FXstreet.com: Education

The Break is Over

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:40:21 GMT

After a much needed 3 day weekend, Merlin and team return to the Airwaves to bring us all up to speed on what is happening in the global currency markets. To kick things off, Merlin tackles a listener question regarding volume spikes and liquidity, shedding some light on what really happens to order in the marketplace. Later, Eric Waddell joins the show to talk about his previous market calls on the EURJPY, and he even goes so far as to set us up with a great potential swing trade on the

Fair Value, Facebook and the Euro-Swiss

rob@robbooker.com (RobBooker.com) — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:55:25 GMT

Continuing on the hot topic of Facebook, Rob Booker speaks with “The Coach,” Scott Welsh, about trading back to fair value and comparing Facebook’s IPO and the Euro-Swiss currency pair. They discuss whether it’s too early to judge what fair value is for Facebook, and whether one can accurately assess fair value from a chart. Rob and Scott also take a look at Abercrombie & Fitch, Apple and J.P. Morgan to help illustrate their discussion. Rob also compares Apple’s and Facebook’s

Weekend Edition

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Mon, 28 May 2012 09:41:29 GMT

The markets finished the week with a small gain, but at least it’s a gain! Mike McMahon joins the show to share his thoughts on where the markets are headed, and his view might surprise you! Last time he was very bullish on the market and he nailed it, what’s next? The dollar becomes a solid topic of discussion as the dynamics of this instrument have changed recently, and it is critical for current market movements. Merlin and Mike break down a listener question regarding Supply and Demand

Why Success Breeds Failure in Trading

contact@bkforexadvisors.com (BKForexAdvisors) — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:13:53 GMT

My last night in London I was having dinner with David Aranzabal and Ashraf Laidi at a very posh restaurant in Mayfair (I was with Asharf after all) and conversation turned to stories about many wealthy clients that each one of encountered over the years that managed to blow up tens of millions of dollars trading FX. Most of these people were extremely successful entrepreneurs, often self made men who started with literally nothing, to accumulate vast fortunes in shipping, real estate,

The Rise of Blasco

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:20:56 GMT

One of Merlin ’s passions is learning about how every trader arrived at their success, breaking down the paths and obstacles to gain a greater understanding of how to be successful. Every trader is unique, and has their own special tale. Today, Jose Blasco , an MBA Grad talks about how his degree spurred his interest in making money and eventually led him to Online Trading Academy, where he took several classes, applied what he learned there and is now a consistently profitable trader. Jose has

Trading Ranges, 4 years later - Derek Frey

forex@fxstreet.com (FXstreet.com) — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:38:58 GMT

This article is part of the "International Trader Conference Update Call" series published by the FXstreet.com staff to review the strategies and experiences explained and lived during the last 4 years of ITCs. FXstreet.com has asked speakers, attendees and members of its own staff to expose their thoughts about the previous editions of this famed International Trader Conference. Today the call was answered by Derek Frey , Senior Market Strategist for ForexTradersDaily.com , 2008 speaker.

'I have been a regular in every ITC conference for good reasons!' - Yannis Rigos

forex@fxstreet.com (FXstreet.com) — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:58:26 GMT

This article is part of the "International Trader Conference Update Call" series published by the FXstreet.com staff to review the strategies and experiences explained and lived during the last 4 years of ITCs. Yannis Rigos , Managing Director of Drastirios Ship Management Inc, shares with the whole market his experiences after attending all the editions of the ITC since 2007. “I have been a regular in every ITC conference so far held for good reasons!" By Yannis Rigos. First I became

The law of large numbers and avoiding the Siren's song

inquiry@futuresmag.com (FuturesMag.com) — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:25:45 GMT

Ulysses made a pact with his men as they sailed near the Sirens’ rocky island. The Sirens lured sailors to their death through their wondrous singing that caused men to lose all rational thought. Ulysses wanted to hear their song, so he had his men bind him to the mast and he filled their ears with wax. Ulysses knew well that a siren song is truly sweet and hard to resist but, if heeded, eventually will lead to one’s demise. Traders should beware the similar sweet song of unproven profits. It

Whistling Dixie!

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:30:22 GMT

Merlin launches a passionate retort to a listeners comments, which should have all listeners questioning big banks and their politicians. After clarifying that everyone who is trading is essentially taking someone else’s money, Merlin brings on Dan Sugar to talk about how he is teaching his students to put their market biases behind them and carve out their niche in today’s volatile markets. Dan touches on Fibonacci, with some current examples of how the levels are lining up and pointing to a

The Problem With Facebook

rob@robbooker.com (RobBooker.com) — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:05:44 GMT

Tune in to hear Rob Booker analyze the world’s most interesting and controversial IPO, Facebook. In this episode you’ll hear Rob describe the problem with Facebook, as he sees it, explaining the significant decline of the stock that everyone thought was going to be the answer to this year’s financial troubles. Rob also discusses Facebook’s actual value, how it could be more profitable, and he makes comparisons between Facebook and Google and other business models, such as LinkedIn, Netflix and

The Continuing Currency Wars

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:42:48 GMT

With economic data still trickling in with a negative tone, Merlin starts off by taking a look at the Dollar index for clues as to where the equity markets will be headed. After breaking down the key technical levels ahead, focus then turns to a wealth of listener questions regarding a variety of currencies including: The Pound, Yen, Aussie, Loonie and more. Many of these currencies are coming into levels which make for very attractive trades. Tune in to find out which look the best! Click on

Ratio Spread – Calls

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:17:37 GMT

We have been bombarded with questions about ratio spreads in class. Let’s start out with explaining a Call Ratio Spread, though that is not the favored strategy. A Ratio Spread is a combination of a larger quantity of short deep OTM options, and long OTM options at a different strike price. The premium taken in for selling a larger quantity of short, deep OTM options occasionally is greater than the premium paid for the long OTM options, thus creating a credit. But, typically an option trader

Do You Really Need the Futures?

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:14:36 GMT

This week’s article is based on the nuances of the currency markets. Over the years of contributing to this content, I have endeavored to bring as much attention to the various features of this huge arena and how they can play a part in any consistent trader’s tool bag. Over the weeks of trading, teaching and writing articles, I tend to get blocks of similar questions from my readers. I am sometimes asked about a topic from a number of traders which I feel can be addressed publicly in one of

Managing Your Stress Will Help You Manage Your Trades

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:02:53 GMT

Have you ever entered a trade and immediately began to feel your heart pound, noticed that you were breathing heavily, found that it was difficult to maintain your concentration and on top of that felt a strong wave of anxiety travel through your body? Well, what you were experiencing are the effects of stress; and once they begin to affect your body/mind functioning you have gone over the threshold; that is, a demarcation or imaginary line beyond which a plethora of physiological, emotional,

Where We Are and Where We Are Going

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:04:36 GMT

The markets seem like they are topsy turvy right now. With news emerging from Europe and China on a daily basis that changes investor sentiment more than most people change their bed sheets, what are traders to do? Well, calm down and trade using the tools you learned in your Professional Trader Course! The first thing I must do when I am planning to trade is to identify the trend for the time frame I am trading. Let’s look at the market and see what the current trend is. The above weekly

Cycling, Another Odds Enhancer

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:57:11 GMT

The markets and individual securities routinely fall into cycles that are measurable and predictable. Due to market conditions these cycles may change but most stay the same for the duration of the trend. A cycle is measured by the distance between lows. This is also referred to as the frequency of the cycle. In trader terms, the frequency will tell you when to expect lows or moves to the downside in price. Once you identify the stock’s cycle, you have a higher probability for trading in the

What Five Fears Might Keep You from Investing in Real Estate

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:07:05 GMT

Most consider real estate a sound long term investment. Real Estate can also be used to create cash flow, either though rental property or quick turn. Quick turn real estate is buying a property low, fixing it up and reselling it at a profit, kind of like trading. So, if real estate is a sound investment, what keeps people from purchasing either investment real estate or a home? Here are five main fears or objections identified: 1) Property Value Loss – We are all aware of the huge loss in

Beware of the Traps: The Market's Full of ‘Em

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:51:35 GMT

One axiom that has stuck with me throughout my career is the one used when traders are on a losing streak and they refer to engaging the market as “picking daisies in a minefield.” This saying references the notion that when the market looks very good, this is usually when it blows up. This is not limited to going long; shorts also find huge reversals to the upside just when the market looks as though it’s ready to fall off the abyss. We see this time and again as the markets are full of traps

The Great One

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:49:10 GMT

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago has offered some very exciting sports memories. I was fifteen when the Bears had that wild run to an NFL championship in 1985, I remember the “fridge” even scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl that year. I was in my young to mid twenties during the Michael Jordan Championship years. It was a great few years watching Michael and the Bulls win championship after championship. What many don’t realize is that it was not easy. Michael and his team mates got beat

Managing Options Expiries

james@essentialfx.com (Essential FX) — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:32:20 GMT

As many of you will already know there are many characteristics of foreign exchange options. Starting with the basics, we have the two currencies, one of which will be called while the other will be put. We have the face value, which will be denominated in one of the currencies; we have a strike, which is the rate the two currencies will be exchanged at if the owner of the option chooses to exercise; there is the tenor and expiry date, which probably need no explanation; and there is the price

Live Trading with Jeff Manson

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:15:45 GMT

After a Live trading event out in Irvine California, Jeff Manson joins Power Trading Radio to talk about the trading session and some of the rules and tools he uses to trade. During the day’s session, Jeff logged in a 71% win /loss ratio, and booked very small losses on his losing trades, the receipt for success! Merlin and Jeff talk about the importance of confluence with a variety of other trading tactics in conjunction with solid, rule based supply & Demand strategies. After several

Rob Answers Listener Questions

rob@robbooker.com (RobBooker.com) — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:23:07 GMT

In this episode, Rob dips into the “mail bag” to answer some listener questions. He addresses the following queries: How long is it going to take me to be able to trade for a living? Where do you think the EUR/USD will go? Do you think the Eurozone will break up? Where do you think Apple’s stock will go in the next two to three years? JP Morgan and JC Penney, Chesapeake Energy, Best Buy, and Green Mountain Coffee have all faced charges of criminal activity or significant losses recently. Are we

The Road Ahead with Harry S. Dent jr.

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:24:28 GMT

As a the market sell off accelerates, John and Merlin bring on Bestselling author Harry S. Dent jr. to shed some light on where he sees the markets going. To begin, they discuss his previous books and market calls, like “The Great Boom” written in 1993, “The Great Bust” in 2008, and “The Great Crash” in 2011. These books spotted distinct market trends that would have reaped significant rewards for followers. Later, they talk about Japan, the housing crisis, aging demographics, and the upcoming

Pedal to the Metal

contact@bkforexadvisors.com (BKForexAdvisors) — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:47:15 GMT

Last week I posted a Twitpic of New York city bus poster that had two pictures of the same face. On one side the face was completely battered on the other it was perfectly preserved. The tag line read, “Hit at 40 mph, Hit at 30 mph” emphasizing the point of adhering to the speed limit in New York city. The ad was stark and very effective communicating succinctly the danger of pressing your luck. At its core the New York city bus ad was all about tipping points. Press on the gas pedal just a bit

Proactive Investing & Retirement Trends

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:31:35 GMT

John O’Donnell sits in for Merlin and interviews Paul Orme who teaches at Online Trading Academy on big picture market and the history of ProActive Investors markets, depths and times. John and Paul also discuss retirement trends as great indicators of inflation and deflation erode values. Click on the image below to download the mp3 file:

Why Do Those Euro Zone PMIs Matter?

info@babypips.com (BabyPips.com) — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:41:07 GMT

Unlike the Hunger Games movie which garnered plenty of rave reviews in its opening week, this month's set of euro zone flash PMIs turned out to be a huge flop. What exactly do these figures measure and why do they matter? PMI, which stands for purchasing managers' index, is basically an indicator of business conditions in an economy. It takes into account the various factors affecting the industry, such as the level of employment, production, new orders, inventories, and deliveries then rolls

5 Common Mistakes Newbie Traders Make

info@babypips.com (BabyPips.com) — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:33:01 GMT

It isn't always easy being a noob. Whether it's in taking on a new job, starting your own business, or trying out a different sport, the degree of uncertainty in a new and unfamiliar undertaking can sometimes be overwhelming and push you to commit mistakes. Trading is no different. Here are five of the most common mistakes that newbie traders make: 1. Trading Without a Plan or Journaling Even noobs fresh out of the School and in their first week of trading know that the market is as

The ITC 2009, the Spirit of a Minority

forex@fxstreet.com (FXstreet.com) — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:40 GMT

This article is part of the "International Trader Conference Update Call" series published by the FXstreet.com staff to review the strategies and experiences explained and lived during the last 4 years of ITC s. Gonçalo Moreira, FXstreet.com's Expert Adviser, tries to explains in this interesting article the main points exposed during the ITC 2009 edition. The ITC 2009, the Spirit of a Minority If any one of the participants thought they knew everything about chart construction, our guest

Forex Ranking: 5 years later - Ron Schelling

forex@fxstreet.com (FXstreet.com) — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:48:54 GMT

The last 5 years a group of Forex experts have been invited to Barcelona to share their knowledge with the entire Forex crown at the International Traders Conference . They answered the call and joined the FXstreet.com's headquarters city for three days with their own strategies. Today, 4 editions later, they survive in the worldwide crisis ocean with their updated strategies. If you would like to know how these tactics are currently working, how they have been developed and then make your own

The U.S. & European Economies

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:11:12 GMT

John O’Donnell sits in for Merlin and interviews Jose Blasco from Spain. Jose teaches at OTA on big picture market and history of markets, depths and times. John and Jose also discuss forex as great indicators of inflation and deflation ie euro vs dollar index. Click on the image below to download the mp3 file:

Making Your Strategy Automatable and Singapore

rob@robbooker.com (RobBooker.com) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:05:47 GMT

In this episode, Rob Booker interviews “Mr. Automatable,” James Chen, who educates traders and is the director of technical analysis at FXDD in New York City — one of the premier MetaTrader shops. Rob talks to James about how he got started in trading and how he got his current position; they discuss the other markets that James watches — in addition to forex. Rob asks James about his move from discretionary trading to non-discretionary trading, and how he gravitated toward an automated set of

Tuesday with John & Jeff

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:02:10 GMT

John O’Donnell sets in for Merlin and interviews Jeff Manson on the big picture market. They discuss the history of the bear markets depth and times. They also discuss fibonacci as a great indicator. Click on the image below to download the mp3 file:

A Key Odds Enhancer, Often Overlooked

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:34:52 GMT

All market speculators share the same goal, which is to enjoy consistent low risk profits. To accomplish this goal, you must be able to identify market turning points as this is the only way to attain low risk and high reward entries into market (trading) positions. Whether you are a short-term day trader or a longer term investor, nothing changes. Identifying key market turning points is the only way to attain the ideal risk/reward opportunity. Leading Extended Learning Track (XLT) sessions

Keep It Simple and Consolidate Your Retirement Accounts

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:47:17 GMT

If you are a typical investor, you likely have three or four different retirement accounts. It is not unusual for someone who is making his or her annual contribution to open a new IRA each year with a different custodian. For example, someone may open a Fidelity IRA one year and a Merrill Lynch the next, just to invest in a mutual fund available through that particular family of funds. It is also very common for an individual to allow his or her retirement funds to remain in the employer

Cheese or Wine? Your Choice

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:38:37 GMT

Many traders coming into the Futures markets often ask if there is a minimum number of contracts that should trade each day before a Futures market should be traded for liquidity reasons. This question usually comes from Equities traders because they have been taught to look for good daily volume to provide liquidity. For example, a stock that has at least 1 million shares or more traded daily is said to have good liquidity. Once a trader starts to trade stocks with less volume they run into

Fail to Plan

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:16:25 GMT

There was a famous and very successful basketball coach in the United States that once said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” This is even truer when it comes to trading. So many traders fail because they do not have a plan that they follow for their overall trading or even on individual trades they take. Having an overall trading plan that details how we will trade and protect our capital is critical. If we are not trading well, we need to know how to fix it. By having a plan, we have a

Back to the Basics

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:08:36 GMT

From time to time I discuss more advanced trading tactics and even technical indicators that I feel may enhance a newer trader’s ability to read price. However, you must realize that these techniques are designed to help you with identifying the price levels for trading. They are not to be your sole decision making process. We need to keep trading as simple as possible, focus our decisions on when to buy or sell based on trend and supply and/or demand. That is the core strategy that we base

Double Diagonals: Advanced

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:04:35 GMT

This more advanced article on Double Diagonals is a follow-up to an article covering the basics of Double Diagonals from last year. In order to properly explain the topic of Advanced Double Diagonals, an example of a live trade will be utilized. The trade was entered on Thursday 4/19/2012 while the XEO (S&P 100 cash-settled index) was trading at $629.59 with the following goals; the first goal was to pay off some of the initial debit of placing the Double Diagonal with the sale of

Why Are You Concerned About Your Win/Loss Ratio?

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:49:50 GMT

Hello traders! This week I’d like to talk about a topic that comes up in every Online Trading Academy class that I teach – that is the topic of your win/loss ratio. Most new traders (and many experienced ones!) believe that a very high win/loss ratio is necessary to be a profitable trader. This is very far from the truth. First let’s define what a win/loss ratio is. Investopedia defines the win/loss ratio as: ”A ratio of the total number of winning trades to the number of losing trades.” It

What Matters Most

contact@tradingacademy.com (Online Trading Academy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:42:46 GMT

I often have mentioned that when you are aiming to master your mental game it is important to support your ability to focus on “what matters most” in the trade. As we look at this statement, let’s consider the components of “what matters most” in the trade. Of course, high up on this list would be your ability to identify the order flow. The imbalance in the order flow is what creates the price action and it is imperative for you to be able to determine when the order flow is going to change