🌐💳 Shift4 Payments (FOUR) Analysis📈 Technical Overview:
NYSE:FOUR Business: Provider of software and payment processing solutions in the United States.
Strategic Opportunities: Actively exploring opportunities to benefit employees and shareholders.
Partnership with Amazon: Checkout-free shopping at stadiums, starting with the United Center.
Acquisition Target: Becoming a major acquisition target for larger payments companies.
📊💼 Financial Highlights:
Top-Line Growth: Partnership with Amazon expected to boost top-line growth in Q1 2024.
Competitive Advantages: Recognized for its technology and competitive advantages.
📈🚀 Trade Sentiment:
Sentiment: Bullish on Shift4 Payments (FOUR).
Entry Range: Above $66.00-$67.00.
Upside Target: Set in the $105.00-$110.00 range.
🔄💡 Note: Monitor developments in strategic initiatives and partnerships for potential market impact. 📉💡 #Shift4Payments #FOUR #FinancialAnalysis 💻💰
Financialanalysis
Jingle Bulls: Analyzing the E-mini S&P 500's Year-End RallyIntroduction
The Santa Claus rally, a well-documented phenomenon in the financial markets, particularly in the context of the E-mini S&P 500, presents a captivating study of market behavior during the holiday season. This rally, often characterized by an uptrend in the stock market, offers a confluence of joy and opportunity for traders and investors alike. Our extensive analysis will delve deep into the intricacies of this phenomenon, unraveling its significance in the broader market context.
Current Market Overview
Over the past two decades, the E-mini S&P 500 has often mirrored the festive spirit with its performance during the Santa Claus rally. A close examination of the rally's seasonality since 2006 paints a picture of resilience and optimism, with only a handful of years bucking the trend. This pattern sets a compelling backdrop for our current year's analysis.
Technical Analysis of the Santa Claus Rally
The preliminary signs of the Santa Claus rally begin to surface as autumn wanes. The technical indicators in November, particularly the moving averages, RSI, and MACD, provide a glimpse into the market's preparatory phase for the rally. This early analysis is critical in setting expectations and understanding the underlying market sentiment.
December's arrival marks the acceleration of the rally. The daily timeframe charts during this month are a testament to the burgeoning bullish sentiment, with technical indicators aligning to confirm the trend's strength.
A broader perspective is gained through a weekly timeframe analysis, which smoothens out the daily volatilities and provides clarity on the rally's sustained nature.
The monthly timeframe charts link the current rally to the historical market cycles, offering a comprehensive view of the rally's significance in the long-term market trends.
Historical Context and Comparative Analysis
The Santa Claus rally, particularly in the E-mini S&P 500, is not a recent phenomenon. Historical data dating back over the past two decades reveals a pattern of consistent end-of-year rallies. Analyzing these instances, we find that in 14 out of the last 18 years, the E-mini S&P 500 experienced a significant uptick during this period. Notably, the failed rallies often coincided with broader market stressors or significant global events, offering insights into the rally's sensitivity to external influences. This comparative analysis underscores the rally's reliability but also highlights its exceptions, reminding traders that historical patterns do not guarantee future outcomes.
Economic Indicators and External Factors
The Santa Claus rally in the E-mini S&P 500 doesn't occur in isolation. It is influenced by a myriad of economic indicators and external factors. Key among these is the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, which can significantly sway market sentiment. Inflation rates, employment data, and GDP growth figures also play a crucial role in shaping the market's direction during this period. On a global scale, geopolitical tensions and international trade relations can impact investor confidence, thereby affecting the rally. This interplay of factors necessitates a vigilant approach to market analysis, recognizing that the Santa Claus rally is as much about economic fundamentals as it is about seasonal trends.
Market Sentiment and Trader Behavior
The psychology driving the Santa Claus rally is a fascinating aspect of this phenomenon. During this period, a general sense of optimism pervades the market, often leading to increased buying activity. For many traders, this rally represents a culmination of the year's trends and a final push for year-end profits. However, this optimism needs to be tempered with caution. The rally can sometimes lead to overexuberance, resulting in inflated asset prices and increased volatility. Traders should be aware of the potential for a market correction following the rally and should approach trading during this period with a balanced mindset, combining optimism with risk awareness.
Trading Strategies and Risk Management
Navigating the Santa Claus rally requires tailored trading strategies and effective risk management. Traders might consider positioning themselves to capitalize on the expected uptrend, but with safeguards against unexpected market shifts. Utilizing stop-loss orders and setting clear profit targets can help in managing risks. Diversification across asset classes may also provide a buffer against potential volatility within the E-mini S&P 500. Additionally, traders should stay attuned to market indicators and news, as these can provide early signals of changes in the rally's trajectory. Ultimately, a disciplined approach, balancing the eagerness to exploit the rally with prudent risk management, is key to navigating this period successfully.
Conclusion
The Santa Claus rally, particularly in the E-mini S&P 500, offers a microcosmic view of the broader market dynamics at play during the year's end. This phenomenon, while rooted in historical patterns and influenced by a blend of economic indicators and market sentiment, requires a nuanced understanding and a strategic approach. As we close the chapter on another year's rally, traders are reminded of the constant interplay between market optimism and the reality of economic fundamentals. The insights gleaned from this analysis not only shed light on the rally itself but also serve as a guiding framework for navigating future market movements with agility and foresight.
CME Real-time Market Data helps identify trading set-ups and express my market views. If you have futures in your trading portfolio, you can check out on CME Group data plans available that suit your trading needs www.tradingview.com
Disclaimer:
Trade ideas cited above are for illustration only, as an integral part of a case study to demonstrate the fundamental concepts in risk management under the market scenarios being discussed. They shall not be construed as investment recommendations or advice. Nor are they used to promote any specific products, or services.
Brent Crude Oil🛢️Outlook: Navigating The Next Huge Move (4H)Brent Crude Oil Forecast 🛢️ TVC:UKOIL
Just like we called it earlier, the price dropped from 82.00 to 79, hitting our Take Profit sweet spot.
Now, even though the price popped above 81, it couldn't make higher high, and it's chilling below the 100-day moving average on the 4-hour chart.
Looks like we might see it slide back from 81.50 - 82.00 to 80. If 80 can't hold its ground, we might be looking at a dip to the 77 zone. On the flip side, if it manages to break above 83, we could be in for a bullish ride.
Quick heads up: Keep your eyes peeled for any surprise moves, especially with the OPEC meeting on November 30, 2023, and the ongoing tension between Palestine and Israel.
Key Levels:
Support lines: 79.00 & 76.00
Resistance lines: 83.00 & 84.64
Drop your thoughts in the comments below. Appreciate your take on this! Thanks! 🚀
AFFIRM - is this still a good buy?
CNBC has reported recently the surge of AFFIRM shares after better-than-expected results as per the screenshot above.
AFFIRM (a buy now pay later business) has published some exciting highlights.
Let us look at their GAAP and non-GAAP reconciliation in detail:
AFFIRM makes a profit in the most recent quarter by using non-GAAP measurements. Using the whole year results ending 30 June 2023, total revenue is $1.587B and total operating costs are $2.788B, representing an operating loss of $1.2B.
Yet through the lens of non-GAAP, the last quarter was profitable with $14.7M because non-GAAP does not include the costs of depreciation & amortization, stock-based compensation, enterprise warrant, restructuring and other costs. Going forward, I recommend all to focus more on the GAAP figures as that gives a better view of the financials. Creative accounting and business narratives can distract us from having a realistic view of the business.
The need to probe further into the financials is necessary so that we can better appreciate the financial fundamentals of the business. After 1 year, AFFIRM suffered a loss of $1.2B, compared to the loss of $0.866B from the same period a year ago.
Conclusion
Let us perform the due diligence necessary so that we can filter out great companies. It is possible that some of the media focus on certain good parts and omit other “necessary” portions.
No one should care more about our money than ourselves. The due diligence will be the leverage we have. Should the price plunge, this will give us the confidence to hold or buy even more.
Without good fundamentals, I recommend staying away.
NASDAQ:AFRM
3 Types of Stop LossesToday’s topic is going to be on three types of stop losses . This is a very critical topic because stop losses come under the category of risk management.
Risk management is such a pivotal, important and critical topic. Why? Because professional traders and investors, the first thing that they always do and constantly think about before they get into a trade or investment is not how much profit they’re going to make, it’s how much they can afford to lose.
The only control that you have when you enter into a trade and you’re in the trade is the risk factor because most of us will not have the capital power to control that trade. It’s a collective pool of people’s thoughts and a lot of other factors that come in which then determines how the price moves in the market, especially how smart money enters the market actually. So in light of all of that, the real power that you have, the real control that you have is your risk management. How much you can afford to lose. In terms of that, we’re going to be looking at the three types of stop losses and how to stop your loss when the market does something which is not favourable to you and not in line with the direction of the trade that you are taking on.
The first type is what we call the technical stop . This is the one most people will be familiar with. That’s where all your different kinds of stop losses come under: moving averages, channels, trend lines and so forth. All these are summarised under technical stop losses. Even if you use tier based stop losses, they come under technical stop losses.
The second one is called a money stop . A money stop is basically one where you write in your rules, and this is how you execute a trade as well is that you say, for example, you enter a trade and it is going well in profit. You tell yourself to trail your stop loss to break even as soon as the trade is 3% in profit. You don’t care what the moving averages are or where the price pattern is whatsoever, you would just move your stop loss to break even. So that is purely based on money. That is called a money stop because the stop loss is adjusted according to your profits or your losses. Usually it’s to your profits – that’s when you trail and adjust your stop loss.
The final one is the time stop . As you’ve already guessed, the time stop is based on time. Especially for intra-day trading it’s very important because you know certain times of the day volume is really high and other times of the day volume starts to dry up. So especially if you want to capture a certain percentage of move, you want to capture it before a certain time and you usually know that after 5pm or 6pm the volume usually dries up. Price movement is not really that much especially towards 9pm. So you can have a rule saying, for example, at 5pm or 6pm you’ll look at exiting a trade if it’s not reached an objective. If you’re a swing trader you start saying things like you know if it’s consolidating for 10-15 days in a row I will possibly exit out of the trade. So all that is basically based on time.
Let me ask you a question. Out of all the three stops I’ve talked about: technical, money and time, what do you think is the strongest stop of them all? I think, if my guess is right as we have coached thousands of traders, most of them usually tell me it’s either the technical or the money stop. In fact, let me tell you Traders, the weakest one of them all is the money stop because there’s no basis for it. It’s just based on money and just trailing it. The strongest is the time stop because everything is determined on time and you’re time bound in everything that you do. If you look at daily activities: waking up, going to work, having meals, going to bed – your life is time bound.
Here’s the final most critical point. If you actually want to make your risk management really strong, the trick is not to put emphasis on either one of them according to strength, but to make them sync with each other so that they can then adapt to market conditions. It’s basically a confluence of the types of stop losses that can help you to generate the rules which can adapt to market conditions. For example, when you start out if you put in your initial stop loss in a technical place and as time then moves by then you would then get more aggressive with your stop loss and as it’s nearing towards exit, if you’ve reached a certain profit potential as the market price is still hovering around, losing momentum, then you would then start to go into money stop. Money stop is especially useful if you’re in swing trading. For example, when we took the DOW Jones trade and we took that 2,000 point move on a mismatched strategy when it had already done 80% of the move we used a money stop because we don’t want to give back all that profit back to the market. So that’s when we start to us a money stop and a combination of time stop, initially starting with a technical. So that’s how you do it.
Do have a good think about this because this is so critical Traders. If there’s only one thing you have total control of, it’s your stop loss, it’s your risk management. So contemplate this, revisit your strategy rules and see how you can optimise that for maximum performance of your strategy.
I believe that you have really enjoyed this topic and have some amazing value from this. Until the next time, as we always say, stay disciplined, follow your trading plan and keep trading like a master .
3 categories for Strategy RulesToday we’re going to be looking at three categories for strategy rules .
This is very critical because the most important concept before we enter into a trade is to have it already pre-set in our mind where we’re going to enter and how we’re going to exit. It’s all got to be totally predetermined and you have to visualise your whole trade set-up, your trade management and your trade exit. All these three things must be very clear within you and you must already have spelled it out with clear rules so that’s its very clear in your mind. Clarity leads to conviction. Finally that gives you courage to pull through any kind of loss cluster or drawdowns.
Let’s take a look at these three categories for strategy rules. The first one is about entry rules . These tie in with what your trade set-up should look like. So when should you enter a trade? The last thing you want to do Traders is to enter a trade just out of emotional impulse. Once you’ve entered a trade by emotional impulse, when you come out of it you’ll think ‘Oh no, why did I do that?’ and that hurts so many traders. Many of the over 20,000 traders that we’ve coached so far and talked to at seminars have told us that they’ve made this mistake. One of the ways to stop that and nip that mistake in the bud is by making the rules really clear and so straight forward that you know how to follow them and can repeat them again and again.
The entry rules can be sub-categorised into pre-entry rules and post-entry rules. Pre-entry rules basically means before you enter the trade what are the criteria for you that must set-up for you to enter and then to trade that price or that instrument? If you do get stopped out, what are the rules for you to then re-enter back into that trade. Some tools that you can use to formulate your entry rules are:
Price action – be very clear on how the price action should be before you enter into a trade. For example, if you want to buy into a position has there got to be two seller bars and one buyer bar or has there got to be some kind of momentum decline which you also need to quantify so that emotional trading doesn’t come in. That’s all to do with price action.
Time frame correlation – as I have explained in other videos, if you’re an end of day trader you’ve got to correlate with a higher time frame. We usually recommend three time frames.
Indicators – there are thousands of them and you’d know about them.
Cycles and phases – you can incorporate rules about cycles and phases into your strategy.
Support and resistance rules – where you can enter into the market based on supply and demand.
News – think about how long before news comes out do you want to enter? For example, if news comes out in the next 30 minutes, do you want to enter a trade even before, say 30 or 40 minutes before news comes out?
All these things you need to include in your entry rules and as good criteria you need to at least include three or four of them. We call it degrees of freedom and you need to have at least three to four of them, ideally four, minimum three in your strategy. Of course as I’ve mentioned before in other talks, you need to choose and mix and match these rules according to the concept and objective of your strategy.
The second thing, after the entry rules, we’re looking at stop loss rules . Stop loss can be further sub-categorised into initial stop loss rules and trailing stop loss rules. Before you even enter the trade you should know where the stop loss is going to go which is the initial stop loss. Once you enter into the trade you need to then know how you’re going to manage your trade and then to trail that stop loss progressively. This is critical. You need to know this before you enter the trade.
Finally, our target rules . Where are we going to get out, what is our target? In terms of target rules we’re looking at pre-target, that is, before we enter the trade we should already know where we’re going to get out. And the intra-target as well, for example, you might be familiar with the USD and Swiss Franc – it was crazy, a price shock as we call it, a price adverse move of 5000 pips in just one day. When price adverse shocks like that happen suddenly in the market, you must have plans to get out. That’s what we call intra-target rules.
Those are the three categories that you definitely must have in your strategy rules so as to consistently execute and also to remove doubt and emotion you need to quantify those rules. That will really help towards your consistent execution.
In summary, they are entry rules, stop loss rules and target rules. The objective of writing all those rules, Traders, is so that you really get clear in your mind how the trade should look. You should have predetermined everything and you should be able to visualise how everything should be before you get into the trade, while you are in the trade and how you should get out of the trade – trade entry, trade management and trade exit.
I believe this has been very useful. Do some research on your strategies and you’ll clearly see how much clarity and conviction you’ll have in your strategy and how it will help you with your execution and strategy forms. Until the next time, as we always say, stay disciplined, follow your trading plan and keep Trading Like a Master.