When the market establishes a trend in a particular direction, often times
this trend may continue higher at a certain angle which simply reflects the
strength of the buying forces over a given period of time. What’s important to
note is that these trends may persist for a great period of time; perhaps
several months or years. With that said, we may use a SMA (Simple Moving
Average) to define this trend, and use this moving average to plan our future
trades. If we select a moving average too short in time frame such as a 10-SMA,
we can see the market may cross below and above, and thus producing a number of
false trading signals. On the other hand, if we select a moving average too long
in it’s time frame, then we run the risk of missing trades as the market may not
pull all the way back to this moving average; such as the 30-SMA shown below.
However we can see the market tested and failed to break below its 20-SMA and
therefore we may use this moving average to plan our next trade to the long
side. In this case, traders may wait for the CADJPY to pull back to the 20-SMA,
and fail to ‘close’ below. Taking this a step further, we may place our
protective stops below this moving average at a point where we do not believe
the market will trade to.
Best of luck in all your trades!!!
