Dollar Appreciates on Better Economic News

The U.S. dollar continued to gain today after the yesterday’s rather significant rally as the speculations that the world’s biggest economy is soon to leave its recession period arise.

The dollar grew against the euro and the British pound today, while being almost unchanged versus the Japanese yen. Yesterday, after the fundamental indicator news were released along with some corporate reports, the U.S. dollar advanced against all major currencies that are traded on Forex. The overall picture is definitely improving for the United States.

A somewhat unique flavor of the current situation lies in the fact that the dollar gains on good U.S. news, whereas previously good fundamentals from U.S. were benefiting only for their stock market and were very negative for the dollar. It looks like the traders now need to buy the greenback not only to get into a «safe haven» (and U.S. looks extremely safe comparing to other big economies) but also to buy the U.S. stocks, which promise huge earnings to the greedy investors that have enough courage to enter the market today.

The currency analysts point at the banks’ Q1 2009 reports (Wells Fargo’s being most prominent) as the main moving factor for the dollar. The say that more investors would want to buy dollar to use for the entry into the U.S. private financial system.

EUR/USD fell from 1.3156 to 1.3142 as of 11:05 GMT today after reaching as low as 1.3088 earlier — the minimum level since March 18. GBP/USD declined from 1.4670 to 1.4611, whole USD/JPY remains virtually unchanged near its 100.40 open level.

Aussie and Kiwi Gain as Risks Decrease

The currencies of Australia and New Zealand advanced against the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar on the Forex market today as the traders clearly favored risk-ridden high-yielding assets despite the mixed stock trading session results in Asia.

The growth of the high-yielding currencies was spurred mainly by the decline of the Japanese yen, which was clearly overbought during the last week. The gains in both Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges were quite moderate. Nevertheless, the Australian dollar managed to reach a new high level since October 2008 against the yen.

The analysts believe that as long as the U.S. banks continue to report good results for the first quarter of this year, the risk-averting trends will continue to decline on the currency market. The yen is likely to fall further, while such currencies as the Australian and New Zealand dollar are going to gain from these fundamental developments, albeit in a short to medium term.

AUD/JPY rose from 72.45 to 72.85 as of 9:52 GMT today after reaching as high as 72.99 earlier — the maximum since October 14, 2008. NZD/JPY wen up from 58.75 to 58.96; AUD/USD advanced from 0.7217 to 0.7238; NZD/USD increased from 0.5853 to 0.5858, while AUD/NZD rose from 1.2315 to 1.2342.

PIPBOXER + GRIDBOXER ONLY $999

This is the best deal I’ve seen come accross from the folks over at Investtech, makers of Pip Boxer and Grid Boxer EA’s for Mt4. These EA’s help identify logical ranges based on statistical volatility. You can buy these EA’s for one currency at a time, OR, buy the complete package. Well, until March 15, 2009, you can receive the entire package of both GridBoxer and PipBoxer at 63% off the original price.

There was a time I just could not afford this package let alone a multitude of these EA’s individually. Now, I can totally afford this, since I made at least 380 pips this month alone, I can afford purchasing Pip Boxer and making even more pips on AUTO PILOT! It’s sad that the sale ends March 15, so get your copy TODAY before it’s too late.

I had a chance a year ago to try out Pip Boxer, I paid for a demo, $5 or $10, and it really did work. My only concern was I didn’t have enough money to actually buy these EA’s individually or in a package. I could never decide which EA to get for what pair, which is my own personal problem of failing to make a committment, ask my ex-girlfriends. But in all seriousness, I just have enough to actually purchase PipBoxer and GridBoxer in a package deal for $999 (a savings of over $1700).

How I plan on using PipBoxer and Gridboxer is to set them up on at least 10 different currencies accross 10 different charts for a few weeks on demo mode. I would like to see which system works the best with the settings Investtech recommends, then, finely tune it to my own style of trading with respect to money management, logical stops, and pivot points, which the software does not take into account. PipBoxer isn’t the be all end all system, but it really takes alot of the guesswork out of trying to find out where a good entry and exit is, not where it “might” be. This EA can help you trade live, or just give you alerts, but this can be considered an automated forex bot/ system.

You won’t find PipBoxer or Gridboxer free anywhere on any sharing sites, each copy is activated one by one ensuring the integrity of your investment.

My Final Forex Killer Review

Well, it’s not much of a review, rather than a final comment on why this software really isn’t worth your time. Like I’ve said many times, Forex Killer works just fine, but there are other things out there to help you trade that are much more worth your time and in some instances free of cost to you.

I decided to make this post because I still see a large portion of my visitors searching for Forex Killer in some way shape or form. Most people ask, Is Forex Killer a Scam? Well, I do believe Forex Killer does exactly what it says it does. But perhaps it shifts focus off of a trader’s inherent responsibility to actually learn how to trade, with promises to make you rich simply and without stress. I’ve come to appreciate a healthy amount of stress while trading, careful to not get too comfortable in any one method, following any one indicator, or any one signal provider. The market is always changing, evolving perhaps, adapting definitely, so what works one day may not work the next.

While it’s not necessary for a forex trader to be “aggressive” in his trading style, I believe just trading with Forex Killer in one’s system is not proactive enough to make “a killing” like the software promises. The whole idea of cutting and pasting the last X amount of closing prices then calculating which way the trend is can easily be found in a number of different indicators and methods. Seeing recently what TopGun Software can compute and graphically present, for instance, their one of a kind FX Multimap can instantly show you the strength of a pair or an individual currency vs all other currencies. Flips of this Multimap from red to green usually indicator a change of direction or resumption of a previous upward trend. Either way, weakness is disappearing and strength is continuing and this is shown to you in an instant and you did nothing except add this indicator to your chart. Another great thing about Topgun is the recent Narrow Range Breakout Script that intuitively adds lines above and below the levels of important ranges. Used in concert with flips of FX MultiMaps from green to red or red to green, a successful trade becomes all the more likely. Forex Killer could NEVER give you such amazingly simple indications of when to enter a trade. Exiting a trade is just as simple if you just add a trailing chandelier stop. It’s hard to do much of anything with Forex Killer except identify how likely a trade is to go up, but if you took any sort of Forex education, you’d probably hear at some point that you ought not trade on what you think “might” happen, rather, trade based on what you see is happening. TopGun has scores of other indicators I am just learning about, so I’ll keep you updated on this software of the next few months.

The only downside to TopGun Software is that it costs approximately $250 per month to pay for E-Signal feeds and the software itself (free if you sign up for FXCM under TopGun as an Introducing Broker Client).

That is just one big “for instance” when looking for alternatives to programs such as FOREX KILLER. Not much else to say except there is undoubtedly many things better than Forex Killer in the world today.

FOREX KILLER EA?

The Zink Killer EA is this Expert Adviser for Meta Trader 4 that was programmed by a guy known only to me as “ZINK” that was on a Forex Forums somewhere. It interested me because it was touted to be the AUTOMATIC VERSION OF FOREX KILLER. From the moment I tried Forex Killer I wanted to see if it was possible to make this a completely automated Forex system, cutting out many extra steps that waste time before entering a trade.

He had anyone interested email him for the demo version of the Zink Killer EA, which I did, and it worked pretty well for a while. In fact, the EA, with the right settings, turned out to be profitable more than not. It did get me into some losing trades, which I chalked up to relying to heavily upon the EA entering trades automatically, with little to no logical intervention on my part that might keep me out of a bad trade.

Long story short, the Zink Killer EA stopped working after a few months, the demo must have expired. When trying to find him to get a full version, I never got a reply. There is no Zink Killer website or anything so I am at a loss.

As you can see it was customizable with Trailing Stop, Lot Size, Stop loss, and a few others. I really enjoyed testing this out and want to try it with a few dollars in a small account somewhere. So if Zink comes to this blog, let me know what’s up with Zink Killer, is it discontinued? Is it available? Thanks bud.

New Broker for the List — Wall Street Brokers

Wall Street Brokers is the new on-line Forex brokerage company that was added to the Forex broker list on my site today. It’s a somewhat strange broker that is registered in the United States but isn’t regulated by any institution there. It went on-line in 2008. Other highlights of this broker:

• Forex, CFD, gold, silver, oil and futures trading
• Credit card, Moneybookers or wire transfer for deposits and withdrawals
• Automated trading with signals subscriptions (at a cost of 1 pip per trade)
• 3 pips spreads
• Micro accounts from $10 and 1:500 leverage
• Muslim-friendly accounts (actually ALL accounts bear no overnight interest)

Not So Squeezy Trading Manual and Indicators Package

Today I uploaded a trading strategy manual and the corresponding MetaTrader indicators for the Not So Squeezy Forex strategy. The manual is a 21-page long ebook that describes the method of the strategy and the indicators that are required for it. It’s not a very complex strategy and I can even recommend it for the newbies traders. The indicators package consists of the the required indicators plus some extra that might be useful for the advanced traders (they may wish to modify the strategy).

Forex Technical Analysis for 04/13—04/17 Week

EUR/USD trend: sell.
GBP/USD trend: sell.
USD/JPY trend: hold.
EUR/JPY trend: sell.

Floor Pivot Points
Pair	3rd Sup	2nd Sup	1st Sup	Pivot	1st Res	2nd Res	3rd Res
EUR/USD	1.2497	1.2793	1.2990	1.3286	1.3483	1.3779	1.3977
GBP/USD	1.4132	1.4356	1.4511	1.4734	1.4889	1.5113	1.5268
USD/JPY	97.09	98.20	99.22	100.33	101.34	102.45	103.47
EUR/JPY	123.18	127.06	129.63	133.52	136.09	139.97	142.54

Woodie’s Pivot Points
Pair	2nd Sup	1st Sup	Pivot	1st Res	2nd Res
EUR/USD	1.2768	1.2941	1.3261	1.3434	1.3755
GBP/USD	1.4339	1.4477	1.4717	1.4855	1.5096
USD/JPY	98.18	99.17	100.30	101.30	102.43
EUR/JPY	126.73	128.97	133.19	135.43	139.64

Camarilla Pivot Points
Pair	4th Sup	3rd Sup	2nd Sup	1st Sup	1st Res	2nd Res	3rd Res	4th Res
EUR/USD	1.2916	1.3052	1.3097	1.3142	1.3233	1.3278	1.3323	1.3459
GBP/USD	1.4458	1.4562	1.4596	1.4631	1.4700	1.4735	1.4770	1.4874
USD/JPY	99.06	99.65	99.84	100.04	100.43	100.62	100.82	101.40
EUR/JPY	128.65	130.43	131.02	131.61	132.79	133.39	133.98	135.75

Tom DeMark’s Pivot Points
Pair	EUR/USD	GBP/USD	USD/JPY	EUR/JPY
Resistance	1.3385	1.5001	100.84	134.80
Support	1.2891	1.4623	98.71	128.35

Fibonacci Retracement Levels
Pairs	EUR/USD	GBP/USD	USD/JPY	EUR/JPY
100.0%	1.3582	1.4958	101.44	137.40
61.8%	1.3394	1.4813	100.62	134.94
50.0%	1.3335	1.4769	100.37	134.17
38.2%	1.3277	1.4724	100.12	133.41
23.6%	1.3205	1.4669	99.81	132.47
0.0%	1.3089	1.4580	99.31	130.95

New York Session - April 13, 2009 4:19 PM

The lack of top-tier economic events in the NY session had the market trading on technicals. US stocks managed to eke out a modest rally after a rollercoaster of a day that saw equities down as much as -1.3% and as high as +1.0%. Financials surged +4.8% on the day as hope springs eternal that most 1Q bank earnings will surprise to the upside. Gold maintained earlier gains and was sitting near 893/894 ahead of the NY close. The 100-day SMA sits at 884/885 and a close above that area looks constructive for the precious metal. Full text »

Trading Ranges and the FX Market

Using trading ranges in your forex trading strategy

When determining forex trading strategy, it can be helpful to look at the trading ranges experienced by some currency pairs. Wider ranges indicate higher volatility and lower ranges indicate something a little less risky.

It is important, however, to remember that forex trading in general is a rather risky form of investing. GFT’s Kathy Lien offers this insight, via FX360, on using trading ranges in your forex trading strategy:

Being aware of the average daily trading range of each currency pair can help you set stops more appropriately and hopefully increase your selectivity of trades. A 100 pip move in GBP/AUD for example can happen in a blink of an eye and because of that, you could be stopped out on just a minor fluctuation only to see the currency pair move back in your desired direction. It can also help set more realistic expectations. A 100 pip move in your desired direction in EUR/GBP could take days while a similar move in EUR/NZD could take minutes.

Canadian Dollar Gains Against U.S. Dollar in Currency Trading

Loonie advances in forex trading

The loonie is advancing in forex trading on the currency market. The U.S. dollar is struggling today in currency trading, and that is giving the Canadian dollar a chance to make up a lot of lost ground.

Because it is so dependent upon commodities, the Canadian dollar has dropped in currency trading as the market for resources and goods has dried up in response to the global recession. Now, however, there is hope that the economic slowdown may be coming to an end and that commodities may soon be back in demand.

However, the loonie lost so much in forex trading to the greenback that it will take quite a bit of time to catch up. Plus, economic data isn’t helping the cause for the Canadian dollar, meaning that it has a ways to go before it approaches parity with the U.S. dollar, as it did in mid-2008.

President Obama Says Economic Stimulus Under Budget

Transportation projects come in under estimates

President Obama says that the transportation projects meant to receive funding under the recently passed economic stimulus bill are coming in under budget. This is good news he points, out, adding that it means more economic stimulus dollars for other projects. MarketWatch reports on some of the economic stimulus areas seeing savings:

Obama noted that Oregon in February and March reported that infrastructure projects have averaged are 30% below what the state had originally budgeted. He also pointed out that competitive bids for a road project in Louisiana brought in a winning offer that was .7 million less than the state had budgeted for the project.

"As a result we have more recovery dollars to go around," Obama said.

This news is likely to help speed up optimism in terms of the chances of economic recovery. It will be interesting how financial markets take this news. It may not help the dollar much — promoting risk appetite and sending other currencies higher — but it should help the stock market.

U.S. Dollar Forex Trading Forecast

Greenback likely to remain higher against the Japanese yen

While both the dollar and the yen are down against other currencies in forex trading, the greenback maintains the upper hand in the USD/JPY pair. Indeed, the dollar has gained quite a bit in recent weeks against the yen.

The U.S. dollar forex trading forecast should be interesting in coming weeks. How the greenback does against an array of currencies is mainly dependent upon how the global economy is doing. Whether or not the global recession begins to recede will have a big impact on the U.S. dollar forex trading forecast.

For now, though, it appears that the greenback will remain strong against the yen this week. How it does against the euro in forex trading remains to be seen, but at the moment the euro has the upper hand.

U.S. Dollar, Japanese Yen Lower in Currency Trading

Risk appetite present on FX market, despite lower equities

The U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen are both lower in currency trading on the FX market. Even with equities moving lower today (after a three-day weekend in the U.S.), risk appetite seems to be present in forex trading right now.

The greenback gained against the euro in forex trading last week, but now the tables have turned. The U.S. dollar is down as optimism with regard to the global economy begins to return. The Japanese yen is falling in currency trading for much the same reason.

With economic stimulus measures in places around the world, there is hope that the recession may soon start to reverse. Especially helpful today has been reports of China’s output. Additionally, higher-yielding currencies are in favor due to the risk appetite situation. With the euro zone maintaining something other than a rate that is effectively zero, that helps.

The Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar are also both gaining against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen in currency trading.

London Session - April 13, 2009 8:38 AM

The London session was extremely quiet as the Easter holiday slows things down substantially across the pond. Equity marts were closed and notable economic data was non-existent, to boot. This made for some fireworks as soon as the NY session rolled in. Full text »

Asia Session - April 13, 2009 1:35 AM

With many traders still enjoying the Easter holiday weekend the action in Asia was subdued at best, with small ranges and not much commentary to go along with it. USD/JPY was mired in a range of about 28 pips all session, bouncing between 100.23 and 100.50 for a high, with Friday’s announcement of a third stimulus package for Japan did not carry any elation over the weekend. EUR/USD dropped off of 1.3190 highs early on in the session as traders still look at the recovery in the US as hopefully long lasting, sliding to a 1.3116 low, dragging EUR/JPY with it. The Euro then spent the rest of the session climbing back to 1.3175 by session’s end. Once the holiday weekend is brushed off the focus is on financial institution earning that are due in the US this week. The moves of the day went to the Aussie Dollar, and with Australia out on holiday the thinned market took the pair to the extremes, dragging all the Aussie crosses around with it. AUD/USD opened almost 80 pips higher and hit its 0.7278 high out of the open gate, but stops triggered the downward move to 0.7205 within minutes. The pair hit a 0.7185 low before grinding back to 0.7230 by Europe’s open. Don’t expect much out of the Europe session today as the entire region is out for Easter Monday. Full text »

04/12/2009 - Divergences continue in risk sentiment indicators

* Divergences continue in risk sentiment indicators
* Important price levels to watch
* EUR fails to follow risk trades as quantitative easing looms
* Key data and events to watch next week

The great debate continues: Have we hit bottom in stocks and risk sentiment, or is this just another bear market rally? Currencies continue to give off mixed signals, but largely FX and gold are not buying into the notion that the worst is over. Despite stocks gaining further ground, which recently has been correlated to USD weakness, the USD index posted a solid gain for the week. In technical terms, it posted a bullish engulfing line on weekly candles and rose above the daily Tenkan line, suggesting further gains may lie ahead. But the USD index is heavily weighted toward Europe (77.3%), and USD index strength may just be a reflection of increasing EUR negatives (see below). More broadly, this past week saw general erosion in the G3 currencies (US, Europe/UK, and Japan) against all others. That weakness in turn belies the ongoing nature of the contraction in the leading consumption economies, which quite simply keeps the global trajectory pointed lower. As for gold, price fell sharply over most of March and early April as stocks rose, which is what the risk aversion correlation would suggest. But gold stabilized and recovered in this past week, even as stocks, and ostensibly sentiment, gained further ground. Full text »

Forex Training: Technical Analysis

Using technical analysis to develop a forex trading strategy

One of the ways to increase your chances of success in forex trading is to develop a strategy. One way that you can develop a currency trading strategy is to use technical analysis to determine when to enter or exit a trade.

Technical analysis

Technical analysis is basically the study of charts. You use this method to study what currency prices are doing, and to determine whether one currency is more likely to rise or fall against another. It is based on current and past performances.

You can use technical analysis by drawing trend lines on charts, and by using such techniques as Elliott Wave and Fibonacci to decide when and where to enter or exit a trade. When you develop a forex trading strategy based on the charts (hard data that shows what the currencies are doing), and stick with it, you are more likely to post earnings on a regular basis. Of course, there is no full-proof way to profits, and you are just as likely to lose. A strategy on helps you increase your chances.

Sterling Rangebound in Currency Trading

U.K. pound lower against the U.S. dollar in FX trading

Even though the U.K. pound is lower against the U.S. dollar in FX trading, it isn’t that much lower. Actually, it appears as thought the sterling has settled into a rather wide range in currency trading. FX Street reports on the range expected of the U.K. pound:

"Initial resistance stands at 1.4683 but real test (triple top and upper limit of current range) comes at 1.4778." Said Peter Rosentreich, analyst at ACM - Advanced Currency Markets. On the downside, he expects crucial levels are 1.4620 (recent low) and more importantly a strong floor at 1.4583.

Even so, the U.S. dollar is heavily favored right now in FX trading – and for good reason. Indicators are that the U.S. economy is improving, while the British economy continues to languish. Until the British economy starts to see some improvement, sterling is likely to remain down in currency trading.

U.S. Dollar Gains in Forex Trading

Greenback moves ahead in currency trading

The U.S. dollar is gaining in forex trading this morning on the news that the U.S. economy is improving. Earnings reports yesterday, especially from Wells Fargo and other financial institutions, are spurring optimism.

Indeed, it’s an interesting dynamic today in currency trading on the FX market. Even though risk appetite has improved, the greenback is gaining. Recently, the U.S. dollar has been benefiting from its status as a safe haven currency.

However, it is possible that forex traders are more comfortable with the U.S. dollar right now because the economy is showing signs of improvement while other economies — especially the euro zone economy — continue to show weakness. The euro is struggling in forex trading on economic weakness.

Until other economies start to show strength, the U.S. dollar will probably be preferred in forex trading. The underlying fundamentals (like national debt) are not terribly important right now while it appears that things are strengthening for the U.S. on the surface.

Euro Weakens in Currency Trading

Quantitative easing fears sends euro lower in forex trading

Yesterday, the euro was largely rangebound in forex trading on the currency market. Today, though, the euro is moving lower. With concerns over the direction the European Central Bank will be forced to take, it is little surprise that the euro is struggling in currency trading.

Right now, the main concern is that the ECB will be forced into quantitative easing. European leaders have been slow to engage in aggressive economic stimulus, and they have also lowered interest slowly and grudgingly. However, speculation is circulating that the ECB will have little choice in the immediate future.

The euro zone economy continues to weaken, and it appears that the staid efforts up to this point have not been as effective as leaders would like. As a result, the euro is being punished in forex trading, and there is a good chance it will continue with its losses until more aggressive economic stimulus measures are adopted.

Forex Avenger - My Honest Review

Forex Avenger is another new forex system to come onto the market. There was an awful lot of hype surrounding this one so I decided that I would actually buy Forex Avenger and see if it's any good or not. So here's my full and honest review:

First of all I have to say that the sales page really made me cringe. There's a lot of nonsense about the forex industry labelling this astonishing discovery “The Next Big Thing” and a video which is so full of hype it's embarrassing. It's the kind of sales hype you expect to hear on one of those awful shopping channels, which is a shame because the actual forex system is in fact very impressive.

After buying the product you are given access to the download page which contains the Forex Avenger system ebook detailing the entire system as well as all the accompanying videos which show the system in action.

The first thing I did was to read the ebook because I was anxious to see what the system actually was and how effective it might be. The ebook is 87 pages long but the first 50 pages or so is spent explaining the basics of forex trading which is fine and I would imagine quite useful information for forex newbies, but for experienced traders like myself it was basically stuff I already knew.

The rest of the ebook explains the actual system in great detail. I have to admit when I first saw the indicators that were employed by the Forex Avenger system, my heart sank slightly because these are the same basic indicators that a lot of forex traders use. However once I saw the mechanics of the system I was actually incredibly impressed by the results it produced.

David Curran, the creator of Forex Avenger, actually provides you with the three forex systems that he uses himself to trade the markets. The first one is the bread and butter system. It trades the EUR/USD pair on the 1 hour chart and targets 30 points profit from each trade with a stop loss of no more than 50 points. This may not sound like an ideal system but it does seem to have a very high success rate which means it still generates very healthy profits in the long run with very few losing trades.

To show you how profitable this system is, let me give you the full backtested results for the EUR/USD pair based on the 1 hour chart (which is the recommended time frame) for the month of October. This is every single trade that was triggered for this month up to now using this system.

October 7: +30
October 8: +60
October 9: +30
October 13: +60
October 14: -50
October 15: +30
October 20: +30
October 23: -20
October 28: -89
October 29: +30
October 30: +30

Total Profit For 1 Month For 1 Currency Pair = 141 Points.

This may not sound that impressive but remember this is the result of trading just one pair and trading every single set-up. I noticed during my backtesting that there are some set-ups that appear to be a lot riskier than others (such as the two losing trades on October 28) so being selective about the set-ups you trade I'm sure this system could be made to be extremely profitable, particularly if you start applying it to other currencies as well.

As well as this main system there is also a similar system to this one included with the course that is slightly more advanced. This one will result in a few more losing trades but only because it targets large points gains of up to 150 points from each trade. It appears to still be extremely profitable overall from initial tests but I'm not sure it's a system that I myself would be comfortable trading simply because I don't like losing too many trades as a general rule, even if the system is profitable in the long run.

The final system included in the Forex Avenger course is the Set 'n Sleep system. This system is a similar system to the first two in that it uses similar technical indicators. The only difference is that it uses different settings, and without wanting to give too much away, it focuses on divergence, which is an extremely effective method of trading the forex markets. It targets 50 points from each trade with a maximum loss of 100 points and this too appears to have a very high success rate.

Again I haven't had the time to fully backtest this system but this seems to be another system where if you are selective about the positions you take and only trade the best set-ups, then it looks like it could be an extremely profitable system.

Overall all the systems are extremely simple to use and you will soon understand them fully when you watch all the accompanying videos. The most profitable system on first viewing appears to be the first system that I mentioned. It's certainly the easiest to use and has a very high success rate, particularly if you weed out the more riskier trades.

Most systems I come across are basically a complete waste of time and just a way for the seller of the product to make some cash but this one appears to be a genuinely profitable system. Furthermore I get the impression that Dave Curran, a fellow Brit, actually uses the Forex Avenger systems himself to trade the markets because the systems are so precise in terms of the indicator settings, entries and exits, so he's clearly spent many years perfecting these systems.

I don't recommend many products but I can certainly recommend the Forex Avenger system because I was so impressed by the first system in particular that I am almost certain to start trading this system in addition to my main 4 hour trading strategy. I may even start testing it out on different time frames and on other instruments such as the FTSE and DOW indexes because it certainly has a lot of potential.

For more information on the Forex Avenger system please click here, and please don't be too put off by the over the top sales hype because the product itself more than makes up for the cheesy sales page.

Collective2 Review

Collective2 tracks over 8000 different systems covering stocks, forex, futures and options. Each of these systems is monitored closely and you will find full statistics and track records for each individual system.

Therefore you can scan and filter this extensive list to find the system(s) that are most suitable for you. For example you could start by filtering the list to only show forex systems, for instance, and then you can sort the list by performance.

There are lots of figures and statistics provided for each system so there are lots of ways you can filter this list. There are figures showing things like the age of a system, number of trades, average trade length, profit factor, Sharpe ratio, annual return, overall returns for last 30/60/90 days, maximum drawdown and overall popularity with other users, so you can sort this list accordingly.

Once you find that a system that you like, you can then subscribe to the system and receive every single signal instantly via email, mobile or instant messenger. Alternatively you can set it up to trade the signals automatically in your trading account.

Collective2 really is an excellent service because there are some highly profitable signal providers on this site. You do have to pay a small monthly membership fee to subscribe to a particular system but the more profitable ones should easily pay for themselves.

Many of these systems come with a free trial period so you can very often receive these signals completely free of charge and see how they perform before committing yourself. Plus a lot of these system providers will only charge a fee if the signals for the latest month have actually been profitable, so it is also a very cost-effective service.

The Collective2 site itself can be quite daunting at first but it's worth reading some of the tutorials first of all and learning how to navigate your way around the site, because as I say there are some excellent systems on this site. Whether you are interested in stocks, forex, futures or options you are sure to find a system that's right for you.

If you would like to find out more about Collective2 and check out some of the systems that are featured on their site, you can do so by clicking here.

A New Direction

it was in Jan 2009 when it struck me. why search and evaluate commercially available EAs? there are already countless EA review sites these days. i then made a decision that i no longer wanted to be on the DEMAND side of the equation since i can’t control the quality of the SUPPLY. so the journey began… (more about my journey on the next post)

PS :if you would like to receive timely updates on what’s happening on this blog (and in my endeavors), do consider joining my mailing list by filling up the fields below. your privacy is my priority… and i guarantee you that i’m not one of those who sends out “offers” after “offers” to make you buy something.

The DEMAND and SUPPLY Mismatch

looking at the situation from a higher level, it’s obvious that there is a rapidly growing population of investors/traders looking for truly genuine and profitable expert advisors. at the same time, there is a constant chain of expert advisors being released into the market place, all claiming that they are highly profitable. however, there’s a very disturbing fact in this DEMAND and SUPPLY picture.

ideally, the supply should meet the demand and an equilibrium should be formed. buyers and sellers should both be happy, but that’s not the case. what’s being created by the this unique case of demand and supply is a VACUUM… one that’s building up gradually… the pressure getting more and more unbearable each day. it’s getting uncomfortable… and many people are getting frustrated. i’m getting frustrated and tired too. aren’t you?

A Glimpse of Hope

something’s been brewing for about 5 months now. it all started with a gentlemen showing me an account that doubled within a month. it intrigued me and we discussed about the possibility of commercializing it. that’s about the time i sent out a private message to all my subscribers (then about 1350+), asking if anyone would be interested in a system that could generate 80% to 100% per month. well… needless to say, the excitement did not last long. the system was excellent in the beginning, but started to have difficulty making new equity highs from the 2nd month on.

of the 1350+ blog subscribers that got my private message, about 470 people responded with interest. who wouldn’t??!! even at 20% a month, the EA would be selling like hotcakes (in my opinion).

then it dawned on me! this blog is titled “Finding the Best Forex Expert Advisor”. it’s been running for more than 20 months already. readership wise, i now have 1557 subscribers / EA enthusiasts in my mailing list, 1388 members in my FaceBook group, and 603 members in my MeetUp group. everyone’s looking for it… but no one (as far as i know) has found one yet (PIPforia’s HGM does not count since it’s more like a tool rather than a 100% fully automated expert advisor).

there has been recent big launches like FapTurbo, MegaDroid, GOmega, etc etc… with very slick and professional looking selling pitches. they are getting so convincing (because they are marketed by professionals) that their stuff are selling like crazy even without showing (in true 100% transparency) a LIVE “real money” MT4 statement! it just did not make sense to me at all. showing LIVE account statements are very easy to do with the MT4 publisher feature, HTML statements and investor read-only passwords. however most sellers are still not able to show their LIVE trading accounts without holding back something.

Yen Continues to Drop Despite Government Stimulus Plan

This week, the Yen continued its decline against the Dollar and Euro, dipping well below 100 Yen/Dollar en route to a six-month low. Most analysts attribute this trend to a pickup in risk aversion: “Some kind of optimism is returning to the market and that’s putting pressure on the yen,” explained one analyst succinctly.

An ongoing rally in stocks and commodities is reinforcing investor attitudes that the economic recession is under control, and is stimulating risk-taking. In other words, the same forces that contributed to the unwinding of the carry trade during the beginning of the credit crisis, are now working in reverse and causing investors to flee from the Yen en masse. “As long as stocks can retain their buoyancy… risk appetite and risk-based trades will be in vogue and investors will continue to add to and rebuild yen short positions.”

According to the most recent International Monetary Market report, “Short positions on the currency have been building up for three consecutive weeks, and are now at levels last seen in the late summer of 2008,” which means the Yen’s slide has basically become self-fulfilling. From a technical standpoint, “A move above 101.00 yen was technically significant as it was a 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of its decline from a peak in 2007 to its 13-year low in January.” Even domestic Japanese investors have signaled their bearishness by taking advantage of last week’s Yen upswing by making “aggressive purchases of foreign bonds.”

From a fundamental standpoint, the decline in the Yen makes sense, given the abysmal economic situation in Japan. In fact, the “Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s March meeting showed members of the central bank were leaning toward cutting the bank’s economic forecast in April, and that they believed the BOJ would need to continue to provide substantial liquidity to financial markets that they see as still under substantial stress.”

The government is finally responding to the economic crisis, having most recently unveiled a $150 Billion plan, to supplement the $100 Billion initiative announced earlier this year. “If implemented competently, these steps could stabilize the domestic economy and stop the bleeding in labor markets.” At the same time, the intertwined tailspin in confidence and spending suggest that the government’s efforts could be in vain.

While equity investors have reacted positively - pushing the stock market into positive territory for the year- bond and currency traders are understandably concerned. Yields on Japanese bonds are already rising in anticipation of $100 Billion in bonds that the government will have to issue in 2009 alone. Naturally, the burden to purchase these bonds will fall on the Bank of Japan, which will be forced to print money and contribute to the further devaluation of the Yen in the process.

Ultimately, the duration of the Yen’s slide depends on the duration of the global stock market rally. If you believe that the global economy has turned a corner, then the Yen is done. If, on the other hand, you are inclined to side with George Soros, who opined recently that “It’s a bear-market rally because we have not yet turned the economy around,” then there is still cause for Yen bullishness.