and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring,
except you,
because you forgot to exit your trade before the markets closed for Christmas.

The Christmas and New Year's holidays are the time of year that cause the most havoc for almost every market's trading schedule. Some markets are closed completely, some markets are closed some days but are open other days, and some markets have modified opening and closing times on several days. Knowing when your markets are open and closed is essential, otherwise you may find that you are stuck with an active trade, which you can't manage or exit until trading resumes after the holidays (during which anything could happen to affect your trade's profit and loss).

The holiday schedules for every market can be found at the appropriate exchange web sites. However, sometimes the holiday calendars are difficult to find, as they are often hidden several web pages deep. To save you the frustration of finding them yourself, the following are the direct links to the various exchanges' holiday calendars:

US Markets

• CME Group
• NASDAQ
• NYSE

European Markets

• Euronext
• DTB
• SWX

Asian Markets

• HKEX
• ASX

Note that some of the above holiday calendars include all of the necessary information (e.g. completely closed days, partially closed days, and modified trading times), but some of them only include the days that their markets are completely closed, with the days that their markets are partially closed shown separately (e.g. under the calendar). In other words, make sure that you check your markets' holiday schedules carefully, so that you know about all of the modifications to their trading times.

There are only a few news releases from the US this week, but many news releases from Europe and Asia. The US has five high volatility news releases, while Europe has eleven high volatility news releases, and Asia has ten high volatility news releases. US markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement at some point this week, while European and Asian markets will probably experience significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is one hour behind Central European Time, and five hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday: Central Bank News Conference at 5:00 PM, Consumer Credit at 8:00 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 10:45 PM
• Tuesday: Economic Optimism at 3:00 PM
• Wednesday: FOMC News Conference at 1:40 PM, Wholesale Inventories at 3:00 PM, and Oil Inventories at 3:30 PM
• Thursday: Trade Balance, and Unemployment Claims at 1:30 PM, Natural Gas Storage at 3:30 PM, FOMC News Conference at 6:45 PM, and Budget Balance at 7:00 PM
• Friday: Retail Sales, and Import Prices at 1:30 PM, Consumer Sentiment, and Inflation Expectations at 2:55 PM, and Business Inventories at 3:00 PM

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few US news releases this week, and five high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement at some point this week.

Europe

• Monday : EU Central Bank News Conference at 8:00 AM, Switzerland Retail Sales at 8:15 AM, UK HPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), EU Investor Confidence at 9:30 AM, Germany Factory Orders at 11:00 AM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 1:00 PM
• Tuesday : UK Retail Sales at 12:01 AM, France Budget Balance at 7:45 AM, UK Manufacturing Production, and Industrial Production at 9:30 AM, Germany Industrial Production, and UK Industrial Order Expectations at 11:00 AM, and UK GDP at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time)
• Wednesday : UK Consumer Confidence at 12:01 AM, UK Shop Price Index at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Switzerland Unemployment Rate at 6:45 AM, Germany CPI, and Trade Balance at 7:00 AM, France Trade Balance at 7:45 AM, UK Trade Balance at 9:30 AM, Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 11:00 AM, and UK Pre Budget Release at 12:30 PM
• Thursday : Germany WPI at 7:00 AM, France Non Farm Payrolls at 7:45 AM, France Industrial Production at 7:50 AM, Switzerland Libor Rate, Monetary Policy, and Central Bank News Conference at 8:30 AM, EU Central Bank Bulletin, and Italy Industrial Production at 9:00 AM, UK leading Index at 10:00 AM, UK Asset Purchase Facility, and Official Bank Rate at 12:00 PM, and MPC Rate at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time)
• Friday : UK PPI at 9:30 AM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 12:15 PM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are many  European news releases this week, and eleven high volatility news releases. The European markets will probably experience significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

Asia

• Monday : Australia Job Advertisements at 12:30 AM, New Zealand Manufacturing Sales at 9:45 PM, and Japan Bank Lending, Current Account, and Money Stock at 11:50 PM
• Tuesday : Australia Current Account, and Business Confidence at 12:30 AM, Japan Economy Watchers' Sentiment, and Leading Indicators at 5:00 AM, Australia Central Bank News Conference at 8:15 AM, Australia Consumer Sentiment at 11:30 PM, and Japan GDP at 11:50 PM
• Wednesday : Australia Home Loans, and Trade Balance at 12:30 AM, Japan Machine Tool Orders at 6:00 AM, New Zealand Cash Rate, Central Bank News Conference, Central Bank Rate, and Monetary Policy at 8:00 PM, New Zealand Manufacturing Index at 9:30 PM, New Zealand Overseas Trade Index at 9:45 PM, and Japan Machinery Orders, and CGPI at 11:50 PM
• Thursday : Australia Inflation Expectations, Employment Change, and Unemployment Rate at 12:30 AM, Australia Central Bank News Conference at 1:45 AM, and New Zealand FPI at 9:45 PM
• Friday : China Industrial Production, CPI, Fixed Asset Investment, National Bureau of Statistics News Conference, PPI, and Retail Sales at 2:00 AM, China New Loans, Money Supply, and Trade Balance at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and Japan Household Confidence at 5:00 AM

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are many Asian news releases this week, and ten high volatility news releases. The Asian markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

The fifth pair of the japanese candlestick patterns that require two separate candlesticks are based upon the same concept, but have completely different (and quite poetic) names. The piercing line and the dark cloud cover are very easy to identify on a price chart, and in the appropriate context they can be used as trade entry and trade exit signals.

There are only a few news releases from the US and Asia this week, but several news releases from Europe. The US has eight high volatility news releases, while Europe has six high volatility news releases, and Asia has five high volatility news releases. Markets from all three regions will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement at some point (US markets) or throughout this week (European and Asian markets).

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is one hour behind Central European Time, and five hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday : PMI at 2:45 PM
• Tuesday : PMI ISM Manufacturing, Pending Home Sales, Construction Spending, and ISM Manufacturing Prices at 3:00 PM, and Vehicle Sales at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time)
• Wednesday : Job Cuts at 12:30 PM, Non Farm Employment Change at 1:15 PM, Oil Inventories at 3:30 PM, FOMC News Conference at 5:30 PM, and Beige Book at 7:00 PM
• Thursday : Unemployment Claims, Non Farm Productivity, and Unit Labor Costs at 1:30 PM, Central Bank News Conference, and PMI ISM Non Manufacturing at 3:00 PM, and Natural Gas Storage at 3:30 PM
• Friday :Non Farm Employment Change, Unemployment Rate, and Average Hourly Earnings at 1:30 PM, and Factory Orders at 3:00 PM

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few US news releases this week, but eight high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement at some point this week.

Europe

• Monday : UK Consumer Confidence at 12:01 AM, UK Lending To Individuals, and Mortgage Approvals at 9:30 AM, and EU CPI, and Italy CPI at 10:00 AM
• Tuesday : Switzerland GDP at 6:45 AM, Germany Retail Sales, and UK HPI at 7:00 AM, Switzerland PMI at 8:30 AM, Germany Unemployment Change at 8:55 AM, EU PMI Manufacturing at 9:00 AM, UK HPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), UK PMI Manufacturing at 9:30 AM, EU Unemployment Rate at 10:00 AM, and UK MPC News Conference at 2:15 PM
• Wednesday : UK MPC News Conference at 8:20 AM, UK PMI Construction at 9:30 AM, and EU PPI at 10:00 AM
• Thursday : EU PMI Services at 9:00 AM, UK PMI Services at 9:30 AM, EU Retail Sales, and GDP at 10:00 AM, EU Minimum Bid Rate at 12:45 PM, EU Central Bank News Conference at 1:30 PM, and Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 3:00 PM
• Friday : Switzerland CPI at 8:15 AM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several  European news releases this week, and six high volatility news releases. The European markets will probably experience significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

Asia

• Monday : Australia Private Sector Credit, and Operating Profits at 12:30 AM, Japan Central Bank News Conference at 1:00 AM, Japan Average Cash Earnings at 1:30 AM, Japan Housing Starts at 5:00 AM, and Australia Manufacturing Index at 10:30 PM
• Tuesday : Australia Building Approvals at 12:30 AM, China PMI Manufacturing at 1:00 AM, Australia Cash Rate, and Central Bank Rate at 3:30 AM, Australia Commodity Prices at 5:30 AM, and Japan Monetary Base at 11:50 PM
• Wednesday : Australia Services Index at 10:30 PM, and Japan Capital Spending at 11:50 PM
• Thursday : Australia Retail Sales at 12:30 AM, and New Zealand Commodity Prices at 2:00 AM
• Friday : No News Releases

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few  Asian news releases this week, but five high volatility news releases. The Asian markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

... that I don't know what the financial markets will do, and neither does anybody else.

If you read the title of this blog post, and actually thought that I was going to make a definitive prediction for the financial markets for the next ten years, you definitely need to read the rest of this blog post, and should probably read my article where I reveal the holy grail of trading as well.

It is almost the end of the year, and also the end of the first decade of the first century of the third millenium (phew), and it is about this time that a lot of people (note that I said people not traders) start talking about what the financial markets will do over the next year and even the next ten years.

Most people will say that the financial markets are going to be bullish (primarily because this is what they want to happen). Some people will say that the financial markets are going to be bearish (perhaps because of a desire to be contrary to the masses). The truth is that nobody knows what the financial markets are going to do, and anyone who claims that they do is either a prophet or a fool (most likely the latter).

Successful traders do not try to predict what the financial markets are going to do over any length of time, and certainly not for such a ridiculous length of time as ten years. Profitable trading is about analysing a market, and then making trades based upon that analysis, but it is not about trying to guess (which is exactly what a market prediction is) what a market is going to do.

As we get closer to the end of the year, there will be more and more market predictions from many so called market analysts, and if you are an aspiring trader, you will need to ignore every one of them. These predictions are designed to sell advertising on mass media, and no successful trader will ever pay any attention to such a market prediction (or any other market information that comes from the mass media).

So, if you haven't already done so, this is a good time to decide which group you want to be part of, the prediction hungry public, or the prediction averse traders. If after reading this, the correct choice isn't obvious, then I apologize for distracting you from your search for the holy grail :-).

There are only a few news releases from the US this week, but many news releases from Europe, and several news releases from Asia. The US has seven high volatility news releases, while Europe has seven high volatility news releases, and Asia has three high volatility news releases. Markets from all three regions will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement at some point (US markets) or throughout this week (European and Asian markets).

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday : Existing Home Sales at 3:00 PM
• Tuesday : GDP at 1:30 PM, HPI at 2:00 PM, Consumer Confidence, HPI, and Manufacturing Index at 3:00 PM, and FOMC Meeting at 7:00 PM
• Wednesday : Durable Goods Orders, Unemployment Claims, PCE Price Index, Personal Spending, and Personal Income at 1:30 PM, Consumer Sentiment, and Inflation Expectations at 2:55 PM, New Home Sales at 3:00 PM, Oil Inventories at 3:30 PM, and Natural Gas Storage at 5:00 PM
• Thursday : No News Releases
• Friday : No News Releases

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few US news releases this week, but seven high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement at some point this week.

Europe

• Monday : France PMI Manufacturing and Services at 8:00 AM, Germany PMI Manufacturing and Services at 8:30 AM, EU PMI Manufacturing and Services at 9:00 AM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 1:00 PM
• Tuesday : Switzerland Consumption Indicator, and Germany GDP at 7:00 AM, France Consumer Spending at 7:50 AM, Switzerland Employment Level at 8:15 AM, Germany Business Climate at 9:00 AM, UK Mortgage Approvals, and Business Investment at 9:30 AM, UK Inflation Report at 9:45 AM, EU Industrial Orders at 10:00 AM, Belgium Business Climate at 2:00 PM, UK Central Bank News Conference at 3:35 PM, and Switzerland Central Bank News Conference at 5:30 PM
• Wednesday : Germany Consumer Climate at 7:00 AM, UK HPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Italy Retail Sales at 9:00 AM, and UK GDP, and Index of Services at 9:30 AM
• Thursday : Germany CPI at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), EU Money Supply, and Private Loans at 9:00 AM, Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 10:15 AM, UK Realized Sales at 11:00 AM, and Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 5:00 PM
• Friday : Germany Import Prices at 7:00 AM, EU Consumer Confidence at 10:00 AM, and Switzerland Economic Barometer at 10:30 AM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are many  European news releases this week, and seven high volatility news releases. The European markets will probably experience significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

Asia

• Monday : Australia Vehicle Sales at 12:30 AM, and Australia Leading Index at 11:00 PM
• Tuesday : Japan Central Bank Report at 5:00 AM, Australia Central Bank News Conference at 10:20 PM, and Japan Trade Balance, and CSPI at 11:50 PM
• Wednesday : Australia Construction Work at 12:30 AM, and Japan Monetary Policy at 11:50 PM
• Thursday : Australia Private Capital Expenditure at 12:30 AM, New Zealand Business Confidence at 2:00 AM, New Zealand Trade Balance at 9:45 PM, Japan Household Spending, CPI, and Unemployment Rate at 11:30 PM, and Japan Retail Sales at 11:50 PM
• Friday : New Zealand Inflation Expectations at 2:00 AM

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several Asian news releases this week, but only three high volatility news releases. The Asian markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

The fourth pair of the japanese candlestick patterns that require two separate candlesticks are composed of almost identical individual candlesticks, but have slightly different placement, and provide completely different indications. The inverted hammer and the shooting star are relatively easy to identify on a price chart, and in the appropriate context they can be used as trade entry and trade exit signals.

There are several news releases from each region (the US, Europe, and Asia) this week. The US has seven high volatility news releases, while Europe has five high volatility news releases, and Asia has two high volatility news releases. Markets from all three regions will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday : Retail Sales, and Manufacturing Index at 1:30 PM, Business Inventories at 3:00 PM, Central Bank News Conference at 5:15 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 11:15 PM
• Tuesday : FOMC News Conference at 10:30 AM, PPI at 1:30 PM, Long Term Purchases at 2:00 PM, Capacity Utilization Rate, and Industrial Production at 2:15 PM, FOMC News Conference at 3:15 PM, and Housing Market Index at 6:00 PM
• Wednesday : Building Permits, CPI, and Housing Starts at 1:30 PM, and Oil Inventories at 3:30 PM
• Thursday : Unemployment Claims at 1:30 PM, Manufacturing Index, and Leading Index at 3:00 PM, and Natural Gas Storage at 3:30 PM
• Friday : No News Releases

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several US news releases this week, and seven high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

Europe

• Monday : UK HPI at 12:01 AM, UK MPC News Conference at 8:15 AM, Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 8:50 AM, EU CPI at 10:00 AM, and UK MPC News Conference at 6:00 PM
• Tuesday : Switzerland Retail Sales at 8:15 AM, UK CPI, and RPI at 9:30 AM, EU Trade Balance at 10:00 AM, and UK Inflation at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time)
• Wednesday : EU Central Bank News Conference at 8:40 AM, EU Current Account at 9:00 AM, UK MPC Meeting at 9:30 AM, and UK Industrial Order Expectations at 11:00 AM
• Thursday : Switzerland Trade Balance at 7:15 AM, Italy Trade Balance at 9:00 AM, UK MPC News Conference at 9:20 AM, UK Retail Sales, Public Sector Borrowing, and Money Supply at 9:30 AM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 4:00 PM
• Friday : UK Financial Stability at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Germany PPI at 7:00 AM, Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 8:00 AM, Switzerland Central Bank News Conference at 9:15 AM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 10:30 AM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several  European news releases this week, and five high volatility news releases. The European markets will probably experience significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

Asia

• Monday : Japan Central Bank News Conference at 12:30 AM, China Foreign Direct Investment at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and Japan Industry Activity at 11:50 PM
• Tuesday : Australia Monetary Policy Meeting at 12:30 AM, and Australia Central Bank News Conference at 10:05 PM
• Wednesday : Australia Leading Index at 12:00 AM, and Australia Wage Price Index at 12:30 AM
• Thursday : Australia Central Bank Bulletin at 12:30 AM, Australia Central Bank News Conference at 1:00 AM, and Japan Industry Activity at 4:30 AM
• Friday : New Zealand Credit Card Spending at 2:00 AM, and Japan Monetary Policy, Overnight Call Rate, and Central Bank News Conference at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time)

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several Asian news releases this week, but only two high volatility news releases. However, the Asian markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

The third pair of the japanese candlestick patterns that require two separate candlesticks to be explained are variations of the bullish and bearish harami, namely the bullish and bearish harami cross. The bullish harami cross and the bearish harami cross are based upon the same concept as the bullish and bearish harami patterns, but have a significant difference in their meaning and their appearance. The bullish and bearish harami cross patterns are relatively easy to identify on a price chart, but they can not really be used as trade entry and trade exit signals (at least not on their own).

There are only a few news releases from the US this week, but many news releases from Europe and Asia. The US has two high volatility news releases, while Europe has five high volatility news releases, and Asia has seven high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience their usual level of volatility and price movement, while the European and Asian markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movement throughout this week.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is now 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday : No News Releases
• Tuesday : FOMC News Conference at 2:15 PM, Economic Optimism at 3:00 PM, FOMC News Conference at 3:05 PM, Loan Survey at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and FOMC News Conference at 8:30 PM
• Wednesday : No News Releases
• Thursday : Unemployment Claims at 1:30 PM, Oil Inventories at 4:00 PM, and Budget Balance at 7:00 PM
• Friday : Trade Balance, and Import Prices at 1:30 PM, Consumer Sentiment, and Inflation Expectations at 2:55 PM, Natural Gas Storage at 3:30 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 4:30 PM

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few US news releases this week, and only two high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience their usual level of volatility and price movement throughout this week.

Europe

• Monday : Germany Trade Balance at 7:00 AM, EU Investor Confidence at 9:30 AM, and Germany Industrial Production at 11:00 AM
• Tuesday : UK Retail Sales, and House Price Balance at 12:01 AM, Germany CPI, and WPI at 7:00 AM, France Industrial Production at 7:45 AM, Italy Industrial Production at 9:00 AM, UK Trade Balance, and HPI at 9:30 AM, and Germany Economic Sentiment, EU Economic Sentiment, and UK Leading Index at 10:00 AM
• Wednesday : UK Claimant Count Change, Average Earnings Index, and Unemployment Rate at 9:30 AM, UK Central Bank News Conference, and Inflation Report at 10:30 AM, and Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 5:00 PM
• Thursday : EU Central Bank Bulletin at 9:00 AM, Switzerland Economic Expectations, and EU Industrial Production at 10:00 AM, Switzerland News Conference at 5:00 PM, and EU Central Bank News Conference at 7:00 PM
• Friday : UK Financial Stability Report at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Germany GDP at 7:00 AM, France Non Farm Payrolls, and CPI at 7:45 AM, France GDP at 7:50 AM, Switzerland PPI at 8:15 AM, Italy GDP at 9:00 AM, EU GDP at 10:00 AM, and Germany Bundesbank News Conference at 1:15 PM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are many European news releases this week, and five high volatility news releases. The European markets will probably experience some high volatility and significant price movement throughout this week.

Asia

• Monday : Australia Home Loans, and Job Advertisements at 12:30 AM, Australia Central Bank News Conference at 3:20 AM, and Japan Bank Lending, Current Account, and Money Stock at 11:50 PM
• Tuesday : Australia Business Confidence at 12:30 AM, China Money Supply, and New Yuan Loans at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Japan Economy Watchers' Sentiment at 5:00 AM, Japan Machine Tool Orders at 6:00 AM, New Zealand Financial Stability Report at 8:00 PM, New Zealand FPI at 9:45 PM, Australia Consumer Sentiment at 11:30 PM, and Japan Machinery Orders at 11:50 PM
• Wednesday : China Industrial Production, CPI, Fixed Asset Investment, National Bureau of Statistics News Conference, PPI, and Retail Sales at 2:00 AM, China Trade Balance at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), New Zealand Manufacturing Index at 9:30 PM, New Zealand Retail Sales at 9:45 PM, and Japan CGPI at 11:50 PM
• Thursday : Australia Inflation Expectations at 12:00 AM, and Australia Employment Change, and Unemployment Rate at 12:30 AM
• Friday : China Foreign Direct Investment at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Japan Industrial Production at 4:30 AM, and Japan Household Confidence at 5:00 AM

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are many Asian news releases this week, and seven high volatility news releases. The Asian markets will probably experience their usual high volatility and significant price movement throughout this week.