Anna-Maria

Oh god almighty. Leave you alone in here for 5 minutes.... Stick the cap back on that bottle of bourbon, pick up that water pale & go mop the corridor upstairs. Sorry folks, he's in mischievous mood beings it's a Friday.

He (Andre) just scans the wires every 60 seconds, sweeps up & supplies everyone with luke-warm, piss awful British tea torero.

You boy's got your 775, time for a smoke now ahead of our (U.S) inflation numbers. Yen Bulls getting repelled at those sub 100.75 stops for now. NY appetites might be a little juicy for those along with that batch atop 9850 on your Cable upline. See those French windbags cackling to the wires again this morning as EU blows thru 5875. Do they seriously suppose we're as stupid as them?? :o

You best watch your step cowboy, Jimmy has a buddy on here who just happens to pack a little (moderator) muscle!! Aint that right torero? He's equipped to fire your ass directly to the sin bin for a stretch if you go disrespecting his buddy in public :o Besides, that flip is still floating & registering profits, headed for his upper reaction level as we speak! See how this current hourly bar plays out on that ugly old Cable. You might have some more defending to do at the days lows yet mister!

Either the wolves or a severely confused Andre....that's if he can remember which pair he's supposed to be hammering :haha: Hey Cary, My brother informs me your buddy (Jack) is trading out of Hawaii these days? I assume he’s rolling FX? Is he being bankrolled by Frank Pooley’s outfit in Honolulu? Buk didn’t elaborate or say as much. Good for him, he must have caught Big Frankie on a good day. He’s a miserable son of a bitch at the best of times.

This zone (600-50) should put up the last real defense Andre. T'was a continuation step back in Feb & no doubt houses Option traffic. Would prefer a close beneath the round number to be honest, but any weak pop back towards the 680 will attract sellers if it's genuine. What's a few pips between pirates :o

The Kingdom aren't in such a bad state of health really torero. Both sets of economies (U.S & UK) are attempting to juggle & balance 2 very real threats to their respective forward book levels: Inflation & growth. Those twin conflicts will cause awful turbulence as one attempts to wrestle priority from the other. Trouble is, both rank as pretty major soothsayers. The credit crunch has simply magnified & added to the problem. Sure, UK has it’s internal conflicts to damp down, property valuations being one of them, but that was a balloon ready to deflate even a couple yrs back. It’ll re-calibrate itself & the Treasury will come through it relatively stable. In the meantime speculators will feed from the trough, which is exactly what they’re primed to do. The Chief Bank have got themselves a half decent management team in old Merv King & his merry gang of bandits. Currencies, as with most classes, find their own fair value levels. When the sterling is good & done flushing thru the pipe, it’ll let us know. Till then, ratchet it back & forth along it’s range boundaries & let the powers that be worry bout sailing the economic ship! There are some very clear & tradeable levels on the Pound (v/s the buck) to get stuck into. The volatility is also opening the ranges v/s other pairs too, as the respective economies blow-off against each other. All good food for the speculator & those prepared to cast their lines out

Hi torero, We got UK rates showing as midday London, EU as 12.45 London & the statement at 13.30 (as usual). Stateside Trade Balance/Unempl Claims are twinned alongside the Canadian Trade numbers, but that's the only dual print I got on my radar today.

That's a damn fine post DBPhoenix Your blog makes for good reading too.

I like your title, & your comments are obviously very personal & deep (to you), which is cool. There are many angles which folks use to work the markets & each angle is, & should be, unique to the individual. But to me, this game is all about one thing & one thing only…..turning a profit. I’m not here to get a fluffy feeling in my belly, learn to love myself or get all deep & meaningful….I’m here to bury the stiff who gets the wrong side of my next long-short pitch. If I crack off a 2mill Cable clip Wednesday a.m, & book the ride on the back of a 2 figure move into Friday p.m, then someone is $40k lighter to my account as I confirm the ticket with back-office admin. If I’m going to engineer those tickets on a consistent basis, I’m sure as hell going to ensure my minimum requirements (research…geography…set ups…triggers…contingencies etc) are drilled & water tight, & I mean water-tight. That’s what I call positive psychology I know exactly where my price is now I know exactly where I want to go I know what it will take for me to crack a trade off (set ups) I know what will lever me in (triggers) I know (more importantly) what will lever me out again if events turn sour I know what it will take for me to add to my position & when to fold my hand If you don’t got that type of game plan, then you’ve got yourself a potential psychology problem. Because someplace down the route, you’re going to hesitate & maybe 2nd guess. You do that, & you’re dead in the water. You think the successful hotshots out there are going to 2nd guess their game plans? These hustlers know the psychology of the masses inside & out, back to front. They know where on the ladder you’ll likely hesitate….they’ll know the likely hot spots on a move (the probable stop, profit & limit camps)….they’ll know who is likely stepping up to play a level & why….they’ll know who is likely to front run a b/o step & where they’ll get greased if the b/o gets faked…..they’ll run a level & if the level fades, they won’t think twice to stop & reverse the move on the spin of a dime if the flows are out of whack…. will you & do you know this stuff? They play a very uncomplicated game of psychology. They don’t really need to play it any other way to be honest, coz the majority of the pack out there make life hellishly complicated for themselves enough of the time. And these guy's (pro's) don't require second invitations to hustle your $$'s. Most of the real (negative psychology) issues out there have more to do with traders financial capitalization dockets, which in turn trigger the first stages of the fear cycle than anything else. Scared money wins nothing in this game…..& there’s a whole mountain of scared money churning these markets each & every day. And the old timers, savvy pro’s & hotshot gunslingers know it all too well.

LCG are a 2nd tier prime broker Sledge. They're a conduit into multi-bank portals. Have you contacted them to explore your options & requirements? You're going to need to speak to these characters (including any other engines) to get an idea of their offerings. They'll also want to guage the type of business you're looking to transact too, as commissions & costings will be directly dictated by the volumes you intend trunking.

Ok, cool & you're very welcome. Right, we've had more than enough of all this paperwork for one day, time to shut up shop & go slug a few beers Enjoy the extended w/end....

I think we’re talking at cross purposes here Sledge. The comments you highlighted above are in reference to individuals approaching investors or backers, not the requirements of brokers. Price providers don’t care what your strategy consists of, as long as you stump up the required (minimum) capital to trade & behave yourself. I believe Hotspot still operate a two tier entry grid. Last I heard an individual could leg in for $7.5k min. Take a snoop around their site for more info, I haven’t had occasion to look in there for a long time. http://www.hotspotfx.com/main.jsp http://www.hotspotfxi.com/ London Capital can lever you into various portals (incl Hotspot via a straight-thru link) dependant upon your stake, aims & variables. They cater for small to mid-sized specs as well as multi-outlet operators across several streams. Take a look around the site, make a few notes & maybe give them a call & explain your situation. My brother had dealings with a couple backers who dealt with them a while back – according to him, they spoke highly of the reps at the time. http://www.capitalforexpro.com/bankPortal.php I’m a little rusty on stuff which doesn't directly affect how & where we operate, so I'm not sure who else you could approach as an “independent” to be honest. Most of the next level price suppliers such as your Prime Brokers & low tiered Bank desks are geared more towards funds & firms. The houses we use only entertain well financed specs & high rollers who have substantial capital input. Anyhow, I hope some of this stuff assists in some small way. Let us know how you go on, & if Art (Krantz) can throw a log on the fire when he rolls in middle of next week, then I'm sure he'll let you know.

Good morning torero, :o We've got end of quarter meetings looming, so it's all hands on deck I'm afraid. The bars will have to wait till tomorrow & Sunday We had a fella approach our parents just last year via one of the suppliers we do business with. He had 3 years (live money) records + sound business (trade) plans behind him. He wasn't short on confidence that's for sure, which tipped the balance. It very much depends upon the individual torero. Most firms/investors will only talk to prospects who possess extremely strong & well defined (trading) structures. They know exactly what they want & how you should operate out there. They'll quickly close negotiations if a candidate fails to deliver robust risk & quantifiable presentation parameters. They can smell bullshit from afar. The better prepared you are, the more serious you'll be taken.

Now what would you know about my whereabouts & the kind of company I keep mister. I’ll have you know I’m more than adequately versed on the intricacies of the retail spot environment. Stop being so grouchy & mean spirited with these nice folks. Pay him no mind Mr Sledge, he’s just pissed coz he’s got to spend Good Friday ploughing through accounts & reports. His laziness is paying him an overdue visit :o torero offers a playable alternative if you’re looking to maintain an independent slant, rather than hook up with a fund or private money. I’d also highly recommend sticking your snout in the CME trough. In fact it wouldn’t do folks any harm to spread their funding base around & have an iron in each fire. I understand EFX are a tad on the heavy side with their commissions? maybe take a looksy at Hotspot & London Capital Group, who I believe offer a sample of Interbank access routes accommodating differing palates. I/we don’t have any front-end experience of any of them unfortunately, but I’m sure if you approach them & make yourself heard you’ll get any pertinent questions answered. Failing that, Andre does actually make a valid point regards hawking your CV down appropriate avenues if you can proof a solid track record & fight your corner whilst looking the money-men directly in the eye when they test your mettle. Sorry can't be of more assistance. I certainly hear you though regards the banana skin tactics of the retail shops. They really are distasteful characters of the highest order.

:o :o You know me better than that. Besides, Trichet's foot soldiers are conspicuous by their very absense (today). Ahhemmm (she clears her throat)....can I not count the 28 minutes (via a 1min frame) it got buffered & jostled before waving adios to 0100??? But yeah, 0220 carries the torch into the March action I'll give you that and that's about the only thing I'll give you this quarter buster!!

Always best to obey your instincts if they begin flashing warning signs. There's plenty of juice left to pick it up again at the next step. Liquidity is still flat out there torero (on Cable), pockets of early bird aggressive specs picked it up & ran with it at the Tokyo-London overlap as it brushed the near term supports. That + short covering ahead of the Fed looks to have shunted it to yesterdays highs. But traffic is light out there. Still, that's what thin markets will do when the psychology is fraught. Similar scenario on the Euro/Jap...Krantz earmarked the latecomers (bargain hunters) to that pair yesterday, with interest from 154.0 to Fridays lows (c155.0) where prices have stalled into NY. They bought the pullback nice & clean into early Tokyo after the stops had been probed & swept under 152.80. Obviously no sellers at work there, hence the green light to pitch it back. Positive Stateside equities, particularly financials, won't have harmed that journey none. Be interesting to see where they decide to run one or two of these pairs (Euro excluded) after the Fed gig. One or two heavyweight ECB chiefs on the wires today too upping the ante, along with lower tier Jap officials chattering up a dust storm.

Profit paring was in full flow Friday. Art was lightening up into Fridays strength, which tick boxed the late week double top slip. But sure, if you can book a little profit & hang fire then all well & good. The aggressive specs will be re-loading longs at this initial support line (9950), but studier core longs won't re-arm until we get a clearer view of this weeks shenanigans (including todays Fed gig). Our grid is marked out below. That supply-demand switch holds the defense at current levels. Decent stops now building all the way back to the stiffer defense at c9750. Yours (for varying reasons) might look slightly different, but the shaded area's will no doubt harbour sensitive activity on re-visits.

You just got your initial traffic light @ 9950 the solid upper tier range b/o line carried through from January. Layered stops rest underneath back to 9775-50 off the years solid 1.9400 support camp. I guess it'll be 2 way back to 775-50 as they attempt to defend the zone which turned that battle line from previous supply to demand on this leg.

Hey Abe, You’re certainly much closer to the real reason in your highlighted comments above. There’s a very clear level of supply up at 1.49. (4 hour) demand kicks in layered from 1.4520 back to the stronger base at 1.4350, very visible on that timeframe & playable via the smaller (gambling) timeframes if that’s your weapon of choice. So, you got your range boundaries right there. Price is changing hands inside this upper trend cushion at fair value & won’t get hoofed outside until the Fundamental bias says so. It will move when the psychology dictates & not before. Europe has it's own conflicting data to deal with, not to mention the jerky economic scenario spewing out of the U.S of late. Currencies are sensitive to the slightest little variable out there & will turn on a dime if threatened. As long as you have your boundaries from the higher timeframes to work with, you can drill down into your favored templates & pick prices off according to the conditions. I’d worry less about what some guy (one individual) is spouting off & more about the reactions to the (mass) psychology. After all, that's what drives & dictates prices.

There are many varied & diverse agenda's going on out there at every minor & major level torero. We're talking an awful lot of money swirling around, especially wired into the majors. You wouldn't believe the waves of activity which are kicked around on some of these pairs just on the back of the rumor mill. At any concievable moment you'll get a top tier player (or tiered movers & shakers) piling in at a pre-determined level to support a transaction being worked thru the books. They'll also be on the sniff at Option barriers, the European fix & the Asian-European overlap, when the real volumes begin to wind up for the day. That might be a sovereign entity or a 'shadow shop' (large house) drip feeding a wedge for a specific reason (customer). You also got fakers & faders constantly at work out there, particularly on & around close focus breakout levels. Aggressive short-term spec pods, both in- house (Bank) & outsource (hedge/cta/major firms) run amok at the big figures, & believe you me, these fella's will cane the numbers in substantial size for peanuts. Add to that the big fish soaking up all the spare cash off the large timeframe technicals, & you got yourself just a tiny snapshot of what goes on out there in the spot mkt in just one average session. If you were to magnify one simple zone of activity, be it a round number, big figure, key math zone, blah blah you'd unearth a mish mash of contradictory order flow (certainly 2 way in the most part) washing around the level. That's why I (& most of my colleagues) don't subscribe to all that marketeer/sales gimmick horseshit. There's far, far too much going on out there to categorize price flows to a certain sector of the marketplace. But if that's what folks choose to chew over & digest, then so be it. It's never unduly affected how we operate & it never will. But there are kids out there who will waste a whole lick of time & effort (not to mention $$'s) pouring over all that crud.

Well, I guess we're gonna have to agree to disagree on what determines the actual meaning & presence of this supposed "smart money" you talk so often of son. But, it's your party so I guess you'll believe what you want to believe. I got a couple hustlers peeping over my screens here at your graph calling it "late money" & "pump (risky) money"....but what do they know. What would you call the accumulation of the pullback wedge back yonder @ 1.4400 (twice) & the compound money @ the 1.4600 zone? Like I said, I don't give a whole sack of shit whose money it is....long as a fair % of it ends up in my satchel. Keep the breeze at your back

Howdy fella's. It will certainly be fun if Mr B & his hoppo's disappoint on the 50bps which the market appears to have baked in. You'd think by now that these so called smart money?? operators would have learnt their lessons by front running the fundamentals. Never ceases to amaze me the lengths to which (most) traders at these firms will go to in making life difficult for themselves. But then as we all know (Soc Gen etc) a good majority of them couldn't trade their way out of a paper bag if their life depended on it. Play to the rhythm of the market & wait for your Grade A set ups. Smart money?...dumb money?....who gives a crap - just take your share when your set up gives the green light

Sort of torero....he trades a seperate tranche of (private) money for some of my Parents colleagues, but he shares our space. Can't recall which thread this pairs chart was posted on previously, but it's continuing to honor it's s&r zones pretty religiously. Further bullish behaviour focuses that dual zone up yonder @ 2.3360-90, which also houses each-way activity (on the daily) from 4th quarter 06/1st quarter 07. Clear lower supports to catch it on contra visits. Nice, sharp bounce this week though off that beaut of a flip @ 2810.

The (Yen) shorters will be travelling light off these lower levels I'd imagine. Can't see too much rollover positioning until 111.70 gives way. Yen Bulls safe until that zone comes into view. The juicier money (stops) definitely reside atop there. Remains to be seen how aggressive this zone underneath the lower high (to 111.50ish) becomes. Agree with Art re: siding with gbp & eur v/s Yen.