A chart analysis of the forex markets
This post looks at the present forex markets through the lens of classical charting principles, as originally forumated in the early 1930s by Richard W. Schabacker, editor at the time of Fortune Magazine. Factor LLC is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent authorities on classical charting principles as applied to the futures and forex markets.
There are a number of forex crosses that indicate substantial trading opportunities for traders willing to hold positions for weeks or even months.
Before examining the current forex markets, a basic understanding of classical charting principles is approriate.
- Charts simply show where a market has been, what it is doing now, and what the path of least resistance might be. Classical charting is simply an attempt to define market behavior in geometric terms. The real edge provided by classical charting comes from the marriage of risk management with well-defined geometric patterns.
- There is no magic in price charting. Charts do NOT predict the future. Unlike some Elliott Wave adherents who attempt to label every zig and zag, I believe that the vast overwhelming majority of markets the vast overwhelming proportion of time cannot be understood through the lenses of classical chart principles (or any other method of technical analysis, including Elliott Wave Theory).
- Well-defined chart patterns naturally provide opposite possible outcomes. A rectangle can complete in either direction. A rising wedge can become a running wedge. A symmetrical triangle can fake a trader out in more ways than imaginable. A H&S pattern can become a H&S failure. And on and on it goes.
- Charts are subject to morphology. I do my best to always find a geometric explanation for price action. As a chart morphs it can be subject to different geometric construction. As a general rule, intraday charts morph more often than daily charts, daily charts morph more often than weekly charts. But, more often than not a market cannot be explained easily by geometry. It is then time to find another market. This is why I might be focused on Robusta Coffee one day and some foreign stock index another day. I want to focus on markets I can define geometrically.
- Reliable chart trading is cyclical. There are periods during the year (an average of two periods lasting two or so months each) when an unusual number of markets form well defined patterns AND the markets respond to those patterns in predictable fashion. Using language of farming, this is time to make hay. During the other periods we rely on aggressive risk management to limit our losses and keep out pile of chips somewhat intact.
- It is a thing of beauty when classical chart configurations work. It is a thing of frustration when they do not work. It is a thing of confusion when the majority of markets defy definition from a classical charting perspective.
A review of selective forex markets
Eurocurrency (EUR/USD)
The long-term trend (as featured by the 45-year trendline) in EUR is under threat, as shown by the quarterly graph. The dominant chart construction is the 6-1/2 year descending triangle completed in Jan 2015. This pattern has a target of $.84. Such a decline would likely be accompanied by a massive change in the European Currency Mechanism (ERM).
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