Market news & insights

What is the Gold-to-copper ratio and why is it important? And more importantly, what could it be telling us? The Gold-To-Copper Ratio Health Check Copper is often referred to as a barometer for economic growth and gold has historically been the safe-haven, a risk-off asset of choice for investors, so naturally comparing the two allows one to take a decent look at broader market sentiment.

Why Copper? Copper is one of the most widely used metals from both established and emerging economies and on top of that it is the only base metal used throughout all aspects of industrialization. Therefore increase in industrialization equates to an increasing demand in copper which ultimately relates to higher copper prices.

For this reason, the metal holds the moniker of "Dr. Copper." and why we can use it as an indicator of economic growth. The Ratio Explained In layman's terms, the gold-to-copper ratio is the current gold price divided by the current copper price.

However what is more import is what this ratio indicates and how it can help us get a firmer understand of the macro forces at play within the market. The gold-to-copper ratio is effectively a visual representation of risk-on/risk-off sentiment. The higher the ratio means that fewer people are buying copper and more are buying gold so what we see is a risk-off sentiment, meaning that people are more cautious with their money and investments, sticking to low-risk products.

The lower the ratio equates to the inverse, vis-à-vis risk-on sentiment and more stimulus into the economy. Gold-to-Copper Ratio Historical Traits In June of 2016, the story on everybody’s radar was bond yields at the lowest since the middle of the financial crisis with the U.S. 10-year yield printing lows at 1.3579% in and then for the next few weeks we saw the yield sit at around the lows and the 1.50% level. Was the gold-to-copper ratio signaling a shift to us?

The ratio peaked in early September 2016 but very quickly began to tumble as Gold prices started to see sell-offs and Copper started to see pretty heavy buying, this resulted in seeing the ratio price drop by about a third. It was during the second leg lower for the ratio that we started to see a bid in bond yields and the transition to a more risk-off environment, which we can see in the chart below that shows both the U.S. 10yr Bond yield (orange line) and the Dow Jones Industrial Index (white shaded line) begin their rally higher. U.S. 10yr Bond yield & Dow Jones Industrial Index So how can we utilise this within our trading?

To quote Samuel Goldwyn “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” and in this case, the harder you work to understand the interconnectivity of financial markets the ‘luckier’ you get with trading. Understanding how certain assets can be used to evaluate market/economic sentiment allows you to move away from being dependent on the obvious indicators, i.e. economic data & mainstream media sources and will enable you to be ahead of the curve, active as a pose to reactive. So, with the Gold price just popping above $1200 an ounce and Copper prices pushing lower on the back of poor Chile exports, we could see the gold-to-copper begin to push higher again, was the Gold-to-copper ratio flashing a warning to us before the significant equity market sell-off on Wednesday the 10th?

Will a push higher in the ratio signal a further sell-off in equities? We will be watching closely, both the commodity prices and equity indices to see where the market takes us next. This article is written by a GO Markets Analyst and is based on their independent analysis.

They remain fully responsible for the views expressed as well as any remaining error or omissions. Trading Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk. Sources: Bloomberg

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.

Drop us a line, click on this link HERE, or give us a call if you want further information on either of these FREE programmes of learning.

In this brief article we explore the major differences between the MT4 and MT5 Trading Platforms in order to assist reader in deciding whether they should consider switching to the latest version of this established Forex gateway to the market. Do you have to make a switch now? The reality for now is that MT4 is still used widely by brokers and the majority of traders, and this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

Hence, you DO have the choice as to whether to change now to MT5 or remain with MT4. One of the key factors that may influence your choice to stay with MT4 is that many of the external third party ‘plugins’ and EA’s are not yet available for MT5. So, if you are using any of these tools then it is worthwhile checking before making the switch.

Additionally, any profiles and templates you have set up in MT4 may have to be redone should you make the switch. If you are keen to take advantage of some of the potential advantages of MT5, you will need to invest a considerable amount of time in understanding the new platform. A demo account is available to test before you switch.

Looking ahead, GO Markets plans to launch ‘equity CFDs’ as a new product soon on MT5. If this is of interest to you, it will perhaps be prudent to gain familiarity of MT5 with instruments you are already trading. Although there are many differences in the backend functioning of MT5, we are going to focus on the potential changes that influence the layout and user functionality of your Forex trading, or in other words the “practical” trading use for most traders.

Additionally, for those of you who are making the switch, we will help by providing you with some ‘how-to’ guidance where relevant. Changes to Layout The basic four structural component remains the same as the MT4 (i.e. The ‘Market Watch’, ‘Navigator’, ‘Chart area’ and ‘Terminal’ (termed ‘Toolbox’ in MT5)) boxes.

However, the following features are unique to MT5 only: Different pop-up box structure for changing chart properties. Right click in chart area then on properties. In the pop-up box click on “colours” and then drop down in scheme menu to find the colours of choice.

Alternative ways to add additional symbols into ‘Market Watch’. There are two methods to add additional symbols (i.e. Currency pairs, CFDs).

Click on View>Symbols. Then use the side bar options to bring up different groups. If coloured ‘yellow’ then it is already active in ‘Market Watch”.

If a symbol is coloured grey, then it is available to add. Simply, click to highlight the chosen symbol. Click on “show symbol” then close the box and it will appear in “Market Watch”.In “Market Watch” find ‘click to add’ at the bottom of the existing list, then begin to type in one of pairs of interest.

As you type you will see options shown. Click on desired pair then ‘Enter’. Changes in columns in ‘Market Watch’.

Right click in the “Market Watch” area. In pop-up box find “columns”. Click on the desired additional column e.g. time, spread.

Increase of chart timeframe options from 9 to 21 (e.g. 2 mins, 2 hours, 12 hours). Ensure timeframes are enabled by ‘right clicking’ on ‘Icons’ at top. ‘Right click’ on the existing timeframes that are shown, then in the pop-up box click on ‘customize’. Highlight your additional desired timeframe in the left-hand column then click “Insert” to add to existing timeframes already present in right-hand column.

Click on ‘close’ to see your additional timeframes icons at the top. Economic calendar tab added to “terminal” window (termed toolbox in MT5). See additional tabs across the bottom of the toolbox (Note: the release times are in ‘platform time’ (i.e.

GMT +3) unlike the economic calendar on the GO markets website where you can alter the times according to your own time-zone). Changes to Function The following are unique to your MT5 platform function: Ability to ‘drag’ horizontal lines on chart e.g. to indicate key price points such as support and resistance. Insert horizontal line from the drawing tool icon to insert on the chart.

Once in place, you are now able to click on the horizontal line and drag to your exact desired position. Two additional “Pending Order” types There are Buy Limit, Buy Stop, Sell Limit and Sell Stop pending orders available on MT5. These additional two pending orders are “Buy Stop Limit” and ‘Sell Stop Limit’.

We will be covering these on a future “Inner Circle” session. Eight additional indicators (30 to 38). Again, we will explore these in detail in future “Inner Circle” sessions.

Increase of analytical objects (or in other words drawing tools) from 31 to 44. Access these in the same way as you add additional time-frames as above. Market depth.

Some traders may find market depth interesting in potentially determining buying and selling pressure. You can access market depth from top left of the chart area (left icon). Note: You will only see market depth on a live account platform (i.e. not on a trading demo account ).

Making the change Making the change from MT4 to MT5 is easy. As previously mentioned, you can try our demo trading account so you can get used to the differences outlined above. If you are an existing GO Markets client and have an MT4 account, and you would like to make the change, our team will happily guide you through the simple process.

Simply give us a call or drop us an email to [email protected] and we will help you make it happen.

Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory.

And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Uber, Facebook, and Alibaba have all gone public, but Airbnb has not. But that is about to change.

The home-rental company is set to go public on 10th December, in one of the most anticipated IPO's of the year. What is an Initial Public Offering (IPO)? IPO is a type of public offering in which shares of a company are sold to investors.

The company usually hires investment banks to market and understand the demand, set the IPO price and date, etc. It must meet requirements by exchanges and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before holding an initial public offering (IPO). About Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. is an American accommodation rental online marketplace company founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia.

It allows people to rent out their properties or spare rooms and is available in 191+ countries. Airbnb has more than 7m million listings on its platform, run by 4 million hosts worldwide. Its headquarters are located in San Francisco, California, United States, and it also has international offices around the world.

The company employs over 6,300 people. Expectations The global pandemic has had a significant impact on the company’s finances. It brought in $2.5 billion in revenue in the first nine months of the year - down from $3.7 billion a year earlier.

Companies net loss more than doubled during that period to $697 million. Year on year bookings down 72% in April and roughly 20% through June to September. In a government filing in the United States, the home-sharing company said it expects to price its shares between $56-$60 each, up from a range of $44-$50 earlier this month.

The new price range would increase the amount company is expected to raise to as much as $3.1 billion and increase its valuation to $42 billion from $35 billion at the top of the previous range. Airbnb does not intend to pay a dividend in the foreseeable future. Airbnb shares will start trading on the US stock market from 2.30 pm (UK time) on 10th December with the symbol ABNB.

Venezuela At number one, we have a country which has been in turmoil in the last few months – Venezuela. Economic and social crisis have hit the South American nation and things are not looking to get better any time soon. However, it does top the list as the country with the largest crude oil reserves in the world at 300 billion barrels.

Worth pointing out that it was the 15 th largest crude oil exporter at $26,4 billion barrels making it up 2.3% of the world total. Capital: Caracas Official language: Spanish Population: 31,568,179 Gross Domestic Product: $92 billion Currency: Petro (PTR), Bolivar Soberano (VES) Saudi Arabia The next on the list is Saudi Arabia, which was actually the top crude oil exporter in the world last year with $182 billion worth of oil exports which was around 15,9% of the total crude oil exports in the world. The middle eastern country is highly reliant on its oil exports and its proven oil reserves amount to around 266 billion barrels.

Capital: Riyadh Official language: Arabic Population: 33,000,000 Gross Domestic Product: $759 billion Currency: Saudi Riyal (SAR) Canada At number three we have the North American nation of Canada with crude oil reserves of around 169 billion barrels with 95% of these reserves are in the oil sands deposits in the western province of Alberta. Canada was the 4th largest crude oil exporter last year with $68,9 billion worth of exports, making it up 5.8% of the total. Capital: Ottawa Official language: English and French Population: 37,067,011 Gross Domestic Product: $1,9 trillion Currency: Canadian Dollar (CAD) Iran The Islamic Republic of Iran is at number four with 158 billion worth of proven oil reserves.

Iran was the 8 th largest crude oil exporter in the world with $45,7 billion, which was around 4% of the world total. Capital: Tehran Official language: Persian Population: 81,672,300 Gross Domestic Product: $413 billion Currency: Iranian Rial (IRR) Iraq The last one on our list of countries with the largest crude oil exporters is Iraq with 142 billion barrels. Iraq was the 3 rd biggest crude oil exporter in 2018 with $91 billion worth of exports which made up 7.9% of the total.

Iraq was one of the founding member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela when it was established back in 1960. Iraq’s economy is highly depended on oil with oil production accounting for 2/3 of the country’s GDP. Capital: Baghdad Official language: Arabic and Kurdish Population: 37,202,671 Gross Domestic Product: $233 billion Currency: Iraqi dinar (IQD) This article is written by a GO Markets Analyst and is based on their independent analysis.

They remain fully responsible for the views expressed as well as any remaining error or omissions. Traders can access hundreds of CFD instruments including Forex, Shares, Indices and Oil Commodities. Trading Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk.

Sources: IMF, CIA, MT5 ( MetaTrader 5 download available here. )

A written trading plan, usually comprising of several guiding action statements, serves the following two invaluable purposes: Facilitates consistency in trading action e.g. in the entry and exit of trades, allowing the trader AND Measures the strategy used specified within each statement to make an evidence-based judgement on how well these are serving you and test and amend these statements so you can develop an individual trading plan that may work better for you. Let’s move past the fact that many traders choose not to have a plan at all, an approach that goes against what is one of the key components of giving yourself the chance to become a successful trader, to those who have a plan in place already. This article is targeted a those who have made the logical choice to have some sort of written plan in place.

Great though having a plan is, many traders still have issues with the two purposes outlined above. They still fail to some degree to develop the consistency described and are not really able to measure effectively. A common problem, if we look closely at some of the plan statements used, is that such statement may not be specific enough, have some ambiguity, that means that those purposes may be difficult to achieve.

Let’s provide and work through an example for clarity. Consider the following statement… “I will tighten my stop/trailing stop prior to significant, imminent economic data releases” Firstly, on the positive side again, this does demonstrate an awareness of potential risk and a desire to have something within your plan to manage this risk. However, in terms of being a measurable statement that you can make a judgement as to how well this approach is serving you, there are the following issues: What does ‘tightening’ mean in practical terms in relation to current price point of the pair you are trading?

How close to a data release is ‘imminent’? What constitutes a significant data release (amongst the many that are released daily)? So, to take the previous example consider the following as an alternative: “Prior to imminent economic data releases, I will tighten of a trail stop loss for any open trades, 15 minutes prior to the release and to within 10 Pips of the current price.

This will be actioned for the following data points: Interest rate, CPI, industrial production and jobs data from the country of either currency pair (or Germany, France of across the Eurozone if one of the currency pair is the EURO). US and Chinese PMI manufacturing data, GDP, industrial jobs and interest rate decisions as these may impact all currency majors." So, with THIS amended plan statement the following elements could be measured (if journaled appropriately of course): What would the difference be in your trading outcomes if: No tightening had been actioned. If a different proximity to current price is used e.g. 15 rather than 10 Pips.

If other data releases are added/removed. With this level of measurement, possible with the revised statement, one would now be able to make any changes, backed up with evidence, to your trading plan. Alternatively, of course, you could make the choice to do nothing, retain statements such as the original, and not have the ability to create the richness of evidence to make considered amendments to your plan.

Logically ask yourself the question, "which choice is more likely to serve my trading going forward?"