As of this writing 5:30 AM EST, here’s what we see:
US Dollar –Up at 81.825, the US Dollar is up 23 ticks and is trading at 81.825.
Energies – July Oil is up at 95.11.
Financials – The September 30 year bond is up 8 ticks and is trading at 141.13.
Indices – The June S&P 500 emini ES contract is down at 1621.50 and is down 5 ticks.
Gold – The August gold contract is trading down at 1410.10 and is down 57 ticks from its close.
Initial Conclusion: This is not a correlated market. The dollar is up+ and oil is up+ which is not normal and the 30 year bond is trading higher. The Financials should always correlate with the US dollar such that if the dollar is lower then bonds should follow and vice versa. The indices are down and the US dollar is trading higher which is correlated. Gold is trading lower which is correlated with the US dollar trading up. I tend to believe that Gold has an inverse relationship with the US Dollar as when the US Dollar is down, Gold tends to rise in value and vice-versa. Think of it as a seesaw, when one is up the other should be down. I point this out to you to make you aware that when we don't have a correlated market, it means something is wrong. As traders you need to be aware of this and proceed with your eyes wide open.
Asia closed lower with the exception of the Indian Sensex exchange which closed higher. As of this writing all of Europe is trading mixed.
Possible challenges to traders today is the following
1. Non-Farm Employment Change is out at 8:30 AM EST. This is major.
2. Unemployment Rate is out at 8:30 AM EST. This is major. 3. Average Hourly Earnings are out at 8:30 AM EST. This is major. 4. Consumer Credit is out at 3:30 PM EST. This is could affect afternoon trading.
Yesterday we said our bias was neutral because the markets weren't correlated and didn't appear to have any sense of direction. The Dow dropped over 100 points intraday but came back to close 80 points higher. The other major indices closed higher as well. Today is Jobs Friday and as such I do not trade on this day as the markets historically have never shown me that it has any sense of normalcy on this day. As such our bias is neutral. Could this change? Of Course. Remember anything can happen in a volatile market.
Wow, talk about volatility. The markets dropped initially with the Dow dropping more than 100 points and then decided to go higher closing 80 points higher from Wednesday's close. The ECB had their meeting and press conference and apparently the Europeans didn't like what he said as they all closed to the downside. Today we have the monthly Jobs Report and as many of my followers know, I don't trade Jobs Friday or FOMC Day as the markets have never shown me any sense of normalcy on those days. Therefore my bias is neutral. 167,000 net new jobs are expected, we'll see what the results are...
As readers are probably aware I don't trade equities. While we're on this discussion, let's define what is meant by a good earnings report. A company must exceed their prior quarter's earnings per share and must provide excellent forward guidance. Any falloff between earning per share or forward guidance will not bode well for the company's shares. This is one of the reasons I don't trade equities but prefer futures. There is no earnings reports with futures and we don't have to be concerned about lawsuits, scandals, malfeasance, etc.
Anytime the market isn't correlated it's giving you a clue that something isn't right and you should proceed with caution. Today our bias is neutral. Could this change? Of course. In a volatile market anything can happen. We'll have to monitor and see.
In May, I spoke with John Karnas, CEO of Trend Following Trades. John has an interesting background as he was a trader for a number of years prior to buying Trend Following Trades. John is a believer in Trading Plans and has a very precise method of developing aspiring traders. To download the article I've written, go to:
https://markettealeaves.sharefile.com/d/sdf8f77f6e2c4347a
My discussion with John can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/uVwHpMq1604
In April I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Dan Cook, Director of Business Development for Nadex.com Nadex is an exchange that is devoted solely to binary options. Recently there's been quite a bit of misinformation regarding Binary Options and how they work. Some have even speculated that opening a Binary Option trading account is the same as identity theft. My objective is to dispel these myths and to alert the retail trader as to what a binary option is, how to trade them, how to amend an order and how to exit a trade for profit. Nadex is a Chicago based exchange that abides by the rules of CFTC. I've created an eBook that will discuss and show how a trader can capitalize on this innovative instrument. This is an 8 page eBook loaded with charts, diagrams etc. Each chart/diagram shown has been approved by Nadex and has gone thru their compliance department. When last I heard compliance departments for exchanges are tough when it comes to misrepresentation. Feel free to download and to share with those you know. It's time we saw some innovation.... To View and Download this article, go to:
https://markettealeaves.sharefile.com/d/s59fb4ac49ca47508
My interview with Dan can be viewed at:
http://youtu.be/ENRRbwH6A_o
Please note the video is about a half hour in length and we plan on producing more in the near future. Also note that in the near future we will have other videos where we will interview various trading leaders.
As I write this the crude markets are trading higher and the US Dollar is declining. This is normal. Think of it this way. If the stock market is trading lower, it's safe to assume that the crude market will follow suit and vice versa. Crude trades with the expectation that business activity is expanding. The barometer of which is the equities or stock market. If you view both the crude and index futures side by side you will notice this. Yesterday July crude dropped to a low of 93.80 a barrel and held. We'll have to monitor and see if crude either goes lower or holds at the present level. It would appear at the present time that crude has support at 91.00 a barrel and resistance at 96. This could change. All we need do is look at what happened last fall when crude was trading over $100.00 a barrel. We'll have to monitor and see. Remember that crude is the only commodity that is reflected immediately at the gas pump.
Future Challenges:
- Budget Battle - ongoing.
- Debt Ceiling in the August time frame.
- European Contraction - happening now
Crude oil is trading higher and the US Dollar is declining. This is normal. Crude typically makes 3 major moves (long or short) during the course of any trading day: around 7 AM EST, 9 AM EST and 2 PM EST when the crude market closes. If crude makes major moves around those time frames, then this would suggest normal trending, if not it would suggest that something is not quite right. If you feel compelled to trade consider doing so after 10 AM when the economic reports are released and the markets give us better direction. As always watch and monitor your order flow as anything can happen in this market. This is why monitoring order flow in today's market is crucial. We as traders are faced with numerous challenges that we didn't have a few short years ago. High Frequency Trading is one of them. I'm not an advocate of scalping however in a market as volatile as this scalping is an alternative to trend trading.
Recently Published Articles:
http://www.barchart.com/headlines/story/10110400/leadership-or-lack-thereof
http://www.traderslog.com/john-karnas/
Remember that without knowledge of order flow we as traders are risking our hard earned capital and the Smart Money will have no issue taking it from us. Regardless of whatever platform you use for trading purposes you need to make sure it's monitoring order flow. Sceeto does an excellent job at this. To fully capitalize on this newsletter it is important that the reader understand how the various market correlate. More on this in subsequent blogs.
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