Futures Trading Education

U.S. Indices closed lower on Wednesday following a trading session that saw two-way trade with upside in stocks seen throughout most of the US session before selling off in the afternoon into the closing bell to see indices close predominantly in the red, albeit Nasdaq was flat. The downside extended with US President Trump taking aim at two sectors in the US, housing and defence. The President announced he will ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, weighing on the real estate sector and Blackstone (BX). Meanwhile, for Defence, Trump said he will not permit buybacks or dividends until problems, like slow production and maintenance, are fixed. T-notes were predominantly firmer with the curve flattening. Focus was largely on US data, which saw ADP Employment post job gains in December but short of analyst expectations, while the ISM Services PMI beat expectations. JOLTS, however, saw a notable drop below forecasts. Crude prices saw two-way trade but settled in the red with oil sales from Venezuela set to continue indefinitely with sanctions reduced as part of an agreement; Trump announced overnight Venezuela will be turning over between 30-50 million barrels of oil to the US, with sources later noting 50 million barrels will be sold in the first tranche. In FX, the Dollar saw gains against G10s with CAD lagging as crude prices fell. ISM Services for December rose to 54.4 from 52.6, and above the expected 52.3. Business activity rose to 56.0 (exp. 54.0, prev. 54.5), and Employment lifted back above 50 to 52.0 (exp. 48.7, prev. 48.9), printing in expansionary territory for the first time since May. New orders also impressed as it lifted to 57.9 from 52.9, well above the forecasted 52.2, with the inflationary gauge of prices paid encouragingly dipping to 64.3 (exp. 65.5, prev. 65.4), which is the slowest since April, indicating the bulk of the impact from tariffs may be in the rear-view. Overall, it was a strong report that continues to highlight the resilience of the US economy, especially in service-providing industries. Regarding new orders, the pace of expansion was the fastest in over a year and indicates the momentum should be carried into the new year. The November JOLTS report was soft. The headline fell to 7.146 million from 7.449 million (revised down from 7.67 million), despite expectations for a rise to 7.60 million. Within the report, the vacancy rate eased to 4.3% from 4.5%. Quits rose to 3.161 million from 2.973 million, with the quits rate rising to 2% from 1.9%. The hiring rate declined to 3.2% from 3.4%, with the separation rate unchanged at 3.2%. Summarising the data, Pantheon Macroeconomics notes rock-bottom hiring, but with layoffs also still low, it continues the low hiring, low firing economy seen recently. The consultancy notes that the report suggests “the FOMC still needs to ease policy further in order to prevent the unemployment rate from rising further and inflation eventually sliding below the 2% target”. Elsewhere, Oil closed higher by 0.6% while Gold ended a volatile session with a loss of 0.45%.

To mark my 3300th issue of TraderNoble Daily Commentary I am offering a special 2-Year Rate of Euro 2750 for my Platinum Service which includes 1 to 4 updated emails throughout the trading day to demonstrate this value, a monthly subscription over the same period would cost 4440 euro in total This offer represents a 38% discount and is open to both new and existing members. If anyone is interested in this offer can you please email me on bryan@tradernoble.com for details

For anyone following my Platinum Service it made 140 points yesterday and is now ahead by 605 points for January having closed December with a gain of 2599 points, after ending the month of November with a gain of 4542 points, after ending October with a nice gain of 5110 points after closing September with a gain of 3774 points while ending August with a gain of 3362 points after closing July with a gain of 3753 points after closing June with a gain of 3530 points, having closed May with a gain of 3606 points, after closing April with a gain of 7685 points after closing March with a gain of 2254 points while closing February with a gain of 4180 points. January ended with a gain of 2768 points while 1997 points were gained in December. October ended with a gain of 2179 points, after closing September with a gain of 4402 points, following a loss of 301 points in August. July gained 1908 points while June saw a gain of 2074 points. The Platinum Service made a record 9619 points in October 2022.  Since I started this New Platinum Service in June 2015 it has averaged a monthly gain of over 2300 points. I have a YouTube Channel which contains recent interviews I have given This can be viewed by clicking