Futures Trading Levels & Economic Reports 12.04.2014

Hello Traders,

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

Hello Traders,

One way to eliminate fear and greed while day-trading:

Disclaimer

The methods described in this article are for educational purposes only. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your trading results. Trading involves a high degree of risk. No recommendation is being made to buy any stock, commodity, option or other financial instrument. Consult your financial advisor before starting any investment system.

It is a known fact that fear and greed can be one of your worst enemies.

One way I found that helped some clients to deal with the fear and greed and its related cousin, “getting out of winners too soon and staying in losers too long…” is entering multiple contracts when getting into a day-trade.

Obviously, one has to have the appropriate risk capital, margin requirements to do so but the advantage of trading more than one “unit” or splitting your trading size into two or more parts is as such:

If you enter a trade with one contract ( or if you are treating your trading size as one unit, meaning you enter a trade with 4 contracts and exit the trade with 4 contracts, that is considered treating your trading size as one unit), you can face a very quick dilemma, especially when day-trading. You get in and very quickly you are up 2 mini SP points….what do you do? Do you take profit? Bring your stop loss closer? How do you avoid getting out too early or too late?

Continue reading “Futures Trading Levels & Economic Reports 12.04.2014”

Recognizing Different Types of Trading Days & Levels 10.22.2014

Hello Traders,

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

 

Are we done? Was this the correction everyone was afraid of and that’s it?

Only the future can tell but interesting to look at the daily chart below of the mini SP 500. We bounced OVER 100 points from the lows!!! But I still need to see if we can break above the 1946 level marked on the chart….

 

Another interesting point is that this rally is on much lower volume than the sell off, but then again this has been the story in the “minor corrections” we had during the last several years.

 

Not sure if this one is any different and we are heading back to test new highs…my “emotions/gut” says this one has a bigger chance of being a more serious correction than the ones we have seen before but my “trading brain” says that statistically odds are in favor of resumption in the rally…

Continue reading “Recognizing Different Types of Trading Days & Levels 10.22.2014”

Trading Futures Spreads & Options, Reports & Levels 8.22.2014

Hello Traders,

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

 

 

Most of the time I write about day trading, psychology of day trading, techniques etc. but I must say that day-trading is only one way of trading futures.

Over the years I have been exposed and used the following techniques / methods in trading:
buying options
selling options
using options spreads
swing trading using futures
position trading using futures and options
break out trading
and of course day-trading….

All methods can lose money, make money and in between. Some carry higher degree of risk than others, some have better probability of success but losses can be significant….The bottom line is each trader is different and may find a method that he/she feels more comfortable with. I actually wrote an article for SFO magazine a few years back about this subject, called “trading for your blood type” ( email me for a copy if you like).

One method I like for trading futures that can be applied both for day-trading but usually more common for swing/longer term trading is futures spreads. My colleague here at Cannon, Mark O’Brien wrote a good article about it last year which you can access at:

 

Continue reading “Trading Futures Spreads & Options, Reports & Levels 8.22.2014”

Memorial Day Futures Trading Schedule & Minutes of Fed Reserve Report by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa 5.22.2014

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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 May 22, 2014

Hello Traders,

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

 

 

Memorial Day Weekend is right around the corner!!

Holiday schedule is now available.

Key Passages: Read the Federal Reserve Meeting Minutes in Just a Minute — WSJ Blog

05/21/2014 13:01

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa
Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April 29-30 meeting showed policy makers are still hoping for stronger economic growth in the second half of the year. The economic assessment of Federal Open Market Committee participants emphasizes the central bank is so far sticking to its forecasts.
Here are some key excerpts, with quotes in italics:
“In their discussion of the economic situation and the outlook, meeting participants generally indicated that their assessment of the economic outlook had not changed materially since the March meeting. Severe winter weather had contributed to a sharp slowing in activity during the first quarter, but recent indicators pointed to a rebound and suggested that the economy had returned to a trajectory of moderate growth.”
However, that passage is quickly peppered with a note of caution:
“Some participants remarked that it was it was too early to confirm that the bounceback in economic activity would put the economy on a path of sustained above-trend economic growth. In general, participants continued to view the risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as nearly balanced. However, a number of participants pointed to possible sources of downside risk to growth, including a persistent slowdown in the housing sector or potential international developments, such as a further slowing of growth in China or an increase in geopolitical tensions regarding Russia and Ukraine.”
In addition, officials seem to have spent quite a bit of time discussing a flagging housing sector, which is key to the economic recovery from the Fed’s perspective.
“Most participants commented on the continuing weakness in housing activity. They saw a range of factors affecting the housing market, including higher home prices, construction bottlenecks stemming from a scarcity of labor and harsh winter weather, input cost pressures, or a shortage in the supply of available lots.”
On the policy front, there was agreement about reducing the pace of monthly bond purchases further in incremental, $10 billion steps. The Fed also had an extensive discussion about its plans for exiting its extraordinary low-interest rate policies. The strategy is still evolving as policy makers assess which tools might work best when the time comes to begin tightening monetary policy.
“Participants considered how various combinations of tools could have different implications for the degree of control over short-term interest rates, for the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and remittances to the Treasury, for the functioning of the federal funds market, and for financial stability in both normal times and in periods of stress. Because the Federal Reserve has not previously tightened the stance of policy while holding a large balance sheet, most participants judged that the Committee should consider a range of options and be prepared to adjust the mix of its policy tools as warranted. Participants generally favored the further testing of various tools, including the [Term Deposit Facility], to better assess their operational readiness and effectiveness.”
And, there’s more where that came from:
“No decisions regarding policy normalization were taken; participants requested additional analysis from the staff and agreed that it would be helpful to continue to review these issues at upcoming meetings.”

More at The Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog,http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/

 

 

 

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Setting Daily Profit Target and Money Management for Futures Trading 4.10.2014

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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 April 10, 2014


Hello Traders,

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

I wrote a good article a few years back about day trading money management and one of my points was that it is my personal opinion that if a day trader sets a daily target profit and walks away when he or she achieves that target, they will fare better in the long run.

I might be wrong but think about it, if you are trading a $10,000 account and have a daily profit target of $500. How many times were you there intraday? Would your account equity be in a better shape now if you walked away each day when you made $500 ( in addition to implementing a daily stop level?)

The profit level will be different for each trader based on account size, trading style, aggressiveness level etc. but from talking with many different clients and observing many different clients I think that setting daily profit  AND daily money management will help most traders financially as well as emotionally.

If you want to read the full article and you are a client, simply email me your name and account number and i will email the PDF to you. If you are a prospect, please share with me your trading experience and software you are using and I will be happy to email it to you as well.

Continue reading “Setting Daily Profit Target and Money Management for Futures Trading 4.10.2014”

Futures Levels and Economic Reports for 4.02.2014

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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 April 2, 2014


Hello Traders,

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


My preferred chart type for daytrading as of the last 9 months been range bars. below is my mini SP chart using 8 ticks range bar and applying my DIAMOND ALGO:

EP - E Mini S&P 500, Equalized Active Continuation, Primary Session : Range Bar, 8 Tick Units
EP – E Mini S&P 500, Equalized Active Continuation, Primary Session : Range Bar, 8 Tick Units

Would you like to have access to my DIAMOND and TOPAZ ALGOs as shown above

and be able to apply for any market and any time frame on your own PC ?  You can now have a three weeks free trial ( if you did not have one before) where I enable the ALGO along with few studies for your own sierra/ ATcharts OR CQG Q trader.

To start your trial, please visit:

If so, please send me an email with the following information:

  1. Are you currently trading futures?
  2. Charting software you use?
  3. If you use sierra or ATcharts, please let me know the user name so I can enable you
  4. Markets you currently trading?

Continue reading “Futures Levels and Economic Reports for 4.02.2014”

Futures Levels & Economic Reports for 1.31.2014

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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 Friday January 31, 2014

Hello Traders,

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

Each market has different personality, different behavior along with different times of the day when it is most active. If you are finding that the ES is not giving you enough risk/opportunities then start monitoring a couple of other markets and perhaps explore them in demo / simulated mode.

I will try over the next few blogs to shed some light on other markets i think are suitable for day-trading along with what is unique about these markets, personality and most active trading hours.

Today I am going to start with interest rates, mostly the ten year and 30 year.

In most platforms, the symbols are ZB for 30 year bonds and ZN for 10 year notes. The current front month is March which is U. So ZBH4 for example.

Product Symbol ZB
Contract Size The unit of trading shall be U.S. Treasury Bonds having a face value at maturity of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or multiples thereof
Price Quotation Points ($1,000) and 1/32 of a point. For example, 134-16 represents 134 16/32. Par is on the basis of 100 points.
Product Symbol ZN

 

Underlying Unit One U.S. Treasury note having a face value at maturity of $100,000.
Deliverable Grades U.S. Treasury notes with a remaining term to maturity of at least six and a half years, but not more than 10 years, from the first day of the delivery month. The invoice price equals the futures settlement price times a conversion factor, plus accrued interest. The conversion factor is the price of the delivered note ($1 par value) to yield 6 percent.
Price Quote Points ($1,000) and halves of 1/32 of a point. For example, 126-16 represents 126 16/32 and 126-165 represents 126 16.5/32. Par is on the basis of 100 points.
Tick Size
(minimum fluctuation)
One-half of one thirty-second (1/32) of one point ($15.625, rounded up to the nearest cent per contract), except for intermonth spreads, where the minimum price fluctuation shall be one-quarter of one thirty-second of one point ($7.8125 per contract).
Contract Months The first five consecutive contracts in the March, June, September, and December quarterly cycle.

These contracts are often affected by many of the economic reports that come out at 8:30 Am Eastern and there is very active volume between the hours of 8 am EST and 3 PM EST

Volume on both contracts is very good. Ten years will often have 1 million contracts traded per day ( might be the second most active US futures market after the mini SP 500) and the bonds will avg. around 300,000 contracts.

These markets can experience very volatile movements during and right after different reports but then will often trade smooth or in an intraday trend the rest of the day.

Another BONUS for trading these two markets is that the exchange fees are lower, hence making your total transaction cost cheaper!

Follow these two markets in demo mode for a while if you have not traded them before and get a feel for the movement, reaction to reports, execution etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Below is a 60 minute chart of the US bond market or what i refer to as the 30 year bonds ZBH4. The dollar value difference per one contract between the high and the low marked on the chart is: $1661.50 per one contract.

 

ps: if you like a trial of the indicators you see in the chart, please email me.
Custom USA - 30yr US Treasury Bonds, (Globex), Equalized Active 60 Min Continuation
Custom USA – 30yr US Treasury Bonds, (Globex), Equalized Active 60 Min Continuation

Volume Charts & Oscillators & Futures Levels & Economic Reports for 11.07.2013

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 November 7, 2013

Hello Traders,

For 2013 I would like to wish all of you discipline and patience in your trading! 

Using tick/Volume charts and Oscillators for day trading

Using tick charts and oscillators for day-trading (by Ilan Levy-Mayer VP of Cannon Trading and CTA at Levex.net )

I really don’t think anyone has found a “perfect way” to day-trade.

Different techniques work well in different market environment.

In this week short educational feature, I will touch about one technique one can add to their trading arsenal. This technique works better on choppy, two sided ways. It DOES NOT work well when the market has a strong trend.

The chart below illustrates a few principals I like:

  1. It uses a tick chart or Range Bar charts rather than a time chart. I like tick charts & range bar better when day-trading shorter time frames for the simple reason it already includes a big factor in the market, VOLUME and PRICE RANGE. If you are using 5 minutes chart for example, you may get signals simply because time “has passed” and certain indicators you are using adopt certain values. When using tick charts, at times where there is lots of movement in the market, you won’t have to wait until your time frame bar closes to get your signal, volume becomes a bigger more important part of your trading decision.

 Read the remaining article “Using tick/Volume charts and Oscillators for day trading”

Continue reading “Volume Charts & Oscillators & Futures Levels & Economic Reports for 11.07.2013”

Thanksgiving Day Trading Schedule | Support and Resistance Levels

 

Jump to a section in this post:
1. Market Commentary and Thanksgiving Day Trading Schedule
2. Support and Resistance Levels – S&P, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Russell 2000
3. Support and Resistance Levels – Gold, Euro, Crude Oil, T-Bonds
4. Support and Resistance Levels – Corn, Wheat, Beans, Silver
5. Daily Mini S&P Chart
6. Economic Reports for Wednesday, November 23, 2011

divider black 190

Market Commentary and Thanksgiving Day Trading Schedule

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Make sure you pay attention to trading hours for both Thursday and Friday this week.

Detailed hours are below the chart.

As far as market outlook, my view last week came true and the question now is how far this sell off will continue.

From Nov. 17th blog: Bearish close today on stock index futures and as I mentioned yesterday, a break below 1204 on the Dec. SP 500 can trigger another leg down.

Thanksgiving Day Trading Schedule
Wednesday, November 23 Hours

CME Group (Floor)
Regular Close
NYMEX (Floor)
Regular Close
GLOBEX
Regular Close/Open
* Exceptions: Livestock, GSCI, Lumber, Crude Palm Oil, Weather, Grain, Ethanol and Dairy products
ICE
Regular Close/Open
EUREX
Regular Close
OneChicago
Regular Close
NYSE
Regular Close
Forex
Regular Close

Thursday, November 24 Hours

CME Group (Floor)
Closed
NYMEX (Floor)
Closed
GLOBEX
Closed: Livestock, GSCI, Lumber, Crude Palm Oil, Weather, Grain, Ethanol and Dairy products
10:30 am Close: Equity products
12:00 pm Close: Interest Rate, Foreign Exchange, Real Estate and Forestry products
12:15 pm Close: Green Exchange, NYMEX, COMEX and DME products
*Trading Resumes at the times listed below*
5:00 pm Open: Equity, Interest Rate, Foreign Exchange, Crude Palm Oil, Livestock, GSCI, Forestry, Weather, Real Estate, Green Exchange and NYMEX/COMEX/DME products
6:00 pm Open: CBOT/KCBT/MGEX Grain and Ethanol products
*Dairy products will remain closed until their regularly scheduled open on Sunday, November 27th
ICE
Closed: Soft and Open outcry products
10:30 am Close: Index products
12:00 pm Close: Financial products
EUREX
Closed: Hurricane Futures, US, Canadian and Brazilian Equity Derivatives (No cash payment in USD)
*All other products regular close
OneChicago
Closed
NYSE
Closed
Forex
Regular Close

Friday, November 25 Hours

CME Group (Floor)
Closed: Dairy
12:00 pm Close: Foreign Exchange, Interest Rates, Commodities, GSCI, Weather and Real Estate products
12:02 pm Close: CME Commodity options
12:15 pm Close: Equity products
12:30 pm Close: CBOT Mini-Grains
NYMEX (Floor)
12:30 pm Close
GLOBEX
Closed: Dairy products
12:00 pm Close: Agricultural, CBOT Grain futures & options, Ethanol, KCBT Grain, Forestry, Weather and GSCI products
12:02 pm Close: CME Commodity options
12:15 pm Close: Equity, Interest Rate, Foreign Exchange, Real Estate, MGEX Grain and KOSPI 200 products
12:30 pm Close: CBOT Mini-Grains
12:45 pm Close: Green Exchange and NYMEX/COMEX/DME products
ICE
11:45 Close: Open Outcry Soft products
12:00 Close: Soft and Open Outcry Financial products
12:15 Close: Financial, Index and Open Outcry Index products
EUREX
Regular Close
OneChicago
12:00 pm Close
NYSE
12:00 pm Close
Forex
Regular Close
*All times listed in Central Time
The above calendar is compiled from sources believed to be reliable. Cannon Trading assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. It is meant as an alert to events that may affect trading strategies and is not necessarily complete. The closing times for certain contracts may have been rescheduled.

Please visit CME at:

http://www.cmegroup.com/tools-information/holiday-calendar/files/2011-thanksgiving.pdf

and the ICE exchange at

https://www.theice.com/marketdata/calendar/CalendarList.shtml?calendar=Holiday&calendar=SpecialTradingHours&markets=ICE%20Futures%20Europe&markets=ICE%20Futures%20Canada&markets=ICE%20OTC&markets=ICE%20Futures%20U.S.&markets=ICE%20Trust%20U.S.&markets=ICE%20Clear%20Europe%20CDS Continue reading “Thanksgiving Day Trading Schedule | Support and Resistance Levels”

Futures Trading Levels, 8 Steps to Successful Day Trading

Cannon Trading / E-Futures.com

Quick reading material for the weekend:

Cannon Trading Education

8 Steps to Successful Futures Day Trading

Introduction

My name is Ilan Levy-Mayer and I am the Vice President and Senior Broker at Cannon Trading. I came up with the following personal observations after serving online traders worldwide for more than 13 years. The following steps are guides to progress, and are not necessarily in sequential order. Some of them are always required, but each trader is different and will relate to these stages in their own ways. While attempting to learn and progress, one must keep in mind that futures trading is risky and can involve significant losses.

1.Education

Hopefully if you are already trading you have completed your initial education: contract specs, trading hours, brokers, platforms, the opportunities as well as the risk and need to use risk capital in futures, and so on. Understanding this information is essential to trading. The second type of education is ongoing: learning about trading techniques, the evolution of markets, different trading tools, and more.

2.Find a System

I am definitely not advising you to go on the web and subscribe to a “black box” system (using buy/sell triggers if don’t know why they are being generated). What I am advising is developing a trading technique: a general set of rules and a trading concept. As you progress, you may want to put the different rules and indicators into a computerized system, but the most important factor is to have a focus and a plan. Don’t just wake up in the morning and trade “blank.”

3.Survival

This is the key! Do what you need to do in order to survive this brutal business and give yourself the chance of being here down the road with more experience and a better chance of success. Survival is probably the biggest key for beginning traders. There is a saying in this business: “live to trade another day.” It is so true!

4.Money Management

While it is closely related to survival, money management can also stand alone. For your own survival, you must set trade/daily/weekly loss limits. Sound money

management is closely associated with knowing your risk-reward ratio (again, per trade and per time frame).

5.Goals

You should have a game plan and established goals which will function as a road map to measure your progress and improvement. Set per-trade goals, daily goals, weekly goals, etc. Many of you who are clients are familiar with these questions: What is your daily profit goal? Where do you see yourself in a week from now.? Six months from now? A year from now? How are you planning to get there? Break it down into small steps, and you’ll always know whether or not you’re on the right track. And do not forget to continually reevaluate your financial situation as it pertains to risk capital.

6.Experience

If you made it to this stage you’re on the right track! Just like anything else in life, the more experience you have, the greater your success is likely to be. The key is to acquire the experience without devastating your risk capital. What good is experience without risk capital in your trading account?

7.Learn your Setups, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Teach yourself to recognize different set-ups that you feel comfortable and confident with. Then attack. You cannot get to this stage without going through the previous steps. If you did not survive, develop a trading system, set goals, etc., you may recognize the right setups but lack the confidence or the cash to take advantage. I sometimes compare being the “pro” to the lion who is waiting patiently for its prey and then attacks when the time is right!

8.Trading on a Consistent Basis

This means you will continue to evolve as a trader and go through these stages over the years again and again.

In Conclusion

Don’t be discouraged by reading this. Succeeding in futures trading takes hard work and time.

Please be realistic, make sure you only try this with risk capital only and periodically check yourself and try to learn from your mistakes and successes.

Disclaimer

The material contained in this letter is of opinion only and does not guarantee any profits. These are risky markets and only risk capital should be used.

Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading

can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition.

Day trading can be extremely risky. Day trading generally is not appropriate for someone of limited resources and limited investment or trading experience and low risk tolerance. You should be prepared to lose all of the funds that you use for day trading. And more, you should not fund day-trading activities with funds required to meet your living expenses or change your standard of living.

You should be wary of advertisements or other statements that emphasize the potential for large profits in day trading. Day trading can also lead to large and immediate financial losses.

Day trading will generate substantial commissions, even if the per trade cost is low. Day trading involves aggressive trading, and you will pay commission on each trade. The total daily commissions that you pay on your trades will add to your losses or significantly reduce your earnings.

Day trading on margin may result in losses beyond your initial investment. An investment of less that $25,000 will significantly impair the ability of a day trader to make a profit. Of course, an investment of $25,000 or more will not guarantee success.

Cannon Trading Company
(800) 454-9572

I share much more each trading day via daily service I call NAZLAN LIVE CHARTS. You can try it free for 2 weeks at:

Nazlan Live Charts Continue reading “Futures Trading Levels, 8 Steps to Successful Day Trading”