Sunday, May 31, 2009

Commodity Correlation

The dollar's value against the euro being tightly linked to the interest rate differential between the currencies, investors have shifted funds dramatically from low-yielding dollars to higher-yielding euros in recent years. Much more worrying, however, the correlation between dollar depreciation and commodities prices has become dramatically more pronounced since 2007, as illustrated in the figure below.


Institutional investors around the world ­ prominent among them, large US public pension schemes, such as CalPERS ­ have come to view commodities as part of a rapidly growing asset class devoted to inflation-protection.

source: TD Economics

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Speculation

Speculation, in the narrow sense of financial speculation, involves the buying, holding, selling, and short-selling of stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, collectibles, real estate, derivatives or any valuable financial instrument to profit from fluctuations in its price as opposed to buying it for use or for income via methods such as dividends or interest. Speculation or agiotage represents one of three market roles in western financial markets, distinct from hedging, long term investing and arbitrage. Speculators in an asset have no intention to have long term exposure all the best asset.

Investors


An investor is any party that makes an Investment.
However, the term has taken on a specific meaning in finance to describe the particular types of people and companies that regularly purchase equity or debt securities for financial gain in exchange for funding an expanding company. Less frequently the term is applied to parties who purchase real estate, currency, commodity derivatives, personal property, or other assets.

Market participants

A market participant may either be coming from the Supply Side, hence supplying excess money (in the form of investments) in favor of the demand side; or coming from the Demand Side, hence demanding excess money (in the form of borrowed equity) in favor of the Demand Side. This equation originated from Keynesian Advocates.

The theory explains that a given market may have excess cash; hence the supplier of funds may lend it; and those in need of cash may borrow the funds as supplied. Hence, the equation: aggregate savings equals aggregate investments.

The demand side consists of: those in need of cash flows (daily operational needs); those in need of interim financing (bridge financing); those in need of long-term funds for special projects (capital funds for venture financing).

The supply side consists of: those who have aggregate savings (retirement funds, pension funds, insurance funds) that can be used in favor of demand side. The origin of the savings (funds) can be local savings or foreign savings. So much pensions or savings can be invested for school buildings; orphanages; (but not earning) or for road network (toll ways) or port development (capable of earnings).

The earnings goes to owner (Savers or Lenders) and the margin goes to the banks. When the principal and interest are added up, it will reflect the amount paid for the user (borrower) of the funds. Thus, an interest percentage for the cost of using the funds.

Energy spot market

The spot energy market allows producers of surplus energy to instantly locate available buyers for this energy, negotiate prices within milliseconds and deliver actual energy to the customer just a few minutes later. Spot markets can be either privately operated or controlled by industry organizations or government agencies. They frequently attract speculators, since spot market prices are known to the public almost as soon as deals are transacted. Examples of energy spot markets for natural gas in Europe are the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands and the National Balancing Point (NBP) in the United Kingdom.

Spot market

The spot market or cash market is a commodities or securities market in which goods are sold for cash and delivered immediately. Contracts bought and sold on these markets are immediately effective. Spot markets can operate wherever the infrastructure exists to conduct the transaction. The spot market for most securities exists primarily on the Internet.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Forex History

It may be said that the history of the forex market began with the origin of the global free-floating currency system. This originated with the Bretton Woods Accord, held in 1944 in New Hampshire, attended by delegates from Great Britain, France, and the United States.

The conference was held with the intention of creating a post-World War II global environment in which all the ravaged economies of Europe could rebuild. The outcome of the accord was the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an aid agency, and the pegging of the major currencies to the US dollar, the only major currency left unharmed by the war. This action did bring stability back to Europe, although it ultimately collapsed.

Similar agreements were made in its place, though with the new intention of ending the dependence of European currencies on the US dollar. By 1973 these too had failed, marking the conversion to a free-floating system, which was mandated in 1978. By 1993 there were no longer any agreements at all, allowing all currencies to move independently.

During the 1980s computers and other technology made substantial new developments that had a significant impact on the forex market, for example by increasing the speed with which international transactions could be made. Jumping from nearly a billion dollars a day in the 1980s to almost $1.9 trillion a day now, the forex market has experienced major growth in recent years.

Subsequent progression in the process of globalization has also been influential, as large corporations employ more people internationally (and therefore must exchange currency to pay them) and the economic policy of different nations becomes increasingly interrelated.
source: gocurrency

Currency trading

Foreign currency trading on the retail level is based on speculation on changes in the exchange rate between two currencies. Changes in the exchange rate are due to changes in the value of each currency relative to the other in the pair, and are measured in points in percentage, or pips.

The foreign currency exchange market is a global market, in operation every week from Sunday at 5:00pm EST to Friday at 4:00pm EST. In every trade, one currency in the pair is borrowed in order to buy the other, typically in lots of 100,000 units each.

Currencies and actions are chosen in expectation of a particular outcome. This expectation is usually derived using two kinds of analysis of the market: technical and fundamental. Technical analysis refers to the use of various statistical studies of charts of the past behavior of any currency pair in order to predict future movement.

Fundamental analysis involves the use of different economic indicators as well as all news with the potential of influencing the forex market to predict future movements of exchange rates. The chances for profit are equal regardless of whether an exchange rate is increasing or decreasing, as long as the appropriate corresponding action is taken. For every currency pair there is a ‘bid’ and an ‘ask’ price.

The bid is the price at which a trader can sell the currency pair, and the ask is the price at which the trader can buy it. The difference between the bid and the ask is known as the ‘spread,’ and is the cost of the trade, or the amount that the trade will have to make to break even.

Trades are made on margin, with a minimum requirement of 1%. This allows for much more leverage than other markets, as well as security against losses.
source: gocurrency

Market for currencies

INTERBANK MARKET
The Interbank Market is the market for currencies for Foreign Exchange - the international market for currencies. The Interbank Market is the largest market in the world dealing in about $1.9 trillion daily turnover (according to a survey back in 2004).

The Interbank market allows traders to speculate on movements in the value of currencies. For example of you felt that the Euro were to go up against the US Dollar, you could turn to a market maker in the Forex market to take a position and buy the EURUSD currency pair.

In more laymen terms , traders are able to BUY a currency pair or SELL a currency pair. When you BUY the currency pair, you profit as the price goes up and lose as the price goes down. When you SELL the currency pair, you profit as the price goes down and lose as the price goes up. You can buy or sell any currency at any time, and thus can profit (and lose) in any economic situation.

Market Structure - Unlike equities or futures markets, in FX there is no central exchange where all trades are cleared. Instead the foreign exchange market is network of thousands of banks interconnected electronically, making FX an Over the Counter (OTC) market trading in practically every international financial center.

Market Hours - Because the Forex Market is not restricted by exchange hours and traded across the globe, the Foreign Exchange market is available for trading 24 hours a day. This makes it attractive to those traders seeking market liquidity that traditional equity and futures markets lack.

source: gocurrency

Saturday, February 14, 2009

FOREX Trade Orders

Related, or contingent, orders are trade orders linked together to create more complex trading strategies. There are several types of contingent orders, the most popular of which are If Done and O.C.O. orders.

If Done orders (also known as slave orders) where a slave, or subordinate, order only becomes active if the first one is executed. For example, you might place a limit order to buy EURUSD and then, if this order is filled, a subsequent limit order to sell EURUSD if the spot price breaches a certain level.

One Cancels the Other (O.C.O.) is an order sequence where the execution of one order cancels the other. O.C.O. orders are often used to place both a stop loss and a profit taking (limit) order around a position – the first of the orders to execute will automatically cancel the other

CURRENCY
The Egyptian Pound




The Egyptian pound is the official currency for the Arab Republic of Egypt. The pound is divided into 100 piasters, or 1000 milliemes. The ISO code for the Egyptian pound is EGP, although LE is also frequently used as notation. The Egyptian government fixed the exchange rate through force, which led to the use of a de facto gold standard. As far as the global community knows, gold is still often used in internal transactions. Egyptian banknotes were issued for the first time in 1899.



Stock Market Trading

Share trading or stock market trading is a business of huge profits and loss. One who enter into the field must learn in depth what is inside this business. There are a lot of technical and practical details involved in online trading. Stock market trading education or stock market education is very important for all who want to try this trade. Here I have gone through some sites that may give you some basic training about online stock trading.

Free Stock market trading education or free stock market education online is possible now. Just go through the following sites and find which one that is suitable to you.

Upcoming FREE Training Classes. Daily Battle Plan ...
www.tradingmarkets.com/

Education Training Market
International Market Reports Size, Share, Strategies, Trends
www.InternationalBusinessStrategies.com

Free investment advice.
New to investing in shares? Let our experienced and easy guide help you
www.Sharekhan.com



CURRENCY

China


Sovereign credit ratings play an important part in determining a country's access to international capital markets, and the terms of that access. Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and efficiency of international and domestic markets

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The United States Dollar


The United States dollar, denoted by USD or the symbol $, is the official currency used in the United States. Commonly referred to as the "American dollar," the currency is divided into 100 cents (symbol ¢). A further division includes 1,000 mills to a dollar, though this division is largely unknown to the general public and only sometimes used in matters of tax levies.
When currently issued in circulating form, denominations equal to or less than a dollar are emitted as U.S. coins while denominations equal to or greater than a dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve notes. (Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the note form is significantly more common.) In the past, paper money was occasionally issued in denominations less than a dollar and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of twenty dollars.
The United States Mint is in charge of producing the nation's coins, while the Bureau of Engraving has printed banknotes and Printing for the Federal Reserve since 1914. Note size used to be very large but switched over to a smaller size in 1928; reasons for this switch, however, are unknown.
The dollar is considered the standard unit of currency in commodity markets across the globe (namely gold and oil). At the present time, the U.S. dollar remains the world's foremost reserve currency, primarily held in $100 denominations.
The majority of U.S. notes are actually held outside the United States. According to economist Paul Samuelson, the overseas demand for dollars allows the United States to maintain persistent trade deficits without causing the value of the currency to depreciate and the flow of trade to readjust.
In 1995, over $380 billion (380 G$) in U.S. currency was in circulation, two-thirds of it overseas. As of April 2004, nearly $700 billion was in circulation, with an estimated half to two-thirds of it still being held overseas.

A few nations besides the United States use the U.S. dollar as their official currency. Ecuador, El Salvador and East Timor all adopted the currency independently; former members of the US-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (namely Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands) decided that, despite their independence, they wanted to keep the U.S. dollar as their official currency.
Additionally, local currencies of several states such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, Panama and a few other states can be freely exchanged at a 1:1 ratio for the U.S. dollar. Finally, a number of nations have tied their currencies to the U.S. dollar - including
Argentina (1:1 fixed exchange rate from 1991 until 2002)
Lebanon (one dollar = 1500 Lebanese pound)
Hong Kong (one U.S. dollar = HK$ 7.8 since 1983), and several more.
A significant recent development is the action of the People's Republic of China: the renminbi had once been informally and controversially pegged to the dollar (since the mid-1990s, at 1 U.S. dollar = 8.28 Y); however the peg was removed on July 21, 2005.
Instead, China has a managed float against a basket of currencies.

FOREX Stop Orders

Forex Stop orders are commonly used to exit positions and to protect investments in the event that the market moves against an open position. Stop orders to sell are placed below the current market level and are executed when the Bid price hits or breaches the price level specified. Stop orders to buy are placed above the current market level and are executed when the Ask price hits or breaches the price level specified.

SMPTrader supports a variety of stop orders, including Stop if Bid and Stop if Offered Orders.

Stop if Bid orders are commonly used to buy the applicable currency pair in a rising market. If the price level specified in the order is actually Bid on the market, the order will be filled at the price offered by the market maker. For example, if you sold GBPUSD at 1.4280, with a Stop Bid at 1.4330, the position would be closed (GBPUSD would be bought) if the Bid price hit or breached 1.4330. We recommend the use of Stop if Bid orders only to buy Forex positions. The use of Stop if Bid to sell Forex positions can result in positions being prematurely closed if a market event causes the Bid/Ask spread to temporarily widen.

Stop if Offered orders are commonly used to sell the applicable currency pair in a falling market. If the price level specified is actually offered in the market, the order will be filled at the price bid by market maker. For example, if you bought USDJPY at 132.00, with a Stop Offer at 131.50, the position would be closed (USDJPY would be sold) if the Offer price hit or breached 131.50 (in other words, if 131.50 is offered). We recommend the use of Stop if Offered orders only to sell Forex positions. The use of Stop if Offered orders to buy Forex positions can result in positions being prematurely closed if a market event causes the Bid/Ask spread to temporarily widen.

CURRENCY

The Philippine Peso



The peso exchange rate closed lower at P47.29 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) from P47.07 the previous day. The weighted average rate depreciated to P47.132 from P47.04. Total volume amounted to $ 814 million.

Monday, February 9, 2009

The Currency of Reference

In terms of volume, currencies around the world are traded mostly against the U.S. dollar, because the U.S. dollar is the currency of reference. The other major currencies are the euro, followed by the Japanese yen, the British pound, and the Swiss franc. Other currencies with significant spot market shares are the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar.

The spot market is characterized by high liquidity and high volatility. Volatility is the degree to which the price of currency tends to fluctuate within a certain period of time. For instance, in an active global trading day (24 hours), the euro/dollar exchange rate may change its value 18,000 times "flying" 100-200 pips in a matter of seconds if the market gets wind of a significant event.

On the other hand, the exchange rate may remain quite static for extended periods of time, even in excess of an hour, when one market is almost finished trading and waiting for the next market to take over. For example, there is a technical trading gap between around 4:30 PM and 6 PM EDT. In the New York market, the majority of transactions occur between 8 AM and 12 PM, when the New York and European markets overlap.

The activity drops sharply in the afternoon, over 50 percent in fact, when New York loses the international trading support. Overnight trading is limited, as very few banks have overnight desks. Most of the banks send their overnight orders to branches or other banks that operate in the active time zones.

source: Bursa Canada Inc.
E-mail: info@bursacanada.com

Foreign Trade

Some nations export only to expand their domestic market or to aid economically depressed sectors within the home economy. Other nations depend on trade for a large part of their national income and to supply goods for domestic consumption. In recent years foreign trade has also been viewed as a means to promote growth within a nation's economy. Developing countries and international organizations have increasingly emphasized such trade.

E-Trading



CURRENCY

Malaysian Ringgit

The ringgit (MYR, but more commonly referred to as RM), unofficially known as the Malaysian dollar, is the official currency of Malaysia. In 1837, Malaysia converted from the use of the Spanish silver dollar to the Indian rupee. This lasted for 30 years until 1867 when the country decided to re-implement the use of the silver dollar. In 1903 Malaysia changed currencies again, this time using the Straits dollar, which was pegged at two shillings to the British pound (GBP). It was not until 1975 that Malaysia officially adopted the ringgit, which is pegged at 3.46 RM to the U.S. dollar.

World Trade (export and Imports)

WORLD TRADE

In 1999 world trade (exports and imports) was approximately $11.4 trillion, almost triple the figure for 1980. Driven by inflation and higher prices for commodities such as oil, the value of world trade in U.S. dollars increased nearly tenfold between 1965 and 1985.

In the 20th century, trade has increased, becoming a more dominant segment of the world's economy. It is expected that the trend toward increasing interdependency among national economies will continue into the future.

CURRENCY
Argenina Peso

The Argentine peso, often denoted by ARS, is one of the official currencies in Argentina. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the Argentine peso was one of the most popularly traded currencies in the world. Unfortunately, the next hundred years were fraught with economic struggle: a focal issue surrounding the peso was a series of periods of hyperinflation that eventually led to great depreciation of the currency.

Forex Trading

The Foreign Exchange Market is the financial largest market in the world.
Forex Trading has appeal to investors worldwide, whether living in the USA, Canada, South America,Japan, Germany, Holland, France, India, Russia, the whole of Asia, Africa, Australia, or anywhere in the world, on really remote places, with an internet connection its possible to trade with Forex, 24 hours per day, every day of the week, in the morning, afternoon, evening, or even in the middle of the night. The daily turnover on stock trading, only in the USA, exceeds 3.25 trillion dollars.

When you want to start Forex Trading, its very important to find a suitable Forex broker. A good broker offers good service, good spreads and reliable trading environment.You can do a search to find the broker you need.

Forex trading, ever an exclusive field, is now available for everyone online
An operation on Forex is related to two simultaneous actions.
It is buying a currency and simultaneous selling another currency.
This combination operation is called, a cross (for example, the euro/US dollar,
or the British pound/Japanese yen.).

The most negociated currencies are called: ” Majors”.
Majors are for more than 85% concerned at the daily operations on Forex.
The seven Majors are: the currency of the V.S. (dollar, USD), Japanese yen (JPY),
euro (EUR), British pound (GBY), Swiss franc (CHF), Canadian dollar (CAD) and
Australian dollar (AUD).


CURRENCY

Aruba Guilder

The Aruba guilder (also called florin), denoted by AWG, is the official currency of Aruba. It is divided into 100 cents and its best-known coin is the uniquely squared shape 50-cent "yotin" coin. The guilder has held a peg to the US Dollar since 1986 at the exchange rate of 1.79 AWG to 1 USD. The guilder may not be exchanged outside of Aruba.

Brokers

Investors typically employ the services of dealers and brokers to execute the purchase and sale of securities. Some of these brokers are considered full-service brokers.

Full-service brokers provide a wide variety of services for the investor, including the provision of investment advice. Other firms are considered discount brokers. Discount brokers basically provide the single service of executing the buy and sell orders of investors.

For mutual fund transactions the investor can deal directly with the mutual fund. Thus, the investor need not use the services of a broker or a dealer for these types of transactions. Even in these instances, however, an investor may seek the advice of a financial adviser to determine which mutual fund to buy or whether to sell fund shares.

A small number of online broker’s customers have access to the
raw material of the market and make it for them possible by means of their forex
platforms to act in gentle raw materials such as crude, gold and silver.
The reasons why the trade on the Forex in this way is so popular, is because it
is with so-called Margin.


This means that you can trade with large
money amounts and trade with them while your own capital is much less.
Its possible one very rapidly profits, but at the same run you also risk losing
much. If you want to act without risk on the Forex, that is possible too.
There are a lot of Forexbrokers where you can open a demo account.

Of course, with a free demo account, you can only gain experience, you can take
risks which you normally should not take, you can learn a lot on all different
aspects of forex trading, lose your demo account, and start afresh again or win
virtual, but not real money.

Industry & Marketplace

The FX market is one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other institutions. The average daily volume in the global Forex and related markets is continuously growing. Traditional turnover was reported to be over US$ 3.2 trillion in April 2007 by the Bank for International Settlement. Since then the market has continued to grow. According to Euromoney's annual FX Poll, volumes grew a further 41% between 2007 and 2008. Indeed, Forex spot trading is the most popular foreign currency instrument around the world, making up 41% percent of the total activity.

source: Bursa Canada Inc.
E-mail: info@bursacanada.com