Well, Unemployment Claims were boring, boring today.  We had two announcements come in at once, UC along with Non-Farm Productivity.  The initial move wicked up quickly a split second before the announcement and the top part of my MMT Tool did not fill because the market was already past my order.  So, instead of staying out (duh), I glanced at my MMT New Server and saw red (usually means fewer initial claims, so that is normally good) and manually put in a long order, right at a Prediction Point.  Then the market started to consolidate on the news, which was actually pretty flat.  Then I waited 4 minutes to get out a tick to the downside of my filled position only to have the market go UP a point and a quarter!  LOL!  Again, a lesson learned that wasn’t very painful for my bottom line. 

Unemployment Claims; 09.02.2010

Then, the second trade.  Pending Home Sales actually came out EARLY by about 5 seconds and the market didn’t really react.  I actually said out loud, “I’m not getting in…” and then I got in anyway.  I have to learn to control this competitive side of me and walk away if I get that feeling I should stay out.  I have been pretty good at that in the past, but I think my recent relatively big wins have puffed up my ego to the point I am not listening to myself! Bad girl!

Pending Home Sales; 09.02.2010

It’s all a process and I am still feeling pretty good about the last two weeks…I am up $900 on one $500 contract.  I know what I need to do and by golly, I am going to get ‘er done.

Ahhhh.  Unemployment numbers in the morning.  Love it!  This trade is my absolute favorite, it’s the one I have the most experience with, and so last night, when I went to bed, I made a conscious decision to trade TWO contracts this morning.  So, here we go!

Unemployment Claims; 8-26-10

The new unemployment claims numbers came out about 22K LESS than expected, so we saw movement up for the first time in a long time.  I had set my Market Mover Trading Tools prior to the announcement and they worked perfectly; I was filled long (buy).  I would have had a little more profit, but I had another MMT Tool set that actually got me out of the trade a little earlier than I would have liked.   But make no mistake, I am very happy with 2.25 points (22.5%) on my initial investment of two $500 contracts – $225 in 14 seconds is pretty sweet!

Jody, who turns 49 today, also won this trade.  He used a slightly different strategy, but we both got in and out at the same prices – and I swear we didn’t talk beforehand!  Happy Birthday, baby!!!

This week has been a slow one for me.  There hasn’t been a ton of news announcements outside Tuesday and today.  Tuesday we were playing with new technology and I’ll tell you all about that later.

So, I traded live today for the first trade (Unemployment Claims) and sim to try out a trailing stop for the second trade (CB Leading Index & Philly Fed).  Let’s get down to biz, shall we?

Unemployment Claims, 8-19-10

So, as you can see, I sold short at 1093 and my profit target, set at 3.75 points, got me out of the single contract trade, netting me $187.50 in literally 5 seconds.  Do I hear a “WOO-HOO”?

Okay, on to the second trade – CB Leading Index & Philly Fed.  For this one, I decided to simulate.  I wanted to practice a trailing stop, which doesn’t require a profit target at Infinity!  If I had used a trailing stop on the first trade today, I would have been able to maximize my profits and leave very little on the table.  Trailing stops aren’t good for every trade, but for trades where the news is usually dramatic and runs one way or the other quickly and unhesitating, they are perfect.  Trade these announcements long enough and you will know which is which.  So, while these announcements didn’t drop quite like a rock (like unemployment claims), they were good enough to practice a trailing stop.  I’ll show you a few stills from my video, once my MMT strategy was filled.  Click on the individual pix to enlarge.  Enjoy!

Well, no surprise that today was volatile.  ADP hasn’t been a good indicator for months, and rumors were swirling that Nonfarm Payrolls were going to tank.  Can I say Market Mover Trading is a perfect way to turn bad news into good news?  Can I get a woo-hoo?

Nonfarm Payroll/Unemployment Claims 8-6-10

I even lost one trade when I anticipated the correction too early…still up 5.75 points (57.50% or $287.50 on one $500 contract) for the day.

For my week (8/2 – 8/6), I was up 20.25 points (202.50%!!!) on my money.  I won 12 of my 14 trades.  I LOVE Market Mover Trading.  You will, too!

Okay, so normally ISM Manufacturing PMI doesn’t make anyone’s skirt fly up.  We’ve gone over this before, but for you new readers and normal people who don’t retain stuff like this from month to month, the ISM Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) is a rating from 400 purchasing managers who are asked to rate the level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.  Pretty boring for 99.9% of everyone.  HOWEVER, when you are trading news announcements with Market Mover Trading, ISM Manufacturing PMI becomes very, *very* exciting.  It’s what we at MMT call a “High Impact” announcement.  I love High Impacts.    They usually mean more opportunity to jump in, jump out and make some money.

Last Friday, Jody taught me how to set my semi-automated MMT Tools at Infinity Futures so that I can capture the initial movement on a single news announcement AND then quickly capture the correction.  I don’t have a screenshot of my day last Friday, but I made *7* flippin’ points on the Chicago PMI & U of M Consumer Sentiment.  That is 70% on my initial investment.  Sim, of course (hey, I was trying out new tools!)  I was too excited to screenshot.  I literally thought I had died and gone to heaven.

So, I did it again today and simmed 2.25 points or 22.5%:

ISM Manufacturing PMI, 8-2-10

Yay for me!  Yay for Market Mover Trading!  Yay for MMT Tools!

If you would like to take control of your money and your financial future, give us a holler.  We can help!

By Joseph Plocek

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The U.S. June employment report was weak and the bright spot of a 0.2 point dip in the unemployment rate is likely to be ignored.

The June employment report had few surprises, and shows slow growth. Payrolls printed -125,000 and included -225,000 census workers and +83,000 private jobs. May-April jobs were revised +25,000 in total.

The unemployment rate fell 0.2 point to 9.5% as the labor force contracted by a huge 652,000 workers on seasonal adjustment. The unadjusted labor force advanced 901,000, and the only age group whose participation increased was age 55+.

Hours and wages (all Average Hourly Earnings fell 2 cents for +1.7% over the year) were modest, suggesting slow gains ahead in income and production.

June payrolls were mixed: manufacturing +9,000, construction -22,000, retail -6,600, transportation +14,600, financial -15,000, leisure +37,000, temp help +20,500, health +16,800.

Overall, this was not a robust report whose surprise drop in the unemployment rate reflects more discouraged workers and caution entering the workforce.

Details: Payrolls/Prior AHE,yoy Agg Hrs Civ Unempl Rt/Unrnd Jun -125k —- +1.7% 99.1 9.5% (9.5115%) May +433k +431k —– 99.0r 9.7% (9.6980%) Apr +313k +290k —– 99.0r 9.9% (9.8633%)

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

There were several trades today, including Chicage PMI and GDP, but we are going to focus on the last trade of the morning.  So, UMich CC is the only news item we don’t get instantly on our server.  It’s normally delayed about 15 seconds, but we can still get in and make money.

Dawn-Renée's UMich Consumer Confidence Trade 4-30-10

Consumer Confidence was down; under expectations.  So, since the market was reacting negatively to this news, using Market Mover Trading strategies, I sold one contract short at 1202.5.  At first, it looked like a good move, but then the market started moving up (bad for my trade).  We were smack dab between two of Market Mover Trading’s proprietary Prediction Points.  The rest of the UMich CC numbers had come out (in addition to the main number, there are numbers for Current Conditions, Expectations Index and 6 month Outlook) over the previous few minutes, and all the numbers were lower than expected.  So I drug my profit target down (remember, this is a sell short, so moving my profit target down means I was trying to *increase* my profit!) to the next lowest prediction point, as I felt the market should turn around and the positive movement was not reaching or breaking through the next highest Prediction Point.  One minute of patience paid off, as the market moved down to the lower prediction point and filled my profit target and I made 1.5 points, or 15%/$75.  At that point, I had to pack up and leave to make a meeting and MMT class, or I might have pulled my profit target down again, as the market was plummeting.  The ride down in response to UMich CC ended up being 6 points, or 60%.  On one contract, that would have translated to $300.  But as long as I am on the upside, I am a happy camper!  The higher profits will come with experience; the point of MMT for me is to trade without emotion or greed.  Remember, until a few months ago, ALL of this stuff was Greek to me, and via Market Mover Trading’s fabulous educational tools, I have easily learned these tools and strategies.

Jody's UMich Consumer Confidence Trade 4-30-10

So, here’s Jody’s UMich Consumer Confidence Trade.  He went short with 3 contracts at 1202.50.  Then, on the same upward (bad for a short trade) movement that I decided to hold fast on, he panicked a bit and flattened (bought all three contracts) out for a profit of .25 points, or $37.50.  This is okay, as it’s a learning experience.  That’s why it’s a good idea to simulate trading for at least 100 or so trades before you trade live.

It gives you confidence, as you know what you trade well and what you need to work on.  Journaling is a MUST!  In this case, Jody had successfully traded the Chicago PMI earlier in the morning and had a profit of $275 for the day!

Jason Anderson speaks at the 12:30 MMT seminar today

You aren’t too late!  We will be having an additional seminar today, Tuesday, April 20th at 6:00 pm at the Hyatt Place Denver-South/Park Meadows 9030 East Westview Road, Lone Tree, CO 80124  (303) 662-8500  Come spend an hour and learn about Market Mover Trading!  Attendees who met us at the Realtor Rally are automatically entered to win a $50 Visa gift card!

Every Friday, during the Market Mover Trading Training Call at 10 am MST, we get together at the Holiday Inn Express in Castle Rock.  Today, we came in early to watch an Infinity AT trading platform demo.  Then, MMT training class, where Sean and Jason taught us the newest MMT Strategies and Tools.  To round out, Zach Huyge gave MMT Traders a presentation on Social Media.

Are those some good looking heads, or what?

In 2009′s first full week of trading, mortgage bond markets traded back-and-forth, eventually closing the week improved overall.Weekly mortgage rates fell for the first time since mid-December.

The most anticipated news of last week was Friday’s jobs report.  According to government’s press release, the economy shed another 524,000 jobs in December, raising 2008′s total job losses to 2.065 million.

This is the largest annual job loss since 1945, the press reminds us.  However, as one more reason to look beyond the headlines, today’s workforce is three times as large.

Other important notes included the release of the Fed’s minutes from its 2-day meeting in December.  In it, the Federal Reserve said that inflation should remain low through early-2010 — a good development for home buyers and homeowners because inflation is linked to rising mortgage rates.

This week, the market-moving data doesn’t start until Wednesday, but with a fair number of Fed members making public appearances, a case of “loose lips” can lead to mortgage rate volatility.  The most notable appearance is Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech in London today.  There are 10 speeches in all.

Despite the barrage of negative economic news, however, mortgage rates remain low.  If you have yet to join the Refinance Boom, make a call to us to see if your home loan is eligible.

(Image courtesy: USA Today)