There are several news releases from each region (US, Europe, and Asia) this week. The US has eight high volatility news releases, while Europe only has one high volatility news releases, and Asia has five high volatility news releases. Markets from all three regions will probably experience high volatility and significant price movement throughout this week.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday : FOMC News Conference at 5:40 PM
• Tuesday : Central Bank News Conference at 1:00 PM, Trade Balance at 1:30 PM, Treasury News Conference at 2:30 PM, Economic Optimism at 3:00 PM, Budget Balance at 7:00 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 10:00 PM
• Wednesday : Retail Sales, Import Prices, and FOMC News Conference at 1:30 PM, Business Inventories at 3:00 PM, Oil Inventories at 3:30 PM, and Beige Book at 7:00 PM
• Thursday : FOMC News Conference at 5:00 AM, PPI, Unemployment Claims, and Manufacturing Index at 1:30 PM, Manufacturing Index at 3:00 PM, Natural Gas Storage at 3:30 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 6:40 PM
• Friday : CPI at 1:30 PM, Long Term Purchases at 2:00 PM, Capacity Utilization Rate, and Industrial Production at 2:15 PM, Consumer Sentiment, and Inflation Expectations at 2:55 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 5:15 PM

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several US news releases this week, and eight high volatility news releases. The US markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movements throughout this week.

Europe

• Monday : EU Central Bank News Conference at 7:00 AM
• Tuesday : UK Retail Sales, and House Price Balance at 12:01 AM, Germany WPI at 7:00 AM, France Budget Balance at 7:45 AM, EU Central Bank News Conference at 9:00 AM, UK Trade Balance, and HPI at 9:30 AM, and UK Leading Index at 10:00 AM
• Wednesday : France CPI at 7:45 AM, Italy Industrial Production at 9:00 AM, and EU Industrial Production at 10:00 AM
• Thursday : Germany CPI at 7:00 AM, EU CPI at 10:00 AM, EU Minimum Bid Rate at 12:45 PM, EU Central Bank News Conference at 1:30 PM, and Switzerland News Conference at 4:00 PM
• Friday : Switzerland PPI at 8:15 AM, UK MPC News Conference at 8:30 AM, EU Trade Balance at 10:00 AM, and Switzerland News Conference at 5:00 PM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several European news releases this week, and one high volatility news release. The European markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movements throughout this week.

Asia

• Monday : New Zealand Business Confidence at 9:00 PM, and Japan Bank Lending, Current Account, and Money Stock at 11:50 PM
• Tuesday : Japan Economy Watchers' Sentiment at 5:00 AM, and New Zealand Building Consents at 9:45 PM
• Wednesday : Australia Home Loans at 12:30 AM, Japan Machine Tool Orders at 6:00 AM, and Japan Machinery Orders, and CGPI at 11:50 PM
• Thursday : Australia Inflation Expectations at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), Australia Employment Change, Unemployment Rate, and Central Bank Bulletin at 12:30 AM, Australia Business Confidence at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time)
• Friday : Japan Central Bank News Conference at 12:30 AM

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several Asian news releases this week, and five high volatility news releases. The Asian markets will probably experience some significant volatility and price movements throughout this week.

I have recently received some questions regarding Sierra Chart, specifically setting up charts and indicators. To answer these questions, I have added links to several of the Sierra Chart video tutorials to the charting software section of the day trading site.

There are nine videos showing how to open and configure charts, work with chartbooks (groups of charts), add and configure indicators, and work with study collections (groups of indicators). The videos were created by Sierra Chart (not by me), and they are very basic, but they should answer most basic questions regarding setting up charts and indicators.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are finally over, so this week's economic calendar is more or less normal with regard to amount of new releases (primarily Europe, followed by the US, and then Asia). The US has eight high volatility news releases, while Europe have six high volatility news releases, and Asia has four high volatility news releases. Markets from all three regions will probably start experiencing high volatility and significant price movement again this week, as the level of trading activity should finally be back to normal.

The US, European, and Asian news releases for this week are as follows (all times are Greenwich Mean Time, which is 1 hour behind Central European Time, and 5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time) :

US

• Monday : Construction Spending at 3:00 PM, Vehicle Sales at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and FOMC News Conference at 6:15 PM
• Tuesday : PMI Non Manufacturing, Pending Home Sales, and Factory Orders at 3:00 PM, and FOMC Meeting at 7:00 PM
• Wednesday : Job Cuts at 12:30 PM, Non Farm Employment Change at 1:15 PM, and Oil Inventories at 3:30 PM
• Thursday : Unemployment Claims at 1:30 PM, Natural Gas Storage at 3:30 PM, and Consumer Credit at 8:00 PM
• Friday : Non Farm Employment Change, Unemployment Rate, and Average Hourly Earnings at 1:30 PM, Wholesale Inventories at 3:00 PM, and FOMC News Conference at 3:30 PM

• This week's US news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are several US news releases this week, and eight high volatility news releases. As the Christmas and News Year holidays are finally over, the US markets will probably start experiencing high volatility and significant price movement again this week.

Europe

• Monday : Switzerland PMI at 8:30 AM, EU Investor Confidence, and UK PMI Construction at 9:30 AM, and Italy CPI at 10:00 AM
• Tuesday : UK HPI at 7:00 AM, EU PMI Services at 9:00 AM, UK PMI Services at 9:30 AM, and EU CPI at 10:00 AM
• Wednesday : UK Consumer Confidence at 12:01 AM, EU Central Bank News Conference, and Germany WPI at 7:00 AM, Germany Unemployment Change at 8:55 AM, EU PPI at 10:00 AM, and UK Shop Price Index at 10:30 AM
• Thursday : Switzerland CPI, and Unemployment Rate at 6:45 AM, Germany Trade Balance at 7:00 AM, EU Consumer Confidence, and Unemployment Rate at 10:00 AM, Germany Factory Orders at 11:00 AM, UK MPC Rate at ??:?? ?? (Unknown Time), and UK Official Bank Rate at 12:00 PM
• Friday : Germany Retail Sales at 7:00 AM, France Industrial Production, and Trade Balance at 7:45 AM, UK Manufacturing Production, PPI, and Industrial Production at 9:30 AM, EU Retail Sales at 10:00 AM, and Germany Industrial Production at 11:00 AM

• This week's European news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are many European news releases this week, and six high volatility news releases. As the Christmas and New Year holidays are finally over, the European markets will probably start experiencing high volatility and significant price movement again this week.

Asia

• Monday : Australia Services Index at 10:30 PM, and Japan Monetary Base at 11:50 PM
• Tuesday : New Zealand Trade Balance at 9:45 PM
• Wednesday : Australia Retail Sales at 12:30 AM, Australia New Home Sales at 1:00 AM, New Zealand Commodity Price at 2:00 AM, and Australia Construction Index at 10:30 PM
• Thursday : Australia Building Approvals, and Trade Balance at 12:30 AM
• Friday : Japan Leading Indicators at 5:00 AM

• This week's Asian news releases that should cause high volatility are shown in bold type. There are only a few Asian news releases this week, and four high volatility news releases. As the Christmas and New Year holidays are finally over, all of the Asian markets will probably experience high volatility and significant price movement this week.

Almost every trader is aware of candlestick and bar charts (if you're not, my trading charts articles will help you), but not as many traders are aware of Heikin Ashi charts.

Heikin Ashi charts (Average Bar charts in Japanese) are similar to candlestick and bar charts, in that they look similar and display similar information, but some traders believe that they have a significant advantage over candlestick and bar charts.

If you use candlestick and bar charts in your trading (which is most traders), and especially if you use the direction of individual candlesticks and bars as an indicator, my introduction to Heikin Ashi charts will help you decide if Heikin Ashi charts will be useful to you.