Opening Position
March 2007
Could it be true that New York is losing its position as the leading financial center of the world? According to a recent report in the Financial Times, more foreign companies are opting to be listed in European exchanges instead. This could result in New York losing up to 7% of its market share over the next five years. This shift in preference has certainly attracted some attention, and for good reason. After all, wouldn't exchanges with more relaxed regulations be more appealing for companies?
Fortunately, the retail trader will be least affected by this shift. With the advances in technology, brokers are beginning to offer services that include trading in multiple exchanges using multiple currencies. So if you wanted to trade a stock that was listed on the London Stock Exchange, you can open a brokerage account that allows you to do just that. Nothing really changes. You are still analyzing the markets in the same way, applying the same indicators, identifying the same patterns, and developing similar trading systems. You may just have to adapt to different trading hours. But trading is all about being adaptive anyway. Changes are always occurring, and with every change, you're going to have to figure out a way to take advantage of it.
IN this, the March 2007 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, we offer an article by John F. Ehlers, "Trading In Your IRA." Most of us are of the belief that our individual retirement accounts (IRAs) include only long-term mutual funds. But they do offer more flexibility. In this article you'll read about a few options that you could incorporate into your IRA. It's a matter of deciding whether you want to be more aggressive with your retirement funds. With increased aggressiveness comes more risk, so that brings you back to the importance of following a trading plan with strong money management strategies in place.
One of the best ways to tackle this is by studying your past trades,
which is why it is important to keep a trading journal. This idea is strongly
stressed in the article "Dissecting A Winning Trade" by Brett Grendahl,
which starts on page 50. Keep in mind that the market is smarter than you
are, so if you have made the choice to participate in it, be prepared to
fight it, regardless of whether you're trading in New York or London.
Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan,
Editor
Originally published in the March 2007 issue of Technical Analysis
of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright
2007, Technical Analysis, Inc.
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