Rutger Lokin
Co-Founder, Forex Fundamentals
Rutger Lokin is the co-founder of Forex Fundamentals, the platform that turns macroeconomic data, central bank policy, COT positioning and market sentiment into one clear fundamental bias per currency.
He started out as a purely technical trader. When he began adding fundamentals to his own trading and found no resource that made the data usable, he built Forex Fundamentals to close that gap. He is also co-founder of TTA Capital Group, the trading education and technology group behind the platform.
On this site he writes the guides on fundamental analysis: what each economic release means, how positioning data works, and how to combine them into a bias you can actually trade.
Articles by Rutger Lokin (20)
The Gold COT Report: How to Read Positioning in Gold and Silver
Gold's COT report does not read like a currency's. Commercials are structurally short, speculators drive the swings, and the real signal lives in extremes and rate of change. Here is how to read it properly.
Currencies & PairsThe Australian Dollar (AUD): The Risk-On Commodity Currency
The Aussie is the market's risk dial. It rises when commodities, China and global growth are firing, and falls hardest when risk turns. Read it as a high-beta bet on the global cycle, not just on Australia.
Currencies & PairsThe British Pound (GBP): What Drives Sterling
Sterling is a high-beta bet on UK rate expectations with a credibility problem attached. It rallies hard when the Bank of England turns hawkish, but a twin deficit and a jumpy gilt market mean confidence can drain just as fast.
Currencies & PairsThe Canadian Dollar (CAD): The Oil-Linked Loonie
The loonie is tied to two things above all: the price of oil and the health of the US economy. USD/CAD is less a risk barometer than a North American relative-value trade, where one side often cancels the other out.
Currencies & PairsThe Euro (EUR): What Drives the World's Second Currency
The euro is the anti-dollar. As the other half of the world's most-traded pair, it often moves on what the Fed does as much as what the ECB does. Here is what really drives the single currency.
Currencies & PairsThe Japanese Yen (JPY): Funding Currency and Safe Haven
The yen is two things at once: the cheapest funding currency in the world and a safe haven that surges in a panic. USD/JPY tracks the US-Japan yield gap almost mechanically, until risk breaks and the whole trade unwinds.
Currencies & PairsThe New Zealand Dollar (NZD): The High-Beta Kiwi
The Kiwi is the Aussie's smaller, twitchier cousin: a high-beta, risk-on commodity currency with thinner liquidity, so it moves further in both directions. Dairy, China and the RBNZ do most of the driving.
Currencies & PairsThe Swiss Franc (CHF): The Safe-Haven Currency
The franc is built to rise in a panic. A current-account surplus, rock-bottom inflation and deep credibility make it a magnet in risk-off shocks, which is exactly why the SNB is the most interventionist central bank among the majors.
Currencies & PairsUS Dollar (USD): What Drives the World's Reserve Currency
The dollar sits on both sides of every major trade. It rallies when the Fed is hawkish and the US economy runs hot, and it rallies again when the world is scared. Here is what actually drives the world's reserve currency.
FX MechanicsWhy a Currency Pair Is Always a Relative Price
There is no such thing as the dollar going up on its own. A currency only has a price relative to another currency, so every pair is a tug-of-war between two economies. Here is what that mental model changes about how you trade.
Economic IndicatorsHow to Trade CPI Inflation in Forex
Inflation data is one of the two biggest scheduled movers in forex. Here is what CPI measures, why the market trades the gap to the forecast rather than the print itself, and how a beat or a miss feeds through to the currency.
Economic IndicatorsNFP Trading Guide: How Non-Farm Payrolls Move Forex
NFP is the heavyweight of the economic calendar. Here is what the report actually contains, why headline jobs are only half the story, and how a beat or a miss feeds through to the dollar via the Fed's rate path.
FX MechanicsThe Anatomy of a Rate Differential
Capital flows toward the higher yield, so the interest-rate gap between two economies is the single biggest force behind a pair. Here is how to take that gap apart: nominal versus real, spot versus expected, and the moment it breaks.
COT & PositioningCOT Report Explained: Why Most Traders Read It Wrong
The CFTC publishes three different Commitment of Traders reports. Most traders only use the Legacy report, and that is a mistake. Learn which report to use for forex, commodities, and why the distinction matters.
StrategyThe Best Forex Swing Trading Strategy: A Fundamental Approach
Discover why combining fundamental analysis with swing trading creates the highest-probability setups for capturing multi-day moves in forex.
FundamentalsMastering Fundamental Analysis Forex: Where to Begin
Learn the essentials of fundamental analysis forex, including macroeconomic factors, news events, and how institutions forecast currency trends.
FundamentalsIntroduction to Fundamental Analysis in Forex
What is fundamental analysis in forex? Learn the 6 key economic factors that move currency prices and how to apply them in your trading.
Central BanksThe Dot Plot Explained: Reading the Fed's Mind
Why the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) moves markets more than the rate decision itself.
StrategyThe Carry Trade: Profiting from Interest Rate Differentials
Borrow cheap money, park it in a higher-yielding currency, pocket the spread. Here is how the carry trade actually works, and why it collects pennies for years then loses big in a panic.
COT & PositioningUsing CoT Data to Spot Reversals
Learn to identify overcrowded trades using z-scores, positioning divergences, and the 'flip' signal: a step-by-step framework for spotting institutional liquidation setups.