Nice call. I wish I had done the same.

Im sorry to hear of your loss..From what you say FXCM clearly dont let you issue any orders or mods over the weekend. I have been told that Oanda do. Im not sure I can say this on this forum nor have I checked this out for myself. Nor do I trade with or have anything to do with either broker.
But I dont like to hear of anybody loosing money because of the restrictions that retail brokers impose on retail customers.
You may want to check my comments out for your self.

I just closed my short at 191.56; It is perhaps still going below 190, but generally I don't like any trend that is too fast for a given interval. I will wait to buy back at 186.

Investor confidence is something people will understand only if they are true long term investors risking millions of dollars. Mortgage sector used to be a safe vehicle for investment to get 0.5% more than T-bills. If that sector is shattered, the big investors aren't going to buy riskier stocks in wall street. I think wall street will keep falling for the next two months. When people say "bottom" I don't think they under the abyss. Things will keep on falling incredibly to shrink your portfolio from millions to mere pennies. Thus, stop losses will trigger and market will bleed.

If wall street crashes it is bearish for JPY crosses.

looks like we will be heading back south to fill in some gaps down below.last night consolidation was long over due.My medium target is 183.78

Attached Images

 

They can't convert junk bonds (bad loans) into good bonds (T bills) and hope everything is alright. Investment is a zero-sum game. Regardless of who is putting up the money, the money is lost in one place or another. Destroying shareholder wealth is an extremely lousy way to "cheer" wall street. It may cheer the bondmarket for a day at chicago. (CBOT).

I hate how they close at 4 on Friday and open at 5 on Sunday. Events like this really screw you over because of that. Of course since they take the other side of their mini accounts that means more money in their pockets. Oh yeah, and they didn't even open until 5:30 or something like that yesterday.

Oh yeah, another thing, they won't honor your stop, but they will honor your limit if price opens beyond it. That happened to me on a short GBP/USD position at 1.83 I held over the weekend of 8/29-8/31. I forgot to cancel my limit at 1.82 and it went through at open despite the price in 1.81's and falling. I never got another chance to resell.

Dear Rix,

Sorry for your loss! It's a bummer and hope you find a way out of such situation in the future.

Dear DollarBull,

Well, the stock market responded with enthusiasm to the news so far, but as you said, let's see if it can close on a high note or not.

My long from 193 was stopped out at 192.50 (-50 PIPs) sometime last night so will stay on the sides for now. Let's see how US closes today...

__________________
"The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent" - Keynes

I like the closing action in the US. The selling has eased now and I think we could see a consolidative/corrective rally that will last a month or more, similar to November - December and January - February action. Dailies are turning up, as they were then from the lows. Target 198-200 area.

That's wasn't due to a restriction of a broker. That's just the way stop and limit orders work. If you have a stop loss order to cover a short position at say 191.00 and price is trading at 190.50, if price were to gap up over your stop-loss to 191.75 then your stop shouldn't be executed. The stop order is only executed if price touches it, and if you are gapped over the order never gets touched. If you have the option available, it's better to use a stop market order. Most FX bucket shops don't offer that option though. If you do it that way, then the stop order will be filled at or above (In the case of a short) the price you set. That's just one of the risks of holding positions over the weekend. I've been burned by that before as well. It sucks.

so what do you say Martha? market closed up almost 300 points...

Dear Nemoz,

I'm on the sidelines still, but am inclined towards a long in 190-191 area. The reason for staying on the sides is to let market pick a direction before entering the position.

As of now, there seems to be some cross-flows at work causing price to whipsaw, like today's drop to 188.50 and then rise to 191.50...

In the past, I would have scalped this range, but have found (at significant cost to my capital) that I'm really bad at scalping. So, what to do...sit on the side and watch the show!

I've drawn two trend lines...one from today's low of 188.50 (upward sloping) and another from yesterday's high (downward sloping). Let market decide which way it wants to break and then I'll tag along for a ride...

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
"The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent" - Keynes

The anticipation is killing me!

Dear BroyB,

Well, looks like the market broke towards downside...my short order at 189.75 was filled, first target is today's low at 188.50, second 187... stop at 190.25 (yes, quite tight, but safe under current volatility) and will tighten it as price progresses. Let's see...

UPDATE: Moved stop to b/e, and moved target to 187.50 as 188.50 looks to be under pressure...will close the trade at 188.75 on bounce out of 188.50...

__________________
"The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent" - Keynes

Analysts used to look at how thick his suitcase was (as he crossed the road) and estimate if there will be a rate change. And quickly the markets will react to those comments! Ten years later the behavior is no different. If Uncle Ben sneezes the market will call it a good news! Situation is so dire that even a communist action of nationalizing private companies appears good for the stock market. That will be until the next bank pulls the shutters down.

I don't understand why people are so negative about this Freddie/Fannie thing. Think about what would have happened if the United Stated government had not stepped in. Combined, Freddie and Fannie own or insure over half of the mortgages in the United States. Half! That's about $12 Trillion... trillion with a T. What would have happened if those two companies just up and failed? We could have seen banks going under left and right and who knows what else. With the U.S. backing these two companies they are possibly preventing a massive collapse.

People were just as negative with the Bear Sterns issue, but look what has happened since then. Has the economy fallen apart like most people said it would? No. Are things selling off? Absolutely. But that's to be expected since afterall we are in a bear market and that's pretty much what happens in a bear market. People just need to take a step back and take a breath sometimes.