Market news & insights

A 2023 Compare Forex Brokers’ comparison of the top global forex brokers named GO Markets as the top broker in multiple categories, including: Best Liquidity Broker 2023 Lowest Commission Forex Broker 2023 Best Singapore Forex Broker 2023 Justin Grossbard at Compare ForexBrokers said, “In our testing, GO Markets rated well when it came to elements such as execution speed, order fill rates and slippage leading to the award.” Compare Forex Brokers’ review of GO Markets stated; “Overall, GO Markets is a top forex broker with competitive forex commissions, an extensive range of stock CFDs and powerful Genesis MetaTrader platform experience.” Compare Forex Brokers is a forex broker comparison website that reviews all the best forex brokers to help you decide on a broker. GO Markets Director, Soyeb Rangwala, said of the rankings, “We are very pleased to receive these accolades from Compare Forex Brokers. This success reflects our continued efforts in Singapore and Malaysia in particular, to provide premium services to all our clients at the lowest cost possible.” About GO Markets GO Markets is an multi award-winning global financial services provider.

Over the last 17 years, we have been dedicated to evolving our technology, services and education, in order to provide our clients with the best possible trading experience. Through this dedication and because of the trust and loyalty of our clients, we’ve established ourselves as the first choice for trading for our clients globally. Contact [email protected]

Major Indices took a breather last week, with US equity markets closing down more than 1% after posting record highs the week prior. In economic news, the incoming US administration announced a $1.9 USD trillion fiscal-stimulus plan that aims to counter the effects of COVID-19 and support markets as recent weak economic figures are indicating they are under some stress. COVID-19 With reported deaths in Norway of patients who were recently administered the Pfizer vaccine, US vaccine distribution falling well short of expectations and new coronavirus strains being detected, investors are concerned that economic lockdowns could be longer than hoped.

Equity Markets US markets are closed on Monday for the MLK holiday. After that, the earnings season will kick off with big names like Intel, IBM, Netflix, Intel, Goldman Sachs and Proctor and Gamble reporting this week. These bellwether companies should give an indication of how the US economy has weathered the COVID storm.

Cryptos With impressive rallies the week before, Major Cryptocurrencies pulled back last week but still remained well bid on any significant drop. A strengthening US dollar and comments from ECB President Lagarde regarding the need to regulate Bitcoin could be headwinds going forward for these assets. FX Markets After declining for 3 months straight the US dollar Index bounced off support and rallied close to 1% for the week.

This meant a decline in USD pairs with AUDUSD finishing near the 0.77 big figure. This US dollar strength also weighed on USD denominated commodities, with both Oil and Gold declining for the week. Key events ahead Monday Chinese GDP (AUDUSD, CHINA50, USDCNH) Thursday Bank of Canada rate statement (USDCAD) Australian Employment change and unemployment rate (AUDUSD, ASX200)bank of Japan Monetary policy statement (USDJPY, JP225) ECB Monetary policy statement and press conference (EURUSD.

Euro Indices) Friday Bank of England Governor Bailey speaks (GBPUSD, UK100) New Zealand CPI q/q (NZDUSD) German Manufacturing and services (EURUSD, DAX30) Tuesday, 19 January 2021 Indicative Index Dividends Dividends are in Points ASX200 WS30 US500 US2000 NDX100 CAC40 STOXX50 0 6.777 0.143 0.022 0 0.829 0.257 ESP35 ITA40 FTSE100 DAX30 HK50 JP225 INDIA50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

World equity markets finished modestly positive for a week sparse of economic news. US markets again hit all time highs on the back of strong corporate earnings, continued optimism in fiscal stimulus and COVID progress as the US infection rate eased to its lowest level since October. Equity Markets US The NASDAQ outperformed with Twitter (TWTR.NAS) continuing the good run of earnings coming from the tech giants in recent weeks.

Disney (DIS.NYSE) surged to all time highs after reporting strong performance in Q1, despite the company’s theme parks in California having been shuttered for the best part of a year. Source: CQG Entering the last week of Q1 corporate reporting we have Walmart (WMT.NYSE) reporting on Thursday, this paired with US retail sales, released on the same day will give a good indication of US consumer demand recovery. AUSTRALIA The Australian Market finished slightly down on a week with no major economic announcements.

This week we have the employment change and unemployment rate released on Thursday. These figures will be of extra importance with rolling back of JobSeeker payments scheduled for March in what some social advocacy groups are calling a “national crisis”. Zip Pay (Z1P.ASX) was one shining light, rallying 25% and continuing the surge higher of recent weeks.

FX Markets The US dollar index finished down 0.5% weakening against all major currencies with the exception of the NZD. Source: Bloomberg AUDUSD The Aussie continued its impressive rallies after the dip preceding the RBA’s surprise announcement of its bond buying QE programme at the start of the month. A weak US dollar and record iron ore and copper prices are driving it back to the important 78c level.

AUDUSD has experienced strong resistance at these levels this year, the employment report on Thursday will be an important Indicator as to whether the Aussie can break through. Source: GO MT4 Commodities – Oil US Crude Oil continued its strong rally breaking the $60 USD a barrel mark, with prices now back in line with pre-pandemic levels. China’s rapid economic recovery from the pandemic has been cited as the single most bullish factor for oil prices at the moment.

China’s January crude oil imports averaged 11.12 million bpd. This was up by more than 18 percent from the December average. Weekly US Crude inventories will be released Friday with the last 3 weeks having much larger draws than expected.

Eyes will be on the figure to see if oil demand is continuing to strengthen. Source: GO MT4 Bitcoin Bitcoin continued its surge upwards to all time highs as news that an investment arm of Morgan Stanley is considering adding Bitcoin to its list of possible trades. This comes on the back of a recent Tesla announcement of investment in the cryptocurrency and could indicate a coming broader uptake of Bitcoin in corporate investment circles.

Source: GO MT4 Tuesday, 16 February 2021 Indicative Index Dividends Dividends are in Points ASX200 WS30 US500 US2000 NDX100 CAC40 STOXX50 11.709 8.488 0.489 0.038 0 0 0 ESP35 ITA40 FTSE100 DAX30 HK50 JP225 INDIA50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

‘Trading the news’, is a phrase that is often said, but to new traders it can be a confusing statement without much context. What does it mean to trade the news? Is it simply trading a News Company, or is it trading based on a news report, this article will explain some of the intricacies of the famous strategy of ‘trading news’.

What is it? Trading the news is simply using an event, whether it be a global news event relating to a stock or sector news or an announcement from a company as a reason to enter a trade of a on a security or a derivative. A trader can only make money on a trade if the price of the chosen asset is moving.

If the price is stagnant then there is no use trying to trade it as there will be no money to be made. This is also known as volatility. In addition, traders and investors like to trade when there is a high level of liquidity as this allows for larger position sizes and easier movement in and out of a trade.

Why do some traders ‘trade the news’? There is multiple reason that trader will trade the new, but it is largely as news events act as catalyst for a shift in share price and increase in volatility. A general rule of the efficient market is that all information that is available is priced into the share price.

However, when news/announcements are first announced, the market must evaluate the worth of the news to the share price and this can happen quickly, or it can take a few days to assess. This is where money can be made when ‘trading the news’. Example In this example we have a company ABC.

ABC is a publicly listed company listed on the ASX and it share price is currently $1.00. with a market capitalisation of $1,000,000 ABC is company that creates and sells bicycles. Now imagine that this company signs a contract to sell 1000 bikes to Company DEF for $100,000 Immediately the news will be announced and the market including traders’ investors and others will have to assess how to value the contract. This will see a rush of volatility and buying/selling of the company’s shares.

Similarly, traders can trade the news relating Foreign exchange. Specifically, news from relating to the economy or an announcement from a countries Central Bank can provide a shift to the currency which triggers traders on corresponding currency pairs. In the example below, the Reserve Bank of Australia had just announced an increase in the interest rate for the cash rate largely in line with analyst expectation.

Some notable observation about the chart includes an initial influx of volume and increase in range for the candles relative to average levels. What is ‘Selling the news?’ It has been established that trading the news is when traders will try and use news catalysts as a signal for volatility when trading, however sometimes a seemingly good news event creates a sell off that can often lead to confusion on the part of the trader who taken a buy position. The reason for much of this selling goes back to the first question.

Why do traders trade the news? The market is trying to put a value on the announcement. Furthermore, this can be compounded by what are known as ‘trapped sellers.

The concept of trapped seller is that when a stock creates a gap above a previous closing price based and that gap is above previous long terms resistance zones, sellers who have been stuck in the stock long term will sell their holding at the first opportunity. This of course creates downward pressure on the price. The downward pressure incentivises short sellers and more selling occur thus causing a ‘sell the news’ type of event.

Take the following example of ASX listed company BUB. The news events were that the company had signed a contract to supply the USA with baby formular at a time when the country was dealing with a massive shortage of the formula. As we discussed above, in this chart we can see that as the market opened.

The price gapped form the previous close of $0.485 to $0.780 as the market opened. As the day wore on it became apparent that there was a great deal of long-term sellers who were using the opportunity to either take profits or cover to cover a loss. Subsequently the stock price kept falling for consecutive days as sellers continued to ‘sell the news’ Risks ‘Trading the news’ can be an inherently risky strategy, as an influx of volume comes into a stock the volatility often increases in volatility.

This means that the momentum of. If a trader is on the wrong side of the move it can be a dangerous as the price can move very quickly. Therefore, traders should be weary and have clear stops and exits points for when a trade goes the wrong way.

Market response to any specific economic data release is far from standard even if actual numbers differ greatly from consensus expectations. Rather the market response is based on context of the current economic situation. This week’s non-farm payrolls, being one of the major data points in the month, is a great case in point.

There are many factors and of course the key one for you as an individual trader is your chosen vehicle you are trading (and of course direction i.e. long or short for open positions). The context of today’s impending non-farm payrolls from a market perspective is interest rate expectations going forward. This week the Fed gave the market the expected.25% cut that was already priced into currency, bond and equity market pricing.

The market response however, as this was already priced in, was as a result of the accompanying statement which was not as dovish as perhaps anticipated and a reduction in expectations of a further imminent cut. From an equity market point of view the result, despite the interest rate cut, was to sell off, whereas from the USD perspective this lessening expectation of further rate cuts was bullish. Perhaps this could be viewed as contrary to what the textbooks would suggest is a standard response.

So, onto today's non-farm payrolls (NFP) figure… Logic would suggest that a strong number is good news for the economy, and so should be positive for equities and perhaps bearish for USD. However, as this may be a critical number in the Feds decision making re. interest rate decisions, a strong NFP is likely to have the opposite effect. A weaker number is likely to be perceived as potentially contributory to thinking that another rate cut may be prudent sooner and so despite on the surface being “bad news”, it would not be surprising to see equities stronger and USD weaker.

It remains to be seen of course what the number is and the actual response but is perhaps a lesson in seeing new market information within the potential context of the current economic circumstances and of course incorporate this in your risk assessment and trading decision making. Mike Smith Educator Go Markets [email protected] Disclaimer The articles are from GO Markets analysts based on their independent analysis. Views expressed are of the their own and of a ‘general’ nature.

Advice (if any) are not based on the readers personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers should therefore consider how appropriate the advice (if any) is to their objectives, financial situation and needs, before acting on the advice.

We frequently refer both in the articles we publish and the weekly “Inner Circle” sessions we present, to the benefits of a trading journal. However, the reality is that many traders make the choice not to measure trading despite the logical benefits of doing so. Whether you do or don’t currently, the bottom-line decision you are making is not only whether you do or don’t but how that positions yourself with your trading development.

We would suggest that this overall choice can be broken down into the following three sub-choices. You can make the decisions that are right for you subsequently. Sub-choice 1 – Measuring your system You are either making the choice to: Have certainty on not only whether your trading plan as a whole can create positive outcomes but have evidence to know which component parts of your plan are e.g. indicators you use for entry and exit, comparing strategies you trade, timeframes that work best for you, (and which are not) contributing to such outcomes.

Additionally, it allows you to compare what would happen if you change some of the perimeters on your potential results. OR You have no evidence as to whether your system as a whole and its components parts are working well to serve you in getting the results you desire. Nor do you can test and gather evidence as to what the impact of nay changes you may make to that system, Ask yourself… If I am serious about trading results which choice should I make?

Sub-choice 2 – Measuring you as a trader You are either making the choice to: Know the degree to which you are following your plan or otherwise so you can ultimately make a judgement on: a. Whether your system is working for you (all the points in sub-choice 1 above CANNOT be made unless you are following your plan religiously). b. What you need to work on in terms of tightening your behaviour e.g. on exits or entry c.

Whether there are certain market conditions which you find difficult or are ill-prepared for (so you can fill any knowledge gaps or avoid in the future). OR You can continue to trade as you do, avoiding any self-assessment and growth, and the refinement of your behaviour that may contribute to more positive trading outcomes. Ask yourself… If I am serious about trading results which choice should I make?

Sub-choice 3 – Improving your trading (closing the circle) (let’s assume you are keeping a journal for this one) You are either making the choice to: Measure with purpose that has clear follow through into further development and refinement of your trading plan and subsequently your actions. This facilitates the development of you as a trader based on your individual character and trading style. In practical terms, you ‘close the circle’ with a defined review and develop an action plan based on your review to test and change parts of your plan.

This is evidence-based trading! OR You can measure for measurements sake to on the surface appear to be “doing a right thing” but in reality, failing to unleash the real power of journaling, that is to make an on-going and continuous positive difference to your trading outcomes. Ask yourself… If I am serious about trading results which choice should I make?

In summary, if you have made the choice to read this article to its end you are left with one ultimate choice…to journal or not to journal including the three sub-choices that dependent on which you are making can impact on your trading. So, for one last time, Ask yourself… If I am serious about trading results what should my actions be with what I have read in this article? Our next steps and Share CFD education programme both have indicative trading journal templates to help get you started, and we would be delighted if you could join us.

Mike Smith Educator GO Markets Disclaimer The articles are from GO Markets analysts based on their independent analysis. Views expressed are of their own and of a ‘general’ nature. Advice (if any) are not based on the reader’s personal objectives, financial situation or needs.

Readers should, therefore, consider how appropriate the advice (if any) is to their objectives, financial situation and needs, before acting on the advice. Find additional Forex trading education resources here. Next: 5-point checklist for using chart patterns within your tradin