Forex and contracts for difference broker Tadawul FX has launched its Autochartist tool, aimed at helping CFD and forex traders identify trends and price movements in underlying markets to make better trading decisions.

Contracts for difference and forex traders using the Tadawul FX platform will today benefit from free access to the Autochartist tool, an application which helps chart and analyse market price data to help inform trading decision making.

Autochartist will be available to all Tadawul FX clients using both cloud and remote trading platforms, and can be tailored to fit the needs of traders using a wide variety of patterns and strategies.

The application can identify and draw price charts for some 3000 trading instruments across asset types and markets, making it one of the most comprehensive charting applications available for traders of all stages of experience.

A Tadawul FX spokesperson described Autochartist as ‘a key tool’ to make it easier to ‘quickly spot trends and trading opportunities,’ with existing Tadawul FX traders now able to seek immediate free access to the service through their account manager.

The Cyprus-based forex and CFD trading broker offers traders the chance to speculate on currency, commodities and contracts for difference across a range of financial and other markets.

Autochartist is a leading charting application, recommended by traders in making it easier to analyse and trade off charted market data.

Loosening inflationary pressures have helped UK producers record a decline in pricing through December, leading to forecasts of easing pricing pressures on consumers and businesses through the end of 2012.

The price of UK produced goods has fallen by 0.2% in December, surprising analysts to reflect easing inflationary pressures that could filter through to consumer and business pricing through the second half of the year.

According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, the drop was the first in UK producer pricing since June 2010, with a year-on-year rise of just 4.8% the lowest for some twelve months.

Analysts have suggested that the fall in pricing serves as an indicator that inflation will come down over 2012, which could fuel consumer demand and ease the burden on businesses looking to grow and invest.

While the UK rate of inflation stands at 4.8% in November, the Bank of England has advised that it anticipates inflation to fall to within the parameters of the UK’s target 2% inflation rate over the end of 2012 and into 2013.

Meanwhile, consumer and business demand remains weak as the UK economy continues to suffer from the overbearing impact of the Eurozone crisis, while public sector cuts suppress short-term domestic growth.

With the regional outlook more than uncertain, the UK economy is expected to feel a continued dampening effect through 2012 as a result of a combination of domestic austerity and wider macroeconomic fears across Europe.

The British Chambers of Commerce’s chief economist David Kern said that the figures were “moving in the right direction”, spelling lower consumer inflation through the coming twelve months.

The next round of funding for the Greek bailout may be in jeopardy following a breakdown in talks between the Greek government and the nation’s private lenders over a 50% write-off of debts, the successful conclusion of which is a condition of the next phase of finance from the EU and the IMF, prompting fears of another developing crisis in Athens.

The Greek economic crisis that has plagued the Eurozone is currently on the verge of another disaster as vital talks with private sector banks and lenders over a potential partial debt write-off have broken down.

Following the virtual collapse of the Greek economy, bailouts were secured from both the IMF and the EU in order to provide the funding vital to prevent total economic, political and social chaos. As an essential condition of the next phase of funding, Greece must secure a deal with its private lenders over a write-off of up to 50% of debts.

Lenders were said to have “not responded constructively” to attempts to secure the deal essential to ensuring the continuation of government in Athens. With default a certainty in the event talks fail to secure a sufficient deal, it is thought Greece could be forced to withdraw from the Euro, with catastrophic economic consequences for the region and Greece in the short term.

The news was met negatively across European markets, which were broadly down across the board on the news of the lack of any breakthrough, and the value of the euro against the dollar fell to its lowest rate in almost a year and a half.

While the news is seen as a blow, the IMF has said it expects talks to resume and is hopeful that the resumption of talks with lead to the “important” outcome of a debt write-off to satisfy the conditions of the bailout finance.

The German annual rate of inflation was 2.3% in 2011, outside the Eurozone target levels and posting the highest rate of growth since 2008 as high commodity and consumer commodity prices, in particular energy and fuel, push prices up faster year on year.

The rate of inflation in Germany was recorded as 2.3% for 2011, up from 1.1% in 2010 and 0.4% in 2009 to mark the highest rate of inflation since 2008. Inflation, which measures broad price rises across an economy, is considered to have a negative effect on economic growth, albeit helping to reduce the value of national debt.

Rising energy prices and high commodities markets were said to be the driving force behind the inflationary pressures, which are outside of the parameters set by the European Central Bank of 2%.

Petrol costs increased by 10% on the year, and rose by just under 14% when combined with the costs of heating, pushing an otherwise 1.3% rate of inflation to the 2.3% overall figure.

As the powerhouse of Europe, the German economy has a significant role to play in supporting the Eurozone through the current sovereign debt crisis, which is continuing to threaten stability across the region and the wider world.

With more major European economies being downgraded by credit ratings agencies, the burden on Germany may yet need to be much larger. As a result, signs of potential chinks in German economy armour could prove a cause for concern in future if the economy fails to perform to the standard required to drive European growth.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to keep UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%, the record low rate at which they have been held since March 2009 as senior policy makers remain concerned about the health of the economy and the potential impact of the unfolding Eurozone debt crisis.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted for interest rates to remain at their record low 0.5% rate, amidst growing concerns over the wellbeing of the UK and the wider European economy.

The Committee, which meets monthly to set central interest rates and quantitative easing policy, voted to keep rates at their all-time low, in an attempt to afford the economy a greater runway to improve and grow in spite of a range of challenges and regional difficulties.

Analysts had forecast the hold across the board, with no new quantitative easing measures included in the decision. Interest rates have been kept at 0.5% since Q1 2009, as the economy continues to falter and the Eurozone debt crisis continues to threaten a second global recession.

The downgrading of French and other European credit ratings looks set to intensify debt problems across some of the Eurozone’s most sizeable and significantly leveraged economies, which analysts fear could result in a UK, Europe-wide and potentially world-wide recession.

Furthermore, persistent concerns over weak consumer demand in the UK was cited as a prominent problem for economic growth, standing in the way of a strengthening in the economy. The move comes amidst virtually flat estimated growth figures for the UK over the last quarter of the year.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has suggested Q4 growth to be in the region of 0.1%, sufficient to squeeze the UK economy just over the line into positive territory, but nevertheless precarious given the challenges facing the UK economy over the short and medium term.

In the past years, almost 100,000 investors engaged in contracts for different or CFD trading as well as financial spread betting. This is primarily because of the vast opportunities presented for this kind of financial investment. As a matter of fact, there are so many ways that an investor can make in order to gain profits from these transactions. However, there are still lots of people who are quite skeptical and hesitant to take short positions on instruments like equities through the retail derivatives.

This trend among many investors engaged in CFD trading or financial spread betting is normal. What matters most is that the trend is still positive if you will look at it in the overall or wider perspective. Well, this is because according to the latest report on the financial spread betting and CFD trading, there are additional 7,000 investors who opened new accounts and put their trades for the next 12 months. Aside from that, it is also a good thing to know that the number of investors engaging in financial spread betting has increased by 6% from only 83,000 up to 88,000 that was recorded at the beginning of the fourth and final quarter of 2010.

On the other hand, the investors who are engaging in CFD trading also marked a slight increase of 4% with additional 1,000 new investors from its base figure of 25,000. These figures allowed more or less 8,000 individuals to trade both in the financial spread betting and CFD trading. At the end of the day, it has been noted that there is an increase of around 7.69% in the total number of traders who are active in both the trading system, which is from 91,000 to 98,000. The increase was noted in just three quarters of the year or nine (9) months.

Moreover, in a survey conducted in order to measure the intentions of the investors, it is projected that the number of people who will engage in spread betting will be around 16,000 and 20,000 while, on the other hand, the additional number of those who will start engaging in financial spread betting is estimated at 10,000 in the next 12 months of the year.

However, there is another thing or aspects that investors need to be wary about when it comes to CFD trading and even financial spread betting. This is about the coincidence between the above trend and to the volatility of the markett.

It is a fact that trading contracts for different or CFDs would be such a horrible experience if an investor is a newbie. This is because it entails lots of risks that may make you lose all of your possible earnings in an instant or fast. However, it is only true if the investor does not know the full risks involved in the transaction as well as the ways and tactics on how to minimize the exposure from the risks. Well, this is because in the first place, trading CFDs deals with the underlying assets that investors cannot physically hold. Aside from that, while the possible gains and earning is high, the potential of losing everything that an investor has is very high too when the market suddenly moves against the favorable direction.

Nevertheless, as stated above, there are some ways on how to minimize the exposure from the risks involved in trading CFDs and minimizing the possible level of losses too. Some of the things that can be done are making a plan and executing the stop loss orders and even the limit orders.

Making a Game Plan

First and foremost, making a game plan is a very important part of trading CFDs, whether you are a veteran or newbie in this field. As a matter of fact, those who are in this kind of business or activity for a long time already appreciate the important of making a plan first before entering the battle field. This is because this will make the transaction of any investor as organized and orderly as possible

When making the game plan for trading CFDs, this will require the investor to think about the tactics on how to execute the trade. This will also give direction and flow to the specific transaction. Aside from that, the investor will also be guided about the right time to enter a trade as well as the right time to exit such. Of course, the technicalities of setting up an account for trading CFDs are also a part of the plan.

Stop Loss and Limit Orders

On the other hand, there are some techniques and ways in order to makes trading CFDs efficient and effective. Among the best ways are those that will enable an investor to minimize the exposure from risks and losses like the stop loss and limit orders.

The stop loss orders are commonly being used in order to close the trade so that possible further losses can be prevented. There is also an option for a guaranteed stop loss in order to ensure that the specific trade that an investor entered into will be closed at a pre-determined level.

There are so many risks involved when an investor enters the realm of contracts for different or CFD trading. It is in this light that you have to do more actions and measure in order to minimize the risks involve for the transaction as well as to maximize the possible profits that an investor could earn. Well, this is because both the spread betting and the contracts for different usually carry very high level of risk to the capital of the investor. Aside from that, it can also make an investor lose all or more than his or her initial deposit.

Among the best things that an investor could explore has something to do with dealing with the different kinds of CFD providers. There are actually at least two (2) different kinds of CFD providers that are classified either as the advisory or discretionary contracts for difference while the other one is the execution-only type of service provider. In this view, there are few things that must be understood by an investor in terms of their differences, properties and characteristics.

On the one hand, the most common type of service provider is that execution-only service. This is because it is the more straightforward between the two and it is also more basic. What this means is that an investor opens an account for contracts for different trading followed by making the margin payment and finally taking the position. The par on the course figure is usually 0.10 to 0.20 per cent rate of the commission on the transaction.

On the other hand, the discretionary CFD service offers the investor to put his or her money to the hands of the service providers and the latter will be the one who will manage the contract transaction in behalf of the investor. The negative part of this is that there is a higher probability that the fees will be scattered in terms of the level and get out of control.

Thirdly, an investor can also explore negotiating with his or her service provider when it comes to contracts for difference or trading CFDs. This has reference to the level of the commission and other fees or charges involved to the transaction. For example, an investor can get rid of the interest charges by way of increasing the margin deposit up to as high as 80 and even 90 per cent.

Furthermore, an investor must also be aware of the classification o his or her account, whether it is intermediate or private and starter account. Aside from that, an investor needs to always remember to never engage in over-leveraging and putting all the assets in just one basket. The latter tells an investor to learn the proper way of asset and transaction diversification.

Among the most common types of instruments or ways of trading that can be entered into many investors are the spread betting and contract for difference (CFD). Normally, most of the investors are quite averse for risks and volatility. This is because it is the usual thing in investment to make sure for security. However, there are still some investors who are making profit from the changes on the prices. This is when both the spread betting and contracts for different become profitable for some people.

However, while both of these spread betting and contracts for different are trading on the prices ups and downs, they still have their own respective characteristics. What this means is that spread betting is still distinct and different from contract for different. As a matter of fact, there are some commonalities and differences of these two. These are about the taxation treatment, currency risks as well as hedging strategies and options.

On the one hand, when it comes to the taxation treatment, there are some important differences between spread betting and contracts for difference. The former is legally treated as form of gambling in many countries. Hence, the profits or earnings that an investor gets from the transaction are free from capital gains taxation. However, when it comes to contract for difference, there are taxes levied for the earnings. The good thing about this is that the losses can be written off as well. Hence, choosing the right option would primarily depend from your taxation status.

In terms of hedging strategies against some unexpected movements in the market, then this instance would suggest that you have to choose contracts for different, most especially if you already have a considerably large stock of portfolio. However, if you dare to trade just because you want to make profit from speculation, this instance would tell you that spread betting is the best option for you rather than the contracts for difference. This would also give you higher amount of profit.

Moreover, in times of currency risks, spread betting is the most practical method of trading. This is because of you are engaged in contract for difference or CFD trading, you are more exposed from currency risks, most especially on share as well assets. If this is the case, then the possible losses from being exposed on these risks would be difficult to write off or mitigate.

When it comes to Contracts for Different or CFD trading there are several major reasons why it is highly advisable to take positions various indices, most especially now. One main reason is that taking a position in a specific asset is commonly restricted or limited. However, CFD trading positions on index gives a certain degree of flexibility to the investors since they will be allowed to trade in a particular segment of the market. Alternatively, this can also be done to a much broader scope of the national market.

Moreover, with the ongoing market volatility, there are so many CFD traders who are looking on what will be the outcomes of this current instability in the financial market. While there are so many uncertainties in the financial world today due to the issues on European and United States debts, more and more investors are venturing in CFD trading for different indices like the FTSE, Dax as well as S&P and Dow Jones.

Positions on Commodity Indices

One of the most common strategies nowadays when it comes to financial trading is taking positions on one or more commodities indices. Well, this is because it allows an investor to have a view on the said commodities even without suffering or exposure from the natural currency risks. By taking a look to the historical data of the price of both gold and silver, it will be noticed that the current price ratio of the two metal commodities is 40 times greater than if you will compare it during the 1980s. Since it appears that the silver is seen as more valuable nowadays against the gold, investors are challenged to monitor the movements of the prices of these two. In this view, this will allow all the CFD traders and investors to have a closer look when the gap on the ratio begins to narrow down.

The important part here is that the investors are not exposed to the problems in the foreign exchange market. Hence, they can focus more on the movements of the prices of both gold and silver as well as the price ratio of the two.

When to Sell, When to Buy

As the volatility in the indices prevails, one highly recommended strategy is to play on the ranges instead of being fixated to the medium-term trends of the market. What “playing the ranges” mean is that you can sell into strength while buy weaknesses. This is because there are some reports that an index seems to be extremely down on a particular day but the losses are clawed back the following day.

This year is full of uncertainties in many aspects, most especially in the financial market across the world. This is because there were lots of commotions all over the world that affect different spheres of the economy like what happened in the Northern America, Middle East as well as in the Euro Zone because of the recent debt crisis. In this view, there are so many investors who are seeking for a more stable ground as well. One of the opportunities that many investors found is the new highs on different commodities denominated in dollar, most especially the oil and other forms of precious metals.

Opportunities in Oil

It is evident in the newspapers and television that the US crude oil products are at its lowest since 2008. This can be associated with some political and social events that heavily affected the oil price like the raids in Libya, which is a member of the OPEC or the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It is known that being an OPEC member makes a country to have a say or influence to the supply of this commodity; hence, to the price as well. Due to this, the prices for both the crude and oil will most likely climb in a much higher level in the future.

The Golden Age for Precious Metals

As expected by many investors in CFD trading, gold and other precious metals are among the primary benefactors of different worldwide financial uncertainties. Since the dollar is really week, the yellow metal or the gold replaced the former as the more favored currency. As a matter of fact, it has been noticed already that the price of gold significantly rose for more than eight per cent (8%) already since the year begun. It even reached a new record level of around $1,518.60 per ounce of gold in the market.

Shifting Currency

There are other opportunities for investors in CFD trading when the dollar is currently going down. Another strategy would be to shift currency. This is actually being implemented in different parts of Europe today. For example, there are several CFD providers that are already offering platforms in sterling. What this means is that those dollar-denominated commodities can now be trader in sterling when it comes to CFD trading. Hence, this eliminates the dollar component of the instrument. While this can be a great opportunity too, investors must be wary about this too since there are some limitations and restrictions to this.

The performance of stocks and spread betting, futures and cfds over the past few months has not been one of its better times, and in fact for the better part of previous months various instruments have been on a downward trend. The decline is mostly due to political factors as well as economic factors such as the euro zone debt crisis. This situation has influenced a very large percentage of the market behaviour. As an example of the effects, over the past few months the Dow fell by 14% as well as the S&P 500 top companies ended on a 16% low. Not to mention how the FTSE 100 dropped 16%.

Investors in various instruments such as CFD trading have had little options whilst many have dealt with constant fears of the escalation of the Euro Zone debt problem as well as slowed economic growth and recovery globally. With all this being acknowledged by policy makers and governments, they have they have yet to create any significant decisions to restore the marketplace.

Many analysts are of the opinion that stock prices will rise by the end of the year yet sceptics been critical of this prediction, stating that the issues that have created this financial disaster has not been resolved, yet there has been actions taken toward addressing the crisis, however it is not sufficient to return the market back to its prior status.

Technically speaking if at all the S&P hits below 1,126 then the obvious target will be 1880 which is actually an August low, furthermore many analyst believe that S&P top 500 can manage to see through the storm and predict a return to as low as 1200 on short order. Technically the FTSE 100 there is a possibility to fall from 4960 to 4800, not a very huge drop you may argue but surely very significant from a trading perspective.

Recent events do not seem nearly enough to be returning stocks and other derivatives to the reasonable prices as they are accustomed to. This situation has the ability to fix itself, but only if the European sovereign default can be averted both practically and psychologically; there is a very good chance to alleviate the situation.

Equities in the last week have literally defied the odds in fact the remarkable performance of the same has relatively been unexpected. However equities do look to be weathering the storm of the financial crisis very well. In essence, the FTSE 100 rose above its 100-day moving average reaching around the 5500 mark at the end of the trade day on Friday.

Whilst there is little that can be attributed to this sudden change of course in equities and CFD trading in general, many experts point out to the increasing confidence by investors that an eminent recession slump of markets due to stalled economic growth and recovery is about to be averted at least for the time being. Furthermore, the recovery of the US market has been exceptionally great and it does look that it favours equities more than it does any other instrument. All in all however the true task is how to sustain this remarkable momentum given the current stalemate. The task will entail addressing the apparent Euro zone Sovereign default and how to lower targets by economists towards greater global economic growth. Many investors in Europe must get their house in order and get it quite quickly yet here is a very unlikely chance that that will happen soon, due to the concern about the outcome of the Wednesday summit of European leaders.

For any impact to be realized following this summit in CFDs trading the outcome has to be clear no matter how brutal it may seem. According to commentators and financial watchdogs, there is an inevitable need to cut Greeks debt by at least 21% through a private sector intervention program as well as a clear consensus on the amount of money that will be availed to help in recapitalization of bankrupt financial institutions as well as those in the blink of bankruptcy. Even though these will be very complicated decisions to be made the leading European economies have no choice and in fact, Germany, France and Britain know better than anybody else let alone CFDs traders that if at all the Euro zone debt is defaulted, the knock over effects on these countries’ economies and financial markets will be absolutely massive.

Harmonizing the Euro zone fiscal policy still remains on the cards but to come up with such an agreement there has to be a long term commitment by the major stake holders. However the practicality of that is in doubt as not many countries would want to hand over their monetary policy particularly at these periods of instability in financial markets and global economies.

With all eyes on the unemployment report and Europe, the CME Group’s PR Department nearly created an all out panic with their announcement after the market close on Friday relating to futures maintenance margin. The original statement was vague and I was quite concerned until I checked out the CME Group’s web-page and the PR Department sent an update clarifying their position. At this point I think the crisis has been averted, but this is just another reminder that we live in “interesting times.”

Keep in mind that if the CME starts raising margin rates across the board for futures contracts in order to protect themselves stocks and commodities could collapse. Silver recently has is margin rates increased and silver since then dropped 25% in value. So imagine if they raised the rates for more commodities…

The current price action in the marketplace pales in comparison to the world’s geopolitical tensions and deteriorating social mood. In my trading career, I have never seen the price action in the indices react so violently to intraday headlines and rumors. Risk is high and the types of traders profiting from this market are day traders and very short term traders with trades lasting  just a couple hours to 24 hours in length. Aggressive trading which small position sizes is all that can be done right now. This is not meant to be investment advice, but more as a function of the market environment in which we find ourselves currently trading within.

Right now it is hard to say where price action in the broader indices heads in the short-run.  One headline out of Greece or Italy could dramatically alter economic history. In the intermediate term I remain neutral to bearish for a number of reasons. One indicator I follow is the bullish percent index on the S&P 500 which at this point is arguing for lower prices.

It is critical to point out that while I do believe a pullback is likely, I will not rule out a rally into the holiday season. Much of the near-term price action is going to be dictated by headlines coming out of Greece and the rest of Europe. In addition to Greece, Italy is also starting to see increased concern regarding an unsustainable fiscal condition. Depending on how the European Union handles the varying degrees of risk in the near term, we could see price action react violently in either direction.

With the market capable of moving in either direction, I wanted to point out some key price levels which should act as clues regarding potential future price action in the S&P 500. The two key support levels to monitor on the S&P 500 Index are the 1,240 and 1,220 price levels.

While I am neutral in the intermediate to longer term presently, in the short run I have to lean slightly bearish simply because of the future headline risk and also because a major head and shoulders pattern has been carved out on the hourly chart of the S&P 500 Index. This type of chart pattern is synonymous with bearish price action.

Right now I remain slightly bearish, but should the head and shoulders pattern fail and/or we begin to see multiple positive reactions to news coming out of Europe a strong rally into the holiday season is likely. Unfortunately all we can do is monitor the key price levels and wait patiently for Mr. Market to tip his hand.

Until we see a breakout in either direction, we could see price action inhabit the 1,220 – 1,290 price range for several weeks before we get any more clarity of future direction. Until I see a breakout, I will remain relatively neutral with a slight short term bias to the downside based on price patterns in the shorter term time frames. This is a tough market to trade in, and I don’t want to get chopped around or do any heavy lifting. I’m going to focus my attention on high probability, low risk trade setups until directional biased trades make more sense.

In closing, I will leave you with the thoughtful muse of the late Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan,

“For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future.”

Market Analysis and Thoughts By:

Chris Vermeulen – ETF Trading Videos & Trade Alerts – www.GoldAndOilGuy.com

JW Jones – Options Trading videos & Options Alerts – www.OptionsTradingSignals.com

This material should not be considered investment advice. Under no circumstances should any content from this article be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. This material is not a solicitation for a trading approach to financial markets. Any investment decisions must in all cases be made by the reader or by his or her registered investment advisor. This information is for educational purposes only.

CFD SPY is pleased to publicize to its clients that the worldwide leader in Financial Spread trading, Contracts For Difference investment and margined foreign exchange City Index has been awarded two honours at the 2011 MoneyAM Online Finance Awards. City Index succeeded as the Best Online Spread Betting Service and Best Mobile Trading Platform, both chosen by the readership of MoneyAM.
The upgrade of its City Trading™ mobile app, available on the iPhone™ and Android was the main reason behind City Index successfully defending its 2010 Best Mobile Trading Platform title, this newest developed app, which is also Financial Times improvement of 2010, contains live streaming charts and a live newsfeed from Dow Jones Newswires.

The chief market strategist of City Index Joshua Raymond expressed that the company is pleased that the readers of Money AM has voted them the Best Mobile Trading Platform two years in row.

In addition, Joshua Raymond states that the Financial Spread Betting, CFDs trading and margined foreign exchange worldwide leader City Index dedicates a huge amount of resources to mobile technology because it is understood that the value of the broker’s clients being able to trade whenever they want, wherever they are. Furthermore, being first to market a live trading application for iPhone and Android mobile devices and the continual upgrading of our mobile platforms is testament to that dedication.

Full City Index Review.

At Spread Co we are committed to continually improving our services to you. One tool that helps us do so is the annual, industry wide, Investment Trends spread betting and contracts for difference (CFD) trading survey.

Everyone who completes this anonymous survey can elect to receive any or all of these benefits:

• Complimentary one month subscription to ADVFN Level 2 service
• Four complimentary issues of Shares Magazine
• One month complimentary subscription to MoneyAM.com website with live prices
• Enter a draw for one of three 3G enabled 32GB Apple iPads 2 valued at £579
  
• Highlighted findings from this survey, a great way to find out other traders’ views
  

Investment Trends will also award an additional 3G enabled 32GB Apple iPad 2 for the most comprehensive response*.

Please complete the survey by following the link below or pasting it into your
internet browser:

http://investmenttrends.co.uk/surveyl/sbcfd11/spreadco.php?a

Depending on your answers, the survey should take about 20 minutes (but may take slightly more or less depending on your level of trading).

We would appreciate it if you could complete your entry by midnight on Sunday 31th
July 2011.

Best of luck in the draw, and thank you in advance for your feedback.

The CBI’s Industrial Trends Survey has showed strong order books across the UK manufacturing industry, as the sector continues to enjoy a robust recovery despite rising costs and the pressures of inflation on manufacturing businesses.

UK manufacturing businesses have reported persistently strong demand over the last month, according to the output from the latest CBI Industrial Trends Survey, reflecting a strong sector-wide recovery, despite the ongoing threat of inflation on costs.

The monthly Industrial Trends Survey, which surveys manufacturers throughout the UK, said that orders remained better than expected, up 1% against analyst expectations of a 5% decline.  The figure is also significantly higher than the long-term outlook, suggested to be -18%, and some 27% of respondents said orders were stronger than normal.

The UK manufacturing sector has enjoyed modest prosperity with economy-beating growth, perhaps suggesting a partial realignment of the DNA of the UK economy.  However, above-target inflation continues to pose a threat to manufacturing businesses, with many respondents fearing they may have to increase their prices to offset rising costs.

Some 31% of respondents suggested that price rises over the next three months were a serious consideration, as global commodity prices continue to remain high, and wider inflation continues to pressurize margins.

Ian McCafferty, from the CBI said that while manufacturing orders were undoubtedly “healthy”, there remained an “acute threat” over rising inflation, and the resulting knock-on impact of such for the sector as a whole.

A clampdown on the rules surrounding CFD and margined trading looks set to change the face of Australian trading, as regulators look poised to tighten restrictions for consumer investors.

Consumer investors may require more rigorous vetting for suitability as a result of the growing popularity of CFDs as a retail investment product, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The Australian regulator, responsible for overseeing trading and financial markets, has expressed concern over the suitability of many retail investors in CFDs, citing fears of an under-appreciation of the risks and dangers of dealing in margined, leveraged products like CFDs.

With the potential to lose unlimited amounts of money on wayward CFD trades and the need for robust capital reserve to guard against the risks of exposure, ASIC has promised a review of CFDs and other OTC financial products to ensure consumers are afforded the fullest degree of protection against unsuitable investment types – a move welcomed by industry representatives.

Greg Medcraft from ASIC said that the increasing interest amongst “mum and dad investors” meant a top down review of OTC derivatives including CFDs was a necessary step to address the inherent risks for often under-capitalised consumers trading on margin.

Currency trading is becoming more popular with spread betters and retail investors in general. It is easy to understand why. There are immense volumes in currency trading, after all this is the oil that keeps the wheels of international trade and investment moving. This means that there is always a market for currency trading, night and day, and this also means that there are markets for even some fairly obscure trades.

The size of the market does not just mean that the market is always open; it also means that some of the tightest spreads are in the currency markets, particularly for the large trades such as sterling against the dollar, euro or yen. There are also constant moves on these markets as the market changes from minute to minute.

So if you are starting in currency trading what should you do?

Here are some tips that have been given by experts who are small investors:

• Choose commonly traded currencies. The information is already likely to be in the market. The Polish Zloty may offer fantastic opportunities but much of the information is likely to be in a language you don’t understand.
• Do not have very tight stop losses, as the stop losses are likely to be triggered in an average day as currency moves around more than stocks.
• If you are new, avoid days when there are big announcements, as the market can go crazy on those days.
• Read. This is one area where macro economic trends, and their perception by the market, really matter.