Currencies started new year relatively quiet. No really big moves from right away, but things moving along fairly fast. Japanese Yen opened with gaps, as expected, even if they were not sizable. Some platforms might not even show them at all, depending on the time when activity resumed after the weekend. In most cases, however, they were present. Biggest difference was among the crosses, with some being more volatile than the others, which was reflected by the gaps.
For example, Canadian Dollar- Yen had the biggest initial gap while AUD-JPY didn’t really have one with other pairs falling somewhere in the middle. CAD-JPY recovered the fastest though, and tried to rally almost right away. This wasn’t entirely successful, but few hours later price made another attempt. That’s where I got in at 88.53, after small bullish engulfing line was formed. Not a very convincing set set, but it worked for 30 pips gain in about an hour.
At this time CAD was acting the strongest among yen pairs. None of the others showed signs of reversing from initial drop. Had to wait another couple of hours before other buys could be placed but those happened to be at much better level, with with better results. Hourly charts formed harami cross made of doji after a large bearish candle. I entered a buy at 149.21 at the top of that hour. This gave me good size target of 150.21, or 100 pips.
This worked out very nice, objective was reached within few hours.
Almost identical trade was taken in EUR-JPY, with similar results. Yen pairs are “divided” few of them want to push higher, while others show signs of turning. Right now…
This is when stopped writing the post about 12 hours. Something very urgent came up that I had to take care of immediately. Personal emergency. There will be no update tomorrow, I’m not trading so no new analysis, while I am attending other matters. Should be back on Wednesday, I hope.
Mike K.
Hope everything is all right with you.
Because I now live in Australia I am subject to different rules so I trade with E*TRADE ; I also have a power trader account with them.. I want to start off with a mock account for a while .But I can’t find currency options traded there . Currency futures are traded though. Which online broker do you use I only want to put ~1000 USD in for starters .
Regards
Yes, Michelle, I’m fine, I think. Plenty of people would disagree, though.
Hi Peter,
I would suggest OANDA FX. You can open an account with any amount you want, and trade any size, like $10, $75 or $22,222 up to $10 million. They also offer demo account that doesn’t expire.
I’ve noticed that one should join ECN brokers sites.How does OANDA shape up as far as spreads go ?Is it small ?Is it close to the interbank?Unlike ECN’s do they deal against the traders since they can see the bids beforehand ?Any news on their sonvency?I’ve seen a capital valuation of about 160 million USD .
Lastly what do you think of DukasCopy the Swiss ECN ?I know they require a minimum 5000 USD deposit .
Thanks.
Best,
Peter
Spreads very depending on time of the day, but are often like EUR-USD 0.9 pip, USD-JPY 1.1 pip, even GBP-JPY is as low as 3.5 pips. I’ve had accounts with them for 6-7 years now without any problems. Never had difficulties withdrawing money. They allow scalping. I don’t think they will be going out of business soon.
Not that long ago DukasCopy had a minimum of 50K. If the minimum is only 5K, make sure they offer mini lots, too. Otherwise there is not much room for error.
I have not kept up with new brokerages. Have been satisfied with mine, so what’s the point? It’s been about over 3 years since I was shopping around. BTW, I heard good things about DukasCopy, only that they seem to be fit for larger traders, kind of like GFT where I trade as well.