Waiting for Entries

What will the Euro do this coming week? It doesn’t take much in the way of technical analysis to see that the pair is in an uptrend. Then there was the strong move up this past week—it started the week at 1.4295 and ended it at 1.4570 (the high for the week was 1.4635). Sentiment is bullish, judging by the news reports (see the word cloud from the last post). Even if you believe that this is a primary wave correction (Elliott wave speak), there’s little doubt, it seems, it could go higher, possibly up to 1.48 or so. But as I said in my last post it’s not moving right now. If you want to go long you’d have to wait for a reasonable entry point. So two questions:

1) If you were going to go long where is a reasonable entry point?
2) What do you do while you wait for it to get to that point? That’s the forbearance part I mentioned last time.

The first question is easy. Depending on your approach you can answer it a number of ways. I could use my 3 hour P&F chart I posted last time and hope for a retracement back to 1.4420/45. The pair closed Friday at 1.4570; its daily average true range (ATR) is 129. So that wouldn’t be such a stretch. Or I could use Fib levels, which would also bring me in at 1.4410/55. Finally, I could wait for something with more upside potential such as letting price come back to an uptrend line drawn from May which also coincides roughly with the 50 EMA on the daily chart. That would mean I’d enter around 1.4225/75. That would probably require waiting a few days at least. (Note that if I did take that approach, I’d want to carefully assess market conditions when it reached that point). Or I could wait for it to break out of some major resistance levels which would involve the highs in late 2008.

Why not just go long now if you think the Euro is bullish? Jessie Livermore answered it best when he wrote, “In a narrow market when prices are not getting anywhere to speak of but move within a narrow range, there is no sense trying to anticipate what the next big movement is going to be—up or down. The thing to do is to watch the market…and make up your mind that you will not take an interest until the price breaks through in either direction.” (Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, 1993)

Regardless of approach, what do you do while you’re waiting for your entry? If you think a market is going up you can fall into being fearful that you’ll lose out. This can make you jump in when the market is at a top. One answer is distraction. This can be as simple as putting on your headphones and listening to some music or doing the analysis on another pair. Or focus on how much you can lose if you’re wrong. Actually write down the numbers or plug them into Excel. Read them out loud to yourself. Traders often trade from the silence of their inner thoughts or with the babble of financial news in the background. Hearing your voice speak the results of an analysis, especially if it involves potential loss, can be effective in combating the urge to just put on a trade.

Relaxation anchoring is another technique. You do this by practicing progressive relaxation and then, when deeply relaxed, breathe in with the phrase, “I am relaxed,” and exhale with the phrase, “I am calm.” Each time you say the word “relaxed” squeeze your right thumb. If you practice this a few times it will only take squeezing your right thumb to bring on a more relaxed state during your normal activities. You can also anchor to a pleasant experience. I’ll include some audio links sometime in the future with both these approaches. Email me at dianne@feldyusa.com or post a comment with your email if you want to be on a list to receive them.

None of the above is a trade recommendation—in fact I’m short the Euro right now but that’s not a trade recommendation either.

© Dianne Fecteau, 2009. 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.