$USD/CHF Forex US Dollar vs Swiss Franc

[Skydaemon]

Downloaded a forex demo this morning and trying to get a feel for the markets see if it's something I wanna do.

What do you experienced forex types think of a usdchf pullback from 1.089 to to 1.15 in the next 3 wks?

Likely or impossible just because everybody knows the usd is weak?

Insight of any kind would be useful for meh cause I'm just trying to get the hang of it.

[ForexWolf]

Originally Posted by Skydaemon

Downloaded a forex demo this morning and trying to get a feel for the markets see if it's something I wanna do.

What do you experienced forex types think of a usdchf pullback from 1.089 to to 1.15 in the next 3 wks?

Likely or impossible just because everybody knows the usd is weak?

Insight of any kind would be useful for meh cause I'm just trying to get the hang of it.

Howdy and Welcome to Forex!!

If you are new and just tryin to figure out Forex, I suggest you check out www.babypips.com for a very good and free "basics" of how Forex works. Its very educational on understanding what actually goes on in the Currency Market. And of course--if you have any questions on Forex--please ask..we are here to help you learn and there are NO stupid questions that should not be asked...

As for the $/CHF...I do not see the swissy (the $/CHF is often called "swissy" as its, well, Swiss franc ) showing any signs of a turn to the upside... Its at a critical support area right now but I see no indicator signs on the MACD or Stochastics for a upside correction on any chart time frame. It IS tightening its range and moves however on the monthly and weekly chart--which is indicative of a possible breakout move...but its not yet showing me any signs of a direction or firm decision.

This pair is often corrolative in its moves with the Euro and GBP averages for moves and right now those two are in a tug of war with each other for stablizing their corrections... I will say that this pair is at all time lows--which is very significant to note....which could mean correction and rebound are in its future..but right now I am not seeing any major move developing yet. I would want to see this pair break its firm resistance line at 1.0985-1.1000 before I would feel any confidence that it may be correcting itself towards 1.15... In the meantime it may be worth while to play some intraday range moves between 1.0800 and 1.10950....

A good way to learn Forex solidly is to start with basic Support and Resistance trading methods...look for key and current S&R areas and look for breaks and moves above and below those areas for trades, and targeting those next levels outside of that kind of "box"...

Perhaps member Greencat here can add some input to things he may see for possiblities and offer some suggestions....but for me I do not see a huge big long trade just yet back to 1.15 on $/CHF.. Does not mean one could not develop in the next week or so..just means that at this time there is no signal or indication I find strong enough to trade on.

Hope this opinion helps you... Please post often and again were here to help--come to us with your questions, ideas, concerns and so on, and we'll help you get started in this awesome trading market of Forex fiuguring it all out. Its a bit more trickier and complex than stocks--but its much more fun and profitable IMO.. Again--welcome to Stockmarketcats and hope you see you around the forum..

FXW

[Skydaemon]

Yeah I saw that site, it did help a fair bit with mechanics and calculations of forex.

I got a handle on the mechanics of my demo software but I'm gonna ditch it before going for real due to problems it has. Don't suppose you know a good forex broker for canadians eh? I'm playing with one from MIG (http://www.migfx.ch/) which has technical issues I couldn't deal with for real money like random disconnections.

Right now I'm mainly trying to get a handle on daily/weekly timing influences which I'm gonna do by a couple weeks of continual trading/trial and error. Taking note of when I get killed or broadsided lol. It's play money after all, this is what it's for.

Done a touch of quick swing trading which seems to be ok, and I'm getting used to the margin requirements now.

I'm gonna post here in this forum some kind of notes on how I'm doing trading on my $5k demo money, partially just for my own record, I'll start a new thread somewhere.

One q I had is how much margin you usually leave free. On $5k demo acct right now (200:1) I tend to enter with a 2 lot, increasing to 4 when I'm relatively confident. Seems to be ok for swing trades that aren't too vicious.

[ForexWolf]

Originally Posted by Skydaemon

Yeah I saw that site, it did help a fair bit with mechanics and calculations of forex.

I got a handle on the mechanics of my demo software but I'm gonna ditch it before going for real due to problems it has. Don't suppose you know a good forex broker for canadians eh? I'm playing with one from MIG (http://www.migfx.ch/) which has technical issues I couldn't deal with for real money like random disconnections.

Right now I'm mainly trying to get a handle on daily/weekly timing influences which I'm gonna do by a couple weeks of continual trading/trial and error. Taking note of when I get killed or broadsided lol. It's play money after all, this is what it's for.

Done a touch of quick swing trading which seems to be ok, and I'm getting used to the margin requirements now.

I'm gonna post here in this forum some kind of notes on how I'm doing trading on my $5k demo money, partially just for my own record, I'll start a new thread somewhere.

One q I had is how much margin you usually leave free. On $5k demo acct right now (200:1) I tend to enter with a 2 lot, increasing to 4 when I'm relatively confident. Seems to be ok for swing trades that aren't too vicious.

Howdy...
Demo trading is the best for testing out the waters--I always say in a Demo--try it all, make your mistakes, take the risky risks and long shots, go crazy and do whatever, and get it all outta your system in Demo.. Its for practice and playing and learning--and it can teach you a lot if what to do and what not to do...but best to do it in Demo. Using this site as your trade journal will be good practice and good for developing your methods and skills.. We welcome your posts and will gladly offer you any comments, insight or help you may want or need to refine or develop and fix any mistakes so ya don't make them with real cash...

I partially answer your question about margin and risk ratio in another thread-and a more detailed explanation about account "reality" as I call it is here: http://stockmarketcats.com/showthread.php?t=1689 Its not about how much margin to leave free--its about how much to risk per trade! Be careful about "overtrading".. Your account is your lifes blood--without it you get a margin call, you get an automatic stop and you can end up not having any "room" to let a trade endure or run its course and being prematurely stopped out before it has had its time to move.. So its not about how much to have free--the more the better IMO as you can endure and take a loss without it being critical or devestating... Its about not risking too much at one time. At best case you want to risk no more than 2% of your account on one trade...that is the standard blurb you will hear from many FX traders.. I stretch it in my trading to be sometimes 4%..but thats it and I assume the risk.. But you have to consider some other factors in trading set ups..and I shall explain....

When you trade you have to factor in many things--entry, exit, validations, stop losses--but those are only part of those factors you have to plan for. You also need to consider "risk to reward" ratio's as well as the money and account managent for risk exposure. For example--sometimes a trade may be for 10 pips..but if you risk 20 pips on your stoploss to gain those 10 pips, your R:R ratio is 2:1 and can create issues in the long term. Would you give me 20$ bill to get a crisp new $10 bill? The answer to this is no--but you would be surprised how many traders do just that and will put 50 pips or more at risk in their stoploss just to gain 20. Logically it makes no sense. Make sure you consider this factor. If you are having to risk 50 pips to make 20, then a couple of things or more are wrong--your entry is too late for the trade or your expectation or analysis of the levels for exit and stoploss are wrong. If you have two wins and one loss using the 2:1 ratio you have won 40 pips--but when you lose one, not only do you lose the 40 pips you had won in two trades, but you lose an additional 10 as well in one trade. Two steps forward, one step back. Look to do a 1:1 or 1:2 or better.. I try to stick to 1:1 but I often do 1:2--I will risk 50 pips to make 50 or more... It helps me eliminate a lot of "noise" trades I see, and a lot of trades that are already missed.... Just a tip for you...

About what I call "Trade structure"--this is often over looked and I am very happy to see you asking this kind of question early on. When tradng multiple Lots--try to develop trading methods that are consistant. Too often traders will trade 2 lots on one trade, 5 lots on another, 1 lot on another and they use no structure to this. I am presuming your demo is for regular Mini lots and not for "full size" lots. Mini's are $10k and full size is $100k for what you leverage. Difference being is mini's average about $1 per pip and full size lots average $10 per pip. Whichever you decide to use or do, I suggest no more than 2 lots per trade at the max....and I also suggest you learn about fading in and out of trades using those lots to your advantage. For example: If I am strong about a trade I wil trade it initially at 2 lots entered, and I wil then sell off one lot when I reach a validation or first target..this banks me some profits regardless and lets the other lot in play to possibly get more out of atrade if I feel it can be made. (I usually have at least two targets in my plans). If I am unsure about a trade--I may take 1 lot initially and look for a validation point price to be reached which tells me I am on the right side of the trade. If I reach my validation point and have a significant way to go before first profit target, I will add a second lot to the trade. When I reach my first profit target I will exit one lot and hold the other open for second target or break-even or profit-locked in stop loss. Don't forget your Stoploss in structuring your trades--the objective depending on the pair is to move your stop to at least break-even as soon as you make a significant amount so even if the trade fails you have no loss. If you have made a significant level then you can incrementally move your stop to lock in and protect profiuts so even if a trade fails you have locked in your stop above your entry so you still have a gain on teh trade even if it is smaller then projected. There is a lot of strategy to planning trades and structuring your trades--many traders do not think about this until later or even at all and this kind of strategy in your plans can significantly improve your gains and turn things in your favor. This also can all be done thru the electronic ordering processes (by entry/limit orders, OCO--one cancels other orders, or "IF/THEN" orders) or by phone with your broker.

As for brokers in Canada--I do not know any IN canada off the top of my head, but I have a friend in Canada who trades FX so I will ask who he suggests...tho I think he uses a US broker. I usually suggest folks look at OANDA, Forex.com, GFT, FXCM and InterbankFX as they are some large, significant and trusted common FX brokers...but really its a bit of research and testing and checking your broker features and functions are what you want. Demo's can be great for this cause while you learn you can also test out 3-4 or more brokers in Demo's and when you have done a lot of Demo testing and developped consistancy skills and methods, when you go to put down real money you will have an idea of which broker served you best. I posted in that thread link above or in this forum how to choose and find a broker--I think you may find it offers some good helpful suggestions which you can use... I suggest even if you are not a US resident to get a broker who is listed with the NFA/CFTC as a member. There are a LOT of new Forex regulations in the works for the protection of traders from scammers and fly by night outfits..and the NFA/CFTC are working to enact them to protect people from fraud and help keep the brokers honest...

Any more questions--just post em...I hope the info I share is helpful.

FXW

[Skydaemon]

I got pretty frustrated with that MIG trading station today so I switched. I tried to get a new window up with a new currency pair and it wouldn't make it a candlestick chart even when I clicked that.

Then I hit F5 thinking that would refresh it and it minimized all my currency windows, wiped my settings, converted them all to non-candlestick charts, and removed and replaced my indicators with different ones.... I tried to convert them back to candlesticks but it would no longer do that.

That was pretty much the last straw.

So I tried your interactiveFX broker, downloaded their demo. Surprise surprise. It was the exact same piece of software MIG uses with a different company logo on it.

Got rid of that and tried fxcm, using a demo on their trading station 2 which so far I kind of like.

I opened a regular demo account with $50,000. I thought I changed it to 5k but it came up as 50k, so I'm just gonna multiply everything I do by 10 and get the same effect.

As soon as photobucket is finished their maintenance I'll post a screenshot of what their window looks like. It's kind of neat actually and seemingly very customizable.

Has a couple notable different features than the MIG/interactiveFX platform:

-Has 2 ways to display the currencies, in the normal number line items like normal, or in what I call the gas pump pricing method, you'll see in the picture I post. It's cool I like it, stands out very well. There's a tab you can click to put the gas pump prices back to looking like the other platform.

-It kind of gets rid of the lot concept. It's still there but you place orders in thousands of dollars instead of lots. So if I want $100,000 I place an order for 100 (K) instead of other programs where I'd buy 1 lot instead of 100k.

-It's got some pretty smart memory about your actions. Like if I place a stop loss 20 pips above where I am, it remembers that I like stop losses 20 pips above the current price and the next time I enter a stop loss on the next trade it will pull up 20 pips less as a default and highlight the digit I'm most likely to change. Same with profit limits. This can be combined with the single or double click thing if you like, so you can basically set stop and profit limits with nothing more than a mouseclick which take your previous stop loss or profit pip distance as a default.

-It has one click close buttons on my trade summary screen as well as the gas pump price screen, so I don't have to open a new window I can just click on the current price thing and it's actually a close button which either brings up a window or just does it immediately based on configuration.

[Skydaemon]

Here's what it looks like.

Another feature I forgot is the pip spread is displayed in real time for all the currencies on the gas pump price window, which is nice. You can see it tightening or widening as it happens which I couldn't see on the other software without opening a trade screen.

[greencat]

USD/CHF - Dollar Swiss Franc
1,1321. USD CHF made a false break and continues the actual trend.. USD CHF is in a range between 1,1275 and 1,1460. The volatility is high. Bollinger bands are flat. Oscillators are neutral. The price should continue to move in Bollinger bands.

Resistances

1,1400 - 1,1460

Supports

1,1270 - 1,1135

USD/CHF Forex Chart Support and Resistance

[greencat]

USD CHF Firex update

[greencat]

Forex Update US Dollar vs Swiss Franc

We see using the Andrews Pitchfork that the "swissy" is in a big uptrend. On the pullback it made a double bottom and now has broken resistance. I look for more of a upmove. The area to watch will be the last high and see if it can take it out.

USD/CHF Chart

[greencat]

USD/CHF:
Dollar Rally Forces Itself Into 1.17s] London, January 23. 1.1711 trades in the initial push into the 1.17s. USD/CHF may not have managed to cement the first attempt above the figure but further gains cannot be ruled out given the power the Dollar is managing to exert against embattled European currencies. Dealers note some profit-taking on prior long positions amid the latest flow but the resulting dip is only likely to serve up better rates for bulls to buy back in at.