barcelona.
--Friday, May 4: Euro-zone April services PMI data.
--Sunday, May 6: Possible second round of French presidential election. Possible Greek elections (April 29 and May 13 also likely dates).
--Monday, May 7: German March manufacturing-orders data.
--Tuesday, May 8: German March industrial-production data. Greek T-bill auction (tentative).
--Friday, May 11: Italian T-bill auction.
--Monday, May 14: Spanish, Italian bond auctions. Euro-zone finance ministers' meeting.
--Tuesday, May 15: Euro-zone flash 1Q GDP data. German May ZEW economic-sentiment indicator. EU finance ministers' meeting. Greek T-bill auction (tentative). EUR450 million Greek foreign law bond matures.
--Wednesday, May 16: French bond auction.
--Thursday, May 17: Spanish bond auction.
--Monday, May 21: Belgian bond auction.
--Tuesday, May 22: Spanish T-bill auction.
--Thursday, May 24: German April Ifo business-climate index.
--Monday, May 28: Italian bond auction (zero coupon/linker).
--Tuesday, May 29: Italian T-bill auction.
--Wednesday, May 30: Italian bond auction (BTP). Euro-area April M3/private-sector loan data. Allotment of ECB three-month long-term refinancing operation.
--Thursday, May 31: Euro-area May inflation data. Ireland holds referendum on EU fiscal pact.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ro-crisis.html
=================================== =================================== ==================
Links to Italian bond yields (15 minute delayed)
2 Year - 3 Year - 4 Year - 5 Year - 6 Year - 7 Year - 8 Year - 9 Year - 10 Year - 15 Year - 20 Year - 30 Year
Links to Spanish bond yields (15 minute delayed)
2 Year - 3 Year - 4 Year - 5 Year - 6 Year - 7 Year - 8 Year - 9 Year - 10 Year - 15 Year - 20 Year - 30 Year
Links to Greek bond yields (15 minute delayed)
2 Year - 3 Year - 4 Year - 5 Year - 6 Year - 7 Year - 8 Year - 9 Year - 10 Year - 15 Year - 20 Year - 30 Year
The latest 10 Year Government bond yields
=================================== =================================== ==================
YOU MUST READ THIS:
Don't get trapped in a marriage you cannot handle.
Always use sound money management techniques.
It will save your account and your emotional well being.
I've been trading forex for almost 10 years now. Back then it was a completely different market. If you had a 100 pip move in the EUR in a day, you were lucky. Things were much calmer and the retail forex market was smaller with much less liquidity and volume. Therefore, fundamental analysis and general market sentiment was more important than technical analysis. However, it didn't really take much effort to be a position trader. All you had to do was buy euros on every dip and let them all ride for as long as the fundies and sentiment pointed upwards. The only indicators I used back then were fibonacci tools, a 10ema and a 144ema.
Then came 2008 and everything changed. The markets became more irrational, less predictable and more challenging to stay in the game without more in-depth technical analysis. But that only applies to intraday trading.
From a position trader's perspective looking at the very long term, if you look at the monthly Euro chart, I see the formation of a bull flag on its way to completing wave 5 downwards. My target based on this view is around the 1.12 handle which makes it a 61.8% retrace of the 2000 lows at 0.8225 to the 2008 highs at 1.6019.
Obviously these moves do not happen in a straight line so let's take a closer look at this same monthly chart. Right now I see that we are sitting on a falling trend line offering relatively medium support at around the 1.35 area (Where we are now). The monthly candle for September has significantly pierced this line, rebounded, and is now challenging it again.
From a purely technical perspective, assuming this area offers major support, the move further down is not likely to happen until the October candle and from this candle's lows at 1.3383 we should expect a rebound of approx 200 to 300 pips upwards to approx 1.3585 to 1.3685 (If we look at smaller time frames we would be able to more closely narrow down the targets but for the purpose of this post we will stick to the monthly perspective only).
The above mentioned 200 to 300 pip estimate is based on the monthly rebounds of similar long term trend line penetrations. More specifically the 2008 downward penetration of the long term rising trend line and the similar 2010 downward penetration of the newer long term rising trend line. (Refer to chart)
Now, without getting into too many specifics, let's add some of the current fundamentals and general market sentiments to the picture. I will provide some reference to some news articles which back up my following statements but I am not going to get too in depth here as it would take far too much space. This is just one post and not an entire thread. LOL
1. The situation in Europe is all doom and gloom and the politicians do not seem to be doing much about it. Every day more and more economists are calling for a Greek default. Politicians who were opposed to a default are now admitting that a default becomes more and more possible each day. They do not want a default because they do not know what the outcome would be and how much damage it would inflict on the economy. However, they are now starting to realize that kicking the can down the road just causes more uncertainty in the markets and in corporate & consumer confidence. This is not good for the global economy. Therefore, default or no default, the outlook is negative.
http://www.forexcrunch.com/greek-def...r-6-countries/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...om-europe.html
2. The growth forecasts have once again been adjusted downwards. The ECB will eventually have no choice but to reverse its rate increase of 0.5% earlier this year. This move will probably come at the next ECB council meeting and be reflected in the October rate statement. The only question is if it will be 0.25% or the full 0.5%.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...78M03Z20110923
I think I've said enough for now. I suggest you keep your eyes on the news section and perhaps tune in to CNBC and/or Bloomberg to get a better sense on what is going on out there. You don't need an economics degree to figure it out. The writing is on the wall and the technicals support the fundamentals as well as the general sentiment.
In conclusion, we should all realize that nobody can predict what is going to happen. We can only make our next trade decision based on the best information available to us. The best chance of a trade being successful depends on how all three analysis methods line up with each other. Confluence of everything, just like when all your technical indicators point to a specific direction. If you ignore the fundamentals, you're not doing a compete analysis and your chances of loss increase.
Happy trading and good green profitable pips to all
Yes I know it sounds like urinalysis but in a way the purpose of this thread is to do more or less the same thing. The only difference is that instead of urine, we are analyzing the Euro against its most major counterpart; the US Dollar.
I invite all participants to contribute what they know about the EUR/USD as well as any other Euro related currency pairs.
Before I get started with submitting my first post, I want to lay down the ground rules of this thread. I only have a few rules but they will be strictly enforced.
1. During market hours, please keep the discussions strictly on issues directly related to trading the Euro and any other instrument which influences (or is influenced by) the Euro. This can be technical analysis of charts and indicators, Fundamental analysis of political and economic factors which directly or indirectly affect the Euro, or any other information you wish to exchange with others that you feel will be of help in determining general market sentiment or providing trade ideas. During off-market hours, you are free to engage in any discussion that you feel the other thread participants would find of interest. Just keep it clean please
2. If you are going to make a bold statement and represent it as fact, please back it up with authoritative references. This could be a chart for a trade call or technical analysis, or a link to a reputable news source for fundamental analysis.
3. Vulgarity, personal attacks, name calling or bullying of any kind for any reason will not be tolerated here. Neither will any posts claiming that the poster's trading methods are the only ones that work, and everybody else's is crap. Generally the only acceptable posts are the ones that offer value to other posters and I will determine whether any such posts meet that criteria at my sole discretion. Obviously healthy and clean debate is always welcome and encouraged. Furthermore, any poster who ignores any instructions given by the thread starter & moderator (that's me), will be immediately blocked without notice or explanation. This is done in order to allow me to maintain focus on my trades and other posters. If I have found reason to issue a fair warning to you, it means you have already gone too far so it is time for you to listen up and take notice.
4. In the interest of privacy and security for everyone who posts here, divulging your capital balance, profits or losses in any live trading account is very strongly discouraged. I cannot prevent you from doing it but it is not wise of you to do so on any public forums. If you want to tell other traders your profits and losses booked to balance, you may use aggregate pips based on the 4 decimal place system, or you may express it as a percentage of your capital. The same applies to floating profits and losses... pips or percentage of capital. Obviously this rule does not apply if you are trading in a demo account as long as you make that fact clear to others while posting your numbers.
Please note that failure to adhere to the rules of this thread by any member or visitor will result in a warning the first time and a possible suspension (at my sole discretion) on a repeat offence.
That's it for now but I reserve the right to add more rules as I see fit. If you have any ideas to share about some rules that will keep this thread clean and resourceful for others, please feel free to submit them.
Peace
=================================== =================================== ==================
SOME POSTING GUIDELINES:
(Added 23 October 2011)
I have noticed that at certain times, there was some discussion about certain posts made by certain members wherein text from linked articles was copied and pasted in line with the post. More specifically, the comments were more directed at these members making several such posts in succession and thereby "spamming" the thread.
While I agree that any such successive posts seem somewhat abusive, I cannot agree that they do not meet the requirements or that they violate any current rules or guidelines in this thread.
However, I would like to point out that in the interest of fairness to all, I would prefer to see less successive long postings from any one individual. If you feel a need to make a long post, please allow some time after your post for others to post their views before making another long post. The alternative would be to keep your posts short, or if you have much to say on a variety of topics, then please include them all in one post.
I must stress that these are guidelines and not rules.
I want to encourage everyone to post their views as they see fit and if an external article or news item describes it better than they can, I see no harm in quoting excerpts from any such external links.
One more thing though, which I believe I have made clear in the past and is also a rule.
During peak market hours, especially from Europe open to US close, I would like to see all philosophical, speculative and historical discussions kept to a minimum as this is the time for fundamental/technical analysis and trade calls.
=================================== =================================== ==================
DISCLAIMER:
Any trade or analysis related comments made in this thread by myself or any other person should not be interpreted as anything other than a point of view by the respective poster. It is your responsibility as a trader to decide what information to use and what to disregard and you do so at your own risk.
Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all traders or investors. Before deciding to trade the foreign exchange (Forex) markets, you should carefully consider your objectives, financial situation, needs and level of experience. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your funds and therefore, you should not speculate with capital that you cannot afford to lose.
=================================== =================================== ==================
FF EMAIL SETTINGS:
(Added 12 October 2011)
Here are some instructions regarding emails you receive from this thread.
Once you post to this thread, depending on your current profile settings regarding email notification, you may start receiving an email for every post that is made on here after yours.
In order to change those option, you have to perform the following steps.
1. Go to your profile and click on the subscriptions link in the left hand column. That will give you a list of all the threads and news items you have posted in.
2. Put a check mark in the far right column of the ones you want to change.
3. At the bottom of the list you will find a pull-down menu. There you will find the subscription action options. Just select the option you want.
4. Click GO
You're done.
=================================== =================================== ==================
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM:
Hmmm Mar 25 2012.pdf
Hmmm Apr 01 2012.pdf
Hmmm Apr 09 2012.pdf
=================================== =================================== ==================
RESOURCES:
(Added 14 October 2011)
This is a new section which will list a variety of resources for new and seasoned traders alike. I will organize it and build on it as I see fit but welcome suggestions any time.
EDUCATIONAL:
1. Baby Pips School
2. Raghee Horner's 'Best of the daily trading edge" e-book
3. Chart School from stockcharts.com
4. Explains by cnbc.com
5. John Murphy's Ten Laws of Technical Trading
6. Forex trading systems collection revealed!
7. Martin J. Pring’s 19 Trading Rules to Beat the Markets
8. Trading the Forex with Bonds - - -
MARKET CHARTS:
1. Futures from Finviz.com
2. Major Currency Pairs from finviz.com
MARKET NEWS:
1. Yahoo Finance Currency News
2. RTT News Earnings Calendar
3. Forex Factory Events Calendar
ANALYSTS:
1. Marc Chandler @ SeekingAlpha
2. John Mauldin @ JohnMauldin.com - Frontline Thoughts
FF THREADS OF INTEREST:
1. Twelve widely believed forex myths
2. Trading with Deadly Accuracy
OTHER LINKS:
1. World Clocks
2. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York foreign exchange swap agreement web page
3. The latest 10 Year Government bond yields
4. The Swede's primer on options.
RISK ON / RISK OFF:
1. Overview of Risk On/Off
2. Following Example
3. Risk On, Risk Off and the Gold Trade
4. Risk On/Off and Global Currency Flows
5. Overview of Carry Trade
6. Baby Pip's Carry Trade Criteria and Risk
7. The Carry Trade: Get With It Or Get Run Over By It
8.
PRECIOUS METALS:
1. USA Gold
RECENT ARTICLES OF INTEREST:
1. The Fed resumes printing (February 2012)
=================================== =================================== ==================
SEARCH FOR KEYWORDS:
If you would like to search this thread for a particular post you previously saw that is of interest to you, you don't need to go through all the pages looking for it. The folks at Forex Factory have provided us with a good keyword search tool which you will find just above the first post on every page as a small box called "Search This Thread". Just type in your keyword and search. Try it, it's easy.
=================================== =================================== ==================
EU Crisis (Key Dates):
--Tuesday, April 10: Greek T-bill auction.
--Wednesday, April 11: Italian T-bill auction. Settlement of foreign-law Greek bonds under PSI.
--Thursday, April 12: Italian bond (BTP) auction.
--Tuesday, April 17: Spanish, Greek T-bill auctions. German April ZEW economic-sentiment indicator.
--Wednesday, April 18: Extended deadline for some Greek foreign-law bond holdouts to tender their bonds.
--Thursday, April 19: Spanish, French bond auctions. Meeting of Group of 20 deputy finance ministers (through April 22).
--Friday, April 20: German April Ifo business-climate index. Annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank (through April 22).
--Sunday, April 22: French presidential election, first round.
--Tuesday, April 24: Spanish T-bill auction.
--Wednesday, April 25: Allotment of ECB three-month long-term refinancing operation.
--Thursday, April 26: Italian T-bill auction.
--Friday, April 27: Italian bond (BTP) auction.
--Monday, April 30: Euro-area March M3/private-sector loan data. Euro-area April inflation data.
--Wednesday, May 2: Euro-zone April manufacturing PMI data.
--Thursday, May 3: Spanish, French bond auctions. ECB rate decision and press conference in Barcelona.
--Friday, May 4: Euro-zone April services PMI data.
--Sunday, May 6: Possible second round of French presidential election. Possible Greek elections (April 29 and May 13 also likely dates).
--Monday, May 7: German March manufacturing-orders data.
--Tuesday, May 8: German March industrial-production data. Greek T-bill auction (tentative).
--Friday, May 11: Italian T-bill auction.
--Monday, May 14: Spanish, Italian bond auctions. Euro-zone finance ministers' meeting.
--Tuesday, May 15: Euro-zone flash 1Q GDP data. German May ZEW economic-sentiment indicator. EU finance ministers' meeting. Greek T-bill auction (tentative). EUR450 million Greek foreign law bond matures.
--Wednesday, May 16: French bond auction.
--Thursday, May 17: Spanish bond auction.
--Monday, May 21: Belgian bond auction.
--Tuesday, May 22: Spanish T-bill auction.
--Thursday, May 24: German April Ifo business-climate index.
--Monday, May 28: Italian bond auction (zero coupon/linker).
--Tuesday, May 29: Italian T-bill auction.
--Wednesday, May 30: Italian bond auction (BTP). Euro-area April M3/private-sector loan data. Allotment of ECB three-month long-term refinancing operation.
--Thursday, May 31: Euro-area May inflation data. Ireland holds referendum on EU fiscal pact.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ro-crisis.html
=================================== =================================== ==================
Links to Italian bond yields (15 minute delayed)
2 Year - 3 Year - 4 Year - 5 Year - 6 Year - 7 Year - 8 Year - 9 Year - 10 Year - 15 Year - 20 Year - 30 Year
Links to Spanish bond yields (15 minute delayed)
2 Year - 3 Year - 4 Year - 5 Year - 6 Year - 7 Year - 8 Year - 9 Year - 10 Year - 15 Year - 20 Year - 30 Year
Links to Greek bond yields (15 minute delayed)
2 Year - 3 Year - 4 Year - 5 Year - 6 Year - 7 Year - 8 Year - 9 Year - 10 Year - 15 Year - 20 Year - 30 Year
The latest 10 Year Government bond yields
=================================== =================================== ==================
YOU MUST READ THIS:
Don't get trapped in a marriage you cannot handle.
Always use sound money management techniques.
It will save your account and your emotional well being.
I've been trading forex for almost 10 years now. Back then it was a completely different market. If you had a 100 pip move in the EUR in a day, you were lucky. Things were much calmer and the retail forex market was smaller with much less liquidity and volume. Therefore, fundamental analysis and general market sentiment was more important than technical analysis. However, it didn't really take much effort to be a position trader. All you had to do was buy euros on every dip and let them all ride for as long as the fundies and sentiment pointed upwards. The only indicators I used back then were fibonacci tools, a 10ema and a 144ema.
Then came 2008 and everything changed. The markets became more irrational, less predictable and more challenging to stay in the game without more in-depth technical analysis. But that only applies to intraday trading.
From a position trader's perspective looking at the very long term, if you look at the monthly Euro chart, I see the formation of a bull flag on its way to completing wave 5 downwards. My target based on this view is around the 1.12 handle which makes it a 61.8% retrace of the 2000 lows at 0.8225 to the 2008 highs at 1.6019.
Obviously these moves do not happen in a straight line so let's take a closer look at this same monthly chart. Right now I see that we are sitting on a falling trend line offering relatively medium support at around the 1.35 area (Where we are now). The monthly candle for September has significantly pierced this line, rebounded, and is now challenging it again.
From a purely technical perspective, assuming this area offers major support, the move further down is not likely to happen until the October candle and from this candle's lows at 1.3383 we should expect a rebound of approx 200 to 300 pips upwards to approx 1.3585 to 1.3685 (If we look at smaller time frames we would be able to more closely narrow down the targets but for the purpose of this post we will stick to the monthly perspective only).
The above mentioned 200 to 300 pip estimate is based on the monthly rebounds of similar long term trend line penetrations. More specifically the 2008 downward penetration of the long term rising trend line and the similar 2010 downward penetration of the newer long term rising trend line. (Refer to chart)
Now, without getting into too many specifics, let's add some of the current fundamentals and general market sentiments to the picture. I will provide some reference to some news articles which back up my following statements but I am not going to get too in depth here as it would take far too much space. This is just one post and not an entire thread. LOL
1. The situation in Europe is all doom and gloom and the politicians do not seem to be doing much about it. Every day more and more economists are calling for a Greek default. Politicians who were opposed to a default are now admitting that a default becomes more and more possible each day. They do not want a default because they do not know what the outcome would be and how much damage it would inflict on the economy. However, they are now starting to realize that kicking the can down the road just causes more uncertainty in the markets and in corporate & consumer confidence. This is not good for the global economy. Therefore, default or no default, the outlook is negative.
http://www.forexcrunch.com/greek-def...r-6-countries/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...om-europe.html
2. The growth forecasts have once again been adjusted downwards. The ECB will eventually have no choice but to reverse its rate increase of 0.5% earlier this year. This move will probably come at the next ECB council meeting and be reflected in the October rate statement. The only question is if it will be 0.25% or the full 0.5%.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...78M03Z20110923
I think I've said enough for now. I suggest you keep your eyes on the news section and perhaps tune in to CNBC and/or Bloomberg to get a better sense on what is going on out there. You don't need an economics degree to figure it out. The writing is on the wall and the technicals support the fundamentals as well as the general sentiment.
In conclusion, we should all realize that nobody can predict what is going to happen. We can only make our next trade decision based on the best information available to us. The best chance of a trade being successful depends on how all three analysis methods line up with each other. Confluence of everything, just like when all your technical indicators point to a specific direction. If you ignore the fundamentals, you're not doing a compete analysis and your chances of loss increase.
Happy trading and good green profitable pips to all
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