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Monday, May 25, 2009

How Seasonal Patterns Effect Forex Markets?

By Hass67

Many forex traders depend on either fundamental analysis or technical analysis in their trading. The savvier among them try to combine both in making predictions about the direction a particular currency is going to follow in the future.

Fundamental analysis depends on the study of underlying economic factors that affect currency markets. Technical analysis is based on the premise that past price action can be used to make predictions about the future price action in forex markets.

If you have been trading stocks, you must be familiar with the term: The January Effect. It has been observed over a long period of time that stocks tend to perform very well between the last week of December and the first week of January.

The explanation why this effect takes place is quite simple. At the end of the year, many investors try to realize capital gains or losses to file their tax returns. Many corporations also try to adjust their balance sheets favorably at the end of the year.

Seasonality is not peculiar to the stock markets. In fact forex markets also tend to exhibit strong seasonal effects. Seasonality can be defined as a pattern that occurs at a particular period of the year.

The January Effect also takes place in forex markets due to the same reasons. Many investors who are adjusting their stock positions try to convert their local currencies into dollars at that time.

However, the January Effect is more pronounced in certain currency pairs as compared to others. For example, dollar shows pronounced January Effect against some currencies but not other. The Summer Effect also takes place when dollar shows a summer seasonality when it tends to rise in USD/JPY and USD/CAD in the beginning of July and give back its gains by August.

There are many other seasonal patterns in currency pairs. However, it does not mean that you should believe in these effects blindly. Just keep them in your mind when trading.

Seasonality only shows that there are strong probabilities that during a particular period of the year, the chances of a certain currency pair going up or down are more pronounced.

In certain years, the effect may be pronounced. Just remember that many economic forces play a role in effecting the currencies so in other years, the seasonal effects may not be so pronounced. As a forex trader, you only need to understand these seasonal effects while trading during that time of the year. - 23200

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