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Anyone here into FOREX?
- Thread starter Music_Producer
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Just made 12 pips on the TIC report (Eur jumped by 25 pips or so) . The Current Account didn't move the markets.
Honestly, i don't think there's anything else for the mac, besides Oanda. I am using Parallels for trading. I know its windows and all that but it works pretty good, and its convenient because I have a tradethenews window open in one corner, and the trading window fills up the main screen.
Here's hoping that a lot of customers leave Oanda and they come back to their senses.
Honestly, i don't think there's anything else for the mac, besides Oanda. I am using Parallels for trading. I know its windows and all that but it works pretty good, and its convenient because I have a tradethenews window open in one corner, and the trading window fills up the main screen.
Here's hoping that a lot of customers leave Oanda and they come back to their senses.
I'm not entirely sure what I did, but I seemed to have made $1.42 (Game).
I bought 1000 EUR/USD at 1.26719 and then sold 1000 at 1.26861. I guess that's quite a few pips?
This was in the wake of the Current Account news? I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, so I sort of rode the wave.
MP, your thoughts?
I bought 1000 EUR/USD at 1.26719 and then sold 1000 at 1.26861. I guess that's quite a few pips?
This was in the wake of the Current Account news? I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, so I sort of rode the wave.
MP, your thoughts?
honamos said:
Honamos.. you made 15 pips. 15*$0.10 = $1.5 or you made $1.42 so you made a little less than 15.. probably 14 pips and something. There are pips, and then there are pipettes (which are like fractional pips) So instead of quoting the eur as 1.26719 and 1.26861 you can simply display them as 1.2671 and 1.2686. In your Oanda preferences, simply untick 'display pipettes'
This makes it easier to calculate pips.. 1.2686-1.2671 = 15. Had you bought 10,000 units.. that would be $14.20 profit, if you had bought 100,000 units.. you would have made $140.20 and so on.
Remember, that Oanda 'stole' your 15 pips because of the spread. If they had kept their spread at 3 pips or 5 pips, you would have made 20 pips easily. I used to make 15-25 pips regularly when Oanda kept their spreads at a sane level.
Tomorrow morning will be an important trade (if the news deviates) Its the Canadian CPI.. the core number is important. If it comes out higher than expected, the CAD $ will go up (or, the USD/CAD symbol will go down) and vice versa.
Why does higher CPI push up the currency? Logically, inflation is bad for the economy right? I mean, if the Canadian CPI comes out high, then it sucks because everything is more expensive in Canada. Then why does the Canadian $ go up? It has all to do with interest rates. A higher CPI means higher inflation. which means that the finance ministry will want to curb that inflation by *raising* interest rates.
So the markets buy the CAD $ because they think "Ahh.. high CPI, thats increased inflation.. so the cad $ interest rates have a better chance of being hiked"
Super Trade!
*and* a solution to Oanda's insane spreads.. I traded the GBP/USD instead of the EUR/USD. Why? Because GBP/USD spreads were 9 pips, while that of EUR/USD was 15. Both move in a similar fashion though, during US news releases.. so I thought.. what the heck? Lets try it out. And it worked great!
Bagged 19 beautiful pips The US PPI came out worse than expected, and Housing came out worse as well. Geez, when do we ever get good news regarding the US?? Both US Politics + Economy = Crap
*and* a solution to Oanda's insane spreads.. I traded the GBP/USD instead of the EUR/USD. Why? Because GBP/USD spreads were 9 pips, while that of EUR/USD was 15. Both move in a similar fashion though, during US news releases.. so I thought.. what the heck? Lets try it out. And it worked great!
Bagged 19 beautiful pips
The US PPI came out worse than expected, and Housing came out worse as well. Geez, when do we ever get good news regarding the US?? Both US Politics + Economy = Crap 
Nice trade Music_Producer! Do you mind me asking how many lots you usually trade with, or does it vary a great deal?
I funded my CMC account today so I should be set up for trading tomorrow. Don't think I'll trade the economic news tomorrow, but at least I'll be back in the game again. Since I'll have real money in the account I'll stick to what I know for now - stocks, commodities, etc. - and will probably still have a few "practice runs" with the forex trading before I put some money on the line. 1% margin is tempting, but in a dangerous way.
I funded my CMC account today so I should be set up for trading tomorrow. Don't think I'll trade the economic news tomorrow, but at least I'll be back in the game again.
Since I'll have real money in the account I'll stick to what I know for now - stocks, commodities, etc. - and will probably still have a few "practice runs" with the forex trading before I put some money on the line. 1% margin is tempting, but in a dangerous way. I didn't trade the US interest rate decision.. because its too early for me (..er.. i wake up at 2 pm PST )
However, if you guys followed the news and had traded the Thai Baht (I dont know which platform offers it) but damn.. obviously because of the coup in Thailand this would have been a massive trade.. as the Baht fell like a rock.
I think it will continue to fall depending on the situation.
)However, if you guys followed the news and had traded the Thai Baht (I dont know which platform offers it) but damn.. obviously because of the coup in Thailand this would have been a massive trade.. as the Baht fell like a rock.
I think it will continue to fall depending on the situation.
Hey Shard, my lots usually vary.. depending on the kind of news. If its an interest rate announcement, I usually have anywhere from 5-8 million units, ready to be traded.
Major news releases.. I employ about 500,000 units (usually) However, when Oanda went berserk with their spreads.. I narrowed it down to 50,000 units - just to be on the safe side.
Major news releases.. I employ about 500,000 units (usually) However, when Oanda went berserk with their spreads.. I narrowed it down to 50,000 units - just to be on the safe side.
Yikes, I've been a slacker lately when it comes to Forex. Too busy trading indices actually... TSX60, NASDAQ100, S&P500...
Any thoughts on the rest of this week's announcements Music_Producer and what you're planning on trade?
Too busy trading indices actually... TSX60, NASDAQ100, S&P500...Any thoughts on the rest of this week's announcements Music_Producer and what you're planning on trade?
Hey guys, sorry for the delay in posting.. was in San Diego with the wife.. had a great weekend.
Traded the US durable orders report right now.. as usual, the US economy is showing more disappointing signs.. the Eur (and GBP) shot up by 20-30 pips. I managed to bag 7 pips in 2 seconds.. didn't want to risk anything.. traded a huge lot today though (2 million units) .. so you know what my profit was
Honamos.. I never trade speeches.. they are too vague at times, and the market can move in any direction. I prefer to trade solid reports which have a tendency to move the currencies.. like today's report, GDP reports, NFP (non farm payroll) Interest rate decisions (if unexpected) , CPI, PPI, etc.
At 10 am EST is the US Home Sales report.. but i wont be trading that, as i'm off to sleep.. and i think the report will be lower than forecast.. and the markets might be expecting that anyway.
Traded the US durable orders report right now.. as usual, the US economy is showing more disappointing signs.. the Eur (and GBP) shot up by 20-30 pips. I managed to bag 7 pips in 2 seconds.. didn't want to risk anything.. traded a huge lot today though (2 million units) .. so you know what my profit was
Honamos.. I never trade speeches.. they are too vague at times, and the market can move in any direction. I prefer to trade solid reports which have a tendency to move the currencies.. like today's report, GDP reports, NFP (non farm payroll) Interest rate decisions (if unexpected) , CPI, PPI, etc.
At 10 am EST is the US Home Sales report.. but i wont be trading that, as i'm off to sleep.. and i think the report will be lower than forecast.. and the markets might be expecting that anyway.
I'm back! Was in San Diego.. had a great time.. anyway, not much happening in the forex world as all the reports were quite tepid.. today was exciting though.
The GBP Manufacturing PMI came out better than expected and the pound rose 20-25 pips against the $, I got 8 pips. As I traded, I was keeping an eye on Oanda's spreads as well, and surprisingly.. they didn't widen the spread on GBP/USD.
Now the more important.. and scary trade. The US ISM Manufacturing Index. This trade was a royal mess! I didn't even trade this report, but I traded *before* the report came out. Here's why..
I had all my windows open (news, quotes, etc.) and all of a sudden.. at 6am or around that time.. I saw the GBP jumping up steadily. I knew the pound was stronger because of the good GBP results (which came out at 1.30 am PST) but this was 6 am PST.. so why the hell was the pound jumping up like that? It jumped 10 pips, then 5,10,5,10.. and kept going up.
So, I got excited . which by the way is a big mistake. I usually never trade seeing activity like this but i don't know.. felt like a schoolboy.. lol.. I got in and grabbed around 30 pips. I got out, and I thought.. ok this thing should slow down or drop. But it didnt. The pound just kept going up.
Then the news platform came out with a "US $ drops against all majors on rumors of soft ISM" Crazy! I wonder who started the rumor that the ISM numbers would be low.. but it sure affected GBP/USD, EUR/USD and all the other currencies. The GBP rose by 100 pips before the actual ISM report came out!
By then I was a little too nervous.. as the markets had already 'priced in' the soft ISM. I had a feeling that if the ISM numbers did come out low.. the pound shouldn't move up anyway because it had already gone up 100 pips.. kinda like it was out of steam.
Anyway, the ISM did come out lower than expected at 7 am.. and the pound went up by 5 pips.. and then started falling (obviously) and went up and down.. a crazy trading range. I was amused just watching what was happening.. there was no way I was going to enter this trade.
So, this is the first time something like this has happened. There is always an explanation for price moves before a report.. I am sure no one leaked anything, but it was just common sense that the ISM reports would be low.. and someone made it sound like an 'official' rumor.. or leak or whatever.
The GBP Manufacturing PMI came out better than expected and the pound rose 20-25 pips against the $, I got 8 pips. As I traded, I was keeping an eye on Oanda's spreads as well, and surprisingly.. they didn't widen the spread on GBP/USD.
Now the more important.. and scary trade. The US ISM Manufacturing Index. This trade was a royal mess! I didn't even trade this report, but I traded *before* the report came out. Here's why..
I had all my windows open (news, quotes, etc.) and all of a sudden.. at 6am or around that time.. I saw the GBP jumping up steadily. I knew the pound was stronger because of the good GBP results (which came out at 1.30 am PST) but this was 6 am PST.. so why the hell was the pound jumping up like that? It jumped 10 pips, then 5,10,5,10.. and kept going up.
So, I got excited
. which by the way is a big mistake. I usually never trade seeing activity like this but i don't know.. felt like a schoolboy.. lol.. I got in and grabbed around 30 pips. I got out, and I thought.. ok this thing should slow down or drop. But it didnt. The pound just kept going up. Then the news platform came out with a "US $ drops against all majors on rumors of soft ISM" Crazy! I wonder who started the rumor that the ISM numbers would be low.. but it sure affected GBP/USD, EUR/USD and all the other currencies. The GBP rose by 100 pips before the actual ISM report came out!
By then I was a little too nervous.. as the markets had already 'priced in' the soft ISM. I had a feeling that if the ISM numbers did come out low.. the pound shouldn't move up anyway because it had already gone up 100 pips.. kinda like it was out of steam.
Anyway, the ISM did come out lower than expected at 7 am.. and the pound went up by 5 pips.. and then started falling (obviously) and went up and down.. a crazy trading range. I was amused just watching what was happening.. there was no way I was going to enter this trade.
So, this is the first time something like this has happened. There is always an explanation for price moves before a report.. I am sure no one leaked anything, but it was just common sense that the ISM reports would be low.. and someone made it sound like an 'official' rumor.. or leak or whatever.
6 pips on the UK Construction news reports.. man I should launch a hedge fund.. unlike the Amaranth LLC retards who invested most of their trades in oil (and lost somewhere around 6 billion) I think I'd be pretty successful!
32 pips on unexpected North Korean report
So I was done trading for today, but I had all my windows open and was just browsing.. when my news server popped up with a "North Korea to conduct Nuclear Test"
It took me a few seconds to register that and realize that it would be horrible for the Japanese Yen. So I quickly bought GBP/JPY (or USD/JPY .. wouldn't have mattered) and just as I expected, the GBP/JPY shot up by 45-50 pips. I nabbed 32 pips and got out.
The GBP/JPY slowly came down (not all the way though) because this was just an announcement.. and not an actual test that North Korea had conducted. Had they conducted a live test, I would have stayed in the trade much longer and GBP/JPY would have easily crossed 200 pips or so.
It was sheer luck that I had all my trading windows open (usually i close them when i'm done trading) News like this can result in massive profits.. but of course, you can't predict them.. but if you're alert, you can jump in and you get the best trades.. with minimum spreads.
So I was done trading for today, but I had all my windows open and was just browsing.. when my news server popped up with a "North Korea to conduct Nuclear Test"
It took me a few seconds to register that and realize that it would be horrible for the Japanese Yen. So I quickly bought GBP/JPY (or USD/JPY .. wouldn't have mattered) and just as I expected, the GBP/JPY shot up by 45-50 pips. I nabbed 32 pips and got out.
The GBP/JPY slowly came down (not all the way though) because this was just an announcement.. and not an actual test that North Korea had conducted. Had they conducted a live test, I would have stayed in the trade much longer and GBP/JPY would have easily crossed 200 pips or so.
It was sheer luck that I had all my trading windows open (usually i close them when i'm done trading) News like this can result in massive profits.. but of course, you can't predict them.. but if you're alert, you can jump in and you get the best trades.. with minimum spreads.
Thanks for the updates Music_Producer - you sure do have good luck when it comes to forex! Well, I shouldn't say "luck" exactly - you do obviously know what you're doing.
Amaranth are a bunch of idiots. If you ever want to open a hedge fund, just let me know. You can handle forex and I'll handle commodities, sectors and indicies...
Amaranth are a bunch of idiots. If you ever want to open a hedge fund, just let me know. You can handle forex and I'll handle commodities, sectors and indicies...
Hey Shard, of course I'll keep you in mind if I do launch a hedge fund We might just argue about what to name it though.. lol!
There are two reports to watch out for tomorrow (Wednesday morning).. the UK interest rate decision and the EUR interest rate decision. Lets see what happens.
We might just argue about what to name it though.. lol!There are two reports to watch out for tomorrow (Wednesday morning).. the UK interest rate decision and the EUR interest rate decision. Lets see what happens.
Music_Producer said:Hey Shard, of course I'll keep you in mind if I do launch a hedge fund
I think as long as we don't name it "Amaranth" we'll be okay...
How about "MPS Holdings"? (Music_Producer / Shard).
I've had some excellent trades with oil, nat-gas and gold this past week, but this is not the place to be talking about that I suppose - we'll try and stick on topic with forex.
~Shard~ said:I think as long as we don't name it "Amaranth" we'll be okay...
How about "MPS Holdings"? (Music_Producer / Shard).
I've had some excellent trades with oil, nat-gas and gold this past week, but this is not the place to be talking about that I suppose - we'll try and stick on topic with forex.
MPS Holdings sounds cool. How about Altivec Funds?
or iHedge Any insight is appreciated Shard.. regarding oil, gold, metals, commodities.. etc. This is not just forex.. but trading in general.
I guess I'm good at forex..but when it comes to stocks and other trades.. I suck.. big time. I don't know how in the world you trade gas and metals.. is it just based on technicals? Made three excellent trades today.. first was the UK interest rate decision. It was forecast that the Bank of England wouldn't raise interest rates.. but the markets had a slight expecation that maybe the interest rates would be hiked. So when the London session opened.. the GBP/USD went up.. about 50-60 pips.. and then stayed there.
So I had 3 options -
1. If the BOE (bank of england) hiked rates.. I would hit 'buy' immediately
2. If they kept rates the same, I would hit 'sell' because the pound had already risen so many pips
3. If they reduced the rates (not a chance, but still) I would have hit 'sell' with all my money.. because the pound would have dropped 200-250 pips for sure.
The BOE announced that they didn't change the rates, so I sold the GBP/USD.. and sure enough, it fell by 30 pips. I grabbed 15 pips
Next trade was the EUR interest rate announcement. The ECB was expected to raise interest rates today.. but they didn't.. so I sold the EUR/USD. However, the reaction wasn't that great.. it dropped by only 10 pips or so.. and then hovered around there. So I got my profit of 10 pips and exited the trade. Eventually it did go lower.
The last trade was the US unemployment claims. It was expected at 315 k.. it came in at 307 k or something .. so it was much lower than expected.. and hence, I sold the EUR/USD. It went down gradually, and I got about 15 pips.
So totally I made 40 pips for the day.
Possible trades tomorrow are the Candian Employment Change and the US Nonfarm employment change.
Music_Producer said:MPS Holdings sounds cool. How about Altivec Funds?
Oooh, I like Altivec Funds....
Music_Producer said:
Fair enough. Every once and a while I'll try to some of my strategies and insights into other forms of trading as well then - I am by no means trying to hoard my knowledge.
Especially after how open and helpful you have been wrt forex. Music_Producer said:
Technicals? Somewhat, yeah. If I see a really big swing, I'll jump on it for a short term trade, but I definitely don't like trading purely on technicals. That being said, I am an excellent chart analyst, FWIW, so I can at detect buy/sell signals based on MACD, RSI, stochastics, etc. If big news happens, yeah, that can throw technicals out the window, but as with anything else, they have their place.
One method I really focus on is seasonality. If you do the research, you'll find that during certain times of the year, certain sectors perform exceptionally well. And in some cases, 10 out of the last 10 years, certain sectors have seen an average gain of 10% (as an example) during that period. The past is no indicator of future behavior of course, but again, it works many times, and I take advantage of it.
In general, I'll trade individual stocks, sectors, indicies, spot metal prices and monthly contracts on commodities. I used to trade options (puts/calls) but got out of that after I started getting careless.
As I said, I'll try and type up some more information for you in the future. And, if I can screen capture at the time or something, I can even post some trades. If nothing else, I could post some charts of interest...
Great trades today by the way!
Music_Producer said:
Yeah, I'll be watching the CAD employment change myself. I don't know if I'll be able to trade it or not, but I'd like to.
(If there's something to trade in the first place, of course.... )Almost wet my pants!!
The NonFarm Report came out WAY worse than expected.. 50 k instead of 120 k. So I jumped and bought GBP/USD .. and I made 40 pips One second after I closed the trade and the bloody GBP dropped.. dropped by 80 pips
The GBP is still dropping by another 40-60 pips against the USD. Man these US Bulls are retards.. they love buying the $ no matter how crappy the news is.. and thats just what happened today. I was really quick today.. got in *before* the spike..and got out promptly. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had stayed in the trade a little longer. Phew!!!
The NonFarm Report came out WAY worse than expected.. 50 k instead of 120 k. So I jumped and bought GBP/USD .. and I made 40 pips
One second after I closed the trade and the bloody GBP dropped.. dropped by 80 pips The GBP is still dropping by another 40-60 pips against the USD. Man these US Bulls are retards.. they love buying the $ no matter how crappy the news is.. and thats just what happened today. I was really quick today.. got in *before* the spike..and got out promptly. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had stayed in the trade a little longer. Phew!!!
Music_Producer said:The NonFarm Report came out WAY worse than expected.. 50 k instead of 120 k. So I jumped and bought GBP/USD .. and I made 40 pips
The GBP is still dropping by another 40-60 pips against the USD. Man these US Bulls are retards.. they love buying the $ no matter how crappy the news is.. and thats just what happened today. I was really quick today.. got in *before* the spike..and got out promptly. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had stayed in the trade a little longer. Phew!!!
As always, timing is crucial!
And, you just never know how the markets will react - as you say, bad news, yet people buy USD. Ah well, if we all knew exactly how the markets worked, we'd all be multi-millionaires... 
Music_Producer said:...
man I should launch a hedge fund.. unlike the Amaranth LLC retards who invested most of their trades in oil (and lost somewhere around 6 billion) I think I'd be pretty successful!
yes, yes you should
I am going to try and gets some trades in for October. I wish I had enough money to make $100 + a pip... the most I can make for now is $2 pip but its cool because its just a few minutes of "work"
njmac said:
njmac said:yes, yes you should
We could actually start a "distributed" hedge fund ... get couple of folks in various times zones and pool some money. It would be relatively easy to get more money in and we'd be charging a 2% fee
Hoef, forget the 2% fee.. more like 50% of profits
Today's trade was great.. made 13 pips on GBP/USD.. US retail sales came out weaker than expected. I also quite expected that the GBP would jump up.. and then sink against the US$. For some reason, everytime there's bad news for the US economy.. the dollar loses ground against other currencies..for a very short time. In a few seconds, the dollar jumps back up crushing any initial spike. That's exactly what happened during the US trade balance announcement.. and it's happening right now. Which is why, get your profits and exit the trade asap.
I am quite tempted to 'fade the spike' i.e. sell at what you think is the top of the spike. It's risky though, so I wouldn't attempt it, but one of these days I know the fool in me is going to take over and try it out.. just for kicks. I'll trade a very tiny lot so as to minimize any losses.
Today's trade was great.. made 13 pips on GBP/USD.. US retail sales came out weaker than expected. I also quite expected that the GBP would jump up.. and then sink against the US$. For some reason, everytime there's bad news for the US economy.. the dollar loses ground against other currencies..for a very short time. In a few seconds, the dollar jumps back up crushing any initial spike. That's exactly what happened during the US trade balance announcement.. and it's happening right now. Which is why, get your profits and exit the trade asap.
I am quite tempted to 'fade the spike' i.e. sell at what you think is the top of the spike. It's risky though, so I wouldn't attempt it, but one of these days I know the fool in me is going to take over and try it out.. just for kicks. I'll trade a very tiny lot so as to minimize any losses.
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