Websites For Traders

BBForex.com

When trading currencies, keeping abreast of forex-related news is very important, which is why if you go to any forex site you expect to see a real-time news update. But have you ever seen a site where the forex-related news is merged with the price chart? To see this wonderful feature, all you have to do is visit www.BBForex.com. This was what piqued my interest and encouraged me to explore the other features available on this site. Given that the website is one of John Bollinger’s collections of products, the impressive list of features should come as no surprise, given his reputation in the field of technical analysis. Still, it’s always nice to see something unique when you visit a website.

BBForex.com homepage

Features
You can see an example of the merging of the chart and news feature in Figure 1. On this 30-minute chart of the Eur/Usd, I have used the colorful Bollinger bar charts. Some bars have a letter displayed on them. If you click on any of these letters, you will see the forex-related news item released on that date. On June 17, 2009, there was a news release stating that the Euro-zone exports fell 21% in the first quarter. You can monitor the chart to determine how the news affected the Eur/Usd. This is an extremely useful feature for any forex trader.

Figure 1: merging news with charts

In addition to keeping abreast of the news, forex traders need to analyze the charts technically. At BBForex.com you can choose from 18 technical indicators in addition to Bollinger bands and Bollinger envelopes, all of which can be applied to analyze currency pairs or crosses. In fact, you may even find an indicator or two that you have never used before.

Some of you may find these features to be one step ahead of where you are now. If you want to learn the basics of forex before jumping into the charts and news features, you can benefit from this site as well. BBForex.com caters to both beginning and advanced forex traders. It has an educational bent and covers everything you need to know to trade currencies. Beginners can go through Level 1 before moving on to the advanced features of Level 2. Level 1 involves learning the basics, the two trading approaches used to get forex signals (volatility breakout and confirmed breakout), familiarizing yourself with the charting program, and the currency conversion table.

Once you are through with Level 1, you can move up to the second level, where you customize charts, apply technical indicators, see the forex pairs that meet the volatility breakout and confirmed breakout criteria, customize the currency conversion table, and create your portfolio. I am not going to explain all these features since you can find everything you need on the website, which, by the way, is free. To see all the features, however, you do need to register. The tutorials you’ll find are well-written and detailed, and cover all the topics and features on the site. I encourage everyone who is registered on the site to go through them. It is also a good idea to read the book Bollinger On Bollinger Bands to get a better understanding of how to apply the two methodologies used to identify breakouts.

The heart (and lung) of the website is the Lists feature. You get an updated list of all the currency pairs/crosses that meet the volatility and confirmed breakout criteria. These lists, along with charts, quotes, and news, are updated on a real-time basis. You see an example of the list in Figure 2. You have the option of changing some of the settings such as the time frame of the bars and the lookback period. You will also get a summary of how many buy and sell signals met the two criteria. If you click on any of the pairs on the list, you will see a chart of the specific currency pair with the entry and exit signals displayed clearly on the chart as well as news and related indicators. This will give you an idea of how Bollinger bands work in the forex markets.

Figure 2: the lists feature

Since the lists get updated frequently, you can opt to turn off the real-time quotes if they change too quickly for you. There is also an alert feature that is very useful if you are not facing the screen. You can also create a portfolio and populate it with pairs from the list that meet your criteria. The portfolio feature contains interesting details such as the hourly highs and lows as well as which ones are up and which are down.

There is also a discussion board where you can post questions or give feedback. It is not very active at the moment, but I hope that with a larger following it will pick up.

Forex trading
BBForex.com is focused exclusively on applying Bollinger band analytics to forex trading. I found the site to be very educational and informative. It is user-friendly and easy to navigate. The home page displays a quick chart and news headlines so you can get a glance at the overall picture of the currency markets. You can also access all the features via the tabs along the top of the home page. There is also a lot of flexibility in all the features, giving you the opportunity to adjust parameters so they meet your trading preferences. It’s easy to get addicted to this site; there are so many features and you can spend hours there. If you go through all the material available there starting with the basics and moving to the more advanced features, you are sure to gain a lot from it.

—Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan, Editor

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