The French election has also sparked some concern over the Euro. With incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy losing the first round of voting to the far left candidate Francois Hollande, there seems to be some concern over which direction the country is moving in. Sarkozy will still advance to the final round of voting, but he has another major foe running against him: the far right Marine Le Pen. This nationalist candidate has raised concerns over French and European solidarity, and could mark the beginning of even more intense struggles within the European government. Until this election is finalized, the Euro will probably hang in limbo in comparison to other major currencies.

The Japanese yen is also performing well, even with the given problems faced by the rest of Asia. In fact, this currency is performing better than any of the other major global currencies, including the U.S. dollar. The yen gained about 0.08 percent in early trading on Tuesday and it looks like it will continue to increase in price for the foreseeable future. The Japanese economy is by far the strongest in Europe as of right now, and its currency’s performance is a reflection of this fact.

The dollar is still strong, and it is a better alternative to the European currencies. Even minor currencies, such as the Swiss franc, are performing poorly against the dollar. The franc is doing better than others, as this price chart seems to be going through a period of consolidation. In other words, the USD/CHF price chart is moving sideways. The Swiss currency has a long history of being a safe haven, but for now, the yen seems to be the slightly better choice.

Other widely traded minor currencies, such as the Australian dollar, are also struggling in relations to the USD. In early Tuesday trading, the AUD lost about 0.29 percent of its value against the USD. This trend shows that there are larger doubts looming in regard to the worldwide economy. The dollar and the yen are profiting from these concerns, but this might spell major trouble at some future point.

The software works up to 87% accuracy and currently is effective on over 23 currency pairs. It’s not so much about the history of the software and what it’s proven, but is what it can do for you in the future. The setup is pretty clear and simple and allows you to trade on a daily intraday setup. What this means is, it allows you to trade in the morning when the markets open and not have to worry about making trades during the day. No, it’s not a set it and forget it system but it does allow you to trade based on predictive artificial intelligence that gives you the trade in the morning.

The goal of TradeVantage is to create wealth for your account. It uses artificial intelligence which is more like intelligent machines and computers to accomplish this.

Some things you want to know about Trade Vantage are:
It’s not an EA or trading robot
It’s not an indicator
It’s not a expert advisor for the Metatrader charting software
It’s not a marketing program created by marketers
It doesn’t confuse you when you want to work with it

When you open the software it connects to secure servers and downloads the latest market data which then provides the trade signals for the day. There’s no connection other than a Login you need for this Tradevantage software. You then use any trading platform you wish to make your trades.

Once you have the software open you will see five distinct trading signals.
1. No trade – which means you don’t have to open any trades or no trades are opened
2. Buy to open – you are currently not in the trade when the markets open and buy the currency pair
3. Sell to open – you are currently not a trade, and in this case the market opens sell the currency pair
4. Hold – you already have a position open on the currency pair and aren’t supposed to do anything but hold the trade
5. You have position open in your set to close

We can go on and on about all the different things Tradevantage does. We can also go over all this proof that it’s done in the past. It’s probably better to go check out the full-page about Trade Vantage and learn more about how you can get started with the software. At this point it doesn’t come cheap, but at least you have a potential software to make a lot of money for your account. (Read More…)

How will this affect the market? For starters, it’s a good thing that the stock market is closed for Good Friday because this would undoubtedly be detrimental to stock prices. March marked the 15th straight month that jobs were added to our economy, but the rate of growth is beginning to slow down, which is not good news for still choppy financial markets. This is especially true of the U.S. dollar. In light of a weak Euro, the dollar has been gaining value steadily, but today’s non-farm payroll report encouraged the Euro to rise by about a quarter of a percentage point. The dollar also fell against the British pound by about 0.35 percent.

The incoming non-farm payroll data was far less than was expected, especially after all of the encouraging news that our economy has recently received. Layoff reports say that this practice is down, and there are 21 percent more job openings than there was a year ago for a total of over 3.4 million. This payroll report trumps all of these pieces of news, though, thanks to its weighted importance upon U.S. financial markets. This report packs quite a bit of punch and the markets will surely respond in kind when they reopen next week. The biggest weakness in the U.S. economy is the retail sector, where 34,000 jobs were lost last month. And while average hourly wages increased, the amount of hours decreased even more, making the average weekly pay decrease overall. Other key areas, like manufacturing, business services, healthcare, and restaurants all saw an increase in the amount of jobs that they offer.

Federal treasuries rose in value, however, on this news. Bonds moved sharply up in price during the limited trading day, which is good news for long term investors.

This data will surely cause stocks to fall in value at the beginning of the week, but by the end of the week, other more prevalent factors will shape trading. The deficit and consumer sentiment will all be much more influential by the end of next week.

Traders around the globe are flocking to the dollar as the EU’s debt problems worsen and joblessness increases. Spain’s debt is only another mark against the Euro and will most likely not be the last. Europe’s Central Bank (ECB) held rates at 1.0 percent, thus sparking even more distrust in the Euro. While the steady interest rate was expected, it did only add to the feelings that Europe’s economy is in trouble.

The Euro’s chart has a similar feel to it. It recently fell below a key support level and it has been extrapolated by some experts that if the Euro closes below this level, there will be deep concerns about the substantial losses that the Euro will be facing. As market movement progresses throughout the trading day, this looks like it will almost be a certainty.

The Euro’s woes have led to an increase in strength of both the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. The dollar and the yen both face the smallest amount of hindrances of any of the world’s major currencies, thus making them a safe harbor for traders looking to go long. Of these two, the yen is the top performer as it made gains against even the U.S. dollar in recent trading, with the yen gaining about 0.8 percent for the day against the greenback.

If you look at the EUR/JPY pair, more concern is raised over the Euro’s health. The yen gained about 1.3 percent against the Euro, illuminating the Japanese economy as perhaps the best place for Forex traders to put their money. The growing yen comes after about three weeks of consolidation. Prior to this, the yen was in a definite uptrend. There is strong suspicion that this upward sloping trend is capable of resuming—especially against the Euro—as the EU’s economy worsens in comparison.

If one currency is looking the strongest, it is definitely the Japanese yen. Whether or not this trend is going to continue remains to be seen, but recent evidence indicates that the yen is going to pull away from the Euro and the pound sterling. The dollar will likely continue to increase against these two currencies as well, but its progress in comparison to the yen is still up in the air.

The British pound came under question today as well, as the UK released that it had its slowest manufacturing month since December. While the pound ultimately rose in price in relation to the dollar by about 0.09 percent, there is cause to worry that these two European currencies are going to lose a lot of steam. The dollar is, of course, the most logical alternative to these beleaguered currencies.

As the dollar seems to grow stronger, there are other signs besides worldwide currencies showing that indicate that this is the case. The Dow, the NASDAQ, and the S&P 500 all had stellar days as the economic outlook for the U.S. in 2012 begins to brighten. With the first quarter of the year over and officially productive, these stock market indices all went up in value. While the U.S. markets and the U.S. dollar don’t always move in lockstep, the economic data for the U.S. is starting to improve. Joblessness is down to about 8.3 percent, the lowest it has been in quite a while.

But in Europe, the jobless rate continues to go up. The rate is currently the highest it has been in the last 14 years at about 10.8 percent. This undoubtedly is going to play a big factor in the Euro’s value over the next several months. If European jobs and manufacturing are both down, things do not look good for the long term Euro holder. This is a large part of the reasoning behind the Euro’s recent collapse.

And while the Euro is still in a better spot than it was three months ago, it has been in a relative consolidation motion for the last two months, as the price oscillates up and down without really making up its mind which direction it wants to head. This is due in a large part to the Greek debt crisis, but it is also not resolving itself because of deeper running problems that flow throughout all of Europe. The consolidation will not last forever and when it ends, the Euro will most likely fall to a more appropriate level.

(Figure1) GBPUSD Bounce off of the Pivot Point

Our next trade setup occurred on March 21, 2012 (Figure2). This was a similar type of Binary trading setup as the image above. Notice the pretty steep decline and then we had one huge candle that gave it the extra momentum to the south side. We knew if the next candle hit we should take this call option. This bounce was another no pain bounce that gave us a 6-8 pip winner.

Some things to consider when it comes to trading this EURUSD chart are the fact that we dropped a good 20-30 pips in a short period of time. This gives you more leverage when seeking a bounce versus a follow through. A lot of times currency pairs will consolidate before moving the same direction again. This was a perfect example. It literally poked through the line and came back above within 2 minutes.

(Figure2) Call Option off the Pivot Point was Ideal

This last trade setup had an interesting move that caught our attention. This trade took a few extra minutes of watching, but once it occurred it was very favorable setup. With over a 50 pip move from it’s top we noticed it didn’t really consolidate. However we didn’t want to get in on a call option before it got to the pivot. There were a couple of put option opportunities available if you were looking for those. However, notice how it consolidated finally at around 13:26. We knew that once it broke to the pivot we could enter the call option. The long candle closed at 13:58, so this trade would be the 14:15 binary trade. You also had several candles to enter before it popped. Once it popped you were free and clear with a 10+ pip winner. This stuff happens all the time.

(Figure3) Play Pivot Points as Support while Binary Trading

The key to these setups is to be looking for them or have some kind of alert to tell you this is happening. This allows you to just take favorable opportunities.

Make Sure You Get the Best Spread

Finding the lowest spreads possible is a good skill to have in your Forex trading. By discovering a small spread, you can take advantage of a better chance of hitting a profit. For example, if a currency pair usually has a 2.6 pip spread, you will be more profitable if you can time your trading to incorporate a 2.5 or lower spread.

For example, if you are trading the EUR/USD pair and the buy and sell rates are at 1.32106 and 1.32099, respectively, you are at an immediate disadvantage. This is okay because every single broker will create a spread such as this one in order for them to make a profit. But when the spread shrinks, an even better opportunity is created. For example, the EUR/USD spread might shrink from the above example where it was at 2.7 pips, down to even as far as 2.0 pips. By taking advantage of the varying spreads that most brokers offer, you can greatly improve your chances of turning a profit. Varying spreads mean that you need to be observant. This is a tough thing to do because it requires constant vigilance and quick reflexes as these opportunities don’t last long.

The hardest part about taking advantage of a moving spread, however, is that you have other variables to worry about too—mainly, the actual price. A 2.0 pip spread is great, but if it comes at the cost of buying the currency at too high of a high price, the trade, no matter how lucrative the spread, is not going to be a successful one.

So your best option when trading a currency is to pick a site that offers lower than average spreads on the average. This might mean a little bit of looking around on your behalf, but in the end it will more than pay off. So, if your current broker offers 2.6 pip spreads on the EUR/USD currency pair, and you mainly trade this, you will want to try and find a broker that offers a smaller spread.

Spreads are how brokers make money. This is a simple fact of life and is not going to change. So the trick is to try and turn this to your best advantage. A spread is never going to benefit you, so minimizing the cost will be your best bet. Try and find a broker that offers the lowest spread on your currency of choice and your growing profit rate will thank you. If you trade more than one currency pair, trying to find a single broker might be tough, so be prepared to trade each currency pair on a separate broker. This is a pain, but if you are serious about making money, it might be your best option.

The other side of this coin is that the U.S. dollar has fallen quite a bit in price. Because of a poor showing across the board, the dollar fell against all of the major currencies. This reversal in consumer sentiment was unexpected, but based upon recent gains against the Euro, the reversal could have been anticipated. With the use of Fibonacci retracement tools, the Euro looked like it had been approaching the critical support level and a rebound was imminent. Rather than buying dollars, because the Euro had reached this support level at right around 1.300, it only makes sense that the price of the Euro would begin to climb in relation to the USD.

Shortly after hitting the support level, the Euro skyrocketed toward to the critical Fibonacci level of 61.8 percent. The Euro will very likely stall out at this level before climbing even higher in price. The fundamental strength of the Euro is still increasing thanks to positive momentum in solving the Euro Zone’s debt crisis. With the Euro currently in between the 100 percent and the 61.8 percent levels, it is very likely that the Euro will continue to increase throughout the course of the trading day.

The British pound, when viewed through the lens of Fibonacci retracement, also had some predictable movement, although it moved much more quickly than the Euro did. It stayed at its critical support level only long enough to rise back up to 23.6, consolidate for a few moments, and then go up to 38.2. It then jumped up to the next key Fibonacci number, 61.8 percent. It is very likely that the pound will pause here for a bit longer as consumer sentiment catches up to the fast moving pound.

These moves coming from European currencies marked a new phase in the recovery from the debt crisis. It looks like consumers are becoming a lot more confident in the European market and are willing to risk money to take advantage of the positive growth. It might be too soon to actually say that Europe’s economy will fully recover in the near future, but the excitement within the Forex market is clear. The Euro and the pound are no longer the dangerous investment that they were even a few days ago. While a scaling back in activity is very likely, this is good news for traders looking to make money with the Euro and the pound.

Gold Plays a Big Role when it comes to Currencies

While this might actually fall under the jurisdiction of fundamental analysis, using gold as a gauge during currency trading can actually be a unique way to not only understand where a currency is headed price-wise, but also as a way to hedge your currency trading. This is because, historically, gold investing has been used as a way to keep up with inflation and add a layer of protection to a portfolio. This makes gold a great long term part of your investing strategy, but you might still be wondering how this applies to short term trading. Gold and gold ETFs can be a great way to see if a currency is actually getting the support that it needs from institutional investors and other customers.

For example, the price of gold futures has plummeted over the last 48 hours, dropping more than 20 percent of its worth per ounce. This is partly because people are seeing that some currencies are beginning to show more promise than they have in a long time. The United States dollar has been the big winner here. In fact, the USD has risen in the past day against each major currency. This includes a large 0.8 percent gain against both the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. In regards to the other major currencies, the gains are a bit more modest, but the average hovers around 0.3 percent.

This is an indicator that people are pulling up their stakes and moving to a currency that has been time tested and profitable. This is not to say that the United States does not have economic problems. It’s just that the problems that the U.S. is currently facing are lesser than, say, Europe’s are.

Where does gold fit in here? The price of gold is often measured as an inverse of the U.S. dollar. Historically, when the dollar drops, people have flocked to investing in gold as a manner of preserving wealth. This seems to be true in reverse as well. When the dollar goes up in value, it could be because people are switching from gold to the dollar, thus creating more demand. Or, to look at in a different manner, the price of gold might be dropping because the dollar is stronger. Whatever the reasoning behind this give and take, the answer is obvious: the dollar and the price of gold have a strong, yet inverse, relationship. When gold rises, the dollar falls. When the dollar rises, gold falls. This doesn’t always happen in unison, so spotting a rising price per ounce of gold can sometimes be a good trading signal that you should drop your USDs and move your forex trading money into a safer currency.

But many other experts believe that China’s slowing down of growth is not as big of a deal as originally thought. China’s year on year exports have been trending lower ever since May of 2010. The sinking in global stocks must have been created by another source. These experts indicate that China was merely a trigger point for an ongoing and increasing worldwide risk aversion brought about by global fundamental indicators.

It’s hard to determine just how big of an impact a single event can have on currency and stock prices. Fundamental and technical indicators are much more interrelated than most people think, and as such, you should always reference both when trading. Whatever the exact reasoning behind the global pullback in stocks might be, the big winner is the U.S. dollar. Since Friday, March 9, the U.S. dollar has risen from a low of about 0.754 up to a current price of 0.7631.

This growth is partly because international traders don’t know where else to put their money. In relation to the U.S. dollar, all of the three other major currencies have recently dropped in price. The Euro was suffering for the longest time because of the Greek debt crisis. With a plan still being fleshed out and people unsure of how the European Union will respond exactly to the proposed solution, the Euro has not been as powerful as it once was. The Japanese yen has seen some problems as well. Over the last few days, the yen has dropped from 0.0124 down to 0.0122. This might be a slight drop, but it still has kept skeptical traders away. And the pound sterling is also meeting with resistance. A week ago, on Monday, March 5, the GBP was around 1.587. Now, the British currency is at 1.563. As you can see, of the big four, the USD is the only one that has meet with acceptable increases in price. By flocking to the dollar, traders are making a statement about the global economy: people are unsure of where exactly to put their money. The U.S. economy might not be in the best shape, but as of right now, the dollar appears to be the best of a bad situation.