Matter of Money

And that to me is part of the fascination. Example: The SNB put a floor beneath EUR/CHF. Now they are holding billions of assets already making them "the biggest hedge fund of Europe". The Eurozone as a monetary union is in deep s*** and it seems only additional devaluation can preserve the union and enable politicians to kick the can down the road. If we look at a chart like EUR/AUD or EUR/NZD we see that the it is overripe for at least some kind of technical retracement. But Australia and New Zealand are the only two big currencies still paying at least a little bit of interest, which capital is generally seeking. In Switzerland on the other hand, which fundamentally and fiscally might be one of the soundest countries, negative interest rates are a reality. No way to weaken the Swissy and take off some appreciation pressure with this tool. Something's got to give folks! Solve the puzzle and make your bet! :)

The markets have finally come out from anaesthesia in the last couple of days. The focus has shifted away from Abe's easing plans, with the Italian election providing a new political headline. This has given the yen a breather, retracing some of the massive moves that we have seen over the last couple of months. EUR was sold in response to concerns over Italian election results, while USD is quietly strengthening more or less in stealth mode against almost all currencies. I see the short-term yen strength as a buying opportunity and will continue to build up short JPY positions. With the dollar I am a bit cautious. I have a hunch that the USD might once again emerge as the least ugly currency in the short- to medium-term. A reduction in the US trade deficit (less oil imports?) can be the fundamental driver besides the Fed talking about an end of or less monetary easing. It will be interesting to see the consequences for AUD and NZD if commodities correct further. The high-flyer

It happened rapidly yesterday, that's why I am sharing the screenshot a bit too late. After dropping ca. 200 pips within a few hours last night, I entered a CADJPY long. Feels good to be short Yen again. (Famous last investor words?) And always remember, don't lever too high, unless you know the future of course!

Look at the break of the massive shelf around 1.5250/1.5375 in GBPUSD. I expect this to be a meaningful change of sentiment for the currency pair. What the heck are the British doing to their money??? Next support zones as marked by the blue lines below current price: S1: ~1.5000/1.5125 S2: ~1.4850/1.4875 Of course I got long within the brokes support around 1.5375 and now I'm in trouble with this one. So I will have to figure out how to reduce the damage.

I should have taken the screenshot a bit earlier but anyway, here it is. I see silver bouncing back to 29.70 or so before it has to decide what to do next.

“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison I don't know about you fellow traders out there, but that is certainly how I feel about my beginnings in the financial markets. It all sounds so simple. You open almost any book about trading and read about how putting an indicatior on your chart can give you entries and exits and will make you rich. Excited about the insight you pull up your chart software and start seeing the described entries all over the place. No way to lose money with this knowledge, right? Well, it's not that easy. And how could it be? Do you really think something like "the 20 period moving average acts as support" is the essence of investing? Huh?? I mean, come on folks! It might work a few times, it might even work in the long run for some people. But the truth is: what these technical, indicator-driven strategies try to do is to exploit a statistical abnormality . Following these rules religiously is very t

It is sometimes hard to tell in detail where the different influences in your trading strategy come from. But some people in the business stick more than others. Here are some of the people/blogs/traders that I regularly follow. Sam Seiden from Online Trading Academy  or also found on  Fx Street . I like his counter-trend approach and also enjoy his definition of supply and demand zones. Jason Stapleton from Trade Empowered Jason trades a mix of patterns, fibonnaccis and support and resistance zones. He is very enthusiastic, transparent and just seems real. I enjoy watching his weekly forex market preview. Thanks Jason!  Chuck Butler's Daily Pfennig A daily recap of developments in financial markets and politics. Although the Pfennig is not doing any market prognosis and therefore generating trade ideas,  it's very useful for keeping up with the latest news. Zerohedge A well-known classic in the trading and (I guess) conspiracy scene, this blog delivers