Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hiatus

I'm taking a little bit of a hiatus from the blog. It's something I do for free in my spare time and I have enjoyed doing so, but right now it's a bit too much. I also want to think about its future direction.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

EURUSD—bounce

The bounce has been stronger than some expected. One can now trace out a potential ABC correction on the three-hour chart of 1.3827 to 1.4054 for A and down to 1.3952 for B. If C were to equal A, the price target would be 1.4169. Price has stalled at 1.4111 but now seems to be attempting to base at 1.4053 (actually it has dropped slightly below) on the 15-minute chart. Since that was the high for the A leg of this scenario, one might see a move to 1.618 of A or 1.4303. I actually like 1.4303 since that aligns with a bounce I’d expect on my point and figure chart in order to create a stronger sell signal. It is also close to the 50% retracement point of the move down from 1.4578.

There is a former confluence zone of 1.4112 to 1.4163 on the shorter-term charts. This correlates with the resistance zone I wrote about yesterday of 1.41 to 1.42. The broken monthly uptrend line is at 1.4147. Certainly if price gets above 1.42, it makes the 1.43 target more achievable. There does seem to be a more positive attitude to risk this morning.

Would one go long here then, hoping to pick up a hundred pips or so? Not necessarily. However, to do so, would require watching the short-term charts for both price behavior and momentum. If one believes that the downward move that began Monday is indicative of an Elliott wave three, one would want to sell rallies.

© Dianne Fecteau, 2011. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without the express written permission of the author.

My purpose in writing this blog is to show you how one trader, me, makes trading decisions and survives while trading Forex. One of the biggest problems I had when I first started trading was trying to apply the “rules” to actual trades. Another was the psychology—limiting losses and letting profits run. If you study my blog, you’ll see how I deal with both those issues. So my writings are not trade recommendations but rather educational in purpose. You have to decide on your own approach to trading. Remember that trading is risky.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

EURUSD—Summary

I’ve been on vacation the last week and am not fully back but have taken my first peek at the markets in a week this morning. There is much going on with the Euro.

First, on the monthly chart, the pair has broken the steeply ascending uptrend line with its drop yesterday. That is not too surprising—steep angles are difficult to maintain. The question is whether this is now the wave three down that an Elliott interpretation supports.

Euro never regained the 1.4697 prior high which shows weakness. From a daily perspective, the potential bullish triangle appears nullified by yesterday’s drop. On my daily point and figure (P&F) chart, the pair generated a sell signal.

The low this morning was 1.3837, forming a hammer on the three-hour chart. The pair has bounced sharply from there but on the 15-minute chart, price action appears to be tracing out a three-wave correction. If so, the C wave high so far of 1.4024 is not quite equal to the A wave (1.3827 to 1.3963). If the C wave is 1.618 of A, the high will be 1.4107.

There is a resistance zone from 1.41 to 1.42. This includes the potential wave C high, the broken monthly uptrend line of 1.4147 and price resistance. Beyond that is 1.4340. However, there is strong support at 1.3820/37 and the 200 daily SMA is at 1.3912. If the pair breaks the 1.3820 support, there should be additional moves down in line with the third wave scenario that may be playing out.

© Dianne Fecteau, 2011. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without the express written permission of the author.

My purpose in writing this blog is to show you how one trader, me, makes trading decisions and survives while trading Forex. One of the biggest problems I had when I first started trading was trying to apply the “rules” to actual trades. Another was the psychology—limiting losses and letting profits run. If you study my blog, you’ll see how I deal with both those issues. So my writings are not trade recommendations but rather educational in purpose. You have to decide on your own approach to trading. Remember that trading is risky.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

EURUSD—mixed signals

Euro managed to break above key resistance at 1.4450, reaching a high of 1.4521. Price is stumbling a bit now. The most bullish case is that there is an Elliott triangle forming. If one assumes that point D was 1.4521, then there should be a move down, possibly to 1.4141 (although sometimes price falls short of E before thrusting out of the triangle) and then new highs. That scenario ties in with a butterfly pattern that may be forming where the end of the butterfly would be around 1.52. Continuing this bullish fantasy, this would mean we were ready to pull out of wave four for a fifth wave move (wave one starting at 1.1876). A potential target, using the golden section, would be 1.5264. Hmm. Pretty close to the butterfly target. Supporting this bullish heresy would be the point I made the other day—RSI isn't dropping significantly on the daily chart, even when Euro finds new lows.

If one looks at price action from the perspective of an ABC correction off the top of 1.4942, wave C would have been .618 of wave A at 1.4096. The low was 1.4074 before price began moving up.

Forgetting the Elliott interpretation, there is a symmetrical triangle. These can be a continuation move but can also signal a potential reversal. Price is above the 50-, 100-, and 200-SMA on the daily charts.

Finally, on the four-hour chart, one might say a double bottom formed at 1.4074 and 1.4103 with it confirmed at 1.4442. The target for this is about 1.4784. This target takes it above the 1.4697, a number important to Elliott bears.

Whatever else one can say about the upward price move from yesterday, it took out a number of stops from short sellers. The market loves to do that but I consider it a warning for higher prices.

Looking at the downside from an Elliott perspective, one can maintain that wave two peaked at 1.4697. Price is at the beginning of wave three and although one would prefer less upward price action, as long as price stays below 1.4697, one can maintain this interpretation. One can dismiss the alternate bullish triangle by saying the ratios between the legs are not quite right. If this is true, the targets are attractive

I'm leaning less bearish than I was because I'm not seeing a relationship between price and momentum on the hourly chart. I blogged about this on June 22. RSI drops below 70 but price does not move down much. Still, the pair is at resistance and then next resistance is 1.4550/1.4600 so behavior there may tell the story.

There is short-term support at 1.4450/42, 1.4328 and 1.4238. The latter two look as though it is a transposition of numbers but it is actually the June 29 and June 28 low respectively.

Here's the four-hour chart:
















© Dianne Fecteau, 2011. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without the express written permission of the author.

My purpose in writing this blog is to show you how one trader, me, makes trading decisions and survives while trading Forex. One of the biggest problems I had when I first started trading was trying to apply the “rules” to actual trades. Another was the psychology—limiting losses and letting profits run. If you study my blog, you’ll see how I deal with both those issues. So my writings are not trade recommendations but rather educational in purpose. You have to decide on your own approach to trading. Remember that trading is risky.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

EURUSD—Time to fish or cut bait

After a thwarted attempt to get above 1.4442 yesterday, Euro has been hanging about just below the key 1.4450 level since early this morning. If it manages to break through, look for a move to 1.4600 then 1.4697. Above that would negate a bearish case for the most part. If it breaks below 1.4103, this would confirm a double top.

© Dianne Fecteau, 2011. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without the express written permission of the author.

My purpose in writing this blog is to show you how one trader, me, makes trading decisions and survives while trading Forex. One of the biggest problems I had when I first started trading was trying to apply the “rules” to actual trades. Another was the psychology—limiting losses and letting profits run. If you study my blog, you’ll see how I deal with both those issues. So my writings are not trade recommendations but rather educational in purpose. You have to decide on your own approach to trading. Remember that trading is risky.