Day Trading Morning Prep Gold, Crude Oil, Dollar Index, Euro, E-mini Russell Futures

‘We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit’ – Aristotle
Let’s begin our morning routine with the economic news for today’s trading session.

Options Expiration Friday (OPEX)
8:20 Gold & Currencies OPEN
8:30 Employment Cost Index

9:00 Crude Oil OPEN
9:30 US Market OPEN
9:45 Chicago PMI

9:55 Consumer Sentiment

11:00 Transition into Lunch
11:30 European Close / Live Webinar in our Trade Room
12:30 Ben ‘The’ Bernanke Speaks
Reviewing the news this morning we know that today is officially options expriration friday, which means today will be the final chance for traders to manage portfolios ahead of tomorrow’s expiration.
With 830 news this morning we expect to see early volume, tapering off early for Bernanke’s Speach at 1230 today.
We have been apparently waiting for this speach all week, volume has been low, so hopefully this will get people back in the markets for Monday.

As always, I’m watching the speed or the orders coming into the market along with  average true range (ATR) to find the best times to trade the markets today.

 

My trading method will work on ANY liquid market, but here is what im focused on day trading today:
Crude Oil Futures

89Range Crude Oil



I begin with an 89 range chart on Crude Oil and you can see we have 2 sideways trading ranges and a very distinct price channel.
I will now use a faster timeframe to find the exact price levels around these areas.
Open your 34 range chart on crude oil futures and you can see a lot of detail we can use to plan our trades this morning.
34 Range Crude Oil
Looking at this 34 range chart you can see the sideways trading range marked in the white box, and you can see the bullish price channel in pink trend lines.  Lets use these main price formations as our guide today.
If price rises im selling the PHOD and the Highs of the Price Channel.  If price falls im buying the lows of the price channel and the lows of the sideways range in the white box.
I will also be keeping an eye on the PHOD and PLOD, as we are trading INSIDE the range from Thursday, which means we will sell the PHOD and buy the PLOD.
Remember not to buy the highs or sell the lows.  Buy pullbacks and sell retracements instead for better entries.

    schooloftrade

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    Joseph James - April 29, 2011 Reply

    815am est
    Reviewing Gold Futures today we being on the 89 range chart:
    – Strong Bullish Trend
    – Sideways range from 38.7 down to 24.7
    – Larger sideways range from 38.7 down to 03.2
    – We see major support from a swing high at 1519.0
    – We are at the highs of these ranges
    We open our 34range chart to try and define the specific price levels we will be using, and look for more detail in our trend lines, channels, and ranges
    – We see a new bullish price channel in blue trend lines
    – Price channel tells us to buy pullbacks today as the higher % trade
    – Sideways ranges below us give clues for the bullish sentiment, however, don’t forget the PHOD is below us, which is act like a price magnet
    – We don’t have any levels above with the exception of the highs of the channels
    – We do have ranges below us, and we look for sellers to enter the market if w break below 1519.2
    – Big Money Trigger Line acts like a price magnet and will try and draw price down to 1511.1 area. This is also the lows of the channel, so look to buy.

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