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Tag Archives: gbpusd

UK Claimant Count

I was looking for a trade today.

Decided to do a straddle on the GBPUSD with the following details: –

Stop if Offered; 1.2790, Spot 1.2818, Stop if Bid; 1.2838

As it turned out the Stop if Bid was triggered as Claimant count came in lower at 6K versus 10.5K expectation.  Unemployment also improved slightly from 4.6% to 4.5%.

Am still holding the spot position with SL at 1.2838.

Let’s see.

Squared GBPUSD Put Option

I didn’t feel comfortable about the GBPUSD so I decided to square the option at 1.2875 for a trading profit of 45bps.

3 July @ Bought GBPUSD 1 month Put Option

I felt that the GBPUSD was too high and unsustainable.

On July 3rd, I decided to buy a GBPUSD put option for 1 month with the following details: –

Spot: 1.3020, Premium: 100bps, Breakeven: 1.2920, Expiry: 2 August

We will see.

18 May @ UK Retail Sales

After slumping for three months, market is expecting the retail sales to recover.

So at near 4:30pm, I put in my Stop if Bid trade with the following details: –

Spot: 1.2980

Stop if Bid: 1.3000

Squared at 1.3033

Trading profit: 33bps

Not bad lah!

GBPUSD

The straddle that was executed was triggered on the offered side and it almost got triggered on the bid side as well, thankfully.

However, the CPI, RPI and PPI data was mixed including the trade balance and the GBPUSD reflected it with a lack of momentum on the downside.

I decided to take profit at 1.2875 for a trading profit of 33bps.

UK CPI, PPI and RPI

UK usually is sensitive to this data as it is largely a services and consumption economy.

I decided to place a straddle with the following details: –

Spot: 1.2938

Stop if Bid: 1.2968

Stop if Offered: 1.2908

Let’s see.

7 April; GBPUSD @ Manufacturing Production, Industrial Production, Construction Output, Trade Balance

Given UK’s preoccupation with the Brexit and firms pulling out, I felt that the manufacturing numbers were probably going to be weak.

So decided to put in my GBPUSD straddle with the following details: –

Stop If Offered at 1.2440, Spoat at 1.2460, Stop if Bid at 1.2480

All the data came out weak, and it triggered by Stop if Offered leg, but for some reason the GBP seemed resilient, so I decided to square the position at 1.2400 for a trading profit of 40bps.

5 April; GBPUSD @ Services PMI

UK Services PMI will always be a much looked at data given the services economy that is the UK.

I decided to put in my GBPUSD straddle with the following detail: –

Stop if Offered at 1.2444, Spot at 1.2474, Stop if Bid at 1.2474

Though the PMI came out strong at 55 versus forecast of 53.5, the GBP just didn’t make much of a move, it did trigger my stop if bid leg.

I squared the position at 1.2492 for a small trading profit of 18bps.

 

18 April; Theresa May……….FRONT AND CENTRE

One of the more significant speeches to be made by Theresa May after triggering Article 50.

So I decided to place a straddle just before the speech with the following details: –

Stop If Offered at 1.2538, Spot at 1.2568, Stop if Bid at 1.2590

After Theresa May announced a possible snap election in June, the GBPUSD started getting bidded.

I followed the spot trade till about 9:25pm and decided to square the position at 1.2725 (high was 1.2745) for a trading profit of 135bps.

Thank you Theresa!!!

 

13 April; Bought 1 month GBPUSD Put Option and USDJPY Call Option both expiring 15 May

Volatility is low, so it’s increasingly more difficult to do intra day spot trades.

I felt the timing was more appropriate for options so decided to execute the following options: –

1 Month GBPUSD Put Option – Strike at Spot 1.2565, premium at 129bps and BE at 1.2436

1 Month USDJPY Call Option – Strike at Spot 108.85, premium at 1.43yen and BE at 110.29

Let’s see what happens.