Showing posts with label BigTrends.Com. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BigTrends.Com. Show all posts

Sunday, November 14, 2010

I Just Watched This.....New Forex Leverage Video

The rules have changed recently in Forex, regarding a number of key issues, but none as important as the leverage change. I've read some decent articles detailing it, but nothing has covered it like the video I just watched from Scott Downing at BigTrends.

Click Here to watch "The Rules of Forex Have Recently Changed"

He explains the new leverage rules and how he's been able to pull consistent pips despite the leverage change. It's also a full KIT of Forex tools for you here too:

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Thursday, November 11, 2010

"6 'W's' of Forex"....Price Headly Gave This His Stamp of Approval!

Legendary trader,coach, and mentor Price Headly just put his stamp of approval (which he rarely does) on the new Forex Toolkit from Scott Downing!

This is HUGE!

I've followed Price for a long time, and respect whatever he says...and if he says Scott's kit is something I should have, then I'm getting it ASAP!

Which is what I recommend you do...

Get it Here at Big Trends.Com

Enjoy the Forex Toolkit.........I KNOW I AM!


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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Gold/Dollar Play is Getting Extreme

A lot of what is driving the recent stock market and commodity rally can be attributed to the plummeting Dollar. To some degree the rally in Gold (GLD) is almost getting parabolic in nature. While we've been longer-term bullish on Gold for some time, such a strong uptrend becomes more and more likely to break down sharply. Feel free to ride up such a strong uptrend, but take profits quickly and be prepared to jump on the bearish side should it break down -- because it will correct sharply and quickly when it does.

Take a look below at the recent very strong inverse correlation between GLD (yellow) and the Dollar ETF (UUP, green). When/if this does break down a bit with the Dollar rallying and Gold selling off, option traders can consider a Long UUP, Short GLD paired trade strategy. But don't jump in front of this runaway train yet.


And wherefore the Dollar, which more and more seems to be the main driver of the recent big rally in many commodities and strenght in stocks. Using the US Dollar Index (DXY), which goes back 30 years+, you can see below that we've reached the lowest levels ever since the economic crisis occurred. As I've mentioned previously, a weak currency is NOT good for a country and its economy over the long-term (although some make the argument that it does boost the power of our exports). Buying power and wealth of Americans are badly hurt when foreign good become more relatively expensive and inflation raises the prices of basic commodities. And think about it from a traveler's perspective ... if you travel to a country with a very poor exchange rate, making it basically dirt cheap to go there ... what do you equate that with? A third world or emerging economy, basically. Not good for the once strong USA, in my view.


So where can the Dollar bottom out? Well, looking at the DXY Weekly Chart below, you can see we're in a pretty steep downtrend, so don't fade this just yet. Notice that the recent downtrend began when we failed at the same top that was resistance in late 2008 and early 2009. We are fast approaching the area where the DXY bottomed in late 2009, and beyond that lies the significant lows of the 2008 panic.


Bottom line: The Dollar and its various ETFs and Indexes are in a free fall, so don't jump in front of a falling knife. This is contributing to strong rallies in Gold and other commodities and also helping push stocks higher to some degree. These types of parabolic trends in Dollar and Gold will tend to steepen and steepen until it breaks down sharply, right at the top (or bottom) when the biggest greed of an "easy trade" comes in. So ride these trends while they last, but limit exposure and take profits quickly, when these end they usually reverse hard and rapidly, and jump on the other side for profits in both directions from option trading.

Check out more posts from Big Trends.Com






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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Bob Lang: Markets, the Fed, and Metals

From Bob Lang at Big Trends ETF Tradr.......

Market Noise is Deafening
When we don't know what to do or where to go, we ask someone. The obvious path is not so any longer and we need direction. Well, in the markets we're now at that critical juncture. Much like the 'advice' that was given in fall 2008, bargains of a lifetime, 'you have to be in this market', long term it makes sense, etc, only to have markets fall another 50% into the spring of 2009. Was that advice we needed to follow? Today, the word on the 'street is 'how far this rally can go, and should I stay or get on the sidelines'. Naturally, market sages will tell you to stay the course if you're invested, they want you all in at all times. Yet with all the noise and distractions around can we afford to make the one decision that could lead to a setback? The LESS we listen to media accounts, hurray the Dow hit 11,000 again, let's have a party, the better off we'll be. It'll be all over the place now and louder than ever! This type of 'workplace noise' can be hazardous, a news story the other evening stated that those prone to noise at work are more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or high blood pressure. Let the market tell you WHEN to should exit, remain or re-enter.

What's All this Fed Talk About?
We've heard quite a bit lately about this Fed game called QE2. To be sure, they are playing upon our positive expectations at the end of the game. The hope is that this program will help spur some economic activity, inflation and move people back to work. But, what is QE2, and did what did QE1 accomplish? Simply put, QE is quantitative easing, implemented when the Fed has no more additional room to cut short-term rates to stimulate the economy. Basically, cutting borrowing rates has failed to control the money supply. By definition, QE is upping the supply of money by increasing excess reserves of the banking system, expanding their balance sheet. By purchasing government assets and other bonds in the open market they give banks excess reserves required to create new money. Hopefully the banks will use this extra money to lend out to borrowers, thereby stimulating activity. Many argue this is the wrong approach, creating dollars. To be certain, QE measures have had mixed results and there is not a direct correlation to creating new jobs, which seems to be the big issue of today. Back in early 2009 the Fed implemented the first round of QE and while it improved growth a bit, the desired effect and length lagged badly. In fact, the economy recently fell into a 'soft patch', enough warning for the Fed to jump to the fore with their new easing plan. Is that a pattern we'll see develop over time?


Metals are sure Precious!
New highs again for gold, new multiyear highs for silver. Haven't seen such a blistering move on a commodity since crude oil went parabolic in 2008. Do we know the reasons for this parabolic rise, or do we 'think' we know the reasons. By all accounts it seems everyone is talking about the metals these days. Heck, there are four new gold shops that popped up in my town over the last several months, and on every other street corner is a guy holding a sign that says 'will buy your gold'. The fever pitch is reaching that of the miner 49ers over 160 yrs ago! Can it last? Sure, any bubble move can keep going until every last one gets in and then POP! I'm not calling for this, but certainly the reasons for buying gold are consistent with past bubbles, oil, housing, tech, and biotech. Oh, I've participated, silver has been my choice, but if you fail to acknowledge what is happening around you then you'll get taken in by the hype. We choose to listen to what and whom we want that makes us feel good (read up top again about the noise factor). Being in a bubble and profiting is ok, in fact it's great as an options player, but knowing your exit is most important. Enjoy the ride while it lasts!


Check out Bob Lang's calls and articles at Big Trends.Com


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Monday, October 4, 2010

Price Headley: Last Week's Action May be the Start of a Small Correction

The Crude Oil Trader would like to welcome our newest contributor Price Headley at BigTrends.com. Here is Price's weekly market report for Monday October 4th....

The four week win streak came to an end last week last week, though barely. Still, all pullbacks start with a small step, and last week's action may well be the beginning of at least a small correction. The dip came despite the much-improved economic news. Nearly all the data not only rolled in better than expected, but showed sustained improvements…. income, spending, sentiment (except for the Conference Board's consumer confidence), GDP, and most of the other data nuggets were pointed higher.

So why the pullback? It's all a matter of timeframes. In the long run, the good economic news should indeed translate into more bullishness for stocks. In the near-term (which is our primary focus from one week to the next), fear, greed, momentum, and excess movement drive the market for option trading. That's what we'll dissect below, after a closer look at the economy.

Economic Outlook
It was a plenty busy week last week on the economic front, with a rough start, but a strong finish. Though still improving, the rate of increase in home values, according the Case-Shiller index – slowed to a pace of 3.18% last month, versus the prior increase of 4.21%. Also on Tuesday, the Conference Board said consumer confidence slumped from 53.2 to 48.5 last month.

From Thursday on, however, it was nothing but good news.

Q2's GDP was revised upward, to 1.7%. Initial claims sank to near-multi-year-lows of 453K, while ongoing claims fell to 4457K… also approaching new multi year lows. The lines in the sand for each are 440K and 4430K, respectively. On Friday, the news got even more compelling. Incomes as well as spending were both up, and better than anticipated (by 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively). And, the prior week's problematic University of Michigan Sentiment number was revised upward, from 66.6 to 68.2.

How does the continued uptrend in incomes as well as spending last while both confidence measures sink? As we've said before, the confidence opinion polls are 'supposed to be' assessments about the next six months. In reality, they are assessments of the prior month. Moreover, in many ways they can be interpreted as contrarian indicators....meaning be bullish when they're most bearish, and vice versa.

Indeed, Friday's latter data confirmed that consumers aren't nearly as mired as they claim to be. Construction spending was up a tad, against the backdrop of an expected 1.4% contraction. And, though the final numbers aren't in yet, auto sales have remained strong this year – and in September – despite worries that things are going to get worse before they get better. It's all below.

Let's take a look at the charts for this coming week.....Price Headley's view for this week.

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