Trading

Heikin Ashi Charts

Sunday January 4, 2009

Candlestick and Heikin Ashi Charts

Almost every trader is aware of candlestick and bar charts (if you're not, my trading charts articles will help you), but not as many traders are aware of Heikin Ashi charts.

Heikin Ashi charts (Average Bar charts in Japanese) are similar to candlestick and bar charts, in that they look similar and display similar information, but some traders believe that they have a significant advantage over candlestick and bar charts.

If you use candlestick and bar charts in your trading (which is most traders), and especially if you use the direction of individual candlesticks and bars as an indicator, my introduction to Heikin Ashi charts will help you decide if Heikin Ashi charts will be useful to you.

Economic Calendar With Volatility

Monday December 29, 2008

The Christmas and New Year holidays continue this week, so this week's economic calendar includes only a few news releases from the US, Europe, and Asia. The US and Europe have three high volatility news releases each, and Asia has no high volatility news releases. Markets from all three regions would usually continue experiencing high volatility this week, but because of the holidays, almost every market will experience less trading activity than usual.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

Monday : No News Releases

Tuesday : HPI at 2:00 PM, PMI at 2:45 PM, and Consumer Confidence at 3:00 PM

Wednesday : Unemployment Claims at 1:30 PM, Oil Inventories at 3:35 PM, and Natural Gas Storage at 5:00 PM

Thursday : No News Releases

Friday : PMI Manufacturing, and Manufacturing Prices at 3:00 PM

This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only eight US news releases this week, and three high volatility news releases. The US markets would probably continue experiencing high volatility and significant price movement this week, but as part of this week is a holiday, trading will be less active than usual throughout the week.

Europe

Monday : UK Housing Equity Withdrawal at 9:30 AM, and Switzerland Economic Barometer at 10:30 AM

Tuesday : UK HPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Germany CPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and Switzerland Consumption Indicator, EU Money Supply, and EU Private Loans at 9:00 AM

Wednesday : No News Releases

Thursday : No News Releases

Friday : EU PMI Manufacturing at 9:00 AM, UK HPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and UK PMI Manufacturing, Credit Conditions, Mortgage Approvals, and Lending To Individuals at 9:30 AM

This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few European news releases this week, and three high volatility news releases. The European markets would probably continue experiencing high volatility and significant price movement this week, but as part of this week is a holiday, trading will probably be less active than usual throughout the week.

Asia

Monday : No News Releases

Tuesday : No News Releases

Wednesday : Australia Private Sector Credit at 5:30 AM

Thursday : Australia Manufacturing Index at 10:30 PM

Friday : Australia Commodity Prices at 5:30 AM

This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only three Asian news releases this week, and no high volatility news releases. Some of the Asian markets will probably continue experiencing high volatility and significant price movement this week, while some will experience less trading activity than usual because of the holidays.

If There Is Any Doubt, Then There Is No Doubt

Sunday December 28, 2008

If there is any doubt, then there is no doubt, means that if your intuition and instincts are telling you that something is not quite right, then it is probably not quite right. This advice may serve you very well in your daily life, but does it serve you well as a trader? The answer is that it depends upon the type of trader that you are (discretionary or system trader), and whether you can tell the difference between intuition and emotion.

Whether you are a discretionary or system trader, you need to know how intuition and instincts affect your trading. My article about trading and intuition will explain which traders should use their intuition and instincts in their trading, and how to tell the difference between good intuition and bad emotions.

Economic Calendar With Volatility

Monday December 22, 2008

As you would expect with this week being the start of the Christmas and New Year holidays, this week's economic calendar includes only a few news releases from the US and Europe, and several news releases from Asia. The US has four high volatility news releases, while Europe and Asia only have one high volatility news release each. Markets from all three regions would usually continue experiencing high volatility throughout this week, but because of the holidays, almost every market will experience less trading activity than usual.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

* Monday : No News Releases

* Tuesday : GDP at 1:30 PM, Consumer Sentiment, and Inflation Expectations at 2:55 PM, and Existing Home Sales, New Home Sales, HPI, and Manufacturing Index at 3:00 PM

* Wednesday : Durable Goods Orders, Unemployment Claims, Price Index, Personal Spending, and Personal Income at 1:30 PM, Oil Inventories at 3:35 PM, and Natural Gas Storage at 5:00 PM

* Thursday : No News Releases

* Friday : No News Releases

* This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few US news releases this week, but four high volatility news releases. The US markets would probably continue experiencing high volatility and significant price movement this week, but as most of this week is a holiday, trading will be much less active than usual.

Europe

* Monday : Germany Consumer Climate, and Import Prices at 7:00 AM, EU Industrial Orders at 10:00 AM, and Belgium Business Climate at 2:00 PM

* Tuesday : France Consumer Spending at 7:45 AM, EU Current Account, and Italy Retail Sales at 9:00 AM, UK Current Account, Mortgage Approvals, GDP, and Services Index at 9:30 AM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 5:30 PM

* Wednesday : Switzerland Central Bank Quarterly Bulletin at 10:00 AM

* Thursday : No News Releases

* Friday : No News Releases

* This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few European news releases this week, and only one high volatility news release. The European markets would probably continue experiencing high volatility and significant price movement this week, but as most of this week is a holiday, trading will be less active than usual.

Asia

* Monday : Australia Motor Vehicle Sales at 12:30 AM, New Zealand Consumer Sentiment at 1:00 AM, Japan Central Bank News Conference, and Monthly Report at 5:00 AM, Japan Central Bank News Conference at 9:30 AM, New Zealand GDP at 9:45 PM, and Australia Leading Index at 11:00 PM

* Tuesday : Japan Manufacturing Index at 11:50 PM

* Wednesday : Japan Monetary Policy, and CSPI at 11:50 PM

* Thursday : Japan Housing Starts at 5:00 AM, Japan PMI Manufacturing at 11:15 PM, Japan Household Spending, CPI, and Unemployment Rate at 11:30 PM, and Japan Industrial Production, and Retail Sales at 11:50 PM

* Friday : Japan Average Cash Earnings at 1:30 AM

* This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several Asian news releases this week, but only one high volatility news release. Some of the Asian markets will probably continue experiencing high volatility and significant price movement this week, while some will experience less trading activity than usual because of the holidays.