Month: February 2014

With the world focused on the Olympic Games in Sochi Russia we can now take a step back and look at Russia’s current position in the world. Like it or not Russia has established itself again as a dominant player on the world stage. Russia has paid off its debts and despite what most people feel is more politically stable then any other time since before the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Russian middle-class is experiencing the greatest levels of prosperity in the history of the nation. Russia has also seen a dramatic rise in its more affluent call as well.

Looking at the world of Forex it is quite obvious that to see the signs where Russian individuals and Russian companies have left  their mark. Companies like InstaForex and Alpari which all started in Russia have grown exponentially and have made a dramatic on the Forex market.

The Russian company in the Forex world that can claim the greatest success is of course Metaquotes. It can be argued that no other company has ever achieved such a market dominance with their product that Metaquotes has and their role in the Forex market.

It will be fascinating to see what the future brings for both Russia and for Russia and the Forex market.

To learn more please visit www.clmforex.com

Disclaimer: Trading of foreign exchange contracts, contracts for difference, derivatives and other investment products which are leveraged, can carry a high level of risk. These products may not be suitable for all investors. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. All funds committed should be risk capital. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. A Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) is available from the company website. Please read and consider the PDS before making any decision to trade Core Liquidity Markets’ products. The risks must be understood prior to trading. Core Liquidity Markets refers to Core Liquidity Markets Pty Ltd. Core Liquidity Markets is an Australian company which is registered with ASIC, ACN 164 994 049. Core Liquidity Markets is an authorized representative of Direct FX Trading Pty Ltd (AFSL) Number 305539, which is the authorizing Licensee and Principal

By MoneyMorning.com.au

After the impending disaster that was otherwise known as an ‘emerging markets crisis’, what do you know?

The Australian market has recovered about half its losses since the start of the year.

Another crisis appears and disappears quicker than it came. In its wake it leaves…that’s right, a raft of investing opportunities.

Sounds great. Trouble is, where do you start…?

As a contrarian investor we go where other investors fear to go.

During the depths of the global financial meltdown in 2008 and 2009 we told investors to pile in to some of the market’s most hated stocks – small-cap stocks.

In late 2012 and 2013, when most investors were too afraid to look at their own shadow let alone buy shares, we advised increasing your exposure to dividend-paying stocks.

Then for most of the past year we’ve suggested that investors take more interest in resource stocks. That culminated in us hiring a dedicated resource analyst to find, research and recommend the best resource stocks on the Aussie market.

And although we can’t claim to have backed tech stocks since the market turned around in 2008, the timing of the launch early last year of Revolutionary Tech Investor coincided with the most recent gains for the NASDAQ index.

We won’t claim to have picked the bottom of these markets. That’s not our aim. We’re simply looking for developing trends and then we try to back them early before others rush in.

That leads us to the next trend investors should follow closely – emerging markets.

Phone Box Convention

To be honest, we’re not completely alone in the view that emerging markets are worth a punt. Although it’s also fair to say that if you held a convention in a phone box (remember those?) for emerging markets enthusiasts, you’d struggle to sell the place out.

But we’d have one companion. David Bloom, head of global currency strategy at HSBC in London told Bloomberg News:

‘When others are crying, you should be buying. This is not the time to be bearish. The time to be bearish was a year ago. If you missed that, you’ve missed the boat.‘

Bloom is referring specifically to emerging markets currencies. On the question of currencies we’ll leave that to Bloom. We figured long ago (just after passing our foreign exchange exam) that the currency market was way too difficult for your editor to understand.

So we stick to what we know – stocks.

And when it comes to emerging markets stocks, we take the same view as HSBC’s David Bloom. This is the time to buy the market, not sell it.

But what’s this? Things are getting cosier in the phone box. Bloomberg News reports on another emerging markets bull. This time it’s Gary Dugan, chief investment officer in Asia for the Queen’s bankers Coutts. He says:

‘If you look at the balance of trade that our clients are doing, they’re buying. There’s been an appetite for Asia and for Russia after the sell-off. There’s no crisis, it’s just talk.‘

But the guys at HSBC and Coutts really are in the minority. Most investors are doing as you’d expect; they’re trading the last ‘crisis’ rather than buying the next opportunity.

When We Say Emerging Markets, We Really Mean China

We like Dugan’s call, and his guts. But we’re not sure about buying Russia.

We may be a contrarian and a risk taker, but we’re not lunatics.

Coutts can take the Russia trade, we’ll take the rest.

It’s understandable that investors fret and fuss about the markets. It’s understandable that they panic and sell at the wrong time.

But what they’ve clearly forgotten is that this is how markets tend to behave. Prices rise and prices fall all the time. The important thing is to figure out if anything has fundamentally changed.

As far as we can tell, the simple answer to that question is no.

But let’s be more specific. When we’re talking about emerging markets, what we’re really talking about is the biggest emerging market of all, China.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about China’s growth rate, is it reasonable to think China’s economy will stop dead in its tracks? Even if China’s growth rate drops from the current stratospheric 7.7% to just 6%, these people do realise that the Chinese economy will double in size in less than 12 years don’t they?

So sure, there could be ongoing problems with some of the other emerging markets – Brazil, India, Russia, Indonesia, and so on – but as long as the biggest emerging market of them all stays on track to double in size within the next 9-12 years, we’ll stay firmly on the side of the small group of analysts rating China and the emerging markets as a buy.

It’s a risky trade right now. But if experience has taught us one thing, it’s that when the markets appear as risky as this, more often than not we’re right to follow our instincts (and the fundamentals) to buy the market.

Cheers,
Kris

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: Three Bounce-Back Mining Belters to Buy Now

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

By MoneyMorning.com.au

When he wasn’t explaining mass unemployment, negotiating the Versailles Treaty, making a fortune trading stocks from his bed or inventing modern probability theory, John Maynard Keynes had a few ideas about the future of work.

Writing in the 1930s, Keynes predicted that automation and rising productivity would lead to a world of ease and plenty. In the future people would work for fifteen hours per week, he said, which would give us more than enough income to satisfy our needs.

This idea was still in vogue when I was being taught economics in the 1970s. The early spread of computers and increasing automation made Keynes’ dream seem achievable in our lifetimes.

But today, it’s clear that Keynes got it wrong. Instead we live in a time where junior investment bankers are keen to do basic repetitive tasks for ninety hours per week. And where the government allows you to opt-out of the EU working time directive, if 48 hours a week just isn’t enough to satisfy you!

Despite our eagerness to toil all the hours God sends, the share of national income taken by labour has been falling in recent years. Average wages are stagnating. They used to grow a little faster than inflation. Now they are lagging.

So the big political issue at the moment isn’t unemployment, which most economists (wrongly) expected to be a lot higher after the crash in 2008. The big issue is this squeeze on real wages (that is, wages adjusted for inflation).

Are we Stuck With Low Wages?

I would normally blame the economic cycle for this. And if the economic cycle is to blame, the problem will resolve itself as the economy improves and the labour market strengthens.

Our labour market is a lot more flexible than it used to be, back when the unions ruled. So workers might well be pricing themselves into jobs by not demanding inflation-busting pay rises. It’s reasonable to expect their bargaining power will improve as unemployment falls.

But something tells me that this might not happen. In fact, there are a couple of reasons that I suspect this squeeze could be permanent.

First, there is globalisation. At first, the West lost basic manufacturing jobs as millions of workers in emerging markets entered the global workforce. Then we saw white collar jobs in call centres, and basic legal, financial and IT tasks being ‘offshored’. Cheap communications and IT meant that previously ‘safe’ service sector jobs could be carried out almost anywhere.

The latest big trend which is hurting workers is automation. Voice recognition technology means that you no longer have to choose between Mumbai and Middlesbrough for your call centre. Instead you can locate it in the cloud, and let the computers do the work.

Computers Are Getting Smarter

Computers are getting a lot better at reading text, too. They can use smart algorithms and huge processing power to ‘understand’ human language. So rather than put-upon junior lawyers or bankers ploughing through legal texts and contracts, the machines will be able to take over.

I wrote recently about Arria NLG, which makes software which is able to write technical reports in everyday language. Once the machine has been taught the industry specifics, it can generate useful reports far quicker than a technically qualified human could.

Machines are getting better at ‘working with’ humans. Another example is Google’s driverless cars. They’ve already clocked up half a million accident-free miles in the US. Driving in normal traffic was something that most of us would have thought needed a human. But the end of the taxi driver could be closer than we thought. There’s already a trial planned for Milton Keynes next year.

How to Invest in This Trend

So what ‘safe’ jobs should I try to direct my children into? It’s not at all obvious which jobs will be unaffected by the relentless progress of machines. A lot of technology stocks employ very few people relative to their market value. A few well-paid technicians develop valuable services and software, while the support tasks are either outsourced or just don’t exist anymore.

This seems to tie in with the view that the labour market is splitting in two – that a small number will enjoy great success by working with computers, but most will struggle.

Workers and parents might find this future unsettling. But as investors, we can choose to be on the right side of this trend. That means looking out for companies that are exploiting growth in computer power. Because as scary as this vision of the future might be…we could be stuck with it!

David Thornton,
Contributing Editor, Money Morning

Ed note: The above story was originally published in MoneyWeek.

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (2/10/14)

http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/gold-idol-killian-charles-search-for-the-next-mining-superstar

Killian Charles, a mining analyst with Industrial Alliance Securities in Montreal, was tired of hearing how gold companies were doomed to failure because of the listless gold price. So, he started “auditioning” companies for Gold Idol. In this interview with The Gold Report, Charles talks about what attributes got companies through to the next round and what got them sent home.

The Gold Report: I recently read a 63-page report Industrial Alliance published in December titled, “Gold Idol: Finding the Next Profitable Producers.” What prompted that theme?

Killian Charles: We were getting tired of seeing press releases and technical reports that focused largely on upward sensitivity analysis with elevated gold prices. Of course, projects look very good at elevated gold prices. We wanted to tone down the rhetoric a little bit and put them on even footing.

Investors think, “Oh my God, gold is $1,200/ounce ($1,200/oz)—everything is going to die out there!” That statement does not apply to all projects, just as it does not apply to all mining companies or producers. Some producers will struggle at $1,200/oz, but some can continue making money. We hoped to find projects that could eventually fall in the latter category.

TGR: American Idol found talents like Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken. What did you discover when you crunched the numbers in Gold Idol?

KC: There’s still a predisposition in this market for large projects with middling grades. We wanted to see if lower grades could be balanced with higher production rates. We also wanted to see if this also resulted in a higher net present value (NPV). The connection was there, but we were surprised by the link’s weakness. We had expected a solid correlation between the two.

We tried including strip ratio in the mix, which improved the correlation, but not dramatically. Investors shouldn’t just be focused on grade. There are so many different risks at a mine. I believe the impact of strip ratio can be underestimated. If the rock happens to be a little bit harder and a company is moving a lot of tonnage, the mining operating expense (opex) can quickly get out of control since it’s largely leveraged to the strip ratio.

TGR: Could you explain strip ratio?

KC: The strip ratio describes how many tons of barren material have to be mined to access a single ton of ore.

TGR: Let’s talk about your thesis for the market.

KC: Honestly, our thesis shouldn’t be market dependent. Otherwise, you could overvalue projects. Investors still need to do due diligence and get a good idea if the project can work in a bull or a bear market. Investors need to focus on a longer investment horizon. I can’t help but feel that a lot of investors are weak hands. They move in and out too fast. Following momentum is a bad way to invest and doubly so in the mining industry. If a project works in a variety of commodity scenarios, it will eventually be recognized. At the very least, it will survive to the next bull environment.

TGR: You had some criteria that companies needed to have before they got included in your analysis: an economic study, no other assets in production, capital expenditures (capex) to develop the asset below $1.5 billion ($1.5B) and a value of less than 15 times capex divided by market cap. Why are those important?

KC: I think the mining industry is moving on from large projects—projects with capex over $1.5B. Large projects are just too hard to manage and cost overruns become problematic rapidly. Right now there’s no appetite from producers and there’s definitely no appetite from the equity market to finance large projects.

We wanted to make sure that the companies had an economic study of some sort because overestimation ends up being a large problem. Too many “back of the envelope” calculations are simply ridiculous and set unrealistic expectations. I don’t have the time or the team to develop a perfect mine plan for all the projects at the resource stage and, honestly, neither do most people out there, so we have to rely somewhat on these third-party engineering firms to produce something that we can judge. I know many people will disagree with my statement but, at the very least, it’s a more accurate starting point.

As for capex divided by market cap, we wanted to avoid projects that had an execution risk. If the market cap is $10 million ($10M) and the project’s going to cost $600M to build, odds are the company will have a hard time raising the money.

TGR: The market effectively did some filtering for you there.

KC: It doesn’t mean that these projects won’t come back. We feel that the 15x capex to market-cap ratio is elevated enough that most companies can meet this criterion. If the market cap comes back into an acceptable range, we could definitely take another look at them and include them in our compilation.

TGR: In one scenario, you used $1,200/oz gold, $20/oz silver and a 7% discount rate. In scenario two, you used $1,000/oz gold, $15/oz silver and a 10% discount rate. What were the companies that ultimately survived your scrutiny?

KC: We divided them into three groups based on how their projects perform in our more stringent second scenario. Our first group consists of projects with a positive NPV at $1,000/oz gold. Those companies areDalradian Resources Inc. (DNA:TSX); Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. (GQM:TSX); Guyana Goldfields Inc. (GUY:TSX); Lydian International Ltd. (LYD:TSX); Midas Gold Corp. (MAX:TSX); Midway Gold Corp. (MDW:TSX.V; MDW:NYSE.MKT); PMI Gold Corp. (PMV:TSX.V; PVM:ASX; PN3N:FSE), which is now the focus of an acquisition by Asanko Gold Inc. (AKG:TSX; AKG:NYSE.MKT); Sulliden Gold Corp. (SUE:TSX; SDDDF:OTCQX; SUE:BVL); and Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TXG:TSX).

Then we had a second group that was more marginal. Their respective NPVs varied between $50M and negative $50M. These projects were on the inflection point and could go either way.

TGR: What are some likely candidates to move away from the cusp and into the first group?

KC: There are a couple of projects that with revaluation have a good chance to move up: Gold Canyon Resources Inc. (GCU:TSX.V), Romarco Minerals Inc. (R:TSX) and Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (SBB:TSX.V; RXC:FSE; SGSVF:OTCPK).

TGR: What are the most interesting names among the survivors?

KC: The interesting ones are currently entering construction, which can limit financing risk. Guyana Goldfields stands out. It has almost all it needs to enter into construction and has a pretty simple mine.

PMI Gold is the focus of an acquisition by Asanko Gold. Fingers crossed that it’s going to work because Asanko’s and PMI’s projects are so close to one another it make sense to merge them.

Torex came out with very good numbers and is moving along nicely. Similarly, Lydian International’s project may have some political issues in the short term, but then it has clear development opportunities.

TGR: Lydian has a big gold mine in Armenia, which isn’t a well-known mining jurisdiction. What are your thoughts on that country?

KC: Mining in any country that doesn’t have a Western mentality toward investment can mean there may be misunderstandings, but that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be problems. Countries can say they’re against mining, but every single nation in the world has a mine of some sort in it. One hopes that there’s no corruption and the person a company is dealing with actually can make a decision and doesn’t expect a bribe at the end of the day. Luckily, most nations avoid that. Then again, I live in Quebec and even we seem to have problems with corruption! Mining companies can avoid a lot of unfortunate accidents as long as management is of decent caliber and the company is transparent.

TGR: What’s next for Lydian and its Amulsar project?

KC: There should be more information available about the permitting process and obtaining the mining license and the license to operate in the country. Lydian is also updating the feasibility report and moving onto financing.

TGR: Could you update us on some companies you have discussed with us in the past?

KC: There is Integra Gold Corp. (ICG:TSX.V), which was a single property with lots of potential but a lot of the ounces can feel separate even if they are close to one another. We’re finally seeing the story come together. The company updated its resource estimate. Integra is expecting to put out a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in the coming weeks that will continue tying it into a single front. The location is still excellent and it’s still fairly high grade. Once the story comes together, investors are going to start paying attention to this simple project in a safe jurisdiction with what could be a textbook mine.

Another company is Clifton Star Resources Inc. (CFO:TSX.V; C3T:FSE), which is hoping to put out its prefeasibility report in the first half of the year. The company’s PEA only used a small portion of the entire resource because the project is proximal to the town of Duparquet, Quebec. Clifton Star wanted to avoid unnecessary complication with the municipality until it properly opened up a dialogue. It wanted to make sure that there wasn’t any misunderstanding that arose from a PEA that made an assumption that a portion of the town had to be moved. By avoiding that, it left 2 million ounces in the Measured and Indicated category that are starting right at surface and are easily mineable, so there’s great upside there if negotiations do work with the city. The PEA underestimates the potential of that project, but I like seeing a management team that does a top-notch job and doesn’t overpromise.

TGR: Do you think that eventually Clifton Star will produce concentrate or doré?

KC: Concentrate excludes some opportunities because smelters are only willing to pay for a certain amount of gold. If there are any penalties through elevated elements in the concentrate, the company could also lose out a little bit. However, it definitely saves on capex. The plant would be much smaller and less equipment is needed. The prefeasibility study will give us a good idea of which plant is better. The key is that the project can work both ways. If Clifton Star wants to get into production faster, it can start producing a concentrate, sell the concentrate, then down the road build a full plant with pressure oxidation, and process and smelt gold ore on site.

TGR: Any other companies you would like to mention?

KC: Fortune Minerals Ltd. (FT:TSX) continues to be in an interesting position. Management has built a strong team to support and advance permitting at NICO in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Right from the start, it identified key participants in the permitting process and the receipt of this permit is further proof of its due diligence. There’s still more work to complete before all necessary permits are granted but it’s a clear indication that the company should be successful. As discussions with foreign partners continue to advance, a fully derisked NICO project will ensure investors receive full value from any future partnerships.

TGR: Any parting thoughts?

KC: Investors need to remember that even if the gold price keeps going down there are still projects out there that could work. It’s not all doom and gloom. There are projects out there that show potential to provide a return—even at $1,000/oz.

Companies are rightfully stressed. Will they be able to finance? There are some perfectly reasonable questions being asked, but our report disproves that they aren’t going to work just because the gold price decreased. There are some projects out there that may struggle, but there are definitely projects that—short of capex increasing 50% or grade decreasing 50%—should do well in nearly all gold environments.

TGR: Thanks for giving us your insights.

KC: It’s always my pleasure.

Killian Charles joined Industrial Alliance Securities Inc. in February 2011 and covers small- and mid-cap exploration and producing companies. He graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Science degree in earth and planetary sciences. His technical training is an asset in the evaluation of companies in a sector that is changing rapidly. He previously worked with FNX Mining and QuadraFNX before joining the IAS team.

Want to read more Gold Report interviews like this? Sign up for our free e-newsletter, and you’ll learn when new articles have been published. To see a list of recent interviews with industry analysts and commentators, visit our Streetwise Interviews page.

DISCLOSURE:
1) Brian Sylvester conducted this interview for The Gold Report and provides services to The Gold Report as an independent contractor. He or his family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: None.
2) The following companies mentioned in the interview are sponsors of The Gold Report: Guyana Goldfields Inc., Sulliden Gold Corp., Integra Gold Corp. and Clifton Star Resources Inc. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services or as sponsorship payment.
3) Killian Charles: I or my family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. I personally am or my family is paid by the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this interview: Torex Gold Resources Inc. and Integra Gold Corp. I was not paid by Streetwise Reports for participating in this interview. Comments and opinions expressed are my own comments and opinions. I had the opportunity to review the interview for accuracy as of the date of the interview and am responsible for the content of the interview.
4) Interviews are edited for clarity. Streetwise Reports does not make editorial comments or change experts’ statements without their consent.
5) The interview does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports’ terms of use and full legal disclaimer.
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Article by Investazor.com

During my time spent as both an analyst and a trader I have come to understand what the hardest thing to do in trading is and why it is a huge number of traders that lose their money on the Forex market.

Let us start by understanding what the Forex Market is. The name itself Forex comes from the Foreign Exchanges. It represents all the exchanges between currency rates from all over the world. It is done between banks and clients, between exchange houses and retailers, even the exchanges between friends are considered to be on the FX market. Knowing this we can now understand why it is difficult to register all the transactions and have the volumes like we have for stocks or commodities.

The currency exchanged market became bigger and bigger especially when this kind of transaction could be made online fast and at very low costs. Volumes went on new highs so there was plenty liquidity for the orders to be filled.  Leverage was added and the market became even bigger. The only problem is that more and more traders are losing their money.

Many reasons were brought up for why retailers especially lose their money. Some of them are:

–          Because they are scalpers (traders who make many trades on high volume – see our Scalping Guide);

–          Because they do intraday trading (trades within a day);

–          Because they don’t know analysis and don’t have a strategy;

–          Because their account is too small;

–          Because the broker worked against him;

And this list can be continued, but I don’t think that all of these are relevant in answering the questions “Why do traders lose?”

Two down, what next?

While researching for my analysis carrier I have found that there are a lot of trading strategies that can work because they have very good accuracy. Different technical indicators combination, adding fundamental analysis, or trading based on market sentiment could result in a profitable trading strategy on the Forex Market. Discovering this I became even more curios why people lose their money.

After a while I started trading, believing that I have knowledge about the market, that I understand the processes and the risks. Guess what? I have managed to empty two accounts. It was unbelievable, because I had learned a lot about the FX market and still lost money. What was my problem?

I had to choose, leave it or try to find the reason that made me lose money. I got back to studying, reading, and demo trading for quite some time. After 6 months I got back to trading real money with some new and very good trading strategies based on technical analysis and this time I actually managed to keep myself at breakeven for a month or so. It was good but not enough. I knew I had to gain more experience so I continued and became more confident and turned the balance in my favor.

What had changed?

When I got back to my studying I have changed my focus from the theory to the emotions that overwhelmed me while I was trading. This is actually the biggest problem for a trader. Not knowing what will happen when a trade is placed everything changes. Fear and green makes their place into anyone’s mind and manage to create illusions and expectations which eventually paves the way to losing money.

Reviewing my past trades I also tried to understand what my emotions were and why were they there. As a technical analyst, I then, as well as now, had very good accuracy at my forecasting analysis. This applied also for the analysis did for trading. But still my accounts vanished. The reason for this was that I first made my analysis, but changed my actions while trading. Emotions made me change my first scenario and leaded me to loss.

The Path!

After acknowledging all this new info regarding trading and emotions I came up with a path, which I can recommend to any novice trader to take.

I believe that the evolution of a trader can be split, as any other job, in two parts. The first one is the learning part and the second is the making money while trading as a day to day job. While the second part it is pretty easy as long as one can get there, the first one is tricky, believe me, I’ve been there.

1)      History of Trading – First step in learning would be to gather some materials about trading in general. This way you will understand what trading is, from where it started and see if it interests you.

2)      Forex Market – This is one of my favorite market to trade on for many reasons, you can read about it in our past articles. If you would like to trade on it you should be prepared. Read articles, definitions, books on the forex market so you can understand what it is, how it moves and why you have chosen it.

3)      Risks and Benefits – Acknowledge the risks and the benefits that you could have while trading on the FX Market. There are plenty of articles written over this matter.

4)      Technical and Fundamental Analysis – Be sure to learn something about forecasting. For this you should read about Technical Analysis and put your basics also for the Fundamental Analysis, this way you can get to the next step.

5)      Find a Trading Strategy – As I said there are lot of strategies that  work. You can find some in our Forex Strategies section, at other traders or you can develop it yourself. Be sure to put it into a trading system and practice it on a demo account.

6)      Demo Trading – For a while you will need to do this. It will define your style, your strategy and you can learn more about the instrument you are trading on. In my opinion it should be mandatory for every novice trader.

7)      Real Money Trading – Most of the traders stop at point 6, believing that if they have a good system it will work also as well on the real account as it did on the demo account. As long as you are not a robot without feelings it will not be the same. I recommend you to invest a sum of money that you can afford to lose. This way you will not be tensed while trading, but you will feel how it feels to trade real money. It is in my opinion an investment that each trader should do for his education, and also an important step in his learning path.

It might seem a long list, but every step there is important if you want to be successful in trading and lose as less money as possible.

Don’t be greedy!

From this domain a lot of money can be earned, but also can be lost. Nowadays there are a lot of information on the internet and everyone is tempted to learn for themselves without paying for books or mentoring. It isn’t something bad, but everyone should know that at some point they will have to invest some money in their education, so that they will become profitable in time. The smartest way to invest is by trading real money in the learning process.

The post The Path To Take In Learning How To Trade On The Forex Market appeared first on investazor.com.

With the ever increasing popularity of Forex trading and with the addition of more pairs that are traded, the choice of which Forex brokers to use has become more important than ever.

Until a few years ago spreads, software and the service that most Forex brokers provided we’re pretty much the same. With the addition of new technologies and the ability of connecting Forex brokers to liquidity providers that has changed the Forex broker landscape.

1. The first factor in choosing a Forex broker should be that they are in STP or ECN broker.

Many brokers still act in the capacity of a market maker but this can obviously lead to issues with trade execution and with slippage.

2. The second factor should be when choosing a Forex broker or should be regulation.

This needs to be somewhat of a balancing act and that some regulators like in the US have become somewhat overbearing on the restrictions of hedging and also their limitation on leverage.

3. A third factor and one that is not usually considered is the broker’s infrastructure.

It is important to take into consideration that the book the brokers servers are either Nicole location facility or proximity with their liquidity providers so that can minimize the speed of execution.

4. A fourth factor is the Forex broker easily accessible to communicate with. Do they offer a chat system on their website and are they responsive to emails

The customer service of the Forex broker is obviously a very important factor to take into consideration and one that should be judged.

These are just a few of the factors that should be taken into consideration when selecting a Forex broker.

To learn more please visit www.clmforex.com

Disclaimer: Trading of foreign exchange contracts, contracts for difference, derivatives and other investment products which are leveraged, can carry a high level of risk. These products may not be suitable for all investors. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. All funds committed should be risk capital. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. A Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) is available from the company website. Please read and consider the PDS before making any decision to trade Core Liquidity Markets’ products. The risks must be understood prior to trading. Core Liquidity Markets refers to Core Liquidity Markets Pty Ltd. Core Liquidity Markets is an Australian company which is registered with ASIC, ACN 164 994 049. Core Liquidity Markets is an authorized representative of Direct FX Trading Pty Ltd (AFSL) Number 305539, which is the authorizing Licensee and Principal

CRUDE OIL: With Crude Oil strengthening for a third week in a row the past week, further upside is envisaged in the new week. This development leaves it targeting further upside towards the 100.74 level, its Dec 27 2013 high. A cut through here will pave the way for a run at the 101.50 level where a violation will aim at the 102.50 level and then the 103.14 level, its Oct 16 2013 high. Its daily RSI is bullish and pointing higher suggesting further upside. On the downside, support comes in at the 98.48 level, its Jan 30 2014 high where a break will turn focus to the 96.26 level, its Feb 03 2014 low followed by the 95.67 level. All in all, Crude Oil remains biased to the upside on further bullish offensive.

Article by www.fxtechstrategy.com

Can we avoid losing trades?

The simple truth about trading the forex markets is that there is no way any trader can go without experiencing a losing trade. Getting to grips with this fact will hopefully mean we are able to learn to accept that trades can fail and in doing so should prevent them from having any adverse reaction on our trading. There is no magic formula out there to remove them from trading and so learning to let them become a part of our trading business is the first step we need to take.

The results a trader achieves in their career will never be as a result of any kind of luck, or having a lucky mascot sat on their desk. The forex markets must be viewed as an untameable beast and so trading boils down to a very simple game of probability and learning to find and take the high probability trades is the aim of the game.

The reasons for losing trades.

Trying to trick ourselves into thinking losing trades don’t exist or are a bad habit we can remove from trading is not realistic. Yes, we want to remove the poorly chosen trades and focus our attentions on only taking the very best trades. However, removing them from trading completely is an impossible task and being able to accept losing trades is just a must if we want to move on.

Losing trades can be caused by many different reasons, sometimes they can be due to human error, like taking a trade from a weak level or using a weak price action signal, etc…. but other times the trades that look great, which tick all the boxes, still result in a failure. This can confuse traders because when they spot a great setup they automatically see a winning trade rather than a trade setup that yes may look great and have a high chance of working out but still understand that there is a chance although much lower, that it could fail.

The forex markets are all about playing the probability game and learning which trades have a high chance of being successful and which have a lower chance of being successful and then using this information to give us our edge.

No trade should be looked at as a “certainty”.

How to deal with losing trades

Understanding that losing trades are just another part of trading that we need to deal with, allows us to cope with the losses much more professionally. The reaction to a losing trade should be the same as for a winning trade, the only difference being the outcome. If we enter trades using strict rules and from key levels then the trades we take should be consistently very similar. Remember every trade we take is just another trade in a long list of trades and this should help to give us perspective and realise that we have to take the losing and winning trades equally as well.

The biggest hurdle is to de-personalise the forex markets and removing the emotion from trading, emotions can be very easily added to trading but this can cause a whole heap of bad habits.

If the losing trades leaves a bad taste in your mouth and the winning trades make you feel on top of the world. You are trading with emotion, its fine to feel proud of your achievements but letting the trade results impact on your trading is very unprofessional. We need to keep a cool head at all times.

The markets are not a tool to be used to make you feel good about yourself. If anything they have the power to do the opposite, any weaknesses we possess will be exposed I guarantee.

It’s impossible to know before entering any trade what the outcome of each trade will be and wasting our time on guessing how it will play out is pointless. The simple fact is that the markets are able to do what they like at any point, irrespective of what we think. Once we enter a trade the markets are in control and all we can do is manage the trades to our best ability.

The biggest reason traders can find themselves riding a losing streak, is because they let the first losing trade affect their trading to a point where they start to trade with emotion, these emotions can cause problems like,  a fear of trading or trading to get back the money lost are very destructive indeed and a habit we don’t want to get into.

A losing trade can do all kinds of detrimental things to a trader mind-set, for example, they can lose faith in their technique, or over analyse trades and simply end up just going round in circles. What’s scary is that this downward spiral of over thinking and trade paralysis can happen very quickly and be caused by just one losing trade.

If we experience the feelings that the markets are out to get us or against us in some way after a losing trade, we really need to reassess our mind-set for trading.

Learning to live with the losses.

The fact is we have to learn how to deal with losing trades and accept them as part of being a trader. No single trader will trade without them and so letting the losers come and not allowing them to affect our overall trading style is the big challenge.

If you are unable to stomach the losses then trading is going to be an even bigger struggle. The ability of a losing trade to raise questions about our whole trading technique really highlights if a trader does truly believe in themselves or if they are not really that confident in their trading style of choice.

The best advice I can pass on, is to learn how to draw a line after each trade and start a fresh, trying not to dwell too much on the previous trade and let it affect our overall trading. Each trade is just a number in a long list of trades you will take.

About the Author:

Jeremy Poor is a Forex trader who uses price action to trade the Forex markets. To learn more about how he trades and helps traders become consistent in their approach to trading, check out dontlettheforexdriveyouupthewall.com.

By HY Markets Forex Blog

West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) traded near $100 a barrel on Monday, dragged lower by the decline in US non-farm payrolls and speculation the Federal Reserve could slowdown the pace of reducing its monthly bond purchases.

WTI crude for March delivery dropped 0.36% to $99.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at the time of writing, while the European benchmark Brent was down 0.55% to $108.97 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark Brent crude was at a premium of $9.42 to WTI.

WTI – Downbeat US Jobs Data

On Friday, the Bureau of Labour Statistics released the US non-farm payrolls which climbed by 113,000 last month, down from analysts forecast of an 180,000 rise.

In January, the economy added 75,000 new employees. While the unemployment rate slightly dropped from 6.7% to 6.6%, the lowest since 2008.

WTI – Fed Speculation

Oil traders are speculating that the downbeat US non-farm payrolls could persuade the Federal Reserve to slowdown the pace of reducing its easing policy at its next meeting scheduled for March 18-19.

Janet Yellow is expected to speak before Congress tomorrow for the first time as Fed chairman, following the central bank’s statement on Jan 29 to reduce its monthly bond  purchases by $10 billion.

This week oil traders will be focusing on the release of crude oil inventories reports from American Petroleum Institute and the US Energy Information.

Other news

Meanwhile in Libya, production from the second-largest oil field, Sharara, expanded by 327,000 barrels a day after the re-opening of a pipeline, according to Mohamed Elharari, spokesman for state-run NOC. Libya is holds the biggest crude reserves in Africa and member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In Iran, talks between the country and western powers over  the Persian Gulf’s nuclear program is still in focus and expected to continue next week in Vienna.

Visit www.hymarkets.com   to find out more about our products and start trading today with only $50 using the latest trading technology today.

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By HY Markets Forex Blog

Gold prices were seen trading higher on the first day of the trading week, driven by speculation that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could slowdown scaling back its easing policy and the release of the US jobs data which missed estimates.

Bullion for April delivery were seen higher for the second straight session, rising 0.60% higher to $1,270.50 per ounce at the time of writing, while silver futures climbed 0.87% higher, trading at $20.110 per ounce at the same time.

The US dollar index climbed 0.05% higher to 80.735 points as of the time of writing while demand in China expanded to a record last year, surging 41%, data from the China Gold Association confirmed.

Gold – US Jobs Data

On Friday, the Bureau of Labour Statistics released the US non-farm payrolls which climbed by 113,000 last month, down from analysts forecast of an 180,000 rise.

In January, the economy added 75,000 new employees. While the unemployment rate slightly dropped from 6.7% to 6.6%, the lowest since 2008.

Gold – Fed Speculation

The metal was driven by the speculation that the downbeat US non-farm payrolls could persuade the Federal Reserve to slowdown the pace of reducing its easing policy at its next meeting scheduled for March 18-19.

Janet Yellow is expected to speak before Congress tomorrow for the first time as Fed chairman, following the central bank’s statement on Jan 29 to reduce its monthly bond  purchases by $10 billion.

Holdings in the world’s largest exchange trade fund, SPDR Gold Trust came in at 797.05 tones on Friday, after expanding 0.5% last week, being the first two-week increase since August. Last year holdings in SPDR declined 41%.

Gold – China Demand

Traders from China resumed from their Lunar New Year Holiday. Demand in China, which probably overtook India as the world’s largest consumer last year, climbed to 1,176.4 tones  in 2013, according to China Gold Association.

China produced 428.16 tons in 2013, standing as the seventh year as the largest gold producer in the world.

Visit www.hymarkets.com   to find out more about our products and start trading today with only $50 using the latest trading technology today.

The post Gold Climbs on Fed-Taper Speculation appeared first on | HY Markets Official blog.

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