Nov 22 2009
Here's a really simple yet useful tutorial on CFD trading that will get you up and running very quickly if you're new to CFD trading.
By the time you finish this article, you'll know how CFDs work, what makes them highly profitable, and understand the costs involved in CFD trading.
CFD stands for Contracts For Difference, which is a derivative product, where you profit from changes in the prices of stocks and shares.
For example, if you buy a CFD on a stock that's $5.00 and the price rises to $5.50, then you profit from that change in price. So if you bought 1000 CFDs, then your profit is $500. That is, the value of the CFDs mirror the underlying stock prices, and you can profit on this movement.
The reasons why CFDs are a very popular trading product, and understandably so, are:
1. CFDs are traded on leverage, and this leverage is typically 10 to 1, with some CFD brokers providing 20 to 1 leverage. This means that a trader with a small float can make decent profits from trading the stock market by using CFDs. For example, you may have a stock trading system that makes a 30% return per annum. On a $5000 float, this is $1500 profit in one year. With CFDs, because of the leverage, the same system can now produce a 300% return, which is $15 000 profit in one year.
2. You can just as easily short sell CFDs as well, and therefore profit from falling markets. This greatly increases the profitability of a trading system because trading opportunities increase dramatically, and the fact that you can profit from both bull and bear markets.
3. The costs in CFD trading are relatively low when compared to stocks. This is especially so, since for a similar and often smaller cost per trade, you can gain 10 or greater times the results from a trade due to the leverage available. The 2 main costs in CFD trading are interest and leverage. We'll come to these in a moment.
4. You can set automatic stop losses. This means that it will take you less time to trade, remove the emotion from exiting a trade when you should, and allow you to exit as the stop is hit, not a day later. You therefore avoid the slippage due to getting out of a trade later than when you intended.
5. You can place all your orders in the evenings. With many CFD providers, you can place orders to enter a position the night before. For people who are working, this is a great advantage as they can do all their trading (place their orders to enter and their stop losses) in the evenings, and not need to be at the computer screen or call their broker during the day. Also, if they have any stop losses that need adjusting, they can do so in the evenings as well. Their trading routine with a mechanical system can be about 10-15 minutes per day.
So these are the advantages of CFDs that have made trading accessible to so many people because they provide large returns for a modest float, and can also be traded once a day as well.
Now, we mentioned that there are 2 main costs in CFD trading. Let's have a closer look now at each of them:
1. Commission. With some CFD providers, there is in fact no commission. This also greatly increases the profitability of your CFD trading systems, as well as the fact that you can benefit hugely from the leverage. With other CFD providers, there may be a commission of say 0.15% of the trade size or $15, whichever is greater, each way. These costs are similar or less than the commission associated with stock trading, especially when you consider that the multiplied profits that the leverage gives you.
2. With CFDs, there's interest charged for long positions that are held overnight. For short positions, the interest is paid to you. The amount of interest charged is usually a reference rate plus approximately 2%, and the interest paid is usually the same reference rate minus approximately 2%. And the reference rate is usually a major bank's overnight interest rate.
For example, the interest rate charged for overnight held long positions may be 7.5% or 0.075 per annum. To calculate how much this is for a trade, we need to make it "pro rata". That is, we'd need to divide the 0.075 by 365, multiply it buy the number of days in trade, then multiply it by the trade size. For example, for a trade size of $10 000, held for 14 days, the interest cost is about $28. Not a huge cost. For a short trade, the interest is paid to you, so will offset the cost rather than contribute to it.
So there you have it.
You now understand the benefits of trading CFDs and why they're a trading instrument that allows people with a modest float to make very decent returns, as well as understand the costs involved with trading CFDs.
To learn more about CFD trading, watch out for part 2 of this article.
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Nov 22 2009
Once you determine which business cycle the economy is currently in you can start researching for a trade. It is best to have some sort of a system in place that will be used before EACH trade. Here is a simple 5 Step formula to help get you started.
5 Steps to Investing Online:
1. Find a stock
This is the most obvious and most difficult step in stock trading. With well over 10,000 stocks to trade a good rule of thumb to consider is time of the year. For example, as I write this, it is the beginning of spring. It would make sense to consider stocks that traditionally make runs, or slide if you are bearish, during this time of year.
2. Fundamental Analysis
Many short term traders may disagree with the need to do ANY Fundamental Analysis, however knowing the chart patterns from the past and the news regarding the stock is relevant. An example would be earnings season. If you are planning
on playing a stock to the upside that has missed its earnings target the last 3 quarters, caution could be in order.
3. Technical Analysis
This is the part where indicators come in. Stochastics, the MACD, volume, moving averages, RSI, CCI, support levels, resistance levels and all the rest. The batch of indicators you choose, whether lagging or leading, may depend on where you get your education.
Keep it simple when first starting out, using too many indicators in the beginning is a ticket to the land of big losses. Get very comfortable using one or two indicators first. Learn their intricacies and you'll be sure to make better trades.
4. Follow your picks
Once you have placed a few stock trades you should be managing them properly. If the trade is meant to be a short term trade watch it closely for your exit signal. If it's a swing trade, watch for the indicators that tell you the trend is shifting. If it's a long term trade remember to set weekly or monthly checkups on the stock.
Use this time to keep abreast of the news, determine your price targets, set stop losses, and keep an eye on other stocks that you may want to own as well.
5. The big picture
As the saying goes, all ships rise and fall with the tide. Knowing which sectors are heating up stacks the chips in your favor.
For example, if you are long (expecting price to go up) on an oil stock and most of the oil sector is rising then more likely than not you are on the right side of the trade. Several trading platforms will give you access to sector-wide information so that you can get the education you need.
To learn how to find the best online stock brokers, visit this site:
online stock broker. Also you will find some tips on what to consider when comparing
online stock broker. Get your
online stock broker guide today!
Nov 21 2009
When you are interested in investing in the stock market one of the first things you will need is a reliable and affordable stockbroker. At one point in time, a stockbroker was seen as a very high priced person that was extremely hard to understand. In today’s world, stockbrokers have become much different, they have begun to make their services cheaper to obtain and in such a way that is easier to understand. This is an extremely wonderful change for the simple reason that you will not be able to trade in any way, shape, or form without a stockbroker.
One of the major rules within the stock market is that no person is allowed to trade within the stock market unless they are a certified stockbroker. A stockbroker, within the United Kingdom twelve million investor’s trade in the stock market, performs every trade that occurs and each one has enlisted the services of a stockbroker.
So you are probably now wondering, what exactly can a stockbroker do for me? There is a wide range of abilities and services that any stockbroker can offer you, at the same time there are also various ranges of fees that will be collected from them. Typically, a stockbroker will charge a commission, a set fee, or some combination of the two. In regards to the services a stockbroker can offer you, there are three basic levels that include only execution, portfolio management, and advice.
When a stockbroker only deals with the selling and buying of particular shares, per the instructions you give them, this is generally called execution only or in softer terms dealing only. With this type of service, they do not offer you any type of advice on any action you want perform. Typically, investors that are experienced or novice in investing will use this type of service. Execution only is cheaper and extremely efficient the fees the stockbroker charges can range anywhere between £20 to hundreds of pounds, this will depend on the specific stockbroker you choose.
Portfolio management is extremely detailed and the most expensive type of service performed and dealing with advice is typically a little more expensive than execution only, because the stockbroker will offer advice and views on what is happening within the stock market. The stockbroker at this level of service will also take the time to explain anything you may not understand very well.
Within the portfolio management service, you can separate these into two other categories these are advisory and discretionary. When under the advisory category, the stockbroker will create a proposal of a portfolio for you; however, he or she will not take any action without express permission from you. Within the discretionary category, your stockbroker will completely run all aspects of your portfolio and will give you reports as needs on how the portfolio is working.
To learn how to find the best online stock brokers, visit this site:
online stock broker. Also you will find some tips on what to consider when comparing
online stock broker. Get your
online stock broker guide today!
Nov 17 2009
Is Forex Canada for anyone? Forex Canada entails investing in the Canadian dollar and watching the exchange rate between this currency as well as another currency as it bounces back and forth, buying and selling as it reaches certain points in the graph that you have set up. The best way to trade Forex Canada is to use software that is developed for this reason. There is software that you can use that will train you how to set limits as to when you want to buy and sell the Canadian currency based against what another currency is doing.
What do you require when you buy and sell in Forex? While you trade Forex Canada, you want to use a
forex who is on the foreign exchange market. You will also have to open up a brokerage account. Many people today are now trading on the foreign exchange market and like the fast paced action of putting one currency against another to make money based upon the fluctuating values. The Forex Canada marketplace is very fast paced and open during the period when all of the markets in the world are open. It opens with the Asian market and closes with the New York market. Those who follow the
forex currency markets will open up an account and then watch as their currency rates, which are often based on a number of variables including the current stock market in that country, moves up and down.
Is it necessary to use charting? It is important to use charting and set limits when you are using the Forex Canada trading system. The reason why many people use software to do this is because it can automatically pick up a pip, a signal to buy or sell, and also automatically process the transaction. There are software programs out there that allow you to buy and sell on Forex Canada all of the time and that you can monitor and customize according to your needs. This is similar to stock market charting software and makes trading on this fast paced, nearly always open market much easier.
What figures into currency values? There are a lot of different variables that figure into the net value of a currency for a particular currency. While you trade Forex Canada, you want to buy when the currency value is at its lowest and sell when it is at its highest. You can set the points at which you wish to buy and sell. As the foreign exchange rates are continuously fluctuating all day long, you can make money each time you hit a high and sell. You will gain and lose when you are involved in the Forex market, but when you use specialized
forex trading software and have a good understanding of the market and how it can work for you, you will find that you profit more than you lose. You can benefit from day trading and make a profit from your own computer when you trade Forex Canada using specialized software.
Sep 4 2009
Whether you plan to venture into foreign or stock exchange, trading systems will help you become successful in this endeavor. But before proceeding, it is vital to first have an understanding of what they are and how they function.
Trading systems pertains to specific rules or parameters that determines points of entry and exit, called signals, for a given equity. They are often indicated on a chart in real time and prompts immediate implementation of a trade.
In the construction of trading system parameters, the most common technical analysis tools consists of moving averages, Bollinger bands, stochastic, relative strength, and oscillators. Most of the time, a combination of these tools determines a rule. However, there are also instances wherein only one indicator is used in rule creation.
Benefits of a Trading System
Utilizing a trading system provides several benefits to a forex or stock market trader.
Can Increase Profit
Coping with losses is one of the most difficult aspects of being a forex or stock exchange market. In an effort to recover the money they loss from trading, investors usually make hasty decisions and consequently loss more money in the process.
Since most of these systems are automated, there is no need for the investor to make a decision, as it is the software that determines when to enter and exit trading. By doing so, losses will be minimized and there is a greater chance for increasing profits.
Not Time Consuming
Again since most systems are optimized and automated, the trader need not exert a lot of time analyzing and initiating trades. The system is designed to both generate the signals and perform actual trade.
More Convenient Because They Have Been Optimized By Others
There are a lot of systems that have been developed and currently being marketed. However, availing of the work of other people entails payment of a certain fee. However, you need to be careful when choosing a company because many of them are fraudulent.
Pitfalls of Trading Systems
While they may have their advantages, trading systems are not perfect and present their own disadvantages.
Complicated
This is the biggest disadvantage of a trading system. Creating a trading system may require a solid knowledge of technical analysis, ability to decide empirically, or a comprehensive understanding of the functions of parameters.
While you may not be involved in the development of the system, familiarization with the parameters can be equally challenging.
Requires Realistic Assumptions
In order for a system to become effective, you need to have knowledge of how to differentiate simulated from actual results. This is known as "slippage" and represents one of the major pitfalls in the effectiveness of a system.
Development Takes Time
The task of developing your own system is time consuming. Getting it to run and work effectively as well as testing it may take some time. Not to mention the fact that you have to do a paper trade in real time to make sure that your system is reliable. The factor of slippage may also come into play, which will require you to completely revise your system.
As mentioned above, you need to be careful when choosing a system. There are firms that are out to get your money and offer a system that does not work. However, there are likewise legal companies so you should determine the difference between the two.
A trading system can be a helpful tool to novice traders who wants to succeed and make a living out of this endeavor.
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