Obsidian

try/jpy 2.2 pips spread...hmm I should check this pair more often...

that is right. sometimes such softwares come up with very funny results. since there are lots of instruments to watch and it is impossible to pay attention all the time, you want to use them not to miss opportunities...but check it carefully, manually before making any decisions

do not enter a trade without a solid reason and do not close that position without a solid reason leverage may hit harder than Muhammad Ali Clay if you are staying on the wrong side of the market instead of trying to find the top or the bottom, buy a lottery ticket

I wonder if Papandreou will be elected again...

finally hit 1670. don't know what will happen next. at this point have to wait and see... is full moon near?

Summary of open orders and positions:

another similar price movement:

you should trade long enough to experience different market conditions

Summary of open orders and positions:

welcome to the TL community!

also keep in mind that candlesticks are more reliable on long-term frames...

if you are not a U.S. citizen or conducting that business in the U.S., you have nothing to do with nfa/ctfc but the laws of your country still apply:roll eyes:

I was planning a short trip to waterfalls but it is a rainy day and stuck at home...found this while surfing http://arikiev.com/arikievpodcast.php

Speculative Investors Aggressively Betting On More Pound's Gains -CFTC Speculative traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange aggressively bet on the UK pound to continue its recent bullish trend, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday. Traders held a net $760 million long GBP position or bets that the pound will rise as of Tuesday, according to the CFTC's weekly commitment of traders report. That is a dramatic shift from being a net seller of the currency for the last 8 months, but it comes in line with the recent pound rally following the MPC minutes last Wednesday which showed BoE policy maker Adam Posen dropping his call for an additional QE. Since then going long on the pound has been one of the most favorite calls by market participants especially against the euro. "Short-EUR/GBP is increasingly seen as the new short-EUR proxy trade," said Citi bank in a note. Traders also added heavily to their open CAD and CHF positions as they increased their open long CHF and CAD positions from a week earlier by 22% and 17% respectively. That is also seen as an expected outcome giving the series of statements by BoC governor Mark Carney on the possible necessity for a near-term rate hike, and the repeated assertions by SNB president Thomas Jordan that the bank will continue to defend the EUR/CHF floor. CFTC's data also showed that traders slightly decreased their open short euro position by 4% from a week earlier to reach a net of $18.7 billion. They also decreased their short yen position by the same percentage to reach a net of $8.6 billion, the data showed.

Greece was not ready for euro admits ex Bundesbank head Greece should not have joined the euro, a former head of the German central bank, who was central to eurozone policymaking at the time, has said. But Ernst Welteke, who was Bundesbank president from 1999-2004, told the BBC that none of the eurozone's problems would be solved if Greece left...."We can say that Greece should not have joined the EMU, but that doesn't help." (you can read rest of the story here: BBC News - Greece was not ready for euro admits ex Bundesbank head) Didn't they know this when they let Greece to cheat on balance sheets to get in? Euro experiment is going on while they destroy lives of millions...

Looks like Francois Hollande will replace Sarkozy next Sunday...He keeps saying he is againt Germany to decide for the rest of EZ...If that happens, what do you think will change?

If you want to register as a CPO or CTA with the CFTC/NFA: CFTC/NFA registration Commodity Pool Operator (“CPO”) A CPO is an individual or organization which operates or solicits funds for a commodity pool (i.e., an enterprise in which funds contributed by a number of persons are combined for the purpose of trading futures contracts, options on futures, or retail off-exchange forex contracts, or to invest in another commodity pool). A CPO must register with the CFTC and become a member of the NFA unless an exemption from registration is available. Private funds will typically rely on either the CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(3) exemption, which is available to funds that engage in limited futures activity, or the CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(4) exemption, which is available to funds in which all investors are certain categories of “qualified eligible persons.” CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(3). A private fund will be exempt from registration under CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(3) only if it limits its futures positions so as to satisfy one of the following two tests: The aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish such positions, determined at the time the most recent position was established, will not exceed 5 percent of the liquidation value of the fund's portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions it has entered into; or The aggregate net notional value of such positions, determined at the time the most recent position was established, does not exceed 100 percent of the liquidation value of the fund's portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions it has entered into. CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(4). A private fund seeking to rely on the CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(4) exemption must generally ensure that (i) all natural person investors are certain types of “qualified eligible persons” and (ii) all institutional investors are “accredited investors.” Commodity Trading Advisor (“CTA”) A CTA is an individual or organization which, for compensation or profit, advises others as to the value of or the advisability of buying or selling futures contracts, options on futures, or retail off-exchange forex contracts. A CTA will be exempt from registration if: it is registered as a CPO and its commodity trading advice is directed solely to, and for the sole use of, the pool or pools for which it is so registered; it is exempt from registration as a CPO and its commodity trading advice is directed solely to, and for the sole use of, the pool or pools for which it is so exempt; or during the course of the preceding 12 months, it has not furnished commodity trading advice to more than 15 persons and it does not hold itself out generally to the public as a CTA. How do I register as a CPO or CTA with the CFTC/NFA? Commodity Pool Operator (“CPO”) A CPO registers with the CFTC and becomes a member of the NFA by filing the following:: A completed online Form 7-R An application fee of $200.00 CPO Membership Dues of $750.00 A CPO is required to file the following in relation to its “principals” and “associated persons”: A completed online Form 8-R Fingerprint cards A Principal Application Fee of $85.00 An Associated Person Application Fee of $85.00 Principals and associated persons of a CPO are generally required to have passed the Series 3 National Commodity Futures Examination. Commodity Trading Advisor (“CTA”) A CTA registers with the CFTC and becomes a member of the NFA by filing the following: A completed online Form 7-R An application fee of $200.00 CTA Membership Dues, if applicable, of $750.00 A CTA is required to file the following in relation to its “principals” and “associated persons”: A completed online Form 8-R Fingerprint cards A Principal Application Fee of $85.00 An Associated Person Application Fee of $85.00 Principals and associated persons of a CTA are generally required to have passed the Series 3 National Commodity Futures Examination.

maybe you can put this on the background...

I think most of fore traders have a common cycle in the market. First you are charmed by the idea that you can make money while sitting in front of your computer. You start with a demo account, buy when price goes up, sell when price goes down. Probably everything seems perfect in first couple of weeks. You decide to open a real account.... Meanwhile you discover that there are many indicators to tell you what to do. Your charts become full of indicators, you can barely see because there is no space left on the chart. You open a position with real money and things start to get harder. Sometimes you close trades with little profits while you could have closed it earlier and gained 150+ pips. Since you don’t have certain rules and strategy, your account starts to melt due to different market conditions. Some people realize that there are other factors such as "money management" and "trading psychology"... At this point you start to search forums, web sites to tell you what to do. Finally you blow another account and blame others for their bad calls. Next you search for profitable expert advisors to run on your computer. Of course, you get the same result. Now you have 2 choices: Either you are going to accept that trading is a serious business and technical analysis is a science (and spend months-years to learn) Or you are going to quit and move on... Anyone can trade does not mean they should...We can't be good at anything we want. This is not something to be ashamed of...

my trades are mainly based on formations-patterns-trend lines. I do not think this concept will ever die. of course paying attention to when and where these patterns occur is crucial as well...

2 year & 10 year treasury notes:

Weekly charts: EUR-GBP-CHF-CAD-JPY-Gold-Silver

haha zdo, cryptic, probably right I could use "stress" but I said "fear and hope" for a reason because I think the most common problem is: -it is hope that forces trades to hold on to loser trades -it is fear that forces traders to get out of trades too early

Being prepared, having extra plans increase our profit chance. During my first couple of years I remember I did stupid things due panic, fear or hope. waited too long to take profit or cut the loss. or I exited too early and missed nice opportunities... Since then I spend some time on the charts during weekends to search and mark trend lines formations, s/r lines etc. I think about possible targets if things happen as I thought. This is the easy part I think. What if I am wrong plan takes more time to think... is every day a new market? I think the scenarios are the same, just different actors and scenes

is it fear or hope which causes problems? when the trade goes against you, -do you fear it is not coming back? or -do you hope it will come back?