Pound Gains!
By Mike Conlon | January 13, 2010
The British pound (GBP) is trading higher after a BOE policy maker stated that interest rates in the UK may need to rise this year. This could signal the end to the Quantitative Easing (QE) policy the UK had undertaken to stimulate its economy.
So what’s left to do?
Sit back and wait.
This is a refreshing stance in world where instant and immediate gratification need to happen to keep the public at bay. What this policy-maker is essentially saying is that its OK to let market forces happen and to see how the policies they put in place will work out. All too often governments are quick to react to any negative news regarding their economic situation and are always trying to “tinker’ with policy, rates, statements, intervention, etc.
I’m not certain where they dig up some of these people charged with setting policy, but its almost as if they have completely forgotten that economies move in cycles. What goes up, must come down. Basic laws of gravity. The fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper. I could go on and on.
So kudos to Andrew Sentance, BOE policy maker for keeping it real. While the UK is not yet back on firm ground economically, the “wait and see” approach is better than the overkill that we see here in the US.
So let’s take a quick look at a chart of the British pound vs. the US dollar (GBP/USD): (click chart to enlarge)
As you can see from the chart, the pound has been up for the last four days in a row for the first time since last November since we’ve seen dollar strength in December. 1.59 is a good support level. As this pair has broken through the 38.2% fibo retracement level, it looks like the next stop could be 1.636 at the 50% retracement level. This could happen sooner than later as the US CPI numbers come out on Friday. If this figure comes in lower than expected, then that could send this pair higher on dollar weakness. So I expect we will be at the 1.64 level in short time.
If we should breach that 50% fibo level, then I would move my stop up to the 23.6% fibo level at 1.612 for those who are long this pair. While it is important to find trades that look like they are at the start of a trend or in a trend, it is equally important to know how to manage trades and place stops to limit losses.
Happy Trading to all!
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Tags: account, blog, BOE, British, course, currenc, currency, currency trading, dollar, dow, economic, economy, EUR, forex, forextrading, free, fx, fxedu, gbp, Il, interest, interest rate, interest rates, intervention, lower, market, mie, Mike Conlon, news, pair, pound, practice, practice account, setting, short, ssi, technical, time, trade, trader, trades, trend, USD
Topics: What To Look At In The Market | No Comments »
An RSI trick to get you more signals when the traditional settings just won’t do it!
By Sean Hyman | July 3, 2009
Many times, in stronger trends…the traditional RSI setting just won’t cut it (14 periods). It won’t even come close to the overbought/oversold levels of 30/70.
[B]However, if you tweak your RSI settings to where they are set to 9 periods…then you will find that the RSI gets wider swings which will trigger more RSI signals at or very close to the 30/70 levels when the 14 period didn’t even come close.[/B]
See my chart and you’ll see what I mean. Copy/Paste this link into a new browser and you’ll be able to see the chart. http://www.forextradingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/rsi-14-9.JPG
[B]Note:[/B] In downtrends, it’s best to ONLY take sell signals for your entries. In an uptrend, it’s best to ONLY take buy signals for your entry signals.
I’ve circled many of the signals below that triggered on the 9 period RSI that didn’t trigger on the 14 period RSI setting. This would allow for a lot more potential trading opportunities on this chart with that one small “tweak”.
Try it out, mainly when your 14 period RSI isn’t generating enough signals often enough. See if you like it.
Sean Hyman
Tags: currency, dow, downtrend, forex, Hyman, lot, RSI, Sean, Sean Hyman, setting, time, tip, trading, trick, uptrend
Topics: What To Look At In The Market | No Comments »