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2008-08-20 20:17:14
UK Preview: Economists Expect Further Weakness in UK Retail Sales for July
(CEP News) Frankfurt - Taking their cue from the recent UK retail sales from both the Confederation of British Industry and the British Retail Consortium, economists are expecting ongoing weakness in retail sales’ figures for July.The median consensus is calling for UK retail sales to fall a further 0.2% month-over-month, adding to the 3.9% drop seen in June. In annualized terms, the retail sales’ growth rate is likely to slow to 1.8% in July, down from June’s 2.2% figure.HSBC Securities economist Janet Henry is anticipating a further decline in UK retail sales by 0.4% month-over-month, deepening the decline seen in July. In annualized terms, Henry is expecting retail sales growth to slow to 1.8%, down from June’s reading."The surveys that we look at are an indication of what might come out," Henry said, referring to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s survey on distributive trades, as well as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) survey.In late July, the CBI had reported a net balance of -31% of respondents who reported falling sales levels in the month.According to the CBI’s industrial trades survey, the -36% balance between the percentage of respondents who reported lower sales in July and the percentage of respondents claiming a higher level of sales is the weakest recorded in the history of the study. "Sixty one per cent of respondents to its latest Distributive Trades Survey reported that sales in the first half of July were lower than a year ago, while 25% said sales had increased," a CBI press release elaborated.In addition, according to the BRC, same-store retail sales had contracted 0.9% from June to July, marking the second month in a row where same-store sales had decreased. "(The surveys) are all pointing to a decline," Henry said. "The question is just how much of a decline."Westpac economist James Shugg also made reference to the CBI and BRC reports and is expecting retail sales to fall 0.2% month-over-month, in line with consensus. On a yearly basis, Shugg is forecasting the sales growth rate to slow to 1.4%, down from both the median consensus the previous month’s figure."(CBI and BRC) really don’t point to any significant rebound in sales in July following the very steep decline that we saw in June," Shugg said. However, Shugg did acknowledge that retail sales figures were quite volatile and the sharp decline in June was partly due to the unexpectedly strong numbers in May."In other words, there’s been a lot of volatility in the last two months," Shugg said. "But now that we are through that volatility, the underlying trend that is showing through is very soft."By Todd Wailoo, twailoo@economicnews.ca, edited by Megan Ainscow, mainscow@economicnews.caCEP Newswires - CEP News ? 2008. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.caThe Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News. A copy of CEP News disclaimer can be found at www.economicnews.ca/cepnews/wire/disclaimer. |
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2008-08-20 20:12:07
New Monopoly Edition Makes Montreal the New ’Boardwalk’, What’s the Reality?
(CEP News) - Forget Paris, Moscow, or New York. The first-ever international edition of Monopoly has put Montreal in the coveted Boardwalk square, the most expensive piece of real estate in the world’s popular commercial board game. Parker Brothers didn’t select Montreal because of exorbitant real estate prices, however. The city was chosen by voters around the world who cast more than five million ballots to have their favourite city placed on the board. Two other Canadian cities - Toronto and Vancouver - made the cut, while only New York was included from the U.S.Unlike the game, however, Montreal is in reality a more affordable city to live in than Vancouver or Toronto; in fact, Montreal is more affordable than the nation’s average, according to the Desjardins Affordability Index (DAI). In a report issued Wednesday, Desjardins said the average price of a home in Montreal was $258,245 in the second quarter, while Toronto’s average price was $307,002, and Vancouver’s was a whopping $614,476.Taking into account average incomes and falling mortgage rates, Montreal’s affordability index was 116.0, a better score than the 110.7 recorded for Canada as whole. By contrast, Toronto’s reading is 107.5, while Vancouver is the least affordable city in Canada with a 63.6 reading.The report said mortgage loan rates have contributed to increased affordability: "The rate posted for a one-year term fell from 7.25% at the end of March to 6.30% by the end of June. The five-year rate fell only slightly to 7.10% from 7.15% three months earlier." On a national basis, the quarterly affordability index published by Desjardins moved 5.2 points higher to 110.7, a score well below the all-time high of 158.0 and the 10-year average of 128.8.Montrealers appear to have the best of both worlds, then. Monopoly gives the city a reputation for luxury, but in reality they get to live a more affordable life than most other Canadians."From a tourism perspective what better advertising could you get?" travel expert Loren Christie told CTV’s Canada AM.China was the only other nation to have three cities on the board, which includes 22 cities in total."Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition," will be released in 103 countries worldwide.By Patrick McGee, pmcgee@economicnews.ca, edited by Megan Ainscow, mainscow@economicnews.caCEP Newswires - CEP News ? 2008. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.caThe Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News. A copy of CEP News disclaimer can be found at www.economicnews.ca/cepnews/wire/disclaimer. |
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2008-08-20 19:32:03
Drop in Crude Prices Helps to Spark U.S. Dollar Rally
(CEP News) - The U.S. dollar is making broad-based gains on Wednesday thanks in part to weekly Energy Information Administration (EIA) information figures.U.S. crude oil stockpiles increased by 9390k barrels in the week ending Aug. 15, according to figures released by the EIA. The crude oil build is the largest since March 2001. Crude oil inventories were expected to increase 1000k, according to Bloomberg.WTI Crude oil is up $0.92 per barrel to $113.62, but had been at $116.91 prior to the 10:30 a.m. EDT data release. At that same time, the U.S. dollar index began climbing from 76.870 points en route to 77.240 session highs. Currently, the index is up 0.338 to 77.177.The U.S. dollar is up 0.26 to 109.98 against the yen and up 0.0027 to 1.064 against the Canadian dollar. The Australian dollar is down 0.0020 to 0.8700 against the greenback. The euro is down 0.0086 to 1.4689, while the pound sterling is down 0.0088 to 1.8584, both against the U.S. dollar.Despite recent U.S. dollar gains, FX strategists from Citigroup are bullish on the pound sterling."GBPUSD failed to post a bullish key day reversal yesterday, contrasting price action seen on other USD crosses. This may signal that GBPUSD will lag over the course of a renewed USD selloff. Nevertheless, our belief that USD strengthening has run its course points to better value in GBP shorts vs. the EUR in the days and weeks ahead. Increasingly positive technical momentum on EURGBP points to likelihood for a test of trend resistance near 0.7990 and beyond at 0.81," they said in a research note to clients.USD/JPY up 0.26 to 109.98.EUR/USD down 0.0086 to 1.4689.GBP/USD down 0.0088 to 1.8584.USD/CAD up 0.0027 to 1.064.AUD/USD down 0.0020 to 0.8700.All data taken at 1:02 p.m. EDT.By Ryan Szporer, rszporer@economicnews.ca, with contributions from Adam Button, adbutton@economicnews.ca, edited by Megan Ainscow, mainscow@economicnews.caCEP Newswires - CEP News ? 2008. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.caThe Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News. A copy of CEP News disclaimer can be found at www.economicnews.ca/cepnews/wire/disclaimer. |
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2008-08-20 18:52:06
Midday Market Recap: Canadian Dollar Caught in Cross Currents
(CEP News) - The Canadian dollar rallied on strong retail sales figures then later sold off as crude oil declined on a U.S. inventory report.Canadian retail sales excluding autos rose 1.4% in June, overshooting the 0.6% expected. Total sales were in line with estimates at 0.5% but Statistics Canada cautioned that the gains in sales were due to price increases. Total sales volumes declined 0.4%. "Canadian spending should continue to significantly outperform the US, though we continue to expect overall growth to be on the soft side through early 2009," said Andrew Tilton, economist at Goldman Sachs.In the U.S., the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude stockpiles increased 9390k barrels in the week ending Aug. 15 - the largest build in crude since March 2001. The crude build was somewhat offset by an unexpected decline in gasoline supply but oil still fell nearly $4 in the minutes following the release. WTI crude oil is down $1.04 to $113.50.The unexpected strength in the retail sector boosted the Canadian dollar but the loonie was later pulled back following the decline in crude prices.The Canadian dollar is down 0.0013 to 0.9411 against the U.S. dollar (1.0626 USD/CAD) and up 0.16 to 103.53 against the yen. The U.S. dollar is up 0.30 to 110.03 against the yen and the Dollar Index is up 0.253 to 77.092. The euro is down 0.0077 to 1.4699 against the U.S. dollar, down 0.0062 to 1.5620 against the Canadian dollar, down 0.0010 to 0.7904 against the pound sterling and is lower by 0.41 to 161.72 against the yen.The pound sterling is down 0.0075 to 1.8597 against the U.S. dollar and down 0.0056 to 1.9763 against the Canadian dollar. Financial worries continue to ripple through U.S. markets after the Wall Street Journal online reported that Freddie Mac executives were in meetings with Treasury officials on Wednesday and "may explore whether the Treasury could clarify its intentions in a way that would reassure investors." U.S. two-year yields are down 2.5 bps to 2.27%, with five-year yields down 3.4 bps to 3.02%, 10-year yields down 2.6 bps to 3.80% and 30-year yields down 1.5 bps to 4.45%. The Eurodollar March 09 contract is up 4.0 ticks to 97.05. The yield curve is flatter, with the 10/2-year spread down 0.8 bps to 152.74 bps.Yields on two-year Canadian government bonds are up 3.7 bps to 2.78%, with five-year yields up 2.2 bps to 3.08%, 10-year yields up 0.9 bps to 3.57% and 30-year yields flat at 4.02%. The December 08 BAX contract is down 2.0 ticks to 97.12. In Germany, returns on two-year German bonds are up 2.5 bps to 4.00%, with five-year yields flat at 3.96%, 10-year yields down 4.1 bps to 4.12% and 30-year yields down 5.0 bps to 4.59%. Yields on UK two-year bonds are flat at 4.56%, with five-year yields flat at 4.49%, 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 4.57% and 30-year yields flat at 4.42%. Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index is up 203 points to 13267, the Dow Jones industrial average up 21 points to 11369, the S&P 500 up 1 point to 1268 and the Nasdaq up 1 point to 2386.European stock markets closed with the Eurostoxx up 11 points to 2847, the UK FTSE 100 up 51 points to 5372 and the German DAX up 35 points to 6318.All data taken at 12:26 p.m. EDT.By Adam Button, abutton@economicnews.ca, edited by Megan Ainscow, mainscow@economicnews.caCEP Newswires - CEP News ? 2008. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.caThe Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News. A copy of CEP News disclaimer can be found at www.economicnews.ca/cepnews/wire/disclaimer. |
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2008-08-20 18:42:04
Smaller Retail Sales Volumes Expected to Dampen Canadian Q2 GDP
(CEP News) Ottawa - A seemingly impressive June retail sales headline number boosted by gasoline prices hides a gloomier volume story that will likely sap Canada’s second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) tally, economists say.Retail sales excluding the auto sector grew 1.4% while sales overall climbed 0.5%, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. On a volume basis excluding price effects, sales fell 0.4%, the agency said."A four-tenths decline in real retail trade does suggest real GDP will be only slightly positive," said BMO deputy chief economist Doug Porter, who said he is leaning toward a 0.1% uptick in June’s GDP. While the 0.5% increase in retail sales month-over-month reported by Statistics Canada Wednesday was "pretty close to expectations," the decline in volumes will likely offset the strength in manufacturing and the wholesale trade that was seen in June, he said.Porter said auto sales were "a bit weaker than expected," with a one-two combo of weaker prices and weaker volumes hitting the sector.TD economist Pascal Gauthier said vehicle sales in the Western provinces have come down significantly with slower pickup truck sales in Alberta in particular."It’s quite an interesting report given the headline suggests one thing and the details suggest another," said Scotiabank economist Karen Cordes. "All of the headline result is accounted for by price increases."Cordes said that excluding gasoline and food sales from the calculation of retail sales yields a decline in sales of 0.5%, similar to the 0.4% decline seen in sales if price effects are excluded.Cordes said she saw the report as being reflective of weaker domestic demand and higher prices for items such as gasoline and food squeezing out discretionary spending in other areas.CIBC economist Krishen Rangasamy agreed. "The share of gasoline in total retail sales has steadily risen over the past few months, pushing well over 13% in June," he said, adding that the food and beverage category was also up in the month likely a result of higher food prices, he said.Rangasamy said the retail report’s weak volumes put second-quarter GDP on track for less than 1%."The inflation implicit in the strong nominal gain in retail sales is one reason why the Bank of Canada isn’t in a position to help the economy with further interest rate cuts this year. Looking ahead to the third quarter, slow growth and a softer labour market will likely hit disposable incomes and hence retail sales growth, contributing to yet another sub-1% performance," he wrote.Meanwhile, Gauthier noted that year-to-date retail sales growth is sitting at about 4.8%, lower than the 5% level typically seen as a "decent threshold" for retailers, but better than his own institution’s prediction of 4% growth for the year.Gauthier said year-over-year retail sales growth will likely ratchet back to around the 3% level in the second half of 2008 as the slowing housing market dampens spending on renovation materials and consumer durables.By Sean McKibbon, smckibbon@economicnews.ca, edited by Nancy Girgis, ngirgis@economicnews.caCEP Newswires - CEP News ? 2008. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.caThe Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News. A copy of CEP News disclaimer can be found at www.economicnews.ca/cepnews/wire/disclaimer. |
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2008-08-20 17:01:05
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Make More Money On The Foreign Exchange Market
Forex Trading Courses | Get The Best Forex Education | Make More Money On The Foreign Exchange Market
Forex Trading Training Courses are an excellent way to tap into the 3 trillion dollars a day Forex Market and make an extra income from your own home trading global currencies.
Overall, there are 2 kinds of courses you can take: live, and online.
This webpage will only touch upon online forex trading courses, since I believe they are better than live ones for the following reasons:
They cost much less than live courses
You can learn at your own pace
You can learn from your home
While there are many Forex courses out there, on this webpage, I'll review 4 recommended ones. Here they are if you want to catch a sneak peek:
Forex Power Strategies
Forex Trading Machine
Magical Forex Trading
Blade Forex Strategies
Read on to see what each is about...
Forex Trading Courses - What Good Are They?
Before I review the 5 Forex training courses listed above, I want to clarify 1 important point and that is why you need such a course in the first place.
The Forex Market is the largest trading arena in the world. But the statistics are dismal if not outright terrifying: over 90% of all Forex traders lose money, some lose a whole lot of it. And the rest of the 10% rake it all in since the Forex is a zero sum game: for every dollar one person loses, another person earns that same dollar.
Why is it that so many people lose their money on the Forex? There are many answers but the main one is that most people trade blindly or let their emotions make their decisions for them.
Don't be one of these people!!! Forex isn't a casino and trading shouldn't be based on just dumb luck.
A good Forex training education is a must have thing to succeed in this field. And a good Forex course is worth every penny it costs and much more, since the knowledge remains with you for a long time afterwards and keeps on making you money for months and years.
Even if you think you can learn everything you need to know about Foreign Exchange trading yourself, you will go through a long learning curve in which you will make costly mistakes. A good currency trading course will shorten that time and save you from making a lot of costly mistakes.
You need to learn to trade the forex market, and this is what these courses will give you. Read on to see what each of them includes.
Forex Power Strategies By Jason Steele
Forex Power Strategies is a course created by Jason Steele.
This course costs more than the others in this review, but it is also the most popular.
You can check out a video of how Jason Steele made over $10,000 in one week on the Forex at this link: Forex Power Strategies Video
Known as FXPS for short, this is a video based Forex trading course. You get over 20 video tutorials going from the basics of Forex trading to more comprehensive and secret strategies that you can use to make more money on the Forex.
What you need to do is enroll in the course, watch the videos, take careful notes, and then practice at applying what you learned. At all times you can contact Jason Steele and get support and answers for your questions.
Click here to learn more about it: Forex Power Strategies.
Forex Trading System by Avi Frister
Forex Trading Machine is one of the most renowned and popular Forex Trading training courses in the history of the Internet, created by Avi Frister, a veteran trader. Just check out some testimonials: Forex Trading Machine testimonials.
This course covers a number of trading PDFT strategies. PDFT stands for Price Driven Forex Trading, which means that the price is the only data you need to use this system.
The Forex Trading Machine includes 180 pages of information and a few bonus videos which help the learning process. The course includes 3 strategies: 1 swing trading called the Cash Cow strategy, and 2 day trading strategies: Forex Runner and the Forex Flip & Go strategy.
The one thing which all these strategies have in common is that they are very simple to follow for the average guy (or gal).
To learn more about it, click here: Forex Trading Machine.
Magical Forex Trading
Magical Forex Trading is an e-book by Alex Buzby which teaches you his method of trading Forex. There are some videos included in this course, but the majority of it is in book form.
Here are some of the things you can learn from Magical Forex Trading:
Identifying Forex trends early
Identify the hot currencies of the day
Avoid beginners mistakes
How to choose the right way to trade for you, personally
Technical trading
Recognize market indicators and using them to rake in more money
More Forex trading strategies and methods
This Forex trading course enjoys great reviews.
To read more about it, click here: Magical Forex Trading.
Blade Forex Strategies Course
Blade Forex strategies is program which includes 3 main strategies:
The M5 scalping trading method, which means you're trading on very low spreads and your mission is to make a lot of small profits which will together accumulate to a massive one.
The main advantage of scalping is that you also use very short Stop Loss prices so that your risk is very low.
The 4H breakout trading system in which you trade 4 hours pricing charts, trying to identify and latch onto a breakout. This means less transactions, but a larger potential for each successful one
The Divergence system which helps you to see in advance when a current trend is close to a reversal which means that you can be ready to make the most of it
Each of these 3 strategies can help you make more money in the forex market and also teach you so much, that you'll be able to easily expand on this knowledge.
To read more about this program and see testimonials from past users, click here Blade Forex Strategies Info and Testimonials
Final Note
You now have the best options to learn how to trade Forex and improve your chances of making more money.
Don't wait too long to acquire a Forex education. Remember, time is money.
Use one of these Forex trading courses and succeed.
Forex Power Strategies
Forex Trading Machine
Magical Forex Trading
Blade Forex Strategies
www.squidoo.com/Forex-Trading-Training-Courses |
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2008-06-29 12:13:37
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ForexAutoMoney Review, Does this Forex Signal System Work?
Forex AutoMoney is a widely used Forex trading signal generator system.
This Forex Automoney review will explore in details the features of this system, the pros and cons of it, the potential it holds, and help you make a decision as to whether it is worth it to you to trade with it.
Keep reading to see more about ForexAutoMoney.
Forex Auto Money Reviews | What is Forex AutoMoney
ForexAutoMoney.com is an automatic Forex trading signals provider.
The Forex market is a global trading arena where you play one currency versus another. It is a 24/7 market in which over 2 trillion dollars change hands on a daily basis. Naturally, that kind of money means that this market holds an enormous money making opportunity for you.
Once, it was hard for the small trader to work with the market, but now, all that you need is an internet connection and you can trade easily by yourself. And indeed, tens of thousands of people are trading the forex market from their home.
The Forex market is very volatile, and it is difficult to know when to buy into a trade or when to sell out of it. Thats where a service like Forex Auto Money comes in handy.
Forex AutoMoney is a membership service which provides forex buy and sell signals for its members. The signals tell you when to enter or exit the market and where to set your Take Profit and Stop Loss boundaries.
This provider gives you 3 kinds of signals:
Intraday - Which means that you get 6 forex signals each day
Daily - one signal each day
Weekly
All you need to do is to login to your account, get the signals and be ready at the appointed time to make the trade. It shouldnt take you more than a few minutes of your time.
Read on to discover more about Forex AutoMoney
Why Do You Need a Service Like Forex AutoMoney
As the Forex Market is the most volatile market on Earth, it breeds more losers than winners. Actually, it is a classic case in which the big fish eat up the little fish.
One of the reasons for this is that the successful traders dont rely on their intuition and dumb luck but on systems and algorithms like the ones Forex AutoMoney is based on.
Lets put it like this, if you dont want to be at a distinct disadvantage in this market you have to get yourself a backup system to work for you. Many people find great success with Forex AutoMoney.
Of course, this system has both pros and cons. Read on to see what they are.
ForexAutoMoney Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of www.ForexAutoMoney.com
Pros:
Has created a lot of profit for many people
Is based on complex models and algorithms
Makes it unnecessary to monitor the markets by yourself and saves you time
Has a money back guarantee
Provides easy to understand forex trading signals
You can try it out for just $4.95 (you can make a hundred times more with a single successful trade)
Cons:
Doesnt trade automatically for you. You need to make the actual trades yourself
Will require a little time to learn to use, though it is very simple overall
Click here to read more about this program, Forex AutoMoney.
Forex AutoMoney Features
Here are some of the features of Forex AutoMoney:
Works automatically for you
Based online so you dont need to install anything
Works with 18 forex pairs
Gives out forex signals for different time frames
Works with PC and Mac
Doesnt have any hidden costs
An Alternative to Forex AutoMoney
Forex AutoMoney isnt the only automatic Forex trading signal system there is. Another recommended forex signal software is Forex Killer.
You can read a detailed review of this software here: Forex Killer Review.
Final Note
Using a service like Forex AutoMoney doesnt mean you should give up pursuing your forex education.
Its important to continue honing your skills to make the most money on the market. Having a signal provider certainly helps, but make sure to continue learning. |
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2008-08-20 08:11:17
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MetaTrader 4 Window
In this article I review MT4 window. You can easily manage the visibility of the elements of this window. You may also change the location of these elements. What I show you here could be called a typical arrangement of the MT4 window elements. You as the trader can decide which elements to see and where to place them. You can even change their sizes.
The attached image shows a typical MT4 window.
The 'Title Bar' of the window shows the name of the platform. The name of the platform usually refers to the name of the broker that you have obtained MetaTrader from. The Title Bar also shows the name and the timeframe of the current chart.
I have divided the MT4 window into different sections. The following pages explain each section. Here is a quick list of those sections:
Section 1: Menus and Toolbars
Section 2: Market Watch window
Section 3: Charts Area
Section 4: Navigator Window
Section 5: Terminal Window
Section 6: Status Bar
1. Menus and Toolbars
MT4 dropdown menus give you access to different capabilities of this program. To reach a menu you can either directly click on the menu title or press the 'Alt' key plus the underlined letter of the menu. For example 'Alt+F' opens the File menu. When a menu is open with Alt key you can press the underlined letter to select an option. For example when the File menu is open if you press 'N' you select the 'New Chart' option.
For more information about Menu options:
When MT4 is open press F1 or alternatively from the Help menu select 'Help Topics'.
The 'Userguide' window opens. Select the 'Contents' tab. This tab is active by default.
Click the + sign next to the 'User Interface' option.
Click the + sign next to the 'Main Menu' option.
Click on any item under this option to know more about the relevant menu. The following image shows you how to reach these help topics.
MetaTrader toolbars offer you several icons that make it very easy to access commands and features of MT4. You can control the visibility of the toolbars by selecting the Toolbar option from the View menu. If you click on the name of each toolbar you can toggle the visibility of that toolbar. See the following figure
2. Market Watch Window
The market watch window gives you the ability to quickly view the latest Ask and Bid price of the symbols you can trade. In MT4 'symbol' refers to the item that is available for trading. In most cases a symbol is a currency pair. Brokers may use different symbols for the same currency pair but they usually follow the ISO standard for naming the currencies. For example USDJPY refers to US Dollar versus Japanese Yen.
By default you see the name of the symbol and the Ask and Bid price of the symbol. You also see those symbols that are traded the most by users or are more popular among the customers of your broker. If you would like to see all of the symbols or add more information to this window you need to right click in the Market Watch window area. A menu appears. Select the proper option from this menu to activate or deactivate it. For example if you select 'Show All' you see all of the symbols in the menu. If you select 'Time' you see the last time the price of the symbol is changed. The following image shows the context menu of the Market Watch window.
At the bottom of the Market Watch Window you can see two tabs. The default tab 'Symbols' shows the price of the symbols. You can also select the 'Tick Chart' tab to see the tick chart of the selected symbol. Unlike standard charts 'tick chart' is independent of the time but depends on the movements of the price. Every time the price changes a line forms in this chart. Depending on the current situation of the market the time difference between two ticks could be less than a second or several minutes (assuming the market is open of course). See the following image for a sample tick chart. The default price in the tick chart is Bid.
3. Charts Area
In this section you can see one or more charts. You can open more than one chart at the same time. To open a chart you may select its relevant symbol from the Market Watch window. Right-click in the window. From the context menu select the 'Chart Window' option. You may virtually open as many charts as you want. Each chart contains valuable information. The following image shows a sample 'bar chart'. I discuss chart types under Forex articles and tutorials.
4. Navigator Window
This window gives you access to your accounts, Expert Advisors, Indicators, Custom Indicators, and Scripts. I discuss the last four items in other articles. To switch between accounts click the + sign next to the 'Accounts'. Double-click on the account name/number. A dialog box appears. Click 'Login' to login to the selected account. If you do not select 'Save Account Information' in this dialog box you need to enter your password prior to clicking 'Login'. The following images show the Navigator window and the login dialog box respectively.
5. Terminal Window
Terminal window consists of several tabs. Each tab shows you valuable information. Here is a list of those tabs and what they have to offer you.
Trade: This tab shows you your open and pending trades. It also gives you the ability to manage these trades. For example you can right-click on a trade and either Modify its settings or close it. You also see valuable information about your account such as your account balance, your equity, and much more. The following image shows a sample Trade tab inside the Terminal window. If you click on the title of each column MT4 sorts the list based on that column.
Account History: Shows you a list of closed or cancelled trades. You can create a history of your trades. Right-click in the tab area and either select 'Save As Report' or 'Save As Detailed Report'. MT4 prompts you for the name and location of the report file. The report file is in HTML format. The following image shows the Account History tab.
News: Shows the latest news published by your broker. Depending on the broker this section could be disabled. They usually get the news from an agency and then report it here. You only see the headlines. To see more details about each headline you need to double-click on it.
Alerts: You can build trading alerts in this tab. To create an alert right-click in the tab area and fill out the dialog box. See the following image.
Mailbox: This tab is similar to a communication centre. The broker sends messages to their customers through this tab. For example they may post messages about early closure of the market here.
Experts: If you use Expert Advisors to trade automatically or monitor the market movements you see messages about them in this tab. For example you could see error messages or messages about requesting a new trade or modifying and existing one by your active Expert Advisors.
Journal: This tab resembles a log file. It reports issues related to MT4 and your activity. For example a failed login, changes to a trade, and so on. You might like to know that MT4 also creates some log files based on these reports.
6. Status Bar
The status bar shows the connection status to your broker's server. It also shows you short help messages.
7. Other Windows
There are some windows other than those explained in this article. For example the 'Data Window' shows textual information about the current chart, or the 'Strategy Tester' window that you can use to back-test our automated trading systems. To view these windows, use the 'View' menu. The following images show these two windows respectively.
8. Keyboard Shortcuts
The following image shows the keyboard shortcuts to toggle the visibility of MT4 windows. As you can see if you press the 'F11' function key you can enable/disable the Full Window option.
See the full article here: www.forexbrace.com/content/view/16/52/ |
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2008-07-08 17:14:18
![Well - the next US broker out of the excellent regulated crowd is getting into deep problems. Here are the sources:
http://investforlife.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/olint-responds-to-nfa-complaints/
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080704T020000-0500_137463_OBS_OLINT_UNDER_US_PRESSURE.asp
http://www.nfa.futures.org/basicnet/CaseDocument.aspx?seqnum=1620
An independent regulatory organisation in the United States has filed complaints of suspicious activity against Olint and TCI FX Traders, two investment clubs operated by Jamaican David Smith.
The National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organisation for the US futures industry, also filed a complaint to its Business Conduct Committee against I Trade FX LLC and one of its principals, Isaac Martinez.
For approximately nine months in 2007, I-Trade listed David Smith as a principal based on his having contributed almost 100 per cent of the firms capital, said the NFA in its complaint filed on June 30.
The NFA highlighted the Financial Services Commissions investigation of Olint for allegedly offering securities without a licence, and pointed to the cease and desist order issued on Olint by the FSC.
According to the NFA, it opened an investigation into Smith because of concerns it had about the source of funds he used to capitalise I-Trade.
The NFA said that as part of its investigation, it asked I-Trade to provide Smiths personal bank records. However, I-Trade claimed that it was unable to obtain Smiths bank records and, therefore, withdrew Smith as a principal on December 31, 2007 and repaid his membership interest in the firm, said the document.
Although unable to review Smiths bank records, NFA was able to review the activity in the I-Trade accounts of Smiths investment clubs (ie, Olint and TCI). NFAs review of the activity in these accounts, as well as other accounts at I-Trade, revealed suspicious activity, which I-Trade failed to report by filing a Suspicious Activity Report with federal authorities, the complaint added.
According to the NFA, highly suspicious activity occurred in a number of I-Trades customer accounts between November 2006 and April 2008. Most of the suspicious activity occurred in the accounts related to Smith (ie, Olint and TCI) and involved activity identified in both NFAs Interpretive Notice and I-Trades own AML (anti-money laundering) programme as
ed flags. This activity included extensive and unexplained wire activity; deposits followed by a request to transfer the funds to a third party without any apparent business reason; and unexplained, extensive wire activity with very low trading levels in the accounts.
The complaint, sworn to before Illinois notary public Mary Patton, also alleged that in November 2006, the NFA reviewed the activity in an account Olint opened with I-Trade in September 2006. The Olint account opening documents indicated Smith and his wife owned Olint and that the funds in the account came from them only, said the document.
During the first two months this account was open, no trading activity occurred; however, during this time, Olint made four deposits totalling approximately [US]$59 million and eight withdrawals totalling about [US]$35.5 million.
The NFA also said it identified and reviewed the activity in three other Olint accounts, which had deposits ranging from US$500,000 to US$2 million.
Said the NFA: While trading occurred in these accounts, only a fraction of the account equity in these accounts was used for trading. At the end of March 2007, Olint withdrew the bulk of the funds from these three accounts in amounts ranging from about [US]$938,000 to over [US]$1.7 million.
Smith and Martinez have 30 days from the date of the filing of the complaint in which to file written responses.
The words Regulation - Manipulation - Frustration seem to be close together. Money laundering is the minimum which should be under control by a broker. Is this company founded only for this purpose? Well the CFTC will have a closer look.
All I could say to this incredible case is already written in forums and the sources above. Nothing to add. Put them 6 feet deep beyond.](images/s/c7af57c8cd6159e06018946e93b26054.jpg)
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Another US broker going down the drain? TRADE FX LLC a location for Caribbean Money Laundering?
Well - the next US broker out of the excellent regulated crowd is getting into deep problems. Here are the sources:
investforlife.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/olint-responds-to-nfa-complaints/
www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080704T020000-0500_137463_OBS_OLINT_UNDER_US_PRESSURE.asp
www.nfa.futures.org/basicnet/CaseDocument.aspx?seqnum=1620
An independent regulatory organisation in the United States has filed complaints of suspicious activity against Olint and TCI FX Traders, two investment clubs operated by Jamaican David Smith.
The National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organisation for the US futures industry, also filed a complaint to its Business Conduct Committee against I Trade FX LLC and one of its principals, Isaac Martinez.
For approximately nine months in 2007, I-Trade listed David Smith as a principal based on his having contributed almost 100 per cent of the firms capital, said the NFA in its complaint filed on June 30.
The NFA highlighted the Financial Services Commissions investigation of Olint for allegedly offering securities without a licence, and pointed to the cease and desist order issued on Olint by the FSC.
According to the NFA, it opened an investigation into Smith because of concerns it had about the source of funds he used to capitalise I-Trade.
The NFA said that as part of its investigation, it asked I-Trade to provide Smiths personal bank records. However, I-Trade claimed that it was unable to obtain Smiths bank records and, therefore, withdrew Smith as a principal on December 31, 2007 and repaid his membership interest in the firm, said the document.
Although unable to review Smiths bank records, NFA was able to review the activity in the I-Trade accounts of Smiths investment clubs (ie, Olint and TCI). NFAs review of the activity in these accounts, as well as other accounts at I-Trade, revealed suspicious activity, which I-Trade failed to report by filing a Suspicious Activity Report with federal authorities, the complaint added.
According to the NFA, highly suspicious activity occurred in a number of I-Trades customer accounts between November 2006 and April 2008. Most of the suspicious activity occurred in the accounts related to Smith (ie, Olint and TCI) and involved activity identified in both NFAs Interpretive Notice and I-Trades own AML (anti-money laundering) programme as
ed flags. This activity included extensive and unexplained wire activity; deposits followed by a request to transfer the funds to a third party without any apparent business reason; and unexplained, extensive wire activity with very low trading levels in the accounts.
The complaint, sworn to before Illinois notary public Mary Patton, also alleged that in November 2006, the NFA reviewed the activity in an account Olint opened with I-Trade in September 2006. The Olint account opening documents indicated Smith and his wife owned Olint and that the funds in the account came from them only, said the document.
During the first two months this account was open, no trading activity occurred; however, during this time, Olint made four deposits totalling approximately [US]$59 million and eight withdrawals totalling about [US]$35.5 million.
The NFA also said it identified and reviewed the activity in three other Olint accounts, which had deposits ranging from US$500,000 to US$2 million.
Said the NFA: While trading occurred in these accounts, only a fraction of the account equity in these accounts was used for trading. At the end of March 2007, Olint withdrew the bulk of the funds from these three accounts in amounts ranging from about [US]$938,000 to over [US]$1.7 million.
Smith and Martinez have 30 days from the date of the filing of the complaint in which to file written responses.
The words Regulation - Manipulation - Frustration seem to be close together. Money laundering is the minimum which should be under control by a broker. Is this company founded only for this purpose? Well the CFTC will have a closer look.
All I could say to this incredible case is already written in forums and the sources above. Nothing to add. Put them 6 feet deep beyond. |
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2008-08-20 06:00:33
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2008-08-19 04:00:54
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2008-08-18 05:00:37
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2008-08-18 04:00:45
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2008-08-16 04:00:32
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2008-06-11 12:44:19
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News Trading - why do Brokers not let you in?
Macrotactician , Macrotactics.com
Published 05.05.2008 06:44 GMT
Fads come and go in trading all the time. One of the majors fads to come and almost go in recent times is news trading the forex market. I thought I might pen down some thoughts on the area of news trading.
The Lure of News Trading
Without exception, all large market players use economic release information as a way of making decisions about their positions with currencies, bonds, equities, etc. The constant flux of economic releases as like the lifeblood of the financial as every small snippet of economic data is used by traders to adjust their expectations around how the central banks may or may not act in the future.
Given the centrality of economic data to making trading decisions, trading the news presents a huge lure for beginner and experienced trader alike. During the release of an economic indicator it is not uncommon for the currency market to move 100 pips or more. With this kind of volatility, a trader in theory who has “mastered” news trading can potentially make a staggering profit in the space of seconds or minutes. What is even more interesting is the trader does not need to sit at the screen for hours. They can sit down half an hour before the release, prepare themselves and be finished trading within the hour.
The News Trading Industry
Based on the lure of quick money, news trading has become a very grubby industry. It always has been and always will be. If you talk to old timer futures traders who have been in the game more than 20 years, they will tell you that the phone boards of their brokers would light up during news releases. It was a blood bath, with everyone trying to screw every one else.
About the only thing that has changed is now on top of that we have mum and dad retail traders dropping their retirement funds into the markets and every shark, charlatan and marketing spin doctor is vying for a cut of that cash in addition to the other traders. These charlatans have you believe that new trading is easy money and they charge extortionate fees to let you access their “secrets”; then within a matter of seconds your retirement funds are gone after your first bad trade.
News Trading Methods
Contrary to the marketing hype, there are no news trading secrets. There are only four ways to trade the news:
Straddling
Trading the spike
Fading the initial spike
Trading the longer term trend
Straddling works by placing conditional orders above and below the market just prior to a news release and then is either coupled with a trailing stop or preset profit targets and stops based on historical market data. For a long time this was the way a small number of retail traders in the know made money hand over fist in the forex market. Eventually a number of bucket shop forex brokers realized they were loosing money to these traders. The problem was that your average bucket shops are allowing you to trade a synthetic market they have constructed themselves based on prices they can get from the institutional interbank market. The bucket shop was opening themselves to unusual amounts of risk as they were allowing their retail traders to take on positions that you could never get filled in the real market. In order to lower their risk profile a number of brokers started rejecting conditional orders placed just before news releases. A number of other brokers also got rid of their trailing stop facility.
With limitations being placed on conditional orders and trailing stops, straddling ceased being an effective form of trading. The next step in regaining their edge was for news traders to trade the initial spike. News traders did this by looking at historical data around news releases and if the economic result was more than about a standard deviation away from its expected value then they went long or short, depending on how far away from the expected value it was. Initially doing this was like shooting fish in a barrel. At about the same time a number of online chat groups started to form and skilled traders (for an extortionate fee) would share their entries and exits at the time of the news release. The influx of so many news made news trading become extremely competitive and it eventually came down to who had the fastest news feed and the fastest trigger finger. A number of traders coughed up the couple a grand a month to get the fastest news feed on the planet - Bloomberg and Reuters (Bloomberg and Reuters are the fastest because they have financial reporters actually in the lock up - other news feeds just repeat data they pull off of Bloomberg and Reuters).
By this time the retail brokers were loosing even larger amounts of money on trades that in the ordinary interbank forex market would not even be possible because an institutional trader would never be able to get such trades filled. The reaction by FXCM and a number of other brokers was to identify traders who were news trading and stopped them from placing orders electronically and demanded that orders are only manually placed over the phone. This only stemmed the flow of trades from the old hands, but it could not stem the flow of trades from the ever growing crowds of newbie traders. To get past the issue the bucket shops had to introduce dynamic spreads which automatically widened to an extra ordinary large number of pips just prior to a news release. The retail forex market is now starting to behave more like the interbank market where liquidity around news events is scarce and cannot support large numbers of news traders and as a result the price spikes.
For a very long time retail forex trading was sold on fixed spreads. Different companies sold their services based on how low their fixed spread was. With armies of newbie news traders at the gates, they could no longer keep their fixed spreads. As a result of forex news trading nearly every retail forex brokers now uses dynamic spreads and the days of trailing stops are almost long gone.
Some traders moved on to trading the aftermath and tried to fade the spike in the hope of catching the reversal after the initial reaction. Like catching a falling knife (or a falling price with a huge spread) this tactic was never as reliable as trading the spike or as straddling and has never really caught on.
Now that the retail market has caught up with the interbank market, finally retail traders are starting to mature in their approach to trading forex markets and are starting to act more like insti | | |
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