Day Trading Strategies for Dollar Index , Euro, Crude, Russell and Gold futures

—————————————————————————————

The James’ Report: Day Trading Strategies for Professional Traders

—————————————————————————————

Does time pass quickly when you’re
trading? Do you find yourself ‘in the
zone’ when you’re watching price action?
Professional traders understand that when you become ‘one’ with the
markets you are trading that you begin to breathe with every tick, you
visualize where price will go next, and you understand why. Take a moment today to remove distractions
from your trading environment, find ways to engage in the markets you trade,
and become ‘ONE’ with the price action.

***Notes/Observations from around the
world***

–
Eurogroup Finance Ministers agree to agree on Greece

–
Greek bond swap procedure to begin Feb 22nd; Uncertainty remains whether
investors will voluntarily take the deal

–
Germany’s new President appears to cause some dissent within ruling coalition

– European shares
opened mixed and are trading lower as the highs from the Greek agreement wore
off.

–
The Eurozone ministers decided to extend a €130B bailout deal to avoid a Greek
default. The deal combines a private sector haircut of 53.5% as opposed to the
50.5% agreed in October with ECB foregoing the profits from the Greek bond holdings.
The agreement comes with permanent team of monitors so that Athens implements
the austerity measures and an escrow account which will ensure that Greece
holds three months worth of debt payments. The escrow is temporary however as
Greece has agreed to change its constitution to make debt payment its priority.
But the investors are worried over the long-term prospects of Greece. New
elections in April in Greece may fuel fears that the new government will not be
either able or willing to implement
those measures. Social unrest, divisive policies and mutual mistrust between
the Germans and the Greeks make the bailout unimpressive and signify that the
crisis is far from over. Furthermore, some investors are critical that there is
an absence over how Greek economy will grow in the future. The sentiment that
this second bailout has merely bought more time has put pressure in the
markets. Financial sector is lower.

Speakers:

–
No G20 agreement likely on additional IMF funding at upcoming meeting this
weekend in Mexico City. Discussions on IMF funding would not accelerate until
after the EU Leader Summit that occurs on March 1st-2nd

–
Various European Finance Ministers commented ahead of the second day of
Eurogroup meeting.

–
UK Chancellor Osborne welcomed Euro agreement on Greece

–
Austria Fin Min Fekter commented that the new deal would ensure Greece’s
survival after difficult decisions were made

–
Spain Fin Min Guindos commented that the Greek agreement showed strong line of
defense for Euro and stressed that Spain’s situation was different from
Greece’s

–
Ireland Fin Min Noonan added that the Greece deal was very significant and now
Europe could now focus on growth

–
Institute of International Finance (IIF) chief Dalara commented that the Greece
debt agreement was a fair deal for all parties and gave Greece a ‘tremendous
breathing space’. The deal was expected to give Greece a debt reduction of over
€100B. Dalara noted that it was investors’ decision if they should accept PSI’s
deal

–
Iran Dep Military chief: Iran would act preemptively against its enemies if
national interest are threatened

Currencies:

–
Despite the Eurogroup agreement on the second Greek bailout package and PSI
deal the overall market reaction appeared to be far from being impressive.

–
The EUR/USD pair was holding below 2012 highs of 1.3330 area despite Greek
bailout agreement and dealers noted that there was some concern whether Greek
bondholders would accept the PSI agreement. Dealers note that there was clearly
lots of uncertainty remaining to be priced in.

Political/ In the
Papers:

– The UK Department for Environment (DEFRA),
in a drought summit, announced that many areas of southern and eastern England
are officially in a drought. Groundwater levels are lower than they were in the
dry conditions of the summer of 1976. Various British press sources reported
that hosepipe bans, and increase in food prices are expected to affect millions
of British residences. Thames Water, which services 14M homes and business,
confirmed there was a “high chance” it would need to impose
restrictions this summer.

– According to their annual reports, large
European banks have significantly increase deposits at central banks. Due to
the economic environment and new regulations, the top European banks are
increasing large cash deposits at central banks around the world. Eight of the
largest banks in Europe reported approximately $815 billion in cash. Note the
second three-year ECB funding auction scheduled for February 29th

–
The Greek bailout agreement helped peripheral spreads to narrow. The Italian
10-year govt yield was at its lowest
level since September 2011 at 5.35% as a result. The Spain 10-year was also lower at 5.05%.

—————————————————————————————

Today’s Economic News:

Our
day trading
strategies today will depend on the news, and this morning,
after returning from a long holiday-weekend we do not have any major news on
the calendar here in the US.

We
do have some news from our friends in Canada, retail sales are very important
leading indicators of CAD strength and it will have an impact on crude oil
futures. Keep an eye on crude oil this
morning around 830am EST but nothing on the schedule here in the US.

We
need to remember that on days when we come back from a holiday without any news
we need to assume price action will be sloppy at the start as the volume
returns.

Also remember we should
be trading the new crude oil contract 04-12 today as it rolled over last Friday
on OPEX.

News for Day trading strategy

Here’s
what I’m watching this morning…

Crude
oil futures trading at their recent 90 day highs after news from Iran, I’m looking
for selling opportunities as panic leaves the market now that we return to
normal trading hours after the long weekend. If price continues to be bullish I’m
expecting a sloppy market at the highs and will try to safely buy pullbacks.

Crude Oil Day Trading Strategy

The
euro trading at the highs of its price wedge on the 233 range chart tells me to
sell these highs this morning first, then looking to buy pullbacks with new
higher highs on dollar index weakness.

Euro Day Trading Strategy

Gold
futures trading at their highs of the price wedge as well this morning which
means I’m looking to sell the price wedge highs and also looking for strength
to new highs and I will buy pullbacks with dollar index weakness. Remember that if price jumps higher my first
goal will be to ‘fade’ the breakout looking for the buyers to slow and the
bottom to drop out so we can short sell all the way back down. Also remember to avoid the middle of this price
wedge, so if you miss the short, don’t chase it.