Weekly Review OpenBook Roundup
February 3rd, 1:20 am by Barbara Zigah
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(eToro Blog) Today we want to draw our readers’ focus to guru sadiqashanaz97 who is on track to record a 12-month P&L of some 360%. This trader, who has 1467 followers and 150 copiers, has a diverse portfolio and employs a generally low to mid-risk trading strategy. The trader focuses primarily on the EUR/USD pair which has a 28% allocation of his portfolio and has returned some 2.3%. Rounding out this trader’s top three instruments are gold and GBP/USD pair each of which have a 13% allocation and returns of 3.2% and 0.2%, respectively. But a review of his portfolio and trading history suggests that this trader uses great care and does due diligence in opening trades. Over the past week, the trader closed out profitable positions in the USD/JPY, AUD/USD, USD/CAD, EUR/USD, USD/CHF and NZD/USD. One of the reasons that we focused on this trader is his interaction with his many followers and copiers; time and again you can read on this trader’s wall platitudes from his broad fan base for his sound judgment, guidance, tips and strategies; one trader exhorts him to “keep guiding us like this and post more frequently.”
Another trader who we want to spotlight this week is erohal2009 who is also one of this week’s top performers and is headed for a 6-month P&L of nearly 200%. This trader with 772 followers and 138 copiers is another trader who trades a broad variety of instruments; gold and the EUR/USD pair are this traders top two choices, with an allocation of 30% and 23%, respectively. Over the past six months, though, it has been the USD/JPY pair which has provided him with the best return, posting an 8.1% gain. However, it was his recent trades in the AUD/USD which initially brought this trader to our attention when he bucked the OpenBook trend and shorted the pair to yield a solid return; even now he continues to short the Aussie, closing out a handful of positions today with an average return of more than 9%. A review of his open trades reveals several more sells in the AUD/USD pair as well as the NZD/USD. Perhaps on the lookout for an intervention, he also has two open long positions, one on the USD/JPY pair and the other the EUR/CHF, both of which are currently showing a profit.
In the Eurozone, the week has thus far been bookended by the debt swap deal being worked through by the Greek government and their private bondholders. According to the latest reports, the deal is now in the final stages of negotiation and they are closing to signing off on an agreement which is acceptable among all the parties, and which should also get the blessing of the European Union’s leadership. The E.U. must sign off on the deal and late last week sent it back to the drawing board saying that the bondholders must “voluntarily” agree to what would amount to a larger sacrifice, in this case acceptance of a coupon rate at significantly less than the 4% that the bondholders originally wanted. Sentiment on the OpenBook is generally bullish, with 10 longs to every 3 shorts; one trader bogati14 has been working both sides of the pair, opening and closing more than two dozen trades in the past 24 hours with a win-loss ratio of 12:1.
With the release of U.S. non-farms payroll data still ahead, traders are anxious to see whether or not the upward trend will continue. The release on Wednesday of private jobs data that was collected by ADP was less than analysts had originally expected, and well off December’s pace and is generally putting a damper on traders’ sentiment for a positive outcome. On the positive side, unemployment claims data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed unexpected improvement. Initial jobless claims for the week ended January 28th were reported at 367,000 against expectations of 375,00 and continuing claims for the week ended January 21st were reported at 3.437 million against expectations of 3.560 million.
The Australian Dollar continues to rise against its major rivals, helped along by robust economic data including today’s better than expected release of data pointing to a surge in exports. The Australian economy is heavily reliant on Asian growth, China specifically, and recent news which indicated that growth in the world’s second largest economy is in danger of slowing could weigh heavily; incongruously, the Aussie continues to rise as the economy improves to the point that the Reserve Bank of Australia is widely expected to announce next week that it will be cutting its benchmark cash rate by 25 basis points. On the OpenBook, guru waleed0987 continues to carve out small but consistent gains by shorting the AUD/USD pair; over the past several days this trader has closed out more than a dozen trades with returns ranging as high as 17%.
Almost a year on since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan, the Japanese economy is still struggling to find its footing. Recurrent signs, however, point to some success; earlier in the week the government reported an unexpected rise in December’s industrial productions level, giving some hope that the supply chain disruption which occurred after the disaster may now be on the verge of repair. The currency has been continually strengthening, much to the chagrin of the government which has complained that the strong Yen is hampering the recovery. Some speculators believe that the Bank of Japan may soon intervene to weaken the currency. Trader tanoli67 could be one of those traders as in mid-week this trader flipped from previous bullish sentiment to a more wary slightly bearish posture by opening a single long trade on the USD/JPY pair.
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