Month: November 2010

By Thomas Bainbridge

Up until 2007 global stock markets experienced some of the longest bull runs in history. However, over the last few years, the stock markets have been incredibly volatile. We are now half way through 2010 and the volatility continues.

Everyone should accept that if they are going to trade there are ever present risks, irrespective of the investment format. Whether you use spread bets, Exchange Traded Funds or simply trade shares, it is likely that you will lose money on some of your trades.

But what options are there for those wanting a fast, flexible method of investment which also offers a wide variety of markets and the all important risk management tools?

For many UK, European and Australian investors spread betting offers a realistic solution.

As we have discussed, there are inherent risks with investing. There are downsides to all forms of investing and with spread trading you need to be careful because you can lose more than your initial investment.

There are some other areas that the following warning says you should consider, ‘spread betting does carry a high level of risk. Before trading, please ensure that spread betting matches your investment objectives. Make sure you familiarise yourself with the risks involved. If necessary, seek independent advice’.

At the same time though, you are able to put limits on your bets to reduce your losses but not your profits. You can also trade with small stakes such as £1 per point or $1 per point.

To gain a little exposure you could simply trade European, UK or US Stock Market Indices, ie speculate on whether the FTSE 100, Dax 30, CAC 40, Dow Jones etc will go up or down.

If you speculate on the FTSE 100 to go up, with a £1 per point stake, and it goes up by 150 points then you would make 150 points x £1 per point = £150.

Note that you can trade the markets in Dollars, Sterling or Euros. If you want to trade in Euros then 150 points x €1 per point = €150.

Of course if the market went against you, dropping by say 120 points, then with a £1 stake you would lose 120 points x £1 per point = £120.

That would not be the best of starts. However, with firms like City Index you can add a Guaranteed Stop Loss at let’s say, 40 points.

If you were betting on the FTSE 100 it would simply mean that your bet would be closed if the FTSE 100 moved against you by 40 points. Therefore, instead of losing £120, you’d only lose 40 points x £1 per point = £40.

Of course, if you had correctly predicted the market direction then your upside would still be £150 if it moved 150 points or £75 if the FTSE 100 moved 75 points.

Spread betting does have many other advantages though, not simply the risk management tools.

Due to the broad variety of markets that are available, spread trading is an option that investors should consider. Spread betting companies usually provide investors with thousands of markets on which they can trade including shares, stock market indices, commodities and even minor currency exchange rates.

You can go long or short of the markets. As a result, you can speculate on a particular market to move in the direction that you think it is going to move. You are not limited to spread betting on a product to rise, you can speculate on it to fall.

You are not buying or selling any assets or rights; instead you merely spread bet on the future price of a market. This means that there is no income tax or capital gains tax on spread bets*.

Unlike trading stocks and shares, you are not charged broker’s fees or commission based charges.

Ensure that you fully understand the risks before you trade. Using smaller stake sizes and applying a Stop Loss can help lower your risk.

* According to current UK tax law. If you pay tax in another jurisdiction then tax law may vary.

About the Author

A leading financial author based in the heart of London’s Canary Wharf. Thomas Bainbridge is a respected commentator on the financial spread betting markets.

By Daniel Shaw – When trading in Forex market it is better if you chose a certain time frame of a Forex graph and trade according to it only. Professional traders use the time frames of 4 hours, 24 hours or 1 week. There are certain benefits and disadvantages of the high time frames. The bigger is your time frame, the more funds you have to deposit to your trading account because each trading position needs higher margin. But at the same time you have a chance to make higher profits due to the higher trading volume. The market’s behavior is more stable for higher time frames and less spontaneous but it may take you few days to find a good opportunity to enter the market. In this article we would like to reveal a strategy of trading in 4 hours time frame using the candle stick graphs that can be found at any broker.

Be prepared that trading with 4 hours candle stick charts requires much patience and time. It may take you much time to find a good chance to enter the market and also from 12 hours to 5 days to stay in the market. This technique is based on the trends that sometimes appear in the Forex market. Trend provides traders with a great opportunity to make a lot of pips as a trend may last as long as up to 300-500 pips depending on what time frame you a trading. The goal is to enter the market in the beginning of the trend and leave it in the end of the trend. Following this strategy a trader must check the market and his open trades every 4 hours after the last candle in the 4 hours chart is completed. As we have 24 hours a day, so during a day you have to visit your trades or check the market for a specific signal 6 times disregarding on the day or night.

Upon analyzing the market it is recommended to check the prices for the certain currency pairs for 4-5 days back on a 4 hours candle stick chart in order to see if there were some trends before or there is a chance for a potentially good downward or upward trend coming. The choice of opening or closing a trading order may be done only every four hours when the last candle is finished and a new one has begun.

If you notice that the last three candles show that the market is going up, this is a good signal to open a buy position. If at least 2 last candles go down, this is a signal for a potential downward trend and you can place a sell position. In order to minimize possible losses you can use such orders as take profit and stop loss. You can place a take profit order after 120 points in case if the prices between the opening and closing of the market did not surpass 80 pips for the last 5 trading days. If the rates surpassed 80 pips for the last 5 days, you can set up the take profit order on 240 points.

About the Author

Daniel Shaw is a proud author of many popular materials about Forex trading. Visit his portal Singapore Trader to find more information about Forex Trading in Singapore and Mustafa Forex.

By Daniel Shaw

When trading currencies online we often use different methods in order to analyze the charts and have the highest probability to make profits. Forex trading is a very big industry where traders have many different trading platforms and brokers on their disposal. There are many Forex brokers that use a MetaTrader platform. MT4 is popular in the entire world by a high variety of trading instruments and indicators it has to offer.

As you know, the moving average or as it is also called the dynamic average is one of the most widely used indicators in technical analysis. Unfortunately it is not available on every trading platform. MetaTrader is one of the most popular platforms where you can find the Moving Average indicator. Like any trend-following indicator, moving average works well during the development of a new strong trend, but its effectiveness decreases when trading currencies takes place within the price band. For this reason, the moving average is better to use for identification and tracking trends, but not for their predictions. That’s why as part of the technical analysis the moving average indicator is useful after the trend has started in order to watch its development and find the right point of entering and leaving the market.

Thus, the main usage for the moving average in technical analysis is to identify and confirm the trend. There are certain basic techniques that a trader can use to determine the trends by movements of a certain currency pair. The simplest method of analysis is a simple observation of the direction of the moving average indicator. This allows you to define strong increasing or decreasing trends. Another way is watching the positions of the current price and the indicator of the moving average. If the price is above the moving average, then the currency is in increasing trend, the opposite situation indicates the presence of a downward trend.

Moving Average may also be used as an indicator of the trend’s end and the signal for closing the trading positions. If the indicator line of the moving average went along the trend and on the certain period the prices close level crossed the line of the moving average indicator, it is a signal for the trend’s end or change of its direction. This is the moment when staying in the market might be very risky and closing the trading position is the better choice. As already mentioned above, for a successful usage of the moving average there must be a strong (long) increasing or decreasing trend. When the currency rates stay within the price band, the moving average, as an indicator that reacts to changes with some delay, does not provide useful information to a Singapore trader.

About the Author

Liked this article? Visit our website Singapore Forex to find the answers on most of your Forex trading questions and review the most popular Singapore Brokers.

Written by Emerging Market Capital FX (EMCFX.com)

There are several different trading strategies but using an effective exit strategy will make the difference on long term goals for trading and minimizing risks. Here are a few examples: discipline approach, trading on fundamentals, trading on technical analysis, buying/selling on market pressures and trend trading. All trading strategies do take discipline and learning each one does take time.

The discipline approach is having a trading strategy, an entry point, scaling, and exit point. Scaling is an advance technique using additional open positions and then closing the positions to take advantage of immediate small profit taking. With this style of approach, scaling can be used on all trading strategies but implementing this technique does take intense discipline.

There are several factors to be used with either fundamentals or technical analysis to base a favorable entry point. Using fundamentals requires reading and analyzing the economic indicators to see if the actual numbers beat the market expectations, thus causing the market to rally briefly. Using technical analysis requires following other professional technician’s indicators or indicators most commonly used by these expert technicians such as Fibonacci retracement, 200-day MVA, Slow Stochastic, Moving Average Convergence / Divergence to name a few. Deviating from these indicators and using other indicators that are not commonly used will lead to significant losses. Central Banks like Fed’s, BOJ, ECB, BOE, and other countries along with Large Institutions/Corporations, Bond Market (treasuries), Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Large Sovereign Buyers, Banks/Remittance, Clearing Houses, and Retailers use these indicators too.

Market pressures either over bought or over sold are signals to take advantage for immediate profit and this would be considered a exit point. Trading on market pressures can be rewarding and if used with a disciplined approach taking small profits can lead in the long run a larger gain. This approach is considered short term trading and does take discipline.

Finally trend trading is one of the easiest trading strategies but you don’t want to be on wrong side of the trend or this can lead to significant risks. Never go against the trend. Either good news or bad news the trend is always your friend. This approach is considered a profitable trading strategy if used correctly and this also does takes discipline to see a trend.

In summary, a discipline approach is having an entry point, scaling, and exit points. Using fundamentals by understanding economic indicators and analyzing technicals is a tool. Use market pressures for an exit strategy to take small profit. And, don’t go against the trend.

© 2010 EMCFX

About the Author

Mark Baker as one of the most dedicated and hard working independent providers of forex managed funds to individuals from low to high wealth portfolios. We offer transparent real time platforms for peace of mind. Emerging Market Capital FX (EMCFX) can be your alternative source for forex managed funds. Find out more about how to minimize your losses in your portfolio and regain your wealth at http://www.emcfx.com

By Daniel Shaw

It is not a secret that in Forex Market both profit value and the ability to influence the price movements depend on the size of a capital. Banks have the biggest influence on the market as they operate with the largest amounts and can deliberately change the price of the currency in order to support the macro economy of a country or just make a good profit. An average online trader, even with a relatively solid capital cannot move the market to the certain course. Even the biggest players in Forex are not able to take a full control of the price movements. A fierce fighting breaks out on the Asian markets for such currencies as USD/JPY, EUR/JPY. On the one hand many Forex traders use this phenomenon in order to increase their investments, but on the other hand it is a very risky game and strategy. The fact is that technical analysis of Forex market cannot predict news and financial events which for a short time can change the price for 100 pips and lead to the opposite trend. Moreover, technical analysis cannot predict interference of big players in Forex trading.

At certain times of a day Foreign Exchange market becomes very calm and even freezes because of the breaks in the main trading centers in the world. When trading starts in USA it is the most active and unpredictable time in the market in terms of technical analysis. When staying in the market alone, US banks can urge big price movements of up to 1000 pips. They try to push the price to the levels of massive stop-losses of the traders who traded in the opposite direction. If they succeed, the total closure of the positions dramatically changes the direction of the price. This process brings huge profits in a short period of time. If you study the market, you can notice these tricks and may use them for increasing of your own capital. But at the same time every trader must be very careful when trading during these hours as it is very risky and may course high losses.

The international financial markets attract a focused attention of the entire world and each piece of news brings its own corrections in currencies rates on the Forex market. Experienced Forex traders know the presidents of the major banks by their names because any word from their speech may cause big fluctuations of a price. We cannot ignore the fundamental analysis of Forex market. Today any trading platform provides the traders with a news strip of the most recent financial news. And on the website of every Singapore broker you can find a financial calendar which indicates the time of the main news releases. You can build a trading strategy based on the news or simply close a trading position before the release of the most important of them. In any case, every online trader must take into his consideration such factors as time of trading, news and noise of the market.

About the Author

Liked this article? Visit our website Singapore Forex to find the answers on most of your Forex trading questions and review the most popular Singapore Brokers.

By Justin Thomas – To many, it is banks alone that adhere to legislation related to customer protection, anti-fraud and money laundering legislation. For this very reason, they tend to call banking institutions the most trustworthy financial outlets. This is a popular fallacy and banks do not take much effort to undeceive their clients by saying that most governments around the globe have imposed strict regulations covering all financial companies processing money orders, money transfers and currency exchange operations.

In countries like the U.S. and all member states of the European Union (EU) not only banks but also currency brokers providing payment and similar services are subject to tight supervision. In the U.K. these companies are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which ensures that they provide reliable and legitimate service to their customers. Since 1 November 2009, all British currency transfer companies have to follow the regulations of the Payment Service Regulations.

To customers it is important to know that under these regulations currency transfer companies must safeguard client money, must show ongoing capital adequacy, and all directors and shareholders holding stakes larger than 10% in the company must pass a test by the FSA. Another guarantee for customers”?? money is a requirement for these companies to present detailed governance and risk management procedures. All these procedures and regulations apply to currency transfer brokers who transact more than ^3 million a month. Companies with a lower turnover are allowed to bypass some of the above mentioned regulations but are required to register with the FSA.

Both types of companies, known as “??payment institutions”?? are regulated by the Conduct of Business rules, which is meant to guarantee that customers receive the service offered in a proper and high quality way.

Moreover, payment institutions are subject to even stricter regulation by the EU, namely Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing. The directive covers not only financial and credit institutions but also certain legal and natural persons who are involved and working in the financial sector, including providers of goods (when cash payments in excess of ^15,000 are made).

This directive and all related European legislation ensure that financial institutions, including payment institutions, conduct their business in a proper way and according to the best business practices. National governments within the EU are bound to incorporate the EU law so it is really difficult to bypass these regulations related to currency transfer operations.

Some companies may complain against such complicated regulations but it is good for customers because they can choose their financial service provider in a more informed way and get higher protection against frauds and bad business practices. In addition, payment institutions are obliged, at least in the U.K., to safeguard client money so customers must be glad to get additional guarantees that their precious funds will be managed responsibly.

By James McKee

Despite the fact that the USD is undergoing some serious devaluation and the DJIA is also having some serious issues there is some temporary relief in sight. As GM began to sell its 478 million shares it was thought that $30.00 was optimistic and now the price has climbed to $33.00. This is a huge turnaround for GM who was more or less in bankruptcy just six years ago. This remarkable IPO is the second largest ever and as GM’s stock continues to gain strength the DJIA will recover some of its losses. This will of course have a positive corollary effect on the USD as well so traders on the forex currency exchange should certainly take note of this and stay alert.

GM still has an awful lot of debt to pay back to the US government however it is on the right track and has posted record profits this year and last. Much like a national government GM cut half of its brands and laid off many employees in an effort to make the company economically viable. So far so good as GM’s stock sale has proven fruitful and the government is dialing back its ownership of the company. In a few more years the government should be out of the company altogether.

Since the USD has been falling lately against the Euro and other stable currencies it is a good time to examine trades with this and other pairs. Gains made by the Euro and the Japanese Yen are sure to be shrugged off to an extent over the next 48 hours as the US stock market rallies. These are definitely not intraday trades and should be made with conservative SL/TP figures. Utilize proper pivot points to avoid taking losses on this trade and never make any assumptions on the Forex market.

About the Author

Author is a Forex trader and financial analyst residing in Denver, Colorado. To stay up to date on all the latest developments in the financial world and beyond be sure to check out the forex exchange rates regularly.

By Bob Moore

Successful traders take signals from the Taylor Trading Method 3-day cycle–Buy Day, Sell Day and Sell-Short Day–to place trades in sync with the dynamics of the cycle. For example, according to Taylor Trading Rules, if Markets trade below Buy Day Lows on a Sell Day, a buying opportunity is signaled because there is a good chance the Markets will rally back up to Buy Day Lows by at least the Sell-Short Day.

Case in point occurred on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, a Taylor Trading Method’s ‘Sell Day’. Since Markets closed on Tuesday near Taylor Trading Method’s Buy Day Lows, it was possible they would trade below Buy Day Lows during the day.

Using the S&P 500 eMini (ES) as an example, the ES (along with the Markets in general) did indeed trade below its Buy Day Low of 1206 near the open on Wednesday, signaling a buying opportunity!

The ES plunged to 1202–just 2-pts above Taylor Trading Plus’ designated extreme low range for the day–and then bounced several times without declining below 1204 signaling support was being established.

As the trader interprets establishment of support at 1204 as a buying opportunity, he/she responsibly determines a Stop Loss Limit to cover the trade in the event of a reversal. The trader justifies an abnormally ‘short-leash’ on the Stop Loss Limit–just under 1200–to coincide with Taylor Trading Plus’ designated extreme low for the day. The trader also mentally establishes a sell target of just under 1212–ES’s Value Area Low and anticipated level of resistance. The trader acknowledges the trade has a minimally acceptable reward/risk ratio of 2/1 (i.e., potential 8-pt profit/potential 4-pt loss).

The Trader buys ES at 1204. The S&P 500 eMini then trades in zigzag fashion stair-stepping up–a good sign positive momentum may continue.

As the Markets play out during the noon hour, the trader considers selling at 1210 for a 6-pt profit. After-all, the ES is 4-pts above its Buy Day Low and the ES is exhibiting slightly reversed action between 12:00 and 1:00 pm. He/she wonders, “Is this the ‘hump’ for the day in which the ES reverses direction?”

The trader decides to stay in with a raise in Stop Loss Limit to just under 1206–the Buy Day Low and anticipated level of support–to cover his/her trade in case of a reversal. The trader is rewarded shortly after 1:00 pm US EST, as ES quickly penetrates its Value Area Low of 1212 and is exhibiting potential of staying above its Value Area Low for (2) consecutive 1/2-hr Bars.

The S&P 500 eMini does stay above its Value Area Low for (2) consecutive ½-hr Bars triggering the Value Area 80% Rule! According to the Rule, if the trading instrument is trading below its Value Area Low, then rallies above its Value Area Low for (2) consecutive ½-hr Bars, there is an 80% chance of rallying up to its Value Area High by at least the end of the next trading day.

The trader feels more confident in staying in the trade because the Value Area 80% Rule has been triggered with a target price of 1221–Value Area High–to fulfill the Rule. Again, the trader raises the Stop Loss Limit to just below the Value Area Low (and current support level) of 1212 to at least lock in his/her predetermined sell target.

The trader patiently waits to see if the ES will continue its momentum up. The trader starts to reconsider his/her decision to stay in the trade as the regular trading session nears its last hour of trading. During the past 1 1/2-hrs, the ES has been trading in sideways fashion between the range of 1213 and 1217.

The trader also takes into consideration that the current status of the S&P 500’s Elliott Wave pattern on a 6-month chart appears to be transitioning from upward intermediate Wave 1 (which has persisted for over 2-months) to sideways-downward intermediate Wave 2. In other words, it looks like the ES is changing from an upward short-term trend to sideways-downward short-term trend.

The trader decides not to hold onto the trade overnight so he/she sells the trade at just over 1215 for an 11-pt profit.

The S&P 500 eMini declines to Buy Day Low of 1206 shortly after the regular trading session closes and then rallies to just over 1213 the next trading day. It does not reach yesterday’s Value Area High, however; therefore, the Value Area 80% Rule triggered on Wednesday was not fulfilled on Thursday, either.

The trader made the right decision to close the trade. The trader now starts considering his/her next trading opportunity with the aid of Taylor Trading Technique, Value Area Trading, and Elliott Wave analysis.

About the Author

Bob Moore is with Taylor Trading Plus, an international data-exchange trading service using George Taylor’s Book Method, Value Area trading, Elliott Wave analysis, and Short-Term Trend analysis to identify trading entries/exits in select instruments of Futures, ForEx, Commodities, Metals and Oil, ETF’s, and Stocks. To request visual aids that help with understanding of this article, please go to ‘Contact’ tab at: http://www.taylortradingplus.com.

By James McKee

Due to higher than anticipated investor demand the price of GM stock has swelled to nearly $33.00 a share. Losses incurred by the US government and more importantly by taxpayers will be less than was originally assumed in light of these new share values. The US government’s seemingly poor investment and bailout strategy is actually turning out to be much more effective than was once thought, and inevitably this boost will translate into a higher valued USD on the Forex currency exchange. Traders should definitely keep a look out before the USD begins its rise against currencies such as the NZD that has recently made gains against it.

While it is true that it always takes longer to fix a problem created by fiscal policy many were judging the United States recent measures with reasonable outlooks. No one could have predicted the outcome of US government efforts to stabilize their economy. Indeed it may still end up being even more of a quagmire than it already is if things continue to degrade as they have been for a while now. Truly the only ray of hope throughout this whole process has been supposed uniform cooperation at the G20 summit in Seoul, although I truly would not trust this until I saw it in action in the coming months.

GM’s turnaround is a sure sign to a trader that the USD has reached a new place in the Forex currency exchange and should not be taken lightly. While it certainly is not time to restore the USD as the world’s reserve currency it just might be time to put the breaks on assuming the worst for a little while yet. To be perfectly clear my advice is to not make an assumption one way or the other, if anything (if you are able) I would hedge my investments.

About the Author

Author is a Forex trader and financial analyst residing in Denver, Colorado. To stay up to date on all the latest developments in the financial world and beyond be sure to check out the forex exchange rates regularly.

By Justin Thomas

Customers face higher bank fees, while non-banking institutions fill the gap providing cheaper currency transfer services to clients worldwide

The global financial crisis and the lower budget revenues of governments worldwide forced policy makers to unshelve the controversial idea of imposing a tax on financial transactions. Such a move will affect every single currency transfer around the globe and might well push customers to look for an alternative to banks and traditional banking.

The proposed tax on financial transactions within the European Union (EU) will have an adverse impact on the fees banks charge their clients for currency transfers abroad and transfers between the EU and non-EU financial institutions, in particular. However, a recent meeting of EU financial leaders in Brussels failed to work out an agreeable road map on the subject, giving the entire financial world a breather.

Imposing a tax on financial transactions is not a new idea and was in the air following the start of the global financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are strong supporters of the tax on financial transactions while the U.K. and other EU and non-EU countries expressed doubts that such a tax would help bring cash to government coffers. According to U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, nobody knows how such a tax will effectively work while other experts explain that the financial transaction tax will have a negative impact on every single currency transfer in the world.

If the proposed tax is imposed within the EU, it will affect banks in two ways. First, share and bond purchases will be subject to taxation and, second, banks will have to pay additional taxes on profits and remuneration. Consequently, banks will be forced to raise the fees they charge for a currency transfer or other financial activities on their clients in order to compensate for the higher tax.

On the other hand, banks are often reluctant to change and enterprising non-bank institutions rapidly fill the gap on the market of currency transfers. These companies respond more quickly and adequately to the global demand and supply of such services, while traditional banks often fail to leverage on the support, including financial, they receive from governments. The technical side of the proposal is less important, although many experts believe that the introduction of the new tax would require huge and extensive research into the technical details.

The mere fact that such a discussion has been on the table for so long suggests that all stakeholders are a long way of reaching an agreement on the financial transaction tax. Customers, however, should look out for trouble stemming from the imposition of such taxes; namely, higher charges for currency and financial transactions, stricter financial regulations, which sometimes could prove an obstacle to business, as well as higher costs of moving money abroad.

Reaching a final decision is in the hands of policy makers but average customers can prepare themselves for the future by discovering new means and possibilities to lower the costs of their currency transfers. A possible solution lies with existing non-bank institutions and newborn business models which can reduce the burden of a new tax on financial transactions worldwide.