Of the many different chart patterns used to predict price behavior for forex currency pairs, wedge patterns are one of the most commonly used patterns.

Welcome to our look back at the previous month and a look ahead to what we might expect to see throughout May and beyond.

The main market drivers in April were pretty much the same as March, with a shift toward COVID vaccine programs, which are working better in some economies than others.  This has seen notable gains in instruments like WTI, Brent Crude, Stock Indices and EUR.

USD Weakness and Bad COVID News from India

Europe looks like it is finally catching up on its vaccine deficiencies, and there is talk of boosting travel and tourism with vaccinated visitors, however, some economies are still in lockdown.

 The US Executive Branch and Congress will be debating and negotiating a massive infrastructure plan into the next few weeks and months, which will affect the USD as we move forward.

Another major concern, which reared its head in April and will continue for months to come, is the dreadful situation with COVID infections in India.  This is not only a humanitarian tragedy, it may turn out to be an economic tragedy.

If you’re a forex trader, you face more reports, indicators, and surveyed data than you probably know what to do with. While there is plenty of data that traders should keep an eye on, the consumer confidence index represents especially important. To help you further understand the consumer confidence index, the following explains what it is and what it entails.

You’ll hear the term “trading the news” routinely mentioned within the world of forex, but what does it actually mean? Plus, why are more people than ever before adopting a forex news trading strategy? Well, ignoring the obvious answer of “to make money”, forex news trading strategies have gained traction because of how close they bring traders to what is actually taking place within the market. Open 24 hours a day, five days a week, economic data runs rampant throughout each forex trading day, proving to be the catalyst for both short-term and long-term movements. At last count, at least seven pieces of important data are being released daily, which means that those who opt for a forex news trading strategy have plenty to get stuck into.

Within the forex market, there are traders known as position traders (sometimes referred to as “buy and hold” traders), who take positions for the long term. They base this on long-term charts and macroeconomics, and they operate in pretty much every market there is—including the hyperactive forex market. 

Considering how the popularity of position trading is growing, it’s worth putting this market approach under the microscope. Here’s a look at the details behind position trading, along with how common traders use positions.

The forex market isn’t exclusive to big company and hedge fund traders anymore.

These days, anyone can get into the foreign exchange markets, so long as they have the capital to get started and the access to a computer to trade on. However, just because you can rush into something doesn’t mean you should—after you register Valutrades and make a deposit, you shouldn’t be in a hurry to put your money where your mouth is. Smart traders, new and old alike, can understand the value that comes with a forex demo account.

While it’s referred to as an indicator in its own right, the Ichimoku Cloud is actually a combination of indicators based on five formulas that combine to form an equilibrium chart. 

These five formulas provide a data-rich indicator that displays lines of support and resistance, trend direction, and momentum of that trend through the charting of several different moving averages on the same chart. Here’s a quick guide to understanding the Ichimoku Cloud and tips to get started using this indicator as part of your trading process.

To those unfamiliar with financial markets, the words “pips,” “points,” and “ticks” may sound like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. But there’s a reason why these units of measurement exist in the trading lexicon. In order to assess risk and reward and understand profits and losses, it’s important to know what these terms mean in different contexts.

When it comes to trading, it is widely accepted that there are two main approaches to your analysis of potential trades.  They are fundamental analysis and technical analysis.

Technical analysis is widely used by private traders and is becoming more and more popular.  It involves the study of a financial product’s actual price, to form an opinion on the likely future direction in which the price will move.

Moving averages are one of the most popular tools that forex traders lean on when attempting to understand market movements because they add an extra layer to any chart analysis you’re conducting, highlighting exactly where the price action is happening.

Based on pure popularity, the exponential moving average (EMA) and the simple moving average (SMA) are the two most common moving average tools. But there are differences between the two.