Anna Coulling of AnnaCoulling.com shares a recent question-and-answer between her and a subscriber about the top ten things she does on a daily and weekly basis before she starts to trade.
Question: Hi Anna-please advise on my Weekly (Saturday and Sunday) To Do List-My Daily (M-F) To Do List at the beginning of my trading session-Regards.
Answer: Hi-many thanks for your question, which is one I am often asked-so here is my top ten list of things to do. These are the simple things I look at every morning before starting to trade (with one or two on a weekly basis).
- Overnight equity markets-Asia and Far East-price
action and volume.
- Bond markets-US in particular for bond prices and
bond yields and, particularly, the 10-year note, which is a benchmark.
- Yen currency pairs-again, for risk and a good barometer of risk on/risk off is the AUD/JPY.
- USD index-I use two here-the DXY and the FXCM/DOW,
which I find is more representative. The old DXY is too heavily euro weighted
(in my opinion) and the FXCM/DOW index provides a more balanced view.
- Commodity indices and primary
commodities-particularly oil, and gold, and gas.
- Fundamental news overnight and for the day ahead. Any
news from China and Far East, in particular.
- Futures volumes on currencies, commodities, and bonds
and primary indices using volume price analysis.
- COT report data at the weekend-here we are looking
for changes in sentiment.
- Volatility indicator from OANDA-this also has other instruments too and is a very quick and easy way to identify the volatility across the markets-which are moving and
which are stagnant. It also displays the extent of price movements and in all
timeframes.
- Daily charts for the overall technical picture. This
is irrespective of what timeframe I am trading intraday. It provides the
framework for the session and a mental picture of the longer-term trend.
I hope the above helps to get you started, and thanks for an interesting question.
By Anna Coulling, Professional Trader & Blogger, AnnaCoulling.com
