Trading is hard at the best of times and made doubly so when someone as influential as Fed Chairman Powell is speaking, which was the case Thursdat afternoon as he testified before the House Budget Committee. As a result, U.S. markets reacted with caution and generally moved sideways for much of the session, with the VIX flip flopping between 13 and 13.80. It was a day for scalping in the very fast timeframes or, for more conservative index traders, one to sit out and wait for the price action to develop later in the day once Powell had completed his testimony. Indeed over the last ten days, this has been the pattern for U.S. equity markets, which have traded in narrow ranges. Yet as we show in the trading room, there are opportunities to be taken, though that doesn't necessarily mean moving to the fast timeframes, which is not for everyone.
We also take a look at GBP/AUD, which delivered once again with a strong move higher as the Aussie dollar continues to weaken. The pair remains the strongest on Tradestation's currency heatmap. We see a classic trend higher, moving firmly away from the volume point of control.