Every week the markets take a view on what is happening economically and politically and they express this view in how they trade.

Here are some examples:

• If there are political tensions between the U.S and China as China ramps up it’s rhetoric about Taiwan, this will be reflected in the markets. The markets will respond to it and the charts will move. Bond yields will rally, the stock market will fall and the U.S dollar will strengthen along with the Japanese Yen. That move can last a day or two, but rarely longer.
• If there is an economic news release from the UK that is surprisingly good and suggests that a recession might  be avoided then the GBP will strengthen temporarily, perhaps for a few hours, but the move may not be tradeable because of other factors that dwarf the GBP move.
• If Job Openings data in the U.S show that the labor market is loosening then bond yields will fall, the U.S dollar will fall, stock markets may rise and the commodity currencies such as the New Zealand dollar will rise. This move may last a number of hours.
• If Christine Lagarde(President of the European Central Bank) is in a TV interview and hints very strongly that European rates are likely to remain high for some time, the Euro will strengthen for a while. This may last a couple of days.
• If one of the worlds biggest companies, such as Apple announces in it’s quarterly post earnings guidance call that it expects iPhone sales in Asia to fall in the coming year then it’s shares will fall, which will take the whole S&P index down, which in turn will have and effect on currencies, with the Australian dollar falling. This will last for a number of hours.

Most of the examples above will cause short term movements in the currency markets. Some will be tradeable, some won’t. Knowing what makes a move tradeable or not is a skill, and it is what, in my opinion, differentiates consistently profitable traders from the rest who tend to make profit one year, then break even or lose money the next.

Anything can and does happen in the markets. I could list another hundred examples.

The key is to understand that every week of the year things like those examples above do happen, and the ”markets” literally change their view of the world from day to day.

This may sound like a problem to some, but it is actually an opportunity. The markets present us with 2 to 4 Forex trading opportunities every week, on average just because of this changing mood in the markets.

There are usually more than 4 ”headlines” every week that move the markets, but out of those headlines only 2 to 4 are what I call ”clear and obvious” opportunities.

To keep on top of the markets so that you don’t miss opportunities takes about 30 to 45 minutes per day. It doesn’t have to be 30 to 45 minutes in one session. I often spend 5 to 10 minutes, a few times a day, reading articles, and that is enough. In fact that 30 to 45 minutes comes down as you get more experienced at reading artices and sussing out which are the articles that really matter.

You can do this even if you have a day job. So it doesn’t take a lot of time each day, but it does take a long time to attain the knowledge so that you can ”interpret” what you are reading each day.

Whilst you are on that journey of attaining knowledge I can help you, for free.

Every week I record a 10 to 15 minute video that summarises the headlines of the week that have moved the markets, and I tell you which moves were tradeable, and which were not. Over time the videos will help you understand what to look for and what to avoid when trading Forex.

I send the video to everyone that wants it. To get the videos sent to your inbox every week skimpy enter your email above.

I look forward to helping you become a better Forex trader.

Regards

Mark Boardman