Remember when traders thought the British Pound was going to fall apart?

The stories of a second, Soros-style breakdown of the British Pound were a bit premature.

Over the past 2 months, the GBP has been a monster against the USD (so has the Euro to be fair).

Bottom line: the GPB is locked in an uptrend against the USD.  No sense second-guessing this one.

MarketClub scores the GBPUSD  at +100 (on a scale of -100 to +100) for its mid-term technical outlook.

MarketClub actual tradesignals — the trade triangles — are available for its members only, but if you are interested you can get the best deal on MarketClub by clicking here.

The Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc are both considered to be safety currencies.  The Swissie, especially, is also positively correlated to gold.

That’s why its significant that the Yen looks like it is in the beginning stages of a significant uptrend against the Swissie.

MarketClub scores the JPYCHF at +90 (on a scale of -100 to +100) for its mid-term technical outlook.

MarketClub actual tradesignals — the trade triangles — are available for its members only, but if you are interested you can get the best deal on MarketClub by clicking here.

MarketClub’s technical analysis scores are a perfect way to determine objectively whether markets are performing strongly or not.

The table below shows the technical analysis scores for a host of gold and gold-related stocks, including gold majors and junior gold miners, as well as spot gold.  Numbers can’t lie.  Gold is hot hot hot, even though the broad Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index has the worst possible technical analysis score.

Forex traders know there are few things worse than fighting a strong trend.  That’s why many of the top traders including commodity trading advisors (CTAs) managing hundreds of million or even billions of dollars rely on trend following systems.

MarketClub’s trade triangles are one of the best trend-trading systems available to retail traders.  For currency traders, there are many reasons why trade triangle signals are superior to forex robots or other systematic forex trading tools.  Trade triangles are available for all currency pairs – not just the majors, so you can catch whatever is trending.

Recently, the trade triangle system issued signals for these forex currency pairs:

Long Euro vs. Japanese Yen (EURJPY)

Long British Pound vs. Euro  (GBPUSD)

Short U.S. Dollar vs. Swedish Krona (USDSEK)

Many traders have honed their skills on TSim+.   Its a great trading simulation program but it requires a full account at Interactive Brokers.  If you don’t have an Interactive Brokers account and still want to learn to trade forex, TSimLite might be the answer.  TSimLite is a program-based trading simulator that has a free data feed for EURUSD, USDJPY, and many other major currency pairs.  Before you trade forex with your own money, training on TSimLite is a good idea.   TSimLite uses a data feed from currency broker DukasCopy, but you don’t need an account there to use it.  The program keeps track of hypothetical profits and losses on all forex trades.  TSimLite also provides free live currency charts and offers a bar countdown timer and trading log.  The charting is relatively basic however; traders may prefer to pair the program with an advanced currency charting program like NetDania.

Gold’s strength has translated to strength in commodity-based currencies like the Australian Dollar and Canadian Dollar.  Yesterday, the Australian Dollar – US Dollar cross (AUDUSD) generated a new buy signal using MarketClub’s trade triangles, a world-class trend-following system.

Here’s a new video on the battleground in EURUSD, courtesy of MarketClub. It looks like a classic breakout / trend continuation is in the works, and we all know that trend-following is the secret to success in currencies.

Watch EURUSD forex video

FAP Turbo and MarketClub: two entirely different approaches

At the outset, its important to recognize that FAP Turbo and MarketClub are apples and oranges.  Both rely on some aspect of technical analysis to generate trade signals, but in many important aspects they are entirely different.   Its also important to know that I’m an affiliate of both, and a heavy user of MarketClub.  Both are good products.  Choosing the right one will depend a lot on the timeframe you want to trade, the degree of automation you require, and which instruments you want to focus on.

FAP Turbo

What is FAP Turbo?

FAP Turbo is a forex robot, or autotrading program.  Technically, its a script called an Expert Advisor for the MetaTrader 4 platform.  That means you’ll need a forex broker that works with MetaTrader.  Fortunately, most of the best forex traders offer MetaTrader as an option.  The two spot forex brokers I have used, FXCM and MB Trading, each offer MetaTrader accounts.

Advantages of FAP Turbo:

• actual track record: FAP Turbo doesn’t rely on curve-fitted backtests.  According to the FAP webpage, its actually traded in three live currency accounts, and has made money in all three.  The founders don’t disclose the exact settings they use to achieve these results, but here are some tips on FAP Turbo settings.
• trading is automatic: if you want a system that will pull the trigger for you, FAP Turbo fits the bill.  With a compatible MetaTrader 4 brokerage, FAP Turbo will execute the trade signals automatically.  It really is a trade “robot.”
• settings can be tweaked: FAP Turbo has dozens of settings that can be altered, and most FAP Turbo experts believe that getting the settings right is the key to success.
• money-back guarantee:  FAP Turbo is only $149, and offers a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Disadvantages of FAP Turbo

• advertised results can be hard to replicate: FAP Turbo doesn’t tell you the settings used to generate the returns it advertises, so you need to figure out the settings on your own.
• limited to MetaTrader 4 brokers: not all forex brokers support FAP Turbo.   MetaTrader compatibility is absolutely required, with one exception: FAP is bringing out a custom product with Swiss broker Dukascopy that will be  standalone, called FAP Evolution.
• requires keeping a computer on or using a VPS: as an autotrading program, FAP Turbo needs to be on to monitor the market and execute trades.  Consider whether you want to dedicate a computer for that function.  If not, some brokers and third parties host Expert Advisors (usually for a fee) on Virtual Private Servers.
• not appropriate for all currency pairs:  FAP Turbo is tuned and created to trade a limited set of currency pairs: EURGBP, EURCHF, USDCAD, and CHFGBP.  One drawback is that if other currency crosses offer favorable trading opportunities, FAP Turbo might not be primed to take advantage.
• limited use for longer-term traders: FAP Turbo offers normal and scalper mode, but both are focused on daytraders.  If you are looking to capture longer-term moves in forex markets, FAP Turbo is not the tool to use.
• crowding effect:  With so many FAP Turbo users following the same signals on the same few instruments, there is a possibility that the trades could get crowded, leading to increased slippage in entries and exits.  FAP Turbo has some mechanisms designed to reduce the effect, but at some point it can become a concern, especially in less liquid crosses like CHFGBP.

MarketClub for Forex

Advantages of MarketClub:

• easy to interpret: MarketClub signals trend strength in multiple, longer-term timeframes using a simple, on-chart indicator called a “trade triangle.”  The green up triangle signals strength, the red down triangle weakness.  For forex, MarketClub recommends that traders use the weekly signal to define trend and the daily to define entries and exits.
• works on a longer term: perhaps more than any other instrument, currencies tend to trend well over long periods of time.  Focusing on an intraday or scalper strategy means turning your back on these prime opportunities.
• signals available for hundreds of currency pairs: if you can think of two currencies, MarketClub can provide signals for the currency pair.  All of the currencies covered by FAP Turbo are available, as are the traditional pairs like USDJPY, EURUSD, NZDUSD, AUDUSD, GBPUSD, EURJPY, etc.  So are the more unconventional crosses, like EURNOK, USDINR, GBPSEK, or USDMXN.  And if you really want to get obscure and trade Saudi currency or Korean Won or Malaysian Ringitt — or even Lithuanian Litas — MarketClub can do the job.
• scanner and smart alerts included: you don’t have to decide in advance which currency you want to trade. MarketClub’s smart scanner will scan the whole breadth of pairs to find the best trenders using a gaggle of technical criteria, and send alerts to you.  Why fight for a few pips on a congested instrument when you can identify a long-term trender?
• stock and futures signals included at the same price: for the price of admission you get the same trend analysis, scanners, alerts, historical prices, and other trading tools for tens of thousands of stocks — US and international — all US futures, and many other instruments.  Its a key tool that I use every day.
• trades are not crowded: because the signals are available for literally thousands of instruments, and are longer-term in nature, MarketClub is not susceptible to the same “crowding out” phenomena on currency pairs.
• does not require a special broker or equipment: MarketClub is accessible from any internet browser.  It does not require MetaTrader 4.  Because you, and not the computer, executes the trade, MarketClub can be used in conjunction with every forex broker.
• more control:  control freak?  Many of us are just not comfortable with fallible computers handling all aspects of trade execution.  I prefer signals to a fully automatic trade robot.  If you do too, MarketClub may be a better product for you.

Disadvantages of MarketClub

• not fully automatic: on the other hand, if you want the computer to pull the trigger, MarketClub is not your tool.  MarketClub does not execute trades.  It only gives signals, that you will need to convey to your broker.
• limited intraday tools: MarketClub does give daily signals in real time, but it doesn’t give signals on smaller time frames.  So if you want to trade intraday, look at FAP Turbo.
• trend only: short, intraday scalps are inherently countertrend trades.  MarketClub is trend-following.  I believe that’s a superior approach but if you want to try a countertrend approach, MarketClub is not a suitable tool.

DISCLOSURE: Affiiate for both, daily user of MarketClub.

Adam Hewison has a great new video on the Aussie Dollar (no registration required).  As it shows, the Australian Dollar is at a critical juncture versus the U.S. Dollar [note: MarketClub tracks the currency as the USDAUD.  Your forex broker probably lists the Australian Dollar as the primary currency.  If that's the case you must flip this chart].

Watch Video

Here’s a new forex trading video on EURUSD from MarketClub.  It takes only five minutes and gives a good sense of what is in store next for the Euro versus the US Dollar:

http://www.ino.com/info/395/CD3398/&dp=0&l=0&campaignid=3