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Category: Future Trading News

As a high risk trading type, futures trading is not for someone who is faint-hearted. Though there are a number of different ways of investing in futures , it is important to stick to what you know. Treading into unknown waters is not something that you should do when dealing in futures.

From managing margins to ordering trades to doing market analysis and more if you want to, you can do that all by yourself – but you may betaking double the risk. Therefore, when trading in futures, it may be better to seek advice from a professional trader.

Professional trading experts at Cannon Trading can help you with your futures trading. We are also there to keep you updated with the latest on futures trading and market news. All the news and latest articles on futures trading are published on our site under the category Archive Futures Trading News, which you are currently browsing through. Read more and the latest here and keep updated.

Volatility Returns to Stock Index Futures – Levels & reports for August 5th

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

As I do from time to time, I like to share resources I feel are worthy of exploring, such is the one below by www.factset.com :

Overview:

  • US equities came under pressure this week as the S&P 500 suffered its biggest weekly pullback in over two years. Despite the magnitude of the move, there was not an overriding theme that captured the price action.
  • Widely cited headwinds included Fed angst, geopolitical tensions, disappointing earnings, the latest flare-up on the Eurozone periphery, the slowdown in the housing recovery, Argentina’s default, fatigue, technical and continued worries about stretched valuations and crowded trades.
  • However, there were notable pockets of reprieve surrounding some of these concerns, particularly when it came to monetary policy and earnings. In addition, geopolitics has not proved to be a sustainable directional driver, while the tipping point search has been in play for a while.
  • While largely on the backburner, there were some positive dynamics at work this week. The pickup in strategic M&A activity continued, while there more signs of stabilization in China, where the Shanghai Composite bucked the sell off in global equities with a nearly 3% rally.
  • There did not seem to be any great signals from the sector performance this week with the broad-based nature of the risk-off trade and company-specific takeaways from a very busy week of earnings. Energy and industrials put in the worst performance, while telecom held up the best.

Fed angst finds some reprieve:

  • Worries about the Fed being behind the curve and the potential for an earlier and more aggressive start to the policy normalization process continued to get a lot of attention as a source of market angst this week. There were two particular areas of focus. One was the 4% growth in Q2 GDP, which was a full point ahead of the consensus. The other was the 0.7% increase in the Q2 employment cost index (ECI), which was ahead of the 0.5% consensus and marked the fast growth in six years. The hotter ECI print was of particular interest because it followed on the heels of an FOMC statement that hedged an upgrade of the assessment of the labor market by noting that a range of indicators suggest a significant underutilization of labor resources. However, there was some reprieve late in the week as average hourly earnings were flat in July, leaving them up just 2.0% y/y. This compared to expectations for a 0.2% m/m and 2.2% y/y increase. In addition, while a sixth straight month of nonfarm payrolls growth above 200K kept the recovery traction theme in focus, the 209K was slightly below expectations and not robust enough to impact liftoff expectations. Finally, despite the hype surrounding Fed fears, yields in the front and belly of the curve were actually lower on the week.

Continue reading “Volatility Returns to Stock Index Futures – Levels & reports for August 5th”

What Exactly Are Futures Spreads

Posted on by Ilan

Corn is one of nature’s greatest creations. You can make all sorts of delicious foods from the vegetable. It feeds many different types of animals. It is the base to many different popular types of liquor. Corn also can be an alternative fuel source. Not only are the corn’s uses wondrous it is also a very durable plant. It can take almost any type of weather patterns and still grow. Corn is also popular amongst investors, most notably commodity traders. Although a very good sturdy plant, investing in corn is a risky investment. Actually commodity investing is a risky strategy, but rewarding if you can invest the right way.

To invest in a commodity you have to minimize your risk. Commodities traders will use a strategy known as a futures spread. Future spreads lower the amount of risk because the trader is hedging two commodities contracts, the result is the spread between the prices of the two contracts.

The several types of futures spreads traders can take advantage of.

Calendar Spreads

Calendar spreads are also known as Intramarket spreads. The practice lets the trader take on a short contract and a long contract, both based on specific months of the year. An example would be that the trader buys a contract for soybeans in May, and sells another contract for soybeans in November. To get your results you would simply subtract the November price of soybeans from the May price, and then you get your spread.

Intermarket Spreads

Intermarket spreading is the practice of buying a short contract of one commodity and buying the long contract of a different commodity. An example of an intermarket spread; you purchase a short contract of corn and at the same time purchase a long contract of wheat. The difference in the prices of the two will give you the spread.

Continue reading “What Exactly Are Futures Spreads”

Stock Indices React to FOMC with Largest One Day Drop in 4 Months – Aug 1st Levels

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

I have noticed many times in the past that the “real direction to FOMC announcements, will usually come the following day”. Today was a perfect example of it…..

Last time we had a meaningful correction in the SP500 was April 4th. The correction lasted 10 days and measured 90 SP points from peak to valley 1885 to 1795 as you can see in the chart below ( sounds like I am talking about earthquakes….).If symmetry decides to give us a similar reaction we can see 1896 as the next target. In between we have a support zone at 1913 – 1918 first.

 

Daily chart of the Sept. mini SP 500 with the different levels for your review below:

 

EP - E-Mini S&P 500 Equalized Active Daily Continuation
EP – E-Mini S&P 500 Equalized Active Daily Continuation

Continue reading “Stock Indices React to FOMC with Largest One Day Drop in 4 Months – Aug 1st Levels”

FOMC Notes & Economic Reports 7.31.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

FOMC notes from Econoday.com:

Policy rates are unchanged. Taper remains on schedule to end with the October FOMC meeting. Policy rates are to remain low for a “considerable time” after the end of taper. Plosser dissented, objecting to “considerable time” phrase.

Emphasis was on the labor market which was upgraded with the comment, “Labor market conditions have improved , with the unemployment rate declining further.” But it was also noted, “a range of labor market indicators suggests that there remains significant underutilization of labor resources.”

The economy is seen as having rebounded from the anemic first quarter with household spending rising moderately and business fixed investment advancing. Housing is seen as remaining slow.

Inflation is closer to the Fed’s long-term goal and longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Due to continued progress in the labor market, the FOMC decided to take a further measured reduction in asset purchases.

“Beginning in August, the Committee will add to its holdings of agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $10 billion per month rather than $15 billion per month, and will add to its holdings of longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $15 billion per month rather than $20 billion per month. The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction.”

Continue reading “FOMC Notes & Economic Reports 7.31.2014”

FOMC Interest Rate Decision Tomorrow & Economic Reports 7.30.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

The FOMC interest rate decision is due at 14:00 ET in the US tomorrow ( Wednesday, July 30th ).

FOMC days have different characteristics than other trading days. If you have traded for a while, check your trading notes from past FOMC days that may help you prepare for tomorrow.

If you are a newcomer, take a more conservative approach and make sure you understand that the news can really move the market.

The following are suggestions on trading during FOMC days:

  • Reduce trading size.
  • Be extra picky = no trade is better than a bad trade.
  • Choose entry points wisely. Look at longer time frame support and resistance for entry. Take the approach of entering at points where you normally would have placed protective stops. Example, trader x looking to go long the mini SP at 1965.00 with a stop at 1959.00, instead “stretch the price bands” due to volatility and place an entry order to buy at 1959.75 and place a stop a few points below in this hypothetical example.
  • Expect the higher volatility during and right after the announcement.
  • Expect to see some “vacuum” ( low volume, big zigzags) right before the number.
  • Consider using automated stops and limits attached to your entry order as the market can move very fast at times.
  • Know what the market was expecting, learn what came out and observe market reaction for clues.
  • This is another great example why a trading journal would be an asset, as you can go back and check your notes from previous FOMC days.
  • Be patient and be disciplined.

Continue reading “FOMC Interest Rate Decision Tomorrow & Economic Reports 7.30.2014”

Market News Recap and Economic Reports 7.29.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

As I often do on Mondays, I like to share a recap of the previous week fundamentals as well as factors that will impact trading for this week from TradeTheNews.com:

TradeTheNews.com Weekly Market Update: Earnings, Wars and Data

– Global markets vacillated between earnings and geopolitical conflict this week. There was a steady drumbeat of negative news out of Israel and eastern Ukraine, with bloody headlines countering much of the decent news from quarterly earnings reports. Quarterly reports out of the US and Europe were pretty strong, with only a few earnings disasters weighing on broader indices, though the earnings stinkers were in marquee names such as McDonalds and Amazon. June US housing data was mixed, inflation continues to be very subdued and weekly jobless claims took an unexpectedly big dip, possibly due to seasonality. In Europe, the first reading of UK GDP for Q2 indicated that annualized economic growth was back above 3.0% for the first time since the beginning of the crisis, though this was offset by worse than expected retail sales data. In China, July flash PMI numbers were very good, helping the Shanghai and Hong Kong equity markets handily outperform US and European indices. For the week, the DJIA lost 0.8%, the Nasdaq slipped 0.4%, and the S&P500 was about unchanged.

– June data offered contrasting views of the US housing sector. The June existing home numbers pushed out to eight-month highs and the May figures were revised slightly higher. According to the NAR, inventories are at their highest level in over a year and price gains have slowed to much more welcoming levels in many parts of the country. Meanwhile June new homes sales tumbled to 406K from May’s eight-year high of 504K. Quarterly numbers from two home builders also saw some weaker trends: Pulte Homes saw closings and its backlog decline on a y/y basis (although new home orders were up 5% y/y), while M/I Homes saw a y/y contraction in new contracts signed. D.R. Horton, the largest home builder in the US, saw a 15% y/y gain in its backlog and a 25% gain in net orders.

– Inflation is still not showing up to the party, according to the June CPI data out this week. The increase in the headline CPI index was mild enough to keep the y/y growth rate unchanged at 2.1%, while the y/y growth rate of the core fell to 1.9%. Food prices decelerated faster than expected, turning in a flat performance in June after four months of growth. Energy prices were up less than expected.

– Fighting raged all week in eastern Ukraine, with pro-Russia forces shooting down more military aircraft and Russia supplying more heavy weapons. More EU sanctions on Russia appeared imminent, with action expected by the end of July. Sanctions could include a ban on investment in Russian banks, an arms ban (but not retroactive, allowing France to deliver contracted Mistral warships) and some form of energy sector sanctions. On Friday, EU President Van Rompuy was urging member states to restrict sale of technology to the Russian oil sector while excluding the gas sector from sanctions, which sent oil and gas futures in divergent directions. On Friday, the Russian central bank raised its key rate by half a point to 8%, citing heightened geopolitical risks to the ruble.

– A federal appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed subsidy payments under the Obama care reforms. The ruling voids the regulations that allow subsidies for insurance that is purchased through federal exchanges. Most commentators agreed that with several similar cases outstanding and more rulings to come, this decision was not terminal for the ACA.

Continue reading “Market News Recap and Economic Reports 7.29.2014”

3 Points to Futures Trading Psychology & Economic Reports 7.25.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

Many different ways to make and lose money trading futures, even more so when day trading.

Today’s action in stock index futures led me to write about:

Three main approaches out there in my opinion.

  1. The first is what I call the “trend is your friend”. A trader looks at few different time frames, looking to see if there is an established trend on longer time frame (example 60 minutes chart) and then trying to look for pull back on lower time frames and “join the trend”. Only works for certain markets and only works few times of the month as most days markets do not have an intraday trend.
  2. Second method is what we call break out. Traders will look for markets that have been in a lower volatility situation using indicators such as ADX for example. Then they will look at the chart to find what they feel are levels that if broken can fuel a stronger move in the same direction. These levels can be extracted visually looking at the chart or using highs/ lows of X periods. This method works better on some markets than others. I noticed that crude oil and gold futures tend to have better chances of a continued breakout move than the mini SP 500 for example.
  3. The third one many traders use and believe in is “mean reversion”. Stock index futures in my opinion will fall into this category many trading days and today’s session ( July 24th 2014) was a good example. Market tested yesterday’s highs, then tested lows and traded in between. Traders will sometimes use RSI or Williams %R to get a feel for when the market gets away from the mean and will use counter trend methods in this case. Use of stops when counter trend trading is even more important as you do NOT want to get caught on the few days a month when these markets do incur a break out situation…..

Continue reading “3 Points to Futures Trading Psychology & Economic Reports 7.25.2014”

Futures Levels and Economic Reports 7.24.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

Like us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterView our profile on LinkedInFind us on Google+Cannon Trading Futures Trading Resistance & Support Levels and Economic ReportsFind us on Yelp

1. Market Commentary
2. Futures Support and Resistance Levels – S&P, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Russell 2000, Dollar Index
3. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Gold, Euro, Crude Oil, T-Bonds
4. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Corn, Wheat, Beans, Silver
5. Futures Economic Reports for Thursday July 24, 2014

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

Getting Clues from other markets?

When day trading a specific market do you only look at the chart for that specific market? Maybe you took it a step further and you are viewing multiple time frame charts for the same market which is a good step in my eyes.

Now lets take this even one step further by observing what markets have correlation, direct or inverse to the market you are trading, perhaps this can help you make decisions when trading.

I will give a few examples from my experience:

When I am in a position in the mini SP 500, I will often observe what the bonds are doing ( many times inverse correlation), I will take notice of what the Dow, Russell and NASDAQ are doing as well ( direct correlation).

If I am trading crude oil, I will many times pay attention to what unleaded gas and heating oil are doing (very close, although not direct correlation) as well as what WTI crude is doing.

One more example may be when I have a position trade in beans and I will try to get a feel for the overall direction of the grain markets (is there a trend? are they sideways?) by looking at corn, wheat in general and then look to see what bean oil and soy meal which are by products of beans are doing.

One question that can be asked is “what do you mean observe this or that market”? and a good example will be:

Lets say I am short the mini SP 500 and I am not sure if to take profit or not. I look at the mini Russell and see that mini Russell just made new lows, that will give me more confidence to stay in my short position as I feel there might be more room to the downside.

Continue reading “Futures Levels and Economic Reports 7.24.2014”

Crude Oil Futures Renko Charts & Economic Reports 7.23.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

Like us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterView our profile on LinkedInFind us on Google+Cannon Trading Futures Trading Resistance & Support Levels and Economic ReportsFind us on Yelp

1. Market Commentary
2. Futures Support and Resistance Levels – S&P, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Russell 2000, Dollar Index
3. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Gold, Euro, Crude Oil, T-Bonds
4. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Corn, Wheat, Beans, Silver
5. Futures Economic Reports for Wednesday July 23, 2014

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

I mentioned in previous posts that I am getting to like range bar charts and Renko charts more and more when it comes for very short term trading.

The main reason why I like these type of charts along with volume charts when it comes to any time frame less than 10 minutes is because I think it helps filter out noise during slow times and help you get a quicker signal when there is time of heavier action in the market.

Example, let’s say you are using a 5 minute chart along with certain studies, to make a simple example, moving averages cross overs. Before you get a signal, the 5 minute bar has to finish so you can see the value of the moving averages and see if you got a cross over or not. There are times when the market is fast with heavy volume and you may miss 80% of the move because 5 minutes can be a long time for day traders…..On the other hand if you are using Renko/volume charts/Range bars and there is good volume, fast action, these bars will complete much faster to provide a much faster signal. On the same token, if the market is slow with low volume, you will sometimes get your moving averages cross over simply because time has passed….With volume / Renko charts you may be able to filter this out simply because the bars WONT complete unless there is enough volume/ price action. Obviously, these type of charts are by no means “holly grail” but I think one should observe and pay attention to the type of charts especially if you are a short term day trader.

Below is an example of crude oil 18 ticks range bar from today as well as a 5 minutes chart from today with the same studies/ conditions applied just to get a visual idea. If you like to try out the same charts I am sharing, feel free to contact Cannon Futures Trading and we will set you up for a free trial:

Crude Oil 5 minute chart 7-22-2014

Crude Oil 5 Minute Chart 7-22-2014
Crude Oil 5 Minute Chart 7-22-2014

Continue reading “Crude Oil Futures Renko Charts & Economic Reports 7.23.2014”

Futures Trading Levels & Economic Reports 7.22.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Connect with Us! Use Our Futures Trading Levels and Economic Reports RSS Feed.

Like us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterView our profile on LinkedInFind us on Google+Cannon Trading Futures Trading Resistance & Support Levels and Economic ReportsFind us on Yelp

1. Market Commentary
2. Futures Support and Resistance Levels – S&P, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Russell 2000, Dollar Index
3. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Gold, Euro, Crude Oil, T-Bonds
4. Commodities Support and Resistance Levels – Corn, Wheat, Beans, Silver
5. Futures Economic Reports for Tuesday July 22, 2014

Hello Traders,

For 2014 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading!

TradeTheNews.com Weekly Market Update: Markets Shake Off New Ukraine Tragedy

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 16:09 PM EST- Global equities continued their steady march higher in the first half of the week. The DJIA closed at a record high on Wednesday while the S&P500 came within points of its record high earlier in July. Decent earnings reports from the big US banks and other blue chip firms, plus another healthy dose of M&A deals, including Fox’s $80 billion bid for Time Warner, helped underpin the gains, while there was little negative economic data to get in the way. In the US, the June retail sales numbers were strong after ignoring a decline in reported auto dealer sales. On Thursday, all three US indices lost more than 1.0% after Air Malaysia flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, in territory controlled by the pro-Russia separatists, with declines exacerbated by an escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict as well as negative housing data in both the US and China. World leaders have called for an independent investigation of the tragedy, but the evidence strongly indicates that the rebels most likely downed the commercial airliner after mistaking it for a Ukrainian military transport. Markets erased all of the losses on Friday, however there is a feeling that the crash has drawn the western powers closer to confrontation with Russia. Even at the height of the selloff in the wake of Air Malaysia disaster, selling was orderly, showing no signs of panic. For the week, the DJIA gained 0.9%, the S&P500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq added 0.4%.- In Ukraine, there have been calls for a ceasefire to facilitate an international investigation of the MH17 crash. Wielding the threat of more sanctions, President Obama again demanded Russia use its influence to curb separatist violence, while both the OSCE and US intelligence are fingering the pro-Russia Ukraine rebels for shooting down the airliner. German Chancellor Merkel warned that if it is found that a missile attack brought down the plane, it would constitute a grave escalation of the crisis. In the meantime, Russia President Putin and the rebels are loudly declaring their innocence. Less than 24 hours before the plane was downed, the US added Gazprombank, Rosneft Oil and other Russian companies and officials to its sanction list, while the EU was reportedly close to adding more sanctions.- Fed Chair Yellen provided her semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress this week, including testimony before House and Senate subcommittees. Little new emerged from the testimony, as Yellen more or less reiterated all her standard policy positions. Yellen said rates would be more accommodative if the economic performance is disappointing and could increase sooner if the labor market continues to improve faster than expected. Some market participants seemed to believe Yellen took a more hawkish tone, however on the whole she stuck to her prior talking points. The one interesting note came in the text of the full Monetary Policy Report, which warned that small cap biotech and social media valuations are a bit high relative to historical norms. Shares of momentum tech and biotech names dropped after the report was disclosed. Some on Wall Street derided the Fed for commenting on such specific market segments, while others merely took it as a signal from the central bank that it is keeping a close eye on all markets.

  • The June US housing starts and building permits numbers were not confidence-inspiring. The monthly starts missed expectations by over 100K and the reading was at its lowest level since September 2013. Meanwhile the May starts figure was revised lower. June single-family starts fell to 575K, their lowest level since November 2012.
  • Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs both beat earnings and revenue expectations in second-quarter results, with strong gains in investment banking revenue helping to drive profits higher. JPMorgan’s headline numbers also met consensus targets, but profit fell 8% y/y and revenue declined 3% y/y, while fixed income and equity revenue fell 15% y/y. Both Citigroup and Bank of America beat earnings expectations, although both banks took very large litigation charges that cut profit totals significantly in the quarter: Citi took a $3.8B charge and BoA took a $4.0B charge, both were related settlements DoJ investigations of mortgage-backed securities fraud.
  • In one of the more surprising tech stories this week, ancient rivals IBM and Apple entered a cloud computing and mobile device partnership. Under the deal, IBM will sell Apple devices with newly created business apps using IBM’s big data framework. IBM’s headline earnings were mixed, although revenue declined a hair y/y, dragged lower by much slower server sales. Shares of AMD fell sharply after the company reported revenue in its computing solutions chip unit was down 20% y/y. Intel’s numbers were pretty strong, although its efforts to break into mobile continue to suffer.
  • Microsoft said it would lay off up to 18,000 workers over the next year, and take a pretax charge of $1.1-1.6 billion to pay for the cuts. Two thirds of these cuts come in Microsoft’s ill-fated hardware division, representing about half of the total employees that the Nokia deal brought into the company in April.
  • Industrials General Electric, Honeywell and Johnson Controls reported solid, in-line earnings. Both GE and HON met expectations on good earnings and revenue growth, with FY14 guidance reaffirmed. With divestiture and restructuring costs, JCI’s earnings were down sharply, but ex-costs the firm did well.
  • Massive M&A deals were back in headlines. Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox made a $85/share, $80 billion bid for Time Warner, which rejected the bid. Subsequent reports indicated Fox could expand its offer up to $100/share. AbbVie reached a deal worth roughly $55 billion in cash and stock to combine with Shire. In other deal flow, AECOM agreed to acquire URS Corporation for $56.31/share in cash and stock in a deal valued about $6B, and Kodiak Oil & Gas agreed to be acquired by Whiting Petroleum in an all-stock transaction valued at $6B.

Continue reading “Futures Trading Levels & Economic Reports 7.22.2014”

RISK DISCLOSURE: Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in futures trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition.