A student who started to learn to trade with me earlier this year has sent in this week’s “Trade Of The Week”. Firstly, here is Glynn Morrison’s chart showing his Gold trade that started on Tuesday evening and ran through ’til Wednesday evening. He managed a profit of just over 250 pips. (please click on images to enlarge)
And here is his explanation regarding the trade:
Glynn used the UTB strategy from the “Any-Time” Collection Of Strategies.
07:20am (CET) ~ I am up early this morning to check on the state of my broadband signal after a frustrating day yesterday. It would seem to be slightly better although I am still having problems receiving emails – but I am, flying back to the UK later today so normal service will be resume shortly.
On the markets, we shall probably see the European indices build on yesterday’s strong gains after US markets had their second best day this year on optimism that politicians on Capitol Hill are close to coming to a temporary agreement to extend the deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling, without any preconditions by six weeks after President Obama indicated he would consider the proposal. There are going to be a few more twists and turns though before this problem is finally sorted. Gold had another down day carrying on from the daily chart Doji/Spinning-top on Tuesday that signalled a downward reversal – the price hit an important moving average as well on Tuesday. If the U.S. markets continue upwards today we’ll probably see more selling on the Gold chart.
11:10am (CET) ~ Broadband slightly better but I’ve got a few things to sort out before we fly back to the UK later this afternoon so no trading for me today. Now it’s a cycle up to Guadalest for me and a couple of friends and some lunch while we’re up there.
10:55am (CET) ~ After a very late night out, I’ve had a gentle start to the day here – I had a cycle ride down into Calpe and hour ago and I’m now going to have a 100 lengths in the pool and then into the study to email students with trade updates etc. I have mainly kept fit by cycling, but a German trader I met last night has swam every day for the past 50 years or so (he’s 89 years old) and he has the physique of a forty year old, so I can’t do me any harm if I copy his regime. I doubt I am going manage 100 lengths firs time, but it’s going to be a good goal.
The markets today are set to open higher, buoyed by overnight gains in the US. The reasoning is that a scheduled meeting between Obama and some Republicans later today indicates a glimmer of light in the shut down saga, although we will see if it’s just more time wasting by the opposition. The Dow Jones 30 and S&P500 rose yesterday as President Obama nominated Dr. Janet Yellen as the new Federal Reserve Chief. Some traders were bullish after the announcement as she is seen to be supportive of the Fed’s bond buying programme. Gold prices fell today as main indices made gains and the Dollar rallied to regain some of its value. Gold prices fell over 1% trading below the $1300 an ounce at the session low shortly before the close.
13:30pm (CET) ~ I am experiencing some broadband difficulties here today, which is fairly typical for the area, and it’s having an impact on my trading plus email communications. Hopefully we will see an improvement soon, at the moment it’s on for 5 minutes then off for an hour. Can’t wait to get back to the UK even though the weather is getting worse apparently.
23:45pm (CET) ~ Broadband even more sporadic this evening…….
09:15am (CET) ~ Well, five small words yesterday put the U.S. equity markets into a tailspin – President Obama last night said “there is no magic bullet” to solve the budget showdown, which saw the biggest one day slide in the S&P500 in almost a year. You will however be pleased to hear that two of my strategies caught the nice move down (email me for details – customers have already received these) There is hope that the House Of Representative Speak John Boehner will agree to hold a vote on the crisis and the moderates will pull the U.S. back from the brink. The bad news on the markets sent the price of Gold upwards at the start of the U.S. trading session but by the close it had retreated back broadly to where it started.
I shall be here in the study this morning watching my charts, so I will report back later with any trade details, but first a cycle ride down into Calpe for an hour.
11:35am (CET) ~ Not much going on in the markets, so I am off for my cycle ride and some food shopping at the Mercadona.
15:05pm (CET) ~ I’m back home now so it’s back into the study for some emailing and Skype calls, plus a bit of chart watching again to see if the markets have woken up a bit.
15:45pm (CET) ~ The charts have cheered up slightly and the S&P500 has taken a big drop since the start of the U.S. trading session, and I have taken advantage of this with one of the trendFX strategies – I am in with a short trade on the index and currently I am 4 pips in profit, and hoping for greater things soon !
17:40pm (CET) ~ The S&P has staged a sharp reversal in price so I am out of my trade with an 82 pip profit. I shall now stay in front of this laptop and watch for trades with my evening system – plus any other opportunities that come up in the next few hours.
18:40pm (CET) ~ I’ve just had a couple of short trades with my “Trade With A Day Job” system, both were stopped out quite quickly with scores of minus 23 pips and minus 19 pips. I have still got an hour or so before we’re going out for dinner so I’ll see if there are any other trade set-ups to go for.
19:25pm (CET) ~ Trade opportunities this evening are like London buses, nothing for a while and then two at the same time - I am now in two ‘long’ positions, one on the S&P500 and the other on my Gold chart.
20:10pm (CET) ~ I am now out of both my trades now, and there’s another opportunity on my Brent Oil chart come upbut I shall leave that as 1) I am off out now for dinner with ‘head-office’ and 2) I have more than enough pips for the day. My S&P trade gave me +54 pips and the Gold trade ended with +61 pips
Daily Target Reached ? YES (+155) I have traded on and off all day.
10:15am (CET) ~ There’s not going to be much trading going this morning as I’ve promised to help the builder with some jobs he is doing in the pool pump-house. Hopefully I will find some time after lunch to sit down and do some emails and watch my MT4 charts.
The markets today are due for another gentle fall as the U.S. Congress is still at a stalemate concerning their debt-crisis. Traders are wary of placing any large trades in the market in case there is a surprise announcement, so profit-taking seems to be the order of the day after a good run-up in the indices last month. This current impasse is also affecting the value of Gold, so the value is slowly edging up as investors once again seek a safe haven for their money. Volatility is climbing in the oil markets and is likely to continue as many grow concerned over the risk of default in the U.S.
15:35pm (CET) ~ I have just got back home after a nice lunch and I am now going to sit down for a couple of hours to do some emails and Skype calls. I will watch some charts as well.
17:45pm (CET) ~ There’s not much happening in the markets this afternoon but I have found one ‘short’ trade on the S&P500. The price is heading down towards 16600 so we will see if it reaches there for a quick profit. There may well be a ‘Short’ on Gold as well if the price continues to fall on that chart.
18:55pm (CET) ~ It’s turning out to be quite a busy evening – I’m out of my S&P500 trade at 16602 (+52 pips) and I’m in another on the same index, but this time with my “Trade With A Day Job” strategy. I also got into the Gold ‘short’ that I mentioned might happen earlier.
20:05pm (CET) ~ I am now out of my 2nd “Trade With |A Day Job” trade of the evening, my first that I mentioned previously was stopped out at -19 pips but this second one came in at +39 pips so I still achieved the target 20 pips for the system. My Gold trade has come down fairly well but now seems to be stuck with no real momentum, and as we’re due out for dinner in a short while I may have to just cut it short and end the position prematurely.
20:35pm (CET) ~ I have just closed the Gold position with a small 28 pip profit, so all in all I’ve had four trades this evening, one loser and the other three coming out ahead. My overall score has come out at exactly 100 pips.
Daily Target Reached ? YES (+100 pips) I traded early evening today.
09:35am (CET) ~ Although there was no bad news over the weekend, the European markets are opening considerably lower as there is growing concern about the debt-ceiling crisis in the U.S. the world’s largest economy. Originally it was perceived by the markets as merely political point-scoring between the democrats and republicans, but now due to the total lack of compromise on either side, traders are getting more nervous as it looks like there will be a serious consequences for the U.S. economy. And as we know, if the U.S. sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.
There’s no trading for me today as I am down in the marina helping with boat repairs hopefully followed by a peaceful sail in the sun. Before that a cycle down into Calpe to start the week off on a healthy note.
New students who learn to trade with me send in their own trades for me to evaluate as part of their trading education. Every week I pick one to highlight as “Trade Of The Week” and today we have a UTB strategy trade on the 30 minute S&P500 (e-mini) chart.
The trade was sent in by student Alan Farleigh who works shifts so has not permanent time to trade, he has to work it around his work/shift patterns. The trade he has sent in is one that lasted all through the night a few days ago. Here’s his chart (click on image to enlarge)
And this is the accompanying email he sent over:
He ended up with a 128 pip profit.
09:45am (CET) ~ The big news on the markets today is the fact that the government shutdown is going to affect the Non Farm Payrolls announcement today according to this notice from the Bureau Of Labor Statistics. Basically, it’s not going to happen so we may see a normal days trading today instead of the usual narrow trading range followed by volatility. We experienced a large drop in the major U.S. financial markets as soon as they opened yesterday – mainly due I believe to traders finally facing up to the fact that Congress is dragging their heels regarding the debt ceiling, and procrastination and arguing seems to be the order of the day instead of negotiation. Adding to this problem was a shooting at Capitol Hill in Washington which unnerved the markets as well.
We saw some profit taking in the Oil markets yesterday after the previous day’s sharp rally which sent the U.S. WTI crude prices 94 cents down to $102.86 a barrel. Investors remained concerned the US government shutdown will harm fuel demand as talks between President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders failed to come up with a solution. And Gold is stuck between a rock and a hard place as a drop in demand from China was weighed against investor hedging meant that the yellow metal ended the day broadly unchanged.
My working day is going to quite short, I have four Skype calls booked this morning with budding traders plus a few hours of emails as well. We are out on the boat later on as it seems as though temperatures are going to rise back over 30 degrees at lunchtime.
19:05pm (CET) ~ Due to the fact there was a broken spinnaker on the boat when we tried to get out of the marina this afternoon, I am back home earlier than planned. I am going to watch my charts for a couple of hours before we’re due out for dinner at 9pm.
20:55pm ~ I ended up having two trades with my evening beginenr’s strategy – the first one was stopped out at minus 11 pips and the second came in at +31 pips so overall I hit my daily target.
Daily Target Reached ? YES (+20 pips) I traded for a couple of hours this evening
10:05am (9:05am UK time) ~ We got in very late last night (well 3:30am this morning) so it’s not going to be a busy morning as I feel slightly tired today. I have got a cycle ride up to Guadalest with some friends before lunch but before then it’s going to be a quiet time here in the study doing some emails. This afternoon I’m off to Alicante Airport to pick up some friends who are flying in from the UK.
With no truce in sight yesterday in the US Congress regarding the federal budget, the equities markets reversed course on the open and headed south for most of the session. Investors are still digesting the news of the government shutdown, but are now looking for a possible time span of the current stalemate. The Dow Jones dropped 115 points to 15,210 amid very high odds the Non Farm Payrolls numbers will not be released this Friday as the civil servants in Washington who normally compile the numbers have been sent home from work this week as there’s no money to pay their wages.
The WTI Crude price climbed yesterday partly because of news that a planned gulf pipeline will be completed and ready to start up by the end of the year. U.S oil futures ended the day $2.06 per barrel higher making it the largest gains in two weeks on Wednesday. Prices were up 2 percent on the close, also helped by the weakening dollar and uncertainty in the market. The rising prices were in spite of data from the U.S. showing a rise in crude stockpiles.
17:00pm ~ After a relaxing nice day away from the markets, I’m going to sit down now with this laptop for a few hours to see what comes up on the S&P500
17:30pm ~ The markets are moving quite well this afternoon and I’ve just taken advantage of the large move down on the S&P500 and joined in with a strategy-3 trade from my trendFX collection of systems.
19:35pm ~ I am now out of my last trade of this evening. There is a certain occurrence that sometimes happens at 5pm UK time (6pm out here) and tonight it was right on time and the resulting trade gave me a +102 pips. My earlier S&P trade finished just before my last trade and resulted in a 47 pip profit. I’m now going to cook supper for our guests.
Daily Target Reached ? YES (+149 pips) I just traded early evening today
07:35am (CET) ~ A nice early start for me today as a lot of tradesmen over here tend to work first thing in the morning and then have a (very) long lunch break. I have an electrician coming in to sort out some very old wiring in a minute and also a bricklayer to sort out a crumbling wall in the garden. While that’s going on I’m going to be here in the study watching some charts and catching up on emails. It has been suggested by ‘Head-Office’ that I should perhaps do some decorating in one of the guest bedrooms today but chart-watching is far more interesting in my humble opinion….
The markets yesterday seemed to shrug off the problems in Congress regarding the debt-ceiling and the Dow Jones and S&P500 ended mainly ahead for the day, although the London FTSE100 index formed a Doji on the daily chart through a broadly ‘flat’ day’s trading. As mentioned yesterday, the Gold price hit a resistance level at two intersecting moving averages on its daily chart and as a consequence had a sharp move down for most of the day, a move which I caught using one of my trendFX strategies. Oil prices staged a down-day yesterday but U.S. Weekly Crude Stockpile Levels are reported later today so there may well be a move upwards off the two-day support level at $101.
08:30am ~ I am currently in the market with a ‘short’ on my S&P500 chart. The current score is minus 3 pips but my trendFX strategy 3 set-up is suggesting a good move down from here. We will see.
09:55am ~ I’m out of the market now, the S&P500 moved down quite well over the past 90 minutes, and I am currently sitting on a +73 pip profit for the day.
10:50am ~ Just spotted another strategy 3 set-up, this time on my Brent Oil chart, I am now in a ‘long’ position with a very slight profit.
14:20pm ~ Off for a late lunch now in Calpe. I came out of my Brent Oil trade a short while ago with a 64 pip profit.
17:25pm ~ After a very long lazy lunch I’m back home now and ready to do a bit of chart watching with my “Trade With A Day Job” strategy. It kicks off at 5 o’clock UK time, 6pm over here and I shall watch the S&p500 chart until 7:30 when we’re off out for the rest of the night at a poker evening with a neighbour up the road. I’ve just looked at a couple of charts and while I’ve been out this afternoon there’s been some quite profitable trades I have missed.
19:30pm ~ That’s me done with trading for the day, I had two (long) trades this evening with my beginner’s strategy one after the other and both coming out at 20 pips profit each.
Daily Target Reached ? YES (+177 pips) I have traded on and off all day
Here’s a chart screenshot of my earlier S&P500 trade that I took a few seconds after I came out of the market.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
