Futures trading market orders

Many Futures traders have to make a decision of just how bad they want to get in or close out a market position. Sometimes the trader thinks that the market did not trade at their price targets and the price seems to be leaving without the trader making a profit. Some times a market might be making an adverse move against them and they want to place a very quick sell order. During these times of the thought process, a trader rarely thinks of the cost to use such an immediate type of order execution. These urgent types of orders are called market orders and can cost money.

Trading market orders

Real GDP

Friday's revisions to fourth-quarter gross domestic product highlight the swing shift in growth. Real GDP grew at a robust 4.1% annual pace in the third quarter, and a month ago, the Commerce Department said the economy grew at a strong 3.2% pace in the fourth quarter.
With more monthly data available, however, Commerce has trimmed down year-end growth to just 2.4%. That puts growth back down to the same modest rate averaged so far in this recovery. The slower growth also explains why employment gains have eased after stronger job growth earlier in 2013.
Inventories are a big reason for the fast-slow pattern. Since the recovery started in mid-2009, the inventory sector has added almost three percentage points or subtracted as much as two points to quarterly growth.

US economy reverts back

 After a stellar 3Q performance, the US economy reverts back to its trend of weak demand -- not a good sign for 2014. Just as economists expected, real 4Q GDP growth is revised down to 2.4%, from 3.2%. The downward revision came mainly from the demand side: consumers and foreigners increased spending by less than first estimated and the government sector continued to pare back on purchases.

Fed's bond-buying

The Fed's bond-buying program was designed to drive faster growth by lowering borrowing costs to encourage more spending, hiring and investment. The central bank decided in January to trim its purchases by $10 billion to $65 billion a month, and Fed officials have signaled they'll likely continue reducing the purchases this year if the economy improves as they expect.

Stock or Forex markets Trading Rules

No matter what your thoughts are for getting involved in trading, you must first define your goals and make sure you log performance. Without plans that define your goals in simple terms, being able to focus on a good trade becomes nearly impossible. Traders need the ability to track and measure because trading is a work and making money and needs constant adjustment in order to reach your goals. Top traders and investors have realized through experience that just having skills isn’t enough. They need to believe in those skills and the ability to make trades at the highest levels every time or their trading accounts can become ruined. Thus as the cost of doing business, top investors allocate time and research to developing their ability to get their trading into profits.

Trading Rules

U.S. economic strength

A gauge of U.S. economic strength pointed to slowing growth in January, providing additional evidence the nation's production, consumption and housing sectors are skidding into 2014.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index, released Monday, fell to -0.39 in January from -0.03 in the prior month. The three-month moving average, designed to smooth out month-to-month volatility, also declined, falling to +0.10 last month from December's +0.26. The index is a weighted average of 85 indicators of economic activity nationwide. A reading above zero indicates growth above the nation's history trend.
Forty-four of the 85 individual indicators made a negative contribution to the monthly indicator, while 41 pushed it higher. The declines were focused in two areas. Production category fell to -0.36 in January, down from +0.06 in December. The consumption-and-housing category fell to -0.18 from -0.14 in the prior month. The employment and sales sectors saw their slight gains overwhelmed.

Treasury auctions

Treasury auctions. Today's 22 big banks which act as intermediaries between bidders and the US is down from 46 in 1988 even though the country's debt load is up seven-fold the past quarter-century. While the decline has been driven by consolidation in the financial industry, the introduction of web-based auction bidding is also increasing final investors' ability to circumvent primary dealers, the committee noted. Electronic bidding has also cut the average time it takes the government to announce auction results to about 2 minutes from 30, reducing bidders' exposure to market risks.

forex trading methods money management

 Learning to trade the forex market will make you a profitable in the long run. Forex trading start with knowing money management. Money management should include your trading plan and how much to risk in your Forex account. As a forex trader you should never trade your entire account on ant trade never more then 2 percent, a trader should never have more than a few trades open at one time. By trading a couple different pairs, the forex trader reduces the risk among each of the Forex trades you have placed.
 Money management Is key is saving your trading account. A smart forex trader takes 4 separate trades on four different pairs. With the proper research and taking long and short positions will be able to make a good return on investment. The use of stop losses in important if taking on four trades at one time. This is for establishing initial and continuing stop loss orders for any forex trade. As part of good money control. Traders should always have stop Losses in place.

Stock and Forex Risk Management

Fractal Breakout Custom Indicator

The Steinitz Fractal Breakout custom indicator automatically gives you a pop-up alert w/audio showing you exactly where to enter and exit the market with laser accuracy. We show you thru videos and owners manual the exact mechanical rules. Newbies welcome The Steinitz Fractal Breakout custom indicator automatically gives you a pop-up alert w/audio showing you exactly where to enter and exit the market with laser accuracy. We show you thru videos and owners manual the exact mechanical rules. Newbies welcome A Forex indicator is a piece of software you apply to your Forex trading platform. Our indicator watches what the market is doing in real time and generates signals to place a trade. The indicator is only half of this equation. The other half is you! When a signal is generated you do a quick check to verify it is a valid signal and then either place your trade or wait for a different signal. Don't be scared! It's extremely easy to determine how and when to enter the market. Our complete Forex Fractal Breakout Custom Indicator™ system teaches you how to validate these signals and enter the market at exactly the right time. It's very simple and anyone can do it. The Forex Fractal Breakout Custom Indicator™ system has over a 90+% success rate for pinpointing the exact moment to enter a trade offering the lowest risk/reward ratio imaginable.

Fractal Breakout Custom Indicator

GBP/JPY

21 Feb  GBP/JPY  Daily
15::15 GMT - GBP's Running ahead this pm., after a contained am,       session centred on 170.60. The latter is a draw lower if/as the pm.   rally fades (around 171.85/ Tues/ this week's high.) [NR]
R5: 175.55   21-Oct-08 high
R4: 174.85 ** 2-Jan/ YTD high
R3: 173.60 * 23-Jan high
R2: 172.30  24-Jan high
R1: 171.85 * 18-Feb high
S1: 170.60   Fri am high volm
S2: 169.20 * Thurs low
S3: 167.55   Jan low
S4: 167.15   10-Feb low
S5: 165.00   6-Feb low

Forex Buy and Sell signals

Some experts feel you should back what seems to be a good situation with all the investment funds at your command. Others will warn against getting greedy, and advise partial investment here and there, at different times, to spread the risk. This is not the place to discuss the merits of these techniques. The point is to give yourself the flexibility of moving either way your judgment dictates.
Remember: your income need not be large, so long as it is regular and enables you to put aside a surplus after you have taken care of your bills and the possibility of trouble. The surplus need not be large, either. Saving, as has been said many times, is a matter of regularity.

Forex Buy and Sell signals

February manufacturing index

 The greenback is getting used to downbeat US economic data at this point, so it took an unexpected rise in Markit's February manufacturing index to stir up some action. USD/JPY rose from 102.09 to 102.25 in the two minutes before 9am when subscribers get the data. The pair drifted as high as 102.34, now at 102.2. Clem Miller, investment strategist at Wilmington Trust, says investors have lowered expectations on the economy in the wake of this year's string of disappointing data. From here, dollar bulls are waiting to see if bad-weather effects will fade and make way for rosier releases. EUR/USD down 0.1% today at 1.3716.

Trading Forex Time Frames

The known rate of failed unsuccessful traders is around ninty percent. This is high because they do not learn how to trade. It could be higher but there is no way to prove that. If chart analysis was so successful, more new traders would be making money in the FX markets.  Do you really think a Forex broker or central bank are trading a one minute chart trying to day trade this market for ten pips.So you can try time frame analysis breaks down like this. Generally, traders recommend using three time frames to plan your trades. The largest time frame determines the trend, which the  trader uses to decide whether they should go long or should we go short. Most like to also use the larger time frame to help with the supply and demand levels on your trading charts that the institutions are forming with their large orders.
The middle time frame is where you will mark my levels for entering trades zones. Using this medium time frame allows me to “shrink” your zones a bit a daily zone might be 100 pips wide, while a fine tuned four hour zone might be only 30 to 40 pips wide.  The zones indicate how large your stop loss must be. Larger zones have larger stops, smaller zones have smaller stops. When a trader chooses to use a third, smaller time frame, usually this is where he or she will “time” their entry. This is where we go into candlestick patterns for entry.

Trading Forex Time Frames

Minutes of the BOE's Feb. 5 and 6

Minutes of the BOE's Feb. 5 and 6 policy meeting, also published Wednesday, showed officials appear content that inflationary pressures in the U.K. remain under control, reinforcing their low-rate plan. They also record officials' strengthening confidence in the U.K. economy. Central bank staff expect the economy to expand 0.9% between January and March, and by around 1% in the second quarter.

strategy for trading hotel stocks

Traders need to have a trading strategy that profits in all market environments is of course critical for long term success. Knowing when to change that bias is more challenging.  Some traders have been conditioned not to have a bias as it may cloud their decision-making process. Traders don’t entirely agree with that assessment since timing the market requires that a trader take a directional bias.  This is what we can call our strategic bias. Gold has often been viewed as a safe investment. It is true that gold prices have jumped dramatically in the recent past.  What is interesting is that the cycle of equities and commodities hotel stocks are now in sync and gold and the equity markets are moving together traders need to take a look.  When the relationship moves back inversely, then the move to safety is on. The United States is the undisputed champion when it comes to entrepreneurial culture and investment in technology. This position allows the U.S. to attract and retain the top talent from across the globe to further cutting edge research, development, and innovation. The Hospitality Sector is another great area to invest in especially when people are staying there and spending money. Here are some hospitality sector stocks that are worth taking a look at.

Trading Hotel Stocks

The National Association of Home Builders

With a gradual recovery in the overall economy, the homebuilding industry is finally looking better in 2012. The downturn during 2006-2007 had hit the homebuilding sector hard. Some traders believe that the housing market is starting to benefit from an increase in employment rates and higher consumer confidence.  Houses are more affordable now as mortgage loans come with relatively low interest rates while renting becomes more expensive. Many homebuilding companies are showing better year-over-year growth in revenues, driven by an increase in new home orders and average selling prices.  Backlogs  number of homes under sales contracts at the end of the year  and homes delivered are also climbing year over year. Also, improving homebuilding revenues combined with tight cost control by most homebuilders are helping margins. The large discounts and incentives offered in response to declining demand and an oversupply problems are gradually being eliminated.

Home Building Stocks

Hedging is a good options strategy

How do you hedge a short stock position? Simply purchase a long call. By buying to open a call option on the stock you've shorted, you gain the right to purchase the stock at the strike price of the contract. For example, say you shorted Stock XYZ when it was trading at $30. The shares have since declined to $18, proving your theory correct. But, unfortunately, the equity surged to $24 after a positive earnings report, and your profits are dwindling rapidly.

In order to hedge your position, you could buy to open an out-of-the-money call option -- in this case, the $25 strike would work. Then, you could lock in a profit of $5 on the trade, because you've obtained the right to purchase the shares at $25 each. Even if XYZ rallies up to $32, which would have placed your unhedged short sale at a loss, you can still come out victorious. In summation, there's no limit to the number of ways you can hedge your bets with options. Be sure that you're not hedging when you should be closing out a losing position. It's always a good idea to re examine your thoughts for the trade, and make sure your trading plan is still sound. before choosing your next move.

How to hedge stocks

Head and shoulders Conversion chart

Let's examine a head and shoulders pattern. This is a very popular pattern to signal trend reversal. Prices in an uptrend rally to a point and correct, forming a left shoulder. Price rallies again to a higher high continuing the uptrend before correcting once more. This has formed the head. Finally, prices try to rally again, but are not able to reach past the high of the head before starting to fall. Most traders looking for the Head and shoulder pattern would trade this pattern short as soon as prices break the neckline that connects the two lows between the shoulders. You need to learn a couple chart patterns and stick with just them. In the case of the head and shoulders pattern, the right shoulder failing to reach higher than the head gives the chart a lower high. While that does not in itself break the uptrend, it is closer to the downtrend definition. Once the neckline has been broken, a lower low has been completed.

Conversion chart

Morgan Stanley sees the USD/PHP

[Dow Jones] Morgan Stanley sees the USD/PHP in a corrective decline towards the 200-day moving average (last at 43.42). The bank notes that the Philippines' balance of payments is positive despite the equity market outflows that have led to peso weakness since May 2013. "This makes Philippines better positioned to withstand capital outflows compared to its EM peers. The BSP has turned more hawkish on inflation too, and expectations of future rate hikes should also provide yield support to PHP," the bank says.

Best growth stocks

 Growth stock are something all investors should be looking for. Earnings growth is the heart of a great stock. When the earnings are going up the price of the stock will move accordingly. If the earnings are going down then the price of the stock will fall. Traders know that they can short a stock if it is falling. Stock brokers will have stock screeners that can be set up to screen growth stocks.
 There are no set guides to what a trader can look for but a company that is having a twenty percent growth a year is outstanding. Another definition of a growth stock is that investors want to see earning increase each quarter. Traders want to see consistent earnings growth over each quarter. Remember not ever quarter is going to show some growth. Growth stocks at the end of the year will show a ever increasing growth of income.
 Many investors that invest in growth stocks will use a price earning multiple. They might compare two companies that produce the same product and compare which company is growing more. If the two companies show about the same P&E then they might not be the ones to buy stock in. Many growth stocks like Wall-mart, Coke-Cola are great examples of growth stocks. Many stocks have proven there worth and have made money for there investors. The best way is to compare companies using a stock screener is set the screener for five to ten percent returns each quarter.

High growth stocks

Groupon (GRPN)

Groupon (GRPN) went from nothing to a $13 billion valuation, rejecting a $6 billion buyout offer from Google (GOOG), going public within three years, and sparking an epic gold rush in the daily deal space. Almost overnight, more than 900 clone sites launched around the world, serving virtually every imaginable niche and local market. Groupon appears to be rebounding from its post-IPO days as Wall Street's whipping boy after its stock plummeted to $10, half of its IPO price. Quarterly earnings beat consensus as the company reported revenues of $559 million, four percent above analyst estimates of $530 million. Earnings per share came in at $.02, double analyst forecasts. More good news for Groupon, it has been reported that mobile accounted for fifty percent of transactions, a positive development as the world shifts increasingly to mobile, especially in emerging markets.

Groupon (GRPN)

Gold prices Silver prices Precious metals

Fear of high inflation. Central banks around the world have been aggressively expanding their balance sheets. When this started in late 2008, the consensus view was that this would cause inflation, and perhaps hyperinflation. This led to a surge in the interest in precious metals, and to many high-profile hedge fund managers buying gold to protect against it. The list is long: John Paulson, David Einhorn, George Soros. Fear of flat currencies gold as an alternative currency. "All currencies are in a race to zero" seemed the mantra for much of 2010-2011. The belief seemed widespread that in a desperate quest for growth there would be a  currency war, with the US as the instigator. If everyone was going to debauch their currencies, the word was holding gold which many have come to view as an alternative currency would be the natural area for your money.
Diversification and the dollar overhang. The global financial system has been massively dollar-centric for the past 60 years. Two things, around 2002, catalyzed a major diversification wave away from the dollar. The first was the plugging-into-the-grid of emerging markets . Brazil came back from the brink, China joined the WTO. The newly found growth and macro-economic stability in these countries led to them trusting their home currency more, and needing the dollar in which they were all heavily loaded a lot less. Dollar denominated funds joined the BRIC party, intensifying the decline in dollar demand.

Gold prices Silver prices

Gold Futures Trading

Commodity Exchange (COMEX)
The Commodity Exchange (COMEX) offered from the CME Group (CME) Below are the four gold futures options you have with this ultra-popular, US-based exchange.
Gold (ZGN12.CBT): Trading under the symbol GC, these are your standard gold futures which are representative of 100 troy ounces of the precious metal. Prices are quotes in US dollars and cents per troy ounce and trading terminates on the third to last business day of every month. According to the home website, trading is conducted for delivery during the current calendar month; the next two calendar months; any February, April, August, and October falling within a 23-month period; and any June and December falling within a 72-month period beginning with the current month. Don't forget that these futures are also optionable.

Gold Futures Trading

Forex Swing Trading

 If you are new to trading the forex markets you don't need a great deal of money to start. Many fx brokers will let you start trading with a small deposit. You can leverage your money up to 200 to 1 which can be dangerous at that high of leverage you could wipe out your account on one bad trade. It's better to start out with 50 to 1 it is much safer until you to become a knowledgeable trader. Compared to the equities markets where you need large amounts of trading capitol to start trading.
  There are many types of news releases in the forex so movement of the different currency pairs happens daily. The fx market will offer more directional trading. Once you learn to recognize the trends. You need to learn to use technical chart analysis which will show you which way the trend is moving and make more profitable trades. Another great advantage is that you can invest in a forex newsletter which will remove most of the risk on your trades. This will put more money into your trading account. The other advantage to trading the forex is that there are no fees from the broker.

How to swing trade Forex markets

Gas ETF Gasoline commodities

Gas for vehicles is one of the planets most widely used commodities and is a byproduct of crude oil. In the United States, where gasoline is used in cars and light trucks, boats, recreational vehicles, and farm, construction and landscaping equipment, consumption was equal to about 360 million gallons per day during 2011  about one gallon each day for every person in the United States. The United States does not produce enough crude oil to match this demand for gasoline, and as a result, imports about sixty percent of the crude oil used by US refineries.

"RBOB," or reformulated gasoline blend stock for oxygen blending, is a newer blend of unleaded gas that is prepared for the addition of ten percent fuel ethanol, an alcohol based fuel produced by fermenting and distilling corn and other starch crops. Many gas stations now sell this mixture.

The biggest factor in the cost of gasoline is the price of the crude oil from which it is produced. In 2011, the retail price of gasoline was based on the cost of crude oil (68% of retail price); refining costs and profits (11%); federal and state taxes (11%); and distribution and marketing costs and profits (9%). A variety of factors influence the price of gas.

Economic and political areas of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region The area's valuable oil reserves, production, and refineries have caused many years of political unrest and fighting. Concern about near term and future oil supply can cause drastic movements in price.

ETF Gasoline commodities

SPY trading gaps

Trends end at supply or demand of the larger time frame and gaps might bounce off a trend line. Traders need proper out look and must look for the larger warning signs.  You will proceed for a period of time in that direction , but eventually end at supply.  Trading is the same way you need to learn charts and suppy and demand areas. You stop impulses at the walls formed from larger time frames. Gaps can take time to fill many traders do not trade the large gaps up or down. The S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) is essentially a passively managed, closed end mutual fund that allows you to buy and sell the stocks that make up the venerable S&P 500 Index. It does have large gaps from time to time mainly from overseas trading and news that came out over night. Pulling back the trends on our dueling channels, you can see the 'slope of hope' that the bulls continue to point to. Until such time that trend channel breaks look for green candles to form and change the trend.

SPY trading gaps

learning to trade gaps

 Traders need to learn the gaps and what are the trading opportunities associated with stock gaps at the open of trading. You need one thing to watch as you are looking at whether the gaps will fill quickly. The market makers will move a stock's price up or down before the market opens so traders need to be careful. After 30 minutes or so the stock price should stabilize and show some kind of trend.  Stock Gaps are caused by imbalances between buyers and sellers. If there are no sellers and an overwhelming amount of buyers want into a stock, they will be forced to raise their bid to the area where there are sellers so they can satisfy their demand. The reverse is true when sellers overwhelm the buyers.
 This usually occurs when there is news on a business or the stock markets have some kind of economic news. In trading, a trader should center their decision to buy or sell based on the price in relation to supply and demand. Understanding gaps with the supply and demand type of trading offers a powerful price direction indicator.  Breaking the demand level on the gap shows that the sellers could not locate any buyers willing to purchase at the former price level. This is extremely bearish and as a consequence, the price continues to slide. The opposite reaction would occur if the price gaps into, but not past a supply or demand level or support and resistance.

Stock and Forex Opening Gaps Trading

Gann line charts

If you see price breaking a previous swing top, then you are in an uptrend in the time frame and level  minor, intermediate, or major that you are trading in. You would continue to trade only in the long direction until you break a previous swing bottom of the same degree. The following chart of USO opens the day with a minor swing bottom. If we were already in an intermediate uptrend, a trader could use that as an opportunity to trade long intraday until a swing bottom is broken. In fact, traders may want to enter or add to longs when a new swing bottom is formed. After the minor swing bottom is broken, a trader should wait for a new intermediate or major swing bottom to form before entering any more long positions, the use of Gann lines on a chart can help in making safer trades. Many traders don't like to use them so its a personal preferance.In Gann trend indicators on a trading chart, a downtrend occurs when price breaks a swing bottom.

Gann line in trading

Managing your money when trading

 Managing your money when trading stocks or futures is the key to preserving your capitol. You need to get a good education on futures trading before you risk your money on futures trades. You need to develop your chart reading skills and learn when to place a trade. Seek out traders that have been successful and learn and develop a trading style from them. Most traders lose all their money because they did not learn a good trading style and just started to trade futures without any trading education.
  If you are just speculation on your stock or futures trades you will lose your money in a short period of time. The markets will take you money if you are not prepared which happens to most new traders. It is not easy money to be made but money to be lost if you try and trade without some knowledge of the futures markets. New futures traders accounts are opened everyday by inexperienced traders and they lose all their money in a day or so without trading experience and education. Trading futures takes education and learning to understand how the futures markets work. You need to learn the ins and outs before you ever make a trade.
  Once you have learned and done some study on futures you need to work on being a disciplined trader and stick with what you learned. Make sure to set up some rules and write them down in a ledger to follow when you start to make stock or futures trades. Decide what type of trader you will be. Are you going to swing trader ,long term trader ,or be a daytrader.