OpenBook Traders Gain on Wall Street Rally

February 3rd, 9:33 pm by Sam

(eToro Blog) Wall Street rallied on the U.S. Non Farm Payrolls report which showed that 243K jobs were created in the month of January. The unemployment rate dropped to lowest level in 3 years at 8.3%. The data beat analyst expectations and boosted U.S. Dollar bulls and stock markets. The December data was also revised up to 203k from the initial 200k reported. The economy also added jobs in almost every sector such as professional services, retail, health care, restaurants further highlighting that the recovery is not specific to one sector. President Obama’s administration cheered the news as positive job growth increases Obama’s chances of winning the Presidential elections.

OpenBook trader Petra09 is ending the week with an impressive return of 22% for the week. The trader who is up 50% for the month trades primarily in the indices such as DJ30 (38.7% allocation), GER30 (19.7% allocation) and FRA40 (7.2% allocation). The trader also allocates 20% of portfolio to trading commodities. The trader had a good run today as they were able to close several DJ30 positions near 12,800 after the NFP announcement. The trader booked profits as high as 30% on these DJ30 positions. The trader also closed a few GER30 positions with gains between 38% – 40%. The trader does use high risk strategies so that should be kept in mind. This trader does not trade currencies much and should be considered by those who are looking to diversify away from currencies.

The ISM services PMI rose in January to the highest level seen in 11 months. The index rose to 56.8% from 53.0% in December. The new orders index rose 4.8 points. The Nasdaq broke above the 2,900 level and the Nasdaq hit 2,889 level which is the highest seen in over a decade. At the time of writing this report, the Dow was up 136 points, the Nasdaq was up 40 points and the S&P 500 was up 16 points at the time of writing this report. Traders on OpenBook are primarily long the Dow (DJ30) with average limits at 12,900 and stops at 12,650.

OpenBook trader Carlalee also had a profitable day today closing a DJ30 position with 35% gain. This trader likes scalping the DJ30 and Gold. The trader allocates 52% of portfolio to trading Gold and has been buying Gold from $1700 an ounce. The trader is not a long term trader and scalps 5% to 10% gain on a daily basis.