Last month I blamed the upcoming presidential elections for the downward pressures on oil prices. At the time, the market was full of conspiracy theories that someone in the White House was helping to manipulate oil prices to the downside, and the feeling was that oil...
I was recently reminded of a highly effective little trading technique – one that’s too rarely discussed by traders. A safer way to trade breakouts The common garden variety of this technique is called a throwback or a pullback. And it can be used as a...
One of the technical signals in constant use in financial trading is the parabolic SAR, now while you really don’t need to understand what parabolic SARs do to, a few of my readers have asked me just what they are. What are parabolic SAR’s? If you’ve...
A great time for a Greek default It’s easy to lose track of how far we’ve come in the past year. We’re so desensitized to news about the Euro crisis. There are a handful of news stories over the past week, that – individually – could have...
It’s been an exciting week in the markets. The drama kicked off last Friday, when the US non-farm payrolls came in below expectations. This sparked a sell-off in the markets. And the turmoil of European elections over the weekend did nothing to calm...
It might not feel like it for normal folk, who are still wrapped up in their winter coats, but for that strange breed that investors are – this is the beginning of the summer. And the beginning of the financial silly season. So, if the markets are about to get...
A number of my readers have been asking just how reliable a single candlestick signal can really be for entering a trade… Well, if you were going to rely solely on a doji candlestick to open a trade – I’d be concerned. But used in conjunction with...
This week, the government gave the go-ahead for fracking to resume in Lancashire. I know that I wouldn’t want anyone fracking around my house. Apart from the fact that it just sounds downright rude, the process is very controversial, not least because of the...
The days when we could rely on a steady bull market to make our profits for us are long gone. Instead, traders are more reliant on technical trading strategies than ever. A good trading strategy will give us clear signals based on price action, without the will-they,...
There’s a common term used by traders: “filling a gap” It’s referring to a way of profiting from the markets after the price has suddenly gapped in one direction or another. What I’d like to show you here is the right way to profit from this little trading trick. And...
“Rounding off” is an important function of the human brain. Our brain is a marvelous mechanism for reducing the chaos of a multitude of incoming signals to a meaningful order. And “rounding” is part of this process. It allows the brain to make...
When we think about candlesticks, many of us will focus on the obvious ones, like dojis or hammers or haramis. But these aren’t necessarily the most useful candlesticks to know about. A rather ominous candlestick pattern… with a 78% success rate! So today, I’d...
To me, there are two ways of looking at the budget this week … We can worry about what the Chancellor is “doing for us” (or more likely “doing to us”). Or we can take charge of our finances, with high-return tax-free investments that...
The subject of long-term investments isn’t something that we cover in Market Maven very often, but it’s worth remembering that even as day traders, we should always have our eye on the long game, because that is where the true wealth is to be found. Why...
The most important thing that a trader has in his or her arsenal is their trading fund. Sure, discipline is important … technical know-how is going to help … and a great strategy is a must … But without money to trade with, you’re really stumped. And by “money” I...
“Algorithm” is one of those words banded about very liberally these days. Personally, it still makes me think (with a cold chill) of math’s lessons with Mr. Henson, and the daunting “super computer” sitting on my classroom desk that was my new scientific...
Okay, I’ve opened a can of worms with this one. What constitutes a trend? It’s a question that will generate 100 different responses from 100 different traders. But, having spent months in a wilderness of sideways, wildly zigzagging markets, we’re now seeing plenty of...
Much of the central bank news this week has focused on the will-they-won’t-they debates from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. But Tuesday saw a surprise pulled out of the bag from a bank on the other side of the world. Markets widely expected the...
With January out of the way, we might now see the markets begin to show their true colours. There’s no denying that they’re looking bullish, with the FTSE, Dow and S&P all showing clear uptrends since November last year … What to do about whipsaw trades Now,...
Imagine that you’re trading with a 3:1 risk-reward profile. You have a fund of £10k, and you’ll risk 2% on a trade. So, you’re risking £200 on a trade, to make £600. Things are going well, and you’re currently £400 in profit. That means that you’ve got £600 hanging in...
One of the most important aspects of trading is to “keep learning”. The minute we start to think that we know what we’re doing – the markets will usually turn around and bite us on the backside. Even after all the years I’ve been trading the markets never cease to...
When I find myself perusing historical price charts, from the 1920s and 30s, I’ll admit that I should probably get out more. But the sorry truth of the matter is that I am that obsessed with price chart patterns, and – in particular – with how we human beings repeat...
They say that repeating the same thing over and over again, expecting different results is the definition of insanity. It’s one reason why I’m so careful to record all my trading data, and why I try to learn from my mistakes. Top 5 worst trading mistakes Here’s a list...
In the face of bad news after bad news… equity markets tumbling… the safe-haven dollar surging… traders are still managing to find something to be optimistic about… I’m not just talking about Christmas here – it’s the...
