OK traders!! It is time to get some important and good education in order to become a better and more knowledgeable trader.  However to become a better trader one must know the 3 major trading sessions that control the forex market. Those 3 sessions being Tokyo, London and New York.

We all know, this market is a 24 hour a day market revolving around those 3 sessions.  As a trader it is vital to decide which session I want to trade in and follow the trend that is presented in the specific session one enters.  If you look at the chart I have enclosed you will clearly see the London session to carry more pip movement than any other session. As a trader I can find this information prudent for my success.

One more thing I want to share with you guys is this, its money time!!

Over the last few weeks many of the traders I talk to are opening positions selling the USD.  In this case many of these traders are simply following the trend and making money while doing simply that. Follow the trend and know the session you are entering to join those successful traders.

USD/CAD

Over the last few weeks and days we have continued to watch the CAD strengthen against the USD. This is happening due to 2 real reasons. The first is the overall weakness of the USD. The second is the fact that the CAD is a commodity driven currency and with the price of oil continuing to increase the CAD continues to follow that same trend. Make sure to continue searching for support and resistance lines and make sure you know those before entering the position here.

Have a great day of trading…

Yes, Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize was the highlight of the weekend, but let’s be honest the Dollar isn’t on the same position as Mr. Obama in terms of popularity. Lets look over the last few weeks and we will find something even more interesting then the Nobel peace prize in terms of a trend.

It keeps on being positive for us as forex traders, the trends are clearly there.  Over the last few months we will see a very clear trend on most of the currencies traded in the Forex market, especially the majors. We can also see the same trend applying to the commodities.

What continues to push the commodities in the market forward appears to be the weaker dollar. So know the Nobel peace prize doesn’t look so relevant for the dollar and we will need to wait and see what will be the upcoming announcement for the US economy this week and the effect they have on the USD. So lets break it down and see how it will affect the Forex market.

This week, I am sure we will get some more movement and excitement from the market!!  However we are starting the week with Monday which happens to have 2 of the 3 largest markets closed because of a holiday. The US, CAD and JPY are all closed because of the holiday. When the biggest session is closed the market is expected to be quite and not a lot movement is expected.

Fundamentals:  We have a few announcements today that will affect the market.

Coming from New Zealand we have the “Retail Sales M/M”.  The previous announcement was -0.5%and the forecast for today is 0.6%. Released at (21:45 GMT).

One more “Core Retail Sales M/M” which will be released at  21:45 GMT, the previous announcement was -0.5% and the forecast for today is 0.5%.we have a Bank Holiday in Japan, US, and Canada so will not expected to see a strong activity from there.

AUD/USD

The AUD is refusing to stop its uptrend!! in order to understand the change this pair has made an increase of more than 41% in the last 7 month. We can now see very clearly how this pair continues to move in an uptrend. Moreover we continue to receive good results from Australia that continue to support this uptrend while the US results continue to be mixed.

In a country where agriculture and mining products constitute 60% of exports, it is crucial for us to understand the dramatic impact that commodities have on the currency market and specifically on the Aussie dollar (see this week’s blogs entry talking about the gold). Besides, Australia’s geographic position allows it to maintain trade relations with emerging markets in South-East Asia where trade is done in Aussie dollar not USD, thus continuing to support its uptrend.

In other word, we have more people buying the AUD and selling the USD.

Keep looking at the charts and look for the fundamental announcement coming from Australia and the US that can directly affect this pair

In the case of this pair we will not put any indictors on the chart but rather we will put 2 lines on that chart and view how simple and easy this uptrend is to analyze and see. We will continue to observe this pair closely heading into the fourth and final quarter of the year.

Fundamentals:  We have a few announcements today that will affect the market.

Coming from United Kingdom we have the “PPI Input M/M”. The previous announcement was 2.2% and the forecast for today is -0.9%. (08:30 GMT). A few more announcements are also coming. One is from Canada and it’s the “Employment Change” which will be released at 11:00 GMT. The previous announcement was 27.1K and the forecast for today is 4.9K. We also have the “Unemployment Rate” coming from Canada, the previous announcement was 8.7% and the forecast for today is 8.8% (11:00 GMT). From the US we will have the “Trade Balance” previous announcement was -32.0B and the forecast for today is -32.8B (12:30 GMT). Also don’t miss the “BOC Business Outlook Survey” AT (13:00 GMT).

Big Fundamental day today!!!!

We have a lot of announcement coming out today effecting many currencies, so let us take some time to review those and the currencies they effect. We often talk about how fundamental announcements affect the market and how they help us determine the certain direction of some currencies. Today starting with Australia we have the unemployment rate release kicking off the Asian pacific session. Later that day as Europe wakes up we have many announcements that are expected to have an impact on the market. The GBP has 3 important announcements coming out today as well. Official bank rate which is the interest rate from the national bank is expected to be released at 12:00 GMT. Affecting the Euro we have the minimum bid rate and the ECB news conference where every word spoken will be analyzed 100 different ways. Also from Canada we have the housing starts then to end the trading day we have the unemployment claims coming from the US those being released at 13:30 GMT.

All these announcements tell us one thing,  appears to be a volatile market day which should make it for an interesting trading day. We should have some interesting nuggets from today to talk about on Friday.

AUD/USD

It‘s not the first time that we are talking about this great pair.  The thing about this pair that makes it so exciting is that every few weeks, days or hours this pair is breaking the previous record and moving in a uptrend. Take a look over the daily chart and you will clearly see the trend this currency is moving in. Over the last year we have seen that this pair has moved in the 2600 pips range and in a clear uptrend. Now the big question I hear everyone asking is when and will this pair will really break the record and prove this uptrend to be real and reach the highest point of 0.9400?

In order to get the feeling of the movement you will need to take a look at a few different parameters, one is the fundamental news that will come from the US and Australia that will directly affect the move and trend of this currency.  Next thing to do is keep looking over the chart and to technically analyze the trend of this pair over non fundamental days where only sentiment will effects its movement.  The combination of both will help you make the right decision when trading. Over the last few weeks the market has moved nicely for this pair, let’s go ahead and translate today’s movements to money in our pockets!

Fundamentals:  We have a few announcements today which will affect the market.

Coming from United Kingdom we have the “Services Purchasing Managers’ Index”. The previous announcement was 54.1 and the forecast for today is 54.6. (08:30 GMT).

Two more announcements are also coming in. One from the US “ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI” which will be released at 14:00 GMT, the previous announcement was 48.4 and the forecast for today is 50.  Also coming from New Zealand we have the “Business Confidence”. The previous announcement was -25. (21:00 GMT), no forecast on this one available.

Let’s talk about how we use fundamental analysis for trading purposes and how it affects the market on a daily basis. Political, economical and social events and announcements are considered to be a part of the fundamental analysis. They play an important part in the strength or weakness of any said currency.

For example, in today’s economy with a recession still looming and many countries still suffering from the recession, we see a weakness in the USD. That weakness is due to a bad economy with no new job creation and Interest rates holding still while inflation rises. We see the USD value as a currency dropping against many of the other major currencies. However as the economy gets better, interest rates get higher to control inflation and as a result, the value of USD will begin to increase.

Basically this is what fundamental analysis is. As we continue writing this blog we will continue to reference this entry as a point of what we believe fundamental analysis to be.

Fundamentals:  We have a few announcements today which will affect the market.

Coming from United Kingdom we have the “Manufacturing PMI”. The previous announcement was 49.7 and the forecast for today is 50.3. (08:30  GMT).

Three  more announcement coming in from US “Unemployment Claims” which will be released at  12:30 GMT. The previous announcement was 530K and the forecast for today is 532K. we have the “ISM Manufacturing PMI”. The previous announcement was 52.9 and the forecast for today is 53.9. (14:00  GMT).At the same time we will have the “Pending Home Sales m/m” previous announcement was 3.2% and the forecast for today is 0.9%. Don’t miss the “Fed Chairman Bernanke Testifies” AT (13:00 GMT).

Fundamentals:  We have a few announcements today which will affect the market.

Coming from Canada we have the “Core Retail Sales”. The previous announcement was 1.0%

And the forecast for today is 0.1%. (12:15  GMT).

A second announcement coming from New Zealand  “GDP q/q” which will be released at 22:45 GMT. The previous announcement was -1.0% and the forecast for today is -0.2%.

EUR/USD

Very interesting trading week for foreign exchange traders
one of the most important pairs to follow is definitely the EUR/USD.

Last few weeks we noted that this pair is moving forward in a clear uptrend, as noted in our weekly and daily charts. Concluding that more people bought the EUR and sold the US dollar, the big Q we all ask will this uptrend continue.

There are 3 possible scenarios:

1. The pair can break its resistance line and continue its uptrend to the next resistance point.

2. The pair can continue to move within its current range.

3. The EUR/USD may change directions and break its support line creating a downtrend for the pair.

For a clearer picture we need to wait for more indicators coming from the US and European session. After the results are in we can get much better understanding to where the market will lead us.

Let’s see how much pips the market move….

Resistances:1.4730 – 1.4765

Supports:1.4670 – 1.4610

Fundamentals:  We have a few announcements today which will affect the market.

Coming from U.K we have the “Inflation Report Hearings”.  Another announcement is coming from Germany and it is about the “German ZEW Economic Sentiment” The previous announcement was 56.1 and the forecast for today is 59.9. (9:00 GMT).

A few more announcement are coming in from US . Those are “Core Retail sales” The previous announcement was -0.6% and the forecast for today is 0.4%. The second is going to be covering the “PPI  mm” The previous announcement was -0.9% and the forecast for today is 0.9%. Finally the  “Retail Sales m/m“ which will be released at 12:30 GMT. The previous announcement was -0.1% and the forecast for today is 1.9%. Also at (14:00 GMT) we have the Fed Chairman Bernanke Speaking.

EUR/USD

Let’s start analyzing this fascinating couple. The earlier preview over this pair indicated an uptrend for the EUR.  It appears we took the profit from yesterday move big time.  The EUR  continues to  strengthen and you can clearly view that over a daily chart.

After a strong uptrend move around 137 pips, the EUR/USD has bounced at 1.4515 to A new  levels close to 1.4652. Currently the pair is trading around 1.4647 to 1.4591. Over a daily chart, it is important to note that there is a strong support for the USD at the 1.4600 line.
From a fundamental point of view Barack Obama called yesterday for Congress to tighten the supervision of Wall Street warned the financial community about reckless behavior that could result to another meltdown. President Obama also cautioned about the risks that could lead to a BS Pal “information, similar to that of 1930s. President Obama also said that the US financial system was crashing a year ago with the bankruptcy of Lehman brothers and today the US economy is a  recovery mode. President Obama also indicated that he expects jobless claims to start declining and see more jobs created in the US over the coming months.

Let’s translate yesterday movements to money!

Resistances-1.4650 – 1.4690

Supports-1.4600 – 1.4515

USD/CHF

It appears the last few days the Swiss franc is moving in a clear downtrend.

Today we saw some negative announcement coming from Switzerland as well. The forecast for the “Core Retail sales”  was 7.8% and it came out only at 2.7%. That is the clear explanation for why the SWISSY is in a downtrend at the moment. The support and the resistances lines are the main tools to keep tracking this pair as the day continues. We will also look forward for the announcements coming from the US later today that could effect this pair more.

Resistances – 1.0360 – 1.0425

Supports – 1.0325 – 1.0290