Trading Strategies, Psychology

Trading Strategies, Psychology

Rights Issues Explained: A Guide for Shareholders and Investors

A rights issue, also known as a “rights offering”, is a method that companies use to raise additional capital from their existing shareholders. It involves offering the right to purchase additional shares of the company's stock at a discounted price while maintaining their proportional ownership in the company.  This is how the rights issue...

September 5, 2023
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PE ratios: What they tell you (and what they don’t)

What is a P/E Ratio? The Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio is a indicative valuation metric that measures a company's current share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS).  It is relatively simple calculation and is simply worked out through dividing the current share price by the Earnings per share. There are two common variations of...

August 25, 2023
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Navigating the Curve: Backwardation and Contango in Futures Markets

Backwardation and contango are terms used in the context of futures markets to describe the relationship between the prices of futures contracts with different expiration dates for a specific underlying asset, such as commodities, currencies, or financial instruments. In this article, we aim to explain these terms within the context of futures cont...

August 21, 2023
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Look before you leap …FIVE reasons why a low PE Ratio may be a reason NOT to jump in

What is a PE Ratio, and Why is It of Interest to Investors? The Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio is a metric that measures a company's current share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS). It's a relatively simple calculation, worked out by dividing the current share price by the Earnings per Share. Traditionally, it has been used as a p...

August 20, 2023
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Market responses to actual versus consensus numbers in data releases

As traders and investors one of the important facts you need to get to grips with is the difference between Consensus (sometimes termed “expected”) and actual data. Variations in these can have a profound impact on asset prices and so are often part of your decision-making.   In financial markets, the "consensus" refers to the average or m...

August 16, 2023
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Bid-Ask Spread explained: What Traders Need to Know

The bid-ask spread is the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset (the bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept to sell it (the ask or offer).  This spread is a fundamental element of market liquidity and represents the transaction cost that traders need to consider when entering and exiting po...

August 14, 2023
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From Data to Dollars: An introduction to Quantitative Trading

Quantitative trading, often referred to as quant trading, is a trading strategy that relies on the use of mathematical models, statistical analysis, and data-driven approaches to make trading decisions. Often associated with the creation of specific automated trading systems, terms Expert advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader platforms, it a perceived as a ...

August 12, 2023
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Averaging down: A Risky Move or a Smart Strategy?

Averaging down is an investment strategy in which an investor purchases additional shares or other assets at a lower price than their initial purchase price. This strategy is employed when the price of the asset has declined after the investor's initial purchase. Through buying more of the asset at a lower cost, the average cost per unit or share d...

August 3, 2023
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Understanding the US Dollar Index

The U.S. Dollar Index (USDX, DXY, DX, or, informally termed “the Dixie") is a measure of the value of the United States dollar relative to a basket of foreign currencies. It is often used as an indicator of the overall strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar in the foreign exchange market.  Changes in the index value reflect shifts in the rel...

July 11, 2023
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Understanding market data: Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is an economic indicator used to measure the health and activity level of a specific sector of an economy, namely the manufacturing or services sectors.  PMI data is published on a monthly basis and is of three types: Manufacturing PMI: This is the most well-known type of PMI. It measures the health of ...

July 5, 2023
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Key market data explained: The Non-farm Payrolls

The Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) is one of the most significant economic events data release of the month and is released on the first Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. It is a comprehensive snapshot of the current state of US employment, and encompasses the total number of paid employees in the U.S. economy, excluding agricultural, government, pr...

June 28, 2023
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The VIX Explained: What Every Trader Needs to Know

Introduction The VIX Index, or Volatility Index, often referred to as the "fear gauge," measures expected future volatility in the U.S. stock market. Although it's worth noting that there are VIX variations for gold, oil, and global indices, when people discuss the VIX, they usually refer to the instrument based on the implied (forward looking ...

June 23, 2023
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Money in Motion: The Factors Influencing Currency Appreciation and Depreciation

Currency appreciation refers to the increase in value of one currency relative to another currency or basket of currencies. Depreciation refers to the opposite scenario where a currency loses value against another. When a currency appreciates, it takes more units of other currencies to purchase one unit of the appreciating currency, and of cours...

June 21, 2023
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Adding the RSI to your entry or exit decision-making

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is an oscillator type of indicator, designed to illustrate the momentum related to a price movement of a currency pair or CFD. In this brief article we aim to outline what this indictor may tell you about market sentiment, and along with other indicators assist in your decision-making. As with most oscillator...

June 14, 2023
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How to optimise your dividends and maximise your returns?

What is a dividend?   A dividend is a payment made by a company to its shareholders to give back some of its profits or return. Dividends are most often paid to shareholders, annually, semi-annual, or quarterly. Non annual dividends that are paid periodically are known as interim dividends.  Companies can also pay dividends at their dis...

January 20, 2023
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