John O’Donnell sits in for Merlin and interviews Jose Blasco from Spain. Jose teaches at OTA on big picture market and history of  markets, depths and times. John and Jose also discuss forex as great indicators of inflation and deflation ie euro vs dollar index.

John O’Donnell sets in for Merlin and interviews Jeff Manson on the big picture market.  They discuss the history of the bear markets depth and times. They also discuss fibonacci as a great indicator.

Fresh off a trip to Mexico, Merlin returns to find the global financial markets in turmoil, and lots of finger pointing at the culprit. Merlin and special guest XLT Instructor Brandon Tristan, take a look at the top 3 factors and try to discern which will be the most influential over the coming weeks. Brandon talks about his Trade Review and Trade Plan Review sessions he conducts with his XLT students before diving into some listener questions about specific securities. From Stocks to Currencies, Brandon stresses the importance of filtering out the major news and focusing on a rule based strategy to increase your odds of success.

Merlin is away for a magical weekend in Mexico. Tillie Allison hosts the show today with Online Trading Academy Instructor Jeff Manson and they analyze the SPY on multiple timeframes. With all the negative news affecting markets pre-market, traders have to use special tactics to manage emotions before the opening bell. Jeff and Tillie talk about how to avoid common mistakes when trading the opening bell. In addition to trading the SPY, Jeff and Tillie talk about trading single stock futures to reduce the cost basis and increase the rate-of-return.

Tillie Allison hosts Power Trading Radio for the weekly wealth management show, with special guest Merlin Rothfeld. A wealth of brokerage firms recently released statistics on their client base, revealing shocking numbers pertaining to how inadequately prepared they are for retirement. Tillie discusses some justifications for this, as Merlin sets off in an angry rant. Both emphasize that everyone can take simple steps to build up their nest eggs with minimal time commitment.  Later, Tillie looks at some charts for market direction which seem to be pointing to a minor pullback across the board.

Merlin kicks things off breaking down his recent trades shorting the market, and long oil. Mapping out the Oil trade, he identifies a low risk entry with good reward, now we just have to wait and see if his position pans out! Steve Moses joins us from New York where he is teaching an Options class. Steve and Merlin work through an example of using options on Priceline before earnings that would have paid you $125 if PCL dropped $160 per share or less by next Friday. Yes, you read that right, $160! Later, Steve addresses a couple listener questions regarding how The Greeks are used in Options trading, as well as Naked Options.

Fresh off a whirlwind tour of Singapore and Indonesia, Sam Seiden tells us some of the highlights of his trip, touching on the cultural differences and some surprising trading technology in unlikely places! Sam and Merlin talk about establishing supply and demand zones to help identify high probability, low risk entry points. Sam looks at why some levels are more significant than others, and what causes these levels to provide significant moves.

After years of making a high number of executions and trading for the sake of trading, Eric Waddell went through a discovery process which taught him to focus on the “Exceptional Trade”. These setups offer low risk, high reward opportunities and follow a well thought out plan. Eric shares some of the details of his strategy with listeners, giving visual examples of stocks which are currently exhibiting some Exceptional Trade characteristics. Eric and Merlin talk about the importance of having a plan and following rules in order to gain a level of consistency in the market, as well as how to deal with the inevitable losing trade.

John O’Donnell and Merlin Rothfeld take a look at many of the major issues facing the financial markets. After calling a 1.5% decline on the S&P market on Thursday’s show, Merlin explains what factors caused his assessment, and target. John runs through a bunch of charts of economic data to help justify his comments that the market is poised for more downside movement. If you are finding it difficult to get financing or a loan, these charts will really drive home why!  John also tackles a listener question about selling rallies and buying pullbacks like we are seeing in the current market.

In a special investing show, Tillie Allison joins Merlin in studio to talk about some of finer points about what one should do when markets top out like they have. Tillie discusses how she implements her long strategy on present markets and what tactics she employs when markets correct and retreat to lower levels. While most financial planners shove more Mutual Funds in your face to make a defensive play, the ProActive Investor class uses options to generate consistent rates of return, despite price declines.

As the month of May kicks off, Merlin takes a look at some of the historical numbers pertaining to the monthly performance of the S&P 500 going back to 1926. Interestingly, it does support getting out of the market in May, yet that all changes during Presidential election years. Guest Bill Henner adds his 2 cents before turning things to current market volatility issues and VIX. Bill also talks about his recent appearance in the Extended Learning Tract (XLT) program, then adds a little about his ProPick on the Japanese Yen futures which worked out very nicely!

As more and more countries continue their economic slide, currency volatility persists. This volatility presents tremendous opportunities for traders in all markets if they can properly time the markets. Merlin Rothfeld and Rick Wright spend an entire show just breaking down the macro fundamental and technical analysis on a variety of currency pairs, mapping out some of the more important levels where price may find buyers or sellers. Currencies include: Aussie, Yen, US Dollar, Loonie and more.

As the markets appear to be topping out, Debbie Hague and Merlin Rothfeld discuss how one needs to modify their trading style to accommodate a changing markets. Debbie emphasizes that the major force is still to the upside, and that her current strategy is to buy the pullbacks into demand levels. They also talk about relative strength, and how they find trading opportunities which offer Low risk, High reward potential. Ultimately it boils down to how you scan and filter the market to find your trading opportunities.

For many weeks, listeners have asked us to address the issue of Life Insurance and some of the pro’s vs cons.

Merlin and John, welcome Brian Bewley and Richard Keal of Generational Wealth Partners, a firm focused on a new approach to an old investment: Life Insurance. Brain and Richard explain how most investors have been duped into buying a product that does them no good, and that by self directing their life insurance they can achieve much greater returns and flexibility on this once rigid instrument.

Tillie Allison brings her incredibly analytical mind to Power Trading Radio to shed some light on what the longer term investors should do with regards to the media and their pumping of stories. She stresses the very systematic rule based system taught in the Proactive Investor class as an easy way to eliminate external noise and follow the rules. She tells us how she analyzes her long term accounts every Friday and makes necessary changes, coincidentally getting her long the market last Friday! Later in the show, the duo looks at asset allocation and how portfolio’s should be balanced in present markets.

PowerPick: USDJPY (same as yesterday)

Every earnings season Merlin and his guests repeatedly emphasize that trading earnings announcements are very risky and should not be done. Having said that, there is one asset class which makes a little more sense if one did decide to trade an earnings announcement. Steve Moses joins to show to talk about the versatility he has with options and walks the listeners through a few examples including a naked short position he had open going into Apple’s earnings last night. After sharing their thoughts on straddle trades and their usefulness, Steve and Merlin look at Amazon’s earnings announcement coming out tomorrow after hours and evaluate how options might be useful if one took the risk of trading that earnings release.

 

After an extended “Donkey of the Day” segment about Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, Merlin steers the remainder of the show to the international currency markets. Over the last week, many questions have poured in regarding the Japanese Yen, and how to trade it in the various markets; Spot, Futures, and Equities. Merlin and guest Steve Misic Look at how the instruments function on the various exchanges then take a look at the economic numbers and charts for a better sense as to where the currency is headed. After addressing a listener question about Spain being too big to let fail for the EU, Steve turns his attention to the Swiss franc to evaluate the impact its current trend is having on the Swiss National Bank, and if they can hold prices where they have said they would!

With solid documentation about pointing to the shrinking of global economy’s, a listener wonders if its best to short the equity markets. Merlin shares his thoughts on the issue, and offers other suggestions rather than just shorting. Jeff Manson joins the show after his Live Trading event in Irvine California. He shares with Merlin the steps he takes to prepare for and execute his live trades in front of a group of students. Later, Jeff and Merlin look at what are some of the key factors which led to the trades he made today. Jeff adds to his previous comments about Fibonacci and its many uses for his trading.

PowerPick of the Day: BAC

With John O’Donnell back in the saddle as Co-Host, Power Trading Radio dives into the major market news impacting our worlds. John starts off denouncing the accusations that he is a Perma Bear in real estate with examples of when and where he will buy. He then turns to Merlin’s new portfolio acquisition, Natural Gas with some thoughts about the investment. Later, feeding off a listener question about how to profit from a Greek default, Merlin and John break down the major components at play in Europe and what they would to do make money if the Euro continues its current path.  Finally, John talks about gold, and expresses his opinion about waiting to buy gold after it dips a little bit more!

Merlin starts things off by answering a listener question about how he set up his GLD trade a few weeks back. After walking through exactly how the stop was set, he dives into his newest portfolio addition, Natural Gas. Diana Hill joins the show to talk about alternative ways which we can buy properties for flipping or investment. Many feel the there is a foreclosure wave coming which will push prices down further, Diana says shenanigans! Later the two talk about purchasing houses at Auction sites and what to be watchful of when doing so!

Merlin kicks off the show with a quick discussion about supply and demand levels, and the steps needed to map out an entire trade. He does this on Devon Energy (DVE) at a listeners request. Next Don Dawson joins the show and the two talk about President Obama’s proposal for greater regulation and fines with regards to Oil speculators. Don goes on to give examples of how media is quite often lagging with their stories, and how traders should regard their information. The interdependence between commodities and other financial markets is made a bit clearer with their discussion of Cotton, Orange Juice, Sugar, Coffee, and more.

Solo in the studio, Merlin runs through in depth current market analysis of most of the major currency pairs. With intervention looming, the yen is the first target. Merlin maps out an upcoming demand level which may act as a good buy point should the dollar keep dropping. After a quick rundown of how he sets stops, Merlin then turns his attention to the Cable for potential setups. Finally we get a quick rundown of what is going on over in Europe with some solid analysis of the Euro, and a listener question about the USDCAD. PowerPick: USDJPY

Apple has a 4% down day, bringing with it the nasdaq, and pulling down other indexes as well. From the looks of it, this may continue as the selling has been picking up momentum the last 2 days. Bruce Milbury joins the show to talk about his upcoming article in  www.traders-mag.com  dealing with candlestick outliers. Steve and Merlin explain that once traders are confident with the Online Trading Academy methodology of Supply and Demand zones, adding in candlestick formations adds another level of confidence in a trade. Bruce outlines what are some of his preferred candles as well as showing a few charts as examples.

With “The Ambassador of Opportunity” John O’Donnell out for the day, Merlin opens up the flood gates to listener questions. The preponderance of questions pertained to Investing and long term investing, including discussions on: Exchange Traded Funds, Asset Allocation, ETF liquidity and market timing. Later, Merlin looks at foreign currency pairs for a little insight on what people should be trading and why.

PowerPick: WFC

Markets exhibited a nice bounce the last couple days, and 1 of the 4 major indexes displayed a bit more strength yesterday causing it to be the biggest gainer today. Merlin talks about this, and why he chose that index as his PowerPick of the day yesterday. Paul Orme joins the show to talk about the 3 most common mistakes investors make with regards to their 401k plans, as well as a quick rundown of how to reduce fees by selecting alternative investment vehicles. Merlin and Paul talk about what one can do if they are behind in their retirement planning (as Most Americans Are!!!).

With 38 years of trading on the floors of CME, CBOT, and CBOE, you would assume that you know just about everything there is to know. Craig Weil tells us how he took a month off of teaching to focus on learning some new trading instruments as well as apply some new technical tools to see if he could increase his returns. Merlin and Craig discuss some of the nuances of these assets, including Live Cattle, Corn, Soy Beans etc. Later, Craig talks a little about his “Hard Target” trading methodology, but encourages traders to find their own style. PowerPick: IWM

In a rare treat, Power Trading Radio is visited by the Mastermind behind the award winning Online Trading Academy curriculum, Sam Seiden. Sam tackles a couple listeners regarding his recent articles in Lessons from the Pros, a free publication voted “Best Newsletter” in the trading industry. Later, Sam and Merlin talk about some of the factors one needs to pay attention to when looking at trading for a living. Sam walks us through some of the levels in todays markets, as well as illustrating the strength behind the Supply and Demand levels mapped out in the Mastermind Trading Community. Discussions follow on the Euro, dollar and Aussie. PowerPick: USDJPY

Nearly 14 years ago, Merlin was teaching trading classes in a small room at Online Trading Academy, all with the intent of transforming people’s lives with honest financial education. One of those students from back in 1998 was Roger Best. Roger spent years applying his education to the markets and worked with several mentors to hone in his trading style which is exclusively Day trading. He has gone on to be one of the top instructors at Online Trading Academy, and also was voted 2009 Instructor of the Year! Roger and Merlin reminisce about the old trading floor days, talk trading styles, and share their passion for trading.

With the worst week for the S&P500 firmly behind us, Merlin Rothfeld and John O’Donnell take a look at some of the major factors facing the markets. John offers his perspective on Gold, which may surprise many regular listeners! This carries into a discussion about the Baltic Dry index and its implications for global trade. Transportation may also face further setbacks with the rising prices of Diesel and Oil. Later in the program, the duo take a look at the S&P 500 and the Dow for potential market clues.

A nice down day for the markets prompts several listeners to send in questions about potential buy opportunities, which Merlin tackles in the opening segment. Later, Steve Moses joins the show to share his experiences as an options trader, including his progression from market skeptic to seasoned veteran. Steve walks us through the way he trades options before diving into several listener questions regarding protection, volatility, and earnings plays. Merlin and Steve walk through these examples with real-time charts.

For the most part, Tuesday was just a slightly bearish market… Then we got the fed minutes! This report jolted all markets and currencies with a fierce move! After the dust settled, many currency pairs ran into significant supply & demand levels. Tillie Allison joins the show to talk about how she uses the Futures market to trade currencies, receiving better pricing and significant tax advantages. Later in the show Merlin and Tillie take a look at the Euro for potential supply and demand zones which may cause price to turn in the future. PowerPick: USDJPY

Having floor traders on the show is one of our favorite things! Today, we have 25 year floor trader from the CME and CBOT, Bill Henner. Our last meeting with Bill, we had the chance to talk about how he got into trading, as well as pick his brain about the way he trades. Today, we visit Bill fresh back from teaching in London for Online Trading Academy. He shares with us some of his experiences before diving into the essentials of community in Trading. Later, Bill and Merlin take a look at TLT & SPY for trading opportunities

 

Guest Host John O'Donnell and special guest Ralph Benko debate Bernanke's stance on the Gold Standard .  Ralph Benko, based in Washington, DC, is a former Reagan White House aide, is a populist conservative Republican, and contributes a weekly column to Forbes.com, republished by Townhall.com and worldwide.  He is the senior advisor, economics, to the American Principles in Action and advisor to and editor of the Lehrman Institute's  thegoldstandardnow.org .  

Merlin kicks things off by going over a listener’s question about shorting impacts on supply levels, then focuses on CAT for a well thought out trade by one of our listeners. Focus shifts to Real Estate as Diana Hill joins the show to walk through many of the current fundamental housing market numbers to help gain a clearer understanding of where we stand. Several listeners bring in questions ranging from buying homes with IRA money, to using 203k loans to buy the Hooters Casino in Vegas!

Merlin starts off the show talking about The current market conditions and clarifies some comments from Tuesday’s show regarding Dark Cloud Cover and the appropriate statistics. Next, we look at charts pertaining to a student’s question regarding Elliot Wave and Baidu. Steve Bobbitt joins the show to shed some light on how he uses Fibonacci as a predictive element in his trading, as well as how he teaches his students to use Futures to anticipate stock market direction. PowerPick: KBH

Certain market events are shaping up for, what Merlin believes, is a nice move down over the next few days. This is a combination of market internals as well as a candlestick formation on the Daily chart which foreshadows a 5% decline in price. Bert adds his 2 cents about Europe and the current situation with Spain and Italy, as well as the rumors that Germany is printing DM again! Bert and Merlin look at The Euro as well for potential targets. PowerPick: USDJPY

As the markets looked a little soft going into Monday’s trading session, Mr. Bernanke made some comments which vaulted them significantly higher. Causing many to speculate that QE3 is just around the corner. Merlin tackles a couple listener questions about High Frequency Trading and how it impacts the markets. Derek Zelek joins the show to talk about his ProTrader class and some of the key things he is teaching them about order executions. Derek shares with us some of the major points traders should be looking out for when sending orders to the market. After a brief walkthrough a trade they made in class today, Derek gives his opinion of where he sees the markets going over the short term.

HFT rears its ugly head with investigations by the SEC into newly IPO’d stock exchange BATs. John and Merlin weigh in on the evolution of trading markets and the influx of technology, specifically high speed computers. John takes a look at gold and silver as a potential addition to ones long term portfolio, as well as giving away his CD “Why Gold, Why Now” to callers. Merlin looks at some of the recent housing numbers for possible glimpses of a market bottom in the housing market.

Tillie Allison, CES & CFP, joins Merlin for a look at many listener questions regarding their long term portfolios and other financial difficulties. The pair look at the popular investment methodology CANSLIM, and break it down to some basic pro’s and cons. During this packed 1 hour show, topics range from loading up a portfolio with one stock,  live trading workshops, using options to generate income and the usage of TVIX and VIX derivatives.

Merlin kicks off things with a quick recap of his AUDUSD PowerPick from Tuesday, explaining exactly whyy he chose the levels, as well as mapping out the targets for his current trade. Later, Debbie hague joins the show from Denver Colorado, where she is currently teaching a Trade Plan class. Debbie talks about some of the standout rixk management errors she has encountered with students recently. Both comment on Apple and its unrelenting power in dragging up all the major indicies, yet some are weakening. PowerPick: QQQ\NQM12

Fresh off a trip to India, Currency expert Steve Misic joins the show to talk about some of the major differences he encountered with regards to trading and investing. Steve goes onto talk about his upcoming article in Trader’s Magazine, in which he focuses on the USDJPY and some interesting upcoming trade set-ups. Later Steve and Merlin take a look at the European situation and break down the price action of the Euro for potential trades. PowerPick: AUDUSD

Many feel that once you have trading down, you don’t need to learn any more about it. Not so! Mike McMahon joins Power Trading Radio to talk about a class that he attended as a student, not the instructor, in an effort to broaden his understanding of the tools and technology available. Having traded for 36 years, Mike has his system down pat, but stresses the need to constantly be learning from other professionals in order to stay fresh, and improve your skills. Mike and Merlin talk about some of the golden nuggets Mike picked up in the class, then they turn the mics to the listeners questions for some specific stock chart analysis.

John O’Donnell and Merlin Rothfeld run through some of the major issues facing the financial markets.

Goldman Sachs and Bank of America came under fire, spurring speculation of the Volcker rule, and other regulations for big banks. The duo looks at Gold, the Dollar and several other stocks as requested by listeners. Later, Merlin and John look at a listeners comment about Apple being in a bubble, and its impact on the market. PowerPick: RMD

As more positive economic data floods the market, the bulls continued to rejoice Thursday. This is great news for investors, however, they should also be a little cautious. Paul Orme, joins Merlin to talk about how people should be preparing for an extended retirement period. Starting out, EVERYONE should know exactly what rate of return they need to retire with the lifestyle they choose. From that point, Paul and his team of instructors at Online Trading Academy craft a financial recipt to achieve, and in many cases, exceed those goals. Bottom line is everyone should be in charge of their own investments.

 

As an insider at Goldman Sachs resigns, he unleashed a firestorm that threatens the financial behemoth. Merlin talks to a couple special guests to get their thoughts on the issue, before bringing on his special guest. Michael Young joins the show to talk about some of the tools he is using to stay in these ballistic markets. Later, Merlin and Michael look at some current futures charts for key supply and demand levels which we may run into soon. PowerPick: KLAC

Markets were already off to a good start before Bernanke vaulted them even higher with is “not much is going to change” attitude. Merlin tackles a variety of listener questions ranging from Currency correlations with the S&P500, the sharp drop in gold, and what to do with a Large amount of cash making next to nil interest.  These topics and much more on today’s Power Trading Radio! PowerPick: EURUSD

As Bernanke gets his facial hair all primed up for TV tomorrow, the trading world is busy anticipating the next move. So much pressure is on the Fed, that many traders are anticipating their next action. Kyle Hibbard joins the show to talk about what he tells his students, and how he trades big announcements like the one tomorrow. Later, Kyle and Merlin take a look at commodities and basic materials as a potential addition to a long term portfolio. Merlin and Kyle analyze the last time we had a bull market like this and compare the rate hikes that happened back then, none of which are present during the latest rally. One of these kids is not like the others!! PowerPick: IRM

With a global sigh of relief about Greece and their potential default, John O’Donnell raises concerns about other PIIG countries following suit. John and Merlin also dive in to the current economic numbers including unemployment data, which appears to be the driving force behind the current rally. Merlin addresses a question from a reporter regarding the high failure rate of traders, which Merlin and John discuss and offer some pretty clear cut justification for why they fail, as well as solutions to help them succeed. John also offers listeners 3 new webinars for all callers at 888-304-8723

Tillie Allison joins Power Trading Radio live from Minneapolis where she is teaching a ProTrader class for Online Trading Academy. We start off talking about her process of trade plan review, where she sits down with students to go over their trading plans step by step to ensure they are on the right path. She stresses that a trading plan is not something you can copy from your friend and put your name on it, it needs to be extremely personalized. Later, Tillie walks us through some live trades she made with her students this morning, then dives in to ETF selection for those in ProActive Investor mode! Tillie even gives us an entry point she is eyeballing for TLT!

With the recent article by Rick Wright, in which he talks about trading development, Merlin takes the question to his guest, Steve Bobbitt. Steve talks about how he developed his trading style, what tools he uses to craft his trades, and what time frame charts to look at. Merlin and Steve look at their trading styles as an extension of their personalities and something that takes time to craft. Later, the break down the current status of the S&P 500 and offer some insight into where it could be headed.

While global uncertainty prevails, there was a rush to the cleanest of the moldy apples. The dollar was the recipient of this rush, shooting up and sending the equity markets for a much needed selloff. Rick Wright joins the show to talk about how this surge in the dollar may impact the other currencies as well as what are the key levels he is looking for going forward. Rick also talks about his most recent newsletters: What’s your trading style, and Dealing with winning streaks. PowerPick: AUDUSD (although its already stopped out for a loss!)

As the week got off to a rocky start, a step back to look at market history paints an interesting picture. Jeff Manson joins Power Trading Radio, fresh from teaching a ProTrader stock class in Irvine California. Jeff goes on to talk about how over the past 44 years, the S&P 500 has stayed above the 20SMA for 30 days only 21 times. More interesting is how long the market continues to rally from that point! Merlin and Jeff analyze that phenomenon, and offer insight into where the market is headed. PowerPick: ASML

John O’Donnell is back and more fired up than ever after watching Ron Paul and Ben Bernanke go at it during recent testimony. Ron Paul fires off about how flawed the fiat currency is, and why we need an alternative monetary system that is based off of real assets. John parlays this into his talk about Gold and Silver and their importance as insurance for a flawed Fiat money system. Merlin twists it a bit and looks at it from a shorter term trading perspective. Later the duo looks at China and Japan for further clues of market direction.

To start things off, Merlin tackles a few questions from his Live in-studio audience. These students from Roger Best’s ProTrader class, fire off questions regarding metals and the current situation with the US Dollar.  Diana Hill joins the show to talk about her recent articles in "Lessons from the Pro’s", in which she addresses the current problems with receiving funding from big banks, and how to use real estate to generate monthly income. In a period where most say real estate is a bad investment, Diana and Merlin talk about the incredible opportunity to buy real estate and let others pay you a monthly income! PowerPick: AIG

After a few bad trades in February, Merlin follows up his current EURUSD short which came though nicely to the downside. Money management is a sticky issue for many traders, so he walks you through how he is moving his stops down to help lock in profit, yet let it continue to drop. Later Don Dawson joins Merlin to talk about commodities and their impact on the current market. Dona had a Great call on copper last year which preceded a sharp market decline, is it a similar picture this time? Don also goes on to talk about how there is a massive disconnect in the correlations which have held up over the past few years, and as Don puts it “Something has to give!”

After having his last few trades rip in the opposite direction immediately after announcing his position on the radio, Merlin talks superstition and belief systems with Veteran Trader Mike McMahon. Whether it’s your special socks, or rock with a mustache on it, Mike believes superstitions are all in your head and don’t really have a place in trading. But is quick to add, if it works for you, go with it! Later Mike and Merlin take a look the Dollar and Euro which are both lining up at key Fibonacci levels. PowerPick: EURUSD

 

Debbie Hague joins Power Trading Radio after a couple of weeks traveling and teaching for Online Trading Academy. On day when the market only had one good move which lasted about 2 hours, and Debbie caught it all! She walks us through her premarket analysis which drew her attention to specific market setups, on a couple of major market indices. Buying at the dead lows and selling at the dead highs is something every trader hopes to do, and Debbie walks us through exactly how she did it. The duo stresses the importance of having a solid plan and following it under any circumstances.

On this show John O’Donnell is joined by Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave fame to discuss thecontinuing credit purge deflation across world markets. Prechter outlines the socionomic hypothesis that social mood impacts human action and drive price.  They explore and  discuss with  charts the large head & shoulders pattern in the Dow today, and correlation to the non-confirming Dow Theory ratio structure today. The Dow/gold ratio, and S&P500/gold ratio all confirm the equity market has been in  a silent crash mode since 2000 “real peak”.  O’Donnell and Prechter agree on the inflation vs deflation debate.

For those who started thinking about their retirement in their 20’s and have been actively managing their investments, the future looks pretty good! However, most of us didn’t start thinking about retirement until our late 30’s or 40’s! Bob Heitner joins Power Trading Radio to talk about how his students are defining what they need to do to achieve a pre-determined rate of return to let them retire in comfort. Considering the recent USA Today article which says that 1 in 10 Americans will have enough money for retirement, it’s a subject that is all too real for many of us! The key is identifying what ROR you need and building a strategy to achieve it. Bob talks about some of the key elements that his students look at to achieve and exceed their desired ROR, and secure their financial future!

PowerPicks: SCHN, ATI

Fresh back in the studio from the Traders Expo in New York, Merlin dives right into his weakest subject: Options. While at the expo, there were 2 individuals who insisted that He learn options because of their flexibility and utility. Merlin brings Cory Lane into the studio to discuss these issues and tackle several listener questions regarding specific stocks. Cory, a long time trader of options, shares his insight into volatility, risk management, and probability factors to consider for all options traders. PowerPick: L

Guest host John O'Donnell chats with special guest Rick Wright about Greece, gold, foreign oil and much more.  Join the Ambassador of Opportunity and other special guests all this week.

Financial stocks and Semiconductors continue to vault the markets higher this week, yet there may be some downgrades coming which could seriously impact that lunar trajectory! John O’Donnell  joins Merlin Rothfeld for the weekend edition of Power Trading Radio where they discuss the potential Moody’s downgrade of some Major financial Institutions, including GS, BAC,C! John shows us some great charts which clearly illustrate a slowdown coming to the US economy. When will that hit is anyone’s guess, but the facts are the facts! Later, Merlin brings up the question of QE3 and the present inflation numbers. Does the fed now have the green light for QE3? JO says No!

On past shows, Merlin has talked about the importance of knowing EXACTLY what you are invested in, in all accounts. On this show, he challenges listeners to be proactive and find out exactly what they are holding in their 401k’s, IRA’s, SEP accounts etc… Then make a list of your investments and find out exactly what the fees are. Paul Orme joins the show to talk about what the average person can do to increase their rate of return, and diversify according to their own risk profile. Later, Paul talks about the new Pimco bond ETF and how that might benefit your portfolio.

Wednesday’s trading started out just like any other day, with a nice gap up and a little continuation rally that lasted several hours. Around midday, rumors started circulating that Apple might need to be rebalanced on the NASDAQ 100 which caused vicious selling for the remainder of the trading day. This selling crushed all gains, and dragged down all 3 major US indices. Steve Bobbitt joins the show to talk about how today’s trading activity may be the top that he is looking for. Bobbitt looks at how the futures relate to the underlying index, and the clues they give us about market health. Merlin and Steve offer targets for a variety of trading vehicles and offer insight into what the future may hold.

After answering a couple listener questions, Merlin is joined by Bert Antonik from Singapore. Bert shares with PTR listeners what his thoughts are on the current fiasco with the Euro. Last time Bet was on, he called the current rally in the Euro, and the exact target price which we reached last week. What will his next target be? Tune in and find out!! PowerPick: EURUSD

As the markets power ahead, a quick glance at the Nasdaq reveals something interesting. Only 1 stock is really moving up with any strength: AAPL

So much so that it is one of the only nasdaq stocks breaking new highs. This power raises concerns with our guests Michael Young and Merlin Rothfeld, who feel that Apple is susceptible to a very sharp drop in price at anytime. This type of sell off can trigger HFT systems, and another potential flash crash. Michael also goes onto talk about how to trade a strong trending market like the one we have currently. The focus shifts to probability and risk management in these times of turmoil and uncertainty. PowerPick: BMY

 

John O’Donnell joins Merlin Rothfeld for a weekly rundown of the major macroeconomic issues facing our markets. Europe takes center stage as Greece finally commits to some serious reductions, but it may be too little too late, as other areas of the Eurozone are also poised for doom. Later John dives in to his favorite topic, Gold and comments on its recent price moves as well as its importance as a hedge for fiat currency. Later the duo talks about the problems with Insider trading and the new bill circulating that would make it illegal for congressmen to trade off of insider information.

PowerPick: JKS

Merlin is joined by Bob Heitner to discuss the eerie facts that the vast majority of Americans are ill prepared for retirement. Bob Points out a couple simple things that most are doing which will prevent them from attaining their retirement goals. First and foremost is keeping money in a savings account, as you can’t even beat inflation! Next is the buy and hold mentality! It does not work! Nearly every sector is at extended highs right now and poses significant risk to long term investors, and timing these markets makes for a much higher annualized rate of return. Bob stresses that with minimal effort, everyone can manage their own investments.

After a impassioned rant about the big banks funding presidential hopeful campaigns, Merlin is joined by seasoned Options trader Josip Causic. Josip tackles a couple listener questions about options strategies before moving on to explain the differences between European & American style options. There are significant risks involved in trading and using European style options helps reduce risk even further. However every coin has 2 sides, and Josip clearly explains the pros and cons. PowerPick: SWK

Merlin and guests had been talking for the past few weeks about the strange directional move that the dollar index is making with the S&P 500, both in the same direction! “Something has to give” they said, and low and behold we have seen the dollar crater while the major market indexes soared. Even gold and Oil benefited on Tuesdays dollar slide. Mike McMahon joins the show to talk about this relationship as well as several other currency pairs and some key supply and demand zones on each. PowerPick: CIT

Although the Super bowl was a pretty good game, Monday’s trading was rather mild. Almost an exact repeat of Friday, but without the huge upside gap! Mike McMahon joins the show to talk about the just announced Trader Planet Awards, which rated Online Trading Academy as the #1 Trading course in the industry, as well as best newsletters! Later Mike and Merlin go on to talk about patterns and how they increase odds, and reduce stress when trading. Both hosts are doing a lot of online education with sophisticated tools that actually allow students to be trading live, and have the instructor come into their computer and help mentor them! PowerPick: TXN

As this great week of trading comes to a close, John O’Donnell and Merlin Rothfeld break down some of the key issues facing the markets. The big focus right now is on unemployment numbers and they just keep getting twisted! John and Merlin have some fun with the unemployment rate before diving in to a list of factors which tell us that Europe is in pretty bad shape and headed into a depression. More importantly, how can we make money if that happens! PowerPick: RSG

Many investors know very little about their investments, and even less about the plan they are invested in. Merlin is joined by Tillie Allison to discuss the various account types and what they mean to you as an investor and Tax payer! The duo walk through a variety of account types highlighting the pro’s and con’s with each. Later in the show Tillie stresses the importance of actively managing your account once you pick the right plan. Just sitting on your hands and investing is worse than investing at all. PowerPick: RSG

For the second straight day, Merlin is joined by a 3rd  generation trader, this time its Dan Sugar. Dan starts off going over some of the topics he covered today in his ProTrader class in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. While a majority of today’s class time was covering confirmation tools like RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands and more, the real basis for trades that Dan is looking for are based off of Price & Volume. Later, Dan and Merlin talk about Power Trader Nation and the recent Stock pick that Dan made on ITB. Finally Dan and Merlin talk about key levels on the S&P and where they think price will be headed in the near term. PowerPick: IBM

Always trying to learn more about the markets, Merlin brings on guest is 3 rd  generation trader, Bill Henner. Bill takes back to the days of his great grandfather who was a broker on the floor of the CBOT back in the 60’s, and progresses though his father’s trading experiences, before finally sharing his own trading background. Bill is armed with some tasty pictures to really drive home the point! Bill even has a beauty of himself the week of the big 87 crash! Christmas carols anyone!?!? Later Bill and Merlin look at the Dollar index and the Euro for some potential trade sets up based upon their mutual opinion that the Euro is headed for more pain!

With many looking for the poised to go short on any weakness, veteran trader Marty Dim is scouring the markets looking for buying opportunities. Why you ask? Because Marty is simply capitalizing on the higher probability trade, which is following the trend long. Adding to his positions as the market sells off to demand levels, has been something he has been doing since late December, and the strategy is working well! Marty talks a lot about psychology from his trading floor days on the CME, and how that translates over to the electronic trading environment. PowerPick: SNDK

With the elections quickly approaching, American pessimism toward the political system is skyrocketing! John O’Donnell and Merlin Rothfeld welcome the Executive Director of Laissez Faire Books, Jeffery Tucker, to Power Trading Radio to take a look at how the political system is slowly distorting our daily life. Jeffery talks about his books, Bourbon for Breakfast & It’s a Jetsons World, and the major issues facing Americans with regards to government intervention into their daily lives. The trio take a good look at Gold and particularly at the Gold Standard as a possible way to help solve many of our lingering problems.

So many questions poured in over the last couple days, we had to forgo the usual guest and get down to answering all your questions! Merlin tackles a wide variety of questions including: What to do with Jim Cramers JNJ pick, How the low fed rates are going to hurt the Banking sector, correlation between S&P and Dollar Index, current trend of Oil and much more! If you have questions you would like answered, be sure to visit  www.powertradingradio.com  and hit the “PowerBlast” button to have your question read on the air! PowerPick: FCX

Many use Fibonacci as a tool to help refine entries, set target levels and anticipate price direction. Jeff Manson has taken all of that to a whole new level with his unique, systematic approach to this popular trading tool. Jeff shares with us his recent live trading tour and specifically the trading done today on the YM, with which he had 6 winners in 6 trades. Later, Jeff talks about how he uses Fair Value to plan out his trades each day. PowerPick: MPC

After blowout earnings, AAPL rockets in the post-market session, sending the major indexes higher. Merlin talks about the unusual afterhours halt that hit Apple, and shows its impacts on the share price. Bert Antonik, calls in from Singapore, where he has been living for the past 2+ years as an instructor for Online Trading Academy. He walks us through how the South East Asian city is doing in these tough financial times, and offers some insight into how they perceive the US markets. Later, Bert walks through some EURO charts as well as touching on his recent article in traders’ magazine (www.tradersonilne-mag.com )

PowerPick: EURUSD

With a weekend of boneheaded actions from politicians, bankers and football players, we had to have an extended segment of Donkey of the Day!  After an extended opening rant, Merlin is joined by 3rd  generation CME floor trader Bill Henner. Bill walks listeners though his last 25 years of experiences and discusses the difficulties he encountered when transitioning from pit to screen based trading. Later, Bill and Merlin break down the current action of the SPY, EURO and natural gas companies.

PowerPick: SHLD

Herb Meyer, author of The Cure For Poverty, joins the show to talk about how most Americans don’t clearly understand “the Operating System” of the US, especially when it pertains to creating jobs and promoting entrepreneurship. He discusses some solutions and ways that we can stabilize the job market and get America pumping again. Diana Hill is up next with a look at the current housing markets, and walks us through several of the new legislative issues coming at the housing market. Diana walks through what are some of the impacts you will face with these new laws. PowerPick: BAM

Guest host John O'Donnell Sits down with the founder and CEO of Online Trading Academy, Eyal Shahar.  We get Eyal's insight on starting the company and an insiders look at what is to come in the future.  John also discusses the world's current population problems.

Guest host and Chief Knowledge Officer at Online Trading Academy John O'Donnell and special guest Steve Bobbitt discuss gold and the current state of our markets.

So many of take the news at face value, however we don’t necessarily see it from a viewpoint that is Outside of the US. Media twists and public opinions can be dramatically different! Sam Evans, XLT instructor, joins the show live from London, after a long day of mentoring and trading. Sam talks about the current mood over in the UK which, from his perspective, is very different than our media makes it out to be. Merlin and Sam take a look at both long & short term charts on the Cable and Euro, in the hopes of planning out some future trades. PowerPick: AUDUSD

Merlin walks listeners through the 7-Pillars of Trading, and answers a listeners question about which one is most important. Later, John Barrett joins the show to talk about some of the more common mistakes he sees traders make and what to do about it. Moving on John talks about the importance of having a couple trading styles so that traders can adapt to a variety of different market conditions. Both hosts give out examples of trading styles they witnessed on their trading floors that were very successful for their time, but faded as time progressed. PowerPick: ESRX

John O’Donnell joins Merlin for the weekly rundown of the pressing market issues were for the week, and tackle a variety of listener questions. Volatility continued to persist, and given the problems with Europe, they could get much more wild. John talks about Gold as a hedge for any upcoming market selloff, and offers listeners a CD of his recent presentation in Pasadena California entitled “Why Gold, Why Now?”. From A fall in foreclosure rate to Italian Mafia, this edition of Power Trading Radio has it all!

Coming to us from the snowy tundra of Kansas City, Tillie joins Merlin for a show filled with listener questions and market analysis. Listeners looking for direction with Fibonacci usage are treated to a Fibonacci CD giveaway and chart analysis as the duo helps fix their problems. Later Tillie talks about some great experiences which occurred during her class today regarding order routing and live trading. PowerPick; STZ

After a recent article by Sam Seiden titled “Who Makes a Better Trader, Men or Women?”, Merlin decides to take that question to the front lines, with Professional Female trader Debbie Hague. Among the desirable attributes which make women better traders are: Risk Aversion, Patience, Humility, and the Ability to admit you are wrong. Debbie and Merlin site these as key factors which make women better traders. Debbie also talks about an important lesson she learned in the XLT program regarding adjusted data on futures contracts and how it distorts price history depending on what symbol you are looking at. Finally the duo look at the current market in regards to the S&P500 for some insight into where we may be headed. PowerPick: EURUSD

After some fantastic calls over the past few months on currencies like the Aussie and Loonie, Justin Krebs returns to Power Trading Radio to discuss some of the current movements in the US Dollar and how it is impacting global markets. Justin and Merlin tackle a listener question about the relationship between gold and the dollar before moving on to explain the differences between spot forex & forex futures. Finally the duo looks at several currency pairs from a technical perspective as Justin walks listeners through his recent trades on AUDUSD and USDCHF.

As the classic O’jays songs says, “Almighty Dollar… Don’t let money change you!” Darek Zelek joins Power Trading Radio to talk about the recent move in the dollar and its potential impact on the global equity markets. From his perspective, the equity markets could see a nice rally up over the next few days before beginning a much more significant and drawn out sell off over the next few months, and it all revolves around the dollar! After addressing a listener question about USO and global oil crisis, Merlin and Derek talk about relative strength, with an example on IYR and SPY. PowerPick: XLI

Guest host John O'Donnell chats with Victor Gruauag from Online Trading Academy and shares his two cents about the market.

As the new year starts, all traders should already be thinking about getting their taxes done. Trader Tax professional Michael Atias of OTA Tax Pro’s joins the show to answer listener questions about a wide variety of taxation topics. Michael covers some of the primary criteria the IRS is looking as far as establishing “Trader Status”, as well as some of the reasons traders should think about setting up a trading entity early on in their career. PowerPick: AGU

Special guest and XLT instructor Brandon Tristan joins Power Trading Radio to share some of the tools he uses to help forecast the market’s direction. Many use things like S&P futures, or indicators to help assist them. Brandon uses something much bigger and far more powerful! The Dollar Index! The duo analyze the current action of the Dixie, and help explain what its implications mean for traders regardless of their trading time frame. Later Merlin sparks a discussion on OCO orders, the USDJPY and relative market strength.

Mike McMahon and Merlin Rothfeld start off the new year with a look at some of the classic historical events that have pinpointed significant market turning points. Namely, mad media articles and publications boasting one thing, and actually leading to the opposite. Traders must be aware of how news impacts the markets and specifically, each asset class. Merlin takes a look at the current PMI and Construction numbers as a possible catalyst for future upside movements, but cautions on the broader negative picture. Later, the duo takes a look at the Aussie dollar and the Euro for trading opportunities. PowerPick: DECK

As the year winds down, many questions have come in regarding Market Timing and Fibonacci tools. Master trader Jeff Manson joins Power Trading Radio to discuss his trading style and the unique way he uses readily available tools to plan and execute his trades. The duo talk about moving averages in conjunction with Fibonacci extensions as well as retracements to help pinpoint entries, stops and targets. More importantly, when multiple pieces line up and confluence is present, the trading risk can be reduced even further. Jeff also talks about his Live Trading Event in San Jose and New York in January. To find out more information, click here:  http://bit.ly/bN7tsL

As 2011 quickly comes to an end, Tillie and Merlin take a look at a couple of standout items from the past year. Volatility & Uncertainty dominated the market, leading investors to run to bonds. Will this uncertainty continue in 2012? Tillie also breaks down some important correlation factors between Gold, Oil, S&P and Bonds. Later in the program, Tillie touches on how rebalancing portfolios is paramount in achieving a pre determined rate of return on your investments.

Early on in her life Joanne Farley learned the importance of discipline and rules. Her jobs as a bartender taught her many ways to implement discipline on her patrons, and as a Trader & Mentor, she still finds ways to help others find their way. Joanne and Merlin talk about her rise to prominence in the Online Trading Academy community not only as one of the top instructors, but also the invisible hand behind the scenes of the XLT mentoring program. Discipline and rules have been her keys to success, and she has no problem sharing that with Power Trading Radio! Joanne also backs up her conversation with recent examples right out of the XLT live trading session.

In a dramatic reversal of market behavior, markets shot dramatically to the upside leaving many frustrated with the erratic behavior. Merlin and Mike McMahon tackle several question relating to the topic before diving into several segments on Price behavior and Technical Analysis. Rounding out the show, the duo looks at a few currency pairs using several technical indicators.

Merlin is joined by XLT instructor Brandon Tristan for a show filled with market psychology and stock analysis. To start things off, Merlin and Brandon talk about market patterns and actions around holidays. Both share their routines and trading thoughts for end of year trading, then move on to current market analysis. The duo then tackles a variety of listener questions on several Equities, including: KOG, SWKS, GOOG, AMAT, IVN, ZNGA