The top currency trader is doing everything he can to get ahead in the overall contest, as he has executed over 500 EUR/USD trades over the past two days, netting him nearly $220,000. In fact, contestant number 1 made $78,908.66 on Wednesday to bring his portfolio balance to a whopping $659,787.99 and widening his lead to almost $400,000 ahead of contestants 2 and 3. For more on his trading strategy, check out Monday’s Currencies Update.
With the end of the contest nearing on July 19, currency traders are scrambling to try to catch up to the leader. Contestant number 2 had a rough run with USD/JPY, as this trader bought the pair on Tuesday afternoon near 104.80, but was subsequently stopped out near 104.43 as the pair dipped lower early on the following morning. However, contestant number 2 has had much better luck with EUR/JPY, as he went long Wednesday morning. The pair has since rallied nearly 200 pips since then, and with the position still open, this contestant is currently floating profits of over $43,000. While contestant number 2 ended Wednesday with a portfolio balance of $287,108.06, he could crack the $300,000 mark by today’s close if he closes those profitable positions. There is some downside risk for the Japanese yen crosses, though, as US equities have had trouble holding on to yesterday’s massive gains given the news that J.P. Morgan posted a 53% drop in profits, exacerbating concerns about the health of the US financial sector.
Meanwhile, contestant number 3 is all over the place. This trader ended the day up at $282,812.05, as he closed a number of positions to net just over $4,000. This trades worked in his favor as he held a discernable bias: short euros and long US dollars via EUR/USD, EUR/CHF, and USD/JPY. However, a number of open positions are not as consistent, which may be part of the reason why he was floating almost $6,000 worth of losses at Wednesday’s close, and is floating nearly $10,000 in losses at the time of writing.
Terri Belkas, Currency Analyst for DailyFX.com