The CFD Traders

24option abandons binary options, turns to forex, CFDs

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 10:17:00 +0000

SMNWeekly.com - 24option, a Cyprus-regulated binary options broker, is planning to abandon binary options in favor of forex and CFD instruments. According to reports of the site Finance Magnates, the existing binary options clients of the brokerage may continue to deposit and trade, but the broker will stop accepting deposits from new EU clients this week. New binary options clients from the rest of the world will not be accepted from next week. New clients of the brokerage will be able to deposit into forex and CFD trading accounts. 24Option launched its forex and CFD instruments several months ago. Full Article

Contarct For Difference and Spread Betting Survey on Their Advantages, Disadvantages, Risks and Usage Frequency

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 16:28:00 +0000

I was reading a very comprehensive survey appeared on nasdaq.com about the disadvantages and advantages of using contract for difference or spread betting as a means of trading the financial and stock markets - There were some very interesting answers and statistics given by traders, financial managers etc, which I like to share with you on The CFD Traders Blog -

I've picked and illustrated the most pertinent and interesting pieces for you since it was a fairly large survey which may have bored some of you as I know some traders are not the most patient individuals around - You can say that again :)

So here we go with the questions and answers and I hope you will find it educational:

Percentage of traders using Contract For Difference and Spread Betting as day trading/hedging instruments:

As shown in the above diagram, 46% of traders use CFD's, 37% trade via spread betting and the remaining traders use both CFD's and SB together.

Percentage of CFD/SB traders using other instruments also:

As can be seen in the above chart, 79% of cfd/sb traders also trade in equities, 72% EFTs, 31% Investment Trusts, 28% Bonds, 21% Future markets and 7% traded in Options in addition to using CFD's/SB's.

Percentage of financial markets, CFD & Spread Betting traders are most likely to trade:

The FTSE 100 Index (footsie) appears to be the most popular market that CFD/SB traders use for trading at 66%.
Single stocks and equities were used by 62% of traders.
35% traded the US market indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial and the S&P500.
28% traded currencies (FX)
Commodity trades were at 24%
ex-UK European indices like CAC & the German Index DAX were also traded by 24% of traders.
Asian markets had 21% share of trading.
Other markets formed 10% of the trades.

Advantages and Benefits of Contract For Difference and Spread Betting trading:

69% of traders liked the high leverage CFD could offer
Also, 69% mentioned the ability of placing short-sell trades as well as going long on trade positions as a flexible advantage of trading CFD's and Spread bets.
Spread Betting being tax free was another advantage mentioned by 54% of traders.
Being able to use stop-losses was another factor mentioned by 15% of CFD traders.
Other factors formed 8% of the votes.

Which CFD & Spread Betting Brokers are used most:

IG (IG Index previously) was the most popular CFD Broker at 39%
CMC Market & City Idex got 13% of the traders' choice.
4% of CFD traders used Capital Spreads as their favourite CFD/SB provider.
13% said they used more than one CFD provider.
22% of traders used other than above mentioned brokers (and there are vast number of other CFD providers as some know)

CFD Traders - Number of years of using Leverage Trading:

52% said they've been trading using leverage between 1 to 5 years.
22% were experienced traders as they traded on leverage between 5 to 10 years.
The very much more experienced professional traders who were trading longer than 10 years formed 17% of the answers.
Traders who traded on leverage for less than 1 year were in the 9% category.

Profits and Losses Made by Traders during one year:

The majority of CFD traders which was 27% reported small profits during last 12 months.
23% of either lucky or more professional traders reported significant gains.
Also, traders who showed small losses or gains were 23% each.
4% of traders who were probably more honest to themselves confessed that they had significant losses.

Biggest Trading Risks Reported by CFD & Spread Betting Traders:

29% said losing more money than their original invested capital as a concern.
Another 29% of traders mentioned their trading positions being closed out due to insufficient funds.
Getting Margin Calls was chosen as a risk by another 24% of traders.
62% mentioned the above three risks were the disadvantages of CFD/SB trading.

MT5 brokers now can connect to NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE via Interactive Brokers Gateway

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 14:41:00 +0000

MetaQuotes announced today a partnership with oneZero for the purpose of launching new connectivity gateway for MT5 integration with Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NYSE:IBKR). The solution will enable access to stocks, futures and other exchange traded instruments on the largest global exchanges, which are included in the leading U.S. broker’s products portfolio.

The new gateway, made available through the oneZero Hub product, will in fact enable MT5 brokers to gain access to 15 out of 20 Biggest Exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) and others.

Read The Full Article

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 13:15:00 +0000

The London trader who lost the Swiss bank UBS £1.4bn ($1.9bn) has apologised and said that banking has not done enough to regain the public's trust.

Read The Full Article

Will UK Banks Charge Savers Soon?

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 11:54:00 +0000

Roy Scott | Getty Images

The idea of savers being charged to keep their money in the bank might seem extraordinary even in an era of unprecedented monetary policy measures - and has never happened before in the UK.

Now one of the country's biggest banks, NatWest, part of RBS, has warned its business customers that it may have to charge for deposits. The announcement comes ahead of a meeting by the Bank of England next week which is widely expected to set a further historically low interest rate.

Read the Full Artilce

The Huge Donation Of Warren Buffet To Gates Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 07:55:00 +0000

Warren Buffett donated about $US2.2 billion ($2.9 billion) of stock in his annual gift to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, betting that risk takers at the group will make breakthroughs in global health and US education even as they acknowledge that some efforts will be unsuccessful.

What Bill Gates' Goals are for the Gates Foundation.

"Some of the projects we fund will fail," the Gateses wrote in a message on their website. "We not only accept that, we expect it -- because we think an essential role of philanthropy is to make bets on promising solutions that governments and businesses can't afford to make. As we learn which bets pay off, we have to adjust our strategies and share the results so everyone can benefit."

Warren Buffett: "If you succeed in everything you're doing in charity,
you're attempting things that are too easy"

[Full Article]

Why Equity Rally Continues Despite Shakey Economic Fundamentals

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 05:09:00 +0000

Investors have been bailing out of equity funds at a rapid clip. So how come stocks keep rising?

One Citigroup analyst may have the answer: It appears that, as regular investors flee, central banks have stepped into the breach.

Asset purchases by central banks have risen to their highest levels since 2013, suggesting that the rallies in equity and credit markets—which some say already appear stretched—could continue picking up steam, according to Matt King, a credit analyst at Citigroup.

He illustrates his points in the charts below:

Central-bank buying is closely correlated with equity gains:

[Full Article]

Brexit to have limited credit impact on Asia Pacific sovereigns

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 07:49:00 +0000

Moody Says "Brexit will have little credit impact on Asia Pacific Countries

Moody's Investors Service says that the United Kingdom's (UK, Aa1 negative) vote to leave the European Union (EU, Aaa stable) will not have a significant credit impact on Asia Pacific sovereigns, but dependence on external finance poses a vulnerability for some countries. [Full Article]

Why Bitcoin's Prices Could Even Go Higher

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 16:16:00 +0000

USD/BTC 2-Year Chart

Here's why Joseph Adinolfi from Marketwatch thinks the prices of Bitcoins could appreciate further:

- A quadrennial event called “the halving” has sharply reduced the number of new coins being created.

Currency traders are seemingly obsessed with trying to predict the Federal Reserve’s next move, meticulously analyzing every word of every official communique for clues about the future path of monetary policy.

There’s nothing like that in the world of bitcoin. Instead, the rate at which the bitcoin supply increases is preordained by a few lines of code. [Full Article]

Barclays Was Fined 560k For Inaccurate Swaps Position Reports

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:17:00 +0000

Barclays Plc, was Fined Loads of Money and rightly so!

(Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Barclays Plc to pay $560,000 (£433,433) on Wednesday, saying the bank failed to submit accurate reports on large traders' positions for physical commodities swaps.

The CFTC found that between July 2012 and March 2013, Barclays submitted reports with incorrect position information for certain transactions, it said in a statement. The bank did the same in 2014 for positions related to crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, heating oil and agricultural products, the CFTC said.

The CFTC regulates futures and options markets in the United States.

What The Heck Is The Cause Of G-Bonds Record Low Yields?

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 08:01:00 +0000

Bill Gross has a fairly simple explanation for Benchmark Government-Bond Yields falling to record lows: weak bank lending.

The fixed-income expert, who manages an unconstrained bond fund for Janus Global Capital, made the case on Wednesday in a monthly market report that a lack of lending by the world’s big banks is hemming in credit and hobbling economic growth here and abroad.

Gross says highly levered economies are dependent on credit for its “stability and longevity.” He said banks and, specifically the credit they provide, are the financial lubricant that keeps the system chugging. [Full Article]

If You Can't Be a Good Trader Become a Wise Broker Like Chuck!

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 05:42:00 +0000

Charles Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the Charles Schwab Brokerage - Photo: Reuters.

Earlier on, Chris Taylor from Reuters had a friendly interview with Charles Schwab, the founder and Chairman of Schwab discount Brokerage - His full report has been published below:

In the financial world, most leaders are not instantly recognizable by their first names.Then there is "Chuck," as in Charles Schwab.

Schwab, the 78-year-old founder of his eponymous company, Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW.N), basically created a new business category, discount brokerage services for millions of Americans.

Now a billionaire many times over - Forbes put his net worth at $6.4 billion as of June 8 - Schwab has stepped away from his chief executive duties but remains chairman and the largest shareholder at Schwab. For the latest installment in Reuters' Life Lessons series, Schwab sat down to talk about what he has learned from a lifetime of business success.

Q: As you became a success, what strategies did you put in place for handling your own wealth?

A: Coming from a modest economic upbringing, I learned early about how limiting and uninteresting self-satisfaction was as a goal in terms of using wealth - and how important modesty and philanthropy are.

Q: Did you have any money role models who handled their life and business wisely, who you looked up to? [Full Article]

Will Brexit Effect The U.S. Housing and Commercial Prperties Prices?

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:49:00 +0000

Published on July 2, 2016 by Daniel Goldstein on Marketwatch was the effects that Brexit could have on the Real Estate housing and commercial property prices.

What effects will Brexit have on USA real estate prices?

He wrote; When it comes to investing in the stock market, you may lose your shirt, but you probably won’t lose your home. In fact, when the equity market gets rough, real estate tends to be a life raft for investors seeking safety.

“Real estate is Americans’ preferred investment for money that they won’t need for at least 10 years and that hasn’t changed,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst with New York-based Bankrate.com. “Nervous investors always look to real estate rather than shy away from it in times of volatility.”

While global uncertainty spreads and stocks fall worldwide in the aftermath of the British referendum to leave the European Union, it doesn’t necessarily mean déjà vu all over again, at least when it comes to a repeat of the real estate plunge of 2007. The crash that began that year accelerated sharply following the 2008 rout of the equities market, when home prices in late 2011 were down more than 20% from their peak in spring of 2007.

“There is a lot of Brexit panic going on,” said Francis Greenburger, chief executive of Time Equities Inc., a real estate development firm in New York. “When you realize that this is going to play out over years, and nothing substantive is going to change in the short term, it seems like an overreaction,” he said. Full Article.

Hidden Factor That Could Crash The Stock Market

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:20:00 +0000

Source: St.Louis Federal Reserve - By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch.

Chances are good that the U.S. stock market will be a disappointment over the next five years.

Here’s why: Shrinking profit margins will almost surely cause stock investors pain. Even under optimistic assumptions, it’s hard to see how those lower margins will allow the stock market to produce annualized returns from until now 2020 higher than in the low single-digits. Under more realistic assumptions, the market will do much worse. Full Article

Monster Alibaba Comes From China To NASDAQ For A Big Tech IPO Challenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Wed, 07 May 2014 17:53:00 +0000

Alibaba's headquarters on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province - Photo Credit: Reuters/Chance Chan

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese monster e-commerce company has applied for an initial public offering (IPO)to float its shares on the U.S. stock market - if the IPO takes place, it can turn out to be one of the largest offerings made in the tech industry in history. The shares will be traded either on NASDAQ or NYSE. You can read the Reuters full report here

Astra Jumps As Pfizer Lifts Its Fist Higher!

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 08:13:00 +0000

On Monday the shares of the British giant pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) jumped by nearly 15% to just under 48 pounds a piece, lifting its market capitalisation to just under 60 billion pounds as its U.S. giant rival Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) sweetened its bid price to $101 billion.

The Astrazeneca's shares had a "700 point jump" on its last week's closing prices, which would have netted a profit of 7000 pounds in less than 48 hours, if a long position wager was taken at 10 pound per point on CFD or Spread Betting.

Google's Class Distinction Causes a Split!

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 08:12:00 +0000

The headline could definitely create a feud if it was taken as a political statement. But what it actually is, Google has now split its old shares using a 1 to 2 offering.

The shareholders have now been issued with 1 "Class C" share, and a "Class A" share in place of each old share they held prior to the split.

The split took place on March 27, and the trading on the new class A & C shares started on April 3.

Some market commentators have gone as far as calling the split as "EVIL"! The reason being that the new "Class C" Shares have no voting power, but the "Class A" shares will come with a right to vote at the annual shareholders' meeting.

Now... did you know that Google has some unlisted "Class B" shares as well, which have 10 times the voting power of the "Class A" stocks? The "Class B" shares actually control 61% of the overall voting power!!

CFD-Spread Betting Additional US Stocks Extended Trading Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 07:59:00 +0000

IG.com has now added more US stocks to its Extended Trading Hours in CFD/Spread betting. The Extended Trading Hours will start from Monday 7 April 2014. The stocks are as follows:

American International Group
Caterpillar
Exxon Mobil
Ford Motors
McDonald's
Oracle
Tesla Motors

The CFD/Spread betting prices will be quoted on these markets from 9am-1am Mon-Thu and 9am-10pm on Fridays UK time.

George Soros' Shorts Are Now Worth $1.3 Billion!

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:01:00 +0000

Soros' Fund Management has now doubled up its short position on "S&P 500" (SPX) to a massive $1.3 billion.

Last Friday, the Fund increased its "Put Options" on the S&P500 ETF by 154%.

It is possible that the "Put Position" could have been taken as a "Hedge Bet" against other possible "Long Positions" the Funds are holding currently....and also, it is possible that it's not! So in that case, could it be that the market this time is going to take back some of the money Soros made on his Legendary shorting of the British Sterling during 1992 of which he was referred to as "The Man Who Broke the Bank of England" - Soros' fund sold short more than $10 billion in GBP on that Black Wednesday!

Metatrader4 Latest Release - MT4 600

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 13:25:00 +0000

MT4-600/MQL4 is the latest release for the ever popular Forex Trading Platform Metatrader4, which is now offering a number of vastly improved features from the previous versions of the Metatrader.

The full improved features are mentioned on this forex blog.

CFD - Spread Betting US Extended Trading Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 16:03:00 +0000

From 3 Feb 2014, IG Index (IG.com) has extended its Trading Hours on 16 major US Stocks till 01.00 am, (Fridays 22:00) - London Time.

The listing of the stocks is as follows:

IBM
Intel
EBay Inc
Yahoo Inc
Apple Inc
Google Inc
Facebook Inc
Twitter Inc
Amazon.com Inc
Microsoft Corp
Cisco Systems Inc
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Citigroup Inc
JP Morgan Chase & Co
Bank of America Corp
Goldman Sachs Group Inc

Investing in Merger Arbitrage Funds

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 09:40:00 +0000

Markets and investing have become more complicated in 2014 compared to last year. The bull market in stocks is showing signs of age, while bond investors are trying to figure out whether Federal Reserve tapering will lead to higher interest rates. That means now is the time for investors to seek ways of reducing their portfolios' volatility, both in equities and fixed income. One way is Merger Arbitrage Funds, such as the Merger Fund (MERFX) and the Arbitrage Fund (ARBFX). Both of them practice what's known as merger arbitrage, betting that shares of the acquired company will rise while those of the acquirer fall. Investing in Merger Arbitrage Funds....continued...

The Risks Of Trading On Margin

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Mon, 27 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

If you have just started Day Trading and you are using a margin account such as those provided by Contract For Difference (CFDs) and Spread Betting, then you will be well advised to go steady with the size of your positions.

When you first start trading, it is extremely easy to get carried away with wanting to make as much money as possible in a very short space of time -- these are mistakes that most traders will make when they first start day trading, including yours truly.

Ronnie Chopra at Bullbearings.co.uk has written a good article on the very subject of High Risks of Margin Trading.

CFD Trading vs Binary Options Trading

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:30:00 +0000

There is a very interesting and informative article on comparing two very popular derivative trading instruments "Contract For Difference Trading" and "Binary Options Trading", written by Nancy Eleutheriou at BinaryOptionsWire.com which is a must read for those new traders who are trying to get a more an in depth knowledge of various trading methods which can be employed to enhance their trading skills.

Read the full article: CFD Trading v Binary Options Trading

Easy Money For Hedge Funds!

noreply@blogger.com (Rod) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:38:00 +0000

Despite the fact that last year was supposed to be a tough year for the Hedge Funds, the top 25 hedge fund managers succeeded to make a total of over $14 billion profit according to the annual figures published by the Institutional Investor Magazine.

David Tepper, the founder of Appaloosa Management, was the top earning manager with earnings of $2.2 Billion in 2012. Every fund manager on the list earned at least $200 million with another three managers earning over $1 billion. Considering the SP500 gained 13% during the year, the average earnings for the hedge fund managers was only around 6% according to the figures published by the Hedge Fund Research.

There was only one new comer who managed to get into the ranking who was Robert Citrone from Discovery Capital Managements.

There you have it, if these guys can make it why not me and you? Work hard and have belief in what you are doing and you could be doing as well as these guys if not better and I mean this.