Timing Techniques for Commodity Futures Markets: Effective Strategy and Tactics for Short-Term and Long-Term Traders

by Colin Alexander

Overview

In just a few years, futures trading has grown from a specialized area to a major sector that is attracting pension funds, hedge funds, and other capital pools. Technological advances have led to increased globalization and around-the-clock trading, which has generated huge volumes that can be traded at minimal cost.

In Timing Techniques for Commodity Futures Markets, expert stocks and futures advisor Colin Alexander explains how to make money in all market conditions. He shows you how to set up monthly and weekly charts with indicators that determine which markets may be worth trading. Then he shows daily and intraday charts tell you when to pull the trigger and get into a trade and stay until market action generates an exit signal.

With Alexander's proven approach to evaluating markets, you'll learn how to avoid high-risk and marginal trades without sacrificing the high-potential ones. And, you'll see how informed applications of today's most effective indicators-including MACD, moving averages, stochastics, and Bollinger Bands-can help identify markets with the potential for extended moves.

Through a focused examination of how money determines markets, Timing Techniques for Commodity Future Markets shows you how to:

• Define a trend
• Interpret who trades what and how much
• Set stops and get out of trades
• Fine-tune short-term trading

Along with expert advice on such fundamental practices as building charts and reading candlestick charts, Timing Techniques for Commodity Futures Markets provides an insider's edge with rare information on the best chart patterns for all time frames, cyclical and seasonal forces and price rules for knowing when to pull the trigger on a trade. To illustrate real-time use, the Alexander includes two revealing case studies--one based on a prospective long position on gasoline and one based on a short position in copper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071595599
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	11/19/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Colin Alexander is an experienced trader, broker, and systems developer. He is the author of Streetsmart Guide to Timing the Stock Market, Second Edition (0-07-146105-1).

Table of Contents

Introduction

1Industry Background

2Defining Direction: An Established Trend Keeps Going

3The Building Blocks for Charts

4Price Rules

5Candlesticks: A Useful Tool

6MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence)

7Moving Averages for Direction and Support and Resistance

8Stochastics and RSI: Overbought/Oversold Indicators

9The Magic of Gaps: Three-Bars Open and Go!

10Support and Resistance: Horizontal Barriers

11Diagonal Support and Resistance

12Bollinger Bands

13Chart Patterns that Work

14Cycle Theory: Time-based, Cyclical and Seasoned Forces

15Commitments of Traders: Who Trades What and How Much?

16Stock Indexes: The Prime Vehicle for Day-Traders and Position Traders

17The Entry Checklist

18Stops: Theory and Practice

19Getting Out of the Market: The Exit Checklist

20Case Study: Buy

21Case Study: Sell Short

22Short-Term Trading Techniques I

23Short-Term Trading Techniques II

24Final Thoughts