I remember, the first time I saw the series of Waldo books I was hooked. As I turned the pages finding him became harder and harder, but it was fun. So often I thought I saw his red striped shirt and glasses but nope, it was someone else. I also remember when I was a kid, the first time someone tried to point out the Little Dipper and other star formations in the sky. There were so many stars it was really hard to see what someone else saw so clearly. After a while I got it, like we all do, and it became easy to find almost any star pattern among millions of stars.

To properly buy and sell in financial markets we need to first know what we are looking for on price charts and then know what that pattern looks like. For example, when we buy into a market we need price to increase for us to profit. So the logical question is, where will price turn higher and where will it increase to? Price will stop falling and then increase at price levels where demand exceeds supply. So, that is what we need to look for on a price chart, a significant supply and demand imbalance on the demand side when buying, and on the supply side when selling. In other words, we look for where banks are buying and selling.

NASDAQ Income Trade: 2/17/15. Profit: $900.00

Lessons From The Pros

Let’s look at an income trade we took using one of our services at Online Trading Academy, the Daily Market Overview. The price action in the yellow boxes represents the picture of a supply and demand imbalance like we look for. The bottom is demand and the top is supply. The price action in circle “B” represents price moving, but not a supply and demand imbalance. In other words, it is irrelevant data in our search for key supply and demand. Much like Waldo and the Stars in the sky, you must be able to look at tons of price actions on a chart and know how to spot where banks are buying and selling and really ignore all other data. Over time, when you are good at it, the key levels just jump out at you.

10 Year Note Income Trade: 2/18/15. Profit: $543.86

Lessons From The Pros

Here is another trade, the 10 Year Note with 1 contract. Again, the yellow boxes represent the picture of banks buying and selling, significant demand and supply. All the other candles on the chart DON’T represent that picture which means price should have an easy time moving through those areas. If I took the yellow boxes off the chart, like Waldo, the levels may be difficult to spot. It all comes down to three key things:

  1. Learn to identify fresh demand and supply levels and then practice, practice, practice.

  2. Focus on that picture and don’t let anything else creep into your buy and sell decision making process.

  3. Keep it simple.

No matter how long it takes to find the little guy, Waldo is always somewhere on the page. Learning what he looks like and focusing on that picture, you will always find him. Banks and financial institutions are buyers and sellers in the markets each and every day. They leave very clear footprints when they are buying and selling. I started my career on this side of the business and one thing I experienced over and over is that we were hardly ever able to fill all of our biggest orders. Meaning, if we had 10,000 Yen to buy, we would maybe fill half that order and price would not come back. What I am showing above is the picture of those “unfilled” orders. These clear footprints are in front of us every day, you just need to know what you’re looking for. Lastly, keep in mind that all the information we are talking about here is equally applicable to short term trading for income and long term trading for wealth and, of course, any and all markets.

Hope this was helpful, have a great day.

Learn to Trade Now


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Editors’ Picks

EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.
 

GBP/USD bounces off monthly lows near 1.3430

GBP/USD bounces off monthly lows near 1.3430

GBP/USD is sliding in tandem with its risk-sensitive peers, drifting back towards the 1.3430 area, its lowest levels in the month. The move reflects a firmer Greenback, supported by another round of solid US data and a somewhat divided FOMC Minutes.

Japanese Yen hangs near one-week low vs. USD amid worries about Japan’s fiscal health

Japanese Yen hangs near one-week low vs. USD amid worries about Japan’s fiscal health

The USD/JPY pair gains positive traction for the second straight day – also marking the third day of a move up in the previous four – and climbs to over a one-week high, around the 155.35 area, on Thursday. Spot prices, however, retreat a few pips during the early European session and currently trade just above the 155.00 psychological mark, up nearly 0.20% for the day.


Editors’ Picks

AUD/USD shrugs off losses, retargets 0.7100

AUD/USD shrugs off losses, retargets 0.7100

AUD/USD partially fades Wednesday’s pullback, managing to regain balance, leave behind the earlier drop to the 0.7020 zone, and trade with modest gains ahead of the opening bell in Asia. Moving forward, the preliminary PMIs will be the salient event in Oz on Friday.
 

EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.
 

Gold surrenders some gains, back below $5,000

Gold surrenders some gains, back below $5,000

Gold is giving away part of its earlier gains on Thursday, receding to the sub-$5,000 region per troy ounce. The precious metal is finding support from renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and declining US Treasury yields across the curve in a context of further advance in the Greenback.

XRP edges lower as SG-FORGE integrates EUR stablecoin on XRP Ledger

XRP edges lower as SG-FORGE integrates EUR stablecoin on XRP Ledger

Ripple’s (XRP) outlook remains weak, as headwinds spark declines toward the $1.40 psychological support at the time of writing on Thursday.

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

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