{"id":12234,"date":"2010-08-20T13:41:35","date_gmt":"2010-08-20T17:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/?p=12234"},"modified":"2010-08-20T13:41:35","modified_gmt":"2010-08-20T17:41:35","slug":"what-lessons-can-be-learned-from-the-global-financial-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2010\/08\/20\/what-lessons-can-be-learned-from-the-global-financial-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"What Lessons Can Be Learned From The Global Financial Crisis?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Jonathan Dayan<\/strong> &#8211; It\u2019s no secret that the global financial crisis has had an enormous  impact on the way people invest. The shroud of mystery which once hung  over the financial markets appears to have lifted for good. In the  aftermath of the crisis, millions more people have been investigating  alternative investment opportunities like online financial trading. \u00a0In  general, these people are united in seeking investing opportunities that  enable them to exercise more control over their investments than  traditional investing opportunities allow. What lessons does the  financial crisis offer to today\u2019s financial investors and why has it led  to increased interest in online financial trading?<\/p>\n<p>The collapse of major global financial institutions like Bear Sterns,  Lehman Brothers and Northern Rock sent shockwaves through the world\u2019s  financial system and nearly caused its collapse. One consequence of this  was that investor\u2019s faith in financial experts was badly shaken. People  realized that if there was the potential for real risk even in  so-called \u201csafe institutions\u201d like banks, then handing over their money  to experts to invest on their behalf wasn\u2019t really that different to  investing their money themselves \u2013 and could even hold more risks and  disadvantages. In the wake of this rupture in financial systems,  ordinary financial investors have been reassessing their financial  investing options.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Rise Of Self-Controlled Investing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the lessons people have been drawing from the financial crisis  is the risks that are incurred in handing over their funds to third  parties to invest on their behalf. \u00a0The images of thousands of investors  queuing at the doors of major banks which illuminated TV screens around  the world just two years ago are still seared on the minds of many  investors. As a result there has been an increased interest in online  financial investing from many people because it offers a way for  investors to keep their investment funds under their own control. In  online financial investing every investor makes their own decisions on  what assets to trade, when to trade them and when to exit the markets.  Investments are not locked away over time but are at the direct control  of the investor 24 hours a day. This offers investors the freedom to  invest in the way that suits them best, rather than forcing them to  accede to a predefined investment structure as most banks and investment  funds force their customers to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Open Investing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Behind the global financial crisis there lies the specter of secrecy.  The shock collapse of major global financial institutions and the  scandalous fall of financial investor Bernard Madoff serve to highlight  the vulnerability of traditional approaches to savings and investments \u2013  namely that they involve handing over your finances to a third party  the security and competency \u00a0of which you can never be wholly clear  about. Prior to the global financial crisis the financial industry was  characterized by a lack of transparency. Traditional financial  investment firms were opposed to openness in their investment  procedures, a strategy which in the event cost their investors dearly.  Following the global financial crisis ordinary financial investors are  far more suspicious of secretive institutions and rightly so. Put  simply, if you can\u2019t see where your money is going can you trust that it  is truly secure? As global taxpayers and investors learnt to their cost  through the crisis, the answer is that you can\u2019t. Online financial  trading offers a different way for you to invest, where you can see  exactly how your investments are faring at all times, and you can know  exactly where your money is being invested.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Obsession With Volatility<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most salutary lesson from the global financial crisis was  the stark reminder that financial markets can fall as well as rise. For  many years prior to the crisis investors had become acclimatized to  rising markets and had begun to share the view that the rises would  continue forever. The investment strategies of millions of investors  were built upon this expectation. In the financial crisis, however, the  world was delivered a wakeup call major financial markets and  institutions sustained massive losses. As a result, ordinary investors  began to rediscover the risk element that is involved in long term asset  holding. Investors who were engaged in short term financial trading  were in some ways less exposed to the risks that resulted: because they  were familiar with the concept of investing for the short term they were  able to ride the wave of volatility that gripped the markets \u2013 seeking  rewards in both rising and falling markets. Online financial trading  makes this possible for millions of ordinary traders because it enables  them to place both long and short positions to achieve financial returns  regardless of whether the markets rise or fall.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Importance Of Community<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The financial crisis highlighted the critical importance of  information sharing in successful financial trading. Those investors who  were in the know succeeded as financial investors, those who were not  missed out. The global financial crisis seems to demonstrate that  investors who are able to share hints and tips with one another are in a  better position to achieve investment success than those who are forced  to rely solely on their own talents. Today there is increasing global  interest in financial investing communities which enable traders to  co-operate across national boundaries and time zones in order to share  their knowledge and strategies for the benefit of all. This is one of  the key appeals of online financial trading in the post-crisis era and  is the reason why financial trading communities like the eToro OpenBook,  the world\u2019s largest <a href=\"http:\/\/openbook.etoro.com\/?ref=home\">social trading community<\/a>, are proving to be a huge draw for both new and experienced financial investors.<\/p>\n<p>The global financial crisis has changed the way in which ordinary  people invest forever but it has actually had a positive effect on the  online financial trading industry. As people have come to see the  advantages of making investment decisions for themselves and of free and  open investment methods which let them invest how and when they want  to, they have been driven in ever increasing numbers to online financial  trading. In today\u2019s financial reality where financial markets are  moving around wildly, and long term prospects are unclear, investors  want to be in a position where they can get the benefit of such  turbulence: rather than risk losing everything on that basis. Online  financial trading, particularly community based trading opportunities  like the eToro OpenBook, seemingly offers investors just that.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Forex Article    provided  by<\/em><\/strong><strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.etoro.com\/A15748_TClick.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.etoro.com\/A15748_TClick.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">eToro<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer: Trading in the Foreign  Exchange  market might carry                                                     potential rewards, but   also             potential        risks.     You        must    be          aware    of             the            risks     and are      willing      to       accept      them    in       order     to      trade      in      the            foreign                   exchange    market.        Don\u2019t     trade         with    money     you          can\u2019t       afford      to             lose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jonathan Dayan &#8211; It\u2019s no secret that the global financial crisis has had an enormous impact on the way people invest. The shroud of mystery which once hung over the financial markets appears to have lifted for good. In the aftermath of the crisis, millions more people have been investigating alternative investment opportunities like &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2010\/08\/20\/what-lessons-can-be-learned-from-the-global-financial-crisis\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;What Lessons Can Be Learned From The Global Financial Crisis?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}