Getting up in the morning

Have you ever had the problem of not hearing the alarm clock or hitting the snooze button too much ?

I know I have, but now I have found an alarm that wakes me up, and I don’t hit the snooze button because I’m very much awake when I turn it off. It’s http://www.klokoo.com/.

Before going to bed set the time and select the rooster sound, turn your speakers way up, and believe me you will wake up.

Try it. It has worked for me.

Important news for the week: 4-8 January

January 4
Manufacturing PMI(GBP): it was released today, Actual > Forecast, which is a good thing for the currency. Actual: 54.1, Forecast: 52.1
ISM Manufacturing PMI(USD):it was released today, Actual>Forecast, which is a good thing for the currency. Actual:55.9, Forecast: 54.1

January 5
Pending Home Sales m/m(USD): Forecast -2.3%

January 6
Building Approvals m/m(AUD): Forecast: 3.1%
Halifax HPI m/m(GBP): Forecast: 0.6%
Services PMI(GBP): Forecast: 56.8%
ADP Non-Farm Employment Change(USD): Forecast: -74K
ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI(USD): Forecast: 50.5
FOMC Meeting Minutes(USD)

January 7
Retail Sales m/m(AUD) Forecast: 0.4%
Trade Balance(AUD) Forecast: -1.79B
Asset Purchase Facility(GBP) Forecast: 200B
MPC Rate Statement(GBP)
Official Bank Rate(GBP) Forecast: 0.5%
Unemployment Claims(USD) Forecast:449K
Ivey PMI(CAD) Forecast:52.2

January 8
PPI Input m/m(GBP) Forecast: -0.2%
Employment Change(CAD) Forecast:20.2K
Unemployment Rate(CAD) Forecast:8.5%
Non-Farm Employment Change(USD) Forecast: -10K
Unemployment Rate(USD) Forecast:10.1%

January Issue of Futures and Options Magazine

The January Issue of Futures and Options Magazine is out.

If you don’t know Futures and Options Magazine, it’s an online trading magazine, which is free, and downloadable in PDF format, so be sure to register: http://www.futuresandoptionstrader.com

Happy New Year !

I wish you all a happy new year, and may all your goals for this year come true !

Hotkeys for Metatrader

Here is a list of  hotkeys for Metatrader. If you’re quick with the keyboard, you may find these hotkeys useful:

Left arrow — scroll chart to the left;
Right arrow — scroll chart to the right;
Up arrow — quickly scroll chart to the left or (if the scale is defined), scroll chart upwards;
Down arrow — quickly scroll chart to the right or (if the scale is defined), scroll chart downwards;

Numpad 5 — restores chart vertical scale to its original default. If the scale was defined, this returns the chart back to its visible range;

Page Up — scroll a whole screen to the left;
Page Down — scroll a whole screen to the left;
Home — move the chart to the start point (first bar);
End — move the chart to the end point (last, i.e. most current) bar;

“–” — zoom out (there are 6 levels of zoom available);
“+” — zoom in;

Delete — delete all selected objects;
Backspace — delete most recently added objects, on a last-added-first-removed basis;

Enter — open/close the fast navigation window;
Esc — close any dialog window;

F1 — open the on line help “Userguide”;
F2 — open the “History Center” window;
F3 — open the “Global Variables” window;
F4 — open MetaEditor;
F5 — switch to the next profile;
F6 — call the “Tester” dialog window for testing the expert attached to the chart window;
F7 — call the properties dialog window of the expert attached to their chart window, in order to change its settings;
F8 — call the chart setup dialog window, allowing basic chart parameters, colors, etc to be changed;
F9 — call the “New Order” window, allowing the entry of market, limit, stop orders;
F10 — open the “Popup prices” window;
F11 — enable/disable full screen mode;
F12 — scroll the chart one bar to the left;

Shift+F12 — scroll the chart one bar to the right;
Shift+F5 — switch to the previous profile;

Alt+1 — display the chart as OHLC bars;
Alt+2 — display the chart as OHLC candlesticks;
Alt+3 — display the chart as a line (closing prices only);

Alt+A — copy all test/optimization results onto the clipboard;
Alt+W — call the chart management window;
Alt+F4 — exit the program;

Ctrl+A — arrange all indicator window heights by default;
Ctrl+B — call the “Objects List” dialog window;
Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert — copy to the clipboard;
Ctrl+D — open/close the “Data Window”;
Ctrl+E — enable/disable the attached expert advisor;
Ctrl+F — switch to “Crosshair” mode;
Ctrl+G — show/hide the vertical/horizontal grid;
Ctrl+H — show/hide the OHLC line;
Ctrl+I — call the “Indicators List” dialog window;
Ctrl+L — show/hide volume data on the main chart;
Ctrl+M — open/close the “Market Watch” window;
Ctrl+N — open/close the “Navigator” window;
Ctrl+O — open the “Setup” window;
Ctrl+P — print the chart;
Ctrl+R — open/close the “Tester” window;
Ctrl+S — save the chart prices (OHLCV) in a file having extensions: “CSV”, “PRN” or “HTM”;
Ctrl+T — open/close the “Terminal” window;
Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4 — close the chart window that’s currently in focus;
Ctrl+Y— show/hide date (period) separators;
Ctrl+Z or Alt+Backspace — undo object deletions in the reverse order they occurred;

Ctrl+F6 — switch to the next chart window;
Ctrl+F9 — open the “Terminal — Trade” window and switch the focus into it, allowing trading operations to be entered via the keyboard.

How to open a *.mq4 file

*.mq4 files are normally indicators programmed to be used in Metatrader.

Once you have downloaded the file, copy it to your indicators directory in Metatrader, usually found under: C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4\experts\indicators.

Start Metatrader. The indicator should now appear in the indicator window.

Merry Christmas !

I wish you all a Merry Christmas full of joy and excitement with your families !

Weekly Jobless Rates Fall

According to a report released by the labor department on Thursday, the jobless rates have been the lowest in over a year.
The report showed that the rates fell from 480,000 down to 452,000, beating analyst’s expectations of 470,000.
The report also showed a decrease in continuing claims . Continuing claims measure the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment help.

Poker night

Poker night, tonight with the boys

It is remarkable how similar poker is to trading. Will be posting an article regarding the similarities between poker and trading

Currently studying…

…. International Monetary Economics and Economical-Financial Analysis, for my final two exams in my journey through college.