Market news & insights

Forex is one of the heaviest news driven markets in the world. Major news announcements play such a critical role to the intraday volatility, which in turn create trading opportunities. Most of the time, particularly for the active traders, market volatility can present more trading opportunities.

So it stands to reason, all Forex traders should be very mindful of upcoming news announcements. Even if you are a position trader or someone who likes to hold your FX positions for the medium to long term, knowing what news is coming up is essential. Tracking the markets across the globe Using MT4 Genesis, the session map shows you the key trading times for the main 'fixes' around the world including Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York.

Trading around the major fixes is important for those who trade on an intraday timeframe. For example, it is important to note that the Australian session is first and it is often the quietest, unless of course there is a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rates announcements or even the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) can be enough to move the markets on a regular basis. Other than that, the Australian fix rarely moves the markets.

It is not until you get the crossover to the London session that volatility picks up. You can then expect more volatility when the London session meets the New York session. The session map shows a clear red line for your current time so you can see when volatility may pick up.

The best feature of the session map is the news markers. At the bottom of the session map window, you will see grey, orange and red markers, highlighting upcoming news announcements. Grey is low impact, orange is medium impact and red is high impact.

By hovering your mouse over the news markers (or left clicking on one), you can see: » what the announcement is; » the time is will be released; and » its expected impact. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28uS8T7Ay9I[/embed] How many times have you had an open position rally significantly, to then have to scour the internet for a news item related to your currency pair? If you've been trading for any length of time, then probably too often. By applying the session map, you can see clearly what news is driving the spike.

Another great aspect of the session map is the ability to see your current open profit and loss at a glance. In addition, you have a host of other account details with one click, such as your: » balance; » equity; » floating P&L » margin in use; and » the amount of margin you have free. Applying session map is as easy as dragging it from the Expert Advisors folder straight on to your chart.

It’s that easy. Stay on top of the markets by using Connect and Analyse tools It’s been said that trading could be a lonely job, particularly if you’re trading on your own. While market action and price movements can definitely keep you on your toes, some people find it a bit isolating at some stage.

However, you can look at it as being on top of the world (or the markets, at least) as you need to keep tab of what’s happening across the globe. This is particularly true when trading the forex (FX) market as currencies tend to move pretty fast compared to equities. Using the Connect and Analyse tools in MT4 Genesis, you can be a step ahead already.

These tools will give you current and relevant information – breaking news, statistics and analysis – that you can use for your trading. These tools are readily available from within your GO Markets’ MT4 platform. Once the MT4 Genesis file has been run, the full suite of tools will be available from the Expert Advisors tab.

Simply left click and drag each tool on to the chart of your choice. Let’s have a look at the features of the Connect function. As a trader, you need to be in tune with market developments as well as current events and news that may impact the markets.

The Connect window will give you price action and technical updates on the relevant currency pairs. This is also where you can find news updates not only about the markets, but also general news. Monitoring the news is vital for your trading as big events can have a major impact on the markets.

For example, decisions and announcements from the US Federal Reserve are always being watched and monitored by traders because it could affect currency movements. Major decisions from the US Fed are notorious for having effects on other currencies. Using this feature, you can select a number of news providers that suit your information needs.

The Connect feature also has a calendar that informs you of all relevant upcoming announcements that may affect the FX market. The calendar highlights: » High-impact events » Medium-impact events » Low-impact events [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoKmSFFDsE[/embed] Some of the high-impact events that usually generate big moves in the market include: » US non-farm payroll announcement » US Federal Reserve announcements » Retail sales data » Manufacturing data Another way to connect with the market and to make sure you’re on top of current developments is via the GO Markets website. Using this feature, you can do several things such as: » Open a new account » Deposit funds » Change the leverage on your account » Access current promotions or simply » Speak with one of the Go Markets’ team members.

Analyse tool The Analyse tool is also helpful if you want to do weekly, monthly or yearly review of your trading performance. As a trader you would like to know how you’re performing and you would like to keep track of some vital statistics including: » Account Balance » Profit » Profitability » Percentage return » Monthly return Sentiment indicator The sentiment indicator is another key feature that can be useful for your trading. Using this tool, you can identify the currency pairs you want to trade (or in your watch list) and see the bias towards long and short positions on those pairs.

This will give you a good appreciation of the overall market sentiment on a particular currency pair. For example, the falls in iron ore and oil prices are widely expected to have negative impact on commodity currencies including the Australian dollar. However, despite the negative sentiment, the Aussie dollar is still being supported at a healthy level. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4TVU8PnIaA[/embed] Using the sentiment indicator, you can see how other traders are ‘feeling’ about the Aussie dollar as it would be reflected on the number or percentage of long positions versus short positions.

Take advantage of the Connect and Analyse tools as they could make a big difference in your trading performance. The opinions and information conveyed in the GO Markets newsletter are the views of the author and are not designed to constitute advice. Trading Forex and CFD's is high risk.

Rom Revita | Sales Manager Rom is the Sales Manager at Go Markets Pty Ltd and manages the day-to-day running of the Sales, Support and Marketing teams. He has been with the company since 2013 and is also one of our two appointed Responsible Managers, helping to ensure that the company follows all AFSL regulatory requirements. Rom has extensive financial markets experience and originally comes from an equities & derivatives trading background.

He has served on the Trading & Sales Desk with several large broking houses, and now specialises in Margin FX and CFDs. Connect with Rom: [email protected]

By ​Deepta Bolaky The intermarket relationships between commodities, currency, equity and bond markets are key in understanding the way the markets interact and move. Some markets will move with each other while others will move against each other. There are different types of bonds but for the purpose of this article, we will use the U.S Treasuries, which are considered one of the safest bonds.

The importance of the bond market The bond market is very powerful and helps traders gauge the performance of an economy. Given that bonds provide a fixed interest payment, investors tend to buy them when the economy or stock market is declining. Alternatively, during times where the economy is strong or when the stock market is doing well, investors are less likely to purchase bonds as they know they can find alternative investment options for higher returns.

Before we discuss how bonds can help investors in predicting the economy, it is important to understand the relationship between bond prices and yields together with its relationship with interest rates. This part can be confusing for new investors. Put simply, when the economy is expanding, investors move away from safe havens and take more risks.

In that case, demand for bonds decreases which cause a drop in bond prices. Given that the interest payments remain fixed, when the bond value decreases, bond yields will inevitably increase. This is so because yields are the interest payments divided by the par value.

Therefore, bond prices and yields are inversely correlated. Yields vs short and long-term interest rates Yields and interest rates are quite similar with the main difference being that each term are used to refer to different financial instruments. The yield curve is used to depict the relationship between the short-term and long-term interest rates.

Normally, investors demand more compensation to lock their money for longer periods. Therefore, we expect the yield curve to be an upward slopping curve. A steep curve indicates that investors are expecting future inflation and strong economic growth in the future.

Now, why is the US yield spread between the 2yr and 10yr treasury alarming? Such thin yield spread is a matter of concern because the US short and long-term yields are currently at its narrowest level in more than a decade. This means that a hawkish Fed have managed to increase short-term yields but not the longer-term yields.

In other words, demand for short-term bonds have decreased but not for longer term ones. There is a risk of an inverted yield curve if this situation persists. The flattening yield curve might therefore indicate that investors are not convinced that the economic growth will be maintained in the long run despite that the fact that the Fed’s are confident about the strength of its economy.

When an economy gains momentum, the curve normally tends to steepen not flatten. Even the Fed policy markets remained perplexed on why the curve is shrinking. Will another rate hike in September put a pressure on the yields spread?

Are the Federal Reserve going to halt its increase in interest rate if the spread tightens further? Does an inverted curve mean the same thing as it once did? As the Fed increases interest rates, investors need to eye the yield curve as a sign and remain cautious about the outlook for economic growth.

However, it is worth mentioning that based on previous inversion of yield curves where a recession has followed, a stock market rout did not occur right away. It actually jumped amid the turbulence.

Apple is the first company on this planet to reach a $1 Trillion Market value, each year continuing to release brand new innovative products including the latest iPhone to hit shelves. There is no doubt that Apple is the technology king of this generation given its following, constant growth, and company profits. However, can it maintain its innovation and high market value over the next ten years? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We all know that every technology product has a life cycle.

Think about this: 30 years ago your family might get very excited when purchasing a new television, but are you still as enthusiastic if you buy a new TV today? No, because on the one hand, the technology is a lot cheaper and commonplace, and on the other, the notion of refining this product has arguably reached its ceiling. After Television, PCs and digital cameras also can’t escape from the same fate.

Once sold at high prices with premium product positioning, I still remember my first PC which cost around USD 2000, and even this was considered low in the 1990‘s. How about now? PC sales in 2017 have dropped to 263m, which is even less than the sales of iPhone 1 in 2007. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may not have noticed, but coinciding with Apple reaching a $1 Trillion, value, the two major suppliers for iPhone components——Sunny Optical Ltd (Listed in Hong Kong) & LARGAN Precision Ltd (listed in Taiwan) are both experiencing price shocks in the stock market.

Let me first briefly introduce this two companies. LARGAN Precision is a camera producer and provides five lenses for each iPhone. Its stock price has increased 1692% in the last decade.

Sunny Optical became camera lens model supplier for iPhone since 2007. After ten years, its stock price increased insanely 13068%! These miraculous returns are all based on the developing phase of smartphones.

However, the Smart Phone concept appears to be transitioning to its Mature Phase, and eventually, declining Phase. In the 4th Quarter of 2017, the total sales of the Smart Phone market have dropped for the first time. You'll notice from the chart that every smartphone company value fell, not just Apple and Samsung.

Regarding technology, Apple had already left the “Iron Throne” years ago. In the smartphone chips producing area, only two companies (LARGAN & Samsung) has achieved current Human Limit ——7nm (the thinner the chip, the harder for human technology to achieve) Only one company (Samsung) is willing to put money into R&D and pursue the impossible——3nm. Why has everyone else already given up? (which also means that the iPhone in the next few years will likely see little to no significant improvement, except the size, colour, and Price) The smartphone product is not far away from its tech limit.

It's perhaps not worthwhile to invest loads of money into R&D anymore. Alternatively, it might be better off to move their R&D forces to the next generational products, for example, GPU, VR, Drone, Artificial intelligence, or something even beyond our imagination at the moment. It is still too early to say whether Apple can keep its leading position in next 10 years, let’s wait and see.

By Lanson Chen – Analyst Lanson Chen @LansonChen 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: Statista, Apple, Google

There is NO such thing as emotionless trading AND in many respects, it may be considered that it is a good thing too. After all, correctly targeted emotions will allow you to: Have an exciting, compelling trading purpose that drives you to do the hard yards with your learning (we know some people fail to complete a course or put learning into action). Be motivated to do your due diligence and make sure you have ticked all the boxes before you press any trading buttons and take action with entry and exit.

Celebrate when you do the right thing (Remember: this includes keeping that loss small when you should) and Feel PAIN when you donate to the market needlessly through poor or inappropriate execution (providing of course you take the lesson AND take more appropriate action next time while placing the blame where it should be). So YES, let’s get aroused! If we hit the right level of trading arousal EVERY TIME and it’s driven by channelled, enabling emotion, this may create a higher probability that when we get to the ‘press-the-button’ stage we do it with a calm confidence and will more likely have a better trading outcome, or as we have called it here the “Potential Profit Zone” (Remember: it is equally a win to make sure that any loss is within your tolerable risk level meaning your long term results are more likely to be positive).

Either extreme of arousal is not likely to produce the results we desire, either through not taking our trading seriously enough (the “Hobby Zone”) to do the things we must (due diligence; careful consideration of strategy selection; making sure it REALLY fits your plan), or though making decisions that are most certainly extreme NOT from the right emotional place (the “Capital Danger Zone”). Take a look at the diagram below that aims to illustrate this: This middle zone is where we need to be, so sufficiently stimulated to do the right things consistently (even though these may appear to be a chore and some until they become habits). If you don’t apply this level of emotion to your trading and trade in the “Hobby Zone”, it is less likely you will be sufficiently “aroused” to spot an opportunity and then trade it without lengthy procrastination.

Or equally if not more important to exit a trade in a timely, confident manner either to take profit or minimise any loss from a single trade. You need to operate with the decisive action of a “trading Ninja” with the appropriate peak state of arousal or in other words in the “Potential Profit Zone”. This may be more likely to give yourself the best chance of optimising trading results.

Neither do we want to be in a state of being over-stimulated to the point where you become a trading ‘fruit-loop’ (not the technical term) and perilously exposed to some of the more “dangerous” emotions. To make trading decisions when anxious, angry (that revenge trading thing!), or trading out of fear rarely produces good results and can mutilate a portfolio value quicker than saying “not having a stop loss in place is completely bonkers”. So, it’s a balance of the two extremes – surely, it is logical that some emotion is good as it motivates you to do the right thing and follow through on your learning, direct trading and measuring, and there are some emotional states that are hugely damaging.

So, your mission after reading this post (as it’s always best to take some action) is to make a ten-second assessment of your ‘state of arousal’ before you press an entry or exit button for every trade this coming week (YES! You can start now). Make the judgement as to which of these described zones you may be trading from.

One final word: if you want evidence of whether the right state of arousal is likely to produce peak performance, then look at other situations where that might also be the case….just a different context, that’s all. GET AROUSED! PS Aroused to learn what you need to, but are not sure where to go?

Why not access your FREE “Next Steps” education course including two group coaching webinars sessions to help put LIVE market context to the theory learned in the videos? For more information click on the "Next Steps" image on the right. This article is written by an external Analyst and is based on his independent analysis.

He remains fully responsible for the views expressed as well as any remaining error or omissions. Trading Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk. For more information on trading, check out our forex webinar.

Position accumulation is to increase exposure to a currency pair, by adding a second (or more) position in the same trading direction. Although on the surface the opportunity to increase potential return is attractive, there are also risks that MUST be at the forefront of your thinking. Are you ready to accumulate?

Before considering position accumulation to your trading behaviour, it is worth considering two important aspects. This is not a strategy for the trader beginners, but rather when other systems are already in place such as a written trading plan that includes statements that reference risk management approaches, particularly that of appropriate position sizing and clear exit approaches. Also, logically, as you are potentially increasing exposure with this approach, it is not only having a trading plan that is important, but also a record of follow through with that plan.

We know disciplined trading is a challenge for some, so if this is something you are battling with than master this first. Why a profitable position only? It is crucial that this is one of the rules of any system you choose to develop.

Accumulating into a losing position (akin to ‘dollar cost averaging)’ should be considered a very high-risk strategy. The essence of this approach is that at each accumulation point, as you increase exposure, you manage the additional risk by moving a stop on previous positions at each accumulation point. Your position accumulation system As with any aspect of trading behaviour, a measurable set of statements that dictate your actions as part of your trading plan should be developed with reference to your position accumulation.

These statements may include as a minimum: a. Under what market circumstances you would consider accumulating e,g. strong uptrend confirmed across multiple timeframes. b. What technical signals are you going to use to signal the time to accumulate (e.g. if into a long position break of a key point, subsequent to confirmation of continued uptrend after a retracement. c.

Your trail-stop process e.g. at each accumulation point for all previously opened positions -all opened positions should be treated as one re, exit point. d. Position sizing e.g. accumulate no more than the original position, meaning if you enter 5 mini-lots initially that is the maximum you can add on each accumulation. e. Your maximum exposure e.g. 2 standard lots f.

Other exit points or reason to delay/refrain from accumulating further e.g. economic data. Once your system is complete then it should be tested prospectively, and amended as appropriate, prior to implanting in the reality of your trading practice. We trust this review of position accumulating will help in your choice as to whether to integrate this into your trading strategy and of course, some of the considerations that are worth exploring.

Discover the key MT4 tips and tricks to make you a power user The MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Platform) is arguably the world’s most popular electronic trading platform used by retail FX traders and professional fund managers alike. It was first released by MetaQuotes Software in 2005, and GO Markets was the first Australian Forex broker to offer it to their clients in 2006. Most of you reading this have a basic understanding of how to use the MT4 trading platform, for example, opening & closing a trade, placing a stop loss and loading your favourite indicators onto your charts.

Today I would like to share with you a few MT4 tips and tricks you may not be aware of. After servicing MT4 clients for over 10 years, these are our top 7 useful MT4 tips and tricks. Creating a Chart Template on MT4.

If you’re a trader that uses technical analysis, you probably use more than one indicator to determine your trades. A template allows you to overlay predefined indicators to a chart. Creating a template allows traders to load these predefined indicators, instead of having to set-up the indicators again each time you open a new chart.

For example, you can create a template which shows MACD, Momentum and RSI and use it on other charts. » Open a new chart. » Apply all the indicators you wish to use on that chart. » Right click on the chart. A drop down menu will appear. » Click on “Template”, then “Save Template”. » Name the Template, and then click on to “Save”. » To load your predefined indicators on a new chart, you can go back to the “Template” option and left click on “Load Template”. Here is a tutorial showing you how to do this: Saving a Profile on MT4 Once you set the layout of your platform, you then have the ability to save its profile.

Saving a profile is different to saving a template as it encompasses the complete layout or view of your MT4 platform. Profiles offer an easy way of working with groups of charts. When saving a profile, each chart with its settings is placed exactly in the same location where it was before.

All changes in all chart windows of the given list are automatically saved in the current profile. This differs from creating a template, where predefined indicators are saved on a single chart. » Set up a group of charts on your trading platform that you would like to work with » Go to File (top left-hand corner of the platform) » Choose “Profile” on the drop down menu » Then choose “Save As” on sub drop down menu » Name the new profile » To load your new profile, you can go back to the “Profile” option and left click on “Load Profile”. Here is a tutorial showing you how to do this Printing Out a Trading Statement Historical trades can be easily accessed by clicking on the “Account History” tab within the Terminal window.

Clients can get access to their full trade history or can choose custom or specific periods. For tax purposes, we get a number of our clients calling up to request a print out of their statement, not realising they can do this themselves. Follow the instructions below, hit print at the end and you can then send it to your accountant.

It really is that simple. Here’s how: » Go to Account History. » Choose desired period. » Right click anywhere in Account History. A drop down menu will appear. » Choose either “Save as Report” or “Save as Detailed Report”. » Then either right click and “Save as” or “Print”. » Note: Balance shown will always be the current balance.

Historical balances are not provided on MT4. Viewing Profit in Points, Terms Currency or Base Currency As a default, the profit and loss are viewed within the Terminal window as the Base (Deposit) Currency. For example, if your trading account is in AUD, and you were trading EURUSD, the profit & loss will automatically be shown in AUD.

However, you also have the option to view your profit & loss in Points or the Terms Currency. » Go to the Terminal Window. » Right click anywhere within the Terminal Window. A drop down menu will appear. » Hover your mouse over ‘Profit’ and a sub menu will also appear. » You then will be given a choice to view your profit in either Points, Terms Currency or Deposit Currency). » Note: To work out the number of pips form the Point figure, simply divide by 10. For example, 76 points equals 7.6 pips.

One Click Trading For those traders whose strategy involves placing trades in a timely and efficient manner, you now have the option of One Click Trading, reducing the time required to place a trade. Currently, the default mode for placing a trade on MT4 is a two-step process. The first step is bringing up a trade order window.

The second step is to select an appropriate order type, its parameters and confirm your order submission by clicking either Buy, Sell, Place, Modify or Close buttons depending on the order type selected and your trading intentions. Using this default, your order will not be submitted until you have completed both of the above steps. MetaTrader's One Click Trading mode for order submission ("One-click trading") is a one-step process.

Using the One Click Trading mode, your order will be submitted when you: Single-click either bid (SELL) or ask (BUY) rate buttons either: » On the Trading tab in the Market Watch window » On the One Click Trading panel of a chart » On close pending orders or delete stop levels on the Trade tab of the Terminal window There will be no subsequent confirmation prompt for you to click. You will not be able to withdraw or change your order once you click. You can activate or deactivate One Click Trading mode on the Trade tab or Options window of the terminal.

Chart Scrolling to the Left If you’re new to MT4, you may find it difficult to scroll your charts to the left of your screen (i.e. to look at historical data). You may experience the chart jumping to right and reverting back to the current price action. To prevent this from happening, simply ensure the following icon on your tool bar is not enabled.

With the left arrow key on your keyboard, you are now able to easily scroll back to look at historical data on your chart, without it continually jumping to the most recent price action. When you are new to MT4, this can be very frustrating, especially when you are looking to backtest a trading idea or system. MetaTrader 4 Short Cut Keys There are several shortcut keys that can be used to make navigating on the MT4 platform easier and more efficient.

Below are the most common ones: » Left Arrow – Chart scrolling to the left » Right Arrow – Chart scrolling to the right » F1 – Opens “User Guide” » F2 – Opens “History Centre” window » F8 – Opens the chart setup window » F9 – Opens the “New Order” window » F11 – Enable or Disable the full-screen mode » F12 – Move the chart by one bar to the left » Shift/F12 - Move the chart by one bar to the right » Home – Move the chart to the start point » End – Move the chart to the end point So there you have our top 7 MetaTrader (MT4) tips and tricks. As mentioned at the start, there are many more common tips, but we wanted to run with some of the less obvious ones that our clients have found to be extremely useful. For more on trading Forex check out our Forex Trading Education Centre, MetaTrader 4 Tutorials, or open a free MetaTrader 4 demo account.

Please note that trading Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk, including the risk of losing substantially more than your initial investment. Also, you do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets. You should only trade if you can afford to carry these risks.

Our offer is not designed to alter or modify any individual’s risk preference or encourage individuals to trade in a manner inconsistent with their own trading strategies. Rom Revita | Sales Manager Rom is the Sales Manager at Go Markets Pty Ltd and manages the day-to-day running of the Sales, Support and Marketing teams. He has been with the company since 2013 and is also one of our two appointed Responsible Managers, helping to ensure that the company follows all AFSL regulatory requirements.

Rom has extensive financial markets experience and originally comes from an equities & derivatives trading background. He has served on the Trading & Sales Desk with several large broking houses, and now specialises in Margin FX and CFDs.