Regional Stock Reports

Forex markets are open 24 hours a day, five days a week except on weekends. You cannot sit in front of your computer screen all the day watching the markets move. Currency traders use market orders to catch market movements when they are not in front of their screens. A market move is just likely to happen while you are asleep or in the shower as while you are sitting in front of your computer screen.

There are many types of market orders. Proper use of market orders is very critical to your trading success. You should think of the different types of market orders as trades waiting to happen. You are in the market so be as careful as possible while playing with the market orders if you enter an order and the subsequent price action triggers its execution. Trading can be very difficult without these market orders.

Experienced currency traders routinely use orders to implement a trade strategy from entry to exit, capture sharp short term price fluctuations, limit risk in volatile or uncertain markets and preserve trading capital from unwanted loss. Market orders are essential for maintaining trading discipline.

Forex markets can be notoriously volatile and difficult to predict, using market orders can help you capitalize on short term price movements while limiting the impact of any adverse price movements.

If you dont use market orders, you probably dont have a well thought out trading plan. While there is no guarantee that the use of market orders will limit your losses and protect your profits in all market conditions, a disciplined use of market orders will help you quantify the risk that you are taking. It will also give you the peace of mind in trading.

A number of different types of market orders are available to currency traders in forex markets. You should add the market orders to the list of questions you need to ask the broker when you open an account with a forex broker because you should know that not all market orders are available at all online forex brokers.

Take Profit Orders: An old market saying, You cant go broke taking profits. Use the take profit order to lock in profits when you have an open position in the market. Suppose you are short EUR/USD at 1.2354. Your take profit order will be to buy back the position and be place somewhere below 1.2334 making a profit of 20 pips. If you are long GBP/USD at 1.8845, your take profit order will be to sell the position somewhere higher close to 1.8875.

Limit Orders: Dont forget the saying, Buy low and sell high. A limit order is any market order that triggers a trade at more favorable levels than the current market price. If the limit order is to sell then it must be placed somewhere above the current market price. If the limit order is to buy, it must be entered somewhere below the current market price.

Cross currency pairs are as important as the major currency pairs that involve USD on either side of the transaction. The most active traded crosses focus on the three non USD currencies namely EUR, GBP and JPY. These crosses are known as the euro crosses, sterling crosses and the yen crosses. The most actively traded cross currency pairs are: EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY, EUR/CHF, and NZD/JPY. Sometimes you will find more action in the cross currency pairs. Crosses enable currency traders to directly target trades to specific individual currencies to take advantage of news or events.

You may notice that the currencies are combined in a seemingly strange way when you look up at the currency pairs. For instance, if sterling-yen (GBP/JPY) is a yen cross, why it is not being also referred to as yen-sterling (JPY/GBP)? The answer is that those quoting conventions were evolved over the years. These conventions have been designed to reflect traditionally strong currencies versus traditionally weak currencies with the strong currency coming first.

The most basic convention that you need to understand is that the first currency in the currency pair is known as the base currency. For example in EUR/JPY, Euro is the base currency. Suppose you buy or sell a currency pair. It is the base currency that you are buying or selling when you buy or sell a currency pair. The second currency in the pair is known as the counter or secondary currency. In the above currency pair, Japanese Yen (JPY) is the counter or secondary currency. So if you buy 100,000 EUR/USD. You have just bought 100,000 Euros and sold the equivalent amount in dollars.

Therefore you can say currency trading involves simultaneously buying and selling. Going long in currency trading means having bought a currency pair! When you are long, you are looking for the prices to go higher. You want to sell at a higher price from that where you bought. It will make you a profit. If you are long and the price goes down, you will make a capital loss.

In currency trading, going short means selling a currency pair! In other words, you have sold the currency pair, meaning you have sold the base currency and bought the counter or secondary currency. You go short in anticipation of the price going further down when you anticipate the price of a currency pair going down. This will make you a profit later when you exit your position by going long. Unlike stock trading where you had to observe the up tick rule before you could go short. In currency trading there is no such rule. In currency trading going short is as common as going long.

If you have an open position and you want to close it, its called squaring up. If you are short, you need to buy to square up. If you are long, you need to sell to go flat. Selling high and buying low is the standard currency trading strategy. Having no position in the market is known as being square or flat.

Profit and Loss is how traders measure success and failure. A clear understanding of how P&L works is especially critical to online margin trading. When you open an online currency trading account, you will need to pony up cash as collateral to support the margin requirements established by your broker.

Profit and Loss calculations are pretty straight forward and are based on position size and the number of pips you make or lose. A pip is the smallest increment of price fluctuation in currency pairs. Pips are also referred to as points. Most of the currency pairs are quoted up to four decimal places. Suppose EUR/USD quote is 1.2853. If the price moves from 1.2853 to 1.2873, it has gone up by 20 pips. Pip is the increase or decrease in the fourth decimal digit.

Hanging Man & the Hammer: The hammer or the hanging man is identified by the small candle that appears at the very top of the pattern! There is usually a pretty long wick at the bottom. If you see this pattern at the bottom of a downtrend, you are looking at a hammer. If it appears at the top of the uptrend, it is considered a hanging man.

You wouldnt trade on it if the opening price on the next trading day is higher than the hammers close if a hammer appears in a downtrend. Similarly, you wouldnt trade on it unless it is confirmed the next day with an opening price lower than the previous close, if you think you have a hanging man appearing in an uptrend.

Double stick patterns depend on two days. The first day is called the set up day. The second day is called the signal day. If you put in the time and effort to monitor them, these patterns can be very powerful and profitable. Compared to single stick patterns, double stick patterns are difficult to come by and rarely appear.

Engulfing Pattern: Engulfing candlestick pattern can be bullish or bearish! The name comes from the fact that the signal day engulfs the pattern day. Both the wick and the body of the second day completely cover the same ground as the first day. The first double candlestick pattern is the bullish engulfing pattern. The setup day candle should be bearish. The signal day candle should be bullish bigger than the last day bearish candle. Likewise the bearish engulfing pattern signals the end of an uptrend.

Harami: A Harami is a two day candlestick pattern with the candle of the setup day longer than the candle of the signal day. Harami pattern can also be bullish or bearish. The first day is very bearish and occurring in a downtrend in case of a bullish Harami. However, on the second day bulls take over. This signals reversals of a downtrend that culminated in a downtrend. Likewise, a bearish Harami signals end of an uptrend.

Bullish Harami Cross: Bullish Harami Cross is a special variant of the Harami. It involves a Doji pattern and should always be considered an indicator of the potential reversal. Bullish Harami Cross appears during a downtrend. Its setup date is a black long candle. Its signal day is a Doji.

Inverted Hammer: A bullish inverted hammer pattern occurs in a downtrend. The first day is a bearish candle. The signal day is an inverted hammer. The inverted hammer is a fairly rare pattern. Inverted hammer can be bullish or bearish.

Doji Star: A Doji Star can be bullish or bearish. The bullish doji star is very similar to a bullish inverted hammer. It occurs in a downtrend and signals that the bulls have had enough. A bullish doji pattern is a two day pattern with the doji appearing on the signal day during a downtrend. Likewise, a bearish doji star indicates end of an uptrend.

Meeting Line: This pattern is another signal that a trend reversal is about to take place. In case of a bullish meeting line, the setup day is a long black candle and the signal day is a long white candle.

Piercing Line: A piercing line can be bullish or bearish! The bullish piercing line consists of a long black candle on the setup day followed by a long white candle on the signal day. The open of the signal day should be lower than the low of the setup day. Likewise, in case of a bearish piercing line a white candle is followed by a black candle.

The Bearish Gravestone Doji: A Doji is created when the opening and closing prices of the day are the same. However, when the opening and closing prices of the day are equal to the low of the day, the most bearish of Doji, the Gravestone Doji is formed.

Some extremely useful single stick patterns rely heavily on their location on a chart. Not all single stick patterns are straightforward. Some single stick patterns that have been discussed earlier were most basic and easy to identify.

Making yourself familiar with these candlestick patterns and how to identify and trade based on them is another way that you can add a versatile weapon to your trading arsenal. A variety of single stick patterns can provide some terrific trading opportunities if you can spot them in the right market environment.

Dojis although appear very rarely are often associated with the reversal of the trend. We have talked about Dojis. Dojis can serve as outstanding reversal indicators. It could very well indicate that the trend maybe changing to a downtrend soon if a Doji appears in an uptrend, especially if it is a Gravestone Doji. Similarly if the Doji appears in a downtrend, it may signal that the trend may soon change to an uptrend!

The Long Legged Doji: A long legged Doji like the name long legged implies features a small stick. It has very long wicks or legs whatever you call them on either side. The small candle on a long legged Doji is normally located very close to the center of the candlestick.

When appearing in an uptrend or a downtrend, a long legged Doji is considered a reversal signal. The long legged Doji indicates that there was a lot of uncertainty in the market after a period of directional certainty and this change of conviction often results in the change of trend.

The Spinning Top: A spinning top is formed when a candlestick has a small body and wick stick out on both ends. The body should appear to the center of the range of the days price action. The wicks should also be as wide as the candle section of the candlestick.

The spinning top is another pattern that depends on the market context and reveals a tight battle between the bulls and the bears like Doji. Eventually one side have to give in whenever, there is a close battle between the bulls and the bears. An explosive move in one direction is possible when this happens.

However, like Dojis, the spinning tops are nice indicators that the trend is about to end and reverse itself. The spinning tops make frequent appearances. Dojis appear very rarely.

Belt Holds: There are two types of belt holds: bullish and bearish. Bullish belt hold features an open equal to the low and a close near the high which leaves a small wick near the top of the candle.

Belt holds also depend on market context and are excellent trend reversal signals. Bearish belt holds patterns on the other hand opens on their highs and close near their lows, thus leaving a small wick near the bottom of the candle.