Tips for Trading Ascending Wedges Short with CFDs

By Jeff Cartridge

Traditional thinking suggests that the ascending wedge is most profitable when traded short. In reality this conclusion is not supported by the evidence. An ascending wedge is formed when the price action is contained within two lines. Both the bottom line and the top line slope up, but the bottom line has a steeper slope meeting the top line.

Ascending Wedges Profitable, No Surprise

Most ascending wedges would be expected to break down but in reality just 32%, break out to the downside making this pattern better when traded on the long side. 42% of these breakouts are profitable and on average the profit per trade is a meager 0.02% over a period of 8 days. The ascending wedge is certainly not one of the best chart patterns when it breaks to the downside, but applying some filters makes this pattern more attractive to trade.

Refine Your Entries

Surprisingly short breakouts work well in rising markets so the market, as well as the stock, should be rising or consolidating. The best results are achieved trading ascending wedges when the sector is falling or consolidating. So if the trend of the sector turns down, this sets up the best short trades.

Breakouts can occur anywhere along the length of the ascending wedge pattern. The best pattern length is between 5 and 30 days, so very short term patterns and very long term patterns are best avoided.

Ensure that the volume is supportive of the breakout, i.e. volume as the stock falls is greater than volume as the stock rises. Avoid patterns that have two closes the same prior to the breakout as this is often a sign of an illiquid stock. Lower highs or lower lows prior to the breakout produce better results.

Ascending Wedges Profitable Sometimes

Following a series of rules to determine which ascending wedge to trade can improve results dramatically. To do this however it is necessary to throw away over 1200 trades reducing the number of trades from 1275 down to just 74. By applying these filters ascending wedges are profitable on 48% of the trades and return an average of 1.46% per trade in 10 days. This is a profitable pattern to trade, if the conditions are right.

Statistics for this article have been provided by Patterns Trader after analyzing over 60,000 chart patterns on the Australian market from 2000 - 2008. - 23204

About the Author:

Jeff Cartridge is a private trader and created the website LearnCFDs.com Discover Patterns of Success

Triangle Formations In Forex Trading (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

Spotting a descending triangle in a downtrend signals the downside breakout of the support level. The crowd psychology behind the descending triangles is that every time the currency price goes down to a certain level that forms the support there are buyers who want to hold that level stubbornly. They thus push the price up each time the support level is tested.

Thus when the price bounces off the support level, the bears take the opportunity to short again. Sellers are quite anxious to sell as they feel that the currency price should fall over time.

Spotting a descending triangle should allow you to be prepared for a downside breakout from the support level especially if it is a down trend. Bulls and bears face a skirmish with both camps not feeling confident of the next market move as with an ascending triangle.

When the support level is broken many of those long positions which have been placed above that level soon get stopped out. Prices tend to break in the middle or the final third part of the triangle formation.

If the descending triangle is formed during an existing downtrend, it tends to give off even more bearish vibes than if it is formed during an uptrend. But you should always assume the continuation of the prevailing trend unless you have reversal signals in the form of technicals or turn around of the market sentiment.

However, a descending triangle should not be considered to be the final word on impending downside breakout. With that said, prices also sometimes breakout from above the descending triangle successfully in a burst of bullish momentum.

Symmetrical Triangles: A symmetrical triangle consists of two converging trendlines that join a series of lower highs and higher lows. A symmetrical triangle has some resemblance to a wedge pattern. There are no horizontal lines in symmetrical triangles. This differentiates it from the ascending and the descending triangles.

The higher lows are formed when buyers of the currency pair are willing to pay a bit more to get a piece of action. As they are willing to accept less and less of the price over time, the lower highs reflect the mildly bearish conviction of the sellers.

A symmetrical triangle tends to be less reliable as compared to an ascending or descending triangle. There is no way to predict the future breakout direction until one of the symmetrical triangle lines is penetrated. Breakouts usually occur in the middle or the final third of the triangle as with the other sloping triangles.

When trading triangle breakouts, you should always consider other pieces of information so that you can better pinpoint a higher probability trade set up. Besides the triangle formation, decreased volatility can also be detected with the exponential moving averages and the Bollinger bands. - 23204

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Know These Forex Charts. Learn Forex Trading!

Real Estate Boom Expected Following Planning Win in Joao Pessoa

By Leslie Richards

After many years of negotiation the Federal Government, Ministrio Pblico Federal (MPF) has granted the state of Paraba permission for the construction of a conference centre in the state capital of Joao Pessoa. The centre will be constructed in Cabo Branco, a tranquil area with a splendid beach and great restaurants and bars. It is Joo Pessoa's number one residential district and an ideal investment location.

It was confirmed by Infrastructure Secretary, Francisco Sarmento, that the Government of Paraba has now fulfilled all necessary terms laid down by the MPF and works will start in September. The conference centre has an estimated budget of $50 million.

The conference centre sits within a large masterplanned area with proposals for at least six large resort hotel schemes. Investors have watched with interest as legal arguments have raged over the land for over 20 years.

But with agreement now reached between State and Federal authorities regarding the protection and re-planting of native vegetation, the safeguarding of the beaches and investment into regularizing the water supplies for the area, planning permissions will soon be approved and development commenced.

Sarmento says that such building will be a landmark in tourism history in state. With this center, we will be able to regularize out touristic network, getting better results in our economy even on low-season months, as we will be able to perform various events. He says that this approval will contribute to a massive increase in real estate prices in the region. We can expect various kinds of investments, with the building of hotels and resorts.

Joo Pessoa is one of Brazils most exciting yet little-known cities. It is located on the Brazilian North East coast and is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the region. Known as the gateway to Europe due to its position as the most easterly point of the Americas, it is popular as a holiday destination amongst Brazilians from the South who choose it for its charm and absence of towering high rises that dominate some of the more heavily developed North Eastern cities.

It is widely recognized to be Brazils safest city and also its greenest. In fact it is the second-greenest city in the world. It offers an array of high quality restaurants, cheerful bars and a number of shopping malls.

8 The City is well run with a very rich and varied cultural programme and a wide range of events from and art exhibitions to large-scale classical and popular music festivals. A recently constructed Science and Cultural centre in Cabo Branco has formed a centre point to the cultural programme.

Paraba and Joo Pessoa in particular, is experiencing rapid growth within the domestic market due to its economic expansion and migration from the south, and international interest is growing apace. This area offers investors excellent year-round rental prospects due to its 12-month season, as well as a growing stream of international investors and domestic buyers should they wish to sell on their investments. The development of the Conference centre and the proposed hotels and resorts will only increase the investment potential of this great city. - 23204

About the Author:

Leslie Richards wrote this article and is a development consultant to Brazil Land Invest. There is a massive demand in Brazil, especially the North East, for Affordable Housing and we advise you to visit our site Brazil Land Invest for more information.

A Forex Trading Course on Major Currencies

By Bart Icles

Everyday, different types of currencies are traded in the foreign exchange market. Some of these currencies are valued more than the others and some are traded more frequently than the rest. If you are new to the forex world, it helps to learn more about the major currencies traded in the forex market so you can have a head start on big trades. A forex trading course on such a topic helps so you can get to know these major currencies a little better.

Perhaps the most popular currency in the foreign exchange trading arena is the US dollar (USD). This currency makes use of the decimal system in determining denominations. Its denominations have lots of nicknames like mills, eagles, and Unions. It is common to see the US dollar paired with other currencies in the trading market and it remains as one of the frequently traded currency in the market. Recently, oil price hikes and the recession in the US mainland has caused fluctuations in the value of US dollar but trends in the past few weeks show that this currency is gradually gaining strength.

Pound sterling or GBP is another popular currency in the forex trading world. It is the official currency of the United Kingdom, as well as the Crown dependencies. This currency is also dubbed as the quid and is sometimes abbreviated as the sterling. In wholesale financial markets, it is typical to hear payments accepted in sterling instead of pound. The term pound is used more to refer to units of this currency - 5 pounds, 10 pounds, and so on. You might also hear traders referring to it as the British pound but this is not considered an official name of the said currency.

The euro (EUR) is one the most powerful currencies in the forex market today. It is the official currency of the Eurozone or Euro Area. Several small European states have also adopted the Euro because of currency unions with member states. These small states include The Vatican, San Marino, and Monaco. Montenegro, Kosovo, and Andorra have also unilaterally adopted the said currency.

Although its value is significantly small when converted to US dollars, the Japanese yen has proven its notable presence in the currency market over the years. Its symbol is JPY and is widely used as a reserve currency after the US Dollar, euro, and pound sterling. Large quantities of yen are often counted in multiples of ten thousand and are often quoted in hundreds or thousands. - 23204

About the Author:

forex trading are powerful when coupled with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning forex takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Tips for Choosing a Forex Software

By Bart Icles

FOREX traders who avail an account with of a Forex Broker are usually provided with Forex trading software to help them in their daily trade transactions in terms of automated functions and regular market updates. Many people are enticed into online trading as this has now become one of the more promising investments today that offers substantial returns. With this trend seeing no decline, there is a great demand for the able services of many veteran traders and brokerage companies to provide the necessary help, especially when it comes to using Forex software programs. There are two common types of Forex software systems available - the web based and the client or desktop based software programs. What you choose is eventually up to you.

To make your daily online trading fast and easy, you will need to have a reliable FOREX software program that is current and able to provide fast and accurate market data in terms of seconds to let you react quickly to any market situations. The Forex market by nature is highly volatile, so if you want to stay afloat and abreast at all times, get a good Forex software program. You can easily choose one (if you know what to look for) that will most likely compliment your style of trading to make the process easier.

You should take note of some important factors before deciding on the Forex software system to purchase to help avoid future complications. You should look for a system that uses a 126 bit SSL encryption program to effectively stop hackers from breaching your system. It should also be able to provide a non-stop service support for all technical matters, a 24/7 support for repairs and maintenance concerns, regular system information storage backups.

It's vital that you get a very reliable and secure Forex software program to avoid unnecessary losses, since doing online currency transactions is a very risky endeavor with all its security issues. Be on the lookout for the said features of any software system you plan to invest in, as this may affect how your business goes.

Last, but not least, be sure to check if the software you are planning to purchase includes some perks such as free software updates and notifications of relevant Forex training programs to help train you become a well-rounded and well-informed Forex trader. These packages can be a great source of help to gaining some extra insight about the currency market.

Forex currency will remain complicated and baffling to anyone without the help of Forex software programs. If you want to become a profitable trader, you should consider highly getting one before stepping out into active currency trading. - 23204

About the Author:

Making forex trades starts with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning to day trade forex takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.