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Developing the "Holy Grail" Trading System

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Before I get myself into trouble, let me point out that there is no "Holy Grail" trading system in the world - not yet anyway. If there is, please let me know. I don't mind paying a thousand bucks for it. However, a trading system close to the "Holy Grail" is indeed possible and I'll show you how to develop it.

But before we come to that, here's what we all know. Forex is the biggest financial market in the world, with its daily volume of transactions dwarfing the US stock markets by 10 to 1. Its sheer size also makes it the best market to trade in terms of (1) high liquidity - Forex trades are almost always instantly executed, thus minimizing slippage; and (2) open and fair - it is impossible for one to control or manipulate the market for any length of time, rendering "insider trading" impossible to carry out.

What moves Forex? Conventional thinking would imply economic fundamentals or factors such as the strength of a country's economy, which contributes to currency flows. Therefore, one would assume that everyone else would buy the US dollar against the British pound. Why not? The US economy is the largest in the world while that of Great Britain has fallen to fifth, behind the US, Japan, Germany and China.

The theory of "the bigger the economy is, the more attractive its currency will be" may be true but in reality, the sterling has advanced more against the dollar. Why is this so?

Let's dissect the market by taking a look at the players in the currency market. They are the financial institutions, commercial banks, insurance firms, pension funds, hedge funds, small funds, international businesses, private investors, retail traders and not forgetting, individuals. Each plays a part in determining the movement of a currency. We can divide them into two categories - "commercial" and "non-commercial".

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