Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

Soultrader

Currency Futures Question

Recommended Posts

Hello guys and gals,

 

I am complete newbie when it comes to Forex and currency futures. I decided to start watching a few pairs to get a hang of it and perhaps find some good opportunities in the near future to trade.

 

I have a few questions. First I would prefer to trade currency futures. What pairs are recommended and what are the symbols for Tradestation? I pulled up a Japanese Yen chart with the symbol @JY. On the cme website it states that 1 point is equivalent to $12.50 per contract. Would a move from 0.84 to 0.841 be equivalane to 10 points or $125.00 per contract? I noticed that the liquidit is extremely low for the @JY and just entering would lead to serious slippage.

 

Im starting off with simple observation and strategies using trendlines for perhaps a 1-3 day swing opportunity. (wont be trading them yet though) Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

yen.jpg.3459f939b02912815dee743a96e7730d.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The problem is that CME quotes the JPY/USD rate whereas if you were trading spot the quote is the USD/JPY rate. There's something called CME e-quivalents that converts it the other way round. It's a better idea to trade Euro or British Pound futures, especially if your trading hours are during US hours. They move in the same way as EUR/USD and GBP/USD although there will be a premium or discount if there is an interest rate differential. For Euro futures one pip is equal to $12.50 so if the price moves from 1.3050 to 1.3150 (that move would be a little bit more than the daily average true range) then you would win or lose $1250. British Pound futures are good because it's $5 a pip. The liquidity is reasonable between the London open and the New York close.

 

FX is especially sensitive to data releases and interest rate meetings but also great for swing trades lasting a few days or weeks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you for the reply notouch. I am looking to trade a pair during my Tokyo Hours. I prefer to focus on the eminis during the US hours. For currency futures traded on the CME, is the most liquidity found during US and London hours only? I prefer to trade something with minimal slippage.

 

Do you know the symbol for the British Pound futures? Thank you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

James, check out EURJPY, USDJPY, and GBPJPY. I trade the last one from time to time, but the main for me is GBPUSD. Tokyo hours offer decent volatility but better during Londond session, might fit your evening hours.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

CME British Pound Futures & Options

 

The GLOBEX symbol is 6B but I'm not sure that's what TradeStation would use. $6.25 per pip.

 

Definitely you wouldn't want to trade that during Tokyo hours - it moves within a very narrow range. I would be especially careful trading FX during the Tokyo session because it's usually very quiet - just Japanese exporters filling orders - but sometimes banks go on stop hunting sessions are there's a massive and unexpected move. USD/JPY is dominated by the carry trade so the trend is steadily upwards but sometimes the hedge funds will liquidate their carry trades causing a massive drop. Very risky business. Also consider the Australian and New Zealand Dollars which probably have more life at that time of day.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Torero,

 

I can't seem to find the right symbols for TS. I tried PJYH07 for the British Pound/Yen for TS but it is not giving me historical data.

 

I cant seem to find the USDJPY symbol as well. grrr... I hate being a newb.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  torero said:
James, check out EURJPY, USDJPY, and GBPJPY. I trade the last one from time to time, but the main for me is GBPUSD. Tokyo hours offer decent volatility but better during Londond session, might fit your evening hours.

 

The 0930 GMT economic releases out of the UK are the big market movers for GBP/USD. Also you'll notice some great patterns between the Frankfurt open (0700 GMT) and the London open (0800 GMT) which might be suitable for someone trading from Japan.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No slashes, put in daily chart first, just 6 letters. Stay away from the currency futures except for @EC. There's not enough volume when you need to get out at a reasonable price. Why trade a pseudo instrument when you can go straight to the source with volume at all times, the forex?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  torero said:
No slashes, put in daily chart first, just 6 letters. Stay away from the currency futures except for @EC. There's not enough volume when you need to get out at a reasonable price. Why trade a pseudo instrument when you can go straight to the source with volume at all times, the forex?

 

Okay so basically you recommend I stick with Forex and not currency futures? From my understanding Forex brokers charge free commision because they are ripping you off the spreads to begin with. Wouldnt currency futures provide me with a more equal level playing field?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Most forex brokers are bucketshops - including the one with TradeStation. Your order never makes it to the interbank market so they are not really brokers at all. They create their own little market based on interbank price feeds. Their business model is based on the fact that most of their clients lose so they're happy just to take the money of their clients. They're really just bookmakers. It's in their interest if you lose. The exceptions are Interactive Brokers' IdealPro, EFX Group, HotSpotFX and Currenex. There's plenty of liquidity in British Pound futures if you trade during London hours.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks notouch. I will look into the British Pound futures. Would it be possible to post a chart of it? I'm just having some serious issues finding the correct contract so would love to compare it with your charts.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you very much notouch. Looks like I found the right contract: symbol @BP.

 

At $6.25 a tick I can tolerate the potential risk. It seems to be somewhat in between the YM and ER in terms of volatility. What time zones is this contract most active in? You mentioned the London open... is this the most ideal time to be trading this?

 

Here is an interesting technical setup for the @BP.

bp.jpg.85a4f8bd0186dd2180ff150fcbe2f6e9.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Movement starts with the Frankfurt open at 0700 London time and really starts moving about 0800 with the London open. You see totally wild moves before and after UK economic releases at 0930 and then it calms down a bit after 1000 until the US traders are awake.

 

One very interesting technical set up is to look for a 0.618 retracement from the Frankfurt open to the next high or low. Look for a continuation of that after the London open. Also there's the "Big Ben" strategy which is just buying a breakout after the London open but that's never worked well for me. You need to keep your eye on a good economic calendar. Here's a good one:

 

Forex Calendar @ Forex Factory

 

Next big market mover is the Bank of England minutes on Wednesday.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very interesting notouch. The 50% fib retracement took place before the London open? Would you recommend this pair for intraday trades? That is quite a move in terms of P&L just in 1 hour. I am quite amazed. Also how many ticks do you normally use for a stop loss placement? Thanks

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I would put the stop above the Frankfurt high if you're going short. It doesn't always work but the risk:reward ratio is good. There aren't any official opens in the currency markets but yes it took place before the London equities open. 0720-0740 London time is often interesting. I prefer medium term swing trades but sometimes trade intraday. How about this for an amazing move: 150 pips in seconds. It followed the surprise Bank of England rate hike.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

wow... that is insanity. Im very used to calm contracts, I guess the currencies are extremely wild compared to contracts such as the dow minis.

 

That is one thing I will avoid 100% of the time.. trading before news. I prefer to rely more on the technicals.

 

Regarding the previous chart, a stop above the Frankfurt high is approx 15 pips? This is a very reasonable stop placement in terms of risk. ($93.75 per contract) A fair 1:3 or 1:4 risk reward ratio. Very interesting :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest FLX

I want to know if any one looked at the Eur/Chf from Friday.

This pattern is screaming falling price on the short term, and has bounced of the last support down and look like a good place to enter.

I have a sell signal for the day, and will try to position a trade on the break out, Price projection 90 pips or better at the break of support. Flx

 

 

The other one that is on my hot list is the USDCHF let me know what you think Please!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  Soultrader said:
wow... that is insanity. Im very used to calm contracts, I guess the currencies are extremely wild compared to contracts such as the dow minis.

 

That is one thing I will avoid 100% of the time.. trading before news. I prefer to rely more on the technicals.

 

Regarding the previous chart, a stop above the Frankfurt high is approx 15 pips? This is a very reasonable stop placement in terms of risk. ($93.75 per contract) A fair 1:3 or 1:4 risk reward ratio. Very interesting :)

 

Long term fibs are even more important than short term fibs for GBP/USD and the weekly pivot points are also important so you would take these things into account before placing your stop but a stop above 1.9550 would have been good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Soul, see my blog Forex News Trading Journal I have been trading forex and now much prefer currency futures as the forex bucket shops are unregulated and they have stop hunting software designed to take you out of trades. Most bucket shops take the other side of your trade so it is in their interest for you to fail, not so with futures. The two best instruments are the euro @EC and the british pound @BP. @EC has much more liquidity than the @BP but the @BP is still tradeable if you stay under 10-20 contracts, expect slippage if you go higher than that. Hope it helps, my blog shows you my entries and slippage I get, I have screenshots of TS charts and ToS.

 

The best times to trade are from 0700 - 1500 GMT.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Keymoo, sounds like you're using one of those nasty autoclick services. Which one, Felix, Dustin or Sanjay? I think they're all a rip-off because you can program one yourself in Excel which performs much more quickly. I don't trade that way anymore though. Too much hit and hope.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I use Safwan's, I think it's superb value as it is an institutional level feed which is quicker than any retail-level feed. I can often be in the trade within 1 second of the release, you wouldn't get that with a retail feed. One trade pays for a few months membership, I think it's amazing value - the software itself is superb. Felix's and Dustin's feeds are no good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's no such thing as "institutional level feed" or "retail feed". Safwan is such a BS merchant. You need access to Bloomberg or Reuters and you can be in a trade in less than a second if you a know a little bit of Excel VBA and Windows programming.

 

Also looking at your blog (which is nice by the way) you would get better fills straddling with tight stop-limit orders.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  notouch said:
Most forex brokers are bucketshops - including the one with TradeStation. Your order never makes it to the interbank market so they are not really brokers at all. They create their own little market based on interbank price feeds. Their business model is based on the fact that most of their clients lose so they're happy just to take the money of their clients. They're really just bookmakers. It's in their interest if you lose. The exceptions are Interactive Brokers' IdealPro, EFX Group, HotSpotFX and Currenex. There's plenty of liquidity in British Pound futures if you trade during London hours.

 

I currently trade with MBTrading, great customer support. It's the reason I don't trade through tradestation. I get signals from TS but I place all orders through MBT. Try the demo. EFX and MBT have the same platform btw.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Thx for reminding us... I don't bang that drum often enough anymore Another part for consideration is who that money initially went to...
    • TDUP ThredUp stock, watch for a top of range breakout above 2.94 at https://stockconsultant.com/?TDUP
    • How long does it take to receive HFM's withdrawal via Skrill? less than 24H?
    • My wife Robin just wanted some groceries.   Simple enough.   She parked the car for fifteen minutes, and returned to find a huge scratch on the side.   Someone keyed her car.   To be clear, this isn’t just any car.   It’s a Cybertruck—Elon Musk's stainless-steel spaceship on wheels. She bought it back in 2021, before Musk became everyone's favorite villain or savior.   Someone saw it parked in a grocery lot and felt compelled to carve their hatred directly into the metal.   That's what happens when you stand out.   Nobody keys a beige minivan.   When you're polarizing, you're impossible to ignore. But the irony is: the more attention something has, the harder it is to find the truth about it.   What’s Elon Musk really thinking? What are his plans? What will happen with DOGE? Is he deserving of all of this adoration and hate? Hard to say.   Ideas work the same way.   Take tariffs, for example.   Tariffs have become the Cybertrucks of economic policy. People either love them or hate them. Even if they don’t understand what they are and how they work. (Most don’t.)   That’s why, in my latest podcast (link below), I wanted to explore the “in-between” truth about tariffs.   And like Cybertrucks, I guess my thoughts on tariffs are polarizing.   Greg Gutfield mentioned me on Fox News. Harvard professors hate me now. (I wonder if they also key Cybertrucks?)   But before I show you what I think about tariffs… I have to mention something.   We’re Headed to Austin, Texas This weekend, my team and I are headed to Austin. By now, you should probably know why.   Yes, SXSW is happening. But my team and I are doing something I think is even better.   We’re putting on a FREE event on “Tech’s Turning Point.”   AI, quantum, biotech, crypto, and more—it’s all on the table.   Just now, we posted a special webpage with the agenda.   Click here to check it out and add it to your calendar.   The Truth About Tariffs People love to panic about tariffs causing inflation.   They wave around the ghost of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff from the Great Depression like it’s Exhibit A proving tariffs equal economic collapse.   But let me pop this myth:   Tariffs don’t cause inflation. And no, I'm not crazy (despite what angry professors from Harvard or Stanford might tweet at me).   Here's the deal.   Inflation isn’t when just a couple of things become pricier. It’s when your entire shopping basket—eggs, shirts, Netflix subscriptions, bananas, everything—starts costing more because your money’s worth less.   Inflation means your dollars aren’t stretching as far as they used to.   Take the 1800s.   For nearly a century, 97% of America’s revenue came from tariffs. Income tax? Didn’t exist. And guess what inflation was? Basically zero. Maybe 1% a year.   The economy was booming, and tariffs funded nearly everything. So, why do people suddenly think tariffs cause inflation today?   Tariffs are taxes on imports, yes, but prices are set by supply and demand—not tariffs.   Let me give you a simple example.   Imagine fancy potato chips from Canada cost $10, and a 20% tariff pushes that to $12. Everyone panics—prices rose! Inflation!   Nope.   If I only have $100 to spend and the price of my favorite chips goes up, I either stop buying chips or I buy, say, fewer newspapers.   If everyone stops buying newspapers because they’re overspending on chips, newspapers lower their prices or go out of business.   Overall spending stays the same, and inflation doesn’t budge.   Three quick scenarios:   We buy pricier chips, but fewer other things: Inflation unchanged. Manufacturers shift to the U.S. to avoid tariffs: Inflation unchanged (and more jobs here). We stop buying fancy chips: Prices drop again. Inflation? Still unchanged. The only thing that actually causes inflation is printing money.   Between 2020 and 2022 alone, 40% of all money ever created in history appeared overnight.   That’s why inflation shot up afterward—not because of tariffs.   Back to tariffs today.   Still No Inflation Unlike the infamous Smoot-Hawley blanket tariff (imagine Oprah handing out tariffs: "You get a tariff, and you get a tariff!"), today's tariffs are strategic.   Trump slapped tariffs on chips from Taiwan because we shouldn’t rely on a single foreign supplier for vital tech components—especially if that supplier might get invaded.   Now Taiwan Semiconductor is investing $100 billion in American manufacturing.   Strategic win, no inflation.   Then there’s Canada and Mexico—our friendly neighbors with weirdly huge tariffs on things like milk and butter (299% tariff on butter—really, Canada?).   Trump’s not blanketing everything with tariffs; he’s pressuring trade partners to lower theirs.   If they do, everybody wins. If they don’t, well, then we have a strategic trade chess game—but still no inflation.   In short, tariffs are about strategy, security, and fairness—not inflation.   Yes, blanket tariffs from the Great Depression era were dumb. Obviously. Today's targeted tariffs? Smart.   Listen to the whole podcast to hear why I think this.   And by the way, if you see a Cybertruck, don’t key it. Robin doesn’t care about your politics; she just likes her weird truck.   Maybe read a good book, relax, and leave cars alone.   (And yes, nobody keys Volkswagens, even though they were basically created by Hitler. Strange world we live in.) Source: https://altucherconfidential.com/posts/the-truth-about-tariffs-busting-the-inflation-myth    Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/       
    • No, not if you are comparing apples to apples. What we call “poor” is obviously a pretty high bar but if you’re talking about like a total homeless shambling skexie in like San Fran then, no. The U.S.A. in not particularly kind to you. It is not an abuse so much as it is a sad relatively minor consequence of our optimism and industriousness.   What you consider rich changes with circumstances obviously. If you are genuinely poor in the U.S.A., you experience a quirky hodgepodge of unhelpful and/or abstract extreme lavishnesses while also being alienated from your social support network. It’s about the same as being a refugee. For a fraction of the ‘kindness’ available to you in non bio-available form, you could have simply stayed closer to your people and been MUCH better off.   It’s just a quirk of how we run the place and our values; we are more worried about interfering with people’s liberty and natural inclination to do for themselves than we are about no bums left behind. It is a slightly hurtful position and we know it; we are just scared to death of socialism cancer and we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is.   So, if you’re a bum; you got 5G, the ER will spend like $1,000,000 on you over a hangnail but then kick you out as soon as you’re “stabilized”, the logistics are surpremely efficient, you have total unchecked freedom of speech, real-estate, motels, and jobs are all natural healthy markets in perfect competition, you got compulsory three ‘R’’s, your military owns the sky, sea, space, night, information-space, and has the best hairdos, you can fill out paper and get all the stuff up to and including a Ph.D. Pretty much everything a very generous, eager, flawless go-getter with five minutes to spare would think you might need.   It’s worse. Our whole society is competitive and we do NOT value or make any kumbaya exception. The last kumbaya types we had werr the Shakers and they literally went extinct. Pueblo peoples are still around but they kind of don’t count since they were here before us. So basically, if you’re poor in the U.S.A., you are automatically a loser and a deadbeat too. You will be treated as such by anybody not specifically either paid to deal with you or shysters selling bejesus, Amway, and drugs. Plus, it ain’t safe out there. Not everybody uses muhfreedoms to lift their truck, people be thugging and bums are very vulnerable here. The history of a large mobile workforce means nobody has a village to go home to. Source: https://askdaddy.quora.com/Are-the-poor-people-in-the-United-States-the-richest-poor-people-in-the-world-6   Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/ 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.