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

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The James’ Report: Day Trading Strategies for Professional Traders

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As humans, we are trained to look at the
bright side of things, think positively, but professional traders know that we
learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. Do you remember the last bad trading mistake
you made? You should, because reflecting
on your losses is the easiest way to avoid them in the future. Rather than trying to ignore the mistakes
we’ve made, let’s use them to help us avoid more in the future.

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

–
Japan Q4 Preliminary GDP weaker than expected

–
Greek Parliament passes austerity commitments; Ruling coalition expels 45
members for voting against party lines

–
Chinese officials quite vocal on Europe and US ahead of key visits to both
regions

–
European shares rose after Greek parliament passed a €3.0B austerity package,
crucial for the second round of bailout measures. The approval of the austerity
measures prompted violent protests in Athens which may be an indicator of the
difficulty that the Greek government will face in implementing the measures.
Banks were higher as a result

–
German Econ Min Roesler commented that the Greek Parliament vote on austerity
was step in the right direction but still needed Troika report before any Greek
vote in the German Parliament

–
China sovereign wealth fund (CIC) chief Lou commented that Europe would
inevitably enter into a recession and that the global economic recovery would
be very slow. He noted that European gov’t bonds were not ideal for long-term
investors and difficult for CIC to invest in Italian bonds. China had achieved
an economic soft landing but still faced inflationary risks

–
China Foreign Min spokesperson Liu Weimin commented that the European debt
crisis is at critical juncture and urged “structural and long term
reforms” in Europe.

–
China Vice Premier Xi commented ahead of his US visit that he hoped US will
loosen its high-tech export limits

–
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Official commented
that it expected Feb CPI to fall below 4% level compared to the 4.5% rise seen
in Jan

–
China State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) reiterated view that it
would further develop the fx market (Standard commentary)

–
PBOC advisor Xia Bin commented that the US Treasuries should remain China’s FX
investment choice. He added that China’s economy to slow due to weakening
external demand.

–
Former PBoC Official Wu Xiaoling stated that significant loosening of policy
was not likely in 2012

–
Former-PBoC advisor Yu Yongding commented that debt issues in the US was more
serious than those in the EU and must remain on ‘high alert’. The key to
resolving the European crisis lies with Germany but the Greek parliament’s
passage of bills that would enable a second European bailout was good news

–
Austria Fin Min Fekter commented in the press that the country’s ‘AAA’
sovereign rating was being scrutinized again

–
Spain Econ Min Guindos commented that the country’s deficit target would be
dependent on Brussels

–
Kuwait Central Bank Gov Al-Sabah confirms resignation after 25-year in the
position to protest against the increase in state spending

Currencies:

–
Risk appetite weighed upon the USD as some of the political tensions eased in
Europe. The USD was softer against the various European pairs as some relief
was expressed over the Greek Parliament vote. The EUR/USD was hovering around
the 1.3260 area in quiet trading and contained within last week’s range.

–
The USD/JPY was a touch higher ahead of the BOJ rate decision on Tuesday.

The
BOJ started its two-day policy meeting on Monday to study the impact of the
euro zone debt crisis and other downside risks overshadowing the Japanese
economy, but it is expected to refrain from taking additional monetary easing
steps. The 78.30 level remains the initial key resistance in the USD/JPY pair

Political/
In the Papers:

– The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
cut its 2012 UK GDP growth forecast to 0.9% from 1.2%, although it does not
expect a recession. Additionally, the CBI is not expecting any additional
quantitative easing out of the BoE. Similarly, in a report by the Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the UK is facing the worst employment
prospects since the recession due to increase in planned cuts by private sector
employers and public sector cuts.

–
Certain Portuguese and Spanish banks are expected to issue ‘Co-co’ bonds, or
contingent convertible bonds converted into equity under certain circumstances,
in order to meet their capital shortfalls. Some banks expected to issue Co-co’s
include Banco Commercial Portugues and Banco BPI.

–
The German government’s plan to accelerate solar incentive cuts to April from
July has led to rushed orders. Demand in the solar industry has seen a rebound
in Q1 amid lower inventory levels. Industry sources expect demand levels to
start to decline in March.

–
The Telegraph’s Evans-Pritchard suggested austerity measures being imposed on
Greece have pushed the country’s economy into a downward spiral. His article
suggested that the design flaws in the EU/IMF austerity plan for Greece have
caused the country’s output to contract sharply. Greece’s recession has caused
more than 60,000 firms to go out of business since the summer, and there are an
additional 50,000 firms at risk of filing for bankruptcy over the next 6
months.

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Today’s Economic News:

Our
day trading
strategies today will depend on the news, and this morning we
do not have any major US-based economic news to look forward to.

Remember,
when Monday’s have no news we assume it will be a slow start to the morning,
and then we will also look forward to a late-morning move once the market
participants settle into the week ahead.
Look for short-covering rallies end of the morning today, or vice versa.