Anyone here into FOREX?

[~Shard~]

I bought based on no change. Meaning that the no change will make the CAD less attractive and the USD more attractive. Am I wrong in my thinking?

No, that's a fair assumption, however as I alluded to above, the wording was more hawkish than usual so it could have easily gone the other way from a fundamental point of view. From a technical point of view, the pair has seen so much weakness though that this upward correction was not a surprise with no hike being announced.

Thanks for clarifying! :cool:

[nhallmark]

I made 8 pips on UK GDP...I was a little hesitant because of the 0.1 deviation but I got a few pips anyway :D

Did you guys trade it?

[Music_Producer]

No exciting trades for sure. About 4 pips on eur/usd report.. and then 9 pips on UK report (pound seems to jump up on any little deviation) .. and then 4 pips on the US report.. hardly any deviation. Again, pound went down a bit.. and jumped right back up.

I wish there were aussie reports coming out :D Oh wait, nzd interest rate statement and trade balance today.. should be fun.

[OceanView]

I stayed out on this one as there was too much info to absorb at once.

[~Shard~]

Yeah, not many pips to be had today. I didn't trade early this morning (decided to get a good sleep instead as I have a blood donation today) but I traded the US data - based on the #s I would have thought a bigger move, however it didn't happen until after the trade! ;) Made 5 pips on the news and got out - looks like I could have made another 10 if I had stayed in, but then that wouldn't have been news trading now would it? :p ;)

NZ announcement could be interesting, too bad I'll be at work for that one...

[~Shard~]

Yes, perfect trade on the EURUSD! :D Bought at 1.3640, sold at 1.3650, pretty much the exact bottom and exact top of the range! :cool:

I had my GBPUSD ready to sell, just in case, but didn't think it would happen which I why I focused on my EURUSD instead - I've made a few observations over the months and noticed that for this specific report, bad news has always made the currency move, however good news (unless it's really good news) has resulted in not much movement...

Anywho, I'll be at work at the time, but good luck to everyone on the NZD trades today! :)

[Music_Producer]

Crap re-quote! NZD went up 20 pips i think, interest rate was hiked to 7.75%

[OceanView]

OMG! that was a wild ride!

Can anyone explain why it was so volatile?
Also, why is it now lower than before the announcement?

[Music_Producer]

OMG! that was a wild ride!

Can anyone explain why it was so volatile?
Also, why is it now lower than before the announcement?

You have to look at the price levels before the news report. NZD/USD has been climbing up quite a bit since the last week.. because most people did expect a rate hike.

So eventually, when the hike happened.. it didn't have much room to move up as it was already so high. And then there has to be correction, profit taking.. had NZ kept rates the same, you would have seen a 100 pip drop.

[nhallmark]

man, I stayed out of that one. I saw it jump up 20 or so pips before TTN said anything and I had been reading today that the central bank wants NZD to go down so when I saw it jump up, I just decided not to trade.

OceanView, I think the reason it went down after the report was because the central bank guy said that NZD is at "unjustifiably high levels". I could be wrong but thats the only reason I see for it going down.

Edit: Yeah, what MP said.

[OceanView]

Thanks for the explanations guys.
I am still learning and trying to understand everything about this market, if that's possible :rolleyes: .

Hope we can make some pips on the NZD trade balance report coming up.

[Music_Producer]

OceanView, I think the reason it went down after the report was because the central bank guy said that NZD is at "unjustifiably high levels". I could be wrong but thats the only reason I see for it going down.


Haha.. these guys are funny. They always talk about how high aussie $, nz $ is.. etc.. but these carry trade hedge fund managers don't give a damn. They just want the high interest returns.. apart from the interest rate, there is really no reason why the nz $ should be so high.

The extremely high levels are hurting nz exporters. It's a weird situation, they probably have tons of money in the bank from all the investments, but their local economy is probably going to start to suffer.

[nhallmark]

Haha.. these guys are funny. They always talk about how high aussie $, nz $ is.. etc.. but these carry trade hedge fund managers don't give a damn. They just want the high interest returns.. apart from the interest rate, there is really no reason why the nz $ should be so high.

The extremely high levels are hurting nz exporters. It's a weird situation, they probably have tons of money in the bank from all the investments, but their local economy is probably going to start to suffer.

Yeah, that's basically what I was reading this morning. Now, Im looking at the NZD/USD chart and it looks a lot like NFP :p

Do you think anyone will care enough about the trade balance since they just hiked rates...i.e. do you think we will still see a move on it?

Edit: Have you guys checked out AAPL after the earnings report? Its finally over 100.

[OceanView]

Have you guys checked out AAPL after the earnings report? Its finally over 100.

About time.
I wonder if they will do a 2 for 1 split.

[nhallmark]

No trade on NZD trade balance...it didn't move anyway.

Are you guys going to watch the CAD monetary policy report in the morning. FF has it marked red so Ill probably watch it but I wouldnt have a clue what to trade on if there was a trade.

[OceanView]

No trade on NZD trade balance...it didn't move anyway.

Are you guys going to watch the CAD monetary policy report in the morning. FF has it marked red so Ill probably watch it but I wouldnt have a clue what to trade on if there was a trade.

I won't be trading the CAD in the morning. I don't think there will be any significant announcements, but then who knows. :confused:
Gonna take the time to get some work done. But I will be looking to trade on Friday's GDP reports.

Which report is more important by the way, the Annualized or Deflator Annualized?

[nhallmark]

Damn it :mad: I got a requote on japan industrial production. It was only good for 10-12 pips but still..

Did you guys trade it?

[~Shard~]

I watched it, but with several reports coming out like that I decided not to trade it, as it whipsawed around fairly well - up 10 pips, down 10 pips...

I'll keep an eye on the NZ news tonight and of course there's the good old BoJ! :D

[Music_Producer]

Damn it :mad: I got a requote on japan industrial production. It was only good for 10-12 pips but still..

Did you guys trade it?

Nope, I don't like trading jpy reports.. they don't really give me good profits.. and if they do, they keep jumping up and down. sidetracking again, but any of you have a plasma tv/projector? I want a plasma, but don't like the way it looks up close.. then again, the projector seems much more appealing.. I'll be using it for movies and playing games at home.

I've seen a few plasmas in studios but again, didn't quite like them much.

Edit : - I'm only trading US GDP tomorrow

[~Shard~]

I'm only trading US GDP tomorrow

Should be interesting - the GDP Deflator Annualized is supposed to be higher than previous, yet the GDP Annualized is supposed to be lower than previous... hmmm...

[nhallmark]

I got 29 pips on US GDP!!!:D I traded EUR/USD this time just to switch it up.

Its April 27th and I have successfully made 300% of my account this month ;) :cool:

damn, thats a good way to end the week :D

[Music_Producer]

Lol @dumb feds.. practically every US report is disappointing. Made 21 pips today.. could have made 40 pips, but f@cking CMC.. wouldn't let me close my position for at least 30 seconds. The message "Please wait before placing next order" kept popping up.. if I ever get my hands on the operator who was giving me that *********.. damn!!

Luckily, gbp stayed well above pre-news price. Bah.. I had a feeling GDP was going to be disappointing anyway, I don't know why I didn't buy gbp/usd earlier.. guess I didn't want to take a risk.

[OceanView]

I got 29 pips on US GDP!!!:D I traded EUR/USD this time just to switch it up.

Its April 27th and I have successfully made 300% of my account this month ;) :cool:

damn, thats a good way to end the week :D

WOW!

That's awesome!
Are you still using CMC Markets?

[nhallmark]

Yeah, Im still with CMC. Im opening an account with ADM but thats still in
progress...I'll let you know how they are once I get my account set up.

Did you trade it, OceanView?

[Music_Producer]

I got 29 pips on US GDP!!!:D I traded EUR/USD this time just to switch it up.

Its April 27th and I have successfully made 300% of my account this month ;) :cool:

damn, thats a good way to end the week :D

Nice job!! Pretty soon you won't even care to keep an account of how much gain you've been making.. you'll be so used to it ;) That is, of course, if our brokers don't mess with our trades.

Nice start to the weekend.. and it's me and the wife's anniversary.. combine that with a profitable week.. *bliss* :D

[OceanView]

Yeah, Im still with CMC. Im opening an account with ADM but thats still in
progress...I'll let you know how they are once I get my account set up.

Did you trade it, OceanView?

Yes I traded.
Just made 3 pips. But thats because I am still using OandA.
Hope to become as good as you soon.

[~Shard~]

I took the day off work today so decided to sleep in rather than trade. Good job though everyone!

I once again entered a technical trade last night on the GBPUSD based on several indicators I received (MACD, heavy support levels just below my entry to limit potential downside, RSI, etc.) plus the fact that I had a hunch the US news would be bad, thus lifting/protecting the price even further on an upward move since I couldn't be around to actually trade the news. Regardless, I had tight stops if the US news was bad....

Anyway, I entered @ 1.9883 and had my TP @ 1.9940, a key resistance level, being the 300-day MA. Just as I thought, it consolidated a fair bit there before making it's next decision on where it was going to go. So as it turns out, I got out before the news even came out, thus missing out on further upside, but since I was not able to watch the trade and was sleeping, I think the strategy I employed was sound, and above all else, not greedy. :cool:

So, I'm becoming more comfortable with some of my methods now for technical trades. It seems like it will be a good compliment to news trading (which I still find easier and more fun!) :D ;)

[astro1]

ok can anyone help enlighten me please? About 11:08 this morning all the mayor currencies took a dive against the USD. GBP,EUR and even AUD dropped. Each one lost about 30-40 pips yet there was no news scheduled then.
Nearest thing I see is 11:05 where russian president Putin says something about mutual destruction if the US puts up a missile shield. Anyone here can explain the drop and why?

[OceanView]

I took the day off work today so decided to sleep in rather than trade. Good job though everyone!

I once again entered a technical trade last night on the GBPUSD based on several indicators I received (MACD, heavy support levels just below my entry to limit potential downside, RSI, etc.) plus the fact that I had a hunch the US news would be bad, thus lifting/protecting the price even further on an upward move since I couldn't be around to actually trade the news. Regardless, I had tight stops if the US news was bad....

Anyway, I entered @ 1.9883 and had my TP @ 1.9940, a key resistance level, being the 300-day MA. Just as I thought, it consolidated a fair bit there before making it's next decision on where it was going to go. So as it turns out, I got out before the news even came out, thus missing out on further upside, but since I was not able to watch the trade and was sleeping, I think the strategy I employed was sound, and above all else, not greedy. :cool:

So, I'm becoming more comfortable with some of my methods now for technical trades. It seems like it will be a good compliment to news trading (which I still find easier and more fun!) :D ;)

That's great Shard.
Wish I could make money in my sleep too. :D

Is there a basic methodology that you could teach us on technical trading or is it so involved that I need a PhD? :)

[Music_Producer]

ok can anyone help enlighten me please? About 11:08 this morning all the mayor currencies took a dive against the USD. GBP,EUR and even AUD dropped. Each one lost about 30-40 pips yet there was no news scheduled then.
Nearest thing I see is 11:05 where russian president Putin says something about mutual destruction if the US puts up a missile shield. Anyone here can explain the drop and why?

It's a market, prices go up and down. If you bought something at 2.00, wouldn't you sell it at 2.50 for a profit? It doesn't matter if there is news or no news, profit taking always takes place. All the banks who shorted the US$, probably started closing their positions to make a profit.

[astro1]

It's a market, prices go up and down. If you bought something at 2.00, wouldn't you sell it at 2.50 for a profit? It doesn't matter if there is news or no news, profit taking always takes place. All the banks who shorted the US$, probably started closing their positions to make a profit.


Thanks for that, I just wasn't sure if I was missing anything there, 3 separate pairs all dropping like a stone at the same time? I would have liked 50 profit too , lol but could not react that fast. oh well

[Music_Producer]

Thanks for that, I just wasn't sure if I was missing anything there, 3 separate pairs all dropping like a stone at the same time? I would have liked 50 profit too , lol but could not react that fast. oh well

I just checked the news.. and there *was* news at 7.00. The Michigan consumer sentiment came in at 87.1.. well above the expected number.. that caused the drop. This was actually a significant news report, but after trading the GDP I went to sleep. Ahh, this could have been a nice trade.

Astro, go to www.forexfactory.com and look at the calendar on the front page. It tells you what news reports are coming out, and their 'significance' (marked in red or orange)

Shard, great trade.. but it could have gone against you, if the GDP had a surprise positive result. Combine that with the upward spike in consumer sentiment and you would have seen GBP at much lower levels. So be careful :)

[~Shard~]

That's great Shard.
Wish I could make money in my sleep too. :D

Is there a basic methodology that you could teach us on technical trading or is it so involved that I need a PhD? :)

I could get into certain tactics, but there are really too many out there and you have to take them with a grain of salt. No one indicator is good on it's own (at least I don't think so, contrary to many technical traders!) so when I get consistent signals from a few different sources, then I feel more confident in taking the trade. I try to couple it with fundamentals too. Remember a few posts ago how I talked about correlation between USD, Gold, commodities, etc. - that has a part to play in it as well. When I saw the May contract of Gold shooting up last night I knew the USD would experience weakness. And then, rightly or wrongly, I have seen that lots of times currency pairs will hit certain levels based on technical support and resistance levels - so whether they should or not, or there are fundamental reasons to the contrary, technical factors do come into play and are valid. After all, you don't think major institutions and hedge funds engage in technical trading? ;)

So, specifically with last night's trade, I had many factors pointing towards a rise in the GBPUSD, coupled with a strong support level just below my entry point, which made my risk/reward attractive as I didn't stand to lose much if I was wrong. Stop losses are key. I picked the point of resistance, put a TP in there and was right - again, rightly or wrongly, the currency stalled out there before moving upwards again. My trade was existed even before the news, but if it has been open for the news and the news was bad, my stop would have ben hit, so no harm no foul.

As for specific tactics, yeah, I could get into them at some point, but it's rather hard without using a ton of screenshots, drawing on charts as I describe things, etc. in some cases. ;)

Shard, great trade.. but it could have gone against you, if the GDP had a surprise positive result. Combine that with the upward spike in consumer sentiment and you would have seen GBP at much lower levels. So be careful :)

Yep, duly noted. :) I have lost a lot on trades on the stock markets over the years to know that one very well. ;) Again, I felt my risk/reward was fairly attractive on this trade and I had a relatively tight stop. Plus, I did have a gut feeling towards the GDP #s and although you can't put a lot of stock into that (pardon the pun!) sometimes you do have to go with your intuition - that's another thing I have learned over the years. The flip-side of that, of course is that you can't get emotional and get caught up in the psychology of trading - you need discipline and a balance. :cool:

Thanks for the PM by the way, I will respond later today. :)

[astro1]

I just checked the news.. and there *was* news at 7.00. The Michigan consumer sentiment came in at 87.1.. well above the expected number.. that caused the drop. This was actually a significant news report, but after trading the GDP I went to sleep. Ahh, this could have been a nice trade.

Astro, go to www.forexfactory.com and look at the calendar on the front page. It tells you what news reports are coming out, and their 'significance' (marked in red or orange)

Shard, great trade.. but it could have gone against you, if the GDP had a surprise positive result. Combine that with the upward spike in consumer sentiment and you would have seen GBP at much lower levels. So be careful :)

I saw that, but it came out 1 hour before the drop
10:00am USD Consumer Sentiment (r ) EST so I did not think that was a factor.

Richard

[Music_Producer]

I saw that, but it came out 1 hour before the drop
10:00am USD Consumer Sentiment (r ) EST so I did not think that was a factor.

Richard

Trust me, sometimes movements based on news reports can be a little delayed. I've seen that happen quite frequently on UK reports.. where the pound will move maybe 20-30 pips on a good/bad report.. and then settle down for some time.. and then take off for another 60-80 pips.

Again, my previous explanation of profit taking obviously counts. The dollar's been at its lowest levels against the euro, pound, etc.. banks don't just hold on to their positions.. they buy, sell, buy, sell..

If AUD/JPY goes to 100, the folks who have bought it at 88 are going to start taking their profits, and you're going to see a dip to 99, maybe 98. And then it will start going back up slowly.

The point here is, if you're going to wait and try and predict when these moves can happen, good luck! Unless you have some connections at a trading bank, or know a professional trader, etc.. there is no way to figure out when massive long/shorts can be triggered. If you read the news properly, you'll see reports such as "Citibank shorts 14 billion US$" etc.. obviously 14 billion is going to cause a spike in the market.

So, out of the various spikes you see in the market.. some are based on profit taking.. some are due to banks buying or selling, to prevent their stops from being hit, and obviously the rest- are due to news reports.

Out of all of these, I stick with the news reports. Why? Because I know when they will come out, and I can trade according to the report. The rest of the time, I might as well let my cat trade.. she'll probably have a better sense of when a drop or spike is going to happen than I will!

[nhallmark]

Did you guys trade ISM?

I got in late on EUR/USD and it started bouncing around so I closed it at break even.

Anyway, I got my account open with ADM so I'll let you guys know how that goes over the coming weeks.

[OceanView]

Did you guys trade ISM?

I got in late on EUR/USD and it started bouncing around so I closed it at break even.

Anyway, I got my account open with ADM so I'll let you guys know how that goes over the coming weeks.

I got in late too.
Good luck with the new account at ADM. Hope it will be good for news trading.
Keep us informed.

[~Shard~]

No trades for me this morning - have been too busy focusing on the stocks and commodities markets as of late, making some money and making some plans for future gains. ;) :cool: Things appear to be relatively quiet these past couple of days in the forex world anyway... I'll be trading again tomorrow though if the opportunity presents itself.

[nhallmark]

I made 5 pips on ADP...its wierd how the same deviation on this report will sometimes give a good trade and other times it moves 6 pips and then retraces.

Did you guys trade it?

[OceanView]

Not much deviation.
How is the new platform so far Nathan?

[Music_Producer]

6 pips on this one.. ADP's turning out to be a report to avoid because it's a horrible predictor of NFP (which is this friday) So I'm guessing, there's not much to be grabbed from this report. There have been times when ADP has come out positive by a huge margin.. and then NFP comes out sorely negative.

So I'm not surprised that this one hardly moved.

[~Shard~]

Yeah, I only nabbed 6 pips myself. Still, I'm not complaining! ;)

[OceanView]

Too much data coming out at once but still got 10 pips.

How did everyone else do?

[~Shard~]

Missed this one. Ah well, there's always another trade to take... ;) :cool:

[nhallmark]

I made 7 pips on ISM Non-Manufacturing.

OceanView, I am still getting set up with the new platform so Im still using CMC right now. I plan on playing around with it today and Ill probably start next week with it.

[OceanView]

I made 7 pips on ISM Non-Manufacturing.

OceanView, I am still getting set up with the new platform so Im still using CMC right now. I plan on playing around with it today and Ill probably start next week with it.

OK, no problem.
I really am hoping that we can find a new platform that has a better interface than CMC. I really don't like it very much.

I played the market a bit more today, I know Shard is gonna call this not trading the news trading but I had a gut feeling about the GBP/USD still going down. So after the news announcement, I entered a sell again and used a stop and limit to get an additional 15 pips. :D Maybe I just got lucky.

[Music_Producer]

Bah.. got a re-quote on non farm report.. but I jumped in once the pound dropped after the initial spike.. was able to grab 10 pips. On the Aussie trade, I got 8 pips, so 18 pips.. not bad for the day.. but this was a pretty boring week.

Hopefully next week should be exciting with all the aussie reports :D

[~Shard~]

Yeah, Aussie reports are always great for big moves. :D

As for me, I felt like gambling today, and what better report to do it on than the NFP! ;) :D I saw that the news was US negative and saw the initial spike down (which confused/concerned me) but decided to pop in at that point, hoping the fundamentals of the report (i.e. US weakness) would take over - which they did! I traded EURUSD this morning (just didn't fell like trading GBPUSD for some reason, perhaps it's too volatile in this situation!)) and got in at 1.3556. Rode the spike up to 1.3581 and got out for a great 25 pip gain! My heart almost stopped as well, as my SELL didn't seem to take right away and I thought, "Oh great, here comes a re-quote!" - luckily this wasn't the case!

So, I'm going to wait for things to settle down now, but with the US news being negative and some technicals I'm looking at pointing to longs on the EURUSD and GBPUSD, I might enter a small lot ($25k) on a technical trade on one of the pairs, just to see how it goes. But I'm still going to give it a little while to calm down... ;)

Oh, and I sent you a PM Music_Producer - check it out when you have the time. :)

Hope everyone else had success this morning as well! :cool:

[Music_Producer]

I'll check it today Shard.. been busy lately with some stuff at home (projector setup) and has been driving me nuts.. trying to find 50 ft component cables, etc!

You know, I wanted to buy gbp/usd before the non farm payroll report came out.. because last month the report was pretty high.. so logically, this time it should have been lower than forecast - and that did happen. Of course, I didn't want to risk my account based on my predictions .. but lately I've been right about 95% of the time. Hmmm.. for all you know, with my luck.. the minute i start trading based on what i feel.. i'll probably go in a 100% loss :p

25 pips.. you lucky bastard :D

Edit : - Also, the deviation wasn't great at all.. hence a more muted move.

[~Shard~]

I'll check it today Shard.. been busy lately with some stuff at home (projector setup) and has been driving me nuts.. trying to find 50 ft component cables, etc!

Sounds like fun! Yeah, no rush, just wanted to give you a head's up. :)

You know, I wanted to buy gbp/usd before the non farm payroll report came out.. because last month the report was pretty high.. so logically, this time it should have been lower than forecast - and that did happen. Of course, I didn't want to risk my account based on my predictions .. but lately I've been right about 95% of the time. Hmmm.. for all you know, with my luck.. the minute i start trading based on what i feel.. i'll probably go in a 100% loss :p

Yeah, I've had that dilemma as well - and hindsight doesn't help it sometimes. ;) I think though, as corny as it might sound, intuition and so forth does have a part to play in trading. You can't go with it blindly of course, but there's something to be said about it and it shouldn't ignored. After all, the markets aren't exactly an exact science and are quite chaotic, so why not throw some "impulsive trading" in every once and a while! :D ;)

25 pips.. you lucky bastard :D

Why thank you. :cool:

[OceanView]

Yeah, I've had that dilemma as well - and hindsight doesn't help it sometimes. ;) I think though, as corny as it might sound, intuition and so forth does have a part to play in trading. You can't go with it blindly of course, but there's something to be said about it and it shouldn't ignored. After all, the markets aren't exactly an exact science and are quite chaotic, so why not through some "impulsive trading" in every once and a while! :D ;)



Yes, I know this feeling.
The odds are 50-50 that your right :) or wrong :mad: :D

Too bad we dont have a crystal ball to see into the future.

[nhallmark]

I just watched it...I didn't think it deviated enough. I also stayed out of the AUD trade balance last night because the statement was coming out at the same time...I wish I could of caught that :p

Anyway, Im sitting here typing this on my new MBP and I couldn't be happier! :D

Good job on the trades, guys!

[OceanView]

I just watched it...I didn't think it deviated enough. I also stayed out of the AUD trade balance last night because the statement was coming out at the same time...I wish I could of caught that :p

Anyway, Im sitting here typing this on my new MBP and I couldn't be happier! :D

Good job on the trades, guys!


Good man, which MBP did you get?
I just bought a MBP P/N MA609LL/A a week or so ago myself.
I installed Bootcamp v 1.2 and Vista on it and got the Speck clear cover for it.
Love this thing!

Did you buy it as a result of all the profits from playing in the forex? :D

[paulbaker]

I currently use MT 4 on a Vista laptop. (FYI - I have 3 macs (g4's...) and a dell that my work provides me).

I have used a lot of platforms that range from suck to great. I still have an Oanda account that I have not logged into in several months....

I have been using MT4 and have been hooked on it. I thought that the DealBook 360 by GFT was great, but it is actually overkill.

The reason for this post, is that obviously I am a Mac fan , but I don't like Oanda. (It seems that it will not save the trendlines that i like to draw, etc between logins)

What are Mac users trading FX with (to finally get to the point)

[nhallmark]

Good man, which MBP did you get?
I just bought a MBP P/N MA609LL/A a week or so ago myself.
I installed Bootcamp v 1.2 and Vista on it and got the Speck clear cover for it.
Love this thing!

Did you buy it as a result of all the profits from playing in the forex? :D

Uh...I got the gray one :p

Seriously, you lost me with the "P/N MA609LL/A". What does all that mean?

I got an "open box" core duo 15" with 2gb ram from powermax and I opted for parallels and xp. And I got the RadTech microfiber sleeve for a cover.

Are you having any problems with vista?

I currently use MT 4 on a Vista laptop. (FYI - I have 3 macs (g4's...) and a dell that my work provides me).

I have used a lot of platforms that range from suck to great. I still have an Oanda account that I have not logged into in several months....

I have been using MT4 and have been hooked on it. I thought that the DealBook 360 by GFT was great, but it is actually overkill.

The reason for this post, is that obviously I am a Mac fan , but I don't like Oanda. (It seems that it will not save the trendlines that i like to draw, etc between logins)

What are Mac users trading FX with (to finally get to the point)

You can save your stuff on oanda...just add your indicators, trend lines, etc. and click tools>save current layout.

I use MT4 a lot. It's the easiest to work with for technicals IMHO.

Most of us here are using CMC which is windows only, but you knew that, right? :p

[~Shard~]

Yeah, CMC is by no means the best, but it works fairly well and seems to be the lesser of evils at times - the trade off is re-quotes for fixed spreads... :rolleyes: ;)

Anyway, my wife is a Director of Strategic Business Development, focusing on corporate finance, governance, authoring business plans, etc. She receives private reports from RBC on a daily basis through their (expensive!) paid subscription service and passes along the reports of interest to me. Usually they deal with stocks and commodities, but today there was a currency report. Nothing too surprising, but I thought I would share it regardless for what it's worth. Good reading and some insight to take into consideration... :cool:

[OceanView]

Uh...I got the gray one :p

Seriously, you lost me with the "P/N MA609LL/A". What does all that mean?

I got an "open box" core duo 15" with 2gb ram from powermax and I opted for parallels and xp. And I got the RadTech microfiber sleeve for a cover.

Are you having any problems with vista?


Nathan,

That was a part number of the model that I bought.
Basically it's the cheapest MBP currently available from Apple with the 15.4" screen.

* 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1440 x 900 pixels
* 1GB memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* 6x double-layer SuperDrive
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics with 128MB SDRAM

No problems with Vista at the moment. If you need windows based software, running XP or Vista is a good option on the Mac.

[paulbaker]

I guess that I can't get the hang of Oanda. Does Oanda have leverage of 1:100? I guess I don't understand what is so great about them.

I got a demo account today for "Forex Club" (.com). It seems that they tried to make MT 4, but missed the mark.

What else are folks using besides CMC? And I would like to know who is all Mac?

[nhallmark]

I made 16 pips on AUD retail sales :D Did you guys trade it?

OceanView, I was going to get that same one but I saw the deal on powermax with 2gb of ram for $200 less...the tradeoff was getting a core duo instead of a core 2 duo though.

paulbaker, unless youre on oanda its practically impossible to be "all mac" with forex.

Im running xp on my macbook pro and thats about as close as you can get at the moment.

Oanda's leverage is 50:1 max, I think. And all the hype about oanda at the beginning of this thread was before they started widening their spreads to 20 pips during news.

So, youre right....there is nothing great about them :p

[Music_Producer]

I made 16 pips on AUD retail sales :D Did you guys trade it?


I'm currently at 30 pips :D I decided to hold on.. I'll close my position in a few minutes now though as the price seems to be stabilizing. Aussie $ tends to go on after a report in whatever direction that it started.. and the retail sales were amazing.

[nhallmark]

I'm currently at 30 pips :D I decided to hold on.. I'll close my position in a few minutes now though as the price seems to be stabilizing. Aussie $ tends to go on after a report in whatever direction that it started.. and the retail sales were amazing.

Good job, man! I've been thinking about doing that also because the AUD reports do tend to go further after the initial spike.

Anyway, let us know when you close and how much you got ;)

[Music_Producer]

Good job, man! I've been thinking about doing that also because the AUD reports do tend to go further after the initial spike.

Anyway, let us know when you close and how much you got ;)

Closed it for 33 pips, price seems stuck at 0.8300 level.. those darn building approval reports came out pretty negative.. if that wasn't the case.. aussie $ would have easily reached 0.8350.

On wednesday we have some good nz and aussie reports.. US interest rate, i don't think anything's happening there.

[paulbaker]

I have been playing with the platform ton give it some due diligence..and I have to say that I am coming around on it to the point of almost liking it.

What good are they though if they widen their spread so much during a morning run (CST) (-6 GMT). Most of the time, I would tend to think that these initial runs are 20 to 30 pip bursts before they take a breath.... Are you saying that Oanda won't even let you in on a run if you are there to catch it?


Also, I am a purely technical trader, and have always felt that price already reflects current knowlede...maybe this is not so true in FX...don't know...but I know as I read this forum that a whole lot of you are into news reports...Are you all basically going off of a published economic calendar and then watching...or is there more to it than meets the eye.

ALso, also, I have gone overkill on technical studies, planets aligning, God smiling, etc., I find the best and most reliable is rudimentary trendlines and well established support / resistance horizontal lines...no oscilators, no SMA's, no fibo, no duck quacking...

I am however always open to sound advice.

[OceanView]

I'm currently at 30 pips :D I decided to hold on.. I'll close my position in a few minutes now though as the price seems to be stabilizing. Aussie $ tends to go on after a report in whatever direction that it started.. and the retail sales were amazing.

I've noticed this on a few reports lately.
Is it possible to go short or long (depending on the direction) with stops and limits to maximize on the news? I've done this a few times last week and made 25 plus pips by just letting it ride.

[OceanView]

Can anyone comment on why the GBP/USD went down even though the FED Interest rate was not changed? I thought it would go up. :confused:

[Music_Producer]

17 pips on aussie trade.. 2 million units :D My carry trade is looking good too..aussie numbers came out way positive.. i might just move there :p

[nhallmark]

uh...did you guys trade the AUD employment change?

That was crazy :eek: ...I saw it jump up like 20 pips in one tick before I got the news so I stayed out.

Edit: Damn, you traded $2mil on CMC? good job!

[Music_Producer]

uh...did you guys trade the AUD employment change?

That was crazy :eek: ...I saw it jump up like 20 pips in one tick before I got the news so I stayed out.

Edit: Damn, you traded $2mil on CMC? good job!

Yeah, I saw a couple of spikes actually.. it would hover from 0.8288 to 0.8305 or so.. and back and forth.. sure had me on the edge of my seat!

Well with this profit cmc will probably clamp down on all my future trades :rolleyes:

[Music_Producer]

Can anyone comment on why the GBP/USD went down even though the FED Interest rate was not changed? I thought it would go up. :confused:

Ocean, you n00b :D Almost everyone knows that US interest rates will remain untouched all of 2007.. in fact, some are even expecting a rate cut (due to the housing problems) So the fact that they left rates the same, coupled with the Fed statement that they are concerned about inflation (and slow growth as well) boosted the $ a bit.

This time no one was trading the rate decision, but the statement made accompanying that decision.

I usually never trade US, EUR and Canadian interest rate decisions. UK interest rate decisions on the other hand are quite unpredictable.. so I look out for those.

[OceanView]

Ocean, you n00b :D Almost everyone knows that US interest rates will remain untouched all of 2007.. in fact, some are even expecting a rate cut (due to the housing problems) So the fact that they left rates the same, coupled with the Fed statement that they are concerned about inflation (and slow growth as well) boosted the $ a bit.

This time no one was trading the rate decision, but the statement made accompanying that decision.

I usually never trade US, EUR and Canadian interest rate decisions. UK interest rate decisions on the other hand are quite unpredictable.. so I look out for those.

Yes I am still a Noob :D
But that's why I am here trying to figure this out. Hoping to make some money so that I can quit my day job. ;)

I am having problems with my internet at home so I could not trade AUD last night and GBP this morning. Apparently someone else has the same MAC number as I have on my cable modem. How odd. :mad:
I should be ready to go for tomorrows CAD Employment change announcement.

[nhallmark]

I made 21 pips on CAD employment change. :D I assume you guys traded it?

[Music_Producer]

I made 21 pips on CAD employment change. :D I assume you guys traded it?

Yup, 19 here :) I won't be trading the US reports.. two important reports coming out at the same time.. and if they conflict.. can cause all kinds of problems. Of course, they could both come out good/bad but I figure by the time I process both reports, and enter the trade.. it might already be too late.. just don't want to take a risk.

Next trade - Sunday

[OceanView]

10 pips on the KIWI, yay! :)

[nhallmark]

Hell yeah :D I got 23 pips on NZD retail sales and I was trading 1 mil so Im really happy :D

The movement seemed really slow for some reason. Did you guys trade?

Edit: Good job, OceanView!

[OceanView]

Hell yeah :D I got 23 pips on NZD retail sales and I was trading 1 mil so Im really happy :D

The movement seemed really slow for some reason. Did you guys trade?

Edit: Good job, OceanView!

Wow! :eek:
Your getting brave Nathan. :D
Good for you.

[Music_Producer]

Hell yeah :D I got 23 pips on NZD retail sales and I was trading 1 mil so Im really happy :D

The movement seemed really slow for some reason. Did you guys trade?

Edit: Good job, OceanView!

Nice job folks! Nathan, i beat you this time.. 30 pips :p Yeah, it did move slow.. I think everyone was asleep since it's a sunday hehe. I had to wait quite a bit, I was going to close the trade almost a few seconds after I jumped in.. but I realized it was a huge deviation.. and the move didn't justify it. Luckily, it did move up eventually.

My carry trade is also looking up.. I bought a dip on aud/jpy when it hit 98.80.. right now it's at 100.10. Hey nathan, now you can buy the new led macbook pro that's coming this tuesday :D

[OceanView]

5 pips on the GBP/USD CPI.
I got out too fast. :rolleyes:

[Music_Producer]

I've had a re-quote on every trade since monday.. on the other hand, I think I'm going to stay up for a couple of more hours to see if the new macbook pros come out.. hell anything, just come out already!! :D

[Music_Producer]

5 pips on the GBP/USD CPI.
I got out too fast. :rolleyes:

Hey, better than my bloody requote!!

[OceanView]

Hey, better than my bloody requote!!

Sorry to hear that. :(
What ever happened to getting a Currenex account?

[nhallmark]

I haven't traded since sunday either. UK PPI was the only good trade, I think, but I slept in on that one :p

Is NZD PPI worth trading today? I've never traded that one before.

Like OceanView said, what happened with currenex? I haven't traded with ADM yet because last week on the UK interest rate announcement the spread was crazy. It was at 56/93 at one point.

I've watched it a few times since and the spread rarely exceeds 7 pips but still...

Im still deciding what to do, I guess. Im thinking it might just be an on and off thing with CMC and I just need to accept that I cant get every trade.

Looks like, as Im typing, Apple just updated the macbooks but thats it.

[Music_Producer]

Got a re-quote on nzd report.. as far as currenex is concerned, I am still on the lookout for a professional, reliable broker. ODL is obviously out, Aaron FX looks a bit amateurish.. or outdated.. I'm looking at other brokers (Man Financial, etc) After all, if I have to deposit $50 k with a broker.. I might as well do my homework first.

Yeah natha, with cmc.. i think if you make a nice profit.. they start blocking your trades for some time. You could make a decent profit by just trading aussie reports every month.. with a huge lot obviously. I figure if you make just 3-4 trades a month.. they would let you do that (and in turn you should be able to make good profits) Aussie reports move the most.. the US reports really don't move around that much.. if they do.. there are always whipsaws, etc.

[~Shard~]

Hi guys - I've been away from trading for the past couple of weeks, just wanted to "pip" in and say hi. ;) :D Hoping to get back into trading starting tomorrow AM - hope everything is going well for everyone... :cool:

[~Shard~]

Just traded the Japanese data and made 10 pips on EURJPY. Not too shabby...

[Music_Producer]

Just traded the Japanese data and made 10 pips on EURJPY. Not too shabby...

Welcome back Shard! :) I myself just gathered about 8 pips on the jap gdp report. Canadian reports coming up tomorrow and friday should yield some good trades.

[~Shard~]

Welcome back Shard! :) I myself just gathered about 8 pips on the jap gdp report. Canadian reports coming up tomorrow and friday should yield some good trades.

Thanks! Had a chance to check out that PM I sent yet? If not, no worries... ;) :)

Yeah, should be some good trading opportunities tomorrow for USD and CAD. Good luck to all!

[nhallmark]

I only got 4 pips on USD/JPY. It went up 10-12 but I held too long. Im hoping CAD CPI will give us a good trade tomorrow. It doesn't take much deviation to get a good move on that report.

[~Shard~]

I only got 4 pips on USD/JPY. It went up 10-12 but I held too long. Im hoping CAD CPI will give us a good trade tomorrow. It doesn't take much deviation to get a good move on that report.

Yep, I'll be watching that one closely myself...

[nhallmark]

20 pips on CAD CPI :D Quick and easy, no BS from CMC ;)

[~Shard~]

Was a little slow this morning and only made 7 pips on the CAD data. Tried to trade the data here a few minutes ago and got a damn requote from CMC. :mad: I guess I was too fast for their system to handle... :rolleyes: Ah well, there's always another trade to be made...

[Music_Producer]

38 pips on UK Retail Sales report :D I tried this out on MB trading since CMC was giving me the unlimited re-quote package.. executed great.. and noticed 1 pip spread - sometimes 2 and even zero. Next up, Canadian CPI

[nhallmark]

damn it, man. I slept in for UK retail sales. Ive really got to stop doing this. I sleep in every friday :p

good job, though ;)

[~Shard~]

38 pips on UK Retail Sales report :D I tried this out on MB trading since CMC was giving me the unlimited re-quote package.. executed great.. and noticed 1 pip spread - sometimes 2 and even zero. Next up, Canadian CPI

Wow, that's excellent Music_Producer! Wish I would have gotten up for that one! ;) I guess I'm out of the loop, being away for a while - who is MB? Perhaps I'll look into them too as recently I have been receiving a free trial of CMC's re-quote package as well it seems... ;)

Up next, Canadian data. Hmm, if it's really positive can the Loonie keep hitting new highs? How low can the USDCAD pair go??? Not that I care, being Canadian and all... ;) :D That being said, a strong currency isn't always a good thing, especially when you have an export-centric economy like ours... :o

[~Shard~]

Woo hoo, just made 12 pips on the Canadian report! :D If I would have held on I obviously could have made even more, but since I was news trading I had to stick to my strategy and get in, get out and leave it at that. The trend continued a bit but it could have just as easily reversed. So, I grabbed the short on the USDCAD from 1.0939 to 1.0927.

How did everyone else do?

[nhallmark]

I was paying attention to the core # so I "filtered" out the headline # in my head...but then realized after seeing it, that I should have payed attention to it. So, no trade for me.

[Music_Producer]

Shard, MB trading is at www.mbtrading.com. They're an ECN, but I've seen massive slippage at times.. however lately they have improved on that aspect as a lot of customers were leaving.

Check out EFX Group - www.efxgroup.com - that's MB trading's forex division. MB also lets you deal with stocks, etc.

Nathan, you have the whole weekend to sleep.. so wake up for a few minutes.. ;)

Edit : Just made 8 pips on USD/CAD.. I reacted a bit slowly because the core was unchanged.

[~Shard~]

Shard, MB trading is at www.mbtrading.com. They're an ECN, but I've seen massive slippage at times.. however lately they have improved on that aspect as a lot of customers were leaving.

Check out EFX Group - www.efxgroup.com - that's MB trading's forex division. MB also lets you deal with stocks, etc.

Nathan, you have the whole weekend to sleep.. so wake up for a few minutes.. ;)

Edit : Just made 8 pips on USD/CAD.. I reacted a bit slowly because the core was unchanged.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I didn't get in at the top of the trade either, but still made a decent number of pips - a good start to the weekend.

Hope everyone has a good one and we'll see you next week! Should be some good trades from the looks of it... :cool:

[nhallmark]

Did you guys trade the BOE Minutes?

Im still holding on it becuase the move wasnt justified in my opinion but Ill let you guys know when I close.

Edit: I closed it for 43 pips. Im moving to LA on friday and that just about payed for it :D

[Music_Producer]

Did you guys trade the BOE Minutes?

Im still holding on it becuase the move wasnt justified in my opinion but Ill let you guys know when I close.

Edit: I closed it for 43 pips. Im moving to LA on friday and that just about payed for it :D

Good one nathan! I just got out with 28 pips because I didn't want to hold on any longer.. but apparently it's still going up. Move was muted because the US $ has been pretty strong lately.. with expectations of rate cuts fading away.

[Music_Producer]

Damn! GBP/USD moved up 60 pips more :eek: Hey nathan, if you'd stayed in.. you could have probably made enough to move to London :p

[OceanView]

Oh My Goodness, you guys have been busy making pips!
Good for you all.

Nathan, where are you moving from and why to LA?
This place is too crowded and I am trying to get out myself.

[nhallmark]

Nathan, where are you moving from and why to LA?
This place is too crowded and I am trying to get out myself.

Im moving from Dallas, TX. Im moving to LA just because I like it, I guess :p

What's so bad about LA? We're moving to Agoura Hills so we wont be in the middle of all the LA craziness :p

Did you guys trade this morning?

I got 7 pips on US Durable Goods and 22 pips on US New Home Sales :D

[OceanView]

Im moving from Dallas, TX. Im moving to LA just because I like it, I guess :p

What's so bad about LA? We're moving to Agoura Hills so we wont be in the middle of all the LA craziness :p

Did you guys trade this morning?

I got 7 pips on US Durable Goods and 22 pips on US New Home Sales :D

You will find out when you get here. :rolleyes:
In all fairness, it has its pros and cons.
Love the weather, the lifestyle and the diversity.
The traffic will take some time to get use to. It takes me about 1 hour each way from home to work and vice versa. I know some people that drive even longer.
Also, cost of living is really high but then you probably already knew that.
Good luck on the move and welcome to the jungle.

[~Shard~]

13 pips on US home data and 32 pips on a USDCHF short thanks to that news - the pair shot up, broke several technical flags I has set as a result (resistance, RSI, short-term MACD, etc.) and as a result I shorted it quite successfully after the news effect settled down. Also shorted the EURUSD earlier this week for 46 pips based on technicals. Just a smaller lot though ($75K) as I am still not as confident in technical trading as I am with news trading. :o ;) I see a potential short term run-up in the pair now from a technical perspective, especially with no Euro news for a while to skew with things, so I might take a long position tonight with $50K or so...

So far this week a good combination of news and technical trading for me - can't complain at all. :cool:

[nhallmark]

I made it to LA :D

Now, my problem is that my internet wont be set up until june 5th(Im "borrowing" one of my neighbor's wifi right now). OceanView or Music_Producer, is there anywhere in LA thats open 24hrs that has internet?

Im thinking I might have to pay for a motel for 2 weeks just to get the wifi.

Good job on the technicals, Shard!

[StuNew78]

Hello gentlemen.
I've been a fly on the wall for about 6 months now. I have learnt very much and read everypost. I am now myself a successful news-trader.... and probably owe alot to the explanations first posted by music_producer.

Can I ask you all where you recieve your news feed from? I figure it must be very fast. Is TTN all you use? Maybe Bloomberg or Reuters? That seems to be one detail I'm still not sure about.

Thanks.

[~Shard~]

I hope things work out for you nathan - keep us posted! As for life without Internet access, I can't imagine it! :eek: ;) :D

Hi StuNew78, glad to have you on board and reading the thread. TTN is indeed what we use - I, at least, am not at the level yet where I can justify the $1800/month charge for the Bloomberg terminal. ;)

Please continue to share with us your experiences (if you like) and if you have any questions just ask! :cool:

[StuNew78]

I hope things work out for you nathan - keep us posted! As for life without Internet access, I can't imagine it! :eek: ;) :D

Hi StuNew78, glad to have you on board and reading the thread. TTN is indeed what we use - I, at least, am not at the level yet where I can justify the $1800/month charge for the Bloomberg terminal. ;)

Please continue to share with us your experiences (if you like) and if you have any questions just ask! :cool:

Thanks Shard.
I myself am just about to trial out a news feed service from www.forexdiamonds.com as I live in Singapore I'm not sure how fast the delay from the server in New York will affect my trading executions. But what I'll do is chime back in here after a few weeks of trading reports and share my profits/losses.
TTN gives you the raw figures which is probably more for those who are confident to process the info quickly (not me yet!), this service I'm going to try gives you conservative BUY/SELL triggers instantly... well that's the idea.... we'll see.

thanks for the welcome.

[~Shard~]

Thanks Shard.
I myself am just about to trial out a news feed service from www.forexdiamonds.com as I live in Singapore I'm not sure how fast the delay from the server in New York will affect my trading executions. But what I'll do is chime back in here after a few weeks of trading reports and share my profits/losses.
TTN gives you the raw figures which is probably more for those who are confident to process the info quickly (not me yet!), this service I'm going to try gives you conservative BUY/SELL triggers instantly... well that's the idea.... we'll see.

thanks for the welcome.

Absolutely, it's always nice to have new people join the thread and discussions. The more people we have, with more insight, knowledge, experience and thoughts, the better traders we become as a whole.

That news service sounds interesting, what with the BUY/SELL method of indications, however I wonder how it would respond during multiple cross reports. For instance, if there is bad Canadian data, it would no doubt give a BUY signal on the USDCAD pair. However what happens if at the same time, there is horrible US data? You would get the proper BUY signal on the GBPUSD no doubt, however if you were specifically planning on trading the USDCAD pair, you might get screwed.

Just some thoughts - please keep us posted and happy trading! :cool:

[Music_Producer]

What's going on guys? :) I'm back from a little break that I took.. time to get back into the markets and in the gym!

Nathan.. welcome to LA! I just realized that you moved on Friday, Memorial day weekend.. hope you didn't encounter any nasty traffic. 24 hours internet.. when I was in Hollywood I know there were a few cafes open 24/7.. check to see if you have any near where you're staying.

I think some branches of Fedex/Kinko's are open 24 hrs.. and they have internet access. Good luck, and if you want me to research online.. let me know.. PM me and I'll get back to you.

Shard, you've been busy with your techs as usual :) Btw, I'm just listening to the 2nd track you sent me.. the first one was awesome.. super clean considering it's not mastered.. my first track had 'hiss' all over it.. just tried to make it sound analog.. is the best excuse I have :p

Let's see.. today the Aussie sales are something to look out for.. US consumer confidence too.. but i think i'll be sleeping tonight.. real tired. See you all later!

[~Shard~]

Just made 22 pips on the Canadian rate announcement - awesome trade! Obviously could have made more, but I was quite happy with my result. :)

Glad to see you back Music_Producer! Yeah, I need to get back to the gym as well, I've just been too busy lately. As for the music, glad you liked the first tune I sent - let me know what you think about the second and I'll send a couple more your way in the next few days. We can chat more via PM if you like. :)

I'll be watching the AUD trade tonight for sure - good luck everyone! :cool:

[nhallmark]

Hey guys!

I called time warner to see if they could get out here sooner. To make a long story short, I've got my internet set up now :D

Music_Producer, the traffic was actually better then the last time I came out here. I've been here since sunday afternoon and I have yet to encounter any bad traffic(aside from driving down PCH which is always a mess).

StuNew78, Ive actually been using felix's service for a few weeks now but didnt want to post anything about it until I was sure that it worked. I would sign up for Secret News Weapon though instead of his room because it clicks the button for you :D

If you guys try it out though, sign up under me so I'll get the commission :D

Just go to www.secretforexsociety.com and click join, then enter my email which is nhallmark AT gmail DOT com. That website is free and he has a really good video on NFP and how it works. Its like 3-4 hours long though.

Anyway, Im liking it so far but sometimes, especially on NZD reports, TTN will get the # faster than SNW so Im paying for both right now.

Shard, on CAD reports, the guy tells everyone(in his emails the night before the trade) to trade EUR/CAD if there is US data at the same time.

Supposedly, they are supposed to be releasing a new version in a few weeks that will handle conflicting reports, revisions, etc. but he has been saying that for a few weeks :rolleyes:

Anyway, Im liking LA a lot. Luckily, when I leased my apartment online, I got a good area(agoura hills). Its quiet and safe...one of the only places in LA that doesnt have graffiti on all the street signs :p

[~Shard~]

Thanks for the update and the info nathan, much appreciated! I'll take a look at that news service and see if it loks like something I want to try out. Do they have a free trial? What does their monthly subscription cost?

[nhallmark]

Shard, its $250 a month or $150 a month if you pay for his room also :rolleyes:

He gives you 3 weeks to get a refund which I haven't asked for but there is a thread on FF somewhere where someone asked for a refund and they did receive it plus the $10 or $15 per his refund policy.

[Music_Producer]

Not SNW!!! :eek: How is that working for you? I tried it a long time ago and it was great in theory, but horrific in practice. I had 3 messed up trades after which I just cancelled the damn thing.

One was when a deviation was positive.. but the thing automatically triggered 'sell' instead of buy.. leaving me scratching my head. Another instance was when it showed a wrong deviation. The last was when it came out much later than the news did.. so the markets had already moved by then.

If you're using it.. don't bet your whole account on it.. use it cautiously. After those 3 errors, I wouldn't use it again. I don't know if they've improved the system now.. but I've also heard that they basically use Bloomberg and Reuters service.. and forward it to all their subscribers. Rumor was that bloomberg is trying to shut them down.. and in some instances.. they're probably doing things like sending DOS attacks, etc. That might just leave you with a trade not executed, or worse - a trade executed in the opposite direction.

I also realized that I was actually a bit faster than that weapon :D So I prefer to trade with the news.. and not use some third party thing where there is no guarantee of what will happen. Bottomline, I had a bad experience.. :(

Nathan, you got internet already? WTF?! Next time I move somewhere.. I'm gonna call you and ask you to hook me up with internet.. you're fast :p

[nhallmark]

Not SNW!!! :eek: How is that working for you? I tried it a long time ago and it was great in theory, but horrific in practice. I had 3 messed up trades after which I just cancelled the damn thing.

Wow, its been working great for me. There was one trade on CAD GDP a few weeks ago where it just gave a 0 deviation and felix said afterward that he set it up wrong, which scares me but I haven't had any problems so far.

Ive actually trippled my account again this month using it. Maybe you got in when it was still in beta?

Either way, thanks for sharing your experience. I'll definitely be more cautious with it.

Nathan, you got internet already? WTF?! Next time I move somewhere.. I'm gonna call you and ask you to hook me up with internet.. you're fast :p

Yeah, they told me june 5th and then moved it to the 7th online, but I called them just to see if they could get out here faster and they said "yeah, we have 2 appointments open tomorrow" so I took the earliest one...the guy came out this morning and I had some trouble with my airport but now Im up and running :D

I just noticed yesterday though, that they have a building directly across the street from my apartment(yet somehow they couldnt just walk across the street and hook me up :rolleyes: )

[Music_Producer]

Yeah I used it quite some time back.. so it was probably really buggy then. If it works great then don't be cautious using it.. I was just citing my own experience with it. It's probably all improved now.. maybe I'll give it a shot but my current trading technique.. I'm just so used to it.. let's see. Maybe I'll get it for my wife :p

[~Shard~]

Aussie news is looming - I'm ready to trade if the opportunity presents itself... :cool:

[~Shard~]

... And that it did! 12 pips on the Aussie news - shorted from 8192 to 8180, perfect trade - in, out, pips in the bag. :)

[Music_Producer]

Riiiii quo laaaa (re-quote) sorry.. couldn't resist.

[nhallmark]

lol..MP I got 11 pips on it.

[~Shard~]

Riiiii quo laaaa (re-quote) sorry.. couldn't resist.

Damn, that sucks. Ah well, it wasn't a large move - I see the AUDUSD pair (the one I traded) is pretty much back to where we started... ;)

Hmm, what the hell is going on with the Chinese markets?! All indices opened -5% or lower and market is buying?! :confused: Huge swings right now on carry trades, at least USDJPY and EURJPY. I think I'll just watch this from the sidelines until a clear direction is formed... possible opportunities though, that's for sure...

[~Shard~]

lol..MP I got 11 pips on it.

Haha, kicked your ass. :p ;) :D

[Music_Producer]

lol..MP I got 11 pips on it.

Pretty soon you'll be moving from agoura hills to beverly hills :D

Shard.. I don't know what's up with these chinese markets. To me it seems like the run up before a huge bubble burst. I'm waiting for the carry trades to correct.. like in february when we saw drops of 800 pips or so.

[Music_Producer]

Haha, kicked your ass. :p ;) :D

I would have kicked everyone's collective ass.. would have made 20 pips had my trade gone through :p :D

[~Shard~]

Shard.. I don't know what's up with these chinese markets. To me it seems like the run up before a huge bubble burst. I'm waiting for the carry trades to correct.. like in february when we saw drops of 800 pips or so.

Yeah, that's my thinking too. I'm wondering if the carries are going to unwind again and the US markets are going to get hammered as well. I'll keep a close eye on things...

I would have kicked everyone's collective ass.. would have made 20 pips had my trade gone through :p :D

Yeah, but it didn't... :p ;) Just buggin' ya... :D

[nhallmark]

Pretty soon you'll be moving from agoura hills to beverly hills :D

Yeah, that's the goal, anyway. I went driving around sunset and rodeo last night :eek: Those houses are crazy....I cant wait to get one :D (after buying you your mac pro of course :rolleyes: )

Anyway, I've been wondering about the carries also. It seems like a lot is being said about the JPY pairs are at "non sustainable" levels, etc. but it doesnt seem to affect them much like it did in february.

If we have another crash, though, I'll break my "no trading GBP/JPY" rule and short the hell out of it :D

[Music_Producer]

You should check out San Diego then. I really like that place.. it's always green and the weather's perfect. GBP/JPY is a monster.. when it does move, it will bounce down 1000 pips or more.

[Music_Producer]

No trades so far.. very boring.. reports hardly deviating.

[~Shard~]

Yep, nothing really to trade this morning. Lots of movement, but none of it appears to be as a direct result of the information - at least not at the specific time of its release.... But, I'm sure NFP will more than make up for it tomorrow..... :D

I might just have to resort to technicals again to get me by... :p ;) NZDUSD and AUDUSD are looking like possible short candidiates, as is USDJPY based on a couple indicators of mine... I need more proof though, and right now I'm not sure if I feel comfortable taking any of those as the markets seem quite active today... I'll give it a few more hours...

[StuNew78]

I shorted NZD/USD yesterday.... and now at -80pips. Lucky it was a small order. :o
I'm just about to give up on my own technical trading. I don't have the experience to be a speculative tech trader, but with news, I can be reactionary... and profitable. :D

Good luck on the NFP all.

[StuNew78]

Hey guys!

I called time warner to see if they could get out here sooner. To make a long story short, I've got my internet set up now :D

Music_Producer, the traffic was actually better then the last time I came out here. I've been here since sunday afternoon and I have yet to encounter any bad traffic(aside from driving down PCH which is always a mess).

StuNew78, Ive actually been using felix's service for a few weeks now but didnt want to post anything about it until I was sure that it worked. I would sign up for Secret News Weapon though instead of his room because it clicks the button for you :D

If you guys try it out though, sign up under me so I'll get the commission :D

Just go to www.secretforexsociety.com and click join, then enter my email which is nhallmark AT gmail DOT com. That website is free and he has a really good video on NFP and how it works. Its like 3-4 hours long though.

Anyway, Im liking it so far but sometimes, especially on NZD reports, TTN will get the # faster than SNW so Im paying for both right now.

Shard, on CAD reports, the guy tells everyone(in his emails the night before the trade) to trade EUR/CAD if there is US data at the same time.

Supposedly, they are supposed to be releasing a new version in a few weeks that will handle conflicting reports, revisions, etc. but he has been saying that for a few weeks :rolleyes:

Anyway, Im liking LA a lot. Luckily, when I leased my apartment online, I got a good area(agoura hills). Its quiet and safe...one of the only places in LA that doesnt have graffiti on all the street signs :p

nhallmark.... I'll sign up under you. May aswell.... :cool:

[Music_Producer]

I shorted NZD/USD yesterday.... and now at -80pips. Lucky it was a small order. :o
I'm just about to give up on my own technical trading. I don't have the experience to be a speculative tech trader, but with news, I can be reactionary... and profitable. :D

Good luck on the NFP all.

Stu.. Shard knows quite a bit about technicals.. and he's almost always successful. I am always disastrous at tech trading.. so I stick to news. Based on the inflated AUD/JPY (at 100.70) I shorted a small lot.. and the sucker went to 101!! So when you're shorting AUD or NZD.. remember that these are currencies preferred for the carry trade. So whenever the carry trade is up.. all aud/jpy, gbp/jpy, nzd, etc go higher.

The day these levels break or japan intervenes (i don't think it will) or some finance minister gives a warning etc.. these guys drop in the blink of an eye.

[StuNew78]

Stu.. Shard knows quite a bit about technicals.. and he's almost always successful. I am always disastrous at tech trading.. so I stick to news. Based on the inflated AUD/JPY (at 100.70) I shorted a small lot.. and the sucker went to 101!! So when you're shorting AUD or NZD.. remember that these are currencies preferred for the carry trade. So whenever the carry trade is up.. all aud/jpy, gbp/jpy, nzd, etc go higher.

The day these levels break or japan intervenes (i don't think it will) or some finance minister gives a warning etc.. these guys drop in the blink of an eye.

Hi Music_producer,

It's hard call on the NZDUSD right now... I shorted on the idea that alot of reports are expecting a correction. IMF contacted our government and said 'cool down' on the interest rates (highest in nearly 10 years). But now some are expecting another rate hike to 8% (which I highly doubt)...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=167&objectid=10443024
I'm going to hang on the short with my small lot and wait for a correction.

This brings me to a thought of trading psychology. TA and News are so very far apart to me in preparation, patience and execution. I believe I'm a news trader :)
Can I ask who your current broker is music_producer? I'm on Oanda but just opened an MB trading demo under reccomendation.

[Music_Producer]

Stu, my current broker (and soon to be ex-broker) is CMC Markets. I just got a re-quote.. the first time when gbp/usd dropped from 1.9806 to 1.9775.. and then I waited for it to go back up.. and shorted again.. again another re-quote.

I've signed up with Capital Forex (Currenex) but have yet to wait for the account to open (final stages - all paperwork is filed) Can't wait to trade on a real account instead of this ***** broker that I have. It's such a waste of time to stay up all the time just to get re-quotes. They might as well tell me 'Please stop trading' and I will happily comply.

MB Trading has gotten quite good lately. They used to be horrible earlier.. but apparently now their fills are pretty instantaneous. But, with NFP.. I don't know what kind of slippage you might get.. NFP is the most traded report.

[~Shard~]

Got a requote on NFP, but that thing swung so much due to all the data that it was probably for the best... :o ;)

I shorted NZD/USD yesterday.... and now at -80pips. Lucky it was a small order.
I'm just about to give up on my own technical trading. I don't have the experience to be a speculative tech trader, but with news, I can be reactionary... and profitable.

:eek: Sorry to hear about the short Stu. Once my 4-hour chandle closed and I received confirmation on my 1-hour candle that key resistance had been broken, I decided not to take the trade - luckily it was a good non-trade. The pair is up over 100 pips in a couple days, so I would look for a bit of a retracement, but I doubt you'll end up profitable unless you hold for an entire week and something significant happens wrt the interest rate decision next week.

Stu.. Shard knows quite a bit about technicals.. and he's almost always successful. I am always disastrous at tech trading.. so I stick to news. Based on the inflated AUD/JPY (at 100.70) I shorted a small lot.. and the sucker went to 101!! So when you're shorting AUD or NZD.. remember that these are currencies preferred for the carry trade. So whenever the carry trade is up.. all aud/jpy, gbp/jpy, nzd, etc go higher.

Thanks Music_Producer, you're going to make me blush. ;) :) Yeah, it's taken me years and years of trading on the stock markets to gain a decent handle on technicals, but I only use them sparingly, and with small lots. And you make a very good point wrt the carry trade pairs - they defy logic and fundamentals, so it's very risky to short them. But, as you say, all it takes is an event like the end of February and they will drop like a bride's pajamas on her wedding night. :cool:

It's hard call on the NZDUSD right now... I shorted on the idea that alot of reports are expecting a correction. IMF contacted our government and said 'cool down' on the interest rates (highest in nearly 10 years). But now some are expecting another rate hike to 8% (which I highly doubt)...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=167&objectid=10443024
I'm going to hang on the short with my small lot and wait for a correction.

With any trading you really have to pick a strategy and stick to it. A lot can hapen but you always need to keep clear in your mind the reason why you entered a trade and what your're desired outcome is. If the markets are telling you a different story, you have to listen and be willing to abort. I used to do the wrong thing with stocks when I first started. I'd short a stock based on technicals, it would reverse on me, then I'd pick a new exit point, or I'd think about doubling down, and I'd get all caught up in the fact that I was losing money. In the end, I had lost sight of the circumstances under which I initially took the trade - if I would have kept those in mind, I would have saved myself a lot of money by cutting my losses.

In your case, if you are truly shorting NZDUSD basded on what you hope the news will be next week, then that's fine - just don't panic in the meantime if the pair is volatile, and wait for the announcement next week. And more importantly, if the news is bad for you (i.e. a rate hike to 8%), don't chase your losses, don't try and force a winning trade and get the ***** out of Dodge. Whereas if you were shorting the pair "just cuz" and now it onbviously was a bad decision, I'd get out. You were wrong. We've all been wrong. Live with it and move onto the next trade. :cool:

This brings me to a thought of trading psychology. TA and News are so very far apart to me in preparation, patience and execution. I believe I'm a news trader :)

Yes they are. That being said, they are inexplicably linked at times. Negative news will hammer a pair down, but "coincidentally" the pair will many times bottom out at a key support level, whether it's a double bottom, the 365MA, whatever. Odd... ;) The fact is, there are many technical traders out there who trade based on these types of signals. So, rightly or wrongly, or even if it goes against fundamentals, you have to keep this in mind as there are many traders out there who can sometimes influence the markets as such. For instance, thousands of short or buy orders are placed by the big institutions at key levels, thus making them very hard to break. Look how many times USDJPY hit 122.00 before it could actually break through...

That being said, if news is bad, if there are geopolitical or significant economic events, or if there is a surprise of some other sort, then no amount of technical trading will save you from the fundamentals.

But yes, preparation, psychology, etc. is completely different. You have to do what is right for you. Above all else though, as I've stated before, stick to your plan and exercise discipline. That is absolutely key in this game. :cool:

[Music_Producer]

Hey Shard.. love the 2nd tune as well.. I don't know how to classify the music.. it's both Chicane-ish but would also fit well in a video game soundtrack ;) I'll send some of my mp3s to you as well.

What do you think of aud/jpy right now? Do you feel like getting in? I look at gbp/jpy (241) and cad/jpy (114) and usd/jpy (122) All these guys are at higher levels than the aud/jpy... so sometimes I think maybe aud/jpy can go up by 5-10 k pips. As long as there is a nice interest rate differential.. i know all funds would keep buying aud/jpy regardless of risk factors. Sure there will be some dips along the way .. but they would present as further buying opportunities.. I would think.

This is what I'm feeling at the moment.. it's very tempting but you know how I am when it comes to risk. To think that I sold all my aud/jpy when I had bought it at 95 :mad: Could have still been making interest lol.

[~Shard~]

Hey Shard.. love the 2nd tune as well.. I don't know how to classify the music.. it's both Chicane-ish but would also fit well in a video game soundtrack ;) I'll send some of my mp3s to you as well.

Thanks, I truly appreciate the feedback. :) I'll e-mail you a couple more tunes this weekend... perhaps one later tonight if I get a chance to rip ti from our CD archives...

What do you think of aud/jpy right now? Do you feel like getting in? I look at gbp/jpy (241) and cad/jpy (114) and usd/jpy (122) All these guys are at higher levels than the aud/jpy... so sometimes I think maybe aud/jpy can go up by 5-10 k pips. As long as there is a nice interest rate differential.. i know all funds would keep buying aud/jpy regardless of risk factors. Sure there will be some dips along the way .. but they would present as further buying opportunities.. I would think.

This is what I'm feeling at the moment.. it's very tempting but you know how I am when it comes to risk. To think that I sold all my aud/jpy when I had bought it at 95 :mad: Could have still been making interest lol.

Yeah, I know what you mean. If only we would have bought after the crash at the end of February! What did AUDJPY hit at that point, 89 cents?! Yikes...

Anyway, I'm not sure what to make of the carry trade situation right now. The situation is pretty bullish right now, especially as the BoJ likely will remain on hold for the foreseeable future and will be lucky to get away with one increase this year.

There are arguments for a possible unwinding as well though. The US Fed has basically stated they expect growth to be trending up (and therefore inflation trending down) which removes the possibility of a rate change, so that area of potential appreciation is not available. Also, rising bond yields are a big cause for concern. Actually the bond situation right now is very intriguing. But that's another matter for discussion as well... ;) This only impacts USDJPY, but still, if one carry trade is impacted, the others may easily follow...

The overall uptrend is likely to continue for the time being in my opinion although how much longer is hard to say. At some point though, if things turn, I'd say they're going to turn 180 degrees. It won't be pretty. :cool:

[Music_Producer]

AHHHH New MacBook Pros.. there goes my concentration on trading :D :D :D I gotta get me one of these suckers.. today.. right NOW! It's 5.52 am.. maybe if I go and bang on the apple store's door they might take pity.. I.... can't.... wait..

[~Shard~]

Yes, they do look pretty sweet! A nice signficant update too, not just a speed bump. Santa Rosa, LED displays, 2 GB RAM, more HD space, upgraded video card - it's all good! My wife and I will probably be picking one up soon as well. I might hold off just a little while though in ordering due to a) it's summer and we're always busy with things and don't spend much time on the computer and b) with more Leopard news at WWDC, there is a slim chance Apple will offer a partial Leopard rebate for anyone purchasing a new mac between WWDC and the October release date.

In forex news, I took a bad short against NZDUSD (it was, and still is, waaaay overbought) and my stop hit for a -25 pip loss as the pair broke 7500. You can't win them all! However I made it back and then some with a nice short on the USDJPY. Opened it up last night at 121.77 and my TP hit this morning at 121.27. Only a $50K lot (I never like using much more than that for technical trades since I still don't trust them completely ;)) but still, I'll take the $250!

Anyone catch Bernanke's speech this morning? Haha, silly US, they're screwed... :p ;) :D Seriously, I don't know why people were expecting a US rate cut anytime soon. If anything a rate hike is in order and that will just further exacerbate the housing market's negative situation. Longer term, I don't see good things ahead for the US...

[Music_Producer]

In forex news, I took a bad short against NZDUSD (it was, and still is, waaaay overbought) and my stop hit for a -25 pip loss as the pair broke 7500. You can't win them all! However I made it back and then some with a nice short on the USDJPY. Opened it up last night at 121.77 and my TP hit this morning at 121.27. Only a $50K lot (I never like using much more than that for technical trades since I still don't trust them completely ;)) but still, I'll take the $250!

Anyone catch Bernanke's speech this morning? Haha, silly US, they're screwed... :p ;) :D Seriously, I don't know why people were expecting a US rate cut anytime soon. If anything a rate hike is in order and that will just further exacerbate the housing market's negative situation. Longer term, I don't see good things ahead for the US...

Yeah.. that nzd and aud are unpredictable.. just when you think they're going to fall they shoot up by like 50 pips. I'm not touching those unless japan raises rates surprising everyone.

People, unfortunately, are always optimistic. You should hear the 'analysts' talk about the real estate problem. It went from 'Oh nothing will happen' to 'Maybe a little soft landing' to 'It's really bad'.. but now again they're saying that the housing market has bottomed. Bah.. get ready for another 30-50% drop.

The US has to raise rates.. I said that like 2 years ago.. hey Bush should appoint me to the Fed. Then I'll give you guys pre-news info :p

Oh and on today's ISM trade, got a re-quote from cmc. My currenex account should be active any time soon.. so will post on how that works out for me.

[~Shard~]

Let me know how the currenex account works out, perhaps I'll switch as well... :)

[StuNew78]

AHHHH New MacBook Pros.. there goes my concentration on trading :D :D :D I gotta get me one of these suckers.. today.. right NOW! It's 5.52 am.. maybe if I go and bang on the apple store's door they might take pity.. I.... can't.... wait..

I just bought my MBP 4 weeks ago... :confused: Now I missed out on DX10 for my gaming in between releases :rolleyes:
I lost quite abit on the NZD/USD. I've decided to retire from TA trading. I'm going to stick to news for a few months and see what my results are like.

music_producer I thought you'd like to have a look at this video care of Felix's service. It just shows using MB trading for news releases.
https://www.secretnewsweapon.com/MBTrading34.html

The platform is not very intuitive, but the service seems very good.

[~Shard~]

I just bought my MBP 4 weeks ago... :confused: Now I missed out on DX10 for my gaming in between releases :rolleyes:

That's to bad Stu, I'm sorry to hear that. :( Were you a member of MacRumors at the time of your purchase? I guess a tough lesson for next time is to always check the rumor mill for what it's worth. Still, doesn't help you in your current situation, so I feel for ya...

I lost quite abit on the NZD/USD. I've decided to retire from TA trading. I'm going to stick to news for a few months and see what my results are like.

One of the keys of technical trading is to employ intelligent stop losses. If you are trading purely on technicals, then have stops which reflect that. Identify and confirm key resistance and support levels and place your stops just past these points. That way, if a resistance line is hit, you won't get stopped out, but if it is breached, then your stop will hit, which is a good thing because in all likelihood the trade is about top turn against you. Know when the deal is done. Also, always keep in mind what economic releases there are in the near future which could adversely affect your pair. Technicals mean squat if economic news deviates significantly from expectations.

Above all else though, hang in there! Never give up and keep learning. As I've said before, trading takes discipline. You need to completely remove emotion form your trading. I like to say that the equal twins of disaster in trading are Fear and Greed. :cool:

[~Shard~]

Excellent trade on the Aussie GDP report! Traded AUDUSD, in and out in 4 seconds flat, 8385-8397 for 12 pips, no requotes, no nothing. I wish they could all go that smoothly! :cool:

[Music_Producer]

I was reading a bit and it seems that nzd's going up due to another rate hike expectation. Bad time to trade whenever any interest rate announcement is close.. so stay away from those pairs. Just stick to gbp/usd or eur/usd if trading technicals.

I'm glad I waited for the MBP.. it's been an agonizing wait but worth it. :)

Stu, I don't know how that software works now.. but when I used it, it was worthless. Also, I was faster than it.. so it doesn't make sense for me to fork out extra money just for it to do something about 2 seconds later than what I can usually do. Watch out for any third party solutions.. remember you are not in control of your trades.. the software is. You are, eventually using the internet.. and if there is some slight latency and that software clicks a few seconds late.. you could be out by a lot of pips.

I couldn't log into my cmc platform .. so i missed that trade. Good one though shard!

[~Shard~]

I couldn't log into my cmc platform .. so i missed that trade. Good one though shard!

Man, that sucks - I can totally see why you're eager to move away from CMC... :( And yeah, the trade worked out well. Obviously if I would have held on I could have made more, but then that wouldn't have been trading the news, now would it? ;) :cool:

Do you expect anything big to happen regarding the EUR interest rate announcement tomorrow AM? I'll be watching it just in case... I assume a rate hike is expected and essentially already priced in due to the recent upward movement of EURUSD?

[Music_Producer]

Yup, a hike is expected at ecb's interest rate decision tomorrow, and that is priced in. Before that rate decision though, check out what the eur/usd levels are. If they go way too high (1.3550 or so) and rate comes out as expected.. then eur/usd should drop 10-20 pips (who knows.. could drop more)

Of course, watch out if they don't change the rates at all.. eur/usd should drop a good 50-70 pips then.

[~Shard~]

Yup, a hike is expected at ecb's interest rate decision tomorrow, and that is priced in. Before that rate decision though, check out what the eur/usd levels are. If they go way too high (1.3550 or so) and rate comes out as expected.. then eur/usd should drop 10-20 pips (who knows.. could drop more)

Of course, watch out if they don't change the rates at all.. eur/usd should drop a good 50-70 pips then.

Will do - I'll be watching! I'll also be watching the kiwi interest rate decision later in the day - I have a feeling that's going to move the NZDUSD regardless of what the announcement is! ;)

[StuNew78]

I was reading a bit and it seems that nzd's going up due to another rate hike expectation. Bad time to trade whenever any interest rate announcement is close.. so stay away from those pairs. Just stick to gbp/usd or eur/usd if trading technicals.

I'm glad I waited for the MBP.. it's been an agonizing wait but worth it. :)

Stu, I don't know how that software works now.. but when I used it, it was worthless. Also, I was faster than it.. so it doesn't make sense for me to fork out extra money just for it to do something about 2 seconds later than what I can usually do. Watch out for any third party solutions.. remember you are not in control of your trades.. the software is. You are, eventually using the internet.. and if there is some slight latency and that software clicks a few seconds late.. you could be out by a lot of pips.

I couldn't log into my cmc platform .. so i missed that trade. Good one though shard!

MP, I was thinking more of the video as an example of how MB Trading is currently operating. Seems alot of news traders are moving over to them, and with your CMC problems thought it might be an option? I've just opened up an account but won't know for several weeks how it performs for me.

[Music_Producer]

MP, I was thinking more of the video as an example of how MB Trading is currently operating. Seems alot of news traders are moving over to them, and with your CMC problems thought it might be an option? I've just opened up an account but won't know for several weeks how it performs for me.

Ahh.. sorry :o I do have a mb trading account, with very little money in it though. I'll give it a try soon enough.. there was a lot of slippage when I first tried it (like 20-40 pips) So I just gave up on it, and completely forgot about it.

A few weeks ago I tried it out and it had significantly improved, most of my trades were executed instantly, and no slippage. Of course, I was trading with very small lots, just to make sure I lost a little bit in the event of slippage.. but it seemed great.

I'm just waiting for my currenex account to be active. I already have the account #, have wired the funds.. but am waiting for confirmation, etc. Should be up and running, hopefully by tomorrow.

[~Shard~]

Weird morning - things I thought should happen didn't. ;) But, since there was no movement I didn't take any trades, so no harm no foul. The Canadian data came out way worse than expected, yet the USDCAD didn't move much - perhaps due to the US data? :confused: Then EURUSD tanked for some reason <shrug> - I can only assume it perhaps had something to do with Trichet's speech?

No worries - hopefully the kiwi report this afternoon will provide some trading opportunity.

[StuNew78]

Weird morning - things I thought should happen didn't. ;) But, since there was no movement I didn't take any trades, so no harm no foul. The Canadian data came out way worse than expected, yet the USDCAD didn't move much - perhaps due to the US data? :confused: Then EURUSD tanked for some reason <shrug> - I can only assume it perhaps had something to do with Trichet's speech?

No worries - hopefully the kiwi report this afternoon will provide some trading opportunity.

Shard, Looks as if the AUD/NZD is a strong buy a the moment. I just watched the head forex analyst on CNBCplus from UBS say it should hit up to 1.14/1.15 I'm trying to get my confidence back after my last TA trade :) What would your take on this be?

www.ubs.com/1/e/ubs_ch/wealth_mgmt_ch/research/research_update.html#ForexNews_D

[~Shard~]

Shard, Looks as if the AUD/NZD is a strong buy a the moment. I just watched the head forex analyst on CNBCplus from UBS say it should hit up to 1.14/1.15 I'm trying to get my confidence back after my last TA trade :) What would your take on this be?

www.ubs.com/1/e/ubs_ch/wealth_mgmt_ch/research/research_update.html#ForexNews_D

My general rule of thumb is that if I read about something in the news, it's too late to trade. ;) Currency strategies only hit the "common folk" after all the insiders have established their positions and then disseminate this information throughout the media to generate hype. The speculators will then jump all over the news, the insiders will get out with their profits and leave everyone else high and dry. This is why trading on speculation is one of my cardinal no-nos of trading - I never do it. :cool:

So, in this specific case, if they are saying AUDNZD is a strong buy right now, I'd take that with a grain of salt. Also, this has no bearing whatsoever on the techical aspect of the pair, so regardless of the news, I would only enter a technical trade on the pair if several of my indicators lined up and were consistent. In other words, if my strategy is to enter a technical trade on a pair, then news such as this is irrelevant, as I am trading the techicals not the news/hype.

I do not watch the AUDNZD pair at all, so I can't comment on its current levels. Watching too many pairs makes me lose focus. I prefer to watch 6-7 pairs max and dedicate my attention to just them so I can be in better touch and have a better feel and understanding of how the pairs behave and such. Normally I watch EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCAD, AUDJPY, USDCHF and USDJPY. I follow AUDUSD and NZDUSD from time to time but not on a regaular basis.

I will be watching the NZD report this afternoon though. It's a really interesting situation - fundamentally, NZ has no need to increase rates, yet the expectation is that they will and furthermore this has already been priced into the currency. Also, there is the artificial inflation to consider, what with the kiwi being a carry currency. If the BoNZ does indeed hike rates, I don't see the pair going up (these levels are currently technically unsustainable) yet there that's damn carry influence again. ;) The hike appears to be priced in tough, so if they chose to leave rates the same, look out below! :D ;)

Not sure if I've been much help, but these are just some of my thoughts on the matter... If you have any other questions just ask. :cool:

[Music_Producer]

Crap! This one moved before I could react.. could have been an easy 40 pips *sob!* How did you guys do? Hey Shard, if you had still held on to your nzd short you would have been screwed :p

[nhallmark]

Yeah, I saw it spike before I got the news so I stayed out. I got 12 pips on AUD GDP yesterday though...guess we tied, Shard :p

MP, Have you got in on one trade since you traded $2 mil on that AUD trade a few weeks ago?

I haven't tried trading more than 1 mil yet and I dont think I will for fear of being upgraded to the unlimited requote package :p

Let us know how currenex goes. What broker did you decide on?

[Music_Producer]

MP, Have you got in on one trade since you traded $2 mil on that AUD trade a few weeks ago?

I haven't tried trading more than 1 mil yet and I dont think I will for fear of being upgraded to the unlimited requote package :p

Let us know how currenex goes. What broker did you decide on?

LOL.. unlimited requote package.. yeah that's what I currently have. You want one? :p

Nope, I haven't been able to trade anything at all with cmc.. last time they didn't even let me log in (they blamed server issues.. sure, the server doesn't like me apparently)

My currenex account is up and running :D I'm gonna try it on the aussie trade today.. will let you know how it goes. Where have you been?! I thought your internet died or something.

[Music_Producer]

22 pips on a 5 million lot :eek: :D :D Currenex rules!!! Rocks! :D D :D :D Everything!:

[nhallmark]

Damn, Im jealous ;) I was happy about my 16 pips trading $1 mil until I read that :p

I haven't been posting lately because Ive been out enjoying california and sleeping through trades...I slept right through UK PMI and ISM the other day and then the EUR rate decision today :rolleyes:

What's the minimum deposit for the broker you went with?

[Music_Producer]

What's the minimum deposit for the broker you went with?

Oops, I forgot to answer that one - I went with Capital Forex - their minimum requirement is 50 k to open a currenex acct..and you have to submit paperwork that shows assets, experience, etc.. that's why it took a long time to open.

However, I opened with a 100 k account as they charge slightly lower commissions with that. The larger the deposit amount, the lower the commissions go.

[StuNew78]

22 pips on a 5 million lot :eek: :D :D Currenex rules!!! Rocks! :D D :D :D Everything!:

Oh my god. :D Inspiring MP... inspiring.

It might be time for a bloomberg feed MP hahaha

[Music_Producer]

Oh my god. :D Inspiring MP... inspiring.

It might be time for a bloomberg feed MP hahaha

Hopefully all my trades go in that manner.. and it's not just one blockbuster one :p I contacted bloomberg a long time ago, but they never got back to me. Sent them emails, left messages.. but nothing. Maybe there's some sort of selection criteria and I obviously don't match that (because I'm not a bank or a hedge fund)

No luck with Reuters either. So I'm dealing with TTN for now.. so far so good.. but the currenex platform seems to react faster.. so i have to be really, really quick.

[Music_Producer]

12 pips on the UK interest rate report.. they kept the rates the same, so the pound dipped. Went about 20-24 pips more further down.. interestingly the pound dropped from 1.9940 or so.. down to 1.9880 during the london session.. maybe they expected rates to remain the same?

[~Shard~]

Crap! This one moved before I could react.. could have been an easy 40 pips *sob!* How did you guys do? Hey Shard, if you had still held on to your nzd short you would have been screwed

Yeah, it moved too quickly on me as well. I honestly didn't think it would shoot up so much, so I technically could have got in near the bottom of the spike, but was then concerned that I had missed the opportunity and that it might only be a small spike upwards. So, I missed this one, but there will always be another... ;)

And yes, the whole NZDUSD thing further illustrates my point of having a strategy and sticking to it. I shorted it, a ket resistance line was crossed, I knew the trade was broken, so I got out for a slight loss. If I would have been stubborn or tried to at least break even, I would have lost my shirt. :cool:

22 pips on a 5 million lot :eek: :D Currenex rules!!! Rocks! :D Everything!

Holy crap! So Currenex works pretty slick does it? No requotes, slippage, spread increases during news, or server lag? Not yet at least? ;) If so, I might have to try them as well... I have often thought of moving up to $1M lots on CMC since my confidence and trading skills are improviong, however I don't know if I feel comfortable trading such large lots with them due to the hitgh possibility of getting requotes, etc.

So remind me again (I know it's mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm just too lazy to find it right now... :o ;)) - what is the minimum deposit you must make? And a $1M lot is the smallest you can trade, correct? Lastly, what margin do you have? 100:1, 200:1?

Great job again Music_Producer - I wish you continued success and am hoping that this wasn't a one-time thing (i.e. that you'll soon be upgraded to the unlimited re-quote package ;))

[nhallmark]

Hey guys :) I set my alarm for 5:30 thinking the UK rate decision was at 6 ...which it was in texas time. So, I missed the trade by 2 hours :o

Oh well, I probably wouldnt have traded anyway. Do any of you have experience with dukascopy? Im looking at them but with the 50k minimum I might as well go with currenex.

[~Shard~]

Looking for some good Canadian and US reports tomorrow morning to finish off the week....

[Music_Producer]

20 pips on USD/CAD trade :D

Shard, currenex is great (so far) No slippage, no re-quote cr*p. I've seen spreads widen .. but usually not more than 2-3 pips. I'm sure they get wider during interest rate announcements.. but I haven't traded those on that platform yet so I don't know.

The minimum deposit is $50,000 and minimum trade is 1 million units. I think you also have to meet a minimum requirement of 20-30 million units/month or something of that sort. My current margin is 100:1 but that can change depending on what documents you sign, and submit some kind of collateral (additional deposit) etc. It's all negotiable.

Nathan, I've heard that dukascopy has lower spreads than currenex. Maybe i'll sign up for a demo and check it out. So far currenex seems good, hey maybe 2-3 more profitable trades and they'll kick me out :p

Oh, btw my wife just traded on cmc (I yelled 'BUY!' lol) and she got a re-quote. I loved that she instantly blurted out 'that's cheating' :D

[Music_Producer]

12 pips on a 4 million lot, currenex was a little faster than me but what the heck.. still made good profit :D :D :D Excellent week, great platform.. how did you guys do?

[~Shard~]

Hahahaha! :D

CMC just re-quoted themselves out of money! I shorted the USDCAD based on the news just now but got in a little late. Sold at 1.0651, bought at 1.0647 - only 4 pips, but with a $200K lot I was fine with that.

So, I'm thinking my trade is done. 4 pips, not bad, acted late, my own fault (since I was watching GBPUSD as well). Well, then I notice my balance was still moving. :confused: Then a requote pops up. Turns out my initial sell order didn't get executed but my buy order did! :eek: Well, after a second of panic to figure out what the heck the situation was, I realized I technically bought at 1.0647, which was the bottom of the news spike, and I watched with a sigh of relief as the price recovered back to 1.0656. So, thanks to CMC being re-quote happy, I more than doubled my earnings and made 9 pips instead of 4. :D When I finally figured out what happened a bastardly smirk appeared on my face. ;)

So there you have it everyone, that's how you fade the spike on a news trade. Lesson learned. Please do not try this at home. :p :cool:

[Music_Producer]

Lol Shard! Good going.. teaches them a lesson.. suckers. But you see how scary that can get? Now imagine if you were trading a 2 million lot.. and those a$$holes didn't let your trade go through when you clicked it.. but let it go a few seconds later. Hell, that infuriates me.. I have had that happen a few times. Especially with the barrage of re-quotes.. and when you're clicking buy/sell those idiots trigger an order that you didn't want executed!

Currenex is vastly different.. you press one key, it executes.. no games. No sweating around and trying to see if your balance is intact or still moving around. I hope to get my hands on that currenex keyboard, that's one toy I'm dying to have after I can get a bloody macbook pro in stock at an apple store!!

[StuNew78]

I propose a trading room.
All in favour say aye.

[~Shard~]

I don't think we need much more than this thread in terms of trading discussion. There are only 4 or 5 regulars here so I think this thread is adequate. :)

Plus, this is MacRumors, it's not exactly meant to be heavily focused on other interests. ;) I think having this thread in the Community Discussion section is just fine. If we all wanted to get more in depth we'd join an actual forex forum methinks... ;) :cool:

[Britguy]

Hi,

I traded the news with CMC, and I was relatively successful (over 8 months), but all of a sudden, my order just hangs for 30secs. So I guess, it is time to move on. I asked the helpdesk why this was, and they said I would have to speak to the dealers, and hung up on me. Is manual/slow execution reversable, or is it permanent with CMC?

I was curious to hear Music Producers comments on Currenex (a move I have contemplated for a while). Can you tell me do you use limit orders for the news, or market orders?

Regards,

Britguy

[Music_Producer]

Hey Britguy, CMC will obviously employ every tactic in the book to shut you down (manual execution, slippage, re-quotes, etc) They don't want profitable traders.. as soon as you start having problems, you should withdraw your money and close your account. It makes no sense losing all your profits because of one bad (caused by cmc) trade.

Currenex is a great platform, it all depends on the host broker.. on whether they want you to be profitable or not. So far, since I'm new with capital forex, I have had no problems. Let's see how long that goes on for. I use market orders for trades.. but i won't be trading very significant reports like the NFP or interest rate reports, where the spread may widen quite a bit.. or I might not get a good price. Email the capital forex folks, and ask for a demo of the currenex portal. Try it out and see if it suits your trading strategy.

There are more than enough reports to trade, which yield some good profit and there's not that much spread madness going on.

[Music_Producer]

Just got my SR MBP 2.4 ghz today :) God, this thing is gorgeous. I've been buying apple products since 2001, you'd think I'm used to it by now, but no.. right from opening the packaging of this baby to powering her up.. ahhh.. my wife caught me giggling and frothing at the mouth.

She went "So if this macbook pro was alive, who would you choose? Me or her?" I replied, "No contest baby, sorry!" and stroked my macbook :D Don't think I'm gonna get dinner tonight lol.

[~Shard~]

Nice! :)

Yeah, we will be picking up a new MBP in the near future as well. We're first of all going to wait until after WWDC to see if there is any type of partial rebate/credit offered for Leopard on any new Macs purchased and then will decide whether to actually wait for Leopard or not. On the one hand, we have been waiting a long time, and specifically for this update, but on the other hand, we have so much on the go in the summer that it's tough to justify buying a laptop right now since we'd never use it until fall anyway! Regardless, we'll be enjoying a nice new SR MBP as well in the near future. :cool:

[Britguy]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Which CMC product were you using? Forex, CFD or Spreadbetting? Is there a way to keep under the radar with this firm, to prevent you getting flagged?
In CMCs defence I thought they were an awesome company, before my order kept getting delayed.
Out of curiosity, did anyone with problems at CMC call up the dealing desk and ask why the quotes hung? or did you just move on.

MP, I wish you luck with currenex, but I heard that they ban you too, if you keep hitting the same banks on their platform. Unless you trade the same size, between releases as you do at news releases.

Cheers,

Britguy

[Amber]

I've been looking to get into Forex but don't have much money to spare. Can I start with £50 just to learn?

I'm not sure where to start.

[Toreador93]

I've been looking to get into Forex but don't have much money to spare. Can I start with £50 just to learn?

I'm not sure where to start.

I'm pretty sure Oanda has no minimum account or trade sizes. A lot of the big spenders on this forum seem to have moved on from Oanda because their spreads on news trading are quite large. If you are totally new, you might want to start a demo account with Oanda or another broker before you spend real money.

Also, if you haven't, I would suggest reading this whole thread. There is lots of helpful information here, but it may take you a few days or more to get through it. You should also visit some dedicated FOREX forums, I like www.babypips.com , and www.investopedia.com has a lot of helpful information.

[Music_Producer]

Amber, just like Toreador mentioned.. you can start with no money.. just sign up for a demo account with any broker, I'd recommend trading on a demo account for a good 2-3 months. Just so you get familiar with every possible trading situation.

Shard, nathan.. and to everyone who reads this forum and understands carry trading.. I just had a brilliant idea (although it might be quite common) I was reading a news article about how 30,000 soccer fans chipped in some money (like $50 each) .. and they have enough money to buy a 3 or 4 tier soccer club!

Now, if we could do that with carry trades. :D

Let's say 500 people - invest $500 each. In a regular money market account, each person investing $500 would probably make 5% .. so that's $2.08 a month (approximate) However, if we invested a part of the total $250,000 in a carry trade.. with enough amount left for a drop of even 15,000 pips, the interest accrued would be $16 per person/month! That's a return of 40%!

The more the number of people, obviously the better it gets, because then there would be a sufficient amount of money to accomodate for an infinite drop.. and the interest would keep coming in. What do you guys think?

[~Shard~]

Shard, nathan.. and to everyone who reads this forum and understands carry trading.. I just had a brilliant idea (although it might be quite common) I was reading a news article about how 30,000 soccer fans chipped in some money (like $50 each) .. and they have enough money to buy a 3 or 4 tier soccer club!

Now, if we could do that with carry trades. :D

Let's say 500 people - invest $500 each. In a regular money market account, each person investing $500 would probably make 5% .. so that's $2.08 a month (approximate) However, if we invested a part of the total $250,000 in a carry trade.. with enough amount left for a drop of even 15,000 pips, the interest accrued would be $16 per person/month! That's a return of 40%!

The more the number of people, obviously the better it gets, because then there would be a sufficient amount of money to accomodate for an infinite drop.. and the interest would keep coming in. What do you guys think?

Not a bad idea at all Music_Producer! Along these same lines I have often thought what if we simply made an arrangement, pooled our money, thus buying us more leverage to take advantage of, and split the proceeds? Imagine how much we could make if we traded $100M lots, even just a few times! :D ;) I guess this whole concept comes back to our idea of starting a hedge fund... ;) But yes, I could see something like this working, especially with a vehicle such as the carry trade. Urgh, that damn AUDJPY is just so high now! Or is it? :rolleyes: Is it going to hit 110, or come back down into the 90s? I am seriously considering getting back into it once there is another correction as we saw at the end of February.

Anyway, I would definitely give this some thought. Let me know if you do any more thinking about it ad want to discuss it further - we can either do it here or via PM or e-mail. Regardless, make no mistake, I would definitely consider this or a plan like it in all seriousness. :cool:

[nhallmark]

Shard, nathan.. and to everyone who reads this forum and understands carry trading.. I just had a brilliant idea (although it might be quite common) I was reading a news article about how 30,000 soccer fans chipped in some money (like $50 each) .. and they have enough money to buy a 3 or 4 tier soccer club!

Now, if we could do that with carry trades. :D

Let's say 500 people - invest $500 each. In a regular money market account, each person investing $500 would probably make 5&#37; .. so that's $2.08 a month (approximate) However, if we invested a part of the total $250,000 in a carry trade.. with enough amount left for a drop of even 15,000 pips, the interest accrued would be $16 per person/month! That's a return of 40%!

The more the number of people, obviously the better it gets, because then there would be a sufficient amount of money to accomodate for an infinite drop.. and the interest would keep coming in. What do you guys think?

I think its a great idea...Im definitely in. There are a few issues to think about though...does currenex have sub accounts? We would need something to split the money like sub accounts, etc. and paperwork obviously, because come tax time...if you had all the money in your personal account you would be subject to those taxes.

Also, we would need the paperwork because if it isnt there, then (correct me if Im wrong) it would fall under gift tax if the amount is over 11,000.00 blah, blah, blah...Im sure you guys have already realized this...just sayin'

Also, there seems to be rumors that the BoJ is going to hike again soon and "theories" that the current carry situation cant continue like it is....but hey, if the BoJ hikes again at the next meeting and some G7 dude blinks his left eye 3 times, we could see another big drop, which might be a good time to enter.

Anyway, Im just rambling.

How did you guys like leapord today? With the grass desktop pic, it kind of reminded me of vista...I hate saying that but that was my initial thought.

I was really hoping for new hardware today also...but I guess it will come when "the lord"(steve:p ) sees fit.

[nhallmark]

26 pips on UK CPI :D Did you guys trade it?

[Music_Producer]

Sweet trade nathan! At this rate you're going to buy Apple in .. well.. maybe 5 years. I was asleep.. my alarm went off.. and I just kinda kicked it away :o

Yeah, I'm serious about the fund topic.. so that makes 3 of us.. now we need 497 more people.. :D I've always wanted to start a fund that could consist of average or beginner investors.. and with minimal amounts. I know that anyone who's in school, or just working hard.. has a hard time to invest something like 25-50 k in a mutual fund, when you don't know if it will give decent returns or just tank. So $500 would be a good starting point.

The least we can offer is double the interest rate of a current savings account. Nathan, you can have sub accounts with any currenex platform.. but i'm not sure if this would work that way. Imagine 500 sub accounts, with trades going on in each one.. would be a nightmare to implement. I'm sure these hedge funds tackle the tax issue in some manner (which i am not aware of yet) But if we do the homework, we can find out how to get about it. The initial part is to see if people do have an interest in this venture.

Leopard (not leapord as you put it :p) at WWDC was so disappointing. Not the OS itself.. but the so called 'secret features' .. sheesh! It's ok though, Apple's made me uber happy by releasing the SR MBP. I won't be mad at Apple for another year if they don't come out with anything new ;)

I'll check with the Access stuff nathan.. that's all 'exotic' stuff (all stuff that comes from europe) will get back to you regarding availability.

[~Shard~]

Didn’t trade the report this morning, I chose sleep instead. :o

Yeah, I think setting up some type of fund along these lines is a great idea. We’d have to look into what type of regulations there are though and all that legal mumbo jumbo. Perhaps an added wrinkle that I live in Canada as well... :o Although perhaps that would strengthen the fund’s appeal because then we could market it as “international”. :D

We’d also have to decide how to position it. I like your idea of targeting younger people. If that were the case, we could position the fund as essentially a money market fund/savings fund. Basically as a high interest account where your principal is guaranteed. Minimum deposit is $500 (or whatever amount) and we offer 3%-4% per annum or something along those lines. Then, behind the scenes (heh heh ;)) we leverage the power of, well, leverage ;) and use our margin on a platform such as Currenex and start making gobs of money with other people’s money. If we could average double-digit percentage gains per year (especially if we focused on a carry trade strategy) and only had to pay out 4% that would be alright... The three of us could be the fund managers and basically keep the rest! After all, we are the ones running the fund, making the trades and taking on all the risk, especially if we are guaranteeing principles.

Even 500 people @ $500/person = $250K. Use $100K of that for $10M @ 1% margin on a carry trade and that would be some decent income. Use another $100K for trading $10M lots and net about 50 pips a month or so – that’s $50K/month! As for the other $50K, whatever... I’ll do some commodity trading with it and will just try not to pull an Amaranth… :eek: ;) I know a couple day traders here who we could probably recruit if we wanted to play the stock market as well... they’re far better at it than I… I also know a bond trader who works for a large capital management firm here in town...

Anywho, just thinking out loud here, we’d need to come up with a solid plan and look into the details. :)

If we are serious, we can perhaps call on my wife’s expertise. She is currently a Director of Strategic Business Development. She knows how to write strategy like the back of her hand. She writes corporate business plans, handles corporate governance and finance, shareholder agreements, etc. etc. She also was a Director of Marketing previously, so would know how to market such a fund I’m thinking. If nothing else, she is an excellent business plan writer and could no doubt assist us on that side of things.

My concerns would be regarding things such as legal issues, becoming a corporation, taxation, SOX compliance, regulations, etc. I honestly know nothing about the business side of the financial world in this repsect.

And if we are serious about this, then perhaps taking it offline, or at least chatting via e-mail would be more appropriate than on an open forum, giving away our secret plans for world domination! :D :cool:

[Britguy]

MP, how did you do with currenex on UK CPI?

[mikler1]

Hi!
Got my first mac yesterday (finally you guys moved to Intel :-)
I wondered if there is a mac based equivalent of Metastock rather than using a java based browser system
Comments/advice appreciated.
Thanks
Mik

[Music_Producer]

18 pips on US Retail Sales report.. currenex is quite fast.. it really surprised me today.. hey I didn't get any re-quotes ;-)

I don't know of any mac equivalent for metastock trader.. since i've never used it at all. Hopefully someone else can answer that. Or there's always the Windows way via BootCamp/Parallels :p

[nhallmark]

13 pips on US retail sales...did you guys trade?

Edit: good job MP! How much were you trading if you dont mind saying?

[Music_Producer]

13 pips on US retail sales...did you guys trade?

Edit: good job MP! How much were you trading if you dont mind saying?

Hey man, just did a regular 1 million lot on this one. I don't like the US reports too much.. lately they've been lackluster.

I like the UK, Aussie and NZ reports.. however the NZ currency moves almost at the same time that the news comes out.. or even before, it's weird. I've always been slow with trading NZD. I might just skip the NZ retail sales report this evening.

[~Shard~]

Beat me by one nathan, I grabbed 12 pips. ;)

I'm glad currenex is working so far for you Music_Prodcuer. Keep us posted on any suspicious activity if you encounter any... ;)

And give some thought to my above post as well - I'd love to chat more about things in private... :cool:

[Music_Producer]

Hey Shard.. emailing you right now :)

26 pips on NZD/USD trade.. I don't know if I was seeing things but I had a 1 pip spread on nzd/usd in currenex :eek: I only traded a million, because I'm fairly cautious of nzd reports.. now I wish I had maxed out my margin :p

[Music_Producer]

MP, how did you do with currenex on UK CPI?

Hey Britguy, I missed out on that CPI trade.. I was asleep and failed to wake up in spite of the alarm going off. That was a really good trade.. shouldn't have missed it, but I guess I was just too tired.

I wonder where GBP/USD is going to go now. I have a feeling it might make one more attempt to go towards 2.00 especially if interest rates are hiked.. but if there are hints that the US might raise rates as well.. then it will be a tug of war.

[nhallmark]

We tied...I got 26 pips also :D I did it with a 5 pip spread though, hah! :p

[Music_Producer]

We tied...I got 26 pips also :D I did it with a 5 pip spread though, hah! :p

Currenex moves faster than CMC.. try dueling with me on Currenex.. :p

[~Shard~]

Currenex moves faster than CMC.. try dueling with me on Currenex.. :p

Great job on the NZD trade Music_Producer! As for the speed of Currenex, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing - in other words, I don't know if my reflexes are quick enough to capitalize on such quick movements! :o ;)

So are your Currenex trades still lasting only a couple of seconds? What is the order execution process like in terms of the order window for buying/selling - i.e. how quick can you open and then close positions and how many clicks? It's pretty seamless I am assuming?

Thanks for the e-mail, I'll read through it later tonight - I have to run for now though. ;) I'll definitely respond in the next couple of days... :)

[StuNew78]

+26 pips on NZD retail sales. Thought it would drop lower for a while, but no :(

US retail sales gave me +4 pips. I want currenex!

[Music_Producer]

10 pips on UK retail sales.. very small deviation.. but it was enough to push it up a bit since gbp/usd was at it's lows before the report.

Stu, you have to remember that NZD is a carry trade currency. So is AUD. So they have a tendency to keep going up. Reports like retail sales, etc.. can make it go down 20-30 pips.. even 40 at the most.. but then they come back up. What makes them move further is reports related to inflation like CPI, etc.. or what the bank chiefs say regarding the currency.

Be happy you got 26 pips.. sometimes they can spike back in the opposite direction before you even have a chance to close!

[Britguy]

Well done MP. I think cnx is the way to go. I heard from other traders that mkt orders on cnx were dangerous as you cant control slippage, as with mkt orders you could get filled at the top of the spike etc. Have u any thoughts on this?

Britguy

[Music_Producer]

Well done MP. I think cnx is the way to go. I heard from other traders that mkt orders on cnx were dangerous as you cant control slippage, as with mkt orders you could get filled at the top of the spike etc. Have u any thoughts on this?

Britguy

I honestly think that depends on the broker.. and the banks (which obviously also contributes to the liquidity present) cnx is simply a platform. I could be a broker and offer you the cnx platform.. where i could decide a 1 pip spread. Another broker could offer a 5 pip spread. It all differs..


A broker that's not too happy with a customer's consistent profit making strategy can easily turn the tables on him. He might inflate the spreads during news time, or if he does not have access to many banks.. liquidity may be tight.. and thus spreads increase. Most people however are a little slow when reacting to news.. so that could also be another reason why they get filled at the top of the spike (because they entered a second late)

Again, this is why when you trade - trade sensibly. There are many times when i feel like placing my entire account on a trade.. and dream about a massive profit - but that's dangerous. i stick to small lots, as long as the profits are consistent - it's all right. You never know when the broker can turn against you.. it might just happen when you decide to bet your entire account on one trade.. and you end up losing all the profits you have worked so hard to accumulate.

[Britguy]

Thats very true. If you go with a big currenex broker they will have access to more bank feeds and liquidity pools than a smaller one. You can therefore get away with scalping, as you are not hitting the same bank.
Its only when you start making money, you realise how loaded the game of forex trading is. What margin do you get on cnx?

[StuNew78]

10 pips on UK retail sales.. very small deviation.. but it was enough to push it up a bit since gbp/usd was at it's lows before the report.

Stu, you have to remember that NZD is a carry trade currency. So is AUD. So they have a tendency to keep going up. Reports like retail sales, etc.. can make it go down 20-30 pips.. even 40 at the most.. but then they come back up. What makes them move further is reports related to inflation like CPI, etc.. or what the bank chiefs say regarding the currency.

Be happy you got 26 pips.. sometimes they can spike back in the opposite direction before you even have a chance to close!

MP - You're right on that carry trade thinking. The numbers came out and NZD/USD made a nice decisive move down 39 odd pips, I closed 1/2 of my units and waited to see what would happen, sure enough it retraces about 15 pips and stalls there for about 10 mins. Closed the second half still in profit though.
The carry traders must be all thinking the same thing.... Buy buy buy.

[Music_Producer]

28 pips on US CPI report, 3 million lot - executed beautifully. :D :D :D

[nhallmark]

Good job, MP! I got 17 pips on it :D

[Music_Producer]

Good job, MP! I got 17 pips on it :D

Nice!! I don't know how you don't get requotes with cmc.. everytime my wife tries it, she's unlucky. Maybe they just love you :p

[nhallmark]

yeah, Im way overdue for a straight week or two of requotes but it hasn't happened yet.

The only reason I can think of is my internet here is 8mb/s and in texas I was at 3mb/s. It might also be because Im using SNW on 90% of my trades now...but I've got requotes with it before so Im not sure.

Either way, I just hope I can make it until july 1st without requotes...I'll have enough for dukascopy by then and I wont ever have to worry about CMC's BS again :D

[Music_Producer]

Great! Let us know how dukas works out.. just got 6 pips on the us industrial production report.

GBP is very bullish right now. Lets see what consumer confidence comes out. If it comes out positive.. gbp might dip temporarily.. but since it's friday.. it might go up 50-80 pips before the markets close. Of course, this is extremely risky.. but there's a chance that might happen.

[Kuma76]

Just curious to see if there are any members here to dabble in the Forex markets.. :) How much of a loss/profit have you made?

i like four x beer , does that count?

[~Shard~]

i like four x beer , does that count?

It would if that lame joke hadn't been told a million times in this thread already.... :rolleyes:

Seriously, great job on the trades Music_Producer and nathan! I was a little slow this morning and only nabbed 12 pips in total on all 3 sets of reports - but hey, it's Friday!

Have a good weekend guys and I'll do some more research regarding your e-mail Music_Producer this weekend. Let's see what we can figure out.... :cool:

[Kuma76]

It would if that lame joke hadn't been told a million times in this thread already.... :rolleyes:

Seriously, great job on the trades Music_Producer and nathan! I was a little slow this morning and only nabbed 12 pips in total on all 3 sets of reports - but hey, it's Friday!

Have a good weekend guys and I'll do some more research regarding your e-mail Music_Producer this weekend. Let's see what we can figure out.... :cool:

sorry i should have read the other 1700 posts, please forgive me

[~Shard~]

sorry i should have read the other 1700 posts, please forgive me

No worries at all. :) It's just that we do have an established thread here with regular subscribers. If you're not interested in the subject, not willing to learn or are not planning to contribute, might as well just keep the useless comments to yourself. ;) :cool:

[Kuma76]

sorry people

[~Shard~]

sorry people

Like I said, no worries! ;)

[Toreador93]

I'd possibly be interested in a carry trade, though I might need to be clear of a few things. Wouldn't you only be making interest on the amount you control? If so, wouldn't a down market eventually take your profits, then account balance, and then give you less interest as your controlling amount goes down with the price? Or is the idea that we will have so much in our account that we can ride through these bears until they become profitable again, and still accrue interest?
What would assure us profit if, say the Aud/Jpy has just reached its peak as we went long, and made a long-term glide down to 90? Would we just wait it out until we were profitable with up-turns or interest?


As to where you might find more potential investors, I have a couple ideas. www.prosper.com is a site I just came across yesterday. It is a person-to-person loan system. People ask for loans, and others bid amounts and interest rates to loan to them. If people are willing to give those in debt and bankruptcy loans, I imagine many more would give to successful FOREX traders.

Second, there is a huge market in HYIPs (High Yield Investment Programs). Generally, these are all pyramid schemes and other scams, but I've seen some Hedge Fund-ish sites advertised (though I don't know their particular system or legitimacy). You can see a large list at www.ministryofgold.com

With these two examples, I'm nearly positive you could find the amount of funding you're looking for, since there are A LOT of people out there trying to make an easy (and sometimes very risky) dollar.

[~Shard~]

First off, thank you very much for this information, I'll definitely check those sites out as I was unaware of them.

As for the carry trade, yes, if the pair drops, the your losses could easily wipe out your interest gains and then some. But, that's the beauty of the carry trade - it just seems to always go up. ;) And yes, if it were to drop and wipe out profits temporarily, we would have enough margin to cover it, and then wait for it to rise again. As long as you don't actually cash out, it would just be a paper loss anyway...

Again, thanks for the information. :)

[nhallmark]

I got a requote on CAD CPI :mad: How did you guys do?

[Music_Producer]

I got a requote on CAD CPI :mad: How did you guys do?

No trade here.. no deviation.. so stayed away. Sucks about that requote :mad:

[Britguy]

Mp,

What is the minimum ac size for capforex currenex? I requested a demo, but they dont give you a dealing limit to try trades, but just to look at the platform. Also, how long did it take for them to set up an ac for you?

[nhallmark]

No trade here.. no deviation.. so stayed away. Sucks about that requote :mad:

Yeah, I was using SNW and felix was trading the core y/y # which did deviate...and it gapped 20 pips then retraced.

I was also using TTN though, so if the core m/m deviated and SNW didnt go off, I could still get in.

Oh yeah, one question...FF has the minutes tomorrow as "MPC Meeting Minutes" and its usually BoE instead of MPC. Im pretty sure its the same thing, but I wanted to ask to make sure.

So is it the same?

[Music_Producer]

Ahh I was wondering why you were going to trade usd/cad. I was thinking of shorting the pair since there was overall USD weakness.. but i didn't.. and the pair dropped another 75 pips or so :rolleyes:

Yeah, mpc is same as boe..mpc is the monetary policy committee. Same stuff, different fancy terms (it's the brits you know!)

[Music_Producer]

THIS is why I love BOE reports! They always deviate! 35 pips on MPC minutes report :D :D I exited at 1.9917 although I think it has potential to go up to 1.9950.. but then again, I didn't want to take a risk.

Currenex was awesome as usual, 2 million lot - traded perfectly.. spread did increase from 2 to 5 pips but that's nothing. How did you guys do?

[Music_Producer]

Mp,

What is the minimum ac size for capforex currenex? I requested a demo, but they dont give you a dealing limit to try trades, but just to look at the platform. Also, how long did it take for them to set up an ac for you?

Its 50 k for capforex britguy.. took them at least a week to set everything up.. but it took longer for me since i'm in the US.. so I had to deal with the US division.. submit documentation, etc. Since they're based in the UK, the residents there might be able to do it faster.

I love you Brit bank policy makers.. always dishing out surprises :D

[Music_Producer]

I'd possibly be interested in a carry trade, though I might need to be clear of a few things. Wouldn't you only be making interest on the amount you control? If so, wouldn't a down market eventually take your profits, then account balance, and then give you less interest as your controlling amount goes down with the price? Or is the idea that we will have so much in our account that we can ride through these bears until they become profitable again, and still accrue interest?
What would assure us profit if, say the Aud/Jpy has just reached its peak as we went long, and made a long-term glide down to 90? Would we just wait it out until we were profitable with up-turns or interest?




Toreador.. yes.. basically you have to prepare yourself for a massive dip.. in the event it does happen. It doesn't make sense to invest funds in a carry trade and then close the trade when it's at a huge loss. The basic logic behind the huge interest differential is what drives all the jpy pairs up.

If AUD/JPY went to 90 for whatever reason.. I'd be looking at that as an opportunity to buy. In fact, I wish it did drop.. it just keeps going up. Last I mentioned about buying it.. it was at 101.. I bought a few lots.. exited at 102.. since I thought 'Ok, this sucker's going to fall a bit now.. this is too high' Now it's at 104.55 :rolleyes:

Additionally.. I trade multiple reports.. which are profitable most of the time. So whatever carry trade loss that may be pending.. gets reduced thanks to those profitable trades. The interest keeps coming in.. and gets compounded all the while.

Having said that, it doesn't make sense having a balance of $10,000 and investing $1000 in a carry trade (would still net you approx $200 a month) and leaving the rest in the event of a drop. It makes more sense to have a million balance.. and then investing.. say $100,000 in a carry trade.. to get you something like $20,000 a month. Again, you should be the kind to be able to *afford* to lose that million.. in the event something catastrophic happens.. like world war 3 breaking out and china nuking japan.. or australia sinking under.. you get the idea.

[nhallmark]

I held on too long...only got 8 pips. I think it would go for 100 pips like it usually does but that would mean getting close to 2.00 again.

[Music_Producer]

I held on too long...only got 8 pips. I think it would go for 100 pips like it usually does but that would mean getting close to 2.00 again.

Yeah.. it should go back to 2.00 but it might take its own sweet time. I honestly think it should test the 1.9950 level. There's probably a lot of profit taking going on as well. I had quite a temptation to jump in at 1.9912 and buy.. but then that stresses me out (the waiting part) and then I wouldn't get sleep lol.

[nhallmark]

Yeah.. it should go back to 2.00 but it might take its own sweet time. I honestly think it should test the 1.9950 level. There's probably a lot of profit taking going on as well. I had quite a temptation to jump in at 1.9912 and buy.. but then that stresses me out (the waiting part) and then I wouldn't get sleep lol.

lol...yeah I hate the waiting part, but I took the plunge...Im in at 1.9912 with a smaller position.

Im about to take my girlfriend to the airport so I'll check it when I get back and I set a stop loss(obviously :p ) so, worst case scenario, I will break even for the day.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[nhallmark]

Ok...just got back from the airport. I closed at 1.9937 for 25 pips :D

[Britguy]

Mp,

Yes the MPC are always surprising the mkts. Thats why trading UK annoucements has been the best this year, as they are in interest-rate mode. Mkts pricing in a July hike, so if they hold the £ will sell off again.

I am impressed with Capforex tight spreads. What commission do they charge per round turn? I am in the UK, so you are right it will be quicker to set-up i think.

[~Shard~]

Hi guys! I've been very busy lately, not much time for trading. :( Anyway, needed sleep desperately so I didn't trade the UK data this morning but I did trade the Canadian data and made a decent 9 pips on a $200K lot. Not too shabby! :)

I haven't had any time to look into things any further Music_Producer but will try to find some time soon. I'll chat with my wife about it too. Will keep you posted... :cool:

[Music_Producer]

15 pips on USD/CAD trade.. I was really slow on this one (I hate it because it's usd/cad.. so you enter the opposite trade related to the news i.e. good news for cad.. and you sell usd/cad and vice versa) Good trade nevertheless :)

[StuNew78]

+25 pips on the CAD retail sale ex Autos.

Oanda gave me a brilliant fill today, out at the top of the spike, watched the retrace, back in at the bottom and out again for another +10.

Text book day. Doesn't happen often.

Music Producer, looks like Felix (who nHallmark and I trade with) may be switching to Currenex too... He's sick of the market makers. How's it been after a few weeks?

[nhallmark]

Good job guys!

I didn't even get in. I was too tired, I guess...SNW gave a buy but I forgot to set up the auto clicker and I sat there like "uh, why didnt it click the button?" :p instead of realizing it and clicking myself while I still had time. :rolleyes:

[Music_Producer]

Hey nathan.. gbp/usd went near 2.00 today :p I told you.. that it's gonna go.. but it'll take its time. Stupid aud/jpy.. goes up 100 pips every few days :mad: Man if that thing falls, it's gonna fall pretty hard.

Remember to short the hell out of GBP/JPY if carry trades start a shock unwinding.. it may be this year, or next year.. or whenever.. the later, the better.. since the more pips we can make out of the short.

Right now getting into a carry trade is way too risky. I personally think aud/jpy should hit 110 (that's another 500 pips more) but.. too risky to get into it. Global interest rates are going up (except Japan's) so I believe carry trades should be strong for 2007 for sure. Again, who knows.. it's better to be safe than sorry.

Stu.. Currenex is simply a platform as I mentioned earlier. My broker. capital forex is good so far.. if they start playing tricks.. I'll let you guys know. FXCM has a currenex platform too.. but FXCM sucks.. big time. Imagine Oanda offering a currenex platform and then inflating the spread to 20-30 pips.. anyone can offer the Currenex platform, it really depends on the broker.

[OceanView]

Hey guys,

Looks like lots of new people have joined in.
I have been too busy trying out a new strategy.

Reading all you carry trade ideas, I came up with something.
What if you were to use a strategy that includes carry trades with small limits and no stops? Yes, I said no stops. Use large lot sizes and 5 to 10 pip limits. This will get you out with small profits. The key of course is to get in when the market is on the low end and wait for it to reach your limit.
There are of course some rules that will be used to time the entry points.
Downside is, you get in and the market changes. You get stuck in a trade for a long time.

I have been using this idea on a demo account and have made a large amount in 2 weeks.

Let me know what you think guys.

[Music_Producer]

15 pips on US Durable orders reports.. finally something worth trading after a dull period.

Ocean.. with small limits.. you will make profits.. but when the currencies go up.. you'll just keep waiting for dips to occur. When these dips do occur.. they're pretty much in a range from 300-2000 pips. So yes, you might get stuck during that time, but you will be making interest.

All Yen pairs are currently down.. am not sure if this is an overall carry unwinding but it doesn't look like it so far.

[Britguy]

How did you make 15pips MP, on GBP/USD it never moved that much.

[Music_Producer]

How did you make 15pips MP, on GBP/USD it never moved that much.

What platform are you using? I got in at 1.9975 and out at 1.9990.. it then dropped to 1.9985 (although it did hit 1.9996 for a moment) I was in and out, in not more than a second, or a second and a half.

You might be looking at the spread, my spread was a pip :D

[Britguy]

I looked at the graphs on cmc marketmaker software. You could of bought at 79 (ask) and sold at 89 (bid). That was the range at announcement time. Your fills are amazing.

[Music_Producer]

I looked at the graphs on cmc marketmaker software. You could of bought at 79 (ask) and sold at 89 (bid). That was the range at announcement time. Your fills are amazing.

You're using CMC too? :p There was a trade once, I remember.. when I saw AUD/USD drop by 30 pips or so.. I had already hit the 'Sell' button. However, CMC conveniently dropped the price by only 8 pips. It then held there for a few seconds.. confusing the hell out of me. So I got out.. and then it dropped another 20 pips :rolleyes:

That only happened once, but it was obviously.. a very strange thing. Read some forex forums and you'll find that this happens quite a bit with a few brokers. Profits being limited.. or stops being blown (stop hunting) by strange 'spikes' etc.. the list goes on. It's a bloody unregulated market and that's why all the brokers can mess with us as much as they want!

[~Shard~]

Well done Music_Producer! I on the other hand got a requote from CMC this morning. :mad: Would have been a nice trade but I guess I acted too fast for them... :rolleyes:

[nhallmark]

I got a requote also :mad: And I also didn't see CMC move even 15 pips...it must be CMC :rolleyes:

[~Shard~]

Yeah, I'm extremely busy right now (not even much time for trading!) but when I get more time I think I will seriously look into alternate platforms, i.e. a Currenex account. For now though, I'll continue to have "fun" with CMC. I'll just treat it as a game. ;) :cool:

[nhallmark]

I got another requote on NZD Current Account and I know its BS because the move was extremely slow...F$^%& CMC :mad:

[Music_Producer]

I got another requote on NZD Current Account and I know its BS because the move was extremely slow...F$^%& CMC :mad:

I wasn't home to trade this one, and yeah.. just checked the charts.. was a nice slow move. Time to move out of cmc bro..

[nhallmark]

I wasn't home to trade this one, and yeah.. just checked the charts.. was a nice slow move. Time to move out of cmc bro..

Yeah, I would have already moved but Im $8k short of the minimum so hopefully CMC will let me through a few more times so I can make the rest.

[nhallmark]

Hey Music_Producer, I know you mentioned awhile back that MB has improved...and based on what I've read from felix, etc. I might go with them until I can meet the minimums for dukas/currenex.

How long does it take to get your money in and out of MB? (I dont want to miss any trades)

Somethings up with CMC IMO because, when you click it feels like someone is literally sitting there deciding whether to let you in or not...I dont know if thats the case but the requotes "feel" different now, if that makes any sense.

[~Shard~]

CMC pissed me off again this morning. Tried trading the initial US data and when I clicked the order just stalled, and got filled a few seconds later! Luckily I was able to still get a profit out of the deal, but come on! :mad: Requotes coupled with delayed order execution - not impressed... :rolleyes:

So, $50K USD minimum for a Currenex account? And is that just the broker then? You still need to use a separate trading platform with it, or how does that work? Apologies, I'm sure it's been answered before but this thread is so dang long now... :o ;)

What all else do I need to do to sign up? Minimum $1M lot sizes and any trading activity requirements (e.g. 10 trades a month)? And 1 pip spreads on some pairs?! Can I get an account being that I'm in Canada?

Let me know and I might just have to open an account... I'll check their website too...

[nhallmark]

CMC pissed me off again this morning. Tried trading the initial US data and when I clicked the order just stalled, and got filled a few seconds later! Luckily I was able to still get a profit out of the deal, but come on! :mad: Requotes coupled with delayed order execution - not impressed... :rolleyes:

So, $50K USD minimum for a Currenex account? And is that just the broker then? You still need to use a separate trading platform with it, or how does that work? Apologies, I'm sure it's been answered before but this thread is so dang long now... :o ;)

What all else do I need to do to sign up? Minimum $1M lot sizes and any trading activity requirements (e.g. 10 trades a month)? And 1 pip spreads on some pairs?! Can I get an account being that I'm in Canada?

Let me know and I might just have to open an account... I'll check their website too...

That sucks to hear that theyre doing it to you also, Shard...although Im glad its not just me.

Im pretty sure Capital Forex is based in Russia(they were bought by a russian company) which could be scary but supposedly its all legit...so I dont think you would have a problem coming from canada.

Also, I think you just download their currenex platform like an MT4 broker has the MT4 platform specialized for their feeds, etc.

Of course, MP knows the answer...but that seems like how it would go.

[~Shard~]

That sucks to hear that theyre doing it to you also, Shard...although Im glad its not just me.

Yeah, I guess the three of us are all "too good" for them... ;)

Im pretty sure Capital Forex is based in Russia(they were bought by a russian company) which could be scary but supposedly its all legit...so I dont think you would have a problem coming from canada.

Hmm, I'd need to investigate that then. DOn't like sending large amounts of money overseas... :o

Also, I think you just download their currenex platform like an MT4 broker has the MT4 platform specialized for their feeds, etc.

This is the point I was curious about and would like clarification on. As I said, I'll do some hunting on the web as well... Thanks. :cool:

[Music_Producer]

NZ was a no - trade.. this whole week has been painfully boring - luckily there is all this iphone buzz going on to keep me sane.

Shard, trade smaller lots.. just to be on the safer side. They can easily 'hold' your trade for a couple of seconds, and then let it go when they are in a profitable situation. This can happen when the report doesn't deviate significantly.. and the price only moves 6-10 pips and then retraces. Which is again.. why I only trade if the reports deviate quite a bit.. so there's a move of 30-40 pips.. and it stays there.

It's better not to trade, then jump in a small deviation report trade.. because you will literally lose your money.

Nathan, I know what you mean by the different 'feel' to the re-quotes. I used to get them all the time. I bloody wished they had an IM window where I could chat with the f@cker holding my trade lol.

Send them an email.. if they're playing around with you.. tell them you will complain to the NFA or you will close your account. See what they say.. if they give you a generic answer (something like requotes occur during fast moving markets, etc) then you know they're going to keep doing the same thing.

Also, try trading smaller lots.. temporarily.. to see if those go through.

Shard.. the broker offers currenex as the platform. $50 k is the minimum to open.. and $1 m is minimum trading lot.. but it could differ.

Nathan.. are you talking about capital forex or capital forex pro? I am with capital forex pro.. they're based in london (part of london capital group) and registered with the FSA (Financial Services Authority) I'm not at all sure if they are based in Russia.. I don't think so. Btw, I', not talking about www.capforex.com.. I'm talking about www.capitalforex.com.