FUTURES.TRADINGCHARTS.COM
If you're looking for Websites that provide free futures charts, you should bookmark this site. Although the homepage gives the impression that the site contains limited information, a click on the links on the righthand side will prove otherwise. You can do more than view charts on this site. You can browse through a bookstore, talk with other futures traders, go through a list of brokers, and even take a short course on futures trading.
FIGURE 1: FUTURES.TRADINGCHARTS.COM
To get an idea of what this Website offers, click on the commodity charts link. It will take you to a window containing an extensive list of futures contracts and give you the option of viewing daily, weekly, monthly, or quote charts. You can only view charts one at a time by delivery date; this site does not provide multiple chart viewing. The price chart has an overlay of three moving averages. Included in addition are the moving average convergence/divergence (MACD), relative strength index (RSI), and volume charts. You have the option of selecting bar charts or candlesticks and also displaying contract specifications, analysis, and chart data.
Contract specifications include details of the contract such as trading units, tick size, delivery months, last trading day, and trading hours. The analysis section includes an extensive list of technical indicators and a brief interpretation of each. This can be found on both the daily and weekly charts, but not on the monthly. Selecting the chart data option will provide you with price details such as the open, high, low, close, volume, and open interest for any date you choose.
You have the flexibility of customizing your personalized charts menu so that you have the option of viewing only the charts you are interested in. This opens a page containing a list of your selections, giving you the option to select the delivery date and view price or quote charts.
FIGURE 2: FUTURES.TRADINGCHARTS.COM
There is an intraday quotes section where you can get quotes on the futures contracts included in this Website. The quotes are delayed by 10 minutes and may take up to 10 seconds to have the quote chart displayed. The display consists of a box chart containing delivery month and the open, high, low, last trade, settlement, and price change. You can also see the prior day's settlement, volume, and open interest. Details of the call/put options on applicable futures contracts are also available.
If you are looking for books related to trading, click on the bookstore and browse through the available list. The commodity traders' discussion forum and live chatroom give you the opportunity to communicate with other futures traders. The directory of futures brokers is very extensive and helpful if you are looking for a broker.
Apart from providing information, this Website has an educational component, although it only covers basic ground. It contains a glossary of futures terminology, not to mention a short course on commodities trading. There are also links to subscription-based sites such as Oasis Publishing and OptimaInvestor.
Futures traders can gather a ton of information from this site. For a free site, the number of features available is impressive.
--Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan,
Staff Writer
LOCALKNOWLEDGE.COM
On an intraday basis, this Website, which began full operation in May 2000, offers a consulting service, direct-quote vendor, and trading system and the knowledge of local traders in various futures pits. What this means is that on an hourly basis, and sometimes more often, pit traders provide reports of futures momentum. This is imparted two ways: comments by the traders and a momentum indicator. Local Knowledge employs an undisclosed, proprietary indicator called the momentum indicator (Figure 3) that is updated hourly. The indicator also shows expected support and resistance levels. Each morning, Local Knowledge traders determine what they believe will be the resistance and support levels, and these establish the price objectives shown in the dark blue and dark red ovals. These traders establish intermediate levels as well, as shown by the light blue and light red colors, along with the corresponding price values. Then hourly updates are provided as momentum changes. If the price exceeds the objectives, and the momentum indicates a resetting of the objectives, the objectives are reset along with the intermediate levels.
FIGURE 3: MOMENTUM INDICATOR. For selected pits, locals provide hourly momentum updates and commentary.
The locals providing this information have many years of pit experience; a short resume for each is provided. Local Knowledge has locals in the S&P, currency, grain, and bond pits. In keeping with this informed real-time aspect of futures activity, Local Knowledge is also a quote vendor for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).The performance of each hour's prediction can be measured to see how well momentum has been forecast. Figure 4 shows how the prediction looked for 1:00 pm of a given day, with the prediction made at noon. In this example, the horizontal blue bars shown on the prediction chart correspond to the buy signal (light blue line) and strong buy signal (dark blue line) shown on the indicator chart. The objective for light blue buy point (1446) is the dark blue price (1452) and the dark blue price objective (1457) shown in the upper righthand corner of the lefthand box. The recommended stop is two points below the entry level (1446). Short recommendations (in red) follow similar displays and logic.
FIGURE 4: CURRENT MOMENTUM VERSUS PREDITION. Local Knowledge allows the user to see what the momentum prediction was in the past for that day.
The momentum indicator covers the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The commodities are corn, soybeans, and wheat. Currencies are Swiss franc, euro, and yen. The 30-year Treasury bond is also covered.Intraday charts are available for all of the futures covered by the momentum indicator, since Local Knowledge provides a feed from the CME and CBOT. The charting capability includes six different indicators, horizontal or vertical lines, and trendlines. Price can be shown as bars or lines.
Access to information is straightforward. Clicking on any of the colored items on the momentum indicator gives you access to a help section. Tabs organize the data categories in a horizontal fashion, so there is good use of visual space and you can customize your site as to what you can see first. The result is a site that allows quick access to data. Real-time streaming quotes from either the CBOT or CME are a subscription service.
The Website also has a calendar of economic events that is easy to access and use, and the news that Local Knowledge traders believe is relevant can be found in the momentum indicator box. For users who want to dry-run a trading system, a link to a simulation is available.
The site has a professional quality to it, with the design reflecting a clean, crisp approach to providing information to futures traders. Information is easy to access, and it is easy to verify whether the local pit commentary and projected buy or sell levels are on target. The Website cofounders are local pit traders with years of experience. While Local Knowledge's traders obviously have some feel for support and resistance levels, their calls, like anyone else's, aren't perfect. Nevertheless, they probably have a better feel than off-floor folks, so it certainly merits a trial.
Website access is $59 a month, and $100- $300 a month for the momentum indicator. Exchange fees are extra.
-- Dennis D. Peterson
Staff Writer
Originally published in the October 2000 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2000, Technical Analysis, Inc.
