Support & Resistance Levels

This Blog provides futures market outlook for different commodities and futures trading markets, mostly stock index futures, as well as support and resistance levels for Crude Oil futures, Gold futures, Euro currency and others. At times the daily trading blog will include educational information about different aspects of commodity and futures trading.

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10 YR US Treasury Notes Chart & Economic Reports 11.19.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

I was asked this morning, “what futures markets would you recommend a newcomer to start with?”

While the answer will vary based on perspective trader risk capital, risk tolerance, personality etc. I do think that there are a few markets that might be a better start for first time futures day trader.

I personally would say, leave the mini SP alone. yes it has the biggest volume but there is quite a bit of size on the bid/ask that may make this frustrating for new traders.

My favorite markets to share with first time traders are:

 

  1. mini Dow
  2. ten year notes/ 30 year bonds
  3. mini crude/ mini gold

Continue reading “10 YR US Treasury Notes Chart & Economic Reports 11.19.2014”

Australian Dollar Chart & Economic Reports 11.18.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 In the past I shared some markets I like to look at for day trading opportunities when stock index futures are in dead/ manipulated periods….Today I would like to talk a little about the currency futures markets. I personally prefer currency futures over FOREX any day. More than a few reasons but the main ones are: currency futures trade on one, regulated main exchange ( CME) while FOREX trades through different inter banks and other means of transactions that are not necessarily regulated.FOREX are “commission free” but in reality there is a spread built in that dealer marks up each time you buy or sell which makes FOREX more expensive than futures.

The main ones I like to follow are:

The Euro , The Yen, The British Pound, The Australian. All are paired versus the US$.

Each market will have different times of higher volume which can allow for traders in all time zones to pick their market. Simply open an hourly chart, like the example I am showing below of the Australian $ and add the volume indicator to observe what times the market has the most action.

  • 1 Euro tick is $12.50
  • 1 Yen tick is $12.50
  • 1 Aussie tick is $10
  • 1 British tick is $6.25
  • 1 Canadian Dollar tick is $10

Currency futures will often trend better than other segments and will experience different levels of volatility during economic reports in the different parts of the world.

If you plan on following any currencies, start in demo mode, know what reports are coming that affect the specific currency you are trading, take a look at the daily, weekly charts to get a feel and monitor the action for a while.

Any questions and I will be happy to assist.

Continue reading “Australian Dollar Chart & Economic Reports 11.18.2014”

Crude Oil Futures & Economic Reports 11.14.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

Tried to think about something worth sharing, information that can help traders and to be honest I could not think of anything I have not shared with you before so Decided to share a weekly chart of crude oil futures as we are sitting against MAJOR weekly support level at a 4 year lows. It will be interesting to see if we consolidate around here, have an initial bounce or break through and continue the slide we have seen. The next FIB level I draw on the weekly is at 53.90 just an FYI since you can not see it on the chart below.
PS: Crude Oil is one of the more active/volatile markets out there and is an interesting day trading market to say the least……
845

Continue reading “Crude Oil Futures & Economic Reports 11.14.2014”

Heikin-Ashi Futures Gold Chart & Economic Reports 11.13.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Veterans Day & Low Index Volatility & Economic Reports 11.12.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 Spoke with a few nice clients today about trading, the recent low volatility in stock index futures and trading in general.

The main point, which I had to remind myself and clients is that we need to adjust our trading to the markets, the markets will not adjust their behavior to accommodate us.
More than a few examples:
  1. Stock Index futures back to “controlled/manipulated mode” with not much fear = tight ranges, most of the move happens overnight, low volatility.
  2. Veteran’s day today – If you are trading bonds like I do and did some homework from previous Veteran’s days, you would have found out that becuase the pit session in bonds is closed and the banks are closed, the preferred method for today would have been to counter trend any moves over 7 ticks from yesterday’s close. As it happened bonds were down about 11 ticks at the low for today and finished unchanged…..There are many more examples and keeping a good trading journal can help you keep track of your research and find certain days with high probability for certain behavior.

 

Talking about Veteran’s Day made me realize that yesterday’s blog should have been dedicated to our veterans and not about the markets, but better late than never…..:

Continue reading “Veterans Day & Low Index Volatility & Economic Reports 11.12.2014”

Veteran’s Day Tomorrow & Economic Reports 11.11.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 

 

Veteran’s Day tomorrow. Banks are closed and currencies and bonds PIT SESSION only will have an early close, so for all that matters, normal trading day tomorrow but due to the fact that banks are closed we may see a lighter trading day. May…..

Below is a quick highlight for the week ahead from Econoday.com

It’s a relatively light week but key consumer numbers post. Retail sales have been volatile due to swings in auto sales and gasoline prices. Employment growth has been moderate at best and this week’s JOLTS report will indicate whether there is improvement in job openings. Despite the sluggish recovery, consumer sentiment has improved on more stable labor market conditions. Whether the trend continues will be seen in this coming week’s early reading on November consumer sentiment. Finally, initial jobless claims have been trending downward and this week’s number could be a market mover.

Monday Nov 10 Tuesday Nov 11 Wednesday Nov 12 Thursday Nov 13 Friday Nov 14
TD Ameritrade IMX
[Report][Bullet12:30 PM ET

5:10 PM ET

 Stocks & futures open, bonds closed

3:00 AM ET

Redbook
[Bullet8:55 AM ET
Wholesale Trade
[Report][Bullet10:00 AM ET
 Weekly Bill Settlement

2:45 AM ET

Jobless Claims
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET
JOLTS
[Report][djStar]10:00 AM ET

12:30 PM ET

Treasury Budget
[Report][djStar]2:00 PM ET
Money Supply
[Bullet4:30 PM ET
Retail Sales
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET

9:00 AM ET

Continue reading “Veteran’s Day Tomorrow & Economic Reports 11.11.2014”

Scared Money by Mark Douglas & Economic Reports 11.07.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 

 

Monthly unemployment tomorrow before cash opens! This will impact trading tomorrow. Do your homework.

I am sharing the below with permission from :  http://www.daytradingpsychology.com/

Scared Money

“The best traders aren’t afraid.” – Mark Douglas, Trading in the Zone

“The brain is hardwired to prevent you from interfering with its fear circuits, its core defensive and reactive processes. Unfortunately, in trading this means you will feel much more fear than necessary.” – Kenneth Reid, Ph.D

Trading Coach Dr Reid

In this section of the website you will find a great deal of information on Seven Factors that contribute to Self-Sabotage Syndrome, which is a complex syndrome with multiple causes. The causes are: Aversive Conditioning, Random Rewards, Mind Traps, Scared Money, Procedural Errors, The Trading Trance and Syndrome X

This page describes Scared Money, which is a natural human condition made much worse by Aversive Conditioning & Random Rewards. Follow the links to read about the other causes. Continue reading “Scared Money by Mark Douglas & Economic Reports 11.07.2014”

Mini S&P Renko Volume Charts & Economic Reports 11.06.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 

Amazing to see the difference in what I consider “an influenced market” like we seen the last week or so with Japan QE, versus a market that was free for a bit about 2-3 weeks ago….when it expected QE to be over….

Last few sessions we see the big moves happen overnight with much tighter trading ranges during the day session versus a market that had WIDE ranges and “healthy” volatility both ways a few weeks ago…..Bottom line the market is what the market is and this is what one needs to trade and not what one would like to trade…..
On a different note, I mentioned before that i like using range bars and Renko charts when it comes to short term trading versus minutes charts.

Main reason, is that i feel that Range/ renko/ Volume charts will complete faster when there is action and speed in the market , hence have potential to provide a signal faster and vise versa, may filter our some noise when the market is dead.

below you will see today’s mini SP chart. I am using 5 ticks range bar chart along with some ALGOs I created and have confidence in.

843

Continue reading “Mini S&P Renko Volume Charts & Economic Reports 11.06.2014”

30 Futures Market Moving Events & Economic Reports 11.05.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 

I have shared the feature below a while back but feel it is worth reading even if you read before. Make sure you are prepared for the trading day, part of the preparation is to know what reports are coming, when they are coming and if they are market movers or not for the specific market you are trading…..

WE DO HAVE MORE THAN A FEW MARKET MOVING REPORTS TOMORROW FOR DIFFERENT MARKETS, SEE ECONOMIC CALENDAR BELOW

Ranking 30 Futures Market Moving Events

Where do I look and when do I pay attention?

By: Cannon Trading Commodities Broker

Separator

Every trader has done it. You’ve done it, your friends have done it, even your broker has done it at one point early in their career.

Here’s the scenario:

You’ve finally finished your futures education at Cannon Trading Company. You’ve done you’re homework on stops, limits, indicators and price movements for the market you’re trading. You’re ready to go, you enter your limit order and you wait.

Separator

**DING**

Separator

You get filled. Your heart rate picks up, a wry smile crosses your face and you begin to imagine the possibilities of the one trade you’re in: How much can I make? How much can I lose before it’s too much? You’ve waited through months of technical trading and deep meditation to get here, and now it’s finally paying off with one of your first trades in the live market. Sayonara paper trading; aloha live futures.

Then, all of a sudden, the top of the hour hits and the market starts acting up. It’s getting more volatile and more volatile; it’s picking up speed and taking an unforgiving turn against you. You can’t think straight, all you can think about is your losing position that could get worse and worse as the seconds go by. You race to put in a stop order, but you finally have to settle for a market order just to stop the bleeding. You stare.

Separator

**DING**

 


READ THE REST

Continue reading “30 Futures Market Moving Events & Economic Reports 11.05.2014”

Trade The News weekly recap & Economic Reports 11.04.2014

Posted on by Ilan

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

 

Some BIG news last week…I believe these news will affect the markets for the near future and highly recommend reading, understanding the basics as you go about your trading and day trading.TradeTheNews.com Weekly Market Update: Fed Passes the QE Baton to the BoJ

The Fed ended QE3 this week, six years after beginning the extraordinary effort to ease monetary condition in the US, and just two days later the Bank of Japan doubled down on its own QE policies. Note that the Fed retained its language on keeping interest rates low for a “considerable time” but dropped its “significant” wording in regards to slack in the US labor market. In addition, the Q3 US GDP topped expectations and grew 3.5%, according to preliminary data. Global equity markets surged higher following the events, with both the DJIA and S&P500 back at all-time closing highs on Friday, the Nikkei up 5% and the Nasdaq at its best level since February 2000. Shanghai saw more modest gains after the flash manufacturing PMI for October gained a bit and Q3 GDP came in at +7.3%. For the week, the DJIA had its biggest gain since early 2013, rising 3.4%, the S&P500 rose 2.7%, and the Nasdaq added another 3.3%.

Continue reading “Trade The News weekly recap & Economic Reports 11.04.2014”

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.