Friday 21 August 2009

Trade Updates

Ahead of what is anticipated to be a fairly light trading day, let's reflect on a most profitable couple of trading days:

Long SPX @ 880; actioned Wednesday 19th August 0844
We find ourselves once again in a great position thanks to sound technical analysis. Here at the flatbook, we have taken some profits of the table but will leave 1/4 of our original trade size in play (with stop at break even) so as to take advantage of any further potential upside. 1017 is not beyond the realms of possibility over the next few trading days.


Long GBP/USD @ 1.390; actioned Wednesday 19th August 0942
We have taken this position off in its entirety @ 1.6550. Though aware of resistance on our h1 charts at 1.6600 we were optimistic that cable could push through this level and doing so missed out on further 50 points. Still, we keep the p&l ticking over. Moral of the story: always respect your TA!


Short US Crude Oct '09 @ 72.77; actioned Wednesday 19th August 1542
Stopped out of this one for break even. It was very much in profit at one point. We didn't take the position off however as our technical analysis indicated a prolonged movement to the downside could ensue over the next few trading days. Such is life, eh?

Happy trading all!

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Trade Update: US Crude Oct '09 short @ 72.77

Again, we are shorting recent highs on the back of volatility cause by today's surprise EIA (Energy Information Administration) Oil Inventories data:

+1.1mln forecast vs -8.4mln actual

Our entry is 72.77 and we will move
our stop loss (40points initially) to break even at the earliest opportunity. Please see the chart below:


Trade Update: Long GBP/USD 1.390

On the back of the release of the MPC minutes we've seen an increase in volatility in cable. We have actioned a long position at 1.390 with a 40point stoploss. We will move s/l to break even as the instrument moves to the upside. See the h1 and m10 charts below for our thinking behind the trade:






Safe trading all!

Trade Update: Long spx @ 880

On the news front today, we have only the MPC minutes to contend with/profit from.
Technically, however, we see 880 as a level of some support. Couple this with the enduring trend to the upside and we have the fundaments of what could be a profitable trade (order filled as I type this).

On a sidenote guys, please beware of the fact that we are in the midst of August, and so substantial moves may take longer than usual to develop: this is holiday season afterall.

Nothing more to report for now.

Happy trading all!

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Should we have foreseen market lows?

Firstly, allow me to apologise to all flatbookers for the extended hiatus. We are back now, and back for good!

Since our last post on July 20th we have witnessed quite the bull run/bear market bounce depending on which side of the fence your long term perspective rests. Here at the flatbook, we don't like to trade contra-trend and as our 200-day MA on our D1 chart starts to head higher we would like to be a buyer of dips rather than a caller of phantom tops. Though we've profited from calling key points of resistance in months gone by (954.4 and 931), it is clear that the former strategy has been more fiscally rewarding to its followers since March lows.

Pertaining to our blog header, W1 charts show enduring obedience to an equidistant channel, whose upper limit first manifested itself as resistance in w41 October 2007! March lows, saw the spx touch, and duly rebound from our channel's lower limit. We will speculate then, that our next test of this channel - which could be as high as 1100- will again fail and see the spx continue to be obedient to our long term equidistant channel as highlighted below. One to watch in the coming weeks/months, that's for sure.



More contemporaneously though, the spx has been pretty much range bound - 993 to 1010 (see chart below) - and so one might be inclined to trade this range; indeed we were speculative buyers at 993.6 early this trading day. Keeping in mind today is Fed Day, we will closed the aforementioned trade and stay on the sidelines ahead of 1915GMT. The potential to piggyback a substantial move in the wake of the FOMC statement is there however, but be warned: this is not a strategy for the weak hearted!



Good luck traders!