Tag Archives: stock markets

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Just A Minute!

Welcome to Monday’s ‘Just A Minute’. Here’s a 60 second summary of some of the key market activities today:

  • Main trading events of the day: UK Manufacturing PMI @ 09.30 & U.S. ISM Manufacturing @15.00 GMT
  • Stocks to watch: Yum Brands, Anadarko Petroleum & Sysco Corp
  • Which emerging market currency would you buy? Emerging market currencies have come under heavy selling in the wake of massive fund outflows but this hasn’t stopped long-term investors from seeking out buying opportunities. There will be some very attractive opportunities in emerging markets with some big opportunities in 2014. In a current survey conducted by CNBC which questions participants on their favourite emerging market currency, the Mexican Peso currently leads at 38%.

What We’re Watching Today: Energy

Some of the world’s largest oil companies have reported poor earnings. Profits at Exxon Mobil, the biggest U.S. oil company, are down 27 percent off its worst fourth-quarter earnings in four years. Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil major, saw its profits tumble 48 percent. Although ConocoPhillips reported a 74 percent jump in fourth-quarter net income, this was mainly from all the “non-core” assets it has unloaded recently. Production from continued operations is well below where it was a year ago so overall, there’s not much optimism out there.The world’s major oil companies all suffer from some version of the same problem, basically spending more money to produce less oil. The world’s cheap, easy-to-find reserves are virtually gone and are running out faster and faster. We’re keeping an eye on oil stocks…

Trading Tip:

Stock Market Volatility

There’s no escaping the fact that markets are volatile. Sometimes they are less so, but nonetheless, a certain level of volatility is always present. But what do you do when they become uncomfortably so? Investors have a clear choice: either fall victim to the volatility or embrace it in order to generate a profit. The strategy is simple: buy good companies when they dip on bad news that is likely to have a temporary effect in the short-term, but either no impact or a positive impact in the long-term. Good companies almost always recover from temporary setbacks. A refinement to the strategy is to watch for the news that the stock market perceives as bad in the short-term, but in reality is good news for the long-term. Watch those markets!

Source: Market Watch (WSJ)

Tech

Apple has been exploring a variety of different charging methods for its upcoming “iWatch” smart watch project. At the top of the list for Apple appears to be induction charging, allowing users to recharge their watches wirelessly. The iWatch is expected to sport a curved glass screen and incorporate a solar-charging layer into the screen, which could power the device during the daytime. Battery life has been one of the main reasons for the delay of the release of the iWatch. Keep a look out for news regarding this release as it could fire up Apple stock again…

That sums up Monday’s highlights! We wish you a prosperous start to the trading week. Remember to keep in touch with us on Facebook, Google+ & Twitter for all the latest news, information, tips and more! Trade with the experts and become a superior trader!

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Just A Minute!

Welcome to our new look Coffee Break page. Now you can catch up on some of the key highlights of your trading day in just a minute!

  • Main trading events of the day: EUR CPI Flash Estimate y/y @10.00 GMT & CAD GDP @13.30 GMT
  • Stocks to watch: Google, Amazon, Zynga & Chipotle
  • Other trading news: Amazon.com, Inc. reported Q4 EPS of $0.51, $0.15, worse than the analyst estimate of $0.66. Revenue for the quarter came in at $25.59 billion versus the consensus estimate of $26.06 billion

What We’re Watching Today:

Emerging Markets

While investors love the promise of high returns from emerging-market equities, there are not many of them to buy. Just how few are indicated on the map below. In many emerging markets, the value of all the freely traded shares of firms that feature in the local MSCI share index is equivalent to just one single Western firm! That means all the shares available in India are worth about the same as Nestlé while Egypt’s are equal to Burger King. This suggests that emerging economies need deeper, more liquid markets-and investors need more perspective. Worth bearing in mind if you’re trading.

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Tech

Facebook

Investors in Facebook who were worried about a possible slackening in the social network’s membership growth can stop worrying. Facebook says 170 million new users joined the service over the last year, bringing its total to 1.23 billion active monthly users around the world. Looking at this another way, Facebook added the equivalent of 73 percent of Twitter’s user base to its membership rolls in 2013. This amazing statistic came earlier in the week amid an upbeat earnings report from the world’s largest social network. No doubt this has quietened skeptics! As Mark Zuckerberg celebrates Facebook’s 10th birthday, it looks like it’s here to stay!

Stocks

As goes January … so expect a volatile year (so the saying goes….)

As we say goodbye to January, the stock market is down about 3 percent, and it has already set the tone for a much more challenging year. As goes January, so goes the year, is the adage. It has been right in 62 of the last 85 years, that’s 73 percent of the time. Since World War II, whenever the market was down in January, the average price change was usually flat in the remaining 11 months. Will history repeat itself again? Let’s see what February has in store…

That sums up Friday’s highlights! We’re back on Monday. Don’t forget, if you need to brush up your trading skills, why not visit our educational site this weekend? Banc De Binary’s free tutorial is easy to follow and can be done at your own pace. Learn with the experts and become a superior trader! Here’s the link www.bancdebinary.net

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Financial Astrology: Can The Stars Affect Stocks?

In our previous post we asked whether stock market success is down to luck, magic or bravery? It seems fitting, therefore, to look at another ‘outside’ factor that could affect your success in the stock markets…astrology. Could there be some credibility in the planets? Financial astrologers believe so…

Stock Market Prediction by Donald Bradley is a well-known book on the subject of financial astrology. Bradley’s method of foreseeing changes in the market involves assigning a numerical value to the position of the planets and stars on any given day. He then plots the values on a graph. The peaks and troughs of that line should, in theory, plot “turns” in the fortunes of stocks, bonds and commodities. It sounds inconceivable, but the model has been described by market watcher Peter Eliades as “eerily accurate”.

According to the Financial Times, financial astrology is “growing in popularity and complexity”. It’s mysterious that so many individuals who you’d imagine would rely on mathematical rationality are resorting to the stars for assistance and traders keep coming back for more. Could there be something in it? Astrology is arguably, superstition and perhaps the intense pressure of jobs such as those of the Wall Street traders makes them more likely to hunt for patterns in the stars. Superstitions in general tend to increase when people are under stress. The very complexity of the movements in the heavens also makes it likely that patterns will be detected where there is none. It’s no coincidence that the same can be true for those who study stocks.

Wall Street’s best-known astrologer, Arch Crawford, nicknamed “Crash Crawford” when he predicted the “flash crash” of 1962, is unbowed in his conviction that his method works. He claims to have predicted the 2008 crash when he spotted “some pretty ugly aspects, squares and oppositions and 45-degree angles”. Astral bodies arranged in squares, he says, give “energy” and that might lead to bad events on Earth. The energy was to be at its worst on October 10 and he predicted that would be the worst day. On October 10, the Dow Jones opened down 800 points.

But the 2008 crash was caused not by energy from outer space, but by toxic mortgages that were sold by the banks over a number of years and then repackaged in such a way that their toxicity was hidden from investors. These supposedly solid loans then collapsed, en masse. Thus, the crash.

In any case, is there still a chance that stock market success could be ‘written’ in the stars? It’s an interesting and exciting prospect, but like the lottery, we’re not taking our chances preferring instead, to opt for the more traditional methods of fundamental and technical analysis!

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