What Are Bollinger Bands?

Bollinger bands are an integral part of just about every charting system We have ever seen but many traders are unfamiliar with how to use them. The bands are plotted at a standard deviation (statistical term for measuring volatility) around a moving average. Typically the standard deviation used is 2.
A simple moving average in the middle. Most charting software defaults to a 20 period moving average.
An upper band calculated around a simple moving average plus 2 standard deviations.
A lower band calculated around a simple moving average minus 2 standard deviations.
For our examples we will use the most common setting of a 20 period simple moving average. This will give us 3 bands, the middle band of a 20 period simple moving average and the upper and lower bands calculated around the middle band with standard deviation of 2. The closing price is most commonly used to calculate the moving average.
The Squeeze
The squeeze (tightening) is a period of low volatility and often happens before a big move. It can also help identify potential breakout areas

Reversal
In conjunction with other indicators you can identify potential reversal points.

Trending Following
Although Bollinger bands will not tell you when the trend has started if you combine it with certain indicators they will confirm the trend.

Our Use Of Bollinger Bands
As we mentioned earlier Bollinger bands are not really meant to be used as a signal generating indicator but in conjunction with another indictors can be very useful. We like to use Bollinger bands and RSI together to generate possible buy and sell signals or to confirm overbought or oversold areas. When the RSI reads below 30 and price is touching or pushing through the lower band then we know we are oversold and We will either consider buying the market or close existing short positions.

Best Regards
Anand,

Interest Rates Hikes (effect on Currencies & Gold)





When a company raises its dividend, its stock becomes more attractive to investors. Its share price rises. When a bank raises interest rates on its savings accounts, people deposit more money in the bank. It's the same way in the currency markets. Rising interest rates make a currency more attractive and it rises against other currencies with stable interest rates. Central banks around the world have been cutting rates for two years, and interest rates are as low now as they've ever been.

The governor of Australia's central bank hinted there would be more interest rate rises on the way. This could be the start of a new trend of rising interest rates around the world. If this is the start of a new trend of rising world interest rates, you can expect big new trends in the currency exchange markets, too. That's because interest rates are the single most important driver of exchange rates in the currency markets.

So how do we make money from a new global trend of rising interest rates?

While other central banks are considering raising rates, the Fed has so far refused to join the party. The dollar is the worst-performing major currency in the world this year as a result.

The recent unemployment report showed that somewhere close to 6 million jobs have vanished from the American economy in the last 18 months. The employment situation hasn't been this bad. With the ongoing unemployment, rate hikes in America are unlikely until next year.

First, this gives us a great opportunity to buy the dollar right now, while it's cheap and no one is anticipating rate hikes from the Fed. By the time Bernanke announces his first rate hike next year, the dollar will have already rallied 10% or more.
Second, a trend of rising interest rates on currencies is great for people looking to buy gold at lower prices. Gold has no interest rate. So when interest rates rise on world currencies, they become more attractive – and they rise – relative to gold. This is especially true with the dollar. It's the world's reserve currency and gold is incredibly sensitive to movements in its interest and exchange rates.

As long as unemployment keeps rising, there's no way the Fed raises interest rates and gold prices will stay high. But next year is a different story. The first hint of rate increases by the Fed will send shockwaves into the gold market.

Regards:
Anand,

Interesting. I wonder if this signals a global shift in investment from US consumer markets to other markets? I also wonder if global investors trust governments besides the US government to protect their investments from nationalization and other forms of social-control. My sense is that the reason global investors prefer to invest in the US market is because many have a sense that venture capitalism has negative effects on the people working, consuming, and otherwise living where that capital is being invested. I think there is also social-control geared toward limiting foreign investment to protect domestic workers and consumers from having to work and consume too hard for their own good.

The danger of global investment shifting from focussing on US markets to elsewhere is that it will become more difficult to regulate business activities and protect the people vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. This is probably already the case, but without some large-scale reductions of global dependence on import and trade, there is a large global middle-class that exerts a lot of demand for all sorts of goods and services, few of which they produce for themselves.

My concern is that the pressure to fulfill such great global demand will cause economies other than the US to melt-down quickly, so I wish there was a way to check demand-pressures and create more avenues for import-substitution, or at least ensure that export-oriented industries are widely distributed across all regions and across different "social classes" of people. That way the burden will not get concentrated too much on any sub-section of the global marketplace.

The Rules of Day Trading

Note: These Rules Are Only For Day Trading, Not For Long Term or Position trading.
A trading plan is essential for success. It is utterly impossible to succeed at trading without a concrete plan. The following are suggestions, some general, some specific, that I think will help traders achieve their goals.
GENERAL POINTS
• Homework:
The study of specific scripts and their relationship to the overall market is essential. It is suggested that the trader work at least one hour outside of market hours on familiarization with scripts that could be traded the next day. As time goes on, the trader will have greater understanding of the widely traded scripts, and will be able to better judge information for potential opportunities. Weekends require at least 2-3 hours of study to setup for the following week. The trader should be prepared to spend a minimum of 10 hours a week outside market hours on this planning and study.
• Schedule:
A standard schedule is essential. The trader should arrive at the trading center 45 minutes before the market opens (or more) and plan on being there all day. Before the market opens: The trader should have a list of potential trading scripts from his homework from the prior evening.

He should look at these as to how they traded intraday the day before, and draw conclusions as to whether or not he will follow them when the market opens. The trader should have his attention on the market, and on nothing else, be rested, and be ready to attack the market. If there is some outside influence that could take attention off the market, the trader should cease trading until the situation is addressed and handled, and he can trade without external influences that could have a detrimental effect.
• Taking heat:
This is the term used for watching a trade go the wrong way. It is the number one reason why traders lose money. Losses are inevitable. Nobody makes money every day. The key to winning overall is to limit the losses and offset them by winning trades.

The trader should never take more than a set limit of heat. In our personal experience, it is extremely difficult to set a number limit on how much heat, such as one-half a point, etc.
• Maximum Shares per Trade
Traders with little experience get wiped out by trading large amounts of shares. Until the trader is making money consistently, i.e. 10 trading days in a row with no losing days, the number of shares should be limited
• Mistakes
Traders make mistakes. The most common mistake is to sell when one wants to buy, and vice versa. The computer can go down, the feed to the exchange can be interrupted. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. The trader must assume full responsibility for any mistake that occurs. Open positions should be exited immediately (almost always at a loss) when a mistake occurs.
• Number of Trades Per Day
Trading too much in one day is the third reason why traders lose money consistently. There is absolutely no reason to trade more than 5 trades per day. The maximum number of trades should be limited to 5 per day.
• Maximum Positions at One Time:
The trader should try and limit himself to one open position at a time. Two positions is acceptable, but three is not. This is more of a general rule

Holding overnight is usually done to try and avoid a loss. Holding overnight for an expected gain is too risky for the trader.

keep in mind this is for day traders All rules are made to be broken. All rules can be safely broken under certain circumstances. But in my experience, breaking more than one rule is a grave mistake, and reduces the possibility of success to less than 25%. It should not be done.
• Trading Regimen
Every trader has a regimen; a style or set of rules that he follows to choose trades. For example, most day traders use technical analysis as part of their personal regimen to form conclusions.

The personal regimen would include the specifics of what indicators are used and why. These regimens are constantly being refined and polished, due to the fact that the market changes all the time, and what worked 6 months ago may not work now. The trader must have a personal regimen, a specific set of rules or guidelines that he follows.

This must be in writing. These guidelines must be his own, in other words, he must not use another trader screaming or some computer program, or anything else, to make his FINAL decisions.

He must make his final decisions himself, and he can't do it without a personal regimen.

The personal trading regimen helps the trader refine his skills and learn what works and what does not. He can change his regimen at any time, of course, but he must have something to change.


Best Regards
Anand,