Anyone here into FOREX?

[Music_Producer]

Britguy, spreads are anywhere from normal to 10 pips before news.. they change all the time. Canadian retail sales I think the spread was 5 pips. During Asian session spreads are wider.. because liquidity is pretty low.

Mid-london and early NY sessions I get the best spreads.. I get 0 pips at times on GBP/USD.. 0 on eur/usd.. etc. Of course, it doesn't happen all the time..

Today was pretty interesting. I was watching my Reuters feed.. and the UK GDP came out slightly positive (3.1% y/y) but at the same time.. a BOE survey came out showing companies were not willing to extend credit.

So I made a 5 pip profit on my GBP/USD trade.. but quickly exited because of those survey results. Within a few minutes, GBP/USD dropped.. and it reached a low of 2.0105 within two hours. Just shows you how news moves the markets.

Then, the BOE auction - nobody bid on it - meaning no banks were in need of emergency funds. As soon as this report came out - GBP/USD jumped from the lows of 2.0110 to 2.0140-2.0150. I wish I had traded these reports, I just didn't know their significance, so I stayed out.

Anyway, durable goods orders came out terrible. GU spiked up before my reuters feed showed the report.. so I waited for a retracement. Surely enough.. after spiking to 2.0180.. it fell back and I got in at 2.0165.

It went up to 2.0185 in half an hour.. I exited at 2.0180. So I made 15 pips.
Even if you had got in at the top of the spike (2.0180) you would have still got out with 5 pips had you waited.

In this case, I decided to wait because:

1. GBP/USD was in an uptrend
2. The US news just gave more reason to push it higher

I was tempted to trade GBP/JPY today but it was just too volatile. It must have run up and down - a range of 200 pips, multiple times. There is no way to figure out when to get in .. or out! During news reports, imo.. is the best time to trade this beast.

Still, I'll stick to the usual USD pairs. You know the saying - Bears and Bulls make money.. pigs get slaughtered.

 

[~Shard~]

6 pips on the US reports this morning. Nothing special, but I'll take it.

I've tried my hand at some scalping too in the evenings (when the markets are a little less volatile) and have been having some success. I only go for a 2-3 pip gain and then get out. So far this one method I've been using seems to be at least somewhat consistent for my purposes. A few pips a day would be a nice supplement to my other forex and stock trading.

 

[Macmaniac]

My FOREX Trading

I have been doing a demo for over a month now and I have some sucess with a system I have been using. I trade during Asia being a college student so mainly from 10PM-2AM is when I do my trading. I have been basically running a scalping system trying to pick up 10 pips on small dips during the Asia session. I have been using the Hourly Stochs to determine if I should enter a position, then I check my EMA's (21,50,200) to confirm whether I am going short or long. Then I use stochs and MACD on the 5 minute to confirm my entry. The system has worked well so far, about 80-90% winners when I follow the system. I have also been testing a method where I place entry limit orders off Asia's highs and lows. I don't have enough data on that, but it could be promising.

I love the thrill of the Demo account, but I may switch to Onanda from FXSolutions cause their spread is 2-3 pips less (FX is 5), but I must say FXAccucharts have been great for me as a noobie.

 

[~Shard~]

Cool macmaniac, I wish you continued success! If you do open up a real account just remember to be careful and not invest too much, nor use large lots in the beginning. Discipline is definitely the name of the game. In the meantime though, good luck!

 

[Music_Producer]

17 pips on UK housing price report - everyone was expecting it to drop - came out with a surprisingly positive report.

I got in late.. at 2.0180.. stupid Reuters didn't even show the numbers! My oanda news platform popped up with the report.. anyway.. waited for a good 17 minutes for the price to go up. It's funny how price goes up, retraces.. and then hangs around for a bit.. someone slaps it .. and off it goes in the right direction.. lol.

 

[Spanners]

A question about FOREX for you guys. I've been following this thread for a while now and various words and phrases do sometime stump me.

So an idea occured. Could one/some of you start a "Beginners Guide" thread perhaps detailing the systems you use both Mac and Windows / a guide to all the terms you use etc. I work in Investment Banking and to be honest I sometimes loose the plot with what is going on.

I'm sure it would be very helpful to others.

What do you think?

 

[Music_Producer]

A question about FOREX for you guys. I've been following this thread for a while now and various words and phrases do sometime stump me.

So an idea occured. Could one/some of you start a "Beginners Guide" thread perhaps detailing the systems you use both Mac and Windows / a guide to all the terms you use etc. I work in Investment Banking and to be honest I sometimes loose the plot with what is going on.

I'm sure it would be very helpful to others.

What do you think?

I'm in the process of starting a website/blog.. where I'll be posting answers to anyone with any questions. It's a lot easier for me to type in stuff, and then upload it to the blog, then log in here.. type in stuff (and get d/c at times.. and type everything back in.. I'm just lazy!)

So if anyone has questions, please PM me and I'll make sure I answer all of them, as much as possible.

Today's New Home Sales trade was an interesting one. At about 2-3am, there was a rumor that new home sales had been leaked, and the number was -10%. So GBP/USD and EUR/USD all shot up.

I wasn't going to trade this report because I thought it would be a little risky.. as markets had already priced in the bad number. However, if the rumors were incorrect.. then GU would fall.. and so I based my trade on that theory.

When the numbers came out.. they were -8%. Quite bad, all right - but not as bad as -10%. So I shorted GBP/USD (as it was at 2.0270 - peaked) It stayed at that level (looking confused!) for a bit, and then started dropping. I got out at 2.0265 (only 5 pips) because I chickened out. After that, it dropped all the way down to 2.0225 5 pips instead of 50.. oh well..

 

[nhallmark]

I'm in the process of starting a website/blog.. where I'll be posting answers to anyone with any questions. It's a lot easier for me to type in stuff, and then upload it to the blog, then log in here.. type in stuff (and get d/c at times.. and type everything back in.. I'm just lazy!)

So if anyone has questions, please PM me and I'll make sure I answer all of them, as much as possible.

Let us know the link when you get it up man

 

[Music_Producer]

Let us know the link when you get it up man

It's almost ready bro. Sheesh.. I've been looking at the $ drop mercilessly in front of everything. Euro hit 1.42.. USD/CAD is 0.9946. WTF? This sh$$ is going to go on till end-2008 when euro is probably going to be 2.00 and GBP/USD is going to be 4.00.

Feds better do something other than soothe the good for nothing DOW and stupid a$$ local investors who can't manage funds.

Seriously, have you seen the carry trades? They've already picked up! AUD/JPY is back at 101.80 something, GBP/JPY is 234.50 and moving up.. these dumb idiots never learn their lesson. We just had a 2000-4000 pip fall and less than a month and the morons are back to "Hey, let's make 2 pips a day in interest! Weeee!"

 

[Music_Producer]

I've had some really great trades since yesterday - first off was the UK interest rate decision. If anyone traded, or even watched the markets.. there was a lot of pressure on the BoE to cut rates, and stupid rumors were also floating around that they are going to cut rates.

So GBP/USD was pretty bearish from the start of the London session.. and kept dropping. Soon as the rate decision came out unchanged.. I went long on GU.. and after a few seconds, it went up. I netted 35 pips (got out at 2.0360-ish level) I knew it would go to 2.0400 eventually, but did not want to stay in the trade and risk any pips.

ECB decision came out as expected.. I didn't trade that one. Went to sleep.. woke up and noticed that GU did go to 2.0400 and beyond. With 4 million units that I had traded, I could have made way more.. kept thinking that and slapped myself out of it (could have easily lost as well)

Today's Canadian employment change report was a whopper. Huge deviation, plus big deviation in the unemployment rate. Both were extremely positive - so I shorted USD/CAD and got 20 pips (exited too fast - I just read the employment change report.. didn't notice the rate deviation as well) It fell by 40 more pips after I exited.

Today is NFP.. be cautious if you are trading. Do NOT trade the spike, there will be ample opportunity to get in earlier. Check for revisions (as last number was -4k)

Carry trades, - look at AUD/JPY. It's at 104.00. Amazing recovery.. I would prefer to invest in AUD/JPY than GBP/JPY, etc.. aussie $ is very solid.

 

[nhallmark]

WTF? 89K revision Looks they cooked the data last month to justify the rate cut (Just my opinion, I have nothing to back that up..lol)

 

[~Shard~]

It's been a crazy couple of weeks as I've been busy with work, home renos, soccer and symphony rehearsals/concerts, but I managed to trade this morning's data and made a total of 43 pips off the Canadian and US reports - that makes up for my lack of trading recently!

Oh, and I jumped on the carry trade last week when the AUDJPY was at 100.26. Bought just $50k, had an order in to sell at 102.25 and made 200 pips a few days later! Could have held on of course, but you know what they say about pigs and hogs...

October is going ot be a write-off for me it looks like, so I won't be on here much, but hopefully I'll have some more time in November... In the meantime, happy trading everyone!

 

[Street Addict]

Nice payroll report today! Got about 60 pips on US/Yen then shorted it for another 40 pips. Only playing with one lot right now...

 

[Music_Producer]

WTF? 89K revision Looks they cooked the data last month to justify the rate cut (Just my opinion, I have nothing to back that up..lol)

Could be.. but I did read somewhere that the prior number was most likely to be revised because it was a huge deviation. There was also some reasoning behind it, but I didn't bother to read it.

I shorted GU right away when I saw the revision.. that's what I was looking out for. I got out with 25 pips (you all beat me this time!) Good thing I didn't hold on to the trade.. after some time all USD pairs shot up (GU, EU) Weird.. then again, it was a friday.

 

[Street Addict]

Another good day today looking at AUD/USD. The Aud is very strong I saw it take a dip this morning went long with it knowing it would come back made 20 pips Wish I said with it for the day b/c in about 6 hours it went up 200 pips I'm a short term trader I make a few pips am out I'm trying to get in the habit of roll the dice to hold on to a lot for more then hour but its hard and risky i feel.

Whats up with the ZAR I've been watch the USD/ZAR and that thing never moves but when it does wow it will jump or drop 100 pips in a second.

 

[OceanView]

MP,

I just read this entry and was wondering where you get your info from?

was a lot of pressure on the BoE to cut rates, and stupid rumors were also floating around that they are going to cut rates.

 

[nhallmark]

MP,

I just read this entry and was wondering where you get your info from?

I think he is using Reuters.

Did you ever sell your house? You were right about LA. I'm out in Agoura Hills but when I go to LA It's crazy...all the people LOL.

btw, guys I'm officially back with a small account and I'm not making the same mistake twice

 

[OceanView]

I think he is using Reuters.

Did you ever sell your house? You were right about LA. I'm out in Agoura Hills but when I go to LA It's crazy...all the people LOL.

btw, guys I'm officially back with a small account and I'm not making the same mistake twice

Hey Nathan,

Good to hear your still at it.
As Winston Churchill use to say, Never Give UP!

My house is still on the market.
I may just take it off and wait till next year to sell it.
I think most people are on the side lines and are just waiting to see how much further the market is gonna go down.
Just watched Donald Trump talk about the RE market.
He thinks were at or near the bottom and thinks it's a good time to buy.

Just curious as to what your new strategy will be?
I have been trying something new for the last 2 months on a demo account and it looks like its working so far. I am about to move over to the live account with it.


Yeah, LA is crazy

 

[~Shard~]

Great to see you back Nathan, I wish you all the best with your trading. Unfortunately I have not been trading for the past couple weeks due to an insane work and home schedule. I hope to get back into it more actively again soon, but well have to see. This week definitely won't be it, as I am off to Vancouver on Tuesday for the week... ah well, it's a "good" kind of busy at least...

Take care and happy trading everyone...

 

[100BIL]

Thanks MP.

Hey MP, thank you for your generosity of sharing forex knowledge.I was out
of forex loop for awhile after i blew out my demo account of 15K(started 5K).

I was demoralized,i thought i got it going then 1 day i just blew it.
Reading your post made me think of trying it out again but i just don't
trust any forex dealer out there wiping out every live accounts and i don't
know any person making profit from forex trading.do you know someone?

what do you think of cmsfx.com?they used vt trading software.

 

[nhallmark]

Just curious as to what your new strategy will be?
I have been trying something new for the last 2 months on a demo account and it looks like its working so far. I am about to move over to the live account with it.

I'm scalping with MMAs. Read the "Linuxtroll Simple Scalping" thread on FF for more info.

What's your strategy? Did you go live yet?

Great to see you back Nathan, I wish you all the best with your trading.

Thanks Shard. I needed the experience, I guess. It seems like a mandatory stage that every trader goes through, from what I've read LOL.

Hey MP, thank you for your generosity of sharing forex knowledge.I was out
of forex loop for awhile after i blew out my demo account of 15K(started 5K).

I was demoralized,i thought i got it going then 1 day i just blew it.
Reading your post made me think of trying it out again but i just don't
trust any forex dealer out there wiping out every live accounts and i don't
know any person making profit from forex trading.do you know someone?

what do you think of cmsfx.com?they used vt trading software.

I'm not MP, but if he doesn't mind me saying, I know he is making money. Shard, is as well, from my knowledge. I am getting there with the consistency part...I am making money, but there are still ups and downs at present(not losses but periods where I am constantly breaking even LOL)

I don't know much about CMS...do a search for them on FF. Also, in the Auslanco thread on FF, I think they use VT charts, so you might ask them.

Hope that helps,
Nathan

 

[Street Addict]

The best way I found to make money is play the news events and play with more lots 10 stander lots with only 10 pips is $100. On a good news like tomorrows big report you can easily 50-70 pips. You will lose some but accept the lost and get out don't be emotional.

 

[Music_Producer]

Hey nathan.. good to have you back bro! I finally logged in today.. have been so lazy with the whole logging in.. posting, etc.. and no one was posting.. so I figured everyone was busy trading.. or not!

Today's NFP was another classic.. lol.. I wonder where they get these numbers from. Got a good 35 pips on USD/JPY, could have held on a little longer but you know NFP post-trading.. gets crazy.

I'm really amused to see GU and EU back to their pre-data levels and even higher.. they probably smell a 'rat' with the NFP numbers. Should revise the term to near-fictional-payrolls or something of that sort.

I've been making money trading only fundamentals.. I did try out trading a few GBP/JPY technicals.. but every time I do that, I always lose pips. I trade technicals with very small lots, so it doesn't harm my account.. but I need to stay away. It's just that fundies/news reports have been slow these days, and I get bored.. so I try to play around with techs. Not worth it. (for me)

Shard, I don't think I can move to canada now. With the CAD $ going up so high.. I think all I can afford there is a little boat

Ocean.. Oanda's good for options reports, and other fundamentals.. but yeah, like nathan mentioned I get my reports from Reuters. I've been having some really good trades with canadian reports (a week or two ago i think) and NZ reports. I messed up big time on the aussie cpi report .. there were two CPI reports and I looked at the wrong one. Lost 40 pips. The worst part was if I had held on, I would have made a profit since it eventually did go back in the direction I entered the trade in. Ahh well.. another thing I hate now is that aussie retail sales have been coming out at the same time as aussie trade balance. Complete waste of two really tradable reports.

Anyways, keep posting.. I'll jump in every now and then.. Ocean, housing has a lot more rough patches to go through. Trump will talk like any realtor (yes housing has bottomed, now's a good time to buy) The credit crunch is going to get worse when all these buyers who are paying their home equity with credit cards.. won't be able to pay both!

 

[~Shard~]

Thanks Shard. I needed the experience, I guess. It seems like a mandatory stage that every trader goes through, from what I've read LOL.

Yep, don't worry, you're definitely not alone...

I'm not MP, but if he doesn't mind me saying, I know he is making money. Shard, is as well, from my knowledge. I am getting there with the consistency part...I am making money, but there are still ups and downs at present(not losses but periods where I am constantly breaking even LOL)

Yeah, I'm making money with forex. Not enough to retire on but it's still better than losing money. As mentioned previously, I haven't been trading much lately though - just too much on the go it seems.

Shard, I don't think I can move to canada now. With the CAD $ going up so high.. I think all I can afford there is a little boat

Myself and my wife just bought an apartment complex here in town (one of the many reasons I've been busy lately) and our ultimate plan is to condo-ize it. When we do I'll give you a deal on one of the units!

Yeah, 1.07, who would have thought... I'm eyeing a new MacBook Pro right now. The mid-range model is $2800 CAD but only $2500 USD which works out to even less after the exchange rate... Maybe the US economy will be sustained via strong retail sales #s due to cross-border shopping!

Anyways, keep posting.. I'll jump in every now and then.. Ocean, housing has a lot more rough patches to go through. Trump will talk like any realtor (yes housing has bottomed, now's a good time to buy) The credit crunch is going to get worse when all these buyers who are paying their home equity with credit cards.. won't be able to pay both!

Totally agree - it's going to get worse before it gets better. But hey, with the low US interest rates now thanks to the Fed maybe more people will start buying homes - that will fix the problem, no?

And I'll try to post more frequently here as well. It'll help once I start trading regulary as well. In the meantime, stay in touch everyone and happy trading!

 

[Cromulent]

Hi guys. I've been playing around with the OANDA demo account for a while now and was thinking about going in with a very small real account. Is it worth it? I mean I really am talking about a small account, what would be your minimum for starting out? Basically I just want to put enough in that if I lose it it won't make any real difference to me financially.

Plus is OANDA the best site to go with? I'm in the UK so I am unsure of these things at the moment.