Cleopiptra

I’ve received quite a few emails today about what my plans are for this evening Asian session and what my thoughts are on the AUD/USD and NZD/USD.

I’ve been watching this range today on the USD/JPY. With the Dow taking a breather today the dollar-yen has been range-bound.

My day starts with a look at the U.S. Dollar Index for two reasons. First it’s a futures contract that I like to trade but second and just as important is the insight it offers into my forex trading.

…I wanted to offer up my two cents here to the discussion already started. A few things about any set up…to me describing a set up has to start with the market cycle on a particular time frame. It’s not enough to trade — for example — the USD/JPY.

I have found that focusing on shorter term intraday timeframes is best in the current rangebound environment. The range is allowing for set ups and follow-through on 15, 30, and 60 minute charts…

I’ve been trading much less these past four weeks — heck, a girl does like to take a vacation! — and now that I am back, my focus is more on the short term: 15, 30, and 60 minute charts.

Here’s a half hour talk about how I use futures to increase my understanding of forex movement. Question? Comments. Leave ’em here at the blog!

One of the things I have always relied on in my forex trading is my background in futures trading. I started trading futures loooong before I even know about forex pairs.

Beginning with the overall look on my quad view offers me the analysis across my favorite tools. I can see where — for example — Pivot support coincides with Wave support and maybe the pressure of a candlestick sell pattern. Notice I also compare each tool on the same time frame.

Short term intraday patterns can not only be beneficial as set up on their own but they can also indicate where the market cycle of larger time frames is going next.