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10 HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL TRADERS

Number 10 - Free Picture of the Number Ten1.  Follow the Rule of Three.  The rule of three simply states that a trade will not be made unless you can carefully articulate three reasons for doing so.  This eliminates trading from an indicator alone.

2.  Keep Losses Small.  It is vitally important to keep losses small as most all of large losses began as small ones, and large losses can put an end to your trading career.

3.  Adjust Stops.  When a trade is working move your stop loss up in order to lock in gains.

4.  Keep Commissions Low.  There is a cost to trading but there is no reason to overpay brokerage fees.  A discount brokerage is just as good as a premium brand name one.

5.  Amateurs at the Open, Pros at the Close.  The best time to enter trades are after lunch when the professionals are looking to get in at a better price than one provided in the morning.

6.  Know the General Market Trend.  When trading individual stocks make sure you trade with the general market trend or condition, not against it.

7.  Write Down Every Trade.  Doing this will allow you to learn what is working and what is not.  It will also help you determine what types of trades work best for your personality.

8.  Never Average Down a Losing Position.  It is a loser’s game when you add to a loser.  You add to winning positions because they are winners and are proving themselves to be such.

9.  Never Overtrade.  Overtrading is a direct result of not following a well thought out plan, deciding it is best to trade off emotion instead.  This will do nothing but cause frustration and a loss of money.

10.  Give 10 Percent Away.  Money works the fastest when it is divided.  When we share we prime the economic pump of the universe.

Trading is a game of rules.  We either make the decision to abide by them or we break them.  We do the latter at our own peril.

EU proposes €750 billion pandemic stimulus fund

Including €390 billion in grants

the EU is proposing a €750 billion stimulus fund. The grants within that fund are proposed at €390 billion. This is lower than the €500 billion that Germany and France propose, but is higher than the €350 billion billion counterproposal from the so-called frugal countries.

  • You proposes €1.074 trillion for blocks 2021 – 2027 budget

Gold trades to the highest level since September 2011

Takes out the previous high for the year at $1818 .02

the price of gold is currently trading up $6 at $1816.43. The high price extended to $1820.53. That took the price above the high for the year from a few weeks back at $1818.02.
Takes out the previous high for the year at $1818 .02_
Breaking above that level took the price to the highest level since the week of September 23, 2011.
Gold has been supported by flight to safety flows. There is a lot of money out there and it seems if it’s not going into the US stocks, it’s heading into gold.
Gold closed the year at $1517.27.  At $1816 that’s a gain of around 19.7%. That again is even better than the NASDAQ index which is currently up 18.79%, and far outpaces the gain from the S&P which is currently up just 0.17% on the year.

European shares end higher on hopes for a EU recovery compromise

German Dax up 1.1%. Highest level in 4 months

European shares are ending the session higher as hopes for a EU recovery compromise helped the buying sentiment. The German DAX moved up 1.1% and trades at the highest level in 4 months.
The provisional closes are showing:
  • German DAX, +1.1%
  • France’s CAC, +0.5%
  • UK’s FTSE 100, +0.5%
  • Spain’s Ibex, -0.2%
  • Italy’s FTSE MIB, +0.9%

EURUSD has 2.6B of option expires at 1.1400

Expiration at the top of the hour.

FYI, the EURUSD just reached to a a new session low of 1.14016. That was just above the 1.1400 level where 2.643B of options expire.
Traders at sell options that expire at the strike price in the most. With a large amount expiring, they may be helping to drive the EURUSD toward that level at expiration in just a few minutes.
The price has moved from a New York session high of 1.1463 down to the 1.1401. We currently trade at 1.1413. As a result those options sellers may have already done most of the hard lifting

into the expiration

A big earnings calendar this week.

Stocks trading modestly higher in premarket activity

In premarket trading the major indices have turned back to the upside after earlier declines. The gains are limited however.

This week the earnings calendar really heats up after the financials started the process last week. Below is a look at some of the major releases this week:
Monday, July 20
  • IBM
  • Phillips
Tuesday, July 21
  • Coca-Cola
  • Snap
  • United Airlines
  • Lockheed Martin
  • Texas Instruments
Wednesday, July 22
  • Microsoft
  • Tesla
  • Chipotle
  • Whirlpool
  • Biogen
Thursday, July 23
  • Intel
  • American Airlines
  • AT&T
  • Travelers
  • Hershey
Friday, July 24
  • American Express
  • Honeywell
  • Verizon
  • Schlumberger

EURUSD rotates back to the downside

New 4 month high fails

The EURUSD moved to the highest level in 4 months in trading today (since March 9). The high today, took out the highs from last week at 1.14512, and reached a high of 1.14672. That was short of the March and 2020 high price of 1.14918.
New 4 month high fails
That was a good news. The bad news is that the rise to the four-month high – and above the swing highs from last week – has failed. The price has rotated back down toward its 100 hour moving average. That moving average currently comes in at 1.14112. Last week on Thursday and Friday, the price tried to move back below that MA line (see blue line on the chart below) and those efforts all failed.
The EURUSD on the hourly chart.

Do the buyers come in against the trend line?  Risk can be defined and limited and the recent history shows support buyers against the moving average level.  As a result we should see some dip buying. However, a will below should solicit more downside potential. The 38.2% retracement of the move up from the July 10 low comes in at 1.13858.  That would be a potential target.

On the topside now the swing highs from last week between 1.1441 and 1.41509 should be resistance now that the break higher failed.

Pfizer/BionTech announce positive vaccine study results

Update from German Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies

Pfizer/BionTech have announced positive vaccine study results for their German phase I and phase II studies.
According to the companies the results showed a strong t-cell . The results expands upon early results from their US trial. There were no serious adverse events reported.

GOP leaders said to meet at White House later today to discuss next coronavirus bill

FOX News reporter, Chad Pergram, reaffirms the earlier story

Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy, will be headed to the White House later to discuss the next stimulus bill with Trump and Mnuchin. This adds to the story from earlier in the day here.

 

US
The end of the month is going to be an interesting time, as the US approaches a fiscal cliff with stimulus money set to run out in the coming weeks/months.
Amid a surge in virus cases and the likelihood of the economy facing more dire consequences – not to mention election uncertainty, it will be interesting to see if the market can hold up in the way that it has over the past few months. A neat summary by Bloomberg:
US virus