Trade Closed: 2010-03-12 22:30

Well, my winning streak had to end sooner or later! In the span of a few minutes last Friday, my USDCHF long order got triggered and stopped out.

At first, I thought it was simply the surge in risk appetite that caused the down move, when the US February retail sales managed to beat expectations despite adverse weather conditions. But Pip Diddy soon told me that news of the possible appointment of dovish Janet Yellen Federal Reserve Vice Chairman gave currency traders reason to believe that interest rates would probably remain steady all throughout 2010. This lower likelihood of rate hikes caused demand for US dollars to falter, pushing the USDCHF to a low of 1.0578 last Friday.

Closed at 1.0600 with a total loss of -50 pips / -1.00%

Still, I'm not too bummed out that I lost. Besides, you can't win em all right? Plus, I understand that this is part of trading. I just have to learn and bounce back. 'Till my next trade then! I'll keep you posted!

Trade Idea: 2010-03-09 22:05

I don't normally check out the currency crosses but I had a lot of idle time today so I was able to glance at the EURCHF chart. I noticed that the pair was approaching the psychological 1.4600 level, putting many traders at the edge of their seats!

Why? Well, according to a couple of articles I've read, there's the chance that the SNB could intervene in the currency markets once the EURCHF pair dips to that low level. Apparently, the SNB doesn't like the franc to appreciate too much. I suppose this is because they want a weak currency in order to boost exports. What do you guys think?

Since I'm not used to trading the EURCHF pair yet, I decided to trade the USDCHF pair instead because it could be pushed higher if the SNB intervenes.

Not to mention that I like the setup on the USDCHF. The pair has been consolidating for quite some time above the 1.0650 mark. I think placing a long order at that level would be ideal since it has already acted as support at least two times in the past. With stochastics far from being oversold, there could be room for price to fall and hit my entry. I'm putting my stop at 1.0580 which is just below the 1.0600 psychological handle. I'm also setting my take profits at 1.0580 and 1.0880.

Again, here's my plan:

Long USDCHF at 1.0650, profit target 1 at 1.0850, profit target 2 at 1.0880, stop at 1.0580

As usual, I'll be risking 1% of my account on this trade.

On a side note, props to Kathyrn Bigelow for beating out James Cameron for the Best Director award!