3 Numbers: German manufacturing contracts again, US jobs, US output

Really, who cares about all this shit! The Market Makers know what they are going to do with prices. All we traders need to know, or to see, is what they do. And for that, all we need do is to watch the charts and trade what the market does, so long as it does what we look for (our setups). We don't need to see, or even understand, all this other hocus-pocus crap! It is a totally unnecessary diversion of our energies and concentration. We trade charts, not economics data, which the Market Makers themselves might choose to ignore!

-tah

But u cant ignore the fact that it really make the markets move...

Most frankly no one knows - not market makers, not big banks, not central banks, not traders, not nobody. That is the truth because all you need to do to determine this are a) look at market mircrostructure and b) appreciate the fact of a discentralized market essentially connected by a variable (in terms of participation per period) sized network. Clearly market visiblity will vary across participants with market makers and banks having somewhat greater visibility and not to mention the means of assessing or analyzing behavior to the point of being able to forecast same (even trading styles etc). These of course and other points not mentioned may provide market makers and such like entities with some kind of edge sometimes in terms of trading against sole traders etc but this is not to say they have the clout to move the market as they choose - and clearly they play at very considerable risk and as such must be selective in commitments to make ends meet. Do not forget that many fold and banks (regardless of size) make periodic losses (sometimes huge and serial).

My point however does not disagree with your basic take which is a recourse to the charts which more or less levels the playing field (allowing that the trader is competent). But to increase such competence we need to appreciate that the market is beatable and not to be afraid of shadows. This is why I have bothered at all to share this view in response to yours.

The Crow (-_-)

BTW: Even if you can see my play and are in a position to analyze my style you cannot do fack about it if it is competent (that is to say if it consistently and accurately reads the timing and sign of the signed ROC of price which is the mathematically derived objective measure of market sentiment for any market interval at all). So that should be the goal and no need to fear anyone or as a matter of fact respect any player no matter his size - the market is king and everyone is a mere (untitled) subject including the largest MF bank you ever did know.