FuturesTechs Blog

Event: 4 Practical workshops on Technical Analysis, delivered over 2 days by our chief Technical Analyst, Clive Lambert

Date: March 17^th and 18^th 2010

Place: MWB Business Exchange, Houndsditch (City of London).

Details: Join Clive Lambert for a 2 day seminar introducing the basics of Technical Analysis, then delving deeper into three key methodologies used by traders every day.

This course is suitable for anyone from a new trader to an experienced market professional wishing to expand their knowledge on essential technical tools for short and medium term trading.

These practical modules on key trading methodologies may count towards 12 hours of your FSA CPD, based on them satisfying you training requirements*.

Clive Lambert has been a central figure in the UK Futures day trading arena for 10 years now, and has taught thousands of traders how to incorporate Technical Analysis into their daily routine. He is the Author of “Candlestick Charts” and is an accomplished and interesting speaker, who delivers seminars for many organisations including the UK Society of Technical Analysts.

March 17^th - 10am to 1pm - Module 1 - Introduction to Technical Analysis/Support and Resistance - £300 (+VAT)

• Clive will explain the basic principles and the main chart types before looking into the creation of support and resistance levels, and how to spot potential turning points using methods like trendlines and chart pattern recognition.

March 17^th - 2pm to 5pm - Module 2 - Candlestick Analysis - £300 (+VAT)

• After a run through of the history and construction of candlesticks Clive will go through the 7 most powerful patterns in candlestick analysis, sharing his unique insight into the “psychology” of each pattern, and their application on whatever timeframe chart you’re viewing. Clive is one of the UK’s leading proponents of Candlestick Analysis.

March 18^th - 10am to 1pm - Module 3 - Moving Averages and Momentum Indicators - £300 (+VAT)

• These studies are sometimes overused and often misunderstood. Clive will run through the common Indicators used in by different types of traders, the mistakes that are often made in their interpretation, and the correct way to utilise these studies to enhance your trading and understanding of price movement.

March 18^th - 2pm to 5pm - Module 4 - Market Profile - £300 (+VAT)

• Originally from the Futures Pits in Chicago this methodology is extremely tough to convey, as evidenced by the pile of difficult to read books on the subject. Clive breaks down the ideas behind Market Profile and tells first hand, in a practical way, how traders in London and Chicago use this in their daily trading. He has “grown up” around traders using Profile, so understands not only the complexities of this methodology, but its benefits to day traders.

Class sizes will be limited to 12 people, so you are guaranteed training that is both relevant and “personal”. All methodologies will be discussed using live charts of markets familiar to you.

Top notch Refreshments and Lunch will be provided, as well as course notes, either in bound, full colour “paper” format or on Memory Stick.

Delegates will also get a free signed copy of Clive’s book “Candlestick Charts”.
The course will take place at the MWB Business Exchange in Houndsditch (EC3, 5 minute walk from Liverpool Street); a fantastic modern space where delegates will enjoy excellent facilities.

Book now by clicking here or call us on +44 (0) 1702 333461.

Remember, places are limited.

Or take advantage of our generous discounts:

All four modules - £1000 (+VAT), or £800 (+VAT) for FuturesTechs customers**

FuturesTechs customers** can chose individual modules for £250 (+VAT).

If you wish to discuss block bookings for any of these Modules please let us know. I’m sure we can sort something out!!

Yours,

Clive

* Check with your compliance officer prior to booking

**Discount does not apply to FuturesTechs Website customers on month-to-month contracts.

This is a quick summary of important candlestick patterns. It’s presumed that you know the basics of candles: if you don’t, see the article links in our Members Area.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

1. Bullish Marabuzo

Number of candles: 1.

Description: long green candle which opens near its low, and closes near its high.

Implications: BULLISH.

2. Bearish Marabuzo

Number of candles: 1.

Description: long red candle which opens near its high, and closes near its close.

Implications: BEARISH.

3. Doji

Number of candles: 1.

Description: candle which closes near where it opened.

Implications: REVERSAL.

4. Shooting Star

Number of candles: 1.

Description: candle which closes near where it opened, at the bottom of the period’s range.

Implications: BEARISH REVERSAL (in an uptrend).

5. Hammer

Number of candles: 1.

Description: candle which closes near where it opened, at the top of the period’s range.

Implications: BULLISH REVERSAL (in a downtrend).

6. Hanging Man

Number of candles: 1.

Description: candle which closes near where it opened, at the top of the period’s range.

Implications: BEARISH REVERSAL (in an uptrend) (only weak effectiveness)

7. Inverted Hammer

Number of candles: 1.

Description: candle which closes near where it opened, at the bottom of the period’s range.

Implications: BULLISH REVERSAL (in a downtrend) (only weak effectiveness)

8. Bullish Engulfing Pattern

Number of candles: 2.

Description: green candle with a lower open and a higher close than the previous candle.

Implications: BULLISH REVERSAL (in a downtrend)

9. Bearish Engulfing Pattern

Number of candles: 2.

Description: red candle with a higher open and a lower close than the previous candle.

Implications: BEARISH REVERSAL (in an uptrend)

10. Harami

Number of candles: 2.

Description: candle with a real body contained within the range of the prior real body (which must have moved in the direction of the prior trend).

Implications: REVERSAL (only weak effectiveness)

11. Dark Cloud Cover

Number of candles: 2.

Description: red candle with a higher open than the previous candle, but a close in the bottom half of that prior candle.

Implications: BEARISH REVERSAL (in an uptrend)

12. Piercing Pattern

Number of candles: 2.

Description: green candle with a lower open than the previous candle, but a close in the top half of that prior candle.

Implications: BULLISH REVERSAL (in a downtrend)

13. Morning Star

Number of candles: 3.

Description: long red candle followed by a small-bodied candle which gaps lower. The third candle closes in the top half of the first candle.

Implications: BULLISH REVERSAL (in a downtrend)

14. Evening Star

Number of candles: 3.

Description: long green candle followed by a small-bodied candle which gaps higher. The third candle closes in the bottom half of the first candle.

Implications: BEARISH REVERSAL (in a downtrend)

Graham Neary MSTA (graham@futurestechs.co.uk)

Last week’s big highlight was meant to be the US Employment Report. As it turned out all the action was before this, and the numbers were a bit of a damp squib (like the topical analogy there?).

Equity markets have caught a fresh bid, and we were early to catch this as there were several reversal patterns on major indices at the start of last week. We were bullish from Wednesday onwards, so have reaped some firm rewards on the back of that timely change of sides.

Most of our readers are short term traders so they benefit from these timely “calls”. Longer term traders and Investors may be on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity to get in, and coming out of a dip or retracement is an ideal opportunity. Often, as was the case last week, our charts can tell us nice and early if it’s likely that a pullback has come to an end.

We are now looking to see if resistance at 5300 in the FTSE Index will be seen off. If this  happens the next upside target is 5650, a failure high from last August.

Gold is on another big run at the moment and has traded up to a high of $1111 as of yesterday morning. Yesterday’s candlestick (A “Shooting Star”) gave a warning that things may be getting toppy at these levels but so far we haven’t seen any downside moves to confirm this, so we’re sticking to the idea of higher prices going forward, targeting $1192 next, then $1250.

Oil is stuck in a range for now. Brent Crude has traded between $75 and $80 for weeks now. We expect this range to get broken with a move higher, and we would then target $90 and beyond. We have been suggesting to our clients to buy the dips to $75, and whatever their timeframe this has worked out well. Longer term holders would never have been offside, whereas those who trade in and out should have been able to jump out at $78 to $80 on several occasions then buy again at £75 next time it comes off.

If you are uncertain of any of the terminology used or methodologies discussed in this report you could swot up on our website. Feel free to ask for a Free Trial by clicking here.

Yours,

The FuturesTechs Team

One of the things we at FuturesTechs towers take very seriously is Marabuzo lines.

What are they? A large bodied candlestick on a Daily chart is the result of a big one way push over the course of a day. In the example of large red real bodies the market often wakes up the next day sure in the knowledge that yesterday’s bout of selling should be good enough to guarantee further losses today. But sometimes things feel a bit overdone and there can be a reaction higher the next day. The big question then is whether this is a short term gains that deserves to be sold into, or if the market is going to continue to rally and take back the losses of the previous day?

The Marabuzo line is the halfway point of the real body (ie halfway between the open and close) of any large bodied candlestick, and we’ve found them to be excellent reference levels in the days after this “big event” Candles.

This week’s ICE Brent Crude Oil Chart is no exception. Last Thursday we saw a big down day.

The Marabuzo line of this session’s Candlestick was 133.78.

The high last Friday was 133.69

The high on Monday was 133.57

The high on Tuesday was 133.75.

Close enough?!

Tuesday turned out to be a pretty Bearish day, as was Wednesday. The Marabuzo line of Wednesday’s big red candle was 127.36, and Thursday’s high/failure was 127.25. Close enough?!

Which prompted our Brent Comment today, as per below. You can click on the image to see it in full size.

All very interesting, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Have a good weekend, and be sure to subscribe to our members area so you don’t miss out on these sort of calls. Click here.

Come on Essex in the Twenty20 tomorrow! And a Happy Birthday to my old mate Mickey. How old?! OUCH!!!

We posted a large red candle yesterday in ICE Brent Crude Oil and if you combine the 9th and 12th May on the Daily Candlestick Chart you get a Bearish Engulfing Pattern. Does this means we’ve seen a top? Hang on a second! The phrase “One swallow doesn’t make a summer” springs to mind!

If anything a bit of a pullback in Brent Crude and NYMEX Crude wouldn’t do any harm to the Bulls, as it’s not healthy to go up in a straight line. The buyers are bossing things right now and we don’t think any pullbacks will last long (4 days of weakness at the end of April were taken back in just 2 sessions).

On the other hand Equity markets look like they’re struggling, and the old adage of “Sell in May and go away” is being rolled out left right and centre.

The “full version” of this phrase is “Sell in May, Go away, come back on St. Leger’s Day”. St. Legers day is a horse racing festival in September, by the way! (It’s held in Doncaster, a place that will be feeling rather down in the dumps come September because they’ll still be playing League 1 football after Southend United beat them in the Play-offs this Friday).

I digress! Back to Equity markets: The Eurostoxx 50 Future is one of our favourite benchmarks. It’s a great contract to trade, with lots of volume, decent enough volatility, and no horrible periods of illiquid trade. We have broken trend support in this one today (13th May) and if we close below 3760 we’ll look for further weakness going forward. 3674 is our first target to the downside. Once we get through here 3545-75 is the next area of support to target.

We are planning to try out adding a few Individual Equity recommendations to the members area of our website, including daily technical analysis on Vodafone (far and away the most actively traded stock in the UK) and a “pick of the day” from elsewhere in the FTSE 100.