Power Trading Radio - A Trader's Perspective On Investing In Stocks, Futures, Forex, Options Podcast

As the markets appear to be topping out, Debbie Hague and Merlin Rothfeld discuss how one needs to modify their trading style to accommodate a changing markets. Debbie emphasizes that the major force is still to the upside, and that her current strategy is to buy the pullbacks into demand levels. They also talk about relative strength, and how they find trading opportunities which offer Low risk, High reward potential. Ultimately it boils down to how you scan and filter the market to find your trading opportunities.

For many weeks, listeners have asked us to address the issue of Life Insurance and some of the pro’s vs cons. Merlin and John, welcome Brian Bewley and Richard Keal of Generational Wealth Partners, a firm focused on a new approach to an old investment: Life Insurance. Brain and Richard explain how most investors have been duped into buying a product that does them no good, and that by self directing their life insurance they can achieve much greater returns and flexibility on this once rigid instrument.

Tillie Allison brings her incredibly analytical mind to Power Trading Radio to shed some light on what the longer term investors should do with regards to the media and their pumping of stories. She stresses the very systematic rule based system taught in the Proactive Investor class as an easy way to eliminate external noise and follow the rules. She tells us how she analyzes her long term accounts every Friday and makes necessary changes, coincidentally getting her long the market last Friday! Later in the show, the duo looks at asset allocation and how portfolio’s should be balanced in present markets. PowerPick: USDJPY (same as yesterday)

Every earnings season Merlin and his guests repeatedly emphasize that trading earnings announcements are very risky and should not be done. Having said that, there is one asset class which makes a little more sense if one did decide to trade an earnings announcement. Steve Moses joins to show to talk about the versatility he has with options and walks the listeners through a few examples including a naked short position he had open going into Apple’s earnings last night. After sharing their thoughts on straddle trades and their usefulness, Steve and Merlin look at Amazon’s earnings announcement coming out tomorrow after hours and evaluate how options might be useful if one took the risk of trading that earnings release.  

After an extended “Donkey of the Day” segment about Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, Merlin steers the remainder of the show to the international currency markets. Over the last week, many questions have poured in regarding the Japanese Yen, and how to trade it in the various markets; Spot, Futures, and Equities. Merlin and guest Steve Misic Look at how the instruments function on the various exchanges then take a look at the economic numbers and charts for a better sense as to where the currency is headed. After addressing a listener question about Spain being too big to let fail for the EU, Steve turns his attention to the Swiss franc to evaluate the impact its current trend is having on the Swiss National Bank, and if they can hold prices where they have said they would!

With solid documentation about pointing to the shrinking of global economy’s, a listener wonders if its best to short the equity markets. Merlin shares his thoughts on the issue, and offers other suggestions rather than just shorting. Jeff Manson joins the show after his Live Trading event in Irvine California. He shares with Merlin the steps he takes to prepare for and execute his live trades in front of a group of students. Later, Jeff and Merlin look at what are some of the key factors which led to the trades he made today. Jeff adds to his previous comments about Fibonacci and its many uses for his trading. PowerPick of the Day: BAC

With John O’Donnell back in the saddle as Co-Host, Power Trading Radio dives into the major market news impacting our worlds. John starts off denouncing the accusations that he is a Perma Bear in real estate with examples of when and where he will buy. He then turns to Merlin’s new portfolio acquisition, Natural Gas with some thoughts about the investment. Later, feeding off a listener question about how to profit from a Greek default, Merlin and John break down the major components at play in Europe and what they would to do make money if the Euro continues its current path.  Finally, John talks about gold, and expresses his opinion about waiting to buy gold after it dips a little bit more!

Merlin starts things off by answering a listener question about how he set up his GLD trade a few weeks back. After walking through exactly how the stop was set, he dives into his newest portfolio addition, Natural Gas. Diana Hill joins the show to talk about alternative ways which we can buy properties for flipping or investment. Many feel the there is a foreclosure wave coming which will push prices down further, Diana says shenanigans! Later the two talk about purchasing houses at Auction sites and what to be watchful of when doing so!

Merlin kicks off the show with a quick discussion about supply and demand levels, and the steps needed to map out an entire trade. He does this on Devon Energy (DVE) at a listeners request. Next Don Dawson joins the show and the two talk about President Obama’s proposal for greater regulation and fines with regards to Oil speculators. Don goes on to give examples of how media is quite often lagging with their stories, and how traders should regard their information. The interdependence between commodities and other financial markets is made a bit clearer with their discussion of Cotton, Orange Juice, Sugar, Coffee, and more.

Solo in the studio, Merlin runs through in depth current market analysis of most of the major currency pairs. With intervention looming, the yen is the first target. Merlin maps out an upcoming demand level which may act as a good buy point should the dollar keep dropping. After a quick rundown of how he sets stops, Merlin then turns his attention to the Cable for potential setups. Finally we get a quick rundown of what is going on over in Europe with some solid analysis of the Euro, and a listener question about the USDCAD. PowerPick: USDJPY

Apple has a 4% down day, bringing with it the nasdaq, and pulling down other indexes as well. From the looks of it, this may continue as the selling has been picking up momentum the last 2 days. Bruce Milbury joins the show to talk about his upcoming article in www.traders-mag.com dealing with candlestick outliers. Steve and Merlin explain that once traders are confident with the Online Trading Academy methodology of Supply and Demand zones, adding in candlestick formations adds another level of confidence in a trade. Bruce outlines what are some of his preferred candles as well as showing a few charts as examples.

With “The Ambassador of Opportunity” John O’Donnell out for the day, Merlin opens up the flood gates to listener questions. The preponderance of questions pertained to Investing and long term investing, including discussions on: Exchange Traded Funds, Asset Allocation, ETF liquidity and market timing. Later, Merlin looks at foreign currency pairs for a little insight on what people should be trading and why. PowerPick: WFC

Markets exhibited a nice bounce the last couple days, and 1 of the 4 major indexes displayed a bit more strength yesterday causing it to be the biggest gainer today. Merlin talks about this, and why he chose that index as his PowerPick of the day yesterday. Paul Orme joins the show to talk about the 3 most common mistakes investors make with regards to their 401k plans, as well as a quick rundown of how to reduce fees by selecting alternative investment vehicles. Merlin and Paul talk about what one can do if they are behind in their retirement planning (as Most Americans Are!!!).

With 38 years of trading on the floors of CME, CBOT, and CBOE, you would assume that you know just about everything there is to know. Craig Weil tells us how he took a month off of teaching to focus on learning some new trading instruments as well as apply some new technical tools to see if he could increase his returns. Merlin and Craig discuss some of the nuances of these assets, including Live Cattle, Corn, Soy Beans etc. Later, Craig talks a little about his “Hard Target” trading methodology, but encourages traders to find their own style. PowerPick: IWM

In a rare treat, Power Trading Radio is visited by the Mastermind behind the award winning Online Trading Academy curriculum, Sam Seiden. Sam tackles a couple listeners regarding his recent articles in Lessons from the Pros, a free publication voted “Best Newsletter” in the trading industry. Later, Sam and Merlin talk about some of the factors one needs to pay attention to when looking at trading for a living. Sam walks us through some of the levels in todays markets, as well as illustrating the strength behind the Supply and Demand levels mapped out in the Mastermind Trading Community. Discussions follow on the Euro, dollar and Aussie. PowerPick: USDJPY

Nearly 14 years ago, Merlin was teaching trading classes in a small room at Online Trading Academy, all with the intent of transforming people’s lives with honest financial education. One of those students from back in 1998 was Roger Best. Roger spent years applying his education to the markets and worked with several mentors to hone in his trading style which is exclusively Day trading. He has gone on to be one of the top instructors at Online Trading Academy, and also was voted 2009 Instructor of the Year! Roger and Merlin reminisce about the old trading floor days, talk trading styles, and share their passion for trading.

With the worst week for the S&P500 firmly behind us, Merlin Rothfeld and John O’Donnell take a look at some of the major factors facing the markets. John offers his perspective on Gold, which may surprise many regular listeners! This carries into a discussion about the Baltic Dry index and its implications for global trade. Transportation may also face further setbacks with the rising prices of Diesel and Oil. Later in the program, the duo take a look at the S&P 500 and the Dow for potential market clues.

A nice down day for the markets prompts several listeners to send in questions about potential buy opportunities, which Merlin tackles in the opening segment. Later, Steve Moses joins the show to share his experiences as an options trader, including his progression from market skeptic to seasoned veteran. Steve walks us through the way he trades options before diving into several listener questions regarding protection, volatility, and earnings plays. Merlin and Steve walk through these examples with real-time charts.

For the most part, Tuesday was just a slightly bearish market… Then we got the fed minutes! This report jolted all markets and currencies with a fierce move! After the dust settled, many currency pairs ran into significant supply & demand levels. Tillie Allison joins the show to talk about how she uses the Futures market to trade currencies, receiving better pricing and significant tax advantages. Later in the show Merlin and Tillie take a look at the Euro for potential supply and demand zones which may cause price to turn in the future. PowerPick: USDJPY

Having floor traders on the show is one of our favorite things! Today, we have 25 year floor trader from the CME and CBOT, Bill Henner. Our last meeting with Bill, we had the chance to talk about how he got into trading, as well as pick his brain about the way he trades. Today, we visit Bill fresh back from teaching in London for Online Trading Academy. He shares with us some of his experiences before diving into the essentials of community in Trading. Later, Bill and Merlin take a look at TLT & SPY for trading opportunities