Two Blokes Trading - Learn To Trade Online

In this weeks episode Mike and Rory talk about the S&P500 and the recent events causing this slight pullback and where they think markets are headed. Most recently, the S&P500 made highs of 4445 with a pull back to current levels of 4300.This pull back was due to a deteriorating macroeconomic outlook as well as the Fed median projected dot plot for interest rates in 2023 to end at 5.6%. This would mean another 2 hikes is possible before the year end and Fed chair, Jerome Powell reiterated the same message that inflation is still an issue for the US.Mike and Rory also mention how the S&P500 rally during 2023 has been greatly assisted by a handful of companies such as AI stocks like NVIDIA and mega cap tech names such META who have both more than doubled in price this year.Rory also mentions how low interest savings accounts have been discouraging savers and instead encouraging spending and discretionary buying. Could this spending and lack of saving be correlated with the recent large returns seen

In this episode, Mike and Rory discuss the importance of understanding the correlation between commodities and the respective FX pair. The currencies highlighted in the podcast include Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Euro, Great British Pound, Norwegian Krone, and US Dollar. At the beginning the blokes mention how 2 of the main traded FX pairs (EURUSD & GBPUSD) are not directly pegged to commodities rather the moves are based on macroeconomics such as changes in interest rates, politics, or other economic indications.Mike and Rory discuss the importance of understanding the country behind the currency. For example, when looking at CAD or NOK, it’s important to understand that their main export is oil therefore demand for their currency has a strong correlation with the demand for oil. Looking at the chart of USDCAD or USDNOK and overlaying the WTI Crude or Brent price you will be able to see a strong correlation between the two. Rory has also shared resources in the App to help you calculate the corre

Mike and Rory discuss the events of last week which included the US CPI number for May, FOMC’s decision to not hike interest rates higher as well as the ECB’s 25bps increase to monetary policy along with their hawkish comments in the meeting that followed. In the episode, Rory talks about the divergence between interest rates at the ECB and BOE closing in on those from the FED which is starting to support moves higher in both EUR / USD and GBP / USD. Cable has now been able to break above 1.28 for the first time in over a year following the stronger dollar in 2022 and the weakening sterling that was seen under the short-lived Truss era.Rory discusses the topic of “higher interest rates are here to stay”. He explains  that before the Great Financial Crisis interest rates were not at the crazy lows that many market participants have been used to and perhaps markets are now adjusting for rates to remain higher at 5% for a much longer period into the future.Mike talks about how gold paints a good picture in

Too many Retail traders think that technical analysis alone will save them frombeing in the majority of traders who lose money. Unfortunately this is not thecase, Mike and Rory uncover the importance of understanding how interest ratesimpact Forex, equities, indices, fixed income and all other markets.Understand interest rates, interest rate differentials and carry trades can automaticallyby default give a bias to a certain FX fair, at least in the mid to long term.Mike explains in the podcast how helps build a strong foundation for growing atrade idea into an actionable idea.Rory shares his thoughts on how interest rates impact individual equites fromunderstanding how companies use debt to leverage themselves to more exposure tounderstanding how debt to cash ratios which are too high can negatively impactthe business in a high interest rate environment. The blokes look at both scenarios of the positives and negatives of higher interestrates for fixed income and the raging market that is currently taking plac

In this weeks market update, Mike and Rory discuss the quiet events of last weekand the low number of economic data releases. The blokes then talk about themain focus of this week, the US CPI which came out at 4% Vs 4.1% expected.Mike discusses what this means given the lower than expected unemployment data thatwas also released by the UK on Tuesday morning and why he thinks this allowsfor great longs on GBP/USD.Rory shares his thoughts on what this could mean for FOMC meeting on June 14th wherethe fed are predicted to not increase interest rates given the favourable datain the United States. Rory shares his thoughts of why oil prices moved higheron Tuesday given the positive news from China regarding economic stimulus andthe affect this also has on metals such as copper.Mike and Rory also discuss what the energy market is doing and the warnings that arein place from OPEC regarding short selling speculation and how an increase inenergy prices, in particular oil could have a major effect on CPI data aroundthe

Keeping a journal while trading is very important as it will enable you to have a track record and analyse past performance. In this episode, Mike and Rory discuss how they keep a journal and also demonstrate the importance of having one especially if you are approaching an employer with reference to your trading performance. Many people will not consider your trading experience without a track record or journal. In the podcast, Mike and Rory talk about some of the most commonly used ratios and explain some of the features they would include in a trading journal. Rory mentions how having a P&L isn’t the only way to keep score. There are lots of other metrics needed in order to show where capital is correctly and incorrectly being allocated. Mike also shares his thoughts around monitoring the assets you trade. Simply having a strong or weak Profit & Loss will not help if you can’t determine where you make your money.  Mike and Rory both agree if you have lots of losing trades you need to know what

In this week’s Market podcast Mike and Rory discuss Fridays NFP number beating expectations by nearly double. The implications this has on the market short term and how they both predicted a higher number themselves, going into some detail around their process of why they came to this conclusion. The pair also talk about how the higher-than-expected unemployment rate at 3.7% is a good thing for markets but also with the issues that it can have to the wider economy.In the podcast, Rory mentions about the recent ISM PMI number lower than expected and the impact this has had. He also talks about the contradicting data being released versus what the market is doing. Rory reiterates his comments from last week about how this is a market of stocks and not a stock market. The importance of stock picking in a market like this is very important as Rory mentions how only a few large cap stocks have been holding up the entire market in comparison to the Russell 2000.The blokes then look ahead of the data being released

In this episode, Mike and Rory talk about the importance of using leading indicators when trading. Rory mentions 3 of the latest that he has been looking at Including the ISM Manufacturing, ISM Services and the ESR report. The ISM reports can give a great indication of how both the manufacturing side of the economy and the services are reacting. They give their own indication of prices and employment as Rory mentions how they can be used to predict the NFP report.Mike talks about how traders heavily rely on the Non-Farm Payrolls report released on the first Friday of each month and shares his insights into how to trade it correctly. The blokes then briefly mention how you can use leading indicators such as ISM to predict larger indicators such as GDP and remain 1 step ahead of the market.Download The Two Blokes Trading APP

On this week’s episode Mike and Rory brace for impact as UK Core Inflation unexpectedly rises to 6.8% from an expected 6.2%. They both mention how the BOE, and the UK government are not in the right state of mind to be dealing with the higher levels of inflation that has been felt around the world, but most other countries have been able to cope with it just fine. On the podcast, Rory mentions that the UK and BOE were not the only ones to signal dovish comments, RBNZ governor Adrian Orr and the committee said in a statement that they believe the job was done even though inflation levels are still at 6.7%. On the episode, Mike also gives us his takings on the comments that were made by OPEC ministers regarding the caution behind speculative traders and what he thinks this means for energy markets. To finish the podcast the blokes, talk over the economic calendar for next week discussing the US Non-Farm Payrolls and Employment report to be released on Friday 3rd June. For a more in-depth analysis of Mikes thoug

On Thursday evening, 18th May, Two Blokes Trading hosted their first summer evening drinks at the Ship, in the heart of Fitzrovia, London. A group nearly 20 attended to share their ideas and trading journeys including FX traders from Nomura,  Risk and Compliance members working for Bank of America and many more! In this podcast Mike and Rory discuss how important this is as trading can often be a very lonely game.Expanding your network is vital as learning from other people, sharing your thoughts and getting critical feedback is one of the only ways that you can develop your own trading skills. Mike talks about how important it is to develop your career that you must ask questions and often take the risk and step outside of your comfort zone to attended events such as the evening drinks ran by us.Rory tells us how he learnt from his mentor by asking lots of questions, attending drinks nights and reaching out to people and asking them to question his ideas for some critical feedback.The next drinks evenin

In this week’s Episode, Rory highlights the rollercoaster 18 months the S&P500 has seen from the highs of 4800 to the recent lows of 3500. Given everything that has happened in markets as of recent from the US regional banking crisis, growing US interest rates and the US debt ceiling limit being reached, Rory shares his opinion why "this is it, this is the top".In the podcast, Mike shares his thoughts on some Forex pairs including GBPUSD where he thinks the macro picture has a lot more to do with the future performance than what the market currently thinks. He reiterates the importance of the upcoming talks regarding the US debt ceiling and the importance that has for dollar FX pairs. Mike also hints that psychology is potentially displacing the importance of the macroeconomic picture.Rory also shares his opinion looking ahead on WTI crude for this year highlighting how price has nearly halved in the last year following a very strong rally in 2021 and 2022 thanks to strong global demand and supply issues

In this week’s Episode, Mike and Rory speak to Daniel Malinovski, Founder and CEO of Simplicity Group who shares his thoughts on the recent events within the cryptocurrency market. Mike and Rory challenge Daniel to some questions around the future of cryptocurrency in the economy, crypto as a “normal” currency as well as the regulatory outlook of crypto in the future.Daniel breaks down the use of fiat currency and how it’s used today and provides strong arguments for why crypto has a place in the future. Mike also questions Daniel on whether there is place for a digital currency yet within the developed world in countries such as the U.K and U.S.Daniel also shares his process on how he evaluates a cryptocurrency and shares inside knowledge on how he would search for a new coin to invest in and the fundamentals he considers.At the end of the podcast, Daniel shares his advice for all those who are new or experienced in trading and want to get involved within the crypto market. He provides us with his top 3 tips

In this latest Podcast, Mike and Rory discuss what has happened during the last week in the markets. It was a busy week which included data from US CPI, BOE interest rate decision, UK GDP growth and the UMCSI consumer sentiment. There were also major earnings being released from US equities. Mike discusses his thoughts around the latest US CPI report where the pace of inflation slowed to 4.9% from April 2022. Rory shares his thoughts around the latest trouble regarding the US debt ceiling crisis and explains why perhaps markets haven’t sold off and argues that they may not sell off at all! To finish the podcast the Blokes talk about the current state of the market in the UK and how a change in the political system in the next year could disrupt markets and what it would mean if the Tories were to lose to Labour!Download the Two Blokes Trading APP

In this episode, Mike and Rory talk about the BRICS nations ((Brazil, Russia,India, China, and South Africa) as they continue to grow, and the speculatingpossibility of these emerging powers challenging the supremacy of the USDollar. Mike and Rory talk about the factors influencing this landscape andexamine whether the BRICS have the potential to replace the US Dollar.The pair investigate the following: What is the role of the US Dollar, BRICSs andtheir economic growth, The creation of BRICS and the future ahead, challengesand Limitations and trust of other nations. Mike talks about how The BRICSnations have experienced remarkable economic growth over the past few decades,contributing to their rising global influence. China has emerged as the world'ssecond-largest economy. Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa have also madesignificant strides, bolstering the collective economic strength of the BRICS. Rory also mentions several challenges that hinder their ability to replace the USdollar. Firstly, the US do

In this week’s episode, Mike & Rory talk about inflation in the UK and discuss their thoughts on why it is still over 10%. The pair also share their thoughts on why it could be about to fall much lower but also give reasons why it may remain higher for longer.Mike and Rory look under the hood of the UK economy of what really is the driving force of inflation and talk about how wage growth isn’t always a good thing when inflation is running hot. They also discuss what factors are driving inflation and some of the indicators that they look out for to best gauge inflation expectation.Mike and Rory also talk some politics and mention how both sides of the UK government aren’t doing much to help inflation but do mention how extra spending could see inflation remain higher and if the government roll back spending that inflation could reside lower. The pair also briefly share how they like to invest during times of higher inflation.

In this week’s episode, Mike and Rory reflect on the economic data, U.S. earnings season as well as discussing the impact the higher-than-expected inflation rate in the UK has on the economy and the market.Major earnings from last week included Tesla and Morgan Stanley which are both lightly discussed in this week’s podcast with a more in-depth analysis available on the app. Rory also shares some thoughts on how he generates trade idea strategies at the macro level by using a supply chain and recent earnings report analysis.Mike shares with us what is on his watchlist and some of the indicators he will be looking out for in the coming weeks and months. He also explains his methods of the tell-tale signs of exactly how the economy is performing under the hood. Mike also mentions his thoughts behind gold playing a much more important role for portfolio managers for the reminder of the year and how he things it will affect the positioning at both the retail level and the professional level. Mike and Rory also sh

In this podcast, Mike and Rory talk about a Petro-dollar being replaced by Petro-yuan. China have been in talks with Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter and China being the world’s largest oil importer to discuss futures contracts being dealt in Chinese Yuan instead of US Dollar. This idea isn’t new and in fact has been on the table for over 6 years. China being Saudi’s largest customer, obviously will apply some pressure for this to happen and has been recently trailed but ministers in the GCC have insisted that Petro-dollar is here to stay.  Mike and Rory also talk about the Chinese digitalisation of currency, arguable discussion of misinformation and what that would mean for a Petro-yuan along with the complexities behind the move. In the podcast, Mike and Rory also talk about the importance of geopolitics and how the relationship between the east, middle east and western countries could affect inflation. Chinese population trends is also discussed and what this means for large Chi

In this episode Ken and Mike break down the issues with forcing a trade. Covering group on all important factors to consider, to ensure trades are not being taken unnecessarily.Download the two blokes trading app for market breakdowns, analysis, trade ideas, education and more. Speak to the blokes as well as other community members. Get involved today!https://app.twoblokestrading.com/

In this podcast Ken and Mike break down the large vulenrablities that remain for the Dollar, as the markets give up on hawkish FOMC narrative and action, in addition to the risk appetite across the board harming safe haven currencies.They also dive into an interesting short-selling UK stock play, and provide some analysis on the precious metals, as well as stocks.Download the two blokes trading app for market breakdowns, analysis, trade ideas, education and more. Speak to the blokes as well as other community members. Get involved today!

How to trade high impact events In this podcast Ken and Mike break down their thoughts on how a trader should approach trading higher impact events, covering all the key factors for consideration with any open positions or new position around market moving occurrences. Download the two blokes trading app for market breakdowns, analysis, trade ideas, education and more. Speak to the blokes as well as other community members. Get involved today!