Market news & insights

When you boil it all down trading is a game of numbers, the more numbers you make over time the more money you make however many traders don’t focus on the numbers game over time and instead focus their attention only on if they are winning or losing right now and it affects their ability to control their emotions. Here is a suggestion that could help you better focus on the numbers game rather than just focus on the Win or Loss right now. I like to call this process “Thinking in 10’s” but before I share the theory with you let me remind you that trading is not necessarily about how many times you win or lose.

Trading is about how much you win when you win and little you lose when you lose. Trying to find a system that wins 70%, 80% or even 90% of the time is extraordinarily difficult and any system that does have such a high strike rate for a period of time will eventually see a change in the percentage success. Just because it worked 70% of the time the past couple of months doesn’t mean it will continue to run at 70%.

Think about this for a moment. A trading system that has a risk / reward target of 1:2 meaning only needs to be correct 38% of the time to break even. Better than 38% and a 1:2 risk / reward strategy is potentially very profitable.

The probability when you trade is 50/50, the market can only go up or down, so gaining an edge to be at least 50% correct with a risk / reward target surely cannot be that difficult. It’s not the edge or % success that is the question, it’s the behavior of the trader in being able to focus over the long term on 1: 2 and not trade to trade. So consider thinking in 10’s.

Instead of evaluating your result day-to-day or week-to-week consider evaluating your performance after the next 10 trades. Lower your expectation on each trade, just follow your system, narrow your focus and ensure your risk is less than the reward and trade the plan for the next 10 trades. Then evaluate your overall result allowing the trades to show an overall success risk / reward ratio after 10 trades.

Many successful traders will be able to tell you what their risk / reward ratio is. In other words for every $1 they risk what is their average return? I think all traders should know these numbers and a good start would be to work out yours after the next ten trades.

So thinking in 10’s is all about following your strategy for 10 trades and not thinking win or loss per trade. Remember it's a numbers game over time, you will win some and you will lose some and it’s about how much you win when you win and how little you lose when you lose. Risk management is the key.

For more trading tips join me every Wednesday evening live online at 7pm AEST. You can simply click on this link and join the coaching session. http://gomarkets.webinato.com/room1 Andrew Barnett | Director / Senior Currency Analyst Andrew Barnett is a regular Sky News Money Channel Guest and one Australia’s most awarded and respected financial experts, and is regularly contacted by the Australian Media for the latest on what is happening with the Australian Dollar. Connect with Andrew: Email

Venezuela: A Latin American Crisis Venezuela’s economy has been in turmoil in recent times with its inflation skyrocketing and with no signs of slowing down, the situation may worsen. The political tensions have also been rising in one of the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) member country whose economy has been slowly declining since the crash of oil prices in 2014. We have seen large protests against the highly unpopular president Nicolas Maduro, who won the most recent in May this year.

However, most people called it a "show election" as it had the lowest voter turnout in Venezuela’s democratic history at 46%. The Economy With the economic and social crisis rising in Venezuela, we have seen the countries inflation rise to new record highs. From reaching 4068% in January, we have seen the inflation reach 46305% last month.

Experts are predicting the number could reach 1,000,000% by the end of 2018, according to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) economist Alejandro Werner and has compared it to Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation in late 2000’s. It is worth pointing out that the second highest inflation in the world is in Sudan at 122%. Shortages in electricity, water, and public transport affect millions of people of Venezuela.

President Maduro blames countries poor economy on an economic war that he says is being led by the United States and Europe. IMF’s Alejandro Werner says that if the country’s economic and social crisis deepens, Venezuela’s economy could decrease by around 50% over the next 5 years which be one of the worst economic falls in over 60 years. "The collapse in economic activity, hyperinflation, and increasing deterioration... will lead to intensifying spillover effects on neighbouring countries," Werner wrote in a blog post. IMF is estimating an 18% decrease in Venezuela’s economy in 2018, up from 15% drop it predicted back in April.

That would be the third double-digit annual decline in a row. Werner said the projections are based on calculations prepared by IMF staff, but he warned that they have a degree of uncertainty greater than in other countries. "An economy throwing you these numbers is very difficult to project," Werner said at a news conference. "Any changes between now and December may include significant changes." The Venezuelan Currency Countries official currency - Bolivar Fuerte (VEF) has weakened dramatically in recent times. 1 US Dollar is currently worth around 206841 bolivars. The Venezuelan government has recently announced it will slash five zeros from its currency.

The announcement was made on 25th July by President Maduro and it is part of a currency reform that was already scheduled for June and was a postponed on two occasions before. The existing Bolivar Fuerte banknotes, which range from 1,000 to 100,000 will stop circulating and will be replaced by the new "bolivar Soberano", which will range from 2 to 500. The new currency is set to start circulating this month.

By Klāvs Valters Sources: Yahoo Finance, Google Maps, Banco Central De Venezuela

Broadly speaking, inflation is a general increase in prices which result in a fall in the purchasing value of money. In this article, we are going to look at measures of inflation and other indicators that can help traders to detect early signs of inflation. Traders try to follow the inflationary pressures to anticipate the next interest rate move by central banks.

If the central bank sees that inflationary pressures are building up and that economic growth is accelerating, they can decide to raise the interest rate to combat inflation and slow down the economy. Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) are widely used measures of inflation. PPI tracks wholesale price inflation while CPI follows retail price inflation.

As the name entails, PPI and CPI follow the changes in prices from the Producer’s and Consumer’s point of view respectively. PPI can be viewed as the leading indicator because higher producer prices will eventually be passed on to consumers.Therefore, PPI and CPI figures allow traders to forecast the central bank’s next move about the interest rate. Early Warning Signs of inflation There are other factors that can help traders to see that inflation is building up ahead of the release of PPI and CPI figures.

In doing so, forex traders are better able to trade inflation data more confidently. Consumer Confidence and Retail Sales These two economic data provide investors with an indication of the health of the consumers. Consumer Confidence offers an essential insight into the demand for goods and services regardless of consumers’ financial situation.

Consumers are likely to spend if they feel confident about the overall economy. Similarly, Retail Sales help to measure the trends in consumer spending which could cause investors to rethink the direction of interest rates. Labour Market and Wages - (Unemployment rate, Jobless Claims and Average Earnings) Employment rate helps to detect whether there is a shortage or oversupply of labour.

The simple demand and supply diagram of the labour market will provide you with the direction of wages when there are changes in the labour market. Wage inflation therefore translates into more spending and adds to inflationary pressures. Housing Market - (House Prices and Mortgage approvals) The correlation between the housing market and inflation can be a complex one.

However, for this article, we will look at house prices and interest rates. When interest rates are low, buying houses become more affordable. Depending on demand and supply, any change in house prices or mortgage approvals will provide insights on the inflationary outlook.

Inflation is critical for the Forex markets as it can exert a considerable influence on the exchange rate of a currency. Because central banks tend to adjust interest rate to fight inflation or deflation, forex traders monitor inflationary pressures very closely. It helps them to forecast whether the next move of the central bank will put downward or upward pressure on the currency.

If you are willing to look at your Forex experience a bit like an apprentice completes an apprenticeship you are likely going to achieve a higher level of success. Why should opening a live account and making money in the financial markets be any different to any other career? You don’t get to build a house without the appropriate qualifications nor do you get to fly a plane without taking hours of flying lessons and passing some final tests.

A professional sports person spends hours building their body, mind and talent to compete at the highest level but being a Forex trader for some reason is often considered differently. Why? Because as human beings we want instant gratification and because online forex trading involves the opportunity to make money we as humans are greedy and are usually not prepared to take a logical and sensible approach to learning, practice, discipline and patience.

We want it all now so the gambling approach can take over. When you trade forex you are effectively competing and the online trading competitors who you are playing against (banks, institutions) are some of the most experienced, knowledgeable and at times ruthless currency trading competitors on the planet. They want to win and your best chance of winning in my experience is to learn to ride their coat tails and trade similar strategies and systems, which also includes extremely tight risk management.

For example most successful forex banking traders have honed their skills for years often working their way up from a retail banking position, through the research departments, through the company courses and finally over time into a forex trading position on the trading desk. They’ve done an apprenticeship. With such strong competition does this ultimately put you in an uncompetitive position?

No, provided you are willing to spend the time to learn about the fundamentals and technical charts that give you an edge and apply professional risk management you can succeed in the currency markets. There is no question you will fail along the way just as every apprentice failed at times through their apprenticeship but if you do things steadily and slowly you will likely fail gracefully as you learn and stay in the currency trading game long term. Success in the currency markets requires one very important ingredient.

Time! You are going to need time and you need to be able to give yourself the time to fail, time to win, time to learn and time to grow as a currency trader. Think of trading forex like an apprenticeship and you are likely going to achieve a higher level of success.

Join me live online every Wednesday evening at 7pm AEST for a Free Professional Forex training lesson. I will do my best to share with you the important fundamental and technical information to make your currency apprenticeship as enjoyable as possible. To log into the session simply use the following link.

Please make sure you are logged in at 6.45pm AEST as the room is often full. http://gomarkets.webinato.com/room1 Andrew Barnett | Director / Senior Currency Analyst Andrew Barnett is a regular Sky News Money Channel Guest and one Australia’s most awarded and respected financial experts, and is regularly contacted by the Australian Media for the latest on what is happening with the Australian Dollar. Connect with Andrew: Email

There has been quite a lot of talk about oil in the news recently with some analysts suggesting the price could reach $100 per barrel, which would be the highest since 2014. Whether that will happen, that is another story. In this article, we take a look at world’s largest crude oil exporters.

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude oil exporter with $133,6 billion worth of oil exports in 2017 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 it has the 2nd largest proven oil reserves in the world. In recent years, we have seen the Kingdom announce ''Saudi Vision 2030'' which outlines plans to diversify its economy to reduce its dependence on oil.

One of the most notable plans is the new city called Neom, you can find out more about the ambitious city plan by clicking here. Capital: Riyadh Official language: Arabic Population: 33,000,000 Gross Domestic Product: $683 billion Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR) Russia Russia is world’s second largest crude oil exporter at with $93,3 billion (11,1% of the total) worth of oil exports last year. Russia is the biggest country in the world and has the 11th largest economy in the world at $1,5 trillion, according to the World Bank.

It’s biggest export partners are the European Union, China and neighbour Belarus. Russia is 8th on the list of world’s largest proven oil reserves. Capital: Moscow Official language: Russian Population: 144,526,636 Gross Domestic Product: $1,5 trillion Currency: Russian ruble (RUB) Iraq Iraq is third on the list with $61,5 billion worth of oil exports in 2017, 7,3% 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: $202 billion Currency: Iraqi dinar (IQD) Canada The North American country is the fourth largest crude oil exporter in 2017 with $54 billion worth of crude oil exports (6,4% of the total).

Canada has the 3rd largest proven oil reserves with 95% of these reserves are in the oil sands deposits in the western province of Alberta. Capital: Ottawa Official language: English and French Population: 37,067,011 Gross Domestic Product: $1,6 trillion Currency: Canadian dollar (CAD) United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates, the third largest economy in the Middle East is the 5th largest crude oil exporter with $49,3 billion worth of oil exports in 2017 (5.9% of the total). Even though United Arab Emirates has the most diversified economy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional intergovernmental political and economic union which is made up of all Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, it is still highly dependent on oil.

Capital: Abu Dhabi Official language: Arabic Population: 9,575,729 Gross Domestic Product: $382 billion Currency: UAE dirham (AED) 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.

Click here for more information on trading oil commodities.

Last year the total sales of gold exports reached $310 billion mark. The top 5 countries made up a large portion of the total gold exports last year with shipments accounting to more than $177 billion, which was 57.30% of the world total. In 2011 we saw the price of gold reach record highs at over $1,900.

Since then we have seen the price fall and currently trading at around $1,219 level. In this article, we will take a look at the top 5 biggest gold exporters in the world. XAU/USD Monthly Chart Switzerland Switzerland was the largest gold exporter of gold in 2017 with $67.9 billion worth of exports which was around 21.9% of the total.

European Union is Switzerland ’s largest trading partner with 46.6% of all Swiss exports by value being delivered to the EU. Switzerland has the 20th largest economy in the world at $678 billion and 3rd in the world per capita at $80,189. Capital: Bern Official languages: German, French and Italian Population: 8,508,898 Gross Domestic Product: $678 billion Currency: Swiss Franc (CHF) Hong Kong Hong Kong, officially known as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China is the second largest exporter in the world with exports worth up to $52.2 billion, 16.8% of the total in 2017.

Hong Kong has the 33rd largest economy in the world at $341 billion and 16th per capita at $46,193. Hong Kong is the 2nd largest foreign exchange market in Asia and 4th largest in the world in 2016 with a daily average turnover of forex transaction reaching $437 billion, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Official languages: Chinese and English Population: 7,448,900 Gross Domestic Product: $341 billion Currency: Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates is the third largest exporter of gold with $20.7 billion or 6.7% of the total world exports in 2017.

The United Arab Emirates has world’s 19th largest economy at $638 billion, and it’s the third largest in the Middle East, behind Saudi Arabia and Iran. Capital: Abu Dhabi Official language: Arabic Population: 9,575,729 Gross Domestic Product: $383 billion Currency: UAE dirham (AED) United States With exports worth $19.8 billion, United States is the fourth on the list of the largest exporters of gold which is about 6.4% of the world total. As you probably may know, the US has the largest economy in the world at a whopping $19 trillion.

Even though the US has the largest economy in the world, it also tops the list for the country with the largest total debt at over $18 trillion. Capital: Washington D.C. Official language: English Population: 325,719,178 Gross Domestic Product: $19 trillion Currency: United States Dollar (USD) United Kingdom The United Kingdom is fifth on the list of the largest gold exporters in the world at $17 billion worth of exports in 2017, which is 5.5% of the world total.

Same as on this list, it is also the fifth largest economy in the world at $2.6 trillion total Gross Domestic Product. United Kingdom is the home of the world’s second largest financial center in London, according to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) report. Capital: London Official language: English Population: 66,040,229 Gross Domestic Product: $2.6 trillion Currency: Pound Sterling (GBP) 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: Go Markets MT4, Google, Datawrapper