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Wishing everybody a safe festive season! Take a break from the markets, step back, look at your lessons from the year & gear up your strategy for the year ahead!

Wrapping up the past few weeks:
With the FX market range bound at the time I switched off from active trading a few weeks backs other than taking advantage of the strength in the US equities market to get set in one more position prior to the x-mas break. DOW & S&P still look strong compared to the other equities indices at the moment, and the flow back to the USD leading up to US end of financial year seems to be giving the move some weight for the moment.

FX:
The breakout of the USD index has given a nice trend retracement to the next resistance level. Happy to take my end of year break for now though & see what the new year brings. Possibly the UDS has found a base for a while in this area.

Equities:
As mentioned I’m liking the US listings more than the other markets I track at the moment. The mid term trade in the Aussie market that had drifted for over a month finally stopped out for a -1.0R loss, meanwhile I’ve taken a new position in the US leaving me with 2 mid term trades there at the moment, one at break even already. The outlook for these trades is a 1-2 year hold or longer if I can, so it’ll be a case of many 1R losses while the other wind up to multiple R wins over the long haul. A similar strategy served me well about 7 years back when the market was in a similar stage of exiting a bear market, although at the time I was so new to trading I really didn’t know what I was doing. Experience is something that you can never have too much of in any industry.

Equity Sectors:
No setups expected until a move out of this congestion area.

Commodities:
No new positions entered and my mid term come long term trade continues to perform well, and is indeed my best performing trade for the year with several pyramids in place. The payoff is still in the days ahead though, a strong 2010 is needed to really bring this trade home now. One good trade a year does wonders for your bank balance.

Results:
FX : R
Equities : -1.0R
Equity Sectors : R
Commodities : R

Housekeeping:

The week ahead:
With trading volumes lower and several short weeks I will be totally zoned out other than adjusting stops as required. A few positions are pressing up to new highs and taking a few minutes a week to monitor them won’t stress my x-mas activity schedule greatly.

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The week that was:
Given the mix of news from Dubai to US jobs numbers it was a relatively steady week. With the jobs hemorrhage coming to an end for the moment people can head towards the new year with some confidence the world hasn’t come to an end, and that 2010 will be a better year for the average man on the street.

Macro trends remain in force and the guiding light for the moment offering opportunities to consolidate existing and look out for new trades.

FX:
Again sitting out the market congestion. A few setups with the “congestion rules” I’m monitoring performed well though which was good to see.

Equities:
Long term trades are hitting some highs at long last. Entered a second mid  term trade, my first foray into the US market in quite a while. It immediately plunged 5% towards my stop, joy, but it having respected its price support level it is headed in the right direction again for now at least.

Equity Sectors:
No signals yet but some setups starting to form up.

Commodities:
Still holding my long term position, no other setups to action at this stage.

Results:
FX                               :  R
Equities                       :  R
Equity Sectors             :  R
Commodities               :  R

Housekeeping:
Several of my stocks have moved high enough to start moving my stop towards break even. Given the amount of sideways drift I’ve had on most things I’ve entered recently it’s good to finally have some action!

The week ahead:
Last of the major news numbers for the year, waiting to see if the US market can follow through