BING BANG BOOM

                                       Thanks, Now Go Home

Again today, we see a pattern that has become all too familiar; a small daily range [only $16] where 50% [or more] of the entire range happens in microseconds.

Asia has all but disappeared from trading these last 3 months . You can actually see paint dry faster than you can see the price changes coming out of Asia. Europe is only marginally better. In other words, the “Lemmings In Asia” have disappeared, giving nobody any idea where market sentiment is for that particular day.

What this means is simple; we enter U.S. trading around 6:30 A.M. [Chicago time] with a very tight range that is much easier to make both a new high and a new low. This is the reason we have seen so many of the “Flying Wedge of Death” chart formations in the last few months. It also means the Central Planners know where the stops are with almost total certainty, therefore making it easier to move the market on their manipulations.

Then in a literal microsecond, bing bang boom, the market moves $4 - $10. Twenty minutes was all that was needed today, as three spikes totaling $12 moved gold higher faster than you could blink your eyes.

I got long and the price moved higher, but price moved off so fast it got me out of the market. One second I’m up $1.50, and the very next second I’m up $0.20; I got a whole nanosecond to make a decision.

“Hey, thanks for showing up vegas, what do you want to do?”

And sadly, that’s it for the day, as all that is left is the wailing and gnashing of teeth thereafter in terms of price. The train cometh; the train leaveth; the day is over. We go maybe a buck or two on either side of where I liquidated the trade, except for the $5 Central Planner smack-down at 8:45 A.M.

I’m not happy making pennies either, but it’s better than losing money.

Weekly Cycle Charts

Some of the most recent cycles have been changed from last week’s update. Below is the current count for each market I’m following.

XAUUSD

It looks like we are in day 6 of an up cycle.

EURJPY

It looks like we are in day 6 of a down cycle.

AUDUSD

 It looks like we are in day 4 of an up cycle.

Have a good weekend everyone.

-vegas

AVOIDING LANDMINES

                                     Or, He Can Trade Gold

Asia has been unusually quiet these last weeks and months. Ranges and volume have been very small and light respectively. If you get into a trade you run the risk of being in it all night long with nothing really happening. That makes the trade subject to a stop hunt or random order flow.

With that in mind I got long in the Asian session and got taken out on the market coming back very quickly. Yea, it was a small profit, but the action wasn’t very good at the time. Another long position hours later yielded a small profit also, but again the market came back very quickly once we were up money in the position.

The daily range has been shrinking, making manipulation efforts easier; the smaller the range, the easier it is to get traders to panic. We didn’t even have a $19 range today [as I write].

Today’s action on the upside basically came from three 5M candlesticks, where the price went up in total about $11 in 30 seconds. So, in a 24 hour market 60% of the days range came in about 90 seconds. These gaps in prices, where one second the market is at 1653 and the next second it is at 1657, are becoming the norm in trading. And more importantly, the moves are coming from places on the candlestick charts where you would least think it likely.

“Thank you government manipulators.”

Risk management continues to be a problem in the market. Prices move so fast and violently, stop placement is hazardous. If you widen your stop, you aren’t given the opportunity, by the market through higher volatility, to make the loss back in the session.

The algorithm is performing well; all we need is more trading signals. Any type of normal daily range and we will get them. It just so happens that in the last 9 days of trading only 2 days have had a $20 range [barely] and one of those was yesterday thanks to the Fed report.

The currencies? “Oyyyyyyy.”

Wake me up when the currencies get a range; this week they are trading about 50% of normal range.

Have a good day everyone.

-vegas

MARKET CONFUSION REIGNS

                                       Welcome To My World

Gold was almost comatose prior the Fed report.

Gap down and then a reversal; that pretty much summed up the market after the Fed report.

The algorithm gave a buy signal on the turn up, but wide spreads followed by huge slippage cost us some today. The spread almost doubled after the report, and then after I submitted my buy order, we got filled about $1.75 away from where I entered the order.

Yea, it sucks, but there isn’t anything you can do because things are moving so fast. Liquidation got us too, as I hit the button above 1640.50 and got filled at 1939.76.

In a normal market environment I’d be screaming bloody murder to a partner, but in this mess after the Fed report, your screams will fall on deaf ears at the brokerage house; they don’t want to hear about it.

So, we take our profits for the day and wait for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Meanwhile, it was as if the currencies were closed today. A 53 pip range in EURJPY and only a 41 pip range in AUDUSD; we had bigger ranges on Christmas Eve. I had my eye on EURJPY most of the night waiting for a move and an algorithm signal, but obviously it never had one.

Have a good day everyone.

-vegas

A CHALLENGING MARKET

                                          One Look At Gold

All financial markets are really looking ahead to tomorrow. Today’s gold action was all one-way; first up, then turn on a dime, and then down the rest of the day into the close. As I have said before, Ebb and Flow have left Green Acres and haven’t been seen since 2011.

A small loss today as the long chop caught us. No matter today’s profit/loss, tomorrow‘s trade will dwarf whatever today brought. Look for some explosive action once the Fed minutes are released. QE 3 and we are headed much higher; no mas ahora QE 3 and we are on a path to test 1600.

It should be a big day.

Have a good day everyone.

-vegas

NEWS FLOW DOMINATES

                                              Read It & Weep

A bunch of market moving news items out of Europe over the weekend failed to move gold in Asia. Then, in a few seconds at the European open, the damage started. In total, it was short term bearish for gold, but long term bullish.

The algorithm gave a buy signal off the first low today, but since the range was so low I ignored it. The second low put in during the U.S. session gave another buy signal and we got long, but the dynamics in the market ahead of Wednesday’s Fed meeting are putting a damper on rallies. Risk on the trade was acceptable, but slippage was an issue again today, as the dealer clipped us over $0.50 getting in the trade.

We still made some money today, although not a lot, as the market chops within a few bucks of where we liquidated the trade.

We have to be careful down here near 1600; stops below this level are gigantic, and if broken I have no idea where gold will level off and stabilize. A Central Planner raid, while nobody is looking for it, is a definite possibility as is a very sharp drop down from somebody who wants to be the first one out of the boat if water starts leaking.

Last night I was looking at EURJPY for a sell signal to get short, but the market never rallied much and just leaked lower.

Over all, since I made the necessary updates to the algorithm, it has performed well in all of the markets.

Have a good day everyone.

-vegas