In This Issue
1. Day Trading Commodities with Crude Oil Futures
2. Hot Market Review - Gold Futures
3. Economic Calendar
Crude Oil is one of MY favorite futures market for day trading. Before I dive in and share with you how the volatility in crude oil fits my risk tolerance for day trading and provide a couple of chart examples, we should review some of the specifications of Crude Oil Futures.
Crude Oil Futures have monthly expiration. So each month we trade a different contract month, so one needs to know when is the first notice day and last trading day for crude oil futures in order to always make sure we are trading the proper month with the most liquidity and avoid any chance of getting into delivery situation.
Next is the contract size. Crude Oil futures are based on 100,000 barrels. To be honest from a day trading perspective all I care is that each tick or 1 cent fluctuation is $10 against me or in my favor per contract. That means that a move from 92.94 to 92.74 = $200.
Another factor is trading hours. At the time I am sharing my thoughts with you, April 8th 2013, crude oil futures trade on the CME Globex platform and trade from 5 PM CDT until the next day at 4 PM CDT. That is 23 of straight trading hours. I definitely don't recommend day trading this market 23 hours...but it is good to know the trading hours.
Volume in crude oil futures is pretty good to trade in my opinion. Averaging about 300,000 contracts per day.
One last pointer to touch on is the API (American Petroleum Institute) report that normally comes out Wednesday at 9:30 CDT (on short weeks, holidays etc. , this report will be pushed to Thursday at 10 AM CDT). I tell my clients that this report is way too volatile and I like to be out 5 minutes before and not resume trading 5 minutes until after the report comes out. This report by itself deserves a writing but on short, the report provides information on how our stock pile is doing ( = supply/demand) and the market will move based on the numbers versus what was expected. Again as a day trader, your main job is to know about this report, when it comes out and in my opinion stay out of the market during this time..Fill out the form below to read the full article.
If you like this Newsletter, Please share!Gold Bulls Repairing Chart Damage, Market Low May be in Place
From our friend Jim Wyckoff
Jim has an excellent daily newsletter where he reviews different markets, alerts you for potential trades and much more. Included is his great bi-weekly newsletter with charts and a little longer term outlook. We recommend checking out his website, educational CDROM, and services at www.jimwyckoff.com click on image below to enlarge
JComex gold futures prices were sharply higher Thursday morning and hit a two-week high, boosted on technical buying. Good demand for physical gold worldwide remains a supportive factor for the gold market. Importantly, the gold market has recently assumed leadership in influencing price direction of the entire raw commodity sector. Gold’s strong rebound from this month’s low is hinting that a near-term bottom is in place for the yellow metal. Such also suggests the beaten-down raw commodity sector may also have bottomed out and will see better times just ahead. Technically, June gold futures bears still have the overall technical advantage. However, the bulls are gaining upside near-term technical momentum and are repairing some of the recent chart damage. But gold bulls still have heavy lifting to do to suggest prices can sustain a near-term uptrend on the daily chart. Gold prices are still in a 6.5-month-old downtrend on the daily bar chart.
Source: Moore Research Center, Inc.
| Date | Reports | Expiration & Notice Dates |
| 04/29 Mon |
7:30 AM CDT - PCE Prices-Core(Mar) 7:30 AM CDT - Personal Income & Spending(Mar) 9:00 AM CDT - Pending Home Sales(Mar) |
|
| 04/30 Tues |
6:00 AM CDT - MBA Mortgage Purchase Index 7:15 AM CDT - ADP Employment Change(Apr) 9:00 AM CDT - Construction Spending(Mar) 9:00 AM CDT - ISM Index(Apr) 9:30 AM CDT - API & DOE Energy Stats 1:15 PM CDT - FOMC Rate Decision(May) 2:00 PM CDT - Auto & Truck Sales 3:00 PM CDT - Dairy Product Sales |
FN: May Copper,Gold,Silver(CMX) May Platinum,Palladium(NYM) May Wheat(CBT) May Oats(CBT) May Corn(CBT) May Rough Rice(CBT) May Soybeans,Soymeal,Soyoil(CBT) LT: Apr Butter(CME) Apr Milk(CME) Apr Fed Funds(CME) Apr Live Cattle(CME) May Heating Oil(NYM) May RBOB Gasoline(NYM) May Sugar-11(NYM) Apr Butter Options(CME) Apr Milk Options(CME) Apr Fed Funds Options(CME) May Lumber Options(CME) |
| 05/01 Wed |
6:00 AM CDT - MBA Mortgage Index 7:30 AM CDT - Durable Orders(Mar) 9:30 AM CDT - API DOE Energy Stats 3:00 PM CDT - Dairy Product Sales |
FN: May Orange Juice(ICE) May Sugar-11(NYM) |
| 05/02 Thurs |
6:30 AM CDT - Challenger Job Cuts(Apr) 7:30 AM CDT - USDA Weekly Export Sales 7:30 AM CDT - Initial Claims-Weekly 7:30 AM CDT - Productivity-Prel(Q1) 7:30 AM CDT - Trade Balance(Mar) 7:30 AM CDT - Unit Labor Costs(Q1) 9:30 AM CDT - EIA Gas Storage 3:30 PM CDT - Money Supply |
FN: May Heating Oil(NYM) May RBOB Gasoline(NYM) |
| 05/03 Fri |
7:30 AM CDT - Ave Workweek & Hourly Earnings(Apr) 7:30 AM CDT - Nonfarm Payrolls(Apr) 7:30 AM CDT - Unemployment Rate(Apr) 9:00 AM CDT - Factory Orders(Mar) 9:00 AM CDT - ISM Services(Apr) |
LT: May Canadian Dollar Options(CME) May Currencies Options(CME) May Live Cattle Options(CME) May US Dollar Index Options(ICE) Jun Cocoa Options(ICE) |
| 05/04 Mon |
* Please note that the information contained in this letter is intended for clients, prospective clients, and audiences who have a basic understanding, familiarity, and interest in the futures markets.
** The material contained in this letter is of opinion only and does not guarantee any profits. These are risky markets and only risk capital should be used. Past performances are not necessarily indicative of future results.