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Rabu, 11 Mei 2016

Executive Order For Your Gold - forex trading practice account online

Executive Order For Your Gold ~ forex trading practice account online


This article was extracted from Gold Eagle.

When America was five-years deep into The Depression of 1933, the stage was set for an act of unprecedented proportions. History shows a wicked warlock at work.
On March 6, 1933, Executive Order (EO) 6073 was passed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd President of the United States in an attempt to solve the dire banking crisis. Executive orders have been around since 1789, allowing Presidents to issue legally binding orders unilaterally, without the consent of Congress. During his Presidential tenure, from 1933 to 1945, Roosevelt would issue 3,728 Executive Orders.
This was his third and it was a doozy. I could just imagine how angry and frustrated individuals would have been. I doubt this will happen again but history does have a way of repeating...

gold executive order




Just two days after Roosevelt was inaugurated as President, he proclaimed a "banking holiday". From and including Monday, March 6, 1933 to Thursday, March 9, 1933 no bank "would pay out, export, earmark, or permit the withdrawal or transfer in any manner or by any device whatsoever of any gold or silver coin or bullion or take any other action which might facilitate the hoarding thereof..." Sold to the American people as an attempt to control speculation and regulate interest rates, he closed Americas banks, thwarting customers from withdrawing their paper money holdings or converting their holdings to gold.
With a swish of his magic wand, Roosevelt mastered "complete control over Americas banking system", expanding his Presidential powers exponentially in the process.
In his first "Fireside Speech" (which burned the backside of many Americans) on March 12, 1933 Roosevelt declared "Let me make it clear to you that the banks will take care of all needs, except, of course, the hysterical demands of hoarders, and it is my belief that hoarding during the past week has become an exceedingly unfashionable pastime in every part of our nation. It needs no prophet to tell you that when the people find that they can get their money -- that they can get it when they want it for all legitimate purposes -- the phantom of fear will soon be laid. People will again be glad to have their money where it will be safely taken care of and where they can use it conveniently at any time. I can assure you, my friends, that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than it is to keep it under the mattress."
On June 16, 1933, EO 6073 passed into legislation as the "Emergency Banking Act (EBA)". After only 40 minutes debate in the House of Representatives, with an unknown author and no printed copies available for members of the House, the Bill was passed swiftly and without due process. The wand was waved again.
At the time, Congressman Lundeen, appalled at the reckless lack of due process involved in the passing of this Bill said "I want to put myself on record against procedure of this kind and against the use of such methods in passing legislation affecting millions of lives and billions of dollars. It seems to me that under this bill thousands of small banks will be crushed and wiped out of existence, and that money and credit control will be still further concentrated in the hands of those who now hold the power.... I am suspicious of this railroading of bills through our House of Representatives, and I refuse to vote for a measure unseen and unknown."
Meanwhile, Executive Order 6073 paved the way for Executive Order 6102 on April 5, 1933.
This Executive Order (EO) made it a criminal act to possess gold coins, gold bullion and gold certificates within the continental United States and ordered that the hoarded gold be delivered to the Government on or before May 1, 1933. The official price of gold was raised from $20.67 to $35/ounce.
Although it is unknown just how much gold was confiscated by means of Executive Order 6102, numbers suggest that by January 1934, there were 195.1 million ounces and 227.9 million ounces by August 1934.
The Government had to have some place to hoard the confiscated gold. So, Executive Order 6102 paved the way to Fort Knox. The U.S. Treasury Department began construction of the United States Bullion Depository (USBD) in 1936. Completed in December of that year, at a cost of US$560,000, the Gold Vault sits in a 109,000-acre Army enclave in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

The U.S. Mint states that 147.3 million ounces of gold are now tucked into Fort Knox. Guarded by Apache helicopter gunships and tucked into a bunker with a bomb-proof roof and thick granite walls, youd think that 147.3 million ounces of gold would be safe in the vault. While Treasury officials insist that the "gold is all there", why the resistance to a public audit? 
Congress begs off, saying it will cost US$60 million to test the gold. Other figures bandied about suggest US$15 million. Other so-called experts contest both figures, stating that an independent audit and assay could be conducted for as little as US$15,000.
More nefarious are that the numbers dont add up...and never have. In his article The Great American Disaster: How Much Gold Remains In Fort Knox?, dated August 27, 2010, Chris Weber states that, at their peak in 1949, the Fort Knox reserves reputedly numbered 701 million ounces - 69.9% of all the gold on the planet. The latest figures reported by the U.S. Mint state that 147.3 million ounces of gold are now tucked into Fort Knox. Treasury subsequently downgraded this figure from 264 million ounces of gold, a decline of 79%! Lucy, you got some splainin to do.
Clearly, the road to - and from - Fort Knox is paved in gold and not-so-gold intentions. Tales of pillaging, profiteering and skullduggery abound at the crossroads of Bullion Boulevard and Gold Vault Road. Masked interlopers didnt rob the USDB. Reputed to be the second most secure place in the world (as reported in The Blogingtons post of September 21, 2010), the video cams, armed guards, attack helicopters, armored personnel carriers, and 30,000 soldiers guarding Fort Knox guaranteed that.
For over 50 years, while domestically it was a crime to hold gold, there is little doubt that well-heeled Americans - and Americas enemies, operating offshore, were able to procure gold at the bargain basement price of $35/ounce.
Not surprising that Fort Knoxs 22-ton door is locked to an audit. For almost 40 years, no visitors have been allowed in the grounds of the Gold Depository. Considered one of the eight most secure places in the world, were not getting in for a sneak peek anytime soon. In the last recorded "audit", in the early 50s, a group of Congressmen and Senators were taken on a quick tour of Fort Knox and allowed to peek into a few vaults. They reported seeing "orange-hued gold bars". Lucy, you got more splainin to do.
In his article "The Great American Disaster: How Much Gold Remains In Fort Knox?", Chris Weber outlines details about the one "audit" of Fort Knox, as follows:
"The only audit that has ever been done of the gold inside Ft Knox was done days after Dwight Eisenhower became President in January of 1953. After 20 years of Democratic presidents, the American public wanted to be sure that the gold confiscated from them was still there. Thus, the new President ordered an audit within hours after taking office.
The central problem was that it wasnt much of an audit. To sum it up:
  1. Representatives of the audited group were allowed to make the rules governing the audit. No outside private experts were allowed.
  2. Those government bureaucrats involved were inexperienced in their tasks, by their own admission.
  3. The entire audit of the largest gold hoard ever concentrated in history lasted only seven days.
  4. Only a fraction of the gold was actually tested. Later, the officials put this fraction at just 5%.
  5. Based on that fraction, the official committee reported that, in their opinion, all the holdings would have matched their records if theyd all been tested.
  6. If the audit was accurate, the fact remains that almost 80% of it went overseas in the coming years. If the audit was not accurate, the amount of gold lost could have been even more."

On September 23, 1974, Mary Brooks, the Director of the United States Mint, led a tour of members of Congress and the news media through the USBD. There was no audit or inventory
of the gold and no other public "inspection" has been allowed since then.
Why wont the Mint comment about how much gold is there? Perhaps the acid test is not so much as what has happened to the gold in Fort Knox; but rather is there gold in Fort Knox? And if so, how much.....or how little?
In a feat worthy of The Great Houdini himself, the Fort Knox gold may be the Worlds Greatest Vanishing Act ever.
In Conclusion:
There are other ways to take advantage of golds next bull market that can add leverage and protection against a gold confiscation. One of the best ways is through the ownership of gold producing companies. The key here is in buying the right companies as the right time within the market cycle.
******** 

Courtesy of www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com
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Senin, 09 Mei 2016

9 Currency ETFs That May Influence Your Trading Strategy - free forex trading account with real money

9 Currency ETFs That May Influence Your Trading Strategy ~ free forex trading account with real money




Many Forex Traders and Investors have a sizable interest in what may be happening to various currencies regarding their trading strategy. Today I will gather some information on a group of ETFs related to several of the heavily traded currencies.

  • Currencies are volatile today and will be more volatile as weeks pass.
  • Countries are manipulating their currencies to gain advantages and export markets.
  • Politicians are exploiting interest rates and QE programs to stimulate their economies


The following are the Guggenheim CurrencyShares Trust Vehicles:

Australian Dollar (FXA)
Canadian Dollar (FXC)
Euro (FXE)
Japanese Yen (FXY)
British Pound (FXB)
Swedish Krona (FXS)
Swiss Franc (FXF)
Singapore Dollar (FXSG)
Chinese Renminbi (FXCH)


As you can see, this list covers the important and most heavily traded currencies exclusive of the US Dollar.

In another article I will explore the relationships of each of these currencies with the US Dollar.

Here is a chart from ETFScreen.comoutlining a comparison of the Relative Strength factor for the past quarter. Of course, as each day passes there will be changes in Relative Strength factor and the order in the list will change.





This next chart illustrates a comparison in percent change for the past several months, I am assuming that the down slope is closely related to the climb in the US Dollar.





This chart, from etf.com illustrates the fund flows into each of these ETFs for the past month.






Of course we want to know what is in the future for currencies and that is not easy to know, there have not been many successful forecasters. However, there is one school of thought that we can consult and that is based on past performance.

Point and Figure Charts are not the holy grail, however they have a good track record and for this purpose they will cast some light on future direction.

Here is the P&F chart for FXA, the Australian Dollar Trust, I point out the Bearish Price Objective.




Instead of posting a P&F Chart in here, I will list the Price Objective (as at January 23,2015) for each Currency ETF.(Source Stockcharts.com)

Australian Dollar (FXA) 70.00
Canadian Dollar (FXC) 84.00
Euro (FXE) 86.00
Japanese Yen (FXY) 62.00
British Pound (FXB) 210.00
Swedish Krona (FXS 82.00
Swiss Franc (FXF) 151.00
Singapore Dollar (FXSG) -
Chinese Renminbi (FXCH) -

(FXSG and FXCH unavailable)



I will be updating the information on each of these currencies and ETFs in coming days.










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Senin, 02 Mei 2016

Some Important Point and Figure Charts for your Trading Strategy as at January 13 (updated) - algorithms for forex trading

Some Important Point and Figure Charts for your Trading Strategy as at January 13 (updated) ~ algorithms for forex trading



These charts indicate that there will be some great moves as time passes, hopefully some nice trends in the months to come





























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Jumat, 29 April 2016

Know Your Personality Just By a Cup of Coffee !! Must Read - forex trading classes nyc

Know Your Personality Just By a Cup of Coffee !! Must Read ~ forex trading classes nyc


What does your coffee say about your Personality?
Now you can calculate your personality just by a cup of Coffee . Just read the topic carefully :-
Black Coffee
A leader, not a follower. Knows what they like, and sticks to it. Likes control, and avoids conflict or change. Hard working, more minimalist, not materialistic, can be quieter, honest, and direct.
Espresso
Similar to black coffee drinkers, but even more ambitious. Does not tolerate insufficiencies or failures. Always on the go. This type of person is usually punctual, in control, and sticks to a strict schedule. This makes them reliable and loyal. They know themselves well.

Cappuccino
Details are important to the cappuccino drinker. They like things precise and are meticulous in their work. May be artistic and creative, they do not follow trends, and are intriguing. Even though they are detail-oriented, they may not share details of their own life. Introverted, imaginative, and skilled.

Latte
More of a trend follower. Afraid to experiment. Often more youthful, comforting, pleasant, and friendly. Can be confrontational, but still want to please others. Appearance and aesthetics are important to latte drinkers.

Frozen Blended Coffee/Frappuccino
May be a follower of trends, enjoys desserts and sweets, lives life with less controlling attitude, spur-of-the-moment attitude, more materialistic, indulges, and takes chances.

Decaf Coffee
Can be light-hearted, less stressed, but others may be uptight. Simple, mild, avoids controversy and argument, afraid to take risk, avoids challenges. Wants the best for their life.

Tea and Soy Milk Coffees
These are lumped together because they are traditional coffee alternatives, and these types of people tend to be concerned about the environment, their health, and may be a little egocentric or high maintenance. Many are vegetarian, vegan, or follow a specific diet. Interviewees also described them as chill, earthy, picky, and prudish.

Which Coffee are You?




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How To Increase The Winning Probability Of Your Forex Trades - forex trading analysis tips in urdu

How To Increase The Winning Probability Of Your Forex Trades ~ forex trading analysis tips in urdu


In this article I am going to teach you some powerful skills that aim to dramatically increase the winning probability of your forex trades. Pay close attention to these concepts and start practicing them in your trading.


Price action trading strategies can be very potent ‘weapons’ to trade the markets with. We just have to learn to use them correctly and accurately. Most of us have a limited supply of bullets (money), so we have to make each bullet count and not waste them on low-probability targets (stupid trades).

So, how can we ‘fine tune’ our price action trading to make it into a high-probability trading ‘weapon’ so that we very rarely waste our bullets? This is your main mission as a price action trader; this mission is not an easy one and it’s going to take discipline, fortitude and the ability to pull the trigger only when your target is present. But, if you dig-deep and really want to be a profitable trader, you can make it happen.
So, without further delay, let’s get down to the business of getting your trading strategy ready to go to ‘war’ in the Forex markets:

Stop voluntarily decreasing the probability of your trading edge

Unlike lifting weights, where doing more typically makes you bigger and stronger, trading more will not make your trading account bigger or stronger. In fact, it will probably make your trading account a tiny little floundering wuss.

If you haven’t read any of my other articles on trading Forex with patience, go back and do that later. For now, I will briefly explain to you why trading less frequently will make you a better and stronger trader.
The reasons are pretty simple. First off, your trading edge is not always going to be present in the market, so you have to have the patience to wait to trade until it is. This typically means you will be out of the market more than you are in it, which is of course totally contrary to what most traders do. Most traders can’t stand to be out of the market, they feel an ‘itch’ to enter a trade that will not go away until they hit that buy or sell button. So they enter a trade not based on their edge, but based on emotion instead.

The point is this, most of the trades a losing trader makes are ones born out of emotion, or because they just feel like they want to trade. If we really stick to our predefined edge, price action trading in my case, we will naturally be waiting for our edge to form more than we will actually be trading. Any high-probability edge in the market is not going to be present all the time, we have to wait for a market to ‘show us its cards’ first, and it may only do that one or two or three times per week. So, the first and perhaps easiest thing you can do to increase the probability of your trades is to stop decreasing their probability by trading when your edge is not actually present! You can do this by employing the disciplined to ONLY trade when your edge is present…in other words, stop trading just because you ‘want’ to!

Confluence is like ‘steroids’ for a price action setup

Everyone knows I teach and trade price action. However, I know from emails that I get that a lot of people who follow me think that ‘price action trading’ means trading any old price action setup; they seem to totally ignore the market context that the setups occur in, which is actually just as important, if not more than the individual setup itself. Essentially, I am talking about confluence here, and trading price action setups at confluent points in the market is really the ‘core’ of my trading philosophy. I talk a lot about trading Forex like a sniper and not a machine gunner; well, waiting for price action setups to form at confluent points in the market is HOW you trade like a sniper. Traders who just enter any PA setup they see, without considering the context it’s occurring within, are machine gunners, not snipers.

There are many different ‘factors of confluence’ that I teach to my members, but for today’s lesson we will just stick with horizontal and dynamic support and resistance levels in order to illustrate the point. I use the 8 and 21 daily EMAs for dynamic support / resistance, and horizontal support / resistance levels are simply your classic technical analysis support and resistance levels that connect highs to highs and lows to lows.
To trade with confluence, we want to first scan the markets for an obvious, or well-defined, price action setup. If we find a setup that meets our criteria, we then look to see if it has any supporting factors of confluence.

In the chart below, we can see 3 price action setups that each has three supporting factors of confluence. All three of these setups had confluence with the near-term bullish momentum / trend, dynamic support from the 8 and 21 day EMA layer, and support from a horizontal (static) price level. This is one example of trading price action setups from confluent levels in the market.



To contrast, here’s an example of two price action setups that were well-defined but didn’t have any obvious supporting factors of confluence…

In the chart below, we can see two very good looking bullish pin bar setups. Now, the obvious problem with these pin bars is that they are against the near-term trend, which was clearly down at the time. However, on top of that, they also did not have any supporting factors of confluence such as a key horizontal support level, dynamic EMA support, a 50% retrace, or any other factor. It’s setups like THESE that I get emails from traders about asking “Nial, I traded a well-defined pin bar the other day, why did the market go against me”?

The answer is two-fold: First, it’s important to remember that not every setup works out, even a perfect looking setup with 5 factors of confluence can and will fail sometimes. Thus, we need to always practice proper forex money management. Next, in order to use our ‘bullets’ as effectively and efficiently as possible, we need to always make sure we take high-probability price action setups, meaning setups that are well-defined AND that are in agreement with the overall market context they’ve formed in, AKA they have confluence.



The point to take away from the above two charts, and the main point of this article, is that trading price action setups from confluent points in the market is the best thing you can do to improve the probability of your trades. Too often, traders simply aren’t patient and picky enough in regards to their trading, and they thus end up throwing their money away in the markets. Just remember that every time you find a potential trade setup it’s YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY you are about to lay on the line, so ask yourself if the setup has enough supporting factors of confluence to be worth trading.

Think before you ‘shoot’…not after

Most beginning and losing Forex traders seem to behave as if they are best able to navigate the markets after entering. This is akin to an army general thinking that his army has the best chance of winning a war if they just dive into war first and ask the questions later. Fortunately, in (most) wars, governments usually plan and ask the tough questions first, so that they know what they are doing when they are on the battlefield.
In trading, most traders seem to do the opposite; they try to plan, think and strategize in the heat of the moment, when their money is on the line and they are the most emotional.

I’m not going to get into a long drawn-out discussion about the importance of trading plans and trading journals, because I talk about them extensively in other articles, follow the links if you want to learn more. But, I will say that we need to do our analysis and most of our thinking about the markets BEFORE we enter, this gives us the highest-probability of succeeding as traders. As soon as traders enter a trade and THEN start thinking about it and over-analyzing it, they almost always lower their overall probability of profiting over the long-term.

There’s nothing wrong with checking on your trade every 4 or 8 hours or so, but you should not be thinking about it much, if at all, in between. The best thing to do is to pre-plan all your potential interactions with the market, and then follow that plan to the T, this way you deny the possibility of emotion coming in and destroying your trading account.

Trade higher time frames

As I discussed thoroughly in a recent article on trading daily chart time frames, you can significantly improve your trading by ignoring time frames under the 1 hour chart all together. I actually NEVER look at a time frame under the 1 hour. There is simply no reason too, they are messy, full of random market noise and will tempt you to enter a trade that you know you shouldn’t. In short, if you want to improve your accuracy and the probability of your price action trade setups, focus on the higher time frame charts.

Money matters

If you want to give yourself the best chance at taking the highest probability trades and avoiding low-probability / emotional trades you’ll need to make sure you are not A) trading with money you need for other things in your life and B) not risking more than you are comfortable with losing on any one trade.
When you are only trading with disposable income and never risking more than you are OK with losing per trade, you will be much calmer and more objective. This will obviously work to help you to only take high-probability trade setups. Traders who are strung-out and frazzled because they are overly worried about the money they have at risk in the markets are naturally going to take low-probability trades because they simply are not thinking clearly.

Remember, you never know for ‘sure’ what’s going to happen

 

As traders, it helps to always expect a random outcome from our trades, even though we may have mastered a high-probability trading edge like price action. Even if we have say a 60% or 70% win rate, it is a randomly scattered win rate, meaning we never know which trades are going to win and which will lose. For instance, if you have a 60% win rate, you could theoretically lose 40 trades in a row out of 100 before you hit 60 winners. So, knowing this, we have to approach each trade as just another execution of our trading edge, while doing everything we can to put the odds in our favor.

Everyone knows that I don’t sugar-coat anything, so I’ll tell you that there is no ‘perfect’ trading signal, and that goes for ALL trading strategies and systems. Even if we have multiple factors of supporting confluence, a perfect trend, and a perfect price action setup, the trade can still lose. Thus, it’s important to trade with these facts in mind while simultaneously making sure you do everything you can to only take the highest-probability trade setups. If you want to learn more about confluence, price action trading, and how to combine the two for a high-probability Forex trading strategy, check out my Forex trading course and members’ community.
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5 Free Forex Books to Help your Trading Strategy - forex trader pro practice account

5 Free Forex Books to Help your Trading Strategy ~ forex trader pro practice account


Here are 5 free books that may give you some ideas for your trading strategy.

I found these on Amazon and they are worth a read, considering the cost.

You can see them by clicking on this link

Enjoy!
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Kamis, 21 April 2016

Are CFDs in Your Trading Strategy - xe forex trading account

Are CFDs in Your Trading Strategy ~ xe forex trading account


This article has been created by one of the writers for the Nasdaq site, I have copied it in its entirety as it covers many important points.

A Survey on Contracts for Difference (CFD) and Spread Bets




The survey covered different aspects of CFD and spread betting instruments and was sent to more than 1000 people - a group comprising of money managers, traders, retail investors and HNWIs which offers valuable insights into the preferences of investors.
The objective of the survey was to discern the rationale and risk perception of active investors regarding CFDs/spread betting. The survey was also designed to identify key trends and preferences in sections of the investment community that is using CFDs/spread betting to take exposure to financial markets. For the purpose of interpretation, the survey has been divided into 3 sections:
  • The first section providing insights into the habits and motives of investors.
  • The second section captures the perception among investors regarding risk/return propositions associated with trading through CFDs/spread betting.
  • The final section gauges the preference of investors for a financial instrument that can provide an alternative to CFDs/spread betting while mitigating some key risks associated with investing in an unregulated market.
The key findings from the first two sections of the survey are listed as follows:

  • A significant majority of respondents actively trade using ETFs. Moreover, exchange traded leverage instruments such as options and futures have not found much favour with CFDs/spread betting investors.
  • Shorting, leveraged exposure and tax benefits are key factors that have pulled investors towards CFDs/spread betting platforms in the past.
  • A majority of respondents have started using leverage only in the last 5 years.
  • Contrary to popular belief, an abnormally large proportion of investors have maintained their position for more than 5 days over the last 12 months.
  • Across asset classes, investors have preferred to trade at leverage level ranges of 2x-5x in the past year.
  • The last 12 months, in general, has been good for respondents and most of them passed the year in green and without any margin calls.
  • However, investors are equally concerned about each of the key trading risk factors associated with CFDs/spread betting instruments such as losing more money than the original investment, being closed out of the market and margin calls.
  • In the wake of recent bankruptcies, the financial risks of a provider has been singled out as the most significant concern among investors when it comes to regulatory aspect of trading.
  • Most investors are also not aware about the practice of keeping separate books among providers, which raises questions pertaining to investor awareness.

The key findings from the final section regarding alternatives are:
  • Nearly every investor would prefer an alternate financial instrument to CFDs/spread betting which can provide the desired leveraged exposure while allowing trading in a regulated market.
  • Investors yearn to get leveraged/short exposure without exposing themselves to margins calls, unlimited risk (losing even more than the original investment), counterparty risk and knock-outs.
  • An overwhelming majority of respondents prefer the advantages of a regulated market place such as liquidity, transparent price discovery and ease in switching between providers.
  • Rather than maintain two accounts, investors have shown interest in using an instrument that can provide leveraged/short exposure through their traditional equity accounts which is covered in tax wrappers such as SIPPs and ISAs.
To summarise, it is clear that despite the advantages offered by CFDs/spread betting in leveraged trading, investors are concerned about the regulatory and trading risks associated with it and they are open to an instrument that can provide them with similar exposure while mitigating these risks, and they would most likely be open to experimentation.
1. Do you trade Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and/or spread bets?


Almost half of the respondents (46%) trade CFDs compared to 37% who trade using spread betting. The remaining 17% trade in both these instruments.
2. Which other instruments do you also trade? (Choose all relevant fields)


Majority of the respondents also trade in equities (79%) and ETFs (72%) while a smaller chunk trade in investment trusts (31%), bonds (28%) and futures (21%) as well. A small slice of the survey pool (7%) traded in options as well.
3. Which markets do you trade in? (Choose all relevant fields)


A significant proportion of the respondents traded in the FTSE 100 Index (66%) closely followed by individual stocks (62%), highlighting the more popular markets. Less than half of the respondents traded in US markets based indices like S&P500 (35%), FX (28%), commodities (24%), other ex-UK European indices like DAX (24%) and Asian markets (21%).
10% of the respondents traded in markets other than these such as the fixed income space and UK mid and small cap.
4. What are the major attractions and benefits of CFD and spread bet trading? (Choose all relevant fields)


A significant 69% of the respondents each think that both high leverage and the ability to short-sell are major factors attracting traders towards CFDs and spread betting. Tax benefits (54%) also constitutes a significant factor, though stop losses (15%) turned out to be a less important factor. 8% of the respondents reported other influencing factors such as the opportunity to manage one’s own money directly or having an option for short-selling even if not primarily interested in doing so.
5. Which CFD/spread bet provider do you subscribe to? (Choose all relevant fields)


There is a significant preference towards subscribing to IG as the CFD/spread bet provider, with 39% of respondents. 13% of the respondents subscribe to each of CMC Markets and City Index while just 4% subscribe to Capital Spreads. The rest of the market is quite fragmented with 22% of the respondents subscribing to other providers such as City Credit Capital Ltd, Saxo and Monument.
However, 13% of the respondents claim to have more than one CFD/spread betting service provider.
6. For how many years have you traded using leverage?


Over half of the respondents (52%) reported trading using leverage for 1 to 5 years while 22% have traded this way for 5 to 10 years. Respondents who have the largest experience (greater than 10 years) constitute 17% of the respondents and only 9% reported having an experience of less than 1 year in trading using leverage.
7. Which trading strategies do you adopt frequently? (Choose all relevant fields)


According to the survey results, there is no clear majority in the trading strategies used. An equal proportion of the survey pool adopts buy and hold as well as shorting strategies, with 46% of respondents identifying each of these two as a strategy that they adopt. A significant 38% of respondents use leveraging strategies frequently while 29% of respondents employ 1-5 days and greater than 5 days trading strategies. Intraday trading seems to be less popular with only 21% of the respondents using it frequently.
A small slice of the survey pool (4%) employ other strategies like automated strategies-signal following.
8. In the past 12 months what would be your average holding position period for a position?


Respondents are close to evenly split over the average holding period for a position in the past year. Traders who have holding periods of 1-5 days and greater than 5 days constitute 46% of the respondents each while intraday traders along with traders having other holding periods (like greater than 30 days) constitute 4% of the respondents each.
9. In the past 12 months, under what range did your average leverage factor fall for equities?


Just under half the respondents (48%) reported their average leverage factors for equities lying in the 5x range while a significant 35% report average leverage factors in the 2x range. A further 13% of those surveyed had high average leverage factors (10x) and a small slice (4%) had even higher average leverage factors in the range of 10-20x.
10. In the past 12 months under what range did your average leverage factor fall for commodities?


Respondents are split over the majority average leverage factor used for commodities. Traders who have average leverage factors of 5x and 2x constitute 38% of the respondents each. 9% of the respondents are leveraged up to 10x levels while a further 5% are leveraged at even higher levels (10-20x). The remaining 10% fall outside these categories. Some of them didn’t use any leverage for commodities.
11. In the past 12 months, under what range did your average leverage factor fall for FX?


There is no clear majority when it comes to the average leverage factor for FX. The majority of respondents (36%) employ two-times leverage while a further 29% of the respondents employ leverage up to 10 times. They are closely followed by 28% of respondents who use leverage factors of 5x while a meagre 7% constitute other leveraging strategies, some of which don’t do use any leveraging.
12. What gains or losses have you gained over the last 12 months?


There is almost an even split while analysing returns of respondents over the last 12 months. The largest single group of respondents (27%) report small gains, while the next largest group (23%) report significant gains, breakeven and small losses each. However, a small number of those polled (4%) experienced significant losses.
13. Have you had margin calls over the last 12 months and how many in total?


The majority of respondents (57%) didn’t face any margin calls over the last 12 months. A single margin call was experienced by 26% of respondents while 13% of the respondents faced fewer than 5 margin calls. Respondents who faced more than 10 margin calls were in the clear minority (4%).
14. When trading CFDs & spread bets, what are your major risks? (Choose all relevant fields)


There is no prominent risk factor when trading CFDs and spread bets which comes out of the survey. An equal proportion of the survey pool specified losing more than the original investment and being closed out as major risks, with 29% of respondents identifying each source. A further 24% considered margin calls as the biggest risk. However, the majority of the respondents (62%) considered all the three risks collectively as major factors when trading CFDs and spread bets.
15. Rank your current preferred provider(s) according to the services they provide from 1 to 5. (5 being the best and 1 being the worst).


Analysing the chart from the perspective of services provided, we can see that the majority of the respondents (32%) have placed the service levels of their preferred provider in the top ranked category while a further 21% giving 2nd rank to their provider. Despite a fragmented industry structure, nearly 61% of respondents ranked their preferred provider average or below average in terms of cost. Liquidity has come across as a key concern with 16% of respondents ranking their preferred service provider worst in terms of liquidity while another 37% ranked their service provider as average.
In terms of education, only 5% of respondents have ranked their service provider as the best, while nearly 58% ranked them as average or below-average. This is significant considering the fact that there are high levels of risks associated with CFDs/spread betting and a majority of investors started trading leverage fewer than 5 years ago.
16. In terms of provider risks, which of the following concerns you the most?


In terms of provider risks, the financial risks of the provider clearly ranks at the top (40%). This is followed by various other reasons such as poor spreads, client money vs firm money risks and liquidity (15% each). A further 10% are concerned by price discovery in open markets and other issues include the inability to spread bet while working in financial markets.
17. Are you aware that most CFD and spread betting investors lose money?


86% of those polled are aware that most CFD and spread betting investors lose money, though 14% indicate that they were not aware.
18a. Would such a practice of separate trading books (hedged and unhedged) affect your view on trading via CFDs and spread bets?


Just 40% of the survey pool admit that the practice of separate trading books (hedged and unhedged) would affect their view on trading via CFDs and spread bets, with 60% remaining unmoved.
18b. Are you aware if your provider(s) follows a similar practice of maintaining separate trading books?


A compelling majority (71%) of respondents are not aware of their provider(s) following a similar practice of maintaining separate trading books, though the other 29% are.
19a. Would you prefer to trade in a regulated market or an unregulated market?


There is a unanimous verdict regarding the type of market, as all of the respondents reported their preference for a regulated market.
19b. Would you prefer trading where you get leveraged and/or short exposure where you cant lose more than your original investment?


A compelling 86% of respondents would prefer trading with leveraged and/or short exposure provided that they don’t lose more than their original investment compared to the 14% who do not.
19c. Would you prefer trading where there can be no margin calls?


The majority of respondents (77%) prefer trading where there are no margin calls, compared to the 23% who do not.
19d. Would you prefer trading where you cant be knocked out on a severe market fall?


More than three quarters (77%) of respondents prefer trading when they can’t be knocked out on a severe market fall.
19e. Would you prefer to trade and settle on an exchange rather than against the house?


Unsurprisingly, a compelling 91% of respondents would prefer to trade and settle on an exchange, rather than against the house.
19f. Would you prefer trading a product that has multiple market makers and other investors making sure pricing is transparent and clear?


A clear majority (95%) of respondents prefer trading a product that has multiple market makers and other investors making sure pricing is transparent and clear compared to the 5% who do not.
19g. Would you prefer gaining a leveraged and/or short exposure out of an ordinary London Stock Exchange equity account?


A compelling 95% of respondents would prefer gaining a leveraged and/or short exposure out of an ordinary London Stock Exchange equity account.
19h. Would you prefer trading a product which protects you by mitigating the counterparty risk of the provider?


A clear majority (95%) of respondents prefer trading a product which protects them by mitigating the counterparty risk of the provider.
19i. Would you prefer trading a product that would be able to offset trading losses against capital gains?


Nine-tenths of the respondents prefer trading a product that would be able to offset trading losses against their capital gains.
19j. Would you prefer trading a product that allows you to include this trading in tax wrappers such as SIPPs and ISAs?


Asked whether or not they would prefer trading a product that allows you to include this trading in tax wrappers such as SIPPs and ISAs, a significant majority (91%) answered positively.
19k. Would you prefer trading that allows you to transfer your trading positions easily between providers of your equity account?


A compelling 95% of respondents would prefer trading that allows them to transfer their trading positions easily between providers of their equity accounts.


The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.



Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/a-survey-on-contracts-for-difference-cfd-and-spread-bets-cm422674#ixzz3PqAvZWtg

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Rabu, 20 April 2016

15 Questions To Ask Your Broker - forex trading academy port elizabeth

15 Questions To Ask Your Broker ~ forex trading academy port elizabeth


How Well Do You Know Your Broker?


As we go about our trading business from day to day, we probably do not pay much attention to the qualities of the broker we use.
We have little or no idea as to where their office is, where their bank is, or how safe our funds are.
We do know that the broker has a fancy website that promises all sorts of good things, and we have no idea if any of it is true.






What do we do with these?


These are the basis for a preliminary interview to allow you to conduct an investigation.
Before you entrust your funds to a broker, it is best that you understand what is going to happen.
You can ask these and similar questions of a few brokers to allow you to get an idea as yto what to expect

To Do


Now that you have some idea as to what you can ask to get the broker to disclose to you…… you can get started.
And once you have asked three or four brokers some questions, you will have a better idea as to which broker you prefer to deal with and why.

In a future post I will add more questions.

Update Ten More Questions on this page  CLICK


Good Trading!











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