Forex Strategy Outlook: Range Trading Attractive on Low US Dollar Volatility

Market Conditions Summary

A sharp drop in US Dollar volatility expectations ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday suggests that currencies may move in small ranges in the days ahead. Such declines in volatility favor Range Trading techniques through the holiday-shortened trading week.

Our previous research has shown that range trading Relative Strength Index systems hypothetically tend to do well during times of depressed volatility, while Channel Breakout systems tend to do poorly amidst muted moves. And while the effects of volatility expectations are less clear on our trend trading systems, we would expect limited exchange rate volatility would produce mediocre conditions for the Momentum-driven moving average crossover system.

Forex Trading Automated Systems Outlook

DailyFX+ System Trading Signals – Especially unpredictable market conditions made for another difficult week for our favored Breakout2 trading strategy, while limited volatility expectations bodes poorly for said system in the days ahead. Momentum2 and Range2 systems did comparatively well and held up despite fairly directionless moves. Range2 is poised to benefit from slower price moves in the days ahead, while Momentum1 and Momentum2 systems are unlikely to be especially active or perform particularly well amidst slower moves.

To gain a greater understanding of all six trading systems, view my recent presentation on SSI and the trading signals on our FXCM Digital Expo page.

Benchmark Trading Systems

Data and Backtest Results Generated using FXCM Strategy Trader

Our benchmark systems all had relatively muted performance through the past 7 days, with the Moving Average Crossover system turning a modest hypothetical profit on anti-USD moves in key pairs. The RSI Trading system should theoretically do well as currencies look to trade in tight ranges in the week ahead, while the Channel Breakout system may be at risk amidst slower currency moves.

DailyFX Individual Currency Pair Conditions Summary

Written by David Rodriguez, Quantitative Strategist for DailyFX.com, drodriguez@dailyfx.com

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Definitions

Range Strategy – The benchmark range trading system shows the hypothetical performance of a simple Relative Strength Index strategy on 60-minute EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD, AUDUSD, and NZDUSD pairs. It sells when the 14-period RSI falls below 70 and buys when it crosses above 30. No other trading rules are used. Hypothetical results are generated using FXCM Strategy Trader.

Trend Strategy – The benchmark trend trading system shows the hypothetical performance of a simple Moving Average Crossover strategy on 60-minute EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD, AUDUSD, and NZDUSD pairs. It buys the currency pair when the 50-period Simple Moving Average crosses above the 100-period and 200-period averages. It sells when the 50-period crosses below the 100-period and 200-period averages. No other trading rules are used.

Breakout Strategy – The benchmark breakout trading system shows the hypothetical performance of a simple Channel Breakout strategy on 60-minute EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD, AUDUSD, and NZDUSD pairs. It will set a buy order at the highest high of the previous 20 bars plus one pip and a sell order at the lowest low of the previous 20 bars minus one pip. No other trading rules are used.

Volatility Percentile – The higher the number, the more likely we are to see strong movements in price. This number tells us where current implied volatility levels stand in relation to the past 90 days of trading. We have found that implied volatilities tend to remain very high or very low for extended periods of time. As such, it is helpful to know where the current implied volatility level stands in relation to its medium-term range.

Trend – This indicator measures trend intensity by telling us where price stands in relation to its 90 trading-day range. A very low number tells us that price is currently at or near monthly lows, while a higher number tells us that we are near the highs. A value at or near 50 percent tells us that we are at the middle of the currency pair’s monthly range.

Range High – 90-day closing high.

Range Low – 90-day closing low.

Last – Current market price.

Bias – Based on the above criteria, we assign the more likely profitable strategy for any given currency pair. A highly volatile currency pair (Volatility Percentile very high) suggests that we should look to use Breakout strategies. More moderate volatility levels and strong Trend values make Momentum trades more attractive, while the lowest Vol Percentile and Trend indicator figures make Range Trading the more attractive strategy.

HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE MANY INHERENT LIMITATIONS, SOME OF WHICH ARE DESCRIBED BELOW. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN. IN FACT, THERE ARE FREQUENTLY SHARP DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND THE ACTUAL RESULTS SUBSEQUENTLY ACHIEVED BY ANY PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM.

ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS IS THAT THEY ARE GENERALLY PREPARED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. IN ADDITION, HYPOTHETICAL TRADING DOES NOT INVOLVE FINANCIAL RISK, AND NO HYPOTHETICAL TRADING RECORD CAN COMPLETELY ACCOUNT FOR THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL RISK IN ACTUAL TRADING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ABILITY TO WITHSTAND LOSSES OR TO ADHERE TO A PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM IN SPITE OF TRADING LOSSES IS MATERIAL POINTS WHICH CAN ALSO ADVERSELY AFFECT ACTUAL TRADING RESULTS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER FACTORS RELATED TO THE MARKETS IN GENERAL OR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION.

OF ANY SPECIFIC TRADING PROGRAM WHICH CANNOT BE FULLY ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE PREPARATION OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND ALL OF WHICH CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT ACTUAL TRADING RESULTS. Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary, and does not constitute investment advice. The FXCM group will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance contained in the trading signals, or in any accompanying chart analyses.