MrTopStep’s Brian Shepard clues us in on what news and information floor traders are looking at and how they have been managing this volatile market.  Brian sums up the collective analysis of the various MrTopStep contributors that have appeared on the MrTopStep videos over the past weeks: play a bit more defensively, bet small to reduce risk given the uncertainties in the market in the foreseeable future.  There is a combination of global events such as the Crisis in the Middle East and Japan’s natural disaster that is causing commodity prices to rise, but also knee jerk reactions of Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve’s policies.

In a volatile market there are opportunities for both bulls and bears as the market trades in a large range.  However, Brian cautions people from overtrading an active market and be patient for finding good entries.

**Filmed on the trading floor at the CME Group. Produced by MrTopStep with MarketHEIST Media.

MrTopStep’s Brian Shepard shares what traders from the floor of CME Group are concerned with. Lingering Questions about Egypt and the Middle East creates a two-sided market as concerns over policy changes, both foreign and domestic have changed the calm feel of the bull trend.  This morning, the markets are stuck in a range after Friday’s selloff.

Tim Haefke, aka “TopNotch,” called for a top in the S&P 500 futures, or Eminis, on his last video on January 21, 2011 by applying his technical analysis of an ascending right triangle pattern and fibonacci extension from the April 2010-July 2010 range.  This is a great example of an expert technical analyst applying the right analysis to the current market situation, and determining the likely scenarios so others can use that information to trade.  The two videos show the before and after of this trade.

Filmed in the CBOT building in Chicago.

*This is a MrTopStep and MarketHEIST Media produced video.

Brand new makeover of the MrTopStep floor trader financial markets video we here at MarketHEIST produce.  Thanks to the CME Group where these floor traders trade, the new home for the MrTopStep video is the professional broadcast studio at the CME Group.  Filmed daily with floor traders from down in the pit, the new MrTopStep video market updates will take you deep inside the professional trading world.

Today, Thursday 1.27.11, MF Global’s treasuries trader George Cavaligos gives a rundown of how the bond futures traded after yesterday’s FED announcement and what the implications are with the extension of QE2.  Also, George covers the treasuries from a big view, with the 10-year notes stuck in a range since December 2010.

A disappointingly slow December Quad Witching Friday with the S&P 500 stuck in a 3.20 point range and volume very dry.  Danny mentions that in the past Quad Witching expiration days were often huge trading days with 1 Billion contracts traded at the open, but not today.  What is left is the Stock Market Index Rebalancing for the S&P 400, S&P 500, and S&P 600, which stocks get added, and which gets removed.