Bollinger Bands

John Bollinger is a giant in today’s trading community. His Bollinger Bands sharpen the sensitivity of fixed indicators, allowing them to more precisely reflect a market’s volatility. By more accurately indicating the existing market environment, they are seen by many as today’s standard and most reliable tool for plotting expected price action. Now, in Bollinger on Bollinger Bands, Bollinger himself explains how to use this extraordinary technique to compare price and indicator action and make sound, sensible, and profitable trading decisions.
Concise, straightforward, and filled with instructive charts and graphs, this remarkable book will be essential reading for all serious traders, regardless of market. Bollinger includes his simple system for implementation, and techniques for combining bands and indicators.

Learn how to use Bollinger Bands

EUR/USD has edged higher in the Asian and European sessions.

EUR/USD has started the week with slight gains, as the pair trades in the mid-1.22 range in Monday’s European session. The euro had awful week, losing about 200 points. EUR/USD is trading at its lowest level since July 2012. On the release front, German Import Prices posted a decline of 0.8%. Later in the day, Eurozone Consumer Confidence will be released. In the US, today’s only event is Existing Homes. The markets are expecting the indicator to soften in November, with an estimate of 5.21 million.
Recent releases out of Germany, the Eurozone’s largest economy, have been cause for optimism. The January forecast for German Consumer Climate came in at 9.0 points, a notch above the estimate of 8.9 points. This marked the fourth straight rise for the indicator, pointing to stronger optimism from consumers as we head into the New Year. These strong numbers come on the heels of German Business Climate, which improved to 105.5 points, up from 104.4 a month earlier. This edged above the forecast of 105.4 points. On the inflation front, German PPI, which tracks manufacturing inflation, improved to 0.0% in November, up from -0.2% a month earlier. Like the consumer confidence indicator, this release is on an upward trend. Strong German consumer and business confidence numbers are welcome news, as the Eurozone economy continues to struggle.
EUR/USD has edged higher in the Asian and European sessions.
1.2143 is a strong support level.
1.2286 is a weak resistance line. 1.2407 is stronger. EUR/USD ratio is pointing to gains in long positions on Monday. This is not consistent with the pair’s movement, as the euro has posted slight gains. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards the euro continuing to move to higher ground.

USD/CHF Daily

 USD/CHF  Daily
14::05 GMT - Little change last several hours with prices trading      either side of 0.9800. Close res. is still around 0.9820 followed by  0.9847.  A subsequent move above here, if seen, should target 0.9865 next. The overhead res. is at 0.9898. Sup. is a few pipseither side of 0.9750. N.I.
R5: 0.9898 * Aug 12 high
R4: 0.9972 * 2012 high
R3: 0.9898 * Aug 12 high
R2: 0.9865  projection
R1: 0.9847  Thurs high
S1: 0.9750~  recent high/low
S2: 0.9719 * Thurs low
S3: 0.9675  recent high
S4: 0.9625  intraday level
S5: 0.9592 * Wed low

Gaps are a magnet for a stock price

The simplicity of trading for short term profits or long term wealth for retirement is really down to the basic dynamics concerned with how to actually trade in an effective, objective and logical manner.Thus if there are only three things you can do in the market after all, that is buy it, sell it or do nothing. It doesn’t get much simpler then that stick to your trading plan.  Once you are in a trade you have to decide for yourself what you are going to do next. Traders need to gain experience and keep working to improve their performance.
New traders are either going to win on the trade, lose on it or maybe break even from time to time but whatever the outcome, this is the one true unknown element and thus, is what makes the act of trading not so easy. When traders kept records and got consistently better at finding decent trades, they soon learned that if they took the smart profits off the table when they had the chance to do so, they made money consistently. When traders didn’t, They would lose money. Yes we all want the most out of trades when we take them but we never really know how far they will run, so why not take a profit that is possible rather than hope the trade is going up more this is a mistake. Most successful traders hope this makes an impact in their results and more money in their accounts.

Trading Gap Zones

USD/JPY

The Japanese yen has made huge gains on Tuesday, as USD/JPY trades in the high-115 range on Tuesday. Late in the European session, the pair is trading under the 116 line, marking a 4-month low. On the release front, Japanese Manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 52.1 points. Later in the day, Japan will release Trade Balance. In the US, today’s major events are Building Permits and Housing Starts.
The yen has served as an unwilling punching bag for the US dollar for months, and last week USD/JPY pushed above the 121 line. However, the Japanese currency has turned the tables this week, as the yen has gained 200 points on Tuesday and some 320 since the start of the week. The safe-haven yen took advantage of a dip in the Chinese Flash Manufacturing PMI, which came in at 49.5 points. This pointed to contraction in the PMI for the first time May and raises concerns about the soft global economy.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party registered a convincing election victory on the weekend, giving Prime Minister Abe a comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament. However, winning the election is likely to be the easy part, as the economy is stumbling and Abe’s economic reforms will face resistance from the upper house. Growth and inflation have not met the government’s target and the yen has tumbled to around 120 under “Abenomics”, with the BoJ implementing radical monetary easing. Meanwhile, the Japanese Tankan indices were a mix in the Q3 readings. The Manufacturing Index dipped to 12 points, down from 13 points in Q2. There was better news from the Non-Manufacturing Index, improving to 16 points, up from 14 points in Q2. The yen showed little response to these key releases.

USD/JPY has posted gains on Monday

USD/JPY has posted gains on Monday, following huge losses last week as the yen rebounded. In the European session, the pair is trading just shy of the 119 line. On Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic party swept to victory in parliamentary elections. On the release front, the all-important Tankan releases were mixed. In the US, there are no major events to start off the week. Empire State Manufacturing Index looked awful, slipping to -3.6 points. Later in the day, we’ll get a look at Industrial Production. Both indicators are expected to improve, which could give the US dollar a boost. There are no Japanese releases on Monday.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party registered a convincing election victory, giving Prime Minister Abe a comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament. However, winning the election is likely to be the easy part, as the economy is stumbling and Abe’s economic reforms will face resistance from the upper house. Growth and inflation have not met the government’s target, and the yen has tumbled to around 120 under “Abenomics”, with the BoJ implementing radical monetary easing. Meanwhile, the Japanese Tankan indices were a mix in the Q3 readings. The Manufacturing Index dipped to 12 points, down from 13 points in Q2. There was better news from the Non-Manufacturing Index, improving to 16 points, up from 14 points in Q2. The yen showed little response to these key releases.
USD/JPY posted strong gains early in the Asian session, testing resistance at 118.69. The pair then retracted. In the European session, the pair has pushed higher and broken above the 118.69 line. USD/JPY is steady early in the North American session.
118.69 has switched to support role as the dollar has pushed higher. It could see further activity in the North American session. 117.94 is stronger.
On the upside, 119.63 is an immediate resistance line. USD/JPY ratio is pointing to gains in long positions on Monday. This is consistent with the pair’s movement, as the yen has posted losses. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards USD/JPY continuing to gain ground.

USD/JPY has posted strong gains on Thursday

USD/JPY has posted strong gains on Thursday, following strong gains by the yen for most of the week. In the European session, the pair is trading in the mid-118 range. The yen lost ground after Japanese Core Machinery Orders tumbled by 6.4%. As well, Tertiary Industry Activity disappointed with a reading of -0.2%. In the US, today’s major events include unemployment claims and retail sales. There are no Japanese releases on Thursday.
Japanese manufacturing took a downturn in October, as Japanese Core Machinery Orders swooned, posting a decline of 6.4%. This was the first decline since June, and was much worse than the estimate of -2.1%. Tertiary Industry Activity also disappointed with a drop of 0.2%, its second decline in three readings. The economy is clearly in trouble, as two consecutive quarters of negative growth mean that the country is officially in recession. Another ominous sign is that consumer confidence indicator continues to weaken. Not surprisingly, the Japanese consumer is less optimistic, as Consumer Confidence softened for a fourth straight month, falling to 37.7 points in November.
USD/JPY posted strong gains early in the Asian session, breaking above resistance at 117.94. The pair continued to post gains in European trade, testing resistance at 118.69. The pair has since retracted.
117.94 has reverted to a support role as the dollar has pushed higher. The next support line is 116.66.
On the upside, 118.69 is under strong pressure. 119.63 is stronger. USD/JPY ratio is pointing to gains in long positions on Thursday, resuming the trend we saw earlier in the week. This is not consistent with the pair’s movement, as the yen has posted losses. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards USD/JPY gaining ground.