Currencies waiting for the NFP

It has been just about as boring trading day as it gets, outside of holidays. Today's action was characterized by lack of trends and pathetic ranges. Markets are clearly waiting for a catalyst to spur them on, and most likely, that is the Non-Farm Payroll report, due on Friday. With generally positive economic data released so far this week, everybody is watching if this improvement is confirmed by job market. The consensus is, however, calling for a net loss of 100K jobs.

If there is a variation from expectations, markets are likely to respond strongly. I'm not going to bother with predictions about possible direction - that will be decided by the markets. However, if conditions remain relatively calm leading to the announcement, the volatility is almost certain increase, maybe dramatically. That means that currencies could move substantially before the Labor Day weekend, maybe as much as 100-200 pips, depending on which pair.

If the moves take place, chances are they will break through today's highs/lows, so those would be levels to watch for possible trade entries. Also, most other recent supports/resistances should serve the same purpose. Another approach is to wait for an hour after announcement and then open positions above/below the latest hourly candle. Should the moves be serious, they will continue in the original direction. However, if the aftermath of announcement is just noise, markets will likely retreat about an hour later, so no trades will be taken. One can chose just about any pair - the USD, JPY, CHF, AUD will all be effected, if the numbers are not very close to forecast.

What to do before the NFP? One could just wait it out, be patient. I want to get active on short time frames aiming for small pips. The snapshot above shows 15M chart of AUD-USD, which in a process of building a potential H&S. There are at least three distinctive trading set ups here, and similar price behavior can be found all over the place. Of course objectives would be small, too, in a range of 20-25 pips. However, the NFP should provide the biggest moves of the day.

Mike K.
http://www.fxmadness.com/

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Forex trades review

Some of the trades, or rather possible trades,discussed on Sunday did not get updated in the last post. The new CFTC rules governing Forex trading in USA were published, so I decided to devote a post to that. In a nutshell, starting October 18, maximum leverage on the major Dollar pairs will be 50:1 and on other crosses 20:1. Nothing truly damaging and quite a change from the proposed 10:1. Personally, I do not care, because my own trading does not include that high leverage. But the elimination of options available to traders is disturbing. Once again, it is the government “protecting” people from themselves. Who cares? If people want to blow accounts by trading at 100:1 or higher, let them. Well, it seems to be a done deal, unless, of course, some new provisions are added between now and the starting day.

Early week has been interesting, indeed. The emergency BoJ meeting took center stage and set the tone for currencies. The Bank of Japan expanded its loan program, a QE measure. As I wrote in Will BoJ ease policypost ”That will be reflected in Yen and its crosses, but predicting how the JPY will respond to an event which might or might not happen is, at best, too complicated to be seriously entertained.” The Yen strengthened on the announcement, not what most people expected, pushing all the crosses down in by a significant margin. These moves lasted through Tuesday, although seem to be running out of steam about now.

Volatility was expected after the open, so I was looking for gaps. They formed, but fairly small. The only one large enough, if barely, was in AUD-JPY. After few hours, the price made a minor low, creating an entry point at 77.06. This point was broken after the BoJ announcement and a trade was on. It did not last very long, the small 35 pips target was reached fast. Interestingly, there was slippage and spreads held rather steady, too.

That post also covered a possible long trade in USD-CAD. Premise was to look for a trend continuation from Friday, and then buy it first sign or reversal. Unfortunately, the follow up from Friday was rather meek, not fitting into the pattern. Still, the trade was given a shot, but the price set into a sideways action and I closed it for 7 pips loss. Few hours later I tried another long, this time on a simple breakout and rode it to 100 SMA for a 50 pips gain.

Last week, the EUR-CHF gave signs of possible reversal. I bought it at 1.3031, with a large, 300 pips objective. This pair made couple of run ups, trying to move lower, but the response to BoJ announcement spilled over to all CHF pairs. Swiss Franc acted as another “safe haven” and appreciated great deal. My trade was stopped out just under the low from 08.25. for a 71 pips loss. Since then, the EUR-CHF made another all time low at 1.2850.

Currently, I find did difficult to find trades that could be considered “suitable”. Markets are very nervous, well, not markets but the participants, which results in erratic moves. So, I sitting out a day, no trades on Wednesday. Do not feel comfortable right now and want to see more price development before new positions are contemplated. A day off. It is possible that the NFP on Friday will be the event of the week, but hope to be in action before that.

Mike K.
http://www.fxmadness.com/

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Buy Stocks "In The Face Of Fear"

TESTING 1 2 3 TESTING 1 2 3

And that folks is the order of the day when you look at the S&P 500 today.

1040 going once, 1040 going twice, SOLD at 1040. The market has now defended the 1040 level twice and in both instances we’ve bounced off of it. If you were watching the indexes this morning at the 1040 level you’ll have seen before we pulled away from it to the upside, the leaders (AAPL, BIDU, NFLX) all took off before the index did. It showed you that the market always moves with the leaders first.

While the premarket didn’t look good, THAT my friends is what we want to touch upon for a moment. Just because you see premarket looks horrible DOES NOT mean that you should immediately jump to an emotional conclusion out of FEAR. More often than not the first half hour knee jerk open is always garbage anyway, recent case in point? INTC news from a few days ago the last time we tested 1040.

This is why we always say:

“Let Your Stocks Tell You What To Do By The Action They Exhibit”

In addition to that we constantly drill into your subconscious the famous phrase heard around our world here at All About Trends and that is:

“In The Face Of FEAR”

Believe it or not, this is the secret to successful investing — to keep your most important asset in the game, that being YOUR STATE OF MIND. We’ll continue to drill this in your head so that it becomes second nature to you. Consider yourself warned. The funny thing about all this is that none of it has to do with stocks or indexes or chart patterns, its that of managing your emotional state of being. They say YOUR perception creates your reality and to a big degree that is true. But Ahhh when looking at the market through the reality of what is vs. what we want to see? That is the secret — The standpoint of the un-opinionated observer. It’s a mindset you really want to cultivate. Try it, practice makes perfect.

Let’s take a look at the S&P 500 over the last few days.

While we are at it let’s look at the leaders charts over the same time frame and frequency.

As you can see, the market takes off, the leaders take off and sometimes it’s the other way around — that being it’s a market of stocks and not a stock market.

To learn more, visit our blog site and sign up for our free newsletter and receive our free report — “How To Outperform 90% Of Wall Street With Just $500 A Week.”

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Original Dow Stock from 1896 Currently Pays Almost 5% Yield

Talk about a stock that stands the test of time. If you want a stock that is the eighth oldest listed stock on the New York Stock Exchange, celebrated its 120 year anniversary last year, one of the original stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896, has increased its dividend for the last six years, and currently yields 4.8%, then you will now know what this gem is.

The stock, Laclede Group Inc. (LG), which was formerly known as Laclede Gas Company, is a natural gas utility that is the longest lived of the Dow. It trades at 12.9 times earnings and has an operating cash flow of about seven times its total dividend payout. The company has increased its dividend every year since 2003.

Of course, there are plenty of other natural gas and propane gas utilities. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has turned up 25 gas utilities with yields ranging from 2% to above 8%, such as Nicor (GAS) yielding 4.4%, Spectra Energy (SE) yielding 4.8%, and Chesapeake Utilities (CPK) yielding 3.9%.

To see a list of 25 gas utilities, you can get a free list of natural gas and propane stocks, that can be downloaded, sorted, and changed, check out the lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

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Dividend Increasing Stocks

What Stock has Raised its Dividends for 54 Years in a Row?

Over the course of the last few years, the Dow Jones has lacked consistency, presenting a volatile platform of figures that are making investors ever more hesitant. What market analysts are now seeing is the growth and solidarity contained in dividend stocks, exposing growth stocks as being somewhat precarious.

Mark Skousen, editor of the Forecasts & Strategies newsletter, said at the San Francisco Money Show a couple days ago that over long periods of time, dividend stocks outperform non-dividend stocks, and dividend-increasing stocks outperform dividend stocks in general. This finding is not being ignored as dividend investors see a much better long-term return when investing in dividend stocks, especially those that increase their dividends regularly.

One of the main reasons why dividend increasing stocks are proving to be so much more lucrative is that they embody a select group of companies which have enough in earnings to reinvest back into the business itself, but have plenty left over to distribute to shareholders. Rising profits also means rising dividends for shareholders, which ultimately equates to rising stock prices in the long term.

During the last few months, while some of the major players have been looking rather shaky, companies that have increased their distributions are causing analysts and investors to re-think their choice of investments. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has turned up a list of over 20 stocks that have had dividend increases over 30 years. One company has increased its dividend every year for 54 years! Can you guess which company it is?

I can almost guarantee that you use at least one of their products on a regular basis. You have either shaved with them, brushed with them, flossed with them, wiped with them, shampooed with them, or washed with them. The company was founded in 1837, so it's been around for a little while, and appears to have some staying power. Probably that staying power is do to the fact that people will always brush, wash, and wipe, whether there is a recession, a depression, a booming economy, deflation, or inflation.

Have you guessed the name of the company yet? If not, I'll tell you. It's Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), which raised its dividend from 44 cents a share to $0.482 per share, a 9.5% increase. And this was during our current recession. The company has been paying a dividend for 120 consecutive years since its incorporation in 1890 and has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years at an annual compound average rate of approximately 9.5%. Currently, the stock provides a yield of 3.2%, and trades at 13.8 times forward earnings.

Another company, which provided its shareholders with a huge dividend increase, is Walgreen Co. (WAG), the drug store chain. They just boosted the payout from $0.138 per share to $0.175 per share each quarter, an enormous increase of 28.6%. But what is even better is the history behind the company's dividends, providing its shareholders with dividend bump-ups for 35 years straight; and as long a people continue to need medicine and prescriptions, the company should continue to raise dividends. The stock now yields 2.5% and has a forward PE ratio of 11.5.

Of the stocks that have been raising dividends 30 years or more, seven of them have yields above 3%, and 17 have yields above 2%. For a free list of dividend increasing stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted, and changed, visit WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

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