This week’s financial spread betting update is now available and can be read by clicking here. We cover both markets that have been the focus of our recent series of spread betting strategies, gold and the S&P 500. Both of these markets could be setting up for decent moves and will be worth watching this week.

It’s been another volatile week for the markets and there have been decent moves in stocks, commodities and currencies. We’ve also seen a large move in the VIX, which is a measure of volatility, with the VIX rising by 20.7% during the past week.

Once again, the resistance level at 1229 on the S&P 500 held firm and stocks finally moved lower from here, breaking out of the recent trading range and resuming the longer term downtrend. As of Last Friday’s close, everything is pointing to lower levels for stocks at present but of late Monday’s have been fairly strong so we may have a cleared picture for the week ahead after tonight’s close.

Interest rate futures continue to do well, with new contract highs seen across the board. From a trend following perspective, interest rate futures have been the best trending sector for quite a while with a steady continuous uptrend seen. We’ve been riding this trend higher since the initial breakout back during the first week of May.

This week’s financial spread betting update begins with:

Stocks made a breakout to the downside, in the direction of the long term trend and the US Dollar rose against the major currencies, reversing the recent trend..….continue reading by clicking here

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. You can sign up for a risk free trial of our proprietary financial spread betting system by clicking here. The system comes with a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee and covers our spread betting strategies for each of the stock, commodity and forex markets discussed above.

Today we are bringing you an update on spread betting strategies for the S&P 500. This market has continued to be of great interest to many traders as it is the primary stock market from which the other stock markets take their direction. The only stock index not following the S&P 500 at present is the German Dax, which continues to be in a long term uptrend. That said, a major move down on the S&P 500 will very likely drag the Dax down with it.

In our most recent post on the S&P 500 2 days ago we wrote that the market had held within a range from 1127.5 to 1102 and a break out from that range could give some decent movement in the direction of the breakout. We also mentioned that we had a rising wedge pattern that added weight to an eventual breakout and that we were therefore still favouring short spread betting strategies for a breakout to the downside, especially if the market moved back below the 200 day moving average and the 1100 support area.

We have since got that breakout to the downside with the S&P 500 moving back though the 200 day moving average and through the 1100 support area, making a new low for this move at 1070.50 during yesterday’s trading. This was the lowest level for the S&P 500 in 3 weeks and we still have our next target to the downside at 1050.

What is of great interest in this market is that the major resistance level that we had been writing about for several weeks at 1129 held firm in spite of numerous attempts to break though, all of which failed. This means that 1129 may be a significant high for this market and that we remain in bearish mode as long as the market stays below this level. Because 1129 failed then the market is still making lower highs and this is also bearish.

If the market does fall to 1050 and support there fails then we will be looking for the lows formed on the 6^th July on the September contract at 1003. For now we will continue to trade the S&P 500 with the trend and that continues to be to the downside.

Until next time, good trading

Phil Seaton

P.S. You can find out more about our financial spread betting systems and spread betting strategies by clicking here. Our system comes with a full 30 day money back guarantee.

P.P.S For those that are interested in spread betting forex markets we now have a dedicated forex system. You can take advantage currently of a 30 day free trial to our forex system here

This week’s financial spread betting update is now available and can be read by clicking here. The weekly update is to bring you up to speed on what has been happening in the markets over the past week as well as what to look out for in the coming week so that you can plan your spread betting strategies accordingly.

During the past week we saw continued weakness for the US dollar and an overall rise for the stock markets. The S&P 500 stayed below the key resistance level of 1129 but will likely test that level this week and possibly as early as today as the futures are opening higher at the time of writing this on Monday morning. European stocks indexes, in particular the German Dax, have continued to rise, and the Dax has reached its highest level in almost 2 years.

The best trending markets continue to come from the interest rate futures sector and all of the markets in this sector remain in a long term uptrend.

The biggest moves of the week came from the grains sector and we saw some limit moves from Wheat as well as higher prices virtually across the board from the grains markets.

This week’s financial spread betting update begins with:

The past week has seen US stocks continue to move higher but still remain within the overall lateral trading range. Last week’s US jobs figure sent the markets tumbling at the US open on Friday but then show a strong recovery. We may see a breakout for stocks this coming week..….continue reading by clicking here

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. You can sign up for a risk free trial of our proprietary financial spread betting system by clicking here. The system comes with a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee and covers each of the stock, commodity and forex markets discussed above.

Our last post of spread betting strategies focused on Gold and the S&P 500 and we’re going to continue with those two markets today.

Beginning with Gold, we last said that we had a bull harami pattern, which was indicating that the bears were running out of steam. We also said that there was support around the $1150 area and that the markets was still above the 200 day moving average.

The bull harami pattern has so far proven to be the short term bottom and we have now had 5 successive up days in the December Gold contract. Yesterday the market pierced the $1200 level intra day, reaching a high of $1205.5 but was unable to close above that psychological number and pulled back to $1195.9 on a close. We need to see a close above $1200 in this market soon otherwise we may see a pullback to the bottom of the bull harami pattern.

The long term trend is still up for gold but a break above $1220 resistance will be required before entering longs. For now only spread betting strategies from the long side should be considered as the long term trend is up. I would not consider shorting this market yet for that reason and would need further downside confirmation to change that point of view.

On to the S&P 500 September contract. The S&P 500 has so far not pierced the resistance levels seen on the 21^st June, although it is very close to doing so. The Dow and FTSE have both already cleared that resistance level. At the time of writing this morning the September contract is at 1125 so it is very likely that we will get a test of resistance today. Since the resistance at 1129 is major (it has held since 18^th May) a breakthrough may provide the impetus for a move higher towards 1170.

Even if the S&P 500 does clear this level the long term trend is down, so I won’t be taking this breakout if it does come as it is counter to the long term trend.

Until next time, good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. You can find out more about our financial spread betting systems and spread betting strategies by clicking here.

The LS Forex spread betting system is now live!

We have built this system based on the same trading principles and spread betting strategies that the LS Trader system is based on but have optimized this system solely for forex.

As with LS Trader, this system is a trend following system with money management rules included. The system came about following the numerous requests that we had received for a forex only system and following 2 years of testing and development we are now live.

There are some differences between the LS Forex system and the LS Trader system. LS Forex trades eight of the currency pairs that we trade at LS Trader, minus the US Dollar index. Both systems have been developed for use with financial spread betting. In these three aspects the systems are both similar and there is some overlap. Trades in LS Forex and LS Trader will always be in the same direction, with the trend.

However, there are some differences with forex and the new system has been optimized just for the forex markets and we therefore get slightly different signals and enter and exit trades at different times as well as entering during the middle of the week, which is something we don’t do with LS Trader as that is a weekly system.

One major advantage that we have with forex is that being so liquid, we can enter trades via stops without having to worry about slippage of getting a bad deal with very wide spread in the middle of the night as we would if this was tried on some commodities.

Inside the LS Forex member’s area is a brand new 82 page manual on forex and how to spread bet forex including information on how to open trades by stop, rather than manually. Because we also enter markets by stop, we include entry levels on the trades sheet and these are updated during the week when necessary as well as at the weekend.

What our research has shown is that a system must trade all markets in the same way, otherwise it is curve fitted and will not perform well in the future. Because of this, LS Trader has been built and optimized over all 43 markets that we trade at LS Trader.

But LS Forex is different. Because we are only trading 8 markets, and all from one sector, we can optimize just on that basis and this means that we have slightly different entry and exit criteria. We also, because we are only trading 8 markets can take a slightly larger trade size, meaning that with the exception of the smallest accounts, all markets can be traded and nearly all trades can be taken without worrying about part closing a trade to get around the minimum bet size.

Because the system is similar and trades mostly the same markets it is imperative to trade it completely independently and to do so through a different spread betting platform, such as ETX Capital if you are already using IG Index. It can of course be traded with virtually any spread betting platform as long as they cover the markets that we trade, and most should.

We’re also offering a 30 day free trial so you can check it out and see if it is for you. We think you’ll see that it’s the easiest way to trade forex.

We hope to see you inside the member’s area soon

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. Click here to sign up for a 30 day free trial of the LS Forex spread betting system

Over the past few years we have had a number of our subscribers ask us to create a forex spread betting system. Although forex is part of the original LS Trader System, our subscribers wanted a system that was dedicated to and optimised for the forex markets.

I’ve been working on creating this forex system for a couple of years now and completed my research on it at around the end of 2009. Since then we have been trading it ourselves to check that the actual trading results lived up to the promise of the backtesting results, and so far this year things have been very encouraging.

As of now the system is up 56.2%, and being that we have had just over 7 months of the year, we are pretty much on target for 100% this year assuming that things continue in their present fashion. This is especially pleasing considering how volatile other markets have been and the lack of trends that we have seen so far this year across most of the financial markets.

Forex has been one of the best performing sectors this year and we have seen some decent trends already. Earlier in the year we had strength in the US dollar, which led to some good winning trades, especially against the Euro and Swiss Franc. Over the past few weeks we have seen a reversal of fortune for the US dollar and the dollar is now moving lower against most of the majors and we are benefitting from this move lower by trading with the trend.

A huge advantage of forex spread betting is that on the whole the forex markets trend very well. Other advantages include tight spreads from the spread betting companies such as and obviously highly liquid markets.

All in all, combing forex markets with financial spread betting and trend following is a very powerful, profitable and easy to use combination. You can find out more about our forex signals here

Until next time, good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. Click here to find out more about our forex signals. We’re currently offering a 30 day all access free trial.

This week’s financial spread betting update is now available and can be read by clicking here. The aim of this update is to help you decide on your spread betting strategies for the week ahead.

During the past week we saw further weakness for the US dollar and indecision in the stock markets which having tested recent highs ended the week pretty much where they began. In early trading on Monday stocks have begun the week higher and we may get a test of 1118 on the S&P 500, which is resistance 1 soon. If that level is cleared then a test of resistance level 2 may follow, which is major resistance at 1129. The trend remains down as long as resistance level 2 holds.

Elsewhere the commodity markets had a good week with some decent up-moves seen in numerous markets, especially in the grains sector. One of the few commodity markets that did not fare so well was gold but this market seems to have found support.

The strongest and best trending sector at the moment continues to be the interest rate futures and both the 5 & 10 year T notes made new contract highs during the past week. We continue to be long this sector and have been since early May.

This week’s financial spread betting update begins with:

The past week saw the stock markets continue in the mixed fashion that we have seen of late and the markets remain undecided on future direction. We have also seen commodities begin to pick up, with some markets making decent moves to the upside and have seen continued weakness for the US Dollar.….continue reading by clicking here

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. You can sign up for a risk free trial of our proprietary financial spread betting system by clicking here. The system comes with a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee and covers each of the stock, commodity and forex markets discussed above.

This week’s LS Trader financial spread betting update is now available and can be read by clicking here.

During the past week we saw weakness in the stock markets followed by renewed strength in to Friday’s close. The S&P 500 closed right on a key level and the coming week promises to be an interesting one.

Recently on this site we have been focusing in particular on two markets, gold and the S&P 500 and spread betting strategies for those two markets. We have an update on both of these two markets in the weekly update. We also have a look at Crude, which continues to trade within a wide range, we well as our usual forex market focus.

The past week saw another week of declines overall for the US Dollar, albeit not by much as well as a strong finish to the week for the British Pound which has been strong of late and may be on the verge of a long term trend change to up having been in a downtrend since September 2009.

We also have an update on the strongest and best trending sector at the moment, which is the interest rate futures and includes markets such as the 5 & 10 year T notes and the 30 year bonds. Each of these markets made new contract highs during the past week. At LS Trader we have been long these markets and this sector on the whole since early May.

This week’s LS Trader financial spread betting update begins with:

The past week saw the stock markets move lower early in the week and then recover on Tuesday. The week ahead promises to be interesting as the stock markets are now sitting at a key short term level and could move either way over the next few days.….continue reading by clicking here

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. You can sign up for a risk free trial of the LS Trader financial spread betting system by clicking here. The system comes with a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee and covers each of the stock, commodity and forex markets discussed above.

Today we are continuing our focus on gold and the S&P 500 and looking at spread betting strategies that can be applied to these markets.

In our last post 2 days ago on gold we wrote that the market was continuing to reject the lows and that if the market was going to move lower in the short term that the breach of support at $1185 should have had more follow through to the downside than it did. We noted that the lower shadows on the candle patterns seen on Monday and Tuesday were indicative of the lows being rejected due to buyers coming in and that the piercing pattern on Tuesday was pointing to higher prices.

Since then we had a doji pattern on Wednesday, which reflects indecision and yesterday we had a bullish engulfing pattern and a brief test of $1200, which was also rejected. Therefore we are in a short term range between $1175 and $1200. A break of either may give rise to movement but there is considerable support to the downside as mentioned in our previous post and upside resistance is firm around $1200. Long term the trend is still up, so spread betting strategies from the long side should be favoured and I’ll continue to hold off from shorts for now.

The S&P 500 continues to be volatile and large swings on an almost daily basis are being seen in this market. Yesterday was a very bullish day, which ended with being a bullish engulfing pattern. However, this would be a very poor long trade candidate for 3 reasons at present:

1. The long term trend is down
2. There is good resistance at the psychological 1100
3. There is also resistance from the 200 day moving average at 1102

If 1100 and the 200 day moving average can be cleared to the upside then we may see some further upside movement towards major resistance at 1129. As long as 1129 is not cleared to the upside then the series of lower highs and lower lows will remain intact and we are still in bear market territory.

As with gold, only spread betting strategies in the direction of the long term trend should be considered, which in the case of the S&P 500 is still down.

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. Find out more about LS Trader financial spread betting system and our spread betting strategies by clicking here.

The question that users of financial spread betting are asking at the moment is where next for Gold?

Last week, August Gold managed a small gain for the week of 0.22% but there were signs that the market was getting tired and was possibly forming a lower high at the resistance area around $1220. As we had written in this week’s weekly update the long term trend remains up and will continue to be so as long as support around $1170 holds.

However, the possible lower high and the failure to clear resistance had been asserting a downward pressure on Gold until yesterday. Gold gapped higher at the open (a bullish sign), reaching an intra day high of $1246.7 before falling back slightly to close at $1240.8. The high of the day was just shy of the all time highs posted in this contract on the 14^th May at $1251.4. We have had some reversal patterns near the all time highs, especially on the weekly chart, which appeared to be confirming resistance, which would be expected at all time highs.

Moving forward, if we can get a close above $1251.4 that will negate the reversal patterns and possibly lead to the next wave of buying pressure, which could push the market higher once again. Failure though to close above this level may lead to another sell off, back towards the first support area around $1200.

The fact that Gold has continued to rise in spite of US dollar strength is a bullish sign for Gold as normally these 2 markets have a negative correlation. Aside from technical aspects there are bullish and bearish factors that are likely to affect Gold in the medium term so the best approach is not to try to guess future market direction but to follow the trend and let the market tell you where it wants to go.

At LS Trader we remain long on Gold as both the short and long term trends remain up. We have been long Gold since we entered the market in the June contract on the 26^th April at $1153, so this is already a nice profitable trade for us. One of the best and easiest ways to trade gold is through financial spread betting as spread bets on gold can be placed from as little as £1 per point, and all profits are tax free.

To find out more about financial spread betting and how we spread bet the markets for profit, including Gold, please visit the LS Trader website by clicking here.

Good trading

Phil Seaton

PS. You can sign up for a risk free trial of the LS Trader financial spread betting system by clicking here. The system comes with a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee.