Supercharge your trading strategy with sentiment analysis

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1 Supercharge your trading strategy oandamt4.com Forex Indices Commodities Precious Metals Bonds

2 One reason many traders struggle is the lack of clear guidelines that assist in decision making. Frequent frustrations that traders suffer from include: Is the trend up or down? It s up on my hourly chart, but it s down on my daily chart and up on my weekly chart. Where do I get in? Where do I place my stop loss? Where should I take profit? Questions such as these not only block aspiring traders from progressing along the learning curve, they also confuse more experienced traders who can become prematurely unseated from their trades or suffer from bad timing. The bottom line is that trading is challenging at all levels, but certain information can make the journey much easier. OANDA s MT4 Open Order Indicator could help supercharge your trading strategy, by offering three essential pieces of information: Open long positions % versus open short positions % If total short positions outweigh total long positions, OANDA s clients are evidently bearish on that currency pair, while traders are bullish if total longs outweigh total shorts. This provides a clear line of sight over retail market sentiment. Retail sentiment is currently long on EUR/AUD OANDA MT4 Open Order Indicator: EUR/AUD daily chart with the Indicator set to non-cumulative open orders Open orders (limit orders, stop loss orders, take profit orders) This data point provides even more precise feedback. For example, a large cluster of sell orders above market price informs traders of potential resistance, while a large cluster of buy orders below market price suggests potential support. 2 oandamt4.com

3 Large buy and sell order clusters OANDA MT4 Open Order Indicator: USD/JPY 4-hour chart with the Indicator set to non-cumulative open positions However, large order clusters contain a mix of limit entry orders, stop loss orders, and take profit orders. Without additional information, it s impractical to believe that a support or resistance level will hold. To stack the odds even more in the trader s favour, firms also have open position information. Open positions (long and short) If there are many open long positions below market price, then a large cluster of orders above market will likely contain a number of stop loss orders (longs throwing in the towel), rather than limit entries. Vice versa, if there are many short positions above market price, then a large cluster of orders below market price will likely contain a number of stop loss orders (shorts throwing in the towel). Current open long and short positions OANDA MT4 Open Order Indicator: EUR/AUD daily chart with the Indicator set to non-cumulative open positions The trading style you choose to adopt whether range trading or trend trading does not impact the importance retail sentiment can have on your bottom line. 3 oandamt4.com

4 Supercharge your trend trading skills Successful traders always follow the line of least resistance. Follow the trend. The trend is your friend. Jesse Livermore. The first, and potentially most important piece of information that OANDA s MT4 Open Order Indicator offers traders is a direct measurement of retail sentiment. This is important because most retail traders trade against rather than with the trend. Usually, when there is a large imbalance between the percentage of long and short positions, a steady trend is developing and the odds are stacked against retail sentiment in favour of trend followers. AUD/USD is in a strong uptrend and retail traders are net short OANDA MT4 Open Order Indicator: AUD/USD 4-hour chart with the Indicator set to non-cumulative open positions The majority of traders (59 percent in this case) are fighting the trend and are therefore in losing trades. So, instead of fighting it, how do you follow the trend? The first clue lies in going against the retail crowd. When retail traders are net long, the smart trader will adopt a short stance. When retail traders are net short, the smart trader will adopt a long stance. Using this example, smart traders would likely veer on the long side of the market. The question remains, where are good levels to buy and take profit? In order to answer this, successful traders typically pay attention to the largest buy order and sell order clusters. 4 oandamt4.com

5 Retail open orders suggest looking to buy around and taking partial or total profit around OANDA MT4 Open Order Indicator: AUD/USD 4-hour chart with the Indicator set to non-cumulative open orders The largest open buy orders will likely act as support when price declines, so it makes sense to wait to deploy your favourite triggers to get you in position for a trip that will hopefully make it back to recent highs, where the largest sell orders are clustered. It makes sense to take at least partial profits at this level because the sell orders will create resistance. By knowing which side of the market retail traders currently prefer, you can take the opposite side with confidence. Similarly, by knowing where the largest accumulation of orders sits, much of the guesswork around entry points can be eliminated. Supercharge your range trading strategies It may seem strange, but when the market turns range-bound, it is entirely possible to trade alongside retail traders. Retail traders, as a group, have a tendency to try and pick turning points. When the market finally turns into a range (whether short or long term), retail traders will typically find the best possible spots to play the range. OANDA MT4 Open Order Indicator: AUD/JPY 4-hour chart with the Indicator set to non-cumulative open orders 5 oandamt4.com

6 In the previous chart, retail orders are scattered neatly at the edges of the range, and until the range breaks, the best bet is to buy near the bottom and sell near the top. So, how can retail sentiment assist traders and offer even more information? Once again, the percentage of traders with long versus short positions comes in handy: If the range is developing within an uptrend and retail traders are net short, smart traders look to buy near the bottom end of the range and take partial or total profits near the top. However, they do not sell at the top. The fact that retail traders are net short means there is a possibility price could break higher. If the range is developing within a downtrend and retail traders are net long, smart traders look to sell near the top end of the range and take partial or total profits near the bottom. Again, they do not buy at the bottom. The fact that retail traders are net long means there is a possibility price could break higher. If, as in the chart previous, retail sentiment is fairly balanced, then successful traders typically view this as a warning sign that the price could go either way and therefore play the range from both sides with small position sizes, because sooner or later it s going to break. It s useless trying to guess exactly when, so it s best to understand that one of the range trades will become a loss that will need to be cut quickly so you can reverse your stance and start following the new trend. A new era in retail trading Available exclusively to OANDA clients, the proprietary MT4 Open Order Indicator reveals critical information never before available to the retail trader. By presenting an overview of current buy and sell orders placed by OANDA traders directly on your MT4 charts, the Indicator enables traders to capture market sentiment, identify large order clusters and trade contrarian trends. This effectively stacks the odds in your favour by providing access to the same strategies typically used by institutional traders and interbank dealers. To learn more about OANDA s MT4 Open Order Indicator, please visit oandamt4.com. 6 oandamt4.com

7 Copyright and disclaimers OANDA makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express, implied or statutory regarding this article or any information contained or referred to in this article. The article is provided for information purposes only. It does not constitute any offer, recommendation or solicitation to any person to enter into any transaction or adopt any hedging, trading or investment strategy, nor does it constitute any prediction of likely future movements in rates or prices or any representation that any such future movements will not exceed those shown in any illustration. Past performance is not indicative of comparable future results and no representation or warranty is made regarding future performance. The information in this article has no regard to the specific investment objective, financial situation or particular needs of any specific recipient. OANDA does not endorse or recommend any particular securities, currencies, or other financial products. Nothing contained in the article is intended to constitute investment, legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice and you should not rely on the reports, data or other information provided in this article for making financial decisions. You should consult with an appropriate professional for specific advice tailored to your situation and/or to verify the accuracy of the information provided herein prior to making any investment decisions. OANDA accepts no liability and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly (including special, incidental or consequential loss or damage) from your use of the content in this article, howsoever arising, and including any loss, damage or expense arising from, but not limited to, any defect, error, imperfection, fault, mistake or inaccuracy with this article, its contents or associated services, or due to any unavailability of the article or any part thereof or any contents or associated services. The information presented in this article has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable but we do not make any representation or warranty nor accept any responsibility or liability as to its accuracy, completeness or correctness. Opinions and views expressed in the article are personal to the writer and may not reflect the views of OANDA Asia Pacific. Disclaimer: OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Co. Reg. No K) holds a Capital Markets Services Licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is licenced by the International Enterprise Singapore. Trading in leveraged over-the-counter contracts for foreign currency, precious metals, and CFDs carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. You should never put at risk any amount that you cannot afford to lose. Read our risk warning for more details. OANDA Australia Pty Ltd is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ASIC (ABN , AFSL No ) and is the issuer of the products and/or services on this website. It s important for you to consider the current Financial Service Guide (FSG), Product Disclosure Statement ( PDS ), Account Terms and any other relevant OANDA documents before making any financial investment decisions. These documents can be found here OANDA Corporation. All rights reserved. OANDA, fxtrade and OANDA s fx family of trademarks are owned by OANDA Corporation. All other trademarks appearing on this website are the property of their respective owners. 7 oandamt4.com

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