Where did all the catalysts go?
Readers of my book will know that one type of trade I take, I categorise as a 'catalyst'. It is essentially a big move in a currency, caused by a particular event, generally a data release or political statement. Pre COVID-19, it wasn't unusual for there to be a catalyst opportunity every day. (remember, an opportunity doesn't necessarily translate to a trade) these days, there are only possibly one or two 'catalyst' opportunities per week. The two most recent I can think of are ...the poor CAD GDP data last week and before that.. the 'dovish hold' from the BOE. Apart from those, I can't think of any that stand out, there hasn't been any catalyst this week as far as I'm concerned. I can't remember the last USD catalyst. This doesn't mean there aren't still opportunities, I'm averaging 2 trades per week at the moment. These trades tend to be ones I'd class as fundemental trades, either the fundemental USD strength at the moment. Or the fundemental interest rate differential between Japan and the rest of the world. I'm sure one day the catalyst trade will return. But for now, I'm happy to keep doing my daily knowledge gathering, which is still garnering two trades a week and importantly, still making profit. You can't really ask for much more than that.