The many different ways to look at the forex market generate distinct forex signals to buy and to sell.

News and chart patterns offer the most common forex signals but there are other signs that a market may be changing direction or accelerating the direction it is already trading in.

Other markets offer powerful forex signals. Commodities markets have a strong impact on forex because things like crude oil, copper and gold are major exports for many countries. When the value of those commodities rises, the value of the currency will rise as well. This is especially true of oil and the Canadian dollar.

Another intermarket correlation that offers forex buying and selling signals is the stock market. When stocks fall quickly investors like to avoid risk and a ‘flight to quality’ ensues. This almost always means a flight to the Japanese yen and U.S. dollar. For this reason, some forex pairs, such as EUR/JPY track the stock market closely.

The fixed income market is a great place to look for forex signals. When the yields on sovereign bonds rise, it means investors are selling. In the case of U.S. Treasuries, this usually mean they want to hold more risky assets, so it’s a negative for the U.S. dollar. In the case of smaller countries, like Greece, a sharp rise in yields shows that people are fleeing that country because they fear rising deficits. In that case, look to sell that country’s currency.

The most common types of forex signals come from the daily news flow. Market participants are always looking for catalysts to enter a trade. When an important piece of economic data, like jobs, GDP or inflation is unexpectedly high or low, it’s a buying or a selling opportunity. The great thing about economic data is that it comes almost every day. Other news signals come from politics, business or some unexpected geopolitical event. The forex world accounts for everything so look for signals everywhere.

Charts and technical analysis are the final forex signal you should look out for. Often times, market participants are looking for certain price levels where they will buy or sell. Technical analysis is the process of identifying these levels. When the forex market moves to one of these levels it can create a buying or a selling signal.