Volatility has been more the rule than the exception in recent trading as last week proved to be another turbulent week for the world’s markets. Friday’s figures brought the widely anticipated confirmation that the UK is officially in a recession. The Office for National Statistics revealed that the UK’s economy shrank by 1.5% in the final three months of 2008. The figures showed that the plunge was sharper than forecast, sparking fears of a deep and prolonged recession.

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admin :: Jan.27.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

With the credit crunch hitting hard its difficult to find anything investing in.  Even if you did find something paying well, the sliding value of the pound means that you are losing out because of the value of Sterling. You can hedge against this by betting on the value of the pound, Euro or Dollar. You can do this on the Forex.

Unlike other financial markets the forex market literally cannot crash. This is due to the fact that in the forex market one invests in a currency’s value relatively to another currency. One is always buying and selling at the same time. Therefore one can profit when one currency weakens against another just as much as if it were strengthening against the same currency. In fact, the instability that the global crisis has introduced into the market is considered by many to be a positive thing. Volatility in the forex market, despite perhaps making it more risky, also provides greater opportunities for profit. The sharper the swings the currencies go through against each other, the more forex traders stand to profit.

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admin :: Jan.24.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

In a turbulent week, shaken up by news in the banking sector, the end to the short selling ban in the UK, and a European interest rate cut, the FTSE was down 6.7% on the week closing friday at 4147. Thursday ended the FTSE’s longest losing streak in more than four years. The Dow fell just over 3.5% on the week despite gaining 69 points on Friday. The S&P lost 4.5% on the week and the Nasdaq was off 2.7%.

Banking shares suffered their worst week since the peak of the financial crisis last Autumn. Deutsche Bank AG reported a record loss, Anglo Irish Bank Corp. was nationalised and on Friday Bank of America and Citigroup both reported multi billion dollar losses. Bank of America received a fresh $138 billion funding lifeline from the US government, and Citigroup confirmed plans to split itself into two parts.

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admin :: Jan.18.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »

A mechanical trading system that can consistently beat the market – this is the Holy Grail for some traders. The idea of automatic profits is obviously attractive, but is it possible? In short, it is, but it’s not easy to do. In this post, I’ll give you guidelines to create your own system.

What Is A Mechanical Trading System?
Simply put, it is a technique that makes trading decisions for you! You input the trading data, and your system generates a response that indicates the appropriate action. You buy, sell, or do nothing depending upon the formulas that your system uses. And you’re left with no decision to make, except how to spend your profits of course! But we’re a long way away from that stage yet.

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admin :: Jan.13.2009 :: Spread Betting :: No Comments »