Forex Trading Market Snapshot

Posted June 16th, 2010 by Rapid Forex 24 Comments »

Yesterday was the orientation for LIVE 90 day forex trading bootcamp members. Today we begin the 90 day forex trading bootcamp for both Archive & LIVE members. LIVE registration is still possible, but the entry requirements have changed.

If you’ve followed the rapid forex blog, you’ve learned Forex Sailing for the past 2 months. If you haven’t yet learned Forex Sailing, skip watching TV tonight and spend 75 minutes to learn it on the Forex Sailing page.

Forex Trading In ANY Timeframe

The basic Forex Sailing trading course teaches a fibonacci swing trading method based on 4-hour price charts. This is my favorite timeframe because I can literally trade with less than an hour a week’s worth of effort if I want to.

The only downside to this type of trading is that it requires a larger amount of trading capital to do it safely. If you have less than $2,000 in your online forex trading account, you probably shouldn’t go sailing…

Today I want to begin to show you how to look at the WHOLE forex market and see what timeframes have opportunities that you should zoom in on. I’m going to introduce a tool that you’ll be able to use to know exactly what the currency pairs you’re analyzing are doing, and where you should look for forex trading opportunities.

The Forex Trading Market Snapshot Worksheet

Starting this Sunday, I’ll be posting a forex trading market snapshot worksheet on this blog that will remain updated with an analysis for the six MAJOR currency pairs for the daily, 4-hour, & 1-hour timeframes.

The worksheet is fairly simple. Before showing you the worksheet, here’s the notation that we’ll be using:

+ is an uptrend

- is a downtrend

o is everything else.

An uptrend or downtrend are defined by the fibonacci wave zones explained here. You can also watch Forex Sailing part 2 for an explanation of fibonacci wave zones for online forex trading.

Here’s a quick review:

The trend is in an uptrend or downtrend between points III & IV, and between V & VI in the diagram below:

If the currency pair for a given timeframe is between III & IV or between V & VI on an uptrending fibonacci wave, then we would simply record a + on our forex trading snapshot.

If the currency pair for a given timeframe is between III & IV or between V & VI on an downtrending fibonacci wave, then we would simply record a - on our forex trading snapshot.

If it’s not a clear + or -, it’s a o.

The Forex Trading Market Snapshot Picture

If we look at each of the MAJOR currency pairs on several timeframes, it’s helpful to record them so we can visually look for forex trading opportunities at a glance. To save time & organize our thoughts, I’ve created the forex trading market snapshot.

Here’s an example of what it looks like:

(click image for full size view)

If you’d like to download this spreadsheet, here are the links:

Option #1: If you use microsoft excel, download the Forex Market Snapshot Worksheet in Microsoft Excel Format. If you have any difficulty with the MS Excel version, please use the openoffice version below. I don’t use MS Excel because openoffice is free.

Option #2 (recommended): If you don’t have microsoft excel (good for you!):

i.) download & install open office (completely free software)

ii.) download the Forex Market Snapshot Worksheet in Open Office format.

Updating the Forex Trading Market Snapshot Worksheet

I took the first week of the bootcamp off from trading foex to devote my attention to helping all of you get started trading forex online.

Starting Sunday, I’ll post a forex trading market snapshot for timeframes higher than 1-hour. The lower timeframes change frequently, so you would want to update them as you sit down to trade.

This is the basic tool which we’ll be using to look for forex trading opportunities in all timeframes. I’ll be explaining how to interpret this worksheet tomorrow. Between now & then, see if you can fill it out (the one above isn’t current, it’s just a template)…

Tags: 90 Day Forex Trading Bootcamp, forex trading market snapshot, free forex trading software Posted in 90 Day Forex Trading Bootcamp

24 Responses to “Forex Trading Market Snapshot”

Kulvadee Says:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Can we have the rules for Forex Surfing and Swimming?

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
@Kulvadee – you will in a few days

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John G Says:
June 16th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Market snapshot worksheet is great I have been working on one myself, but this will jump start me
Thanks

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DJ Says:
June 16th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Super Brian,
damir jurak

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Rapid Forex Says:
June 16th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
@Jun – I never received any registration info for you. Please submit your registration by following instructions here:
http://rapidforex.com/go/forex-trading-bootcamp/

[Reply]
Tim Says:
June 17th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
how do I update the downloaded forex trading market snapshot worksheet?

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Rapid Forex Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@Tim – make sure you save it first. It can’t be edited if you open the file from the server. Then just type in the boxes. If you want to preserve the colors, you’ll just have to copy & paste.

[Reply]
Tim Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 4:51 am
can you illustrate how to update the boxes on the worksheet?
Thanks.

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Rapid Forex Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 8:11 am
@Tim – you’d have to copy & paste to keep the same formatting. I do this to help people understand (green = up, red = down, black is neutral). IF you want to keep the same colors, just copy a green + (ctrl-v) and paste it (ctrl-v).
Leon Says:
June 17th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Hi there
How do one decide the trend’s direction for the different timeframes? Guidence on this will help a lot to get the Market snapshot right

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 8:13 am
@Leon – this is actually explained in the Forex Sailing videos. Videos #4 & #6 show this. I’ll be creating a video soon to show you how to fill in the worksheet. You’ll have it soon (2 days?)

[Reply]
Kimberly Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 4:59 am
Hi Brian,

I just want to make sure that I understand this correctly. When we see an o in the snapshot. Does that mean consolidation?

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 11:10 am
@Kimberley – yes, it does. Either consolidation or non-trending. Anything that’s not a nice candy cane or umbrella handle.

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Adyur (AD) Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:59 am
Hi Brian! This is AD, my question is about MARKET SNAPSHOT since the primary goal for us is to be able to maintain such a helpful tool by ourselves but not just “copy and paste” from original one which you kindly provide on a web-site, so the question is: How do we generate those “+”, “-” and “0″ for the particular day – should we go UP one level like “WEEKLY” charts and apply our FIB.RETRACEMENT tool when applicable? tnks

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 11:09 am
@Ad – It’s explained in Forex Sailing video #’s 4 & 6, but doesn’t show this spreadsheet. I’ll make a special video with this spreadsheet as a specific example soon

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Adyur (AD) Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Hi Brian, this is Ad, Thanks a lot for very fast response! I’m still not clear how did we get the DAILY “-” for GBP/USD and “+” for DAILY USD/CHF; excuse me please for annoying questions, I hope it is gonna be clear after that coming video. According to just simple math the DAILY wave (if we keep the same proportion) is formed for 12 days (this is just my assumption) so if we’re not looking for “precise” equation it could take from 10 to 15 days to catch the wave for particular pair (please correct me if I’m wrong). tnks

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Rapid Forex Reply:
June 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 am
@Ad – I just recorded a video explaining this. I also just posted a LIVE trade. I’ll post the video soon once it has time to process & upload.

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Adyur (AD) Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:41 pm
I’ve just seen your usd/cad play and my question is how did you estimate “TRADE DURATION”, thks

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Maria Saldanha Says:
June 26th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Hi Brian,
Just a question on the Fib Ratios. How can I know at what % the Retracement will take place before entering a Trade. It could be the 23%,38%,50%or 61.8%. Should I make an entry when it bounces off any of these levels. Does the bounce of any % signify the strength of the movement UP or DOWN?

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
July 25th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
@Maria – I look at 38.2%. It’s a great entry point with a good probability of success. I don’t wait for a bounce most of the time. When I’m actively trading, I’ll use 1-min charts around the fib level. Just wait for the 1-min trend to be broken with a fib wave in the opposing direction of the mini trend to get in.

For example, if you have a 1hr chart that shows a forex candy cane near the 38.2% retracement, zoom into 1-min charts. Perhaps there is a 1-min downtrend that’s just penetrated the 38.2% line on the 1hr charts. Allow the 1min trend to keep going down as the bigger wave is still retracing. Draw a trendline. Wait for a candy cane to form breaking the 1-min downtrend – this is your new uptrend signal. It’s still a good place to get in on the 1hr chart even if the 1min trend reverses temporarily. You can also use 5min charts for this. I aways look at both, sometimes one will give me better insight than the other.

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dj Says:
June 27th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Hi Brian,
what’s the diferent between yellow cell with “+” and white cell with “+” too?

redards, dj

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:00 am
@DJ – the highlighted cell is a cell to watch for an opportunity. The white cells are areas you should avoid looking for trades.

[Reply]
ian Says:
July 1st, 2010 at 12:16 am
Hi Brian

Really enjoying the Bootcamp so far. Thankyou for all the work and effort you have put in to get this up and running.

With the recent USD/CHF trade, can you explain why in the eToro account the initial risk on entry was $25 but when the stop was adjusted the risk was then $63. If the trade went wrong, nearly 33% of a $200 betting bank would have been lost. Am I missing something as it appears that with three losing trades, our bank would be wiped out?

Regards Ian

[Reply]
Rapid Forex Reply:
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:13 pm
@Ian – you’re right. There was a misunderstanding and the eToro account was funded with $2,000, not $200. So I followed money management for $2,000. I apologize for not being crystal clear about this, but I did mention it… I’ve got it resolved & it should make complete sense next time. Fortunately, the trade went well – so it could have been a nice boost (although dangerous) for anyone who broke the money management rule on this trade.

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