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Employment in the U.S. rose by much less than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 126,000 jobs in March following a downwardly revised increase of 264,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 245,000 jobs compared to the addition of 295,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate held at a six-year low of 5.5 percent in March, unchanged from February and in line with economist estimates.

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Long time banking professor and Austrian economist, Patrick Barron joins Merlin Rothfeld and John O’Donnell for a look at the deterioration situation going on in Europe. Professor Barron sees some radical changes facing the EU, some which he is all but guaranteeing will happen over time! What does this mean for your long term holdings? Tune in and find out.



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On a candlestick chart you have a candle for every period - for example, on a five minute chart you will have a candle every five minutes whether the price moved or not. In a P&F chart, a new notation is made only when price moves by a certain amount. If there is no trading or if price does not move enough, no notation is made.

To create the trading chart, you will use an “X” to note when prices rise by a certain amount and an “O” when they decline by an amount. You only put X’s or O’s in a column.

If you need O’s due to a reversal in price, you would start a new column. You do not put X’s and O’s in the same column.

You must first decide the minimum amount of movement to note. This is referred to as the box size. You can set the box size for anything you would like but remember, the smaller the size the more sensitive the chart will be.

You also need to decide the reversal setting. This will be the multiple of the box size that would create a reversal signal.



The larger reversal size will filter out many small corrections that might have otherwise scared traders out of positions.

You can take a simple buy signal when a column of X’s rises above the previous column of X’s. You could stay long until a sell signal has been generated. The simple sell signal comes when a column of O’s breaks below a previous column of O’s.



When we trade, we should know at least three things about the position before we take it. We need to know our entry, the stop, and the target we hope to achieve. A point and figure chart can offer all of that to us. We can place our stops for longs just under the last column of O’s. As long as there is no reversal that breaks that low, we stay in the trade.






If we are using a larger reversal size, 1×3, 20×3 or so, we can still use a horizontal projection. In this case, we would multiply the horizontal box count by the box size and the reversal size to determine the projection length.





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Federal Reserve officials are divided over when to begin raising interest rates, according to the minutes of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting held in March.

USDCAD M5: 47 pips price movement by FOMC Meeting Minutes news event :

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Spurred by a listener question about how to short the S&P 500, Merlin Rothfeld and Josip Causic break down the various methods to achieve the same goal. The duo breaks down the pros and cons of 4 different approaches to making money should the markets drop. They also talk about current market conditions and volatility.



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The residential market is heating up, leading to some bidding wars in various parts of the country. This has led many to inquire about selling their homes too! Is it the right choice? Tune in and listen to real estate expert, Diana Hill offer her thoughts on inventories, interest rates, and market data.



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The World Bank forecast economic growth in developing countries in East Asia and Pacific to ease this year despite getting the benefits of weak oil prices and the continued recovery in developed economies. In the East Asia Pacific Economic Update released Monday, the Washington-based lender said developing East Asia will grow 6.7 percent each in 2015 and 2016.

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Financial illiteracy is a major factor in America’s significant shortfall with retirement savings and much more. John and Merlin talk about how this illiteracy is spreading, and what we should do to help improve financial understanding. The duo also take a look at paper profits most investors hold, and how they should protect those gains in the face of a potential market correction.



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Singapore's gross domestic product gained 2.1 percent on year in the first quarter of 2015, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in Tuesday's preliminary reading.

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In my first article on Point and Figure (P&F) charting, I discussed the basics of creating that style of chart. In this article, I will build upon that knowledge and show more advanced methods for identifying patterns and projecting price movement. I want to mention that I tend to use this method of charting for longer term swing or position trades rather than intraday. Remember that time is not a factor while attempting to achieve targets in P&F and you will likely hold positions for some time.Patterns in P&F charts are a bit different than what you may be used to in candlestick charting. A triple top formation is not necessarily a reversal formation, it could be a continuation. It will still offer a trading opportunity however. Look at the following examples of both the bullish and bearish triple formation.




Even patterns such as triangles are visible and can be traded on P&F charts. They will work in much the same manner as they would on candlestick charts.




I previously discussed the use of horizontal price projections. Many traders choose a different price projection method. If you are not using a 1 box reversal chart and have instead selected a three box, (this refers to how much price would have to reverse for you to start a new column, $10×3 means price would have reversed a minimum of $30), you can try the vertical price projection method. I have found this style to be more accurate in projecting targets.
The vertical price projection can only be made under certain circumstances. They are:

1st move off a bottom (1st row of X’s)1st move down from top (1st row of O’s)2nd move from top or bottom



Once you have counted the correct column, you can multiply that count by the per box value and then multiply that number by the size for reversal. Your result should then either be added to the price bottom or subtracted from the price top to give you the price projection.



Now that we know the basics and what to look for, let’s examine a few P&F charts to see this technique in action. I have a chart of the S&P 500 Index 10×3 point and figure format. The 10 means I need a minimum of a 10 point move between closing prices to make a new box of X’s or O’s. I must also have a minimum of 30 points (10×3), to start a new column for a reversal. The numbers and letters refer to the months (1-9 are Jan. to Sept., A-C are Oct. to Dec.)



I can do the same with charts of individual stocks. I would simply adjust the box size on the chart for stocks or the indexes due to their higher or lower prices.



If you are looking for smaller duration trades, you can lessen the box size and also the closing periods. I had been using the daily closes on the previous charts. Depending on the trading software that you use, you can set box size smaller. This makes the chart more sensitive and allows you to see intraday activity. You can set the chart’s period to five minutes. If the close from a five minute period would cause a change in the chart, it is noted instead of waiting for the daily close.

By adjusting the box size and even what closing price the box will use, you can create all types of interesting charts to follow trends in the intraday or even multi decade trend following charts. The possibilities are limitless. Next week we will examine more strategies on point and figure charts and how to use them in conjunction with our core strategy of supply and demand.



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