Brandon Wendell, CMT
Brandon Wendell
Online Trading Academy teaches our students where the proper areas to buy and sell lie on the charts. Those areas, as you may know, are supply and demand levels. However, there seems to be some confusion among traders as to how to identify the best levels for entering or exiting trades.
Remember, we want to buy at strong demand levels where the supply is very thin and prices are likely to rise. We want to sell at supply levels where the supply of stock overwhelms the feeble demand that may be there. Prices will halt and reverse when the current trend no longer has the pressure to sustain itself and the opposite pressure exerts itself.
We must focus on how strong the opposing pressure is at those levels. For example, we buy at demand levels because they were turning points in the past. They are levels where prices could not continue to drop and started to rise. This occurs as the supply is becoming exhausted as sellers dump shares onto the market. Eventually prices become so cheap that willing buyers jump in and support the price. When the demand from these buyers exceeds the existing supply from sellers, prices will rise. We focus on that area as an area of demand where we will buy again in the future.
When we enter into a long trade, we want to buy at the strongest level of demand in order to have a high probability for success. Most traders think incorrectly that all turning points where prices rose will act as demand. We need to be selective in our trading. We want to find the strongest levels of demand for the best trading opportunities. Those strong levels identify themselves in the way that price leaves the level.
Think of a glass filled with water. If you grab hold of the glass and it is filled with lukewarm water, you will be able to hold the glass for as long as you’d like. However, if you grab a glass filled with scalding hot water, you are likely to let go of it very quickly. Demand levels work the same way. If prices enter that area and then move sideways or slowly leave the area, there is not strong buying pressure there and it is a weaker demand level. However, if prices barely enter demand and move quickly away, there is strong buying pressure there and you want to use those areas as buying points in the future.
Supply levels work the same way with selling pressure dominating buyers. If you want more information on how to identify and trade these levels, visit your local Online Trading Academy center and enroll in one of the professional trading classes today. Until next time, trade safe and trade well.
Neither Freedom Management Partners nor any of its personnel are registered broker-dealers or investment advisers. I will mention that I consider certain securities or positions to be good candidates for the types of strategies we are discussing or illustrating. Because I consider the securities or positions appropriate to the discussion or for illustration purposes does not mean that I am telling you to trade the strategies or securities. Keep in mind that we are not providing you with recommendations or personalized advice about your trading activities. The information we are providing is not tailored to any individual. Any mention of a particular security is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold that or any other security or a suggestion that it is suitable for any specific person. Keep in mind that all trading involves a risk of loss, and this will always be the situation, regardless of whether we are discussing strategies that are intended to limit risk. Also, Freedom Management Partners’ personnel are not subject to trading restrictions. I and others at Freedom Management Partners could have a position in a security or initiate a position in a security at any time.
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data
EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.
GBP/USD bounces off monthly lows near 1.3430
GBP/USD is sliding in tandem with its risk-sensitive peers, drifting back towards the 1.3430 area, its lowest levels in the month. The move reflects a firmer Greenback, supported by another round of solid US data and a somewhat divided FOMC Minutes.
Japanese Yen hangs near one-week low vs. USD amid worries about Japan’s fiscal health
The USD/JPY pair gains positive traction for the second straight day – also marking the third day of a move up in the previous four – and climbs to over a one-week high, around the 155.35 area, on Thursday. Spot prices, however, retreat a few pips during the early European session and currently trade just above the 155.00 psychological mark, up nearly 0.20% for the day.
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD shrugs off losses, retargets 0.7100
AUD/USD partially fades Wednesday’s pullback, managing to regain balance, leave behind the earlier drop to the 0.7020 zone, and trade with modest gains ahead of the opening bell in Asia. Moving forward, the preliminary PMIs will be the salient event in Oz on Friday.
EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data
EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.
Gold surrenders some gains, back below $5,000
Gold is giving away part of its earlier gains on Thursday, receding to the sub-$5,000 region per troy ounce. The precious metal is finding support from renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and declining US Treasury yields across the curve in a context of further advance in the Greenback.
XRP edges lower as SG-FORGE integrates EUR stablecoin on XRP Ledger
Ripple’s (XRP) outlook remains weak, as headwinds spark declines toward the $1.40 psychological support at the time of writing on Thursday.
Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing
It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.
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