Heard On The Street: $ES-F #Copper #Soybeans $EUR-USD

INTRODUCTION and ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Today the world finds itself at a crossroad of immense proportions. Possible European Sovereign Default and the U.S. Debt Ceiling /consequences of a possible downgrade remain atop of one's "Wall of Worry" list. Huge changes are coming in the near future whether we're ready for them or not. Many investors cling to the false hope that the economic storm is over and that their battered portfolios will recover from a decade of lost returns. As they will find out, it may be only just beginning.

Don't worry. The sky is not falling and the world is not coming to an end. In fact, the future has never looked brighter for traders and investors who take the initiative to "batten down the hatches" and position themselves properly in the market for the coming economic hurricane.

On December 20, 2010, I published my first edition of Global Gains where I released my market calls for 2011 with respect to the U.S, Asian and European major indices, Currencies, Metals and Energy. Whether you are a new subscriber or an existing follower, you may want to compare the market position as of  7/15/2011 for each market .... then compare it to my forecasts that were made over a half year in advance. Just click on the Global Gains link above. Every post on this site is dated and time stamped so you know the posts are authentic and NOT after-the-fact. As you will see, most of those calls are outright scarey while others invariably missed the mark. That's just the nature of long term forecasting.  

I'm not reviewing this information to impress you but to impress upon you the value of the Elliott Wave Principle. Secondly, it's nearly time to update my forecasts for the remainder of the year and I think that readers will find similar value in my forecasts. I'm contemplating presenting my forecast in a webinar format near the end of August.  Stay tuned for details!

Lastly, I launched Elliott Wave Live on July 2010 as a free service, consisting of analysis and commentary on the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific markets, commodities, currency pairs, stocks and ETF's using the Elliott Wave Principle, Fibonacci Ratio Analysis and Market Timing strategies. My primary focus has focused upon the E-mini S&P. My insight has been provided primarily through my blog site, video recordings and my Twitter account.

Shortly in the near future, I will be adding another level of service... a premium service, that provides more timely intraday analysis, charts and a greater in depth look at the markets. While I have not finalized all the details and cost of the subscription service, I will offer a free trial where you can kick the tires and slam doors to determine whether this service is right for you.  All will be explained in a short video presentation at a date to be determined.

THE MARKETS:

In this weeks edition of Heard On The Street I'll be covering the Emini SP, Soybeans, Copper and EUR-USD.

Best of Trading

Today's Trade Provides a Practial Application on How to Use an Alternate Count

If the objective of every trade plan is to identify levels for buying and selling the market, then according to Robert Prechter Jr., "without Elliott, there appear to be an infinite number of possibilities for market action. What the wave principle provides is a means of first limiting the possibilities and then ordering the relative probabilities of possible future market paths" (1) thus the preferred wave count. An alternate count is nothing more than my second best wave count that also describes either the past, present or future movement of the market but in another context.

When I'm providing a wave interpretation for this blog, I'm always utilizing the preferred count. I remain open to evaluating price structure that is contrary to my preferred count and adapting an alternate wave count that realigns price with a known wave pattern. Should my analysis be unable to identify a clear count, readers are made aware of the uncertainty of the analysis.

Conversely, as traders, we do not have that luxury. The preferred wave count is my template for how I believe the trade should unfold. While I can't be certain that the market will oblige my best wishes, I MUST trade what I see NOT what I want to happen. Should the market's price action prove my preferred count wrong, either I get stopped out or the adoption of an alternate count allows me to stay with a trade, albeit defensively, depending on my entry, existing profit/loss and stop placement.

On June 5, 2011 call, ElliottWaveLive called for continued weakness in the eminis for Monday's trade.

At the 240 minute chart level, the close of yesterdays trade as well as the market technicals and subdivisions of the most recent wave called for for a three wave countertrend rally to end w.iv circle for today's trade.

A Hypothetical Trade

In the ON session, the market began to rally and traced out w.(A) and w.(B) providing the initial evidence that price action may be following the preferred count. A trade initiating a long trade at 1286 STOP 1283.5 (1 tick below the origin of w.(A) would be targeting the predetermined levels of 1298 - 1299 and unfold as a zig zag.

Price reached w.A circle at 1293.75 and began to fall. According to the previous chart, I was looking for a zig-zag to unfold and complete near the 50% retracement of 1288.5. While w.B circle actually was a flat correction, the fact that the corrective phase ended at the target and just below w.A circle provided a trader with the confidence in real time to stay in the trade. Here's why... the low of w.B circle was 1288.25 and overlapped the high of w.(A) at 1288.75...  another clue that the entire move is corrective.

Price then rallied from the w.B circle low to new highs.  At this point, price hit 1294.75 , where w.C circle = .618 w. A circle. The protective stop is moved to one tick below w.B circle at 1288. The retracement from 1294.75 was deep and took out the 1291 swing low... a warning sign that something may be wrong.

It's here that trading what you see must take over. Subsequent price action is choppy and contains numerous overlapping waves. My trade plan called for a five wave advance for w.C circle without overlap.... it's not.....  a second warning that the entire corrective move from 1283.25 to 1294.75 may be complete or that a more complex correction is unfolding. At a minimum,  I'm moving stops to just below the last swing low  of 1289.25 and lock in profit while looking to identify an alternate count that realigns me with the price action. I may also consider trailing my stop in a defensive manner under each higher swing low and let the market take me out of the trade.

In conclusion, the trade plan accurately identified an area suitable for buying the market, yet price has failed to reach our price objective at this time or do so in the manner that was called for. By having a clear expectation of what should unfold we remain flexible, objective and know where we're wrong as traders.

As part two of this lesson, I'll provide updated charts in a separate post so the trade can be followed.

I hope you found this information helpful and best of trading.



(1) Elliott Wave Principle, Frost and Prechter, page 94.

The Chart of The Day: KOSPI Rally Ending?

A possible change of trend for the KOSPI has taken place. To find out where prices are headed, view this brief video.

Best of Trading