6 Reasons to Exploit Volatility To Your Advantage in 2021

Volatility is an extremely hot topic generally speaking, but especially in the year 2021; markets are up and down on a path to recovery (we think) since the pandemic, and the world is anything but predictable. Amidst your research whilst you educate yourself to become a better trader, there is plenty of information on how to exploit volatility and how to trade during volatility. Occasionally, traders ask "What is volatility trading? Is there any volatility trading strategy? What kind of Forex volatility system to use? Is there a Forex volatility index indicator?" – and many other things connected to volatility analysis in Forex during extreme market volatility.

So let us first explain what volatility is and then, cover the additional basics.

Volatility Explained

Volatility is a measure of the degree of change in the value of a currency, currency pair or the Forex market as a whole. Volatility is most commonly referenced when a currency has seen sharp changes in value compared to many of the other currencies in the market.

Volatility is used in two main ways:

Low volatility means that there is little or no change in value over a specific period of time.

High volatility means that values have varied significantly over a specific period of time.

Medium volatility is sometimes used to refer to a state between low volatility and high volatility. A volatile market is one that exhibits rapid fluctuations in price. A non-volatile or stable market has moderate price fluctuations.

Good news is that we traders can trade both on low and high volatility. I will explain six good reasons to trade with volatility.

High volatility trading

As you could see from the video above high volatility is used to profit on fast price fluctuations and changes that happen when market gains a momentum surge. There are different indicators in Forex volatility based trading but I personally prefer the Marubozu trading method explained in the video.

Mean Reversion

Volatility has been shown to be a mean-reverting asset class. What does that mean? When volatility is higher than average, it's expected to come down. When volatility is lower than average, it's expected to move up. In other words, volatility moves towards the average.

Price always wants to be in equilibrium. Once it gets out of equilibrium, it tends to correct towards the mean. After volatile periods there will be a consolidation. Traders use the consolidation time to re evaluate the positions and position along the main trend.

Scalping On Volatility – Intermarket Correlation

The USD/JPY volatility benefited from an impressive topside acceleration caused by election of then-president Trump back in 2017, for example. But the yen depreciation should have been more gradual as BoJ won't act, while US rates have picked up post the US election and following the Fed's adjustment higher of the dot plot. One more reason to scalp on high volatility is the intermarket correlation.

In contrast, Nikkei volatility remains on its lows. Once Nikkei start reverting to its means, the correlation will again be more pronounced and traders could benefit from scalping on volatility during Asia session, when Nikkei is the strongest. Even if volatility is, low there is a low volatility trading strategy that can be used during calm period.

Effective Volatility Indicators

One of the reasons that people like to use high volatility trading approach on high volatility Forex pairs such as USD/JPY, GBP/JPY, GBP/NZD, GBP/USD and others is that volatility indicators are very effective.

The explosion in the popularity of volatility trading might be well-used in Forex and equities markets, so use the opportunity to trade it and grab more pips then usual. You can join our free live trading webinars where we try to find setups and enjoy the volatility based trading.

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This material does not contain and should not be construed as containing investment advice, investment recommendations, an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments. Please note that such trading analysis is not a reliable indicator for any current or future performance, as circumstances may change over time. Before making any investment decisions, you should seek advice from independent financial advisors to ensure you understand the risks.