Friday wrap...

All eyes were on the EU summit as traders and investors alike look for renewed optimism to save the struggling Euro. Little was expected at the summit as the market priced in a disappointing outcome with the Greenback rallying in early week trading on a risk off sentiment. However, as usual, the market was surprised in the early hours of Friday's Asian session on a positive outcome for the embattled nations in the Euro. European leaders agreed on a supervisory body for Eurozone banks as well as using the EU rescue fund to recapitalise banks without affecting sovereign debt and fiscal measures. Spanish bond yields fell on the announcement as risk based pairs rallied, including European stock markets. Ireland and Italy will likely get the same treatment but will not be monitored as closely as Greece, providing they stick to their already agreed deficit commitments. 


Whilst the reaction from the summit has been positive, time will tell how effective these measures will actually be. Historically, each EU summit has seen a rally before selling off as the fact settles in. Look for more confirmations in the Spanish and Italian bond auctions as well as growth based commodities such as Copper and Oil. Also, watch the stock market to gauge sentiment from global investors. Next week's US Non-Farm Payroll could also play a major part in the prospects of QE3 which could affect crosses against the Greenback. One headline from Angela Merkel could change the current positive sentiment in the Euro so always look for confirmations in price and trade what you see, not what you think.

Friday wrap...

Risk based markets pushed higher in early week trading on the back off the favoured New Democracy party winning the Greek election. However, any bulls in the market were quickly met with sellers after horrible US data, disappointing comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Spanish yields still at record levels and talk of a Eurobond. Comments from Bernanke stating the weaknesses in the global economy and growth fuelled a breakout from an otherwise range based, direction-less market. The downgrade of several major UK banks by Moody's did not help risk sentiment as investors flock to the safe haven US Dollar.


Eurozone leaders are meeting for a summit in Rome to discuss the struggling single-currency, the Euro. Any Greek action will take a while to implement and all eyes will be on what the leaders agree going forward. The Spanish situation is one to watch as yields reach unsustainable levels. Real money-managers may start banking profits as we come to quarter end but these rallies may be short lived. The Yen typically moves at quarter end due to repatriation of funds. It is important to follow price action as a leading indicator in such mixed economic data.

Watching the exotics and USDJPY....

The markets have been fairly quiet in the past few weeks surrounding mixed data from the US and the Eurozone. Whilst risk based markets are still pushing a little higher on the back of a perceived positive Greek vote all eyes will be on the Fed statement tomorrow evening for some clearer direction. Negativity surround Spain has been looked over due to a positive bond auction....it's a matter of time before reality sets it. Currently, the exotic cross pairs are where the moves have been as real money managers liquidate Euros for higher yielding assets such as Australian bonds, etc. Some charts that I am currently looking at:

USDJPY - Long - Off the horizontal, broken through the channel and now re-testing. If this is the start of the move up we expect to see higher highs and higher lows. Weekly's support extreme indecision at this level. An aggressive entry will be on the inside bar; a conservative entry on the break of the consolidation from 7 June's high - stop at the low; trailing stop on the weekly

EURNZD - Long - At a support level but still waiting for a clear trigger. Could be trading within the head and shoulders pattern....would support the horizontal resistance on NZDUSD at 0.8056

GBPNZD - Long - At a support level - horizontal and 78.6% and 61.8% Fib retracement cluster from previous swing lows on 15 Feb and 13 April to high of 23 May. Still waiting for a clear trigger in price action.

Happy trading and good luck out there!

Friday wrap...

The market opened this week in response to the Spanish bank bailout which was agreed on Saturday 9 June. However, it was a typical 'buy the rumour, sell the fact'. Whilst the news provided a short term positive reaction, the fact is that Spain is a bigger problem than Greece. Central bank borrowing levels for Spain and Italy are the highest they have been since the inception of the Euro which are unsustainable. Bank of Japan kept rates steady this week but reaffirmed current levels of the Yen are not reflective of the Japanese economy. Major news has been light this week and most currencies have seen a short covering squeeze as everyone exits their positions going into a potentially volatile weekend with the Greek election. 


All eyes are now on Sunday's Greek election. The two parties, New Democracy and Syriza, have opposing views on whether to stay in the Euro. Many predict a New Democracy/PASOK coalition but it is better to wait for the rumour to settle and then trade the fact. Most brokers and banks are expecting very high levels of volatility so traders may want to consider the effect of holding any trades over the weekend. The market could gap aggressively, as it did last week, so please bear this in mind. 

The Spanish bailout....

Yesterday, Spain finally asked for a rescue package from the EU. Maybe they want to get in first because they fear the worst at the Greek elections? 

Regardless, the opening of next weeks markets will probably be buy the rumour, sell the fact. We have been seeing slight short covering rallies on Friday's before the weekend. Most funds reporting do not want to hold any positions over the weekend due to news announcements like yesterday's. 

A very interesting article on how Spain is the new Greece and is actually a much bigger problem: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/spain-greece-after-all-here-are-main-outstanding-items

Friday wrap....

Last week ended with disappointing US jobs data which further added to the prospect of QE3. Subsequently, the week opened with all major currencies falling against the Greenback as well as further selling in the Yen due to its new status as a funding currency. The risk-on mode continued throughout the week with positive data coming out of the UK and stronger than expected GDP numbers form Australia and New Zealand. However, traders were cautious as given the extreme levels seen in the Commitment of Traders report this could have just been a round of short covering. All eyes were on the central banks this week as many were speaking regarding their rate statements and the economic outlook. The Bank of England on Thursday did not disappoint traders, as economists and investment banks widely expected an additional £50bln for QE. Whilst action was not taken this time round, comments hinted at the prospect of an increase to QE sometime in the near future; subsequently the British Pound rallied on the back of the news. Comments from the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke disappointed traders as no commitment was made to additional stimulus in response to the disappointing employment number last week. However, Bernanke expressed their commitment to more quantitative easing if necessary; precious metals fell and the US Dollar rallied on the back of this. 


Today's rate announcement from the Bank of Canada is widely anticipated to be left as is due to weakening Chinese growth and uncertainty around the Euro but they are known to surprise the market. All eyes have know turned to Spain as the Greek election is now closes with results to be released on 17 June. Fears of Spain asking for a bailout from the ECB and IMF, as well as their banks asking for a national bailout will all weigh on the Euro in the coming weeks. Watch the bond auctions for further market direction. Many hedge funds are employing polling agencies to forecast what the Greek vote shall be. Given the fact the two running parties of opposing views on the Euro, watch price action for a leading indicator in the run up to this. 

Swing divergence setups triggered....watch the catalyst

The trades posted last week http://qitrading.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/swing-divergence-setups.html have all triggered in. The risk-on Asian session was the catalyst with talks of a Chinese rate cut, more Fed QE and stronger than expected Australian and New Zealand GDP. However, the data from Australia was the biggest catalyst as they are the biggest exporters to China. Therefore, if the Chinese economy is still growing it is seen as positive for global growth and hence risk on for traders. However, tomorrow's Australian jobs report will be widely looked at for continued risk on sentiment rather than just stop loss hunting which may have been the case after two days of low volume trading (as the biggest FX market, London, celebrated two public holiday's for the Queen's Jubilee).

Key news announcements coming up....Interest Rates/Polls

This week we announcements from key central banks: Bank of Canada today, ECB and Bank of England Thursday. We also have Bernanke speaking on Thursday.

The majority of economists and investment banks are forecasting that the BOE will have increase their quantitative easing by another £50bln on the back of very poor PMI data last week. Whilst this is unlikely to happen this week, the comments may cause some volatility.

BOC are widely expected to leave rates alone due to the weak economic outlook globally. Whilst their economy is doing very well it makes little sense considering the backdrop with weakening Chinese growth and uncertainty around the Euro.

Why are interest rates important? Only fundamental economic shifts in central bank policy can change trend. Controlling rates is their way of controlling the growth of the economy. As traders, looking to profit from economic/technical themes or intra-day moves, how do we use this?....

FX basics - If a country decreases interest rates, sell the currency. If a country increases interest rates, buy the currency. For example look at the Australian Dollar (AUD) on the 30 April 2012 where they cut interest rates a quarter basis point to 3.75%....it started the one directional downward move throughout May.

The key news announcement will be on 17 June where the decision on the Greek vote will be released. Considering the opposing views of the two political parties running, on the issue on whether or not stay in the Euro, this could start the beginning of a long term trend and theme which has been lacking this year so far.

Happy trading!

Swing divergence setups...

Last week ended with weaker than expected US jobs data which added more prospect to more QE3. Subsequently the US dollar fell on the back of the news and was further strengthened from end of week short covering. However, the US stock market, which is a good barometer of market sentiment (due to it being classed as a risk based asset), such as the S&P500 has put in a swing divergence setup. This is also the case with the Euro; we now have a key reversal day (also known as an engulfing bar) with divergence on various oscillators on the 1.272 Fib extension (which is a common reversal area). Whilst there are many pairs at potentially strong reversal levels with divergence it is important to think about portfolio risk and always know how much you would lose if you get stopped on all your trades. This discipline is imperative to become a long term successful trader. It is also important to distinguish between a trend reversal or a short covering retracement. The results of the closed Greek elections on 17 June could be a game changer. Some interesting charts I'm looking at: