Forex Trade Plan – Week Beginning 7 April 2014

As we look to the trading week ahead, I see a few potential longer term trades setting up.  There are currency pairs which are approaching major areas on the weekly charts and / or daily charts.  I love these longer term set ups, as it means we have the chance to plan well in advance, set the order at the market open and then walk away.  I spent quite a bit of my early trading years staring at the screen all day long waiting for potential set ups on the smaller time frames. This was certainly no way to live, staring at chart patterns all day long!  I have now developed a more longer term approach to my trading, which means that I only need to be sat at my trading platform for a few hours a week.  Wahoo!  Bring on the 4-Hour work week!  Another advantage of this type of trading, is that it opens up the possibilities for almost anyone to make their foray into trading forex.  Whether you are a stay-at-home mum, with a few spare hours snatched here and there; a full-time employee who can only spare a couple of hours a week at the most for dedicating to trading; a student who is looking for any excuse to take a few hours off from study and potentially make money at the same time; or a retiree who wishes to keep your brain active, while adding to your pension fund, and still have the time to devote to your other favourite pursuits.  All of you should be able to easily find the time to at least spend an hour or so trading each week. A couple of hours work, for what potentially can be a lucrative part time income.

As an example, I have spent an hour or so analyzing the markets so far this week. On Sunday I usually do this, before the market opens on Monday. I do my homework by checking my charts, catching up with any financial news over the weekend and I make my trade plan for the week ahead.  Once I have my plan in place, I then set orders for any currency pairs that I wish to trade at the market open. We need to wait for the market to open before orders can be set, since orders cannot be placed on the platform over the weekend while the market is closed. Once my order is set, with a predetermined stop loss and take profit (target), I can then walk away from my trading platform and let the market take it’s course.

These are the current orders that I placed at the market open this week and why:

GBPUSD
Long
Daily Chart
Entry:  1.6540
Stop Loss:  1.6502
Target:  1.6822
Risk / Reward Ratio:  1:7

GBPUSD Forex Daily Chart

We are still in a channel with price looking like it will once again bounce off the lower trendline. I have my order set to buy at 1.6540 as this is also the area of 61.8% fib and 55 ema. My stop loss is set for below the 78.6% fib and the trendline. My target is set at the previous high. As you can see, this has an excellent risk to reward ratio of 1:7. So a “must set” order in my view.

You may also be able to see my trade I placed from last week. I bought after the previous touch of the trendline and have now closed half the trade with an 80 pip profit, leaving the balance to run to my ultimate target, with potentially an overall 317 pip profit. Stop is now moved to entry, meaning this is now a risk free trade :-)

USDCHF

Short
Weekly Chart
Entry:  0.8980
Stop Loss:  0.9085
Target:  0.8700
Risk / Reward Ratio:  1:2

USDCHF Weekly Chart

As you can see from this weekly chart, there is a trendline in place since the middle of last year. This trendline is also intersecting with a support / resistance line (which also happens to be a whole number) at 0.9000. Another reason to take this trade around the 0.9000 price is that it is also 61.8% fib retracement. Therefore, multiple reasons to set an order for this trade. Set and then forget.

USDJPY

Long
Weekly & Daily Chart
Entry:  102.80
Stop Loss:  101.85
Target:  105.23
Risk / Reward Ratio:  1:2.5

USDCHF Weekly Chart

With a confirmed triangle break on the daily chart, I am hoping to catch the move on the pullback. In anticipation of this pullback, I have placed an order to buy at 102.80, which is just above the 200 monthly ema, & 55 daily ema. I have placed my stop loss just below the bottom line of the triangle with my target at the recent highs.

EURGBP

Short
Weekly Chart
Entry:  0.8337
Stop Loss:  0.8410
Target:  0.8090
Risk / Reward Ratio:  1:3

EURGBP Weekly Chart

The EURGBP on the weekly is also in a channel. I have my order set to sell this pair at the area where the trendline, 200 ema & 55 ema intersect – ie. multiple reasons. My stop loss is placed above the trendline & above the most recent highs. My target is set for the lower trendline of the channel, which also happens to be a previous area of support & resistance.

Let’s see what price has in-store for us on these currency pairs over the next week. If any of these areas fail, I will be able to initiate my back-up plan, however, the charts shown here are my 1st choice trade options.

Happy trading during your 4-Hour work week!

Jackie

 

 

 

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