If you take a broad perspective on investing, it could be said that it’s the same thing regardless of which country you’re doing it in. In a sense, you’d be correct. After all, what more is investing aside from designating money for certain funds in hopes of growth? 

Investing is similar no matter where you go – in principle, anyway. The goal is generally much of the same in each country but, just like legislation and culture, every nation has their own investing structure and regulations surrounding it. 

Looking at building an investment account in the country of Canada. It’s not too dissimilar from the United States, which houses the largest stock exchange in the world in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Although Canada may not have the biggest stock exchange or population of investors in the market, they do have their own respectable investing infrastructure set up, and here’s how you can take advantage of that. 

Take Stock & Audit Your Unique Financial Situation

There truly is not a single one size fits all investment strategy to follow, regardless of where you live. Even the best investment accounts in Canada won’t bring financial success if the funds aren’t allocated in alignment with your personal goals. 

The first and foremost thing to consider is your age. An 18-year old’s investment strategy will be a bit different from someone who just turned 60 and is glancing toward retirement on the horizon. Some can afford more risk than others, some can’t. The tables can easily be turned, and some 18-year old’s may have no room for risk because of lack of funds, whereas the more seasoned investor has managed his finances well and can afford to lose a bit on venture. This just goes to show how circumstantial investing can be.

Combine your age with your financials. Do you have a job? Are you in school? What’s your annual average income? Do you have a decent savings for emergencies or loss of income? Is your salary expected to taper up or down over the course of the next 5-10 years? Ask yourself these questions, as well as taking an honest assessment of your expenses, both necessary and liberal costs, as well as your insurance situation.

Compile everything about you, your money, and your goals into an investment strategy that suits where you want to go and steers your money toward the desired outcome you see in the future. No single person can do this for you. 

Looking at Investing Options for Canadians Like You.

The most significant stock exchange in Canada is the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Much like the United States’ NYSE in terms of stature, this is where most trading is done. Whether you’re a day-trader or someone who buys individual stocks, the equities in your fund will likely be held and traded on this exchange.

In terms of investment accounts for Canadians, they’re similar to what the US and other major countries have introduced, with some slight differences. 

1. TFSA Accounts

You have the tax-free savings account (TFSA), which is a form of investment account that can hold differing forms of assets, including cash, but is not taxed at all upon withdrawal for capital gains. This is very similar to what America has in the form of a Roth IRA, where your investments are not able to be written off on your tax deductions, but you do not have to pay on them later when reaping the benefits. 

This is ideal for those who expect their income to increase, or be higher at the time they plan on withdrawing their investments from the account in comparison to what they’re paying on the income at the time of deposit. The Canadian TFSA also has an annual contribution limit – for 2020, the limit is $6,000 CAD. 

It comes with some caveats though. If you failed to meet that contribution amount for the year prior, whatever amount under $6,000 you were you would be allowed to contribute in the following year. So, if you only contributed $4,000 for the past three years, in 2021, you’d have $6,000 of “rollover” contribution room. 

2. RRSP Accounts

A registered retirement savings account is much like a standard IRA account in the sense that your contributions are tax deductible and you will pay taxes on them upon withdrawal. You’ll also pay a withholding tax for any reason other than retirement, post-secondary expenses, or the purchase of a new home. Your contribution limit will also be reduced by the amount you withdrew. The dollar amount contribution limit for 2020 is about $27,000 CAD, and to qualify for opening one you’ll need to be under the age of 69. 

At age 71, your RRSP will automatically be converted into an RRIF, which is a registered retirement income fund, with payments needing to begin dispersing by age 72 at the latest. There is a minimum annual withdrawal, and the withdrawals will be taxed at your marginal tax bracket. 

3. Cryptocurrencies 

Investing isn’t just for retirement, and, although cryptocurrency very well could help you do that, it’s far more than just a retirement account. Cryptocurrency is something that Canadians can add to their investment portfolio to promote breadth and depth within their asset classes.

Much like gold, except likely with more upside, cryptocurrencies currently serve as somewhat of an alternative asset to more traditional governmental currency-backed investments. You know inflation is always a risk, and at the moment interest rates are regressing after having previously given savings account owners a glimmer of hope. These uncertainties make cryptocurrencies a quality alternative, contrarian asset to hold.

4. Brokerage Accounts

It should go without being said that you have the classic brokerage account used for trading equities, options, and other assets on the market in the day to day. Taxed at your traditional capital gains rates, these aren’t generally used for retirement purposes alone, but for more active and exploratory investors. Nevertheless, they’re a useful tool to have in your belt of investment account types.

In Summary, Have Some Depth 

It’s great to have a spread-out portfolio over multiple account types, and you needn’t worry about committing to just one. Implementing this alongside a customized investment strategy is enough to produce some precipitous gains in any country, including Canada.

To learn more about how a Canadian Stock Market Game or a Canadian Personal Budgeting Game can help you or your students master these investment concepts and manage personal finances effectively, visit our sister site PersonalFinanceLab for Canadian Financial Literacy Games for Students.

Marion Underwood
Marion Underwood has been working as a blogger ever since he was young. His blog is filled with informative articles on business, investment, and finances. Marion also writes guest posts about these topics to other online platforms.

At ClickTrades, the online European trading brand owned by KW Investments Limited, traders have the opportunity to trade some of the leading financial assets, including CFDs on popular stock market indices. At times, when stocks are very volatile, the broker aims to provide access to instruments that are more liquid and at the same time, carry tight trading costs.

Known for its sharp considerably towards ensuring optimal trading conditions, ClickTrades had managed to assemble a very comprehensive offer that includes CFDs based on multiple asset classes, such as forex, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, but in this article, we would like to focus on mainly on indices CFDs.

Three of the strongest indices CFDs are part of the offer

By studying the ClickTrades indices CFDs offer, we can easily notice that due to a very diversified list, some of the major global indices are available for trading with competitive costs. The German DAX30 had been one of the best-performing European indices since the March selloff took place, managing to recover more than 90% of the losses. Spreads are variable (starting at 2.6 Euros) and the maximum leverage goes to 1:200, while the overnight swaps represent the last trading cost associated.

Moving ahead, the US stock market had been the leading-performer this year and because of that, US-based stock indices had been very popular among retail traders. With ClickTrades, you are able to get involved in the tech industry with CFDs on Nasdaq 100 or get exposure to some of the leading US companies with contracts on the CFD for S&P500. The same trading conditions apply (variable spreads, overnight swaps, and up to 1:200 leverage) to ensure that customers can get involved in the market without large trading costs.

ClickTrades trading conditions

When trading with ClickTrades, conditions will depend largely on the account type chosen with the broker. At present, there are three different accounts available (Essential, Original, and Signature), each providing access to a pre-defined number of trading features.

In case you want to test the trading conditions and the ClickTrades platform, you can easily open a demo account, without having to put money at risk. In terms of live trading features, the broker offers access to daily market reviews & financial research, daily analyst recommendations, full access to a video library, and assistance from a dedicated account representative.

Other advanced features include special trading conditions, the ability to use the Trading Central, open access to research, or one-to-one meetings with an account representative, but you will need to make an upgrade from the basic Essential account to get access to them.

Trading Platforms

The main trading platform available at ClickTrades is the proprietary ClickTrades WebTrader, a solution designed to create the optimal trading environment. With it, traders can stay connected to the market on the go or from the comfort of their workspace, while access 2,100+ world-class assets. It integrated risk management tools, news, 3^rd party resources, and advanced charting to improve the overall trading experience.

Alongside the WebTrader, the popular MetaTrader 5 is also part of the offer, to ensure that diversification in terms of trading platforms is provided. MT5 is very intuitive, comes with different execution modes, a wide range of analytical tools, and automated trading facilities.

Summary

CFDs on Indices continue to be some of the most traded instruments among retail traders and ClickTrades enables access to competitive trading conditions for its customers. By providing support for leading indices CFDs around the world, tight trading costs, and optimized trading platforms, ClickTrades confirms its status as one of the highly trusted global trading brands.

Risk Warning: The materials contained on this document are not made by ClickTrades but by an independent third party and should not in any way be construed, either explicitly or implicitly, directly or indirectly, as investment advice, recommendation or suggestion of an investment strategy with respect to a financial instrument, in any manner whatsoever. Trading CDF’s involves significant risk of loss

The days of just investing into a few stocks or a mutual fund for your future or some speculative financial gain are now gone. For the first time in a while, the world is beginning to start to see new types of currency available for use in transactions. Cryptocurrency has come to life over the last decade, especially the last 3-5 years as the news and talking points surrounding it continue to grow. If you’re not a crypto head though, you may be wondering what exactly it is and whether or not you can earn money through investing in different cryptocurrency.

What It Is

For now, cryptocurrency essentially serves as a value-holder that is usually backed by a blockchain service created to serve a specific purpose. What is a blockchain service? That’s another lesson entirely, but in short it is a decentralized transaction logging protocol that creates a chronology or provenance of its transactions. It’s decentralized because it is unregulated, which is one of the many reasons citizens and governments are skeptical about the asset.

However, we are starting to see to see online retailers accept crypto (primarily Bitcoin or other prevalent currencies) for transactions, essentially replacing money in these circumstances. This, however, is a slow and arduous process, so it’s unknown whether or not it will ever be widely accepted everywhere or even by most businesses. Some of the world’s largest corporations still don’t accept it, and, although it does seem to be progressing in that direction, the day when it finally becomes the widespread accept norm is a big question mark.

How To Invest 

This doesn’t stop cryptocurrency from being a viable asset to invest in though. Investors can trade upon these blockchains and purchase their own cryptocurrency shares while those with the computer wherewithal go about mining for new coins. Even if this alternative currency, much like gold, never reaches the level of prominence seen by the likes of the US Dollar (USD) or any other global standard value-holder, it still fulfills the role of an asset to hold with upside. 

Near the end of 2017, the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed near the value of $20,000 USD per coin, and it was probably this little PR boost around that time that really brought cryptocurrency to light for the public who had yet to hear of such a thing. Since then, things have regressed back to a less inflated state with the price of Bitcoin generally fluctuating between $8,000 and $11,000 over the course of the last year. For a new asset class, it’s actually been rather steady.

Types Of Crypto

The bigger name blockchains serve as a generally safe investment for the time being and those looking to hold long-term investments. You can easily put a few thousand dollars or more into a big-name, steadier cryptocurrency and treat it just like any other alternative asset – except, of course, for the fact that this one has the upside as being accepted as currency in some places with some great prospective for expansion and future growth. 

If the long-game isn’t your strong suit and you’re more of a day-trader seeking some quick gains or even just the thrill of watching the market, there’s cryptocurrencies available for you as well. If you watch the crypto market, or keep track of the financial market as a whole, you likely come across updates about new cryptocurrencies becoming available to be traded on your platform of choice. 

Crypto ICOs and the Upside Involved

While the blockchain may have existed before now, a new crypto making its way onto an official trading platform is basically like a stock getting its IPO on the market, except with more volatility depending on what company you’re comparing it to. (Crypto coin IPOs are actually referred to as ICOs, by the way.) These cryptocurrencies can be likened to penny stocks more so than a growing business getting a much-anticipated IPO, but you understand the comparison. With this novelty and unknown aura that accompany this new block comes volatility, and that is where you can earn money making a play on it.

Some of these new currencies that come onto the market may start out with a very low value in USD, with plenty of them entering the market under $1 per coin and some far less than that. This obviously presents an opportunity for tenacious growth if the technology backing it and people introducing it are right. Holding even just a few whole coins is a big deal if your currency of choice rises to prominence in the future. 

For an even quicker turnaround however, you’ll want to note that these sometimes fluctuate wildly over the course of the day. Also not to be forgotten is the fact that crypto trades at all hours and all days, unlike traditional institutions like the New York Stock Exchange where the markets traditionally open at 9:30AM EST and close at 4:30PM so everyone can go home. This is part of decentralization, and the trades can happen at all times. This means you have a keep a closer eye on the market than you would if you were trading in more traditional stock options.

Because of this factor, prices are always changing and somewhat erratic with these newer, smaller blockchains. This presents your chance as an opportunistic profit-chaser to get in on the action and capitalize. That is, if you play your cards right and have access to the right information rather than just trading random currencies, that would be preferential. 

Multiple Strategies Can Benefit

Cryptocurrency investing is not just for speculative investors or enterprising college students. Earning money through investing in cryptocurrency is something that’s a very real, very promising opportunity for every form of investor out there. Whether you’re a retiree, in your prime working years, or even just a teenager looking for investing experience, there are numerous ways to invest in cryptocurrencies can benefit your investing knowledge and, potentially, your wallet. 

Bruce Hebert

Bruce Hebert is a successful blogger who publishes content about business, investment, and cryptocurrency. Bruce wants to help his readers make the most out of their earnings by understanding these topics and guiding them in making investments

News is what most traders expect when trading. Regardless of what kind of analysis they practice (fundamental or technical), the news release is an important event that no trader can ignore.

Why is news release so important and what is news?

Conventionally, the news is an important economic event, on which the financial policy of a particular country depends, which in turn significantly affects the value of the currency of a particular country. Such news includes reports from leading economists, meetings of important economic institutions, the results of board meetings of world banks, elections, as well as reports from industry leaders in leading manufacturing countries.

All of the above news includes macroeconomic indicators that every trader should consider when trading. According to the results of certain events, a report is issued, which can greatly influence (and sometimes may not affect) the market movement.

News can be both planned and unexpected. Experienced traders are strongly advised to ignore sudden news, as spontaneous trading is rarely effective.

What news is better to trade on Forex?

The best option is scheduled news, the schedule of which can be found on any economic calendar. These calendars indicate the dates and exact times of the release of very important macroeconomic events. The most important news is:

• Inflation data;
• Information on unemployment;
• Interest rate data;
• Information about GDP;
• Industrial growth reports.

Other news may carry weight, but not as much as the publication of the above data. However, if you only trade news, then other news may also be useful.

Unfortunately, one cannot predict exactly what the news will be. But for certain issues, there may be certain prerequisites. And, if you have enough information to predict the final report, you can place pending orders and just follow how your deposit is increasing.

Most of the time in Forex trading brokers simplify things for traders and they have a section that is allocated to the news. Thus traders are able to check them, which helps them greatly. However, some broker websites lack them and as soon as you learn how to compare forex brokers with each other it becomes easier to choose a proper one for trading.

The main task of a trader is to follow a new emerging trend, which may (or may not) appear in connection with the release of this or that news.

How do traders trade on the news correctly?

When you have decided what news to trade on Forex, look for the relevant news releases in special economic calendars. It is advisable to put informers with a sound signal so that you do not forget that there will be a news release soon and you will need to start trading. Traders also indicate the time zone, so that the calendar correctly displays the date of the news release. Most of the Forex news is published in Pacific Time.

Not every broker can guarantee a high-quality signal when trading news. There are strong delays, distortions, or simply no signal from the terminal. In these cases, it is best to choose a broker that traders speak well of and who provides, if not ideal, then a stable quote signal.

Some brokers offer a deposit insurance service for news trading. If a broker provides such a service – spare some money and use it. It can save your deposit from unforeseen situations, or incorrect trading.

Choose the right currency pair to trade. It is worth remembering that every news release from each country is directly tied to its national currency. Accordingly, if there is news about Canada, then the currency pair for trading should be USD/CAD (dollar against the Canadian dollar). Other currencies for trading are selected in the same way.

Despite the fact that the market reaction to news can be unpredictable, there are a number of factors that determine the dynamics that are interesting for traders after the news is released.

For example, there is news that the US unemployment rate is 5%, but the previous news was 7%. This means that the state of the US economy is improving, therefore, the dollar is getting stronger against the background of this news. From this, we conclude that it is necessary to make transactions of purchase/sale of currency in favor of the US dollar.

What traders do not do when trading the news?

• Place buy/sell orders in advance;
• Leave the platform unattended;
• Do not use Stop Loss and Take Profit limits;
• Use trading robots that are not intended for news trading.
• Do not use the services of deposit insurance.

These are the main points, which should not be done if you often trade on the news.

As mentioned earlier, for this it is important to choose the right broker who, first of all, is interested in the client’s earnings. Unreliable brokers often dislike traders who trade on the news. If these are dealing centers that pay traders not actually earned money, but their own, they can in every way impede full-fledged trading on the news.

• Actual disconnection of the platform from the feed. That is, during news, the terminal simply does not work – traders cannot perform operations and the dealing center does not have to pay anything.
• Slippage. This is the opening of a deal at a less favorable price, as stated by the trader in the trade order.
• Increasing the spread. The broker makes news trading more expensive for traders, while the signal quality does not decrease. A relatively honest method, practiced by both dealing centers and some brokers.

Trading systems that allow traders to trade on the news

There are a lot of both home-made trading programs and other versions that are specifically targeted so that a trader can safely and profitably trade on the news. Most of them are incomplete, they are characterized by a large number of structural miscalculations. Using such programs should be very careful. This applies more to those robots that are freely available and distributed directly by the traders themselves.

If we are talking about corporate boxed versions, then their work is more streamlined and often brings good profits to traders. But even such systems have a number of disadvantages that should not be overlooked.

• The price is too high. Sometimes such an investment does not fight back even after several months of trading.
• The quality of the support team varies from company to company.
• The algorithm can break at any time. Due to the dynamics and volatility of the market, even the most efficient and theoretically perfect mechanism can fail. And this is not a miscalculation by developers or a trader who uses robots. This is the specificity of the market and nothing can be done about it.

Forex is one of the most popular ways of investing money and enjoys a lot of advantages for various reasons. Almost $4 trillion is circulated every day on the foreign exchange market, making it the biggest one.

In recent years FX trading has seen a surge in Africa and developing countries in general. More and more countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, are flourishing. In this article, we will talk about the reasons for the popularity of Forex trading in Africa.

The most convenient schedule

One of the main reasons for the boom of the Forex market in Africa is that the currency market is open 24 hours a day. This means that Forex traders and investors can choose their working hours, rather than working “from call to call” in a strictly allotted time frame. While at day African workers might be busy, they can easily trade at nights.

Thanks to such a most loyal work schedule, workers in Africa have the opportunity to combine trading in the foreign exchange market with other permanent jobs. After all, you must agree, it is stupid to lose a permanent income, recklessly rushing into the abyss of currency trading without having either sufficient knowledge or experience.

And a smooth entry into the world of trading, in parallel with another type of activity that is a source of constant income, allows a beginner to get involved in trading without much damage to his personal budget. And later, when the level of income from trading equals the salary at the main place of work, you can already think about quitting and devoting all your efforts to trading.

Geography

In addition, currency trading is very convenient, since you can trade currency from your own home using a regular computer connected to the Internet. Also, Forex brokers usually provide trading platforms for tablets and smartphones.

At the same time promotions that brokers offer are available in almost every part of the world. For example, you can get XM bonus anywhere in the world and Africa is not an exclusion.

Most of the times people in Africa are happy with such opportunities. You can go on an indefinite vacation to warm regions, taking with you a laptop with a trading terminal platform on it and making money sitting surrounded by coconut trees. In general, you are given complete freedom of movement, limited only by the mandatory availability of access to the Internet.

The opportunity to train for free

All good forex brokers provide free live quotes, software, tools, news, analysis, and more. You can open a demo account and try yourself as a trader or, for example, try out your strategies without any risk to your wallet.

When Forex first appeared in Africa such innovations and opportunities greatly improved the inclusion of Africans in this industry. As time passes more innovations are incorporated, thus making Forex trading go up in Africa.

Low entry threshold

Another reason why Forex is so popular in Africa is its relatively low overhead and low entry threshold. The vast majority of Forex brokers do not charge commissions and make their money through spreads (the difference between the buying and selling prices of currencies), which are displayed in a special window of the trading platform. You may not even notice that you are paying your broker (especially if the broker gives fixed spreads).

And while almost all countries in Africa are developing ones and sometimes money is an issue you can have literally a couple of American dollars on your trading account (well, or an equivalent amount in any other currency in which the broker opens an account for you) to start trading. This opportunity exists thanks to the so-called micro-accounts, which can be opened with many well-known Forex brokers.

In fairness, it should be noted that earning any money with such a ridiculous amount of a trade deposit is unlikely to work. That is, of course, you can win at times, but there can be no talk of any stable earnings here.

Leverage

Forex brokers provide margin. The so-called leverage allows you to trade huge amounts with only a couple of hundred dollars on your deposit. This is of course risky, but on the other hand, a trader can always choose lower leverage, thereby reducing his own risks.

African brokers offer decent leverage which attracts more traders to them.

For example, by choosing the size of the trading leverage 1 to 100, a trader has the opportunity to conclude transactions in an amount one hundred times higher than his deposit. Having everything

Overview

Foreign Exchange, or Forex Trading as it is more commonly referred to, involves the conversion of one currency into another. The Forex Market is one of the largest, most volatile, and actively traded markets in the world.

There is trading volume of around $5 trillion which is traded daily according to Forexsuggest.com, and more traders are flocking to the Forex Market for an opportunity of making great gains and profits from the market’s volatile and subsequent liquid nature.

In a Forex pair, the base currency is the first currency which is listed while the second currency is known as the quote currency. The basic principle behind Forex trading is to sell one currency to buy another, and therefore Forex is quoted in pairs.

The Forex market consists of currencies from all over the world resulting in difficult exchange rate predictions due to various factors which could contribute to price movements.

The Forex Market, like other financial markets, is predominantly driven by forces of supply and demand, and the factors involved with price movements include:

• Central banks
• News Reports
• Market sentiment, and
• Economic circumstances and situations.

The Forex market is the largest financial market due to the trading volumes and this makes it the most volatile market as well. Forex volatility involves the measure of overall price fluctuations over a certain time.

This is in addition to how rapidly the prices in the market change that in the Forex Market and it is only a standard deviation of returns.

Forex pairs are divided into Majors, Minors, and Exotic pairs. Major pairs include currencies which are traded the most while minors are Forex pairs which do not include USD on either side.

Exotic Forex pairs are those that comprise of a bigger, stronger currency with a smaller currency of a developing country. These pairs often have wider spreads than Major and Minor Forex pairs.

The Major Forex pairs are those who are traded the most globally. These pairs are known for their liquidity along with tighter and lower spreads.

The EUR/USD Forex pair may be the most traded currency pair in the Forex, but it is not the most volatile. Some of the most volatile Forex pairs include:

• AUD/USD
• GBP/AUD
• AUD/JPY
• CAD/JPY
• USD/TRY

The AUD/USD pair has been substantially volatile due to developments in the US Market. Along with numerous economic factors which have been driving factors behind price movements, this has resulted in mixed US economic data and allowed for a stronger AUD.

Final Thoughts

It is important for traders to stay up to date with volatile currency pairs as they are affected by various factors. These factors tend to drive currencies from a country in either upward or downward directions against other currencies.

Knowing the volatility of a pair may be to the advantage of numerous traders who depend on market volatility to make great gains and profits. Subsequently it may also help other traders who do not trade according to market volatility in preventing substantial losses.

Imagine that it is vital for you to make an expensive purchase, but the required amount is not at hand and is unlikely to appear in the next few years. Will it stop you? Not really, because you can use an ordinary loan and cope with the problem. A similar situation is observed in the foreign exchange market, where to start work you need to have a decent amount of money.

For traders who do not have such an amount, a special program has been created called margin trading. Its main idea is that the broker provides the bulk of the capital required to start trading. This service is called leverage.

It is due to the existence of such leverage that traders are able to trade with more money than they have available, and it is even possible to start trading if you have $10 on your account. Let’s consider in more detail what is the peculiarity of this tool and how to work with it correctly, as well as, benefits and dangers.

Leverage: Mechanics of Operation

In order not to describe the entire system in complex terms, we will analyze all the stages of a transaction using an example. Suppose a trader is ready to allocate only $1,000 for investing in Forex. Then the following happens:

• On the account opened by the user, the broker reserves the missing amount ($99,000). Keep in mind that this money is not available for use; it only opens the door to the foreign exchange market. That is, the brokerage company does not risk anything.
• The trading process is in progress. Here the profit/loss level is directly related to the lot size the user has chosen. Everything that he or she gains or loses is no longer tied to the size of the existing bet ($1,000), but to the margin account ($100,000).
• In the case of winning, all the profit goes to the trader. The broker collects his reserve and standard commissions. In some cases, if the broker doesn’t have negative balance protection it could lead to traders owing money to the brokerage. A legitimate brokerage always provides negative balance protection and proper warnings about leverage as illustrated by this Axiory review specifically.
• If the investor loses money, then upon reaching a critical point, the position is automatically closed. The allocated brokerage funds together with the commission, as in the previous situation, remain intact.

Which leverage should you choose?

As a general rule, decent brokers provide the trader with a choice of different leverage options. For example, 100:1. This means that the amount of capital pledged is 100 times the amount of funds available. By the way, this is the most common option, which is optimal for investors with small and medium deposits.

When trading, this proportion is explained as follows: if with a basic deposit of $1000, leverage of 100:1, the profit from the transaction is only 10 points, then the total profitability will be $100 (1 point = 1 dollar).

Without leverage, a similar result could be obtained if the investor had $100,000 in the account. If desired, a trader can independently change the size of the current leverage (options are available from 1:10 to 1: 500). To do this, just go to the personal account of the selected broker and make the appropriate rearrangement.

Leverage or a danger to the trader?

The previous example explained how the lending facility can help you generate tangible returns at the lowest cost. The problem is that everything has a downside. Therefore, if the trader’s forecast turns out to be incorrect, then he will incur losses incommensurate with the size of the investment.

If you take the same 10 points, with a deposit of $1000 and leverage of 100:1, then $100 will be equal to 10%. For one trade, this is an unacceptable loss (besides, with such a meagre protective order, the chances of failure are quite high). In most strategies, stop loss exceeds 50 points (50% of the available amount).

The situation can be corrected by using the basic rule for managing a trading account, which consists in not risking more than 1-3% in one position (for each trading system, these figures may differ). This means that when you deposit 1000, you need to reduce the leverage to 10:1 (or use an incomplete lot), so that one point becomes equal to $1 (or less). With this ratio, 10 points of loss will be equivalent to $10 or 1%.

Of course, the results may not be outrageous, but the risk of default is possible only with absolutely illiterate trading tactics.

The main advantage of leverage is the ability to make money in the foreign exchange market with a minimum amount of initial investment. At the same time, it should be noted that if the rules of money management are used incorrectly, such leverage can ruin a trader’s deposit in a matter of minutes. So it is always a good idea to find out more about this tool and use it properly.

Oil is one of the most important resources in the world as of now. The human economy as well as everyday livelihood is extremely dependant on it. Although there are a number of companies trying to create alternative sources of energy like Tesla coming up with fully electric vehicles and other companies working on nuclear, solar, ethanol, and wind-powered energy the oil still stays on top of the food chain as of now.

Oil and Diversification

When it comes to a grand machine of the world economy, oil is something that makes the wheels spin. Even in the face of global pollution and climate change arguments that are being presented everything needs oil in one way or another. Huge tanker ships sailing across the globe, cars that we drive to work, cabs, busses, airplanes are all utilizing this resource. So in other words, it is in high demand. Countries that have this natural resource are profiting off of mining it. Middle eastern nations are the ones that come to mind when it comes to this particular economic endeavor. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest oil exporters in the world where they provide as much as 13.3% of the worldwide oil supply. Iraq comes close with 8.3% or $68.1 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 6.6% or $66 billion. All of them are reporting shrinking in the industry due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has forced the world into a lockdown.  According to recent reports Dubai which is one of the most oil-rich emirates of the whole UAE federation reports as much as a 30% shrink since 2019. Add the current crisis to the imminent depletion of oil (as it takes much longer for Earth to make the supply than the rate at which we spend it) we get a very volatile market. A couple of months ago we had market mayhem where the US oil prices fell to historic negative numbers as the demand was practically non-existent. This is mostly why most of the countries that are heavily dependant on oil exports are trying to diversify their economy.

Crude oil traders are not exempt from this. While the price volatility and shift in the rate of demand create a comfortable spot for a number of investors there are still people trying to switch towards other markets because of the instability. The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX) has become much more popular in the region due to this very same reason. The United Arab Emirates with its diversification strategy has made some efforts to switch away from the oil as much as possible. Due to this, a good number of people are finding incentives to also diversify their trading assets. While crude oil prices keep jumping around the fiat currencies are much less volatile. This is why we see a good surge in numbers of UAE Forex brokers who have caught onto this trend and made their marketing operations that much more appealing as well as boosted their presence online. If the trader is persistent enough they will even be able to find brokers that offer to trade on forex as well as commodities (CFD brokers mostly) with good deposit bonuses, leverages, services, and other quality material that comes in helpful.

Why Trade in Oil Futures?

First of all, lets quickly mention what oil futures are. These are derivative securities that allow traders to buy oil at some market defined price much alike stocks. If the investor decides to exercise their future by the settlement date then the purchase, which happens in the units of 1000 barrels, will gain ownership for the price agreed in the contract. Most of the people just try to analyze the market and see if the prices will be going up so that they can hold onto the assets and sell later to make a revenue.

Crude oil futures investments have huge profit potential. This is one of the most active derivatives on the market. Therefore, there are a good amount of advantages to trading oil.

Potential Revenue

As we have already mentioned oil futures have a possibility to present very lucrative investment opportunities. This is a place where witty traders make a couple of thousands per trade while at the same time requiring much less investment than the stock market in comparison. The price is extremely volatile and can depend on anything from political decisions to the season of a year. The prices keep jumping around by substantial amounts. Once the value dips under those who hold the futures to purchase at lower prices profit by a lot.

Asset in Demand

We already discussed this multiple times but it needs to be reiterated that at this moment oil is an irreplaceable asset and the supply is very much limited. This means that the investors can take advantage of the situation to plan in advance that the prices will, most probably, increase if there are no technological breakthroughs that remove the dependency of every industry upon this asset. Even if such happens companies can’t just ditch their huge supply of working vehicles like ships, cars, and construction equipment and instantly switch them out with the replacement.

Liquidity

Liquidity is also one of the main reasons why this market draws in so many people. Oil futures are one of the most liquid assets due to the volume that is traded each day. As a matter of fact, the most actively traded commodity is crude oil.

Leverage

Oil futures offer leverage much like the foreign exchange market. This means that it is possible to buy with borrowed money from the broker. The margin requirements are also set quite low meaning that with considerably low capital investment a trader has an ability to trade 10 or 20 times more. However, this is a double-edged sword that cuts deeply both ways. While presenting an opportunity to make huge revenue it is also extremely important to understand that the trades that go sideways will harm the capital investment in a major way.

Simple to Trade

Trading oil is much easier than a number of other assets. Obviously having a knowledgeable broker to help in this endeavor is a must but trading strategies are much less complicated than on forex or other markets.

EndNote

Taking the first steps in oil futures is a bit of a complicated process though. Opening an online futures account is not always guaranteed. However, once this is done things are becoming that much easier. Futures lose their value the more they approach the expiration date. This means that a trader needs to be witty enough to analyze the market daily, pay attention to the weather, political, and other aspects that affect oil prices. The whole point of this type of trade is to predict how the prices are going to go in the future. The trader basically bets on the market movement so it’s not something one can just invest and abandon until the expiration date.

Oil futures can also be short sold. This means that the trader can basically bet against the future price of the asset. An important thing to keep in mind is that one futures contract means ownership of 1,000 barrels of oil. This is why every time the price changes with even $1 the trader is either gaining or losing $1,000. The sword cuts both ways and while lucrative at certain points it will hurt sometimes as well.

If the trader is clever enough to forecast the pricing correctly the revenue is going to be huge but if things go sideways then the losses can be quite hurtful. This is why you should never invest funds that you require to last from month to month.

Buying rental properties takes a lot of time and money, but it can have lucrative results if executed properly. To invest in the right rental properties and achieve monetary success, it is important to do your research and take your time. Here are 3 tips for investing in rental properties.

Tip 1: Use Leverage To Buy Property

If you are planning to invest in rental property, it is crucial to understand the mortgage market. If you do not understand the mortgage market, you are unlikely to invest in rental property properly. In contrast, you can keep costs lower and reduce uncertainty if you know how to use the mortgage market.

When you know how the mortgage market works, you can begin to buy property using leverage. In other words, you can use borrowed money to free up money for any repairs or future investments.

Of course, you need to keep in mind that you will need to pay financing costs when you use leverage to buy property. It is best to consult a professional when using leverage to ensure that you are choosing a financial strategy best for you and your needs.

Tip 2: Avoid Fixer-Uppers

Just as day trading is different from buy-and-hold investors, real estate traders are different from buy-and-rent investors. In other words, real estate traders look to sell their property in less than six months, whereas buy-and-rent investors plan to use the property for their long term uses.

Although fixing and renovating a worn-down property may seem like a good idea for either purpose, it is not worth your time and energy as a new rental property investor. So, it is best to avoid fixer-uppers when you are new to rental property investment.

Fixing a rental property takes a lot of expertise, time, and money. If you are new to rental property investment, you should view yourself more as a real estate trader. Doing so will allow you to focus on immediate results that you can use to strengthen your rental property skillsets.

Tip 3: Buy A Low-Cost Home

One of the best ways to start investing in rental property is by buying a low-cost home. Low-cost homes are a great option because they will require less money upfront and require less ongoing expenses as well.

Most experts recommend starting with a $150,000 home or less in an up-and-coming neighborhood. This will ensure that the home has value in terms of its neighborhood without being extremely expensive for you.

Additionally, it is recommended to never buy the nicest nor the worst home in the neighborhood. The nicest home will often be overlooked for more affordable options next door, while the worst home will be avoided for better options.

One feature to look out for in a low-cost home is acrylic solid surfaces. These surfaces increase the value of the rental property, which will allow you to charge more for rent.

Additionally, consider low-cost homes with a  tilt wall construction. Just as the acrylic solid surfaces increase rental value, tilt wall constructions do as well. Finding a low-cost home with either of these features is a great way to secure a higher paying rent.

Final Thoughts

Investing in rental property can be an overwhelming task. It is best to use leverage to pay for property, avoid fixer-uppers, and buy low-cost homes on your first go around. Doing these three things will allow you to get your feet wet in rental property investment without committing yourself to too much work or money.

Skylar Hammond is a writer for True Trader who specializes in topics such as stock trading, personal finance, and forex. He focuses on helping beginners and experts alike learn more about the market and improve their trading skills.

So you have a got a loan, set up a website, ordered your products and now you’re ready to start your e-commerce business. Here are a few tips on how to make sure you convert your audience into customers.

In retail, how you present your product matters, especially when selling online. In e-commerce, customers are unable to handle and try on the item, so how it is presented is essential in making a sale.

While the average order values are higher on desktop, every second counts when you are trying to capture your visitors’ attention. Eye-catching content can be the difference between browsing and a sale.

It’s All In A Name

The name is the most important part of the listing. As a rule of thumb, keep it short and snappy, clear and concise, making sure you cover all the necessary information, like size, colours availability. While it is important to have a description that stands out, if it is too long, wordy or confusing, people will lose interest.

While SEO is important, if it doesn’t appeal to the consumer, you might not make the sale. The best way to appear in the page rankings is to use keywords that customers search for when searching for similar products.

Price It Well

One of the first things a customer does when they spot an item they like is to check the price. Pricing plays a key role in a customer’s decision to make a purchase. Make sure the pricing visible and if it is on sale make sure you draw extra attention to that. Consumers love a bargain and it might just be the deciding factor in the final sale.

Along with pricing, make sure any additional benefits such as free delivery, next day delivery or an easy returns policy are visible, this will show how quickly and easily someone can have the item if they order today!

Eye-catching Visuals

Product photos are critical in providing the consumer confidence that the product is what it says it is, that is why important that you get multiple angles of your product. Use whitespace to help draw the consumers attention to what matters the most, your product. A zoom feature is also a good idea, as it gives the buyer a chance to take a better look at the details of the product, this is especially important for more expensive items.

If you have the time and budget, making a video is often more engaging, helping you to tell a story about your product while giving a 360 view.

Customer Testimonies

Having testimonies or proof that your product is what it says it is will instil confidence in your prospective customers. This can come in the form of reviews, customer testimonials, ratings or likes. Regardless of the type, it shows your clients that you are reliable and sell good quality products.

A Clear Call To Action

Make sure that on your page the ‘Add to Cart’ and ‘Checkout’ buttons eyecatching, clear, consistent and most importantly highly visible. These are buttons that your customer has been conditioned to look for and are the final step between the customer liking the product and making the purchase.

Living off with only one source of income, which is your salary, isn’t going to cut in the long term. Instead, you might want to take your money and put it into different kinds of investment vehicles in order to make passive income. 

One of the investment vehicles you can use is the stock market. If you’re just starting out, here are some essential things you need to know about the stock market. 

1. Appetite for Risk

When investing in the stock market, you open yourself to a substantial amount of risk. 

In the long term, stocks can offer a safer choice of investment compared to others. However, it’s a different story when investing short term. In the short term, the prices in the stock market are usually very volatile and can swing both ways drastically. If you’re looking into the short term, you need to watch the stock market every second.

In the long term, you’re exposed to lesser risk compared to the short term. However, you should still be cautious because returns are never guaranteed, especially in the stock market. Any market news can trigger movements in the stock markets. 

2. Diversify Your Investments

A diversified exposure in different stocks will mitigate the risk you take when you trade in the stock market. As a rule of thumb, don’t put all your eggs into one basket. Hence, it’s advisable that you invest in different company stocks and not just in one company; diversify your portfolio by buying stocks in different industries. 

For example, you can buy 100 stocks in a mining company, 200 stocks in a real estate company, and 500 in a financial institution. This way, if the mining industry is in the wind, your whole portfolio won’t be exposed to that. Spread out your investments and exposure in order to reduce your risk exposure. 

If you’re looking for which stocks to buy and news related to it, you can check out Pepperstone for more information. 

3. Do Your Own Research

There are many intricacies in the stock market. Before anything else, you need to take time to do your own research and learn everything about the stock market. Focus on this before you put some money in. 

Join talks or seminars regarding investments and do your own research online. Read up on books about investments and talk to people who have actually invested in the stock market. 

4. Buy Low and Sell High

The cardinal rule in the stock market is to buy low and sell high. For newbies, seeing low prices might trigger emotions of panic and lead people to sell at a loss. However, when trading, you need to be able to control your emotions. 

The perfect time to buy stocks is when prices are low. To realize your profits, start selling your stocks when the prices are high. That’s where you can earn money.

5. Need For A Broker

When investing in the stock market, you need to have an account with a brokerage firm. Individuals can’t just go to the stock market and start buying up stocks like it’s a department store or an order at a restaurant. 

To be able to trade in the stock market, you need to sign up with a brokerage firm, open an account, and deposit your money there. Nowadays, with the advances of technology, you can start trading through an online brokerage website. As long as you have a computer, smartphone, and a stable source of internet, you can trade in the stock market anywhere in the world.

6. Stocks Pay Dividends

When you own shares of stock in a company, you can have income without selling your stock shares. There are certain companies that pay out dividends to all their shareholders every now and then. 

What happens is that a company will announce the date when dividends will payout and the cut-off dates for eligibility. Then, on the designated date, the company will give out dividends on a percentage basis, depending on the amount that you invested. This can also be a source of passive income for you even if you haven’t sold your stock shares, yet. 

Conclusion

Now you know the basics of the ins-and-outs of the stock market. Just remember your appetite for risk and mitigate it by diversifying your investments. As you prepare to set up your accounts, using a practice stock trading environment, perhaps one with more robust features to explore different strategies, can be a great way to build confidence risk-free. Set up your real accounts and start trading while receiving dividends as well.

The next step is to do more in-depth research and start investing in the stock market. To start trading in the stock market, talk to experts as well as brokers to know more.

Angela Morgan has been blogging ever since she was a teen. Now that she has her own family, she makes sure to allot time in blogging, and sharing her ideas online.

How are cloud-based and other kinds of modern technology causing a metamorphosis in the fintech sector throughout the global market? The answer lies in the desire for the need for speed, access, and accuracy on the part of financial institutions and their customers. Here are the key areas of change that are already transforming the fintech industry.

Cloud-Based Changes

Technology that is cloud-based is literally changing the face of the financial world, or the fintech industry itself. While still in process, some estimates are that about one-fifth of all financial transactions in the world are currently conducted on the cloud.

• Security: Cloud-based data storage is able to offer a much greater degree of security than server-based storage solutions. When it comes to financial data, of customers and banks, security is a major component of whether to use a cloud environment or not. In today’s security-conscious environment, where hackers and various types of attackers abound, it’s imperative to use the cloud for data storage in order to maintain a high degree of confidence on the part of customers.
• Self-service: For self-service apps to work properly, banks and other financial institutions need quick, secure access to reams of data, which is much easier to do when using a cloud-based system. The vast majority of modern banking customers expect rapid access to account information and the ability to perform routine transactions. In order to support billions of activities every working day, fintech firms have opted to use the cloud rather than traditional IT storage and security arrangements.
• Data collection: Customers and banks need a data aggregation system like the cloud that can offer instantaneous access to a wide range of files for making budgets, analyzing spending habits, evaluating credit applications, and much more.

Other Factors Changing FinTech

In addition to cloud-based everything, the entire fintech industry is currently in a state of profound transformation based on changes in the way people trade things like stocks, how ATMs operate, the proliferation of wearable devices, the rise of so-called non-banks, robot employees who interact with retail customers, 100 percent automated workflow inside the organizations, digitized banking transactions, and more. Here are the top ways that factors other than cloud-based ones are causing the fintech industry to change:

• Online trading industry: Anyone who uses an online trading platform already has an idea about how quickly things are moving in the banking and brokerage segments of the fintech industry. The trend is clearly to make every financial service a fully online experience as rapidly as possible. No doubt the 2020s will be the decade that witnesses this transformation. In online trading currently, every transaction either is or can be completely automated; rarely is there a need for person to person interaction between traders and brokers, or between traders and bankers.
• Wearable tech: Intelligent watches and other wearables are already in use at several major fintech firms. Some banks have even tested the concept of having tellers who wear smart glasses that recognize customers instantly and process all the needed data for a given transaction. Watches are able to act as full-fledged mobile devices on which anyone can transact a host of transactions, check balances, make inquiries, and do budgeting.
• Super-ATMs: Most major banks and credit unions now feature super-ATMs in their lobbies. When customers arrive, they can interact with the devices, which do much more than a standard ATM. In most cases, customers can do anything at a super-ATM except open a new account or apply for a mortgage loan, that would typically require human contact.
• Robo-employees: It’s rare to encounter a human banking employee when you call with a question. The majority of help calls and queries are dealt with via online chat-bots or through recorded telephone databases to try and answer your questions.
• Automated workflow: Inside the institutions themselves, nearly all levels of workflow are switching to a fully automated system. This means a space that is virtually paperless and one in which all tasks are assigned and tracked via computerized systems.
• Digital/Mobile banking: Nowadays, it’s possible for a retail bank or brokerage customer to set up an account entirely via a device like a smartphone, PC, or laptop computer. After authenticating identity, the only other initial task is transferring funds into the new account, which can be done by wire, in person, or online from another bank or payment app.

Some technology factors are gaining ground faster than others, but the overall trend is for all customer-bank transactions to become automated in the near future.

If you are thinking about starting to trade CFDs, learning of the best trading strategies is one of the best ways to ease into the market. CFD trading strategies work to improve your chances of making a profit while reducing your chances of loss. Trading strategies are approaches that ensure you only invest when you are likely to make profitable returns. 

The trading strategy you use should fit your attitude. Before choosing a trading strategy, you need to ensure you invest in the most reliable trading platform. The best platform should come with enticing user benefits like forex introducing broker bonuses for new sign-ups, trader bonuses, and so much more. 

With the best CFD trading platform, you can choose the best strategy for your trades. Here are the most ideal forex CFD trading strategies you can use to trade in demo and live accounts.

Day trading 

The main principle behind day trading requires a trader to close all open positions after the forex market closes. This avoids the added cost and risk associated with holding an overnight position. 

As a day trader, you need to generate quick profits from minimal price movements to make a profit. This makes this strategy only ideal for full-time traders. Day trading requires time to be able to pay attention to market movements in day trades. 

Position trading 

This trade strategy allows traders to hold on to specific trading assets over a long period. This timeline can be as short as a few weeks or as long as a few months. 

As a position trader, you make fewer CFD trades than a day trader. Even so, each trade made has a bigger profit potential compared to day trading. To make the most of position trading, you need to know the best time to sell the CFDs. Holding them for too long increases the chances of making significant losses at the time of selling. Having the ability to read market trends accurately is the key to successful position trading.  

PPC (Preserve Precious Capital)

This is a strategy for capital preservation and money management and is one of the most important strategies to learn as a trader. Most traders are fixated on making money, which makes them forget the importance of knowing how to preserve what is invested. PPC strategy helps traders to protect the money invested in forex CFD trading. This is achieved by telling which forex CFDs are likely to lose money to avoid investing in them. Instead, take your time to find CFDs that are likely to make profits and put your money there.

Swing trading 

This trading strategy focuses on technical analysis. It involves finding short-term trading price patterns. As a swing trader, you should focus on CFD prices. Most swing traders usually pay less attention to the value of the asset when finding assets to trade. They can also hold trading positions for longer than a day trader but shorter than a position trader. 

Swing traders are best placed to make trades against the trend. This ensures they profit from reading trade trends based on their system analysis. 

Scalping  

This CFD trading strategy involves very short-term CFD trades. These include assets that can be held a few minutes before closing. A scalper’s strategy works by trying to beat the bid-offer spread and skin to ensure a profit by just a few points before the close of trade. For Scalping to work for you, you need to have expertise in reading tick charts. 

Over the years, many technical indicators have been developed to make it easier for traders to choose the best strategies for their needs when trading CFDs. If you are new to CFD trading, you can try your hand on different strategies to find the best one for your needs. As a rule of thumb, never try a new strategy on your live account. Demo accounts are created to offer traders room for trial and error without putting their capital at risk. Even the most experienced traders try new strategies on demo accounts. 

Despite originating in China, the coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy human and socio-economic toll in Europe. In fact, the UK has been particularly negatively affected, with well in excess of 41,000 deaths recorded in the region to date.

Europe’s economies have also been adversely affected by the outbreak, while its stocks and the single currency have also entered largely negative territory and seen significant devaluation since the beginning of 2020.

However, these trends are beginning to reverse after the tentative development of a potential coronavirus vaccine, while other developments have also combined to create more positive sentiment and initiate the green shoots of economic growth.

What Impact has the Vaccine (and Other Factors) Had in Recent Times?

In many ways, the European and international markets have responded well to a trifecta of positive news, namely vaccine developments in Europe and Russia and the robust performance of US stocks.

Interestingly, several experimental coronavirus vaccines have developed of late, with the most promising cultivated by Belgian pharmaceutical company Janssen in conjunction with the US biotech company Novavax.

Although each of these vaccines are only at an initial stage, optimism has soared following the decision of the UK government to stockpile more than 340 million doses across four different offerings.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that these vaccines will ultimately deliver success, and the UK is clearly hedging its bets with regards to one of them being successful.

However, there’s no doubt that these recent developments have sent a wave of optimism crashing throughout Europe and its markets, while also empowering the performance of certain commodities.

According to Edward Moya from Oanda, Germany’s recovery expectations jumped to the highest levels since 2004 following the recent news, while the demand for key assets such as oil and gold also soared noticeably.

Appraising the Wider Impact of the Vaccine Breakthroughs

Oil prices are definitely starting to rise in line with the growing demand for crude, with this trend also being empowered by better than expected economic data and stock market growth in the US.

WTI crude is also once again at the top of its range, rising to 42.22 and growing at a marginally faster rate than crude.

Of course, such trends may well stall before the end of Q3, as the aforementioned vaccines will need to pass through further trials and produce official phase three results before driving a sustained uptick in market sentiment.

As for gold, this asset is primed for a short-term sell-off as the market sentiment improves and stocks across the globe inch further towards record highs for the second time in 2020.

Some may argue that the so-called development of a viable vaccine in Russia is also driving this trend, although this announcement was met with a huge level of cynicism given that this drug has also yet to begin phase three trials.

Still, risk-averse traders will continue to seek out gold as a viable safe haven in the current climate, with the market remaining incredibly volatile and uncertain from a longer-term perspective.

In this respect, nothing has really changed for the medium to long-term bullish outlook for gold, while the status quo will most likely be maintained as countries continue to cope with the impact of the coronavirus.

Stock trading or investing in major stocks is a very tough task. People who are skilled at trading always focus on the technical and fundamentals aspects of trading. Some of the advanced traders often use the market sentiment to find potential trade setups. You can’t earn money by investing in random stocks. There are few rules that you need to follow or else it will be tough to survive as a stock trader. In this article, we will discuss five amazing rules that will help you to invest money in the stock market like a pro trader.

1.    Invest in the major stocks

You must invest money in the major stocks. If you try to make money by investing in the penny stocks, it will be hard as the price movement of these assets is extremely unstable. Most of the time, the rookies jump into the penny stock as they think it will give them the perfect opportunity to earn a decent amount of money. But have a look at the experienced trader. You will never find that they are investing in penny stocks. They always trade a stable market as it improves their win rate.

2.    Trade with the major trend

When you invest money in the stock market, you must understand the importance of the trend. Without understanding the importance of major trends, it will be really hard to overcome the obstacles and you will lose money most of the time. Investing money against the prevailing trend is more like pushing yourself in the line of fire. In technical terms, we call it reversal trading. Unless you have tons of experience in reversal trading, you should focus on the trend trading method.

3.    Learn about the essential factors

You must learn about the essential factors to find the potential trade setup. Unless you can do the right thing at the right time, it will be very hard to become a good trader. Learn investing in stocks from scratch so that you don’t have to lose money just because of some silly mistakes. Instead of relying on the articles, hire a professional trader who truly knows the art of stock trading. Investing money in trading education is the best thing you can do as a trader. You might think everything is available in the online market for free but still, you will always get better stuff when you learn the key factors from the experts.

4.    Time your trade properly

You must learn to time the trade properly. A few second delays in the investment business can result in thousands of dollars loss. The pro trader knows this fact very well and they always follow the conservative technique. People who think conservative technique is a waste of time has a lot to learn from this market. The conservative technique is nothing but using some filters and advanced market analysis so that the trades are taken at the perfect place. Without knowing the perfect way to buy or sell the stock, you can’t expect to change your life. So, learn time to trade the property so that you won’t have to regret the decision.

5.    Trade with discipline

Investment business is not about big capital or depth of knowledge. Your success greatly depends on your discipline. If you break the rules and try to impose big lot trades just to earn a huge amount of money, you are making the novice mistake. You have to create a well-balanced trading routine and take the trade with proper discipline. Unless you trade with proper discipline, it will be hard to overcome the challenges and you will become frustrated. Spend some time to improve your mental agility and see the change in yourself. Once you start investing money on the major stocks with rational logic and discipline, you will feel more confident with this business.

Good risk management is an essential component of trading. Particularly so when you’re trading bitcoin, which can be highly volatile, and are using leverage. Given the potential to be forcibly liquidated when the market moves against you, it’s imperative that you take measures to hedge this risk. There are a few ways to achieve this, enabling you to enjoy the upside of the trade while minimizing the downside. Once you’ve learned how to short bitcoin with leverage, your next step should be to dial down the risk without dampening the potential profits. Here’s how.

Use Mutual Insurance

One way to reduce your risk profile when trading BTC is to take out mutual insurance. A number of derivatives exchanges offer this as a product, which is designed to provide short-term protection. Mutual insurance essentially protects you from short-term fluctuations that could otherwise liquidate your position. It’s basically a two-way hedge to be used in situations where you’re expecting volatility and don’t want it to blow up a longer-term position you have open. With mutual insurance, you pay a premium for obtaining cover, and will receive a payout in the event of it being triggered due to market conditions, reimbursing a portion of your losses.

Consider a Two-Way Hedge

If you’re long bitcoin but think it may be due to drop in the short-term, you can open a short position while maintaining your long. For example, you can buy bitcoin or borrow it on certain exchanges that provide margin trading and then use it to short while your long position remains open or vice-versa. If BTC goes up, part of the profits from your leveraged long can be used to cover the sum you’ll have to repay for borrowing BTC for your short.

Lower the Leverage

Crypto derivatives exchanges now routinely offer 100x leverage, and a handful offer even higher still. Cranking up the leverage in a bid to maximize your profits is a surefire way to get liquidated. Leverage of greater than 20x should be used by experienced traders only, and even then it carries significant risk. Start off with leverage of 5x or lower and only increase it once you’re confident you know what you’re doing – and can live with the consequences if you’re wrong.

Set Stops

Setting a stop loss is a smart way to minimize the downside when a trade doesn’t play out the way you’d anticipated. If things go awry, don’t let your liquidation price be hit: that’ll cost you more than manually closing out your position just before it’s auto-liquidated. Since it’s infeasible to monitor the market 24/7, setting stops is the smart thing to do.

Trading bitcoin derivatives is inherently risky if you don’t know what you’re doing. In electing to do so, you’re willing to take on that risk in the pursuit of greater rewards. Learning the available options for hedging that risk is a sign of maturity as a trader, and a smart way to ensure you don’t incur devastating losses when BTC violently wicks up or down. With a hedge in place, you’ll be able to sleep soundly in the knowledge that you’re protected whatever happens.

Gold can be a sound investment because its supply is relatively constant, unlike that of securities and currencies. That’s because gold mining doesn’t increase the supply of gold by much on a yearly basis. 

An ounce of gold today can buy pretty much the same amount of goods as it did 25 or 50 years back. In contrast, the purchasing power of the US dollar has reduced significantly. 

Typically, when the dollar is weak, the price of gold moves up. For this reason, investors use gold as a hedge against inflation. If you too want to insulate yourself from the effects of inflation, consider investing in gold. 

But how does the gold market work? How can you invest in it? And most importantly, is right now a good time to buy gold? 

Continue reading to find out the answers yourself. 

How Does The Gold Market Work? 

There are three key drivers of gold prices: demand, supply, and investor behavior. While that seems simple enough, these three factors may often work in a counterintuitive fashion. For example, since gold’s supply is relatively constant, it’s considered an efficient tool for diversifying a portfolio during an economic slowdown or when inflation is rising. 

How To Invest In Gold? 

There are three main ways to invest in gold. 

1. Physical Gold 

You can buy physical gold in the form of bullion, coins, and jewelry. Most investors tend to invest in gold coins as they are universally recognized and most easily traded. 

Like other gold investments, bullion and coins are a hedge against rising inflation. But they go a step further. Since you physically own them, you have full control over your investment. They are tangible assets with which you can do as you please. Physical gold provides security during an economic crisis and can even be used as currency if the situation warrants.  

So how can you buy gold bullion? 

One option is to buy gold bullion with Gainesville Coins. Since buying gold online is easier and more convenient, most investors prefer this option. However, if you want, you can also buy gold from a local coin shop. 

Whether you buy gold online or offline, these tips will come in handy: 

• Verify the dealer’s reputation – Review the recommendations made by autonomous sources and customers. Another option is to check the dealer’s rating on the Better Business Bureau website.  
• Ensure the seller offers fair prices – Check the price of the gold before buying and factor in the dealer’s markup. Remember, bullion has a lower markup than coins, so you may want to invest in them. 
• Ensure that the seller has sound shipping policies – If you’re purchasing online, make sure your shipment is secure and insured. Also, ensure the vendor gives you a tracking number when they make a shipment. 

2. Gold ETFs

The term ‘ETFs’ stands for exchange-traded funds. That means gold ETFs can only be bought and sold on authorised exchanges. As a result, you don’t have to worry about storing them or them getting stolen. 

Also, just like shares, you can buy and sell gold ETFs multiple times during a single trading session. For instance, if you buy a gold ETF in the morning and the price rises sharply soon afterward, you may consider selling it to book profits the same day. 

Easy and convenient as it is to trade a gold ETF is, it has few drawbacks. One, you don’t actually own a gold asset. You can only redeem it for cash—not gold itself.  Two, you may have to pay a commission to your broker every time buy and sell a gold ETF. Three, any profits you make must be reported for tax purposes. 

3. Gold Certificates

A paper document, a gold certificate represents your claim on a specified value or amount of gold. It’s issued by financial institutions and banks. Compared to the actual metal, they’re easier to exchange and handle. Just like in the case of ETFs, with gold certificates, you don’t need to worry about storing your asset or losing it.

However, gold certificates have one major shortcoming. They are just as good as the company that issues them. If the company goes out of business, you may lose your entire investment. 

Should You Invest In Gold Right Now? 

Even though gold prices have hit a nine-year high recently, investing in gold right now may be a good idea, especially given the current economic downturn. As said earlier, gold can provide financial cover during macroeconomic uncertainty and rising inflation. 

Conclusion

Gold acts as a hedge against economic uncertainty and inflation. It also helps you diversify your portfolio. You can buy gold in different ways. But if you want to own physical gold, you should opt for bullion and/or coins.  

Ruth Walter has been fascinated with gold ever since she was young and has spent most of her life learning about it. Today, Ruth works as a full-time writer who tackles about gold investing and other types of investments.

The coronavirus epidemic in the world can change entire industries and patterns of behavior of companies and consumers. The transition to online shopping can be a long-term trend, as well as the transfer of employees to a remote mode of operation.

The global economy is more affected by the number of people who are afraid of the COVID-19 coronavirus than the number of cases. Fear changes people’s behavior. And it changes the behavior of those who make decisions. Fear of the virus is changing supply and demand in the global economy. The proposal is affected by the suspension of production in China, which reduces global production.

Today, China’s share in the global manufacturing industry is about 25%. In 2003, when SARS was rampant, this indicator in China was only 11%. Today, China is a link in global supply chains. So stopping production in China will reduce economic activity in the world, and also affect the performance of other companies in the supply chain.

Of course, the business was concerned about the volume of stocks. During the lunar New Year period, companies using Chinese components may have more stocks than at other times of the year. It is possible that someone could change the supply chain, although last year’s trade conflict between the United States and China showed that this takes time. These measures will help mitigate the impact of the suspension of work in China, but not fully compensate for it. Technology can mitigate some of the problems. Someone can work from home, economists, for example. That is, part of the global economy is able to work even in quarantine. This does not cancel the negative effect, but it is a way to reduce it.

And what happens to demand? Fear has reduced the demand for certain services. In China, people stopped going to shopping centers, cinemas, etc. The demand for travel fell all over the world. At the same time, online trading is gaining momentum in some places. And the demand for online computer games in China has grown by 40% year on year.

Not the same issues for currencies

When it comes to currencies though, it’s hard to say that the pandemic will do anything bad to the largest ones such as USD, EUR, and JPY. Statistics show that fx trade volumes have increased significantly during the pandemic, but mostly in the “selling” department of exotic currencies.

This may alter the economy as well, but will most likely introduce changes only for the smaller currencies.

Distractions

People who are at home with their family all the time need to be distracted by something. The online economy is a great distraction. This is one of the key differences between the current situation and the times of SARS. The growth of online shopping will reduce the impact of the epidemic on demand. The effect as a whole is still negative, but it is weaker than in the past, thanks to Amazon, Netflix, and online games. The impact on the demand of a company depends on what it sells. Luxury brands are suffering. Such products are bought personally, and not on the Internet. Going to a luxury store is part of the pleasure of shopping. But for basic products, the transition to online shopping can be a long-term trend.

For emerging markets, the effect of coronavirus is to reduce resource demand. Declining demand for raw materials such as copper can recoup losses as production resumes. This demand will support prices in the future. But with energy, everything is not so simple. A canceled flight will remain canceled. China is a large and not very efficient consumer of raw materials. A decrease in China’s GDP by $1 per capita has more severe consequences for global resource demand than, say, a similar decrease in UK GDP.

This is also important for world inflation. The overall outcome of the epidemic is likely to be a decline in global inflation. This is because reduced demand for raw materials leads to lower prices for it. A smaller demand for services is also likely to lead to lower prices for them, at least in the short term. Problems in supply chains, in theory, can raise the price of finished goods.

However, the business is usually not in a hurry to raise the price of goods if supply problems are temporary. If a company expects the virus to cause problems for a month or two, it is unlikely to upset buyers by raising prices for such a short time. It is worth noting that during the trade war between the United States and China, American companies generally did not raise selling prices to pay trade duties.

Corona-virus can make long-term changes to the economy. It is hoped that the virus will begin to weaken in a few weeks. And when the epidemic begins to subside, the fear of the virus will also decline.