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Monday, March 18, 2013
Will Cyprus Forex Broker Accounts be Subjected to a "Wealth Tax"?
While we eagerly wait the outcome of this socialist experiment gone wrong in Cyprus, we would like to again remind the public that where you deposit your money is incredibly important.You need to know that it’s safe and that the brokers holding it are the most regulated and under the heaviest scrutiny in the forex industry. Trading is hard enough as it is, why expose your funds to unnecessary risk?
The United States is the most heavily regulated Forex industry in the world. All brokers must register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and are members of the National Futures Association.
Brokers have daily, monthly, and quarterly operational reporting requirements, detailing customer funds on deposit, # of retail and ECP forex customers that are active, whether they are US or foreign domiciled, and the percentage of non discretionary accounts that were profitable vs non-profitable among other things. Unaudited financial statements are filed monthly and audited financial statements are filed annually. Failure to comply with these NFA requirements can result in severe disciplinary actions as well as substantial fines and penalties.
A lot of traders get so caught up in trading, they completely forget about whether or not their account deposit is safe. We think it's better to be safe then to be sorry.
Sign up for a Live Account with us today
Thursday, March 14, 2013
AUD/USD & NZD/USD Trade Update
Our NZD/USD hit both targets yielding 27 pips and 62 pips respectively. With the average being 44.5, it more then covers the 23 pips we lost on AUD/USD.
The NZD trade portrays the importance of setting targets. If we hadn't planned our exit, we could have easily given back most of our gains by now. Nailing a big move and making a lot of pips makes us no money if we just sit in the trade and watch it reverse against us.
With the AUD/USD trade, we realized that if the pair hit 1.0340, there was a good chance it would hit 1.0400 quickly after. Sure enough, after better then expected employment numbers last night the Aussie was propelled to 1.0400 by "risk on" sentiment generated by the advancing U.S. stock market. This trade is a great example of why we feel it's necessary to pick a point on the chart where we can say we are "wrong" and no longer want to be in the trade. Clearly defining the risk on every trade is the key to our success.
The NZD trade portrays the importance of setting targets. If we hadn't planned our exit, we could have easily given back most of our gains by now. Nailing a big move and making a lot of pips makes us no money if we just sit in the trade and watch it reverse against us.
With the AUD/USD trade, we realized that if the pair hit 1.0340, there was a good chance it would hit 1.0400 quickly after. Sure enough, after better then expected employment numbers last night the Aussie was propelled to 1.0400 by "risk on" sentiment generated by the advancing U.S. stock market. This trade is a great example of why we feel it's necessary to pick a point on the chart where we can say we are "wrong" and no longer want to be in the trade. Clearly defining the risk on every trade is the key to our success.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Forex Trading: AUD/USD & NZD/USD
We just shorted the AUD/USD & NZD/USD this morning due to the candlestick patterns and attractive risk to reward ratios.
This is a 1 hour chart of NZD/USD. We shorted at .8250 with a stop above the swing high with a first target of .8225 and second target of .8190. If the first target is hit we'll move the stop to break-even.
The rationale behind the trade: Continued trend of USD strength exhibited in February, commodity currency weakness across the board so far this morning, the bearish engulfing candlestick pattern just put in on this 1 hour chart, and a continuation of a descending channel on the 4 hour chart.
The Aussie has run up over 200 pips since it put in a swing low at 1.0120 and the pair has not put in a decent retracement since then, so we feel it has more "room" for a push lower and our targets are a little more ambitious - 1.0245 and 1.0200
As always, we fully recognize that we could easily be wrong - the key to trading profitably is to not lose much on trades that go against us and to let our winners run. That's why it's important to ALWAYS define the risk taken on EVERY trade!
This is a 1 hour chart of NZD/USD. We shorted at .8250 with a stop above the swing high with a first target of .8225 and second target of .8190. If the first target is hit we'll move the stop to break-even.
The rationale behind the trade: Continued trend of USD strength exhibited in February, commodity currency weakness across the board so far this morning, the bearish engulfing candlestick pattern just put in on this 1 hour chart, and a continuation of a descending channel on the 4 hour chart.
The Aussie has run up over 200 pips since it put in a swing low at 1.0120 and the pair has not put in a decent retracement since then, so we feel it has more "room" for a push lower and our targets are a little more ambitious - 1.0245 and 1.0200
As always, we fully recognize that we could easily be wrong - the key to trading profitably is to not lose much on trades that go against us and to let our winners run. That's why it's important to ALWAYS define the risk taken on EVERY trade!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Sign up for Mirror Trader with BeamFX!
Mirror Trader is a comprehensive trading platform, providing you
with unique tools for trading by knowledge: Live signals, sentiments,
market charts, oscillators and chart studies.
Mirror Trader uses cutting edge technology to offer a user friendly trading experience, a wide set of innovative features and robust execution. In addition, the Mirror Trader gives you an edge by providing access to a knowledge database of a wide range of trading strategies.
The Mirror Trader introduces traders to the "Trade by Knowledge" concept:
Manual Trading
Execute trades using the Mirror Trader’s charting tools, indicators and chart studies. Take advantage of the strategies signals and sentiments to support your trading decisions and open up new trading ideas.
Semi Automatic Mirroring
Active execution of signals, based on your judgment and understanding. View all the strategies’ “buy” and “sell” signals in real time and choose the trades you want to mirror to your account.
Automatic Mirroring
Automatic real-time execution, based on your selected strategies. Select strategies to your trading portfolio and the Mirror Trader will automatically execute their orders in your trading account.
Mirror Trader’s Advantages:
You can sign up for a Live Mirror Trader Account here.
You can sign up for a Demo Mirror Trader Account here.
Mirror Trader uses cutting edge technology to offer a user friendly trading experience, a wide set of innovative features and robust execution. In addition, the Mirror Trader gives you an edge by providing access to a knowledge database of a wide range of trading strategies.
The Mirror Trader introduces traders to the "Trade by Knowledge" concept:
Manual Trading
Execute trades using the Mirror Trader’s charting tools, indicators and chart studies. Take advantage of the strategies signals and sentiments to support your trading decisions and open up new trading ideas.
Semi Automatic Mirroring
Active execution of signals, based on your judgment and understanding. View all the strategies’ “buy” and “sell” signals in real time and choose the trades you want to mirror to your account.
Automatic Mirroring
Automatic real-time execution, based on your selected strategies. Select strategies to your trading portfolio and the Mirror Trader will automatically execute their orders in your trading account.
Mirror Trader’s Advantages:
- Manual trading, Semi Automatic Mirroring, and Automatic Mirroring in one platform
- Benefit from experienced traders’ knowledge
- Control and manage real-time signals generated by worldwide strategy developers
- Back up your trading decision with market trends from strategies and users
- Exclusive features such as: Live signals and strategies detailed analysis, as well as popular trading tools: charts, indicators, oscillators, rates and market sentiments
You can sign up for a Live Mirror Trader Account here.
You can sign up for a Demo Mirror Trader Account here.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Forex Trading: USD/CAD
USD/CAD has been in a strong uptrend recently; but the pair gave up some gains after Friday's positive NFP report and strong Canadian economic data.
USD/CAD Negative
- 50.7K Canadian jobs added versus expected 7.8K and previous -21.9K
- Canadian unemployment rate fell from 7.1% to 7.0%
- Good U.S. NFP report - Actual: 236K, Previous 162K, Previous revised down to 119K
(Note: institutional investors who want to speculate on the U.S. economic recovery while still getting some carry can buy the CAD as a proxy for the USD)
- Risk On: The CAD held up the best against the USD, with the Aussie & Kiwi close behind due to the increase in risk appetite stemming from the good economic data.
USD/CAD Positive
- The U.S. unemployment rate beat expectations and improved to 7.7% from 7.9% - this caused expectations to change about QE due to some of the stimulus being tied to a 6.5% unemployment rate target. This caused significant USD strength across the board against all of the major currencies except the Canadian dollar for the reasons listed above.
The 4 hour chart of USD/CAD below shows a clear break from the channel. This could turn into a sideways trading range or lead to a retracement.
The Daily chart below outlines the the support levels below in case the pair begins retracing, with a strong support range of 1.0100 - 1.0050
USD/CAD Negative
- 50.7K Canadian jobs added versus expected 7.8K and previous -21.9K
- Canadian unemployment rate fell from 7.1% to 7.0%
- Good U.S. NFP report - Actual: 236K, Previous 162K, Previous revised down to 119K
(Note: institutional investors who want to speculate on the U.S. economic recovery while still getting some carry can buy the CAD as a proxy for the USD)
- Risk On: The CAD held up the best against the USD, with the Aussie & Kiwi close behind due to the increase in risk appetite stemming from the good economic data.
USD/CAD Positive
- The U.S. unemployment rate beat expectations and improved to 7.7% from 7.9% - this caused expectations to change about QE due to some of the stimulus being tied to a 6.5% unemployment rate target. This caused significant USD strength across the board against all of the major currencies except the Canadian dollar for the reasons listed above.
The 4 hour chart of USD/CAD below shows a clear break from the channel. This could turn into a sideways trading range or lead to a retracement.
The Daily chart below outlines the the support levels below in case the pair begins retracing, with a strong support range of 1.0100 - 1.0050
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Forex Trading: AUD/USD Update
AUD/USD is behaving as we expected it might (read here) and we believe that next move will be to the downside. On the daily chart you can see the 1.0150 level was clearly broken, and the suckers wiped out. The plunge should occur next, thoroughly frustrating current long positions and those shorts who have been stopped out by the 185 pip rip up slightly past 1.0300. This speculation is supported by a very strong U.S. Dollar in the month of February and would line up with a "correction" in the market that everyone seems so sure we'll get. (Side note: when we do get it, everyone is going to begin calling it the start of a new "bear market" and after the people who bought the dips get wiped out, we expect the equity markets to rip up to fresh all time highs.)
This 4 hour chart below shows a good risk to reward setup, with 1.0290 acting as overhead resistance, and and .618 fib and highlighted area providing (short term) support at 1.0185. If we get below 1.0150 again we think price should hit parity fairly soon after that.
This 4 hour chart below shows a good risk to reward setup, with 1.0290 acting as overhead resistance, and and .618 fib and highlighted area providing (short term) support at 1.0185. If we get below 1.0150 again we think price should hit parity fairly soon after that.
The Mercenary Creed
The Mercenary Creed comes directly to you from www.mercenarytrader.com, a website every trader should have bookmarked.
I. Thou Shalt Heed the Price Action.
II. Thou Shalt Respect the Risk.
III. Monitor Thy Equity Curve.
IV. Thou Shalt Go For the Jugular.
V. Thou Shalt Focus on Making Money.
VI. Thou Shalt Go Short as Well as Long.
VII. To Thine Own Self Be True.
I. Thou Shalt Heed the Price Action.
The seasoned trader knows that “prices move first, fundamentals come second.” Conviction is my ally, intution my guide — yet only price confirms and validates. I know that charts, in essence, are simple abstractions… a complex interplay of forces, reduced to two dimensions in a tightly defined space. As a Mercenary I walk the middle path, heeding price action without deferring to it.
II. Thou Shalt Respect the Risk.
When I was a child, I traded as a child, not giving proper respect to risk. But now I am a Mercenary, and so now I trade like a Mercenary, giving risk its proper due. My trading capital is my life force; like an aviator’s fuel or an ocean diver’s air supply, I shall monitor it with passion and precision. First I shall survive, for only then can I thrive; as Sun Tzu instructed, I shall wait by the side of the river for the bodies of my enemies to float by. In respecting the risk, I shall continue on as my enemies falter… and in surviving my opportunities shall multiply.
III.. Monitor Thy Equity Curve.
The Mercenary respects the wisdom of his forebears. As such I pay heed to the oldest wisdom of all: When trading poorly, decrease risk and exposure; increase risk and exposure when trading well. I will maintain a constant vigilance over critical aspects of emotion and performance: How I am feeling; how I am trading; how attuned I am to the rhythm of the market; and, most vitally, whether my precious capital reserves are waxing or waning. In this I shall trade at my biggest when doing my best, trade at my smallest when doing my worst, and prosper through the great long stretch of days.
IV. Thou Shalt Go For the Jugular.
In monitoring my equity curve I shall ‘earn the right to swing’. Like Babe Ruth I shall retain the capacity for grand slams; like Ted Williams I shall “wait for a good pitch to hit.” When profits are strong and opportunity is great, I shall emulate the palindrome and maximize my good fortune to the hilt. The gambler takes foolishly outsized or unwarranted risks, while the grinder stays forever miniscule. As neither gambler nor grinder, but Mercenary, I shall trade patiently and carefully at all times, respecting risk all the while… and then, when the time is right, I shall take a defined portion of my gains and knock the #$#@ing cover off the ball.
V. Thou Shalt Focus on Making Money.
The fool cares more about being “right” than making money, and cocktail party glory is the soothsayer’s deep desire. I leave such foolishness to the chattering classes, cultivating instead a ruthless focus on making money. I shall feel no attachment to the “big call,” no hesitation in the urge to change my mind, and above all else no love for the position. Ego is indulgence and indulgence costs money; for the Mercenary, to be “right” means nothing while profit means everything. P&L is my Alpha and Omega, risk-adjusted return my northern star.
VI. Thou Shalt Go Short as Well as Long.
The Mercenary embraces that old trading truth, “There is only one side to the stock market… not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side.” As a flexible market participant, I shall cultivate the talent and the temperament to prosper in all market environments — up, down or flat. I shall transcend the tyranny of the “long-only” mentality, and shut my ears to institutionalized helplessness. I shall know the mountains and the valleys, going long or short with ease — always remembering that “the wolf careth not, how many the sheep be.”
VII.. To Thine Own Self Be True.
As Polonius instructed Laertes, I so instruct myself: “To thine own self be true.” The Mercenary lives unburdened and unyoked, free from troublesome earthly masters; I take my living from the markets as a fisherman takes from the sea. I will embrace this extraordinary freedom, and with it an extraordinary responsibility… the responsibility to live life to its fullest. I will travel where I wish, do what I choose, live in the manner I see fit, and support the causes near and dear to me; in word and deed I shall be free, an encouraging example for my fellow men in chains.
I. Thou Shalt Heed the Price Action.
II. Thou Shalt Respect the Risk.
III. Monitor Thy Equity Curve.
IV. Thou Shalt Go For the Jugular.
V. Thou Shalt Focus on Making Money.
VI. Thou Shalt Go Short as Well as Long.
VII. To Thine Own Self Be True.
I. Thou Shalt Heed the Price Action.
The seasoned trader knows that “prices move first, fundamentals come second.” Conviction is my ally, intution my guide — yet only price confirms and validates. I know that charts, in essence, are simple abstractions… a complex interplay of forces, reduced to two dimensions in a tightly defined space. As a Mercenary I walk the middle path, heeding price action without deferring to it.
II. Thou Shalt Respect the Risk.
When I was a child, I traded as a child, not giving proper respect to risk. But now I am a Mercenary, and so now I trade like a Mercenary, giving risk its proper due. My trading capital is my life force; like an aviator’s fuel or an ocean diver’s air supply, I shall monitor it with passion and precision. First I shall survive, for only then can I thrive; as Sun Tzu instructed, I shall wait by the side of the river for the bodies of my enemies to float by. In respecting the risk, I shall continue on as my enemies falter… and in surviving my opportunities shall multiply.
III.. Monitor Thy Equity Curve.
The Mercenary respects the wisdom of his forebears. As such I pay heed to the oldest wisdom of all: When trading poorly, decrease risk and exposure; increase risk and exposure when trading well. I will maintain a constant vigilance over critical aspects of emotion and performance: How I am feeling; how I am trading; how attuned I am to the rhythm of the market; and, most vitally, whether my precious capital reserves are waxing or waning. In this I shall trade at my biggest when doing my best, trade at my smallest when doing my worst, and prosper through the great long stretch of days.
IV. Thou Shalt Go For the Jugular.
In monitoring my equity curve I shall ‘earn the right to swing’. Like Babe Ruth I shall retain the capacity for grand slams; like Ted Williams I shall “wait for a good pitch to hit.” When profits are strong and opportunity is great, I shall emulate the palindrome and maximize my good fortune to the hilt. The gambler takes foolishly outsized or unwarranted risks, while the grinder stays forever miniscule. As neither gambler nor grinder, but Mercenary, I shall trade patiently and carefully at all times, respecting risk all the while… and then, when the time is right, I shall take a defined portion of my gains and knock the #$#@ing cover off the ball.
V. Thou Shalt Focus on Making Money.
The fool cares more about being “right” than making money, and cocktail party glory is the soothsayer’s deep desire. I leave such foolishness to the chattering classes, cultivating instead a ruthless focus on making money. I shall feel no attachment to the “big call,” no hesitation in the urge to change my mind, and above all else no love for the position. Ego is indulgence and indulgence costs money; for the Mercenary, to be “right” means nothing while profit means everything. P&L is my Alpha and Omega, risk-adjusted return my northern star.
VI. Thou Shalt Go Short as Well as Long.
The Mercenary embraces that old trading truth, “There is only one side to the stock market… not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side.” As a flexible market participant, I shall cultivate the talent and the temperament to prosper in all market environments — up, down or flat. I shall transcend the tyranny of the “long-only” mentality, and shut my ears to institutionalized helplessness. I shall know the mountains and the valleys, going long or short with ease — always remembering that “the wolf careth not, how many the sheep be.”
VII.. To Thine Own Self Be True.
As Polonius instructed Laertes, I so instruct myself: “To thine own self be true.” The Mercenary lives unburdened and unyoked, free from troublesome earthly masters; I take my living from the markets as a fisherman takes from the sea. I will embrace this extraordinary freedom, and with it an extraordinary responsibility… the responsibility to live life to its fullest. I will travel where I wish, do what I choose, live in the manner I see fit, and support the causes near and dear to me; in word and deed I shall be free, an encouraging example for my fellow men in chains.
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