Market news & insights

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) reported its unaudited Q2 results on Tuesday. The Chinese technology company topped both revenue and earnings per share estimates for the quarter. Revenue reported at $4.424 billion for Q2 (down by 5% year-over-year) vs. $4.395 billion expected.

Earnings per share at $2.36 per share for the quarter vs. $1.59 per share estimate. Robin Li, CEO of Baidu: "Despite a challenging macro environment caused by Covid-19, Baidu Core generated RMB23.2 billion in revenues in the second quarter, while Baidu AI Cloud revenues maintained rapid growth momentum of 31% year over year and 10% quarter over quarter." "Apollo Go further solidified its position as the world's largest autonomous ride-hailing service provider. Apollo Go completed 287K rides in the second quarter, and accumulated one million rides on July 20, becoming an important alternative means of people's everyday travel in the Yizhuang region of Beijing.

Moreover, in a momentous landmark, Apollo Go became the first provider to offer fully driverless ride-hailing services – i.e. completely without human drivers present in the car - on open roads in Chongqing and Wuhan, allowing us to further scale up our operations at an accelerated pace," Li added. "Baidu Core delivered a non-GAAP operating margin of 22% in the second quarter, up from 17% in the first quarter of 2022, as we continued to optimize our costs and enhance operational efficiency," said Rong Luo, CFO of the company. "Going forward, we remain committed to quality revenue growth and sustainable business models," Luo concluded. Baidu Inc. (BIDU) chart Shares of Baidu were down by around 7% on Tuesday at $137.49 per share. Here is how the stock has performed in the past year: 1 month +2.82% 3 months -1.72% Year-to-date -7.29% 1 year -12.15% Baidu price targets Benchmark $270 Citigroup $223 Barclays $235 JP Morgan $125 Mizuho $285 HSBC $180 Baidu Inc. is the 334 th largest company in the world with a market cap of $47.08 billion.

You can trade Baidu Inc. (BIDU) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and the ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD. Sources: Baidu Inc., TradingView, MetaTrader 5, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap

The price of wheat is finally starting to show positive signs after an aggressive sell off that has been ongoing since May 2022. There is hope that the price of the commodity may begin to climb again with the price finally finding some support. The price has been impacted by growing fears that production may slip may increasing volatility and increasing in price.

Pressure from Global Warming has effected the production/farming of the grain reducing supply. India in particular which is the second largest producer of wheat, has suffered from rising heat levels with its production dropping by 3% in 2021/22. Furthermore, the constant ambiguity surrounding the Russian and Ukraine crisis still has the potential move the price even higher adding to a potential supply crunch.

Technical Analysis The Price chart for wheat shows how the price ran during the initial stages of the Russian and Ukraine crisis, before failing to breakout and entering an aggressive downtrend. This shift is essentially a long-term reversion to the mean moving back towards the 200-day average and prior long term supports. The price action is a common follow on from sharp and fast rises in prices.

The price has now settled and consolidating between $770-$850 and importantly broken out of the downtrend. Adding to the evidence for a potential reversal is that there is a divergence between the RSI and the current price. As it can be seen, the RSI is itself in an upward channel and has crossed through the 50 level.

This can be compared to the actual price which is still consolidating. Divergences can be an early indicator that a reversal is about to occur. This current price action is showing the potential for a bounce based on the factors discussed above and presents a potential long trade with a risk reward of around 2.5:1.

For this trade, the recent resistance point of $940 can be the first target. If the price can pass through this level, it may be able to reach $970. Placing a stop loss below the recent low wick at 830 provides solid risk management in case the price goes in a different direction.

Wheat Trading Opportunities Wheat is a well-known soft commodity that is vital for any kind of bread product. It also has important uses for the feedstock for cattle which is vital in economies with large agricultural sectors. The supply and demand for wheat can be volatile with changes occurring for a multitude of different reasons.

The most recent spike in price was caused by the Russian and Ukraine Crisis. The soft commodity saw a large spike largely due to the economic sanctions placed on Russia and supply chain pressures that the war caused in Ukraine. Both countries are large exporters of wheat with Ukraine producing about a fifth of the world’s high-grade wheat and 7% of all wheat across the world.

Therefore, the supply shock had a large effect on the supply available driving up the price. Some of the other countries that produce the bulk of the worlds supply include China, the USA, Canada, Australia, and India were able to benefit from the higher prices. A strong USD Like all commodities, wheat is quoted in USD.

This means that when the USD is strong, the price of the commodity becomes weaker because the producer must sell their produce for less. Due to recent market volatility the USD has risen as investors have looked to the USD for safety. This has in turn negatively affected the price of wheat The Price of Oil The price of oil plays a role in the overall price of wheat.

This is because oil is an important input cost for wheat. Oil is needed for both the transportation and the actual farming of wheat. As the price of oil increases the costs must then be offset by the wheat producers who then raise their resale price.

Therefore, when forecasting what the price of wheat may do in the future, assessing the future of the price of oil can be a helpful tool. Emerging economies Countries with developing economies tend to be higher importers and consumers of wheat. In addition, countries in the Middle East and Africa import lots of wheat because they do not have an environment that is conducive to producing wheat.

For instance, in countries in the desert such Egypt where there is little water, and it is exceptionally dry such as Egypt very little wheat is produced. This explains why Egypt is one of the highest exporters of wheat and if the demand from these countries it would likely impact on the overall price. Technical Analysis The price chart of wheat tells an important story.

It can be observed that the wheat futures initially spiked at the beginning of the war in Ukraine as the market reacted to the initial supply shock. The price then moved into a tight consolidation tightly before breaking out towards the highs. However, this breakout failed, and was unable to rise above the key resistance level at $1354.

The price of wheat then entered a downward trending channel where it currently remains. The price has also broken down below the 200 Day Moving Average which does not bode well for bullish moves in the short term. Before this break down, wheat had not fallen substantially below the 200-day moving average since June 2020.

On the other hand, the price is currently sitting in the top half of the channel. The price may be able to break out of the channel to the upside. In addition, it is also sitting in area of long-term support between 750-850 USD.

Wheat Future Contract CFD’s can now be traded on MT5 on GoMarkets platforms

In my previous article we discussed, what is an EA and their benefits. To read up on their disadvantages please follow the link to an article written by my colleague Daniel Vary here. Today we are going to discuss how you would use a VPS to enhance the use of an EA, especially if you are running various EAs simultaneously.

What is a VPS? A virtual private server (VPS) is a virtual program sold as a service by an Internet hosting service. The virtual dedicated server (VDS) also has a similar meaning.

A virtual private server runs its own copy of an operating system (OS), and customers may have superuser-level access to that operating system instance, so they can install almost any software that runs on that OS. For many purposes it is functionally equivalent to a dedicated physical server and, being software-defined, can be created and configured much more easily. Depending on the resources that you choose, the location of the server, the virtualization technology, and the quality of your service, the price of your VPS will change.

GO Markets provides a VPS to all its clients, it’s a free trading tool we make available which would otherwise come with a monthly fee. Why would traders use a VPS and what advantages do they offer? As a trader who is looking to incorporate an Expert Advisor in their trading strategy, they may well need the use of a VPS, this helps to facilitate a smooth working condition for one or several EAs running simultaneously and to run as effectively as possible.

An Expert Advisor is a tool that is programmed to work 24/7, it is imperative that the running of your trading system and the vessel which it operates in i.e. computer or laptop is not disrupted, go offline or lose power, otherwise you will find that your EA won’t be able to operate, open, close trades or do whatever you intend to do with it. A simple advantage to think about, is purely that a VPS enhances the EAs capabilities and with it, it may improve your trading goals. A VPS facilitates a smooth and quick link to a reliable server, that means it keeps the connection alive for as long as possible to allow the EA to do its job, getting access to a reliable server should be your highest priority, especially given the nature of how fast paced markets like Forex markets can be.

Choosing a VPS provider? There are few important points that you need to look into when choosing the type of VPS you want to acquire. There are some key features to look understand to get a VPS that will fit within your EAs specifications, your trading strategy and style.

We will look at the specific features of the VPS shortly but first you need to consider which Operating System OS you like your VPS to run on, Windows or Linux? Linux is an open-source operating system and is cheaper than windows. The Windows VPS hosting can be preferred if you are developing in.NET or if you have applications that are designed for the Windows platform.

RAM – It stands for random-access memory. It means that your computer RAM is essentially short-term memory where data is stored as the processor needs it. The Ideal RAM for a VPS for this purpose would be 4 GB.

If you are running several EAs, which use up more than the available RAM, then may need to look for a bigger VPS or simply add another VPS on another account. CPU – Central processing unit, is a principal part of any digital computer system, generally composed of the main memory, control unit, and arithmetic-logic unit. They have proved to work smoothly even at peak times depending on the quality and size of the processor.

You need to have 14nm architecture with a multi-core for multitasking but a 6vCPU works in most normal cases. Hard disk HDD – The traditional hard disk storage space will always be bigger and more inexpensive. But a solid-state drive is recommended for a VPS hosting.

They are fast at rebooting; the performance is certainly huge and transfer speeds are more than the traditional disks. The SSDs are resilient during power failures, which makes them a perfect fit for VPS hosting. A faster hard drive is necessary because even if the RAM and CPU are fast you need an equally faster storage drive to service those requests Go Markets VPS As a valuable client of GO Markets, you can get access to a VPS once you have a live account with us.

Simply, by applying for one via your Client Portal. The VPS runs on both MT4 and MT5 systems and allows you to execute trades using EAs, quicker and easier. GO Markets offers free monthly VPS access to clients completing a minimum trade volume of US$1m per calendar month (approx. 5 round turn FX lots).

If this volume is not met, a VPS service fee will be applied per month which will be charged from trading account. Please see below the specifications of our VPS below. Our VPS is a Shared Hosting, managed Cloud based solutions running on Windows 2016.

Sources: Wikipedia, Babypips, GO Markets, operavps.com, www.websitebuilderexpert.com,

Expert Advisors are programs which are configured to execute trades or read market price movements. When a parameter is met or triggered, it commands the EA to open or close trades on your behalf whilst you are otherwise engaged or sleeping. EAs are compatible to be used on the Metatrader 4 and 5 systems.

Algorithmic trading is a method of executing orders using automated pre-programmed trading instructions accounting for variables such as time, price, and volume. This type of trading attempts to leverage the speed and computational resources of computers relative to human traders. In the twenty-first century, algorithmic trading has been gaining traction with both retail and institutional traders.

It is widely used by investment banks, pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds that may need to spread out the execution of a larger order or perform trades too fast for human traders to react to. It is now also widely available to retail clients. A study in 2019 showed that around 92% of trading in the Forex market was performed by trading algorithms rather than humans.

What are the advantages of using EA’s? Timesaving – The Forex market is open 24 hours. As a trader you are always looking for an opening in the market for you to execute an order, however, as a human you need to be able to sleep to operate normally, especially if you want to live a healthy life.

With an EA in place, you can time the market, set alerts, watch various markets simultaneously, set open and close trades yourself or allow it to open and close trades on your behalf. For a lot of forex traders who’d like to profit from market movements during a particular trading session but are stuck in a different time zone, using an expert advisor means that they don’t need to worry about trading sleep for pips. Emotionless Trading – The market is wholly affected by emotion, whether the emotion makes you want to buy or sell an asset is down to how you understand the information or how you perceive the charts.

With emotion you can either be gripped in a circle of greed or a loss of confidence which can cloud your thinking and deviate from a trusted strategy. An EA does not suffer from these as it just needs to meet various mathematical parameters to work. Expert advisors are wired to stick to system commands and take valid trade signals, without feeling pain from losses or joy from wins.

Backtesting - Another advantage of having an expert advisor is the ease of conducting backtests, particularly on an MT4 platform. In fact, Babypips have a short tutorial on how to backtest and EA on MT4 and you’d be surprised to know that it just takes a few clicks to see how a system fared over several years. This is mainly used, to make sure that the EA you have acquired, works in the way you want it to work before letting it loose on your live account with real money at stake.

Quick and Flexible – EAs can open and close trades in a blink of an eye; whilst humans tend to second guess these actions by taking price movements and reading indicators, an EA is built to take these decisions with mathematical precision. Depending on the EA you are also able to check multiple markets and have various EAs on one system at the same time. Some of these features are also extremely useful for short term traders who trade on smaller movements of 1 – minute to 5 – minutes charts.

Human Error and Accessibility – Human error have cost many a trader in years past, opening the wrong direction on trades, making the size of the position too big or too small, or opening a trade whilst misreading the technical can all have a negative effect on your trading experience. Having an EA can limit these errors as EAs are programmed to your specifications and they would never deviate from that, unless they are not set properly to begin with, but this is the reason why you would always backtest! EAs are available with a decent variety and with great accessibility to these programs, it is no hard to see why they are becoming the automated popular choice for traders.

In my follow up article on this subject, I will talk about the use of a VPS and popular EAs. If you like to incorporate your MT4/5 systems with EAs, you can talk to one of our Account Managers who will be happy to talk you through the process, feel free to contact us on +61 3 8566 7680 or email me directly on [email protected] Sources: Tradersunion.com, IG, Wikipedia, Babypips.

The USA and other Western nations have intimated that they are planning to block Russia's access to its international stockpile of gold. Russia has so far been able to use gold to support the Rubel as a tool to reduce the impact of sanctions. Russia has been able to trade gold assets for more liquid foreign exchange that have not been subject to current sanctions.

Tech stocks continued their momentum overnight as the Nasdaq closed at its highest level since February 9, up 1.93%. Intel was a top performer overnight as it rose 6.94% on reports that it may assist NVIDIA corporation in chip manufacturing. Uber also had a stellar night increasing by 4.96% after it reached an agreement to list NYC taxis on its app.

The Dow Jones closed 1.02% higher as material stocks performed well. The S&P 500 reflected the positive momentum as it closed the day up 1.43%. In Europe, the FTSE had a relatively flat day.

The material sector performed strongly, supporting the index as it closed up 0.09%. The DAX also had a relatively flat day finishing down 0.069%. Commodities Brent Crude oil failed to carry on its rise as it dropped back 2.69% to $118.14.

Although the price is still holding above the $115 level. The gold price saw a mini spike out of its consolidation as it jumped by 0.69% to USD 1957.41. The move can be somewhat attributed to the potential for new sanctions on Russia.

Natural Gas had another bumper day as it rose by 5.81%. The price extended break out as it closed at its three-month highs of $5.464. The USA may be forced to increase its exports to Europe to offset any disruption in supply from Russia.

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin performed solidly overnight. It is currently testing the highs of its recent range and as the BTC/USD approaches the $46,000 resistance level. The pair closed at $44,091, a 2.56% increase, at 22.36 GMT.

Ethereum has kept its strong week going with another 2.59% rise holding the $3118 at 22.42 GMT. The ETH/USD has seen a recent period of consolidation before overnight breaking above the trend line. The JPY continues to be smashed against most other currencies.

The USD/JPY rose by 0.97% to 122.324. The GBP/JPY also saw a huge move moving 0.88% to close at 161.330. The AUD/USD had a mixed day.

Initially, the currency pair sold down, however it recovered later to close at 0.7512. The EUR/USD has seen a settling of its price as Ukraine and Russian conflict has settled. The pair finished trading at 1.0998 USD.