Forex is a spot or cash market, it is an unregulated market where trader are trading against their brokers, buying and selling out of their own inventory.

By contrast the EURO FX, is a currency futures. It represents the future value (delivery month) of the value of the Eurodollar Currency. The benefit to trading a futures contract over a forex contract is plain and simple regulation. Futures markets are regulated by futures exchanges like the CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which provides a more transparent market place and better protection of client funds on deposit.

One of the gratest advantages of trading the 6E Euro Forign Currency is it’s trading hours. Because currencies trade 24 hours a day it has a large appeal to traders from aound the globe.

The Euro also offers good volatility on an intraday basis with daily ranges often exceeding 130 points (or pips)

TheTradingZone methodology has been used to day trade the EURO for many years. In fact it is a market that responds exceptionally well to Market Profile theory, which is at the corner stone of the trading method.

If you would like to experience trading the EURO using our trading system, register for a 7 day trial. Our live chat room opens at 3 am EST, which coincides with the open of the markets in London and an excellent time of day (night) to trade this market.

Click here to register for a trial

Here are some of the key reasons why you may want to consider Crude Oil as your preferred day trading market.

Volume
Average trading volumes are approximately 300,000 contracts per day

Liquidity
Crude oil is considered to be a liquid trading market, but not as liquid as others such as the eMini SP

Traders should know that slippage, getting filled at a price other that the desired price is a more likely in less liquid markets. Traders should be prepared to experience some degree of slippage in this market

Volatility
Perhaps the greatest reason to trade crude oil, is the intraday volatility. Volatility is the measure of distance (in either direction) that a market will move over a given period of time. Therefore markets with higher volatility are preferred by day traders

Point Value
The point value for the symbol CL, crude oil is $100 and it trades in increments of 1/100. That means that the smallest price move is $.01 and has a dollar value of $10

For each 1 cent move in the price of the contract the dollar value will change by $10

Trading Hours
Regular session or what can also be referred to as Pit Session hours are from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm est.
Extended trading hours are 23.25 hours with a 45-minute break each day beginning at 5:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m. CT)

Broker Required Margins
while margins on crude oil are not as low as on the eMini SP brokers do still offer very generous margins in the neighbourhood of $3,000 per contract traded.

With the total value of the contract being Contract x Point Value, example 99.50 x 1,000 = $99,500

A $3,000 margin requirement represents approximately 3% of the value of the contract

To learn how to successfully day trade the Crude Oil click here to take a trial

The Russell 2000® Index is the recognized benchmark measuring the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell 2000® Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. Mini Russell 2000® Index futures are available for trading on the ICE electronic trading platform for 22 hours a day.

Tick Size minimum price increment is .10 = $10

Although the TF trades 22 hours a day, the regular trading hours are generally agree to be the same as the other US based equity index products. 9:30 am to 4;15 pm EST

the TF futures contract is a highly tradable instrument  In the past from inception to September 2008 it traded on CME exchange. Since September onward it is listed on the NYBOT (ICE) exchange and trades apart from other e-mini index futures listed on the CME. That in itself is actually a great benefit to this symbol, which didn’t seem likely at the time. Russell 2000 e-mini traders worried that the ER2 leaving its home base at CME in exchange for a different exchange would ruin the contract. It did result in lower volume traded, for a couple of reasons. Part of that was the usual uncertainty that any change in life creates. The other part was an absolute explosion of volatility = implosion of stock markets right when the migration from ER2/CME to TF/ICE occurred. Former ER2 players were dealt with dual variables of a new symbol/exchange inside extreme price movement through the entire marketplace.

TheTradingZone provides professional day trading education for the eMini Russell and other markets, learn more..

Learn how to trade the eMini Russell 200 by taking a 7 day trial.

Volume
First and probably the single most important reason is volume. The ES does an average of 3,000,000 million contracts per trading day making it one of the highest volume markets.

Liquidity
Liquidity is a direct function of trading volumes, so a high volume market also offers higher liquidity. Liquidity more precisely refers to the amount of volume at each price level. With higher liquidity a trade is more likely to get filled at the desired price. Whereas with low liquidity markets, there is a greater chance for slippage (getting filled at a price other than the desired price)

Point Value
The point value for the eMini SP is $50 per point and it trades in quarter point increments. This means that the minimum tick value, smallest possible price move has a dollar value of $12.50

A market that trades in smaller price or tick increments tends to be preferable for smaller traders as it allows them to trade multiple contracts and scale out of trades for partial profits

Trading Hours
Regular session or what can also be referred to as Pit Session hours are from 9:30 am to 4:15 pm est.
Globex trading  also known as the extended trading session is 23.5 hours, with a daily maintenance shutdown 5:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

Low Broker Required Margins
due to the high volume high liquidity and consistent volatility the eMini SP has an additional advantage in that many futures brokers offer very low margin requirement to trade this market.

Margin refers to the amount of money in your trading account that is required by your broker to trade 1 contract. Without using any margin, a single contract would require $50 x the current value of the index. If the market is trading at 1,300 it would therefore be 1,300 x $50 = $65,000

Many brokers offer margin as low as $500 to $1,000, or .75% of the value of the contract

To learn how to successfully trade the eMini SP 500 click here to take a trial

TheTradingZone has been providing traders with professional day trading education since 2003. Our trading approach is based on 3 key components of day trading. They are;

1. Market Profile
2. Price Levels and Chart Patterns
3. Price Action

Follow these steps to a successful day trading career

1. Take our 7 day no risk trial
2. Watch the professional trades and evaluate our approach
3. Become a TTZ member by purchasing a membership
4. Learn on the eMini SP 500, and apply the techniques to any market you trade
5. Join us each day in our live trading chat room
6. Continue your education without any cost by attending our twice weekly training sessions

The project was conceived by Raphaël Domjan of Switzerland as a method of demonstrating the possibilities that current solar technology holds for clean transportation. The yacht carries a huge rack of Lithium-Ion batteries capable of storing up to three days’ worth of sailing power, easily enough to allow transit to continue throughout the night, or during overcast skies. Never once in thousands of miles has the boat had to turn on its diesel back up, in fact the diesel is only on board is to satisfy the insurance companies.

Whilst the Turanor has sailed around the world it has generated lots of media attention and public interest which has helped to boost recognition of the solar industry and the potential there within. At a price of $20 million the boat will not itself be available to everyone, but the investors are already experiencing ROI from the concepts that it has proven and the other ideas it has tested. One useful technology that could be put into the general market is the software created by Planet Solar which uses weather data to steer the boat into the sunniest areas, a very useful tool for future solar transport. The mammoth trip also demonstrated that neither the solar panels nor batteries suffered significant wear from salt or water, another important discovery for future solar powered boats.

Solar transport still faces many obstacles before it can be mass produced for sale to the general public at reasonable prices, it is more likely that the first solar powered yachts will be available for luxury cruisers. Still, it is obvious that the basic concepts of clean transportation are tenable, now we just need to be patient and wait.

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com

Source: http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Solar-Yacht-Sails-Around-the-World-Powered-by-Nothing-More-than-the-Sun.html

Now, again during times of high oil prices, alternative energy sources are back with vengeance. All options are being considered and one of them is OTEC. Luckily the concept is reasonably simple. A fluid with a low boiling point, such as ammonium, is vaporised in a heat exchanger using surface water from the sea with an average temperature of about 25°C. The resulting gas has a sufficient pressure to drive a turbine and create electricity. The gas is then cooled using seawater pumped up from a depth of about one kilometre and with an average temperature of about 5°C. The liquid ammonia can then be reheated and the whole process started again. Theoretically this means that OTEC plants can be built anywhere with a surface water temperature of 25°C and a depth of at least one kilometre.

One company pursuing OTEC technology is Lockhead Martin, which is collaborating with a smaller firm called Makai Ocean Engineering to build a 10 megawatt plant in Hawaii that is projected to open in 2015. Then if this plant is successful the idea is to construct a 100 megawatt plant by 2020.

Most of the technology necessary can be taken from existing areas of engineering, such as deepwater oil drilling, where the heat exchangers and pipework required to make a 10MW plant already exist. The 100MW facility however will need a pipe that is not only 1km long but also ten metres in diameter, in order to supply the necessary amount of water. It must also be strong enough to resist waves and ocean climates for decades. Kerry Kehoe, the current head of OTEC activities at NOAA, estimates such a facility could cost $1 billion.

Are you interested in learning to trade crude oil and other commodities? Take a trial of our live trading chat room

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com

At the best of times, the U.S. government is regarded as somewhat out of touch with what’s happening in the American “heartland,” much less the world at large, so much so that the phrase “inside the Beltway” was coined to define the syndrome.

But every now and again, an incident occurs that so perfectly encapsulates Washington’s self-absorbed navel gazing that little further comment is needed.

On 9 January U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland provided such a “Kodak moment” to the Washington press corps.

The object of her concern? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s visit to Latin America, where he is touring Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

Nuland said that, because of its civilian nuclear energy program, which both Washington and Tel Aviv believe masks a covert nuclear program despite persistent denials by Tehran, Iran should have no friends and that “We are making absolutely clear to countries around the world that now is not the time to be deepening ties, not security ties, not economic ties, with Iran.”

During a regularly scheduled State Department press briefing Nuland gravely observed that Iran had “obviously carefully” chosen the four countries but “We are, meanwhile, calling on all of these countries to do what they can to impress upon the Iranian regime that the course that it’s on in its nuclear dialogue with the international community is the wrong one. And, frankly, we think it’s in the interest of all countries, including the countries that he (Ahmadinejad) is visiting in Latin America, that Iran proves the peaceful intent of its nuclear program to the world.”

The view from Caracas?

During a meeting with Ahmadinejad, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tartly accused the U.S. and its European allies of demonizing Iran and using false claims about the nuclear issue “like they used the excuse of weapons of mass destruction to do what they did in Iraq. They (the U.S.) accuse us of being warmongers. They’re the threat,” adding that Ahmadinejad is traveling through “the axis of evil of Latin America.”

Driving the point home, Ahmadinejad commented, “They say we’re making a bomb. Fortunately, the majority of Latin American countries are aware. Everyone knows that those words… are a joke. It’s something to laugh at. It’s clear they’re afraid of our development.”

What is Venezuela getting out of its dalliance with charter “axis of evil” Iran?

According to Chavez, Iran has helped his country build 14,000 homes as well as factories that produce food, tractors and vehicles. During Ahmadinejad’s visit, Iranian and Venezuelan government officials signed two agreements promoting industrial cooperation and worker training.

Why might Venezuela take such an uppity stance against Washington’s wishes? Well, for a start the U.S. government was deeply implicated in a failed 2002 military coup against Chavez. And last year, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA for delivering at least two cargoes of refined oil products to Iran.

From Venezuela, on 10 January Ahmadinejad flew to Nicaragua to attend the inauguration of President Daniel Ortega, elected to a third term last November.

And why might Nicaragua be disinclined to heed Washington’s advice? Perhaps the fact that President Ortega was one of the Sandinista leader who in 1979 overthrew the corrupt presidency of Anatasio Somoza, only to find itself under attack by U.S. armed and funded “Contra” insurgents operating out of neighboring Honduras in an eight-year campaign.

And, in one of those piquant ironies of history, the Reagan administration, in order to support the Contras after Congress blocked funding, in 1986-1987 covertly sold weapons for cash to… Iran, leading to the notorious “Iran-Contra” affair.

And Cuba? Well, since the U.S. has blockaded the country with economic sanctions since 1960 and currently has no direct diplomatic relations, perhaps Nuland’s entreaties will receive less consideration in Havana than they might.

Which leaves Ecuador, whose president, Rafael Vicente Correa, an economist by training educated in Belgium and the United States, took office in January 2007.

And what has President Correa done to antagonize the U.S.?

In December 2008, he declared Ecuador’s national debt illegitimate, arguing that it had been contracted by previous despotic regimes, pledging to fight creditors in international courts of jurisdiction. Even worse, Correa in June 2009 brought Ecuador into the Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra America (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas, or ALBA) founded by Chavez in alliance with Cuba in 2004.

The biggest story overlooked by the Washington press corps over the past decade, fixated as it was on the Bush administration’s “global war on terror” (GWOT) was Latin America’s increasing assertiveness and independence from America’s dictates, whose policies towards its southern neighbors even the august Council on Foreign Relations labeled “hegemony.” It apparently has yet to occur to either Ms. Nuland or her superiors that countries south of the Rio Grande regard the Monroe Doctrine as a dead letter.

But Ahmedinejad’s biggest secret diplomatic weapon is treating his Latin American hosts with respect, as equals. Until those “inside the Beltway” learn that simple lesson and that it’s no longer 1823, the year the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed, it would seem that the Washington press corps is bound to endure further briefings from Ms. Nuland.

Source: http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/International/Ahmedinejad-Visits-Latin-America-Washington-Implores-and-Seethes.html

By. John C.K. Daly of oilprice.com

Learn the incredible power of Market Profile in this simple and easy to implement approach.

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What most floor traders and professional traders know is that Order Flow is the edge that every trader needs.  

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Learning to use order flow will help you:
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Join Greg Weitzman, president and founder of TheTradingZone as he walks you through how he uses Price Action and Order flow as a trade execution technique