Should we be trading at all right now?

[macman]

I received this unprecedented Email from one of my brokers ....
http://t.co/ag0pS7Mx

[Fate12]

Funny, there was a newsprogram on dutch television yesterday that showed traders are making a lot money at the moment and stated these are golden times for this kind of companies.
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=13366118
Starting at minute 29. In dutch but some english and nice pictures.

They also show a part of their serverroom wich is a complete datacenter. The IT department is as big as the tradingdepartment and they develop their tradingsoftware inhouse.

[macman]

Funny, there was a newsprogram on dutch television yesterday that showed traders are making a lot money at the moment and stated these are golden times for this kind of companies.
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=13366118
Starting at minute 29. In dutch but some english and nice pictures.

They also show a part of their serverroom wich is a complete datacenter. The IT department is as big as the tradingdepartment and they develop their tradingsoftware inhouse.

Yes, but this all about share transactions, forex is not mentioned once - and I do speak Dutch.

[SteveHopwood]

We need volatility. Have those protective hedge trades in place and fresh trousers at the ready, I guess.

I bit more usefully, FWIW trade tiny lot sizes and use the usual buy gbp here, so sell it at the same time there.

Absolutely mind-blowingly fantastic to see you here, macman. Thanks.

[macman]

As Steve knows, my own interest is heavily in the design element of CAT (Computer Assisted Trading) systems.

So, what is interesting about Oanda's email for us & why did I post it?
IMHO they are telling their retail customers, "look, the usual technical analysis is just not going to work right now, when the INEVITABLE big moves show up - this market is fear driven, so all usual bets are off"

From our design view point, this is good stuff, so if we go with the Oanda information, basically forget about fibs, resistance areas, trends etc etc for the time being and concentrate purely on price action strategies.

Also don't forget that when the market settles down, some of the bots which are now making a loss may well come into their own.

Keep the good stuff coming in .... and be careful out there :!:

[MichaelM]

I find the FF (gasp! yes I mentioned the F word ) liquidity graph useful:
http://www.forexfactory.com/market.php#liquidity

[freereed]

Yes, I have seen that liquidity graph before. Do you use it in any particular way, such as turning EAs on and off depending on the liquidity figures?

Reed

[Aussiedoc]

G'day! My understanding is that the large institutions are the driving force behind the market. Taking Christmas in December (end of 2nd wk of December - end of 2nd wk of Jan) and Christmas in July (month of July) trading holidays, at the same time as the big blokes, works well for me.

Cheers