USDJPY - Long term Long IdeaThis is a Monthly chart of USDJPY, this one has caught our eye the most as it has broken out of a major long term downtrend back in 2014 and since hasn't looked back until now, this lines up perfectly as a potential value zone where big money may look to step in.
Technical Reasons:
1. Break and retest of a monthly trend line as support.
2. Key area support of 102.000
3. Fibonacci retracement 0.5
4. Bullish trend from 2012.
5. RSI is in Oversold territory.
Some potential positive Fundamentals for this trade are:
1. YEN - BOJ may want to cut their rates or introduce more stimulus as a strong YEN (Due to potential safe haven status) is totally against what the Bank wants.
2. DOLLAR - FED 'May' hike their interest rate but its unknown as to how likely this is.
Boj
$GBP v $JPY Unfolds Into Geo; Eyes 66.9 | #BOE #BOJ #brexit $EURSYNOPSIS :
1 - Fundamentals turn against $GBP; BOJ can't control strengthening $JPY: Net Bearish for $GBPJPY, expecting the strengthening #yen to carry a longer shaping effect in the overall geometry, as opposed to a weaker #pound
2 - Predictive/Forecasting Model is net bearish with TG-Lo = 87.772, TG-Lox = 66.900, WL = 38.992 in decreasing probability
3 - Background geometry develops internal pathognomonic of the Geo with reciprocal ab = cd symmetry in line with "Model" lowest qualitative target, TG-Lox
4 - Point-3 of Geo may represent Point-5' in current construction; Favors Point-5' - If so, apply Rule #2 of Geo's compesatory rule, making Point-4 the higher probable reversal target, itself a firm historical R/S level
5 - Invalidation occurs if price BACA > 163.895 handle
Best,
David Alcindor, CMT Affiliate #227974
- Alias: 4xForecaster (Twitter)
BREXIT AND GEO-POLITICAL AFTERMATH: BUY USDJPY - HOW TO TRADENow that the Brexit risk has been realised the mentioned pairs above will share some correlation this week as the market changes between risk-on and risk-off as MANY on the events continually drive the sentiment shifts.
My Plan & Expectations
USDJPY
1. My conviction for UJ is long 8/10.
-UJ traded to lows of 98.9 in the midst of the brexit hype, as the market hunted for risk off. Further, as with GBP it seems entities over the weekend have increased their JPY exposure to account for the increased percieved risk within the market causing UJ to open lower at 101.6
- However, over the weekend the BOJ had a meeting with other Japanese officials to discuss their plan (an easing plan likely) to combat 1. their inflation problem and now 2. the JPY's safe haven demand strength - both of which are cured by 8/10 aggressive easing policies by the BOJ
- Thus I expect the BOJ to hold and emergency meeting this week announcing these changes to have immediate affect as UJ at 100 severely puts the brakes on their inflation growth target.
- Further, as previously mentioned the BOE, SNB, FOMC and ECB (among others) have all said since the brexit vote that they are prepared to provide liquidity to markets and their rhetoric has been very dovish.
- Thus the BOJ's new easing package which is likely to be aggressive e.g. 20bps rate cute and a large increase QE, will help depreciate the currency through increasing supply and reducing jpy demand. Further, the supportive/ dovish stance of the worlds central banks (particularly BOE and FOMC) will help ease risk aversion which in turn SHOULD reduce JPY demand therefore helping UJ trade better to the upside.
So my trading plan for UJ is to buy at levels <102 - 101/2 is ideal (we are unlikely see 99 or 100 again as the risk-off impetuses have died). UJ should hold this range between 101.2 and 103 until CB meetings are in place - I will be holding UJ in the long term through to 110-115 at least. I have 8/10 long conviction for UJ
Volatility update:
Current UJ ATM 50 delta vols trade at 37.5%, which is surprisingly 3-4x higher than it was last week (the risk and volatility may not be over).
1wk UJ ATM 50 delta vols trade at 20%, significantly lower than current at 37.5% - I think this is a function of the central bank meetings expected this week which are inflating current volatility, with 1wk far vols lower as the events will have elapsed already.
1m UJ ATM 50 delta vols trade up on the week at 15.5% though the time curve is flattening meaning UJ vol is falling over time - lower vols = better conditions for UJ buying.
Current UJ Option demand is skewed significantly to the downside, with Puts 40% vs calls 36% thus puts are in demand by about 10% more than calls - this supports nearterm risk-off views (RR -4).
USDJPY as a measure of market risk.
I still suggest using UJ as a measure of GBPUSD market risk - the volatility seemingly isnt over, and with near term uncertainty high, it is prudent to track UJ and use breaks of its 101.2-103.2 range as signals of net risk on or risk-off commitment .e.g. UJ higher risk on (jpy selling), UJ lower risk off (jp buying).
The risk off move for GU imo is lower in this environment, and the risk-on move is higher. Thus, IMO UJ and GU are sync'd, and the two should be used as a tool.
BREXIT & GEO-POLITICAL AFTERMATH: SHORT GBPUSD - HOW TO TRADEGBPUSD
- At the end of last week GU traded to lows of 1.32 on the brexit vote, before retracing substantially to 1.39 by the end of the day.
- GU retraced 600-700pips after the brexit event IMO solely as investors took profit from their shorts (which causes buying) - thus there was no structural reason for GU recovering e.g. it was that 1.32 had mispriced GU too low for the brexit vote.
On the back of this I expect the following for GU this week:
1. I have a 8/10 short conviction on GU and ultimately believe it will trade <1.30 by weeks end for the following reasons: -
- As on friday, the bearish movements we saw on GBP were 90% fast money trades and NOT real/ slow money positioning (due to different regulations and trading strategies) therefore, this week, slow/ real money will now be able to get behind the short sterling move thus providing momentum for GBP to move lower and sub 1.30.
*Fast money is hedge funds and slow money is asset managers*
- David Cameron UK PM also resigned following the result, thus putting further downside expectations on GBP in the near-medium term particularly as it as all come at once.
- Also the BOE plans to increase its QE by 66% 350bn to 600bn to support markets but this printing increasing GBP money supply affect puts downward pressure on the GBPUSD.
- Further, members of the European parliament have asked and put pressure on the UK to make their exit faster than previously expected, this puts further uncertainty around the brexit and increases the negative impact it may have on the economy and therefore the GBP speculation is made further bearish.
- As pictured I had expected the 1.356-1.382 range that had held at the end of last week to hold for the next 24hrs and for GU to trade relatively flat (24hrs for people to make decisions on positioning) however it looks like corporations and other entities have derisked their GBP exposure over the weekend hence we opened 300pips lower at 1.342.
- With this range broken we now trade in no mans land, thus with all the negative biases my target from now is for GU to drift towards the lows set from last week for now - If the market changes significantly within the next few hours (e.g. trades back into range) i will update this view.
- My target for GBP is <1.30 with a terminal value of 1.25 within the quarter - though i consider that the supportive (no hike) policy of the FOMC will ease GBPUSD losses somewhat. This in mind shorts at these levels are fair 1.34. Alternatively, I also encourage my favourite tactic of shorting/ fading any GBP rallies to 1.38/39 however the chance of GU realising such upside imo is only 50%, with bid trading dominating
Volatility update:
Current GU ATM 50 delta vols trade at 25%, which is surprisingly 2x higher than it was last week (the risk and volatility may not be over).
1wk GU ATM 50 delta vols trade at 30%, significantly higher than last week also.
However 1ms trade 20.49% and are significantly lower than they were last week (illustrating the event risk that has elapsed).
Current GU Option demand is skewed significantly to the downside, with Puts 27.5% vs calls 22.5% thus puts are in demand by about 20% more than calls - this supports current short views (RR -5).
1wk GU demand is also skewed in favour of downside coverage, with puts at 33% vs calls 28%, (RR -5%) with puts being demanded apprx 3% more than calls - supporting the near terms view of short GU
USDJPY as a measure of market risk.
I still suggest using UJ as a measure of GBPUSD market risk - the volatility seemingly isnt over, and with near term uncertainty high, it is prudent to track UJ and use breaks of its 101.2-103.2 range as signals of net risk on or risk-off commitment .e.g. UJ higher risk on (jpy selling), UJ lower risk off (jp buying).
The risk off move for GU imo is lower in this environment, and the risk-on move is higher. Thus, IMO UJ and GU are sync'd, and the two should be used as a tool.
LONG USDJPY @105.8: NEUTRAL FOMC; DOVISH & EASE BOJ & RISK-ONWe had the best possible outcome for FOMC's Rate decision and Fed Yellens speech which was neutral IMO as expected, with the Economic Projections being dovish, downgrading the projected rate hike cycle. We now look to BOJ.
Trading strategy:
LONG USDJPY (possibly short also GBPJPY for longer term investors or investors that want to hedge against a hawkish BOJ)
TP @>107 = 100pips at least - SL @104.9-105.2
Reasoning
- FOMC overall was neutral, we had lower projections but Yellen remained mildly upbeat, telling the market to shrug off the short NFP report (quite rightly).
- So this means $ demand/ supply remains flat.
- The main driver of the LONG UJ play is on the JPY side. Given that FOMC was flat, this means JPY "risk-off" and uncertainty buying which would have arisen if the fed was aggressively hawkish/ hiked was neutralised - meaning JPY "rate hike induced" safe haven demand was neutralised as instead the FOMC helped risk trade higher = LONG USDJPY as JPY demand falls
- So now we have a situation of neutral USD and neutral JPY as there was no rate hike to unsteady markets and cause JPY to be brought
- So the driver of the LONG USDJPY is the fact that IMO the BOJ will be aggressively dovish and likely to cut rates - their core and CPI prints are consistantly below 0% at -0.5% for Tokyo CPI and Core, with National at -0.3% for both.
These CPI prints are the average print for the last 6 months meaning BOJ policy has been inefective in reaching their goal as inflation is stale and not rising. Thus IMO they have to CUT and EASE and be DOVISH = Long USDJPY
- Further, Kuroda BOJ head said he is aware of JPY trading strongly due to its safe haven properties and he has stated he is prepared to fight this risk-off led Yen appreciation - this means HEAVY easing to negate the JPY risk-off strength and weaken the currency = long USDJPY
- Finally, a dovish BOJ helps ease the risk-off sentiment in the market at the moment (stocks falling and gold rallying) as BOJ easing puts more liquidity into the markets - calming the risk-off sentiment means LESS JPY buying and MORE JPY selling = LONG USDJPY
Evaluation
- So with USD as a stable denominator, I expect the BOJ to heavily ease in order to 1) improve their inflation performance closer to their target 2) to devalue JPY from the risk-off buying that brexit uncertainty has caused.
- Further, UJ is the best expression of the short JPY play as EUR and GBP are both comprimised by BREXIT uncertainty - which is constantly trying to trade eur and gbp lower - hence a long ej or gj is not advised - UJ is the least affected of the majors by brexit - *see my dynamic straddle post attached for more details*
- on that note one may argue AUD or NZD could be used for the long, since they too are even less affected by brexit downside, which is true, however i dont have enough experience in those markets - if think there is a better denominator than USD for the long then by all means use it - however IMO USD is the best of the bunch for future dollar demand as they are the only Central bank to be hiking NZD and AUD are still cutting.
- Also UJ imp volatility is finally falling with 1wk implieds dropping to 12.55 (-3.45), which improves the environment for buying.
Plus as you can see below Historical Vol is also falling, once again illustrating that price may be ready to start rising again - low vol = more buying. Plus the ATR trades lower than average which is a bullish sign - bull markets range less.
- And we are still oversold massively at -2/3 SD of the mean of the weekly. Plus we trade close to the handle at 105.35 which is the strongest support level in USDJPY history thus helping upside from here (unless we break ofc).
Comments welcome
DYNAMIC STRADDLE: USDJPY & GBPJPY - TP FROM BOJ & FOMC EVENT VOLThe best Idea to play BOJ and FOMC from a risk-averse perspective is to own both in a Long Straddle
Strategy
Dynamic Straddle: Long USDJPY & Short GBPJPY - TP from volatility & Event likely hoods
TP levels = cannot be greedy else you may miss one trades exit point so <25 pips when it goes in your direction for each - total TP = 50pips as 2*25pips
Reasoning
- Traditional Straddle involves would be long and short the SAME cross..
- However i suggest we long USDJPY as UJ has proportionately MORE upside possibility:
1. FOMC is likely to be neutral-Hawkish, this will help UJ trade flat/ higher = Supports long -
- *FOMC PARADOX* important to note that in this sensitive risk-off market if the FED is too hawkish/ hikes it can cause a UJ sell off, as higher rates means greater economic/ market uncertainty as liquidity and financing becomes tighter (despite rate hiking usually making USD trade higher through increased $ deposit demand for higher rates)
2. BOJ is likely to be dovish, this will help UJ to trade higher (especially in this risk averse market - easing helps calm mrkts) = supports long
3. USDJPY ISNT directly impacted by BREXIT fears as GBPJPY as USD and JPY can be considered safety assets, this helps USDJPY trade higher = supports long
So we have 3/3 for long USDJPY.
- Now to hedge this trade AND benefit from possible downside,
we SHORT GBPJPY as GJ has proportionately MORE downside possibility.
1. FOMC neutral-hawkish, drives risk-off momentum (higher rates reduces market liquidity and undermines economic growth thus increasing uncertainty) which drives demand for Yen/JPY, increased demand for JPY supports short GBPJPY
2. BOJ being dovish/ easing potentially helps JPY sell off - however, GBPJPY will be the least sensitive of JPY seller of the JPY crosses, as GBPJPY is the perfect play for Brexit and risk-off, hence in the long run JPY selling wont last long in GBPJPY as once JPY is cheap, buyers will enter to continue hedging/ speculating on brexit with the favourite pair, poor potential/ long run JPY sell side = supports gbpjpy short
3. GBPJPY is directly impacted by Brexit uncertainty in two ways. 1) as investors wish to sell GBP as the uncertainty is only negative for GBP (especially when polls are at 55%). 2) as Investors wish to buy JPY for their "safe haven" asset play. UJ only has the JPY buying to push it lower, which is limited/ offset further as USD buying can also be considered a "safe haven asset) = Supports short GBPJPY
We have 3/3 for short GBPJPY
Evaluation.
- We have 3 points supporting both LONG UJ and SHORT GJ - AND by playing this trade we are able to gain from ALL eventualities, we dont have to guess the BOJ or FOMC outcomes since we have a LONG and a SHORT we have covered ALL eventualities.
- Also from a vol perspective, GBPJPY risk reversals continue to become negative by a significant amount 1wks lost 0.6 to -2.1 (from -1.5), so investors continue to demand GBPJPY downside puts for speculation/ hedging - supporting the short.
- USDJPY ATM volatility, sold off significantly with 1wks losing 3.55 to 12.45 - lower vol in UJ supports buying.
*Any questions on why i think FOMC will be neutral-Hawkish or why BOJ will be dovish-easing please ask in the comments*
Long USDJPY Favored | 150-Week SMA Key Resistance
Despite the bullish pressure from the beginning of the week, there has been no H4 Close above the 150-Week SMA.
Continued failure at this point and price will likely be pushed back down to 110.600 Pivot / Previous Resistance / 50% Fib of the Wave A-B on Chart (Wave labels are arbitrary in this case).
Strategy:
Wait and See approach for now. A H4 Close above the aforementioned level and a Long Position will be established targeting 112.500 as part of the measured move.
Otherwise, the pair may catch a renewed Bullish bid at the 110.600 Level.