by John Thorpe, Senior Broker

Many of you are purely technical traders and for good reason I understand why. It’s also critical to understand why there, from time to time, become sharp price deviations from your technicals that many times are simply one offs but sometimes can result in longer term trend shifts. It’s always important when trading Futures and Commodities to look past the headlines and beyond indicators and respect the weekly economic calendar. I Extoll the virtues with my clients and through this Blog the importance of knowing the markets you trade and the reports that Government agencies around the Globe generate at every opportunity I have with them . If you are trading Grains, ZS, ZW, KE, ZC, ZO, ZL, ZM monthly WASDE release dates , Planting Intentions and Weekly sales numbers are a few examples of reports that are released during trading hours that you need to be aware of, If you are trading Bonds, ZB Notes, ZN, Stock indices, S&P 500 ES, MES , Nasdaq 100 NQ, MNQ or trading any of the foreign currencies there are reports and Meetings that occur on a regimented basis that clearly impact your ability to manage risks to your satisfaction.. please, if you are new to this part of trading, don’t know where you can get this information readily, , there are services, Calendars and other resources your Broker can help you with. Just contact your Cannon Broker, She or He will be happy to share solid, respected sources so you don’t fall into a margin deficiency trap as a result of some unforeseen event that other traders were aware of and were able to plan accordingly to either become Flat, place appropriate stops, spread off the risk or utilize option strategies to avoid potential turmoil in your account.