Author: Editor

High – Frequency Trading (HFT) – Why to Use

The high-frequency trading algorithm or HFT provides fast and profitable trades. Learn how.

By Guy Avtalyon

The high-frequency trading algorithm or HFT is one of the two main types of algorithms. The other is the execution algorithm.
HFT trading means to engage multiple algorithms in order to examine various markets. The orders execution is based on market conditions.

It is a program trading platform that utilizes robust processors to conduct a large number of orders very fast. Actually, the whole operation takes less than one second.

And it is a very important feature for traders.

The speed of trade execution will decide if you are a profitable trader or you are not. The logic behind this is that HFT provides you a fantastic speed in trading. So, you can gain your targeted price faster than, let’s say, ancient trader, is going to do.

The advantage of high-frequency trading is that it provides you a permanent view on markets condition because it follows market data in real-time.

Is a High-frequency trading set in today’s markets?

But there are some misunderstandings yet.

HFT is very often a cause of disagreement among traders. The traditional traders don’t like algo trading at all.
Yes, we understand why is that.

HFT leads to some effects, very unknown to some market experts. Their opinion about the algo trading is the same.
First of all HFT trading provides traders more advantages in the main processes.

HFT applications can hit even a very small profit from huge numbers of executions. You must know that there are a million executions every single day in the markets all over the world.

High-frequency trading will never hold the position for a long time.

The old-fashioned traders say it can cause great volatility and results with losses when it goes wrong.

Well, their opinion is not quite mistaken.
Let’s say it is possible. And we will recall the year 2012 when really was tricky.

HFTs caused the knockdown to Knight Capital Group. After that accident, in many countries, HFT was reduced. For example, Italy has the rule to tax 0.02% on the transaction that takes less than 0.05 seconds. The rule was launched in September 2013.
The other problem with HFT is there is no generally recognized definition. So, that can open the space for some confusion.

The truth is that the digital era requires digital work for which we need digital equipment. This digital tool leads us to speed business and the trader’s business is to execute their trades fastest as it is possible. But the principle is the same as centuries before: when you are in the market, you would like to buy or to sell. And HFT provides traders to do it. Fast, very fast.
Let’s break down HFT trading.

What is high-frequency trading?

The high-frequency trading is called ”black box” trading.

It indicates to automated systems that regularly use complicated algorithms to buy and sell securities. Extremely fast!
In the same manner, the algorithms do it at a much larger range than any individual is able to do.

Previously we said that HFT provides a very small profit from huge numbers of executions, but thanks to the high speed and large volume they produce great returns to traders.

How does it work?

The algorithm follows a “quote level” that is created including bid and ask. In volatile markets, the quote level can be changed in a second. Honestly, it could happen several times in a very short frame time.

And the algorithm is going to do what? It will place your trade in the right direction and faster than you can do it by yourself.
Without the algorithm, you will not be able to recognize all the opportunities. You might miss something extremely significant.
Yes, you can tell how and when your trades should go, but even you are fast-acting on your mouse or mobile interface, it will take time.

Moreover, the algorithm will buy and sell the same stock multiple times in a brief period of time. This means the algorithm will trade several hundred times in a single day.

Yeah, here is some problem with that. Say, you are paying $1 commission. WOW! Be careful with your HF trading! But returns you can gain are bigger.

Remember, you are using artificial intelligence.

You have to know that 75% of US stock trades are placed by algorithms. This number will expand soon and it will continue.
Why we are so sure of that?

We people, humans, will never have such ability to process that volume of data, we will never have the possibility to estimate all information required to make a trade before our rivals. Sometime we will do that, but most of the time we will not. And to make a good decision we need time.

Algorithms are able to operate with a million bits of data in one millisecond, at the same time they are able to make decisions and act.

All alone! Of course, when you turn it on.

So, why to use High-frequency trading (HFT)?

High-frequency trading demands the lowest latency in order to keep a speed advantage over the retail traders. Complex algorithms are at the core of these programs. The algorithms give directions for acting to market circumstances based on highly automatic signals.

Behind these programs lays very complicated coding. Millions, even billions of lines of code. Some of the biggest HFT companies have a continual profit during 1,000 trading days without a single loss.

The speed, access, capital, and no holding time make advantages. And risk-averse and latency too. Latency is the time it takes for data to reach its endpoints. When latency is low that means higher speed.

HFT has led to tighter bid-ask spreads.

It makes transaction costs lower. The liquidity increased and pricing efficiency is raised. The main concerns about HFT are the ability to accent and stimulate market changes.

For example, there is some risk with some out-of-control algorithm. Also, there are traders who can manipulate the market because they are scammers familiar with programming. That’s why every trader who wants to employ HFT has to be very careful when downloading such apps.

Happy trading!

15th April 2019
Pinterest is Pinning for IPO

2 min read

Pinterest wants to go public

Pinterest could be going public in early 2019 probably to the end of April.

According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, Pinterest, the social media for image discovery and sharing, is almost ready for an IPO.

It has a very extensive service but still, it is a profitless company. The question arises here, can such a company provoke the investors to invest in it. Is there, in the market, the demand for companies like this?

Anyway, Pinterest is approaching to the stock market with big strides. It has set a price span for the opening public offering below private-market peg of $12 billion. That is less than any current private estimates of the company. That means Pinterest shares could be priced at between $15 and $17 when it goes public. The Pinterest stock ticker on the NYSE should be, according to their expectation, PINS.

Pinterest, in late March, published an offering to latent investors. The document showed very interesting data. This company had about $756 million in income from online advertisements in 2018. Their income growth rate in 2018 was increased, which raised for 60% year on year. The main trump card in their hands is the fact that over 256 million people and 1.5 million companies use the Pinterest platform at least once per month.

Pinterest’s price range discourages some investors because of the overflow of tech IPOs this year.

All of us can witness about Lyft struggle on the market and sharks they met there. Well, the Lyft is an unprofitable company, that’s, true. But their shares fell below the offering price after only two days trading in the market.

“People are looking at Lyft and realizing that even if the roadshow goes extremely well and there is a lot of demand, you can’t overprice the offering,” said Elliot Lutzker, corporate and securities partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron for the NYT.

And the main game will come soon as the Uber, the largest of these contemporaries of tech start-ups, also has plans to run public in the next few months.

Their estimated value is about $120 billion. Uber can easily be the biggest IPO by some US company.
So, it can be very tricky for both Pinterest and Lyft to manage their public appearance with Uber included as competition.

It is obvious that Pinterest is trying its show on the road. Their plan is to make the institutional investors more interested before the first day of trading and final IPO pricing.

If investors respond with high demand in the following days, Pinterest’s shares price could increase in value.
The other important fact when valuing Pinterest is that it has $628 million in cash on its balance sheet.

But there is also another count behind. The private investors

In total, private investors have put almost $1.5 billion behind Pinterest. If Pinterest’s shares go between $15 an $17 (Pinterest plans to sell 86.3 million shares at an initial offering, which is $12 billion valuations).

The company’s initial investors will still have huge earnings.

The Pinterest biggest shareholders are Bessemer Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, FirstMark Capital. According to NYT, they don’t have to be worried about IPO price range: Bessemer will be good at $952 million, FirstMark Capital would deserve $710, and Andreessen Horowitz will be good at $696.

Pinterest’s IPO really may be an examination of how much it can interest investors who are seeking fast-growing companies. Would they want to buy shares of the company with just 60% of growth in one year?

Well, anyway we will see very soon if murmur can beat the quality. There is a big hype surrounding Pinterest, and other tech unicorns and decacorns this year.

Don’t waste your money!

risk disclosure

9th April 2019
Forex Trading in the Indian Market is Not Fully Legal

Indian Forex market is not fully legal

By Guy Avtalyon

Forex trading in the Indian market is legal. RBI puts a lot of restrictions on trading, but still, there are possibilities for Indian residents to participate in the Forex market.

So, we can say, it is allowed to trade Forex inside Indian Exchanges. All resident Indian or companies, banks, and other financial organizations can trade in the currency market.

But Foreign Institutional Investors and Non-Resident Indians are not allowed to trade in the currency market. So, once again if you are resident Indian, you can trade currency over Indian exchanges like NSE, BSE, or MCX-SX. The main currency pairs are USDINR, EURINR, GBPINR, and JPYINR.

The point is that you can trade with respect to those two conditions: being resident Indian and the broker you choose is in the club of the exchanges mentioned above.

In those cases, Forex trading in India is unquestionably legal.

Forex trading in India is legal and safe.

There is remarkably strong regulation established by the RBI concerning Forex trading.

The problem is that RBIs regulation allows you to trade only 4 currency pairs, USD/INR, EUR/INR, GBP/INR, and JPY/INR.
But, it is possible to trade.

Yes, you cannot open an account out of the country, you have to trade with registered Indian brokers and listed currency pairs.
So, take this suggestion! If you are resident Indian and want to neglect the laws, you can also open an account using offshore exchanges. But you are doing that at your own risk.

Converting the INR to other currencies for the purpose of trading the FX markets with abroad Forex brokers is an illegitimate project. Such action in India is strictly against the law and can bring draconian penalties and also the prison.

How to do a Forex trading as an Indian trader

This is where things are a bit tricky. If you live in the rest of the globe, trading forex is the normal and regular thing.

For example, if you are a resident of some EU country or you live in the US, you can trade any currency pair in the world. You can trade even over unregulated brokers, at your risk of course. But when you trade on Forex market that is pretty unregulated you are trading at your risk anyway.

When it occurs in India, it is quite complex.

Is Forex trading fully legal in India

The problem is that trading currencies in Forex trading in the Indian market is not fully legal.

You have only one possibility, and it is the same for the resident Indian, you can trade only the currency pairs that have INR (Indian Rupee). And you may choose among 4 currency pairs USD/INR, EUR/INR, GBP/INR, and JPY/INR.

What is the story behind this? We assume one possible scenario. The US dollar is the most popular and the most traded currency.

And INRs value in comparison with the US dollar is too low. So, if many traders would like to buy dollars, the Central Bank of India could be short. The next what the Central Bank of India could do is to buy dollars. But the price would not be the same. It could be much much higher. It is possible at worse rates and INR will continue going down.

That sounds logical.

In the same way, online trading and using online platforms are not allowed for Indian citizens. Foreign brokers can offer their services in Forex trading in the Indian market. Though, Indian traders can trade only with brokers certified by SEBI. And again, they can trade only currency pairs denominated in INR.

This the moment when we have to say that it would be smart to reconsider those limits. In such a case, Indian Forex traders could enjoy full currency trading.

As we heard and read several times, the Indian government is contemplating eliminating the restrictions in order to provide the other popular pairs to be traded. That will be nice.

Until then, if you want to trade with abroad brokers, you should be sure that they have the required licenses.

Our recommendation is to choose the approved Forex broker that has an extraordinary credit. It isn’t hard to find some, for example, TradeO.

Trading Platforms for Forex trading in the Indian market

For Indian traders, it is impossible to use online Forex platforms or software. Simply, it is illegal.

But still, not all Indian traders are citizens of India, so they can use them.

For those who can trade online from India, there are few things to consider.

Choose the broker with a user-friendly interface.

Also, it has to easy to manipulate.

The button that can close all of your positions when you want that has to be included and visible.

Further, your broker must offer you several platforms. One, for example, Metatrader 4 or Metatrader 5, that you can download and at least one to trade from your browser.

The most convenient is if you choose the broker that provides you to download the app. You can easily install it on your phone.

So, you don’t have to be stick to one place when you want to trade.

When it comes to account types, the majority of brokers will allow you to open the account with a small deposit. It can be, for example, $50-$100.

But maybe you want to trade with a much bigger amount of money. Anyway, you should contact your chosen broker and discuss the rules, and find out which type of account suits you best.

Also, you should check if your broker has a free demo account. Either you are an advanced or beginner trader. Trading on a free demo account will give you the view of how the platform works, or you can learn more before you give them your money.
Happy trading, India!

9th April 2019
Morgan Stanley Taking Lyft For A Short Ride?

3 min read

Lyft, a popular ride-hailing app, has gone public on 29th of March this year, but since then their ride was a bit bumpy. And for that, they blame the Morgan Stanley, the underwriter of IPO for their direct competitor Uber

When Lyft got listed on the market on March 28 stock was priced at $72 dollars. When next day it started trading it opened at $87.33, but quickly reached the high of $88.10 and closed at $78.29, 8.7 percent above its listed price. On Monday, April 1, it has closed at $69.01, just short of $3 dollars under the price the initial investors have paid it. Since then it has recovered and is moving above the listing price, but Lyft still has a long ride ahead.

Reports said: Morgan Stanley is trying to short Lyft

According to the report from the New York Post, based on the unnamed sources, Morgan Stanley is trying to short Lyft. Though the NY Post has a bit of a reputation, the Monday drop in stock price precedes some rather bizarre bets. Recently Lyft has sent an email to their pre-IPO investors reminding them are not allowed to commit to any transactions that might affect a holder’s economic interest in the stock. Allegedly, this and the language of the “lock-up” agreements have led investors to hedge their investments, and not trying to earn from the fall of the stock price. A “lock-up” agreement is a legally binding contract issued by the underwriters of an IPO that prohibits people close to the company, including executive and employees, from selling shares for a period of time, in the case of Lyft for 6 months.

Despite the fact that Lyft has yet to report any profits, IPO has attracted a lot of attention and actually getting oversubscribed on the second day of trading. According to the same NY Post report, Morgan Stanley has contacted one of the IPO’s underwriter in an attempt to seek help in shorting the stock. Allegedly, Morgan’s customers who have invested in the Lyft before IPO are attempting to protect their investment from price fall, contrary to the “lock-up” the agreement and the bank is offering them such product. And the report is citing an unnamed investor saying “If I can lock in $70 now, I’m going to do that”.

Do you know what the Shorting stock does mean? Find HERE

Lyft is demanding

And Lyft has decided to respond to this situation. According to reporting of CNBC, they are threatening Morgan Stanley with a lawsuit over this situation. In a letter, which CNBC had reviewed, Lyft is demanding that the bank publicly state that they are not helping early investors in short-selling the stock. But also demand that if they are selling such product to hand over a list of shareholders who are involved. While Lyft has requested a response by the end of the day on April 2, Morgan Stanley is yet to officially reply to these allegations.

However, in the statement to CNBC, a bank’s spokesperson have stated that Morgan Stanley “did not market or execute, directly or indirectly, a sale, short sale, hedge, swap or transfer of risk or value associated with Lyft stock for any Lyft shareholder identified by the company or otherwise known to us to be the subject of a Lyft lock-up agreement.”

In the reported letter Lyft and the IPO syndicate are accusing Morgan Stanley of creating a special instrument which allows pre-IPO investors to circumvent the “lock-out” agreement and short-sell the stocks. “Our firm’s activity has been in the normal course of market-making, and any suggestion that Morgan Stanley has engaged in an effort to apply ‘short pressure’ to Lyft is false,” the spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said.

The single largest transaction

According to CNBC’s report quoting an unnamed person close to Morgan Stanley operations, short-selling accounts for 1.3% of Lyft’s trading volume, with single largest transaction accounting for 425,000 shares. Also, according to this report, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulatory organization of the US banking industry may have been involved in this matter.

Maybe the strangest thing in this dispute between Lyft and Morgan Stanley is the reports from market analysts, including the Citron Research one of the investors in Lyft, calling the shorting of the company an “amateur short”. Citron has published a report stating five reasons to not short Lyft, chiefly stating projection of the Goldman Sachs that ride-hailing industry will grow to $285 billion by 2030. With that in mind, Morgan Stanley has secured the underwriting deal for Uber’s IPO, the direct and much larger competitor of Lyft. And according to CNBC’s reporting Lyft has addressed the above-mentioned letter also to the bankers who are managing the Uber’s IPO, which is interesting as the short-selling products are created in a different division of the bank, separate from investment banking.

Don’t waste your money.
risk disclosure

8th April 2019
Currency Trading Guide For Beginners

3 min read

Currency trading, also foreign exchange or Forex trading, is the buying and selling of currencies. That is happening in foreign exchanges or in the foreign marketplace. The main goal is to make a profit.

Often you can find it is called ‘speculative Forex trading.’

The main difference between currency trading and other trading is the liquidity of the Forex market.

When you participate in the forex market, in essence, you have to buy one currency and sell for another at the same time.
This is called a currency pair.

Each one is interpreted by three letters. The first two letters describe the name of the country. So, the third letter interprets the name of the currency.

How can you make a currency trade?

Currency trading: Currency pair

Currency trading is regularly executed completely over brokers and market makers.

If you want to trade in the Forex market you will depend on the brokers in order to execute a trade.

The first thing you have to do is to pick a currency pair.

If you make a mistake, it could lead to a losing trade.

So, we recommend you to choose between seven major currencies. Honestly, you have to pick one of existing seven. It isn’t a big deal!

But there some problem may arise.

There are some traders who have difficulties pairing up currencies. Sorry, but we have to say that.

Some others cannot recognize which pair will perform the best.

As we said, there are 7 major currencies. And, they are most traded.

You have no other choice than to trade them in pairs.

Currency trading: 7 major currencies

The first mistake you may make is to pick your pair based on some country’s economy. Don’t do that because your profit will depend on your position while trading on particular currency pair.

That means if you are willing to be a day trader or very active trader you will probably pick 4 or even all 7 pairs.

On the other hand, if you prefer to be a long-term trader you would like to wait and see which pair perform the best. Such traders always want to catch the best opportunity and they rather wait than to hurry.

Say, you are a conservative trader.

What you have to know?

Number one, the forex market is open for currency pairs’ trading 24 hours a day. From 6 PM on Sunday in New York, to 4 PM on Friday.

Each day starts at the Sydney market open. It is 5 PM to 2 AM Eastern Standard Time. Then switches into the Asian market. Tokyo’s market is opened from 7 PM to 4 AM.

That’s not the end. When the Asian market is near to be closed, the European markets are starting their session. It starts with London’s market opening from 3 am to the midday.

The last session belongs to New York. It begins at 8 am to 5 pm.

That represents one week of forex trading session.

So, you can place your trade when and where you want. The Forex markets are opened 24/7.

What you have to take care of when trade currencies?

Currency trading: make a profit

Well, the first is its value. Currency price is changing fast and frequently. The reasons for that can be various. For example, Brexit is one of them. But sometimes, the market by its own nature will cause changes in currency prices.

The fluctuation isn’t a bad thing, but when it comes with high frequency, you might not be able to determine the changes which could cause the loss.

For example, the euro is strong. And countries from the EU would buy, let’s see, U.S. products. In order to meet payments, they have to change euros for US dollars.

So, we have the following situation.

If large amounts of euros are traded for U.S. dollars in a short time frame, it forces interest for the U.S. dollars. As a consequence, the U.S. dollars value increases. On the other side, the value of the euro related to the U.S. dollars decreases.

The risk involved in currency trading

Currency trading implies high leverage.

It is very possible with small investments to gain a big amount of cash.

Forex is not highly regulated. There are several sorts of trades not regulated at all. That can boost the risk of currency trading.
If you are the beginner in currency trading you should start on some free demo platform. There is no risk involved.

If you have a certain good result, and only IF, you should start with live currency trading.

Don’t waste your money!

risk disclosure

8th April 2019
Automated Trading – Improve Your Trade
Here are Traders-Paradise’s suggestions for the automated trading software we examined.

By Treaders-Paradise Team

Do you know how automated or algorithmic, also algo, trading can make the profit to individual investors?

OK, let’s start. We don’t want you to waste your time.

But, honestly, we are doing this to not let you waste your money.

How does it work?

What computer program is going to do?

A computer program will follow the share price. That tracking will also, add moving average indicators. Automated trade means that software will place buy and sell orders.

Don’t you think it is a great help?

The automated trade program will help you to block emotional trading. And as you already know, it is very important. Not to trade under emotions and make errors.

We, here at Traders Paradise, think it is a great opportunity to have algo that will trade in your side. Moreover, it will make a true profit for you.

Finding such an automated trading system is a life dream goal for many traders. The one that places orders and guarantees profit.

And one that demands almost no or little input from the trader.

Automated trading means the trader has to set precise requirements for entries and exits. They will be automatically launched by your computer.

The main thing is that you can set requirements in the range from very simple to extremely complex strategies. That complex strategy will require complete knowledge of programming language special for the platform you would like to use for your trades.

What is an automated trading system?

It is the method of employing computers to support a set of established directions to execute a trade.

Producing a profit is in demand and expected. Moreover, with automated trading, it is guaranteed.

Can you expect from humans the same? Of course not.

The main benefit of using automated trade is that you have to do almost nothing. Your automated system will recognize the potential for profiting even before traders who are humans, of course.

Automated trading is very popular among institutional investors, but past several years it is accepted by retail investors especially for investing in the stock.

Although, automated trading platforms are the most popular for the Forex market.

But as you are reading this, you are ready to use some automated program. Your only concern is to find the best automated trading software.

Traders Paradise has some suggestions for you.

We will try to give you a hunch about some automated trading platforms. And we think these are the best in our opinion.
- ZuluTrade
Image source: ZuluTrade website

ZuluTrade is an honored brand in the field of online trading software providers. It runs an online and mobile social and copy trading platform. ZuluTrade is one of the most popular automated trading platforms that you can find today.

ZuluTrade turns the suggestions of experienced traders and automatically executes the trade in your account. You can test it by clicking the button in our navigation bar TEST YOUR SKILLS FOR FREE!

You can choose the program or traders that are best for you.

ZuluTrade automated trading platforms allow traders to copy the trades of successful traders. Also, you can copy signals or full strategies.

This autotrading platform recommended by Traders Paradise grants you the trust to involve in trading. Especially if you are a beginner with deficient knowledge or skills.
- E*Trade
Image source: E*trade website

Power E*TRADE is an innovative platform.

Thanks to it you can improve trading and invest by uniting trading applications directly into E*TRADE.

Its automated platform is reasonably positive. They give access to streaming market data, free real-time quotes, also the market analysis. The user interface is smooth and simple to operate. For instance, using their dashboard, you can follow accounts, build a watchlist, and execute your trades.

More about E*Trade you can read HERE>>>
- Wallstreet-forex robot
Image source: WallStreet Forex Robot website

If you want a fully automated trading experience, try WallStreet Forex Robot 2.0 Evolution.

You should check the robot’s latest performance on real money accounts.

If you follow all their instructions your success is guaranteed.

The entire system is smooth-running.

You’ll enjoy the latest version of the program.

This high-grade program has a lot to offer advanced and new traders.

The program involves a Broker Spy Module.

This module is created to protect the trader from scams and unethical brokers.

The main advantage is the program works by automatically scanning for new updates and settings.

Moreover, you don’t have to worry about restarting the robot. This is a great feature.

This new program doesn’t allow the scam broker to fool the software using methods such as delayed order executions and spreads.

The software will monitor for broker movements and investments all time and can easily recognize a scammer, 24/7.

The main features of automated trading software

The risk associated with automated trading is high. It can cause large losses.

Automated trading software is created to perform real-time all market data.

It must have a connection to multiple markets.

The software should have feeds of different formats or to go with third-party data vendors and give it in the same format.

Latency must be decreased to the minimum.

In today’s vibrant trading realm, the initial price quote can be modified various times in only one second.

Automated trading offers quick and timely access and full adaptability to your needs.

But before you enter algo trading you must understand and have the full experience of trading software. The best way to do so is to test it on a free demo account.

Don’t waste your money!
7th April 2019
Indian stock market is worthy to invest
India: Taj Mahal

By Guy Avtalyon

Are you one of the rare investors who know what magnificent opportunities you can find in investing in the Indian stock market?

Or you are not?

It is a promising market. But, before investing in the Indian stock market, here’s what you should know. It is essential to focus on the stock market if you want to invest in it.

First of all, you should know that India is globally the quickest expanding economy. Measuring GDP, India takes seventh place in the world. Also, the third-largest buying power parity in the world. The growth is coming from the service industry. After the economic liberalization policies 1990s, Indians considerably improved life.

Investing is a confirmed way to produce long-term wealth. And besides, anyone can start investing.

Is the Indian stock market worthy to invest in?

In India, you have two stock markets where you can make your trades, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). You have to find the company has good nitty-gritty, an basically a strong company.

The BSE has more than 5,000 listed companies and NSE has about 1,600. Both stock markets match the same trading principles, trading hours, settlement rules.

Determining a sustainable company is easier said, than done. Anyway, we will give you short reviews of a few Indian companies with big economic moats around them.

What is MOAT?

Let’s go back to the past for a moment.

In the Middle Age, all around the castles were digging channels. Then, they would charge the channels with soil and water. That is the moat. And it was very helpful if the enemy tried to provoke or attack. Thanks to moats the castles were prepared to persist for a long time period.

The same idea of ‘MOAT’ is appropriate in the stocks.

Many companies have an unseen shield around themselves. That gives them an influence on the market. They have a brand. For example, Gillette or Colgate or Suzuki or Coca Cola. MOAT companies in India are, for example, Asian Paints or HDFC Bank. Also, MOAT companies may have a business monopoly. Such a case is with Coal India.

Indian Companies with big MOAT
- ITC: Cigarettes – ITC Ltd covers 81 % of the cigarettes selling in India
- Castrol India: Giant among automotive and industrial lubricants in India. Holds around 48% market share in the global Indian lubricant market.
- Asian Paints: It owns over 54% of the market share in the Indian paint industry.
- Jockey India: Actually, it is Page Industries, one of the biggest producers of underwear in India.
- Hindustan Unilever or HUL: Hindustan Unilever or HUL: They offer some of the popular brands, that are used by 2 billion people on a daily base. That, among others, include Cif, Dove, Lipton, Vaseline, Pepsodent, Wheel, etc.
- Pidilite Industries: It is adhesives producing company. Their brands are Fevicol, Fevikwik, Fevistick, M-Seal, etc.
- Britannia Industries: It is an Indian food corporation with Britannia and Tiger brands. Its headquarters in Kolkata, West Bengal. Among their offered brand names are biscuits VitaMarieGold, Tiger, Nutrichoice Junior, Treat, Pure Magic, Milk Bikis, Good Morning, Bourbon, Nice, Little Hearts between others. Nestle: It is a famous producer of “Maggi”, chocolates, etc
- United Spirits or USL: is an Indian alcoholic beverage company and the world’s second-largest spirits company by volume. USL exports its products to over 37 countries. It has more than 140 liquor brands such as McDowell’s, Royal Challenge, Antiquity, Vladivar, Romanov, etc.
IT and business services outsourcing is a very important part of India’s economy.

Indians are very well educated, skilled and English-speaking. Moreover, they are not expensive workers. That’s why the IT sector provided about 8% of the country’s GDP.

Business services outsourcing is a less important but more popular business in India. BPO is the express increasing part of the industry in India. So, it is valuable to consider investing in those companies.

How to invest in the Indian stock market if you are not its resident

If you are not an Indian resident the Indian stock market is a foreign market for you. But you can still invest. For example, you can buy stocks directly. Honestly, it is a bit tricky. Much more than investing in domestic stocks. But if you want to invest in some company listed on a foreign exchange you can do it over your brokerage.

If your brokerage provides that kind of service, it has to contact the market maker in India. Sincerely, you have to be prepared that the stocks you want are not accessible. That is the bad side. The simplest way is to set up an account directly in some of India’s brokerage. Almost all the notable companies in India are listed on both the markets.

Even if you are investing in the long-term, always look for a ‘moat’ in the company. It improves the profitability of the company. And it is very important in India’s markets. Having a business ‘moat’ gives these companies plenty of support.
5th April 2019
Digital work: A bright future or a fatal fate

3 min read

Most digital workers work from home

Digital work is an idea that has become a crucial subject of debates within the area of the economy of the Internet.

Living in nowadays, you can find just a few jobs that you can do without including the word “digital”.

In the most general sense, it would mean that you are doing something that is in connection with the Internet.

Digital work is not only for those who grew up with the Internet but much older take such jobs. So we are more and more likely to be able to digitally freelance, all collectively.

General unemployment, high unemployment rate, and bad living conditions are the main reasons. Even if you have a job, relatively solid, salaries can not grow up to half of the rate that boosts the cost of living.

The employer can exploit you as he wants because if you refuse to work, there is someone who will. All of this has shifted us to the necessary creative thinking about employment.

We spoke to Janne. She is a freelancer and digital worker.

The thirty-five-year-old woman had the opportunity to choose a classical “steady job” in a family business. She would have conventional working hours, from 9 am to 5 pm. But still, Janne chooses to combine freelancing and regular work for now. As a freelancer, she deals with media and events management.

“The question that I hate is: what are you doing for a living? The answer is complex because it involves the history of my vocations and non-formal education, as well as a mix of regular work with working hours and freelancing. I like to explain to a freelancer as a lancer. In essence, you always have a lance in your hand. And you have a bow and arrow continually and you are looking for your targets, “says Janne.

For her, the regular working time always was synonymous to monotony and killing of freedom. Then she went to the labor market. Actually, she signed up on one of the platforms that provide freelancing jobs.

Most digital workers, however, mostly work from home.

Digital work from home

So far, you probably know people in your area who get up at five in the morning to hold English Japanese and Chinese lessons through Skype.

Or you know some web designers, developers, or just people who fill up some charts or excel to pdf for the clients.

They are working over platforms such as UpWork, Freelancer, People per Hour and others.

All these people are freelancers and digital workers because, for all the work they do, they do not need to do anything offline.

So, what is digital work?

It involves carrying out a series of gigs. All without indications of long-term employment. These gigs may be English lessons for the Chinese, or essay writing to American high school students but also the more complex tasks. That kind of jobs requires that you are actually educated and skilled. These are jobs in the field of IT, writing and translation, sales and marketing, advocacy, financial, consulting, etc.

Since everything is going virtual, over the platform, they somehow take over the role of the employer. They can issue the modes for doing business. Majority of them, act as economically active profit-making entities. Hence, they decide who and under what conditions can be engaged, or stop working, and, ultimately, perform bookkeeping functions. However, the disadvantage is that the platforms do not offer the opportunity to establish a working relationship.
But it is an advantage at the same time.

If you want working freedom it is for you.

The development of online digital work platforms caused one of the main alterations in the world of work in the last decade.
More and more people, especially young, pick to forego conventional jobs and start a freelance business. That provides them more freedom to build a lifestyle they love.

When the majority think of freelancing, they see jobs like writing, web designing, developing, IT programming, editing gigs.
Those fields are full of chances for all people who want to work from home. It can be on a full-time or part-time basis. they’re far from the only occupations that lend themselves to the freelance life. You can do whatever you want but you must be skilled and have a good education and knowledge.

And you have to be digital educated.

Digital work requires education

That’s imperative.

Modern jobs require a certain level of digital competency. More than it was the case five years ago.

For example, marketing. It is now mostly a digital job. You must have digital skills for almost all parts of this work. Or writing. There is the same situation. Moreover, it isn’t enough to know how to write and do it like an expert. There is some other knowledge required in order to be among the best-paid writers. For example, you have to be familiar with WordPress, or you must know SEO writing, and for some of the writing jobs, you must have other digital skills.

What is freelancing?

A freelancer is self-employed. Such expert offers assistance to clients. However, they can give their assistance straight to clients, without third-party included. But the majority of freelancers use some platform as intermediator.

Almost every kind of co-operation or assistance could be given by a freelancer.

How much you can be paid as a freelancer

Freelance pay differs depending on the skills they have to offer.

The knowledge and the business you’re targeting very often will determine your paycheck.

Generally speaking, digital workers can earn from $1 to $100 per hour.

The best paid is website coding, accounting, then virtual assistance, writing, etc.

Advantages of digital work

It is a good way to make extra income.

You can begin immediately. Of course, as soon as you find a client.

You have freedom over work.

Digital work allows you to work from every place over the globe.

Disadvantages of digital work

The new digital workers and freelancers are paid low. The downside is that it requires some time to be paid full-time.

Work can be random.

When you have several clients and projects managing all of them may be pretty tricky if you don’t have excellent organizational skills.

The bottom line

However, with all the defects, you can earn more money through digital work. For the freelancer’s average salary is about $1,000 per month. Among digital workers, the highest salary has the IT sector with an average of $2,000 per month and with full-time engagement.

But the most interesting for our research is that there are gender differences in income. More than 50% of female freelancers earn $500 per month. As a comparison, more than 50% of male freelancers earn $900 per month.

But it is the reflection from the rest of the world. Women are more represented in sectors that are traditionally less paid and pre-defined by prejudice as female jobs.

Don’t waste your money!

risk disclosure

4th April 2019
Shell walks away from the U.S. refining lobby

2 min read

Shell or Royal Dutch Shell Plc is the first important oil and gas company to announce the plans to leave a U.S. refining lobby, AFPM.

This move comes due to the difference in policies on climate change. The point is that Shell supports the goals set by the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Their aim is to demonstrate to investors that they are familiar and want to accept to meet carbon emission goals set in Paris.

“AFPM has not stated support for the goal of the Paris Agreement. Shell supports the goal of the Paris Agreement,” the Shell said in its statement.

Actually, as our unofficial sources say, this decision is caused by the pressure of the investors.

It isn’t a secret that this oil and gas company has some very important institutional and private investors in the EU and UK who were clamoring about company’s ambiguous stance on the Paris Agreement in recent time.

Shell stated “material misalignment” over climate policy

We found that Shell, in their first review, announced it had discovered “material misalignment” over climate policy with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. That was the reason to announce that it will quit this organization in 2020.

It is obvious that Shell wants to show investors it is on the same page with them concerning the 2015 Paris climate agreement’s goals.

The point of the Paris agreement is to reign in global warming. With that in their minds, supporters aim to do that by lowering carbon emissions to zero by the end of this century.

Maybe this is a showcase of how investors influence on oil companies. Especially, when it comes to the climate.

It looks like no one will fool around with European investors.

Shell’s chief executive officer, Ben van Beurden, took out a more radical position than the boards of other influential oil companies.

“The need for urgent action in response to climate change has become ever more obvious since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015. As a result, society’s expectations in this area have changed, and Shell’s views have also evolved,” van Beurden said.

Royal Dutch Shell plc with its headquarter in Hague, Netherlands, has differed from AFPM on a number of issues. Shell said it also opposed AFPM’s opposition to pricing on carbon and low-carbon technologies.

Shell and AFPM have also been at odds about the regulation of renewable fuels.

Shell and some other big refiners in recent years have heavily invested in new, the cleaner, fuel technology.

Shell and AFPM are also in disagreement over regulating the use of renewable fuels. AFPM lobbied against standards requiring refineries to blend and government subsidy for the blending of biofuels into the petrol pool.

AFPM claimed – it hurts independent refineries.

To be clear, it is a conservative political group.

AFPM Chief Executive Chet Thompson thanked Shell for its long-standing collaboration. “We will also continue working on behalf of the refining and petrochemical industries to advance policies that ensure reliable and affordable access to fuels and petrochemicals while being responsible stewards of the environment,” Thompson said in a comment.

Shell’s review was greeted by Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, which invests in Shell.

“This is an industry first,” Matthews said. “With this review Shell have set the benchmark for best practice on corporate climate lobbying not just within oil and gas but across all industries. The challenge now is for others to follow suit.”

Don’t waste your money!

risk disclosure

3rd April 2019
Best Forex Brokers UK FCA Regulated
3 min read

The best Forex broker in the UK is regulated by authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

FCA is the only governor that supervises the actions of brokers.

Before some Forex broker can accept UK forex and CFD traders as clients, they have to be approved by FCA.

It is the same rule for all brokerage houses, exchanges, or other financial markets. So we can say the FCA is the central guardian or watchdog.

The official website is FCA.org.uk.

The UK has been the favorite place of many a Forex brokerage for years.

The FCA is prepared as a very intelligent regulatory for brokers trading online financial services.

Where is the advantage of being regulated by FCA?

It allows authorized brokers the right to legitimately contribute through the European Economic Area.
It was the situation since now, but how Brexit will influence the FCA we will see.

But we will stay in UK territory. London is an attractive international financial hub.

Finding the best forex brokers in the UK is simple as in the other parts of the world.

The traders are looking for great execution features, a secure platform that they can invest their deposit with confidence.

Also, traders would like some account opening bonuses, mobile-friendly trading and SMS alerts.

Anyway, we are giving you some short reviews of 5 best Forex brokers the UK regulated in order to make your search easier.
- IG Group – UK FCA Regulated
Image source IG Group: Trading floor

IG is regulated over the world one the best Forex brokers in the UK. It offers traders a huge list of products, a lot of trading tools, educational material, and reasonable prices.

The IG Group could easily be the No. 1 in 2019.

They are covering the wide variety of markets, currency pairs, and CFDs including cryptocurrencies. Also, they have full trading and analysis tools and real-time market data.

According to users experiences, all specifications stated by the company on their website are true and without double standards. A live trading account can be opened fast. The same is with deposit and withdrawals and there are multiple options.

But, IG trading fees are expensive, particularly if you want to trade with a cheaper account. The other problem is that in most countries, it gives only CFD trading.
- FOREX.com – Best Forex Brokers UK
Image source Forex.com

FOREX.com gives traders the possibility to pick a standard trading account or an Active Trader account.

The minimum opening deposit for a standard account is $50. The Active Trader account requires $20,000.

It is regulated by several authorities, the U.K., U.S., and Japan.

The minimum deposit is $50.

They are offering two types of platforms:

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) with features and tools that allows traders automatic trading. With the MT4, traders have access to more than 30 types of CFDs and 45 forex markets.

The other is the new Advanced Trading Platform. But there is third, the Dealbook where traders can choose from 120+ currency pairs.

It is robust and fully designed for trading forex. It has a wide collection of trading tools such as pattern recognition software, trading strategies, and an advanced charting package.

Also, FOREX.com offers quality educational material. Also, Advanced charting is accessible through the Forex.com DealBook platform.

In our opinion, all this makes them one of the best Forex broker in the UK.
- Oanda
Image source OANDA: OANDA logo

Oanda is an American Forex broker but the UK regulated.

Actually, Oanda is regulated by six regulatory agencies around the world: the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. They have a demo account available for as long as a trader needs. So, it is different from the majority of brokers.

Also, they have huge research sources and educational tools.

Their trading fees are low but financing rates are high.

The platform is Oanda’s proprietary (they have MT4 too) and it is very user-friendly and well-designed and also, very customizable. And fully automated. That provides traders to execute more trades than they could do it manually.

Oanda has one of the best API offers we have ever seen.

They have a demo account. But Oanda offers only FX and CFDs. Also, there is no minimum deposit.
- Alpari – Best Forex Brokers UK
Image source Alpari website: Alpari home page

Alpari is one of the largest forex brokers in the world and the UK regulated. That have over a million customers.

It is easy to start trading with Alpari because they have eight different methods that accounts can be financed.

They have 75 trading instruments, such as currency pairs, spot metals, and Contract for Difference (CFDs), and cryptocurrencies too. Alpari offers a broad variety of options to trade currencies or trade in other markets. There is also, a small lot sizes. It provides traders to trade as small as 0.01 lots.

Alpari is one of the rare brokers that offer both of the MetaTrader platforms; MT4 and MT5.

It also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Like most brokers, Alpari takes a fee from the spread.

You need a minimum deposit of at least €1 but they also have a demo account.
- eToro – UK FCA Regulated
Image source eToro: eToro demo account

eToro forex broker is primarily a forex and CFD provider. But still, one of the best forex brokers the UK regulated. With them, you can trade CFDs including stocks, commodities, currencies, ETFs, and indices. Forex trading on eToro includes 47 currency pairs. All from the main currencies pairs to the minor and exotic currency. Spreads on eToro are as low as 0.8 pips. But spreads can be wide as 200 pips for exotic assets.

Spreads are priced as a percentage of trade’s amount. If you decide not to copy other traders you will not pay any fees.
As one of the best forex brokers, eToro doesn’t offer various account types. Instead, they have opted one. Every trader on eToro has one single account type. So, everyone receives the same features and advantages.

This means if you start trading with, for example, $250 on their platform, you will acquire the same benefits as the trader who start with $20,000.

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.

Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more
- CITY INDEX – Best Forex Brokers UK
City Index is founded in 1983 in the UK. Today is one of the leading multi-asset brokers in London.

City Index is a subsidiary of publicly traded GAIN Capital Holdings (NYSE: GCAP).

With over 35 years of tradition, City Index works as a confident brand under GAIN Capital in the UK and in Asia.

It is licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and operates according to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) rules. That means you have limited leverage and safety from negative balance security. Also, it is regulated by ASIC, FCA, FSA(JP), IIROC, MAS, NFA.

It gives traders over 12,500 products across global markets. CityIndex offers cryptocurrency CFDs, bitcoin and a lot of other crypto pairs. Also, you can trade over 84 currency pairs including Exotic Forex pairs. And all over the world.

CityIndex has a free demo account with access to their trading platforms for 12 weeks. They will give you £10,000 in virtual money.

Also, you will have access to pricing on thousands of markets including shares, indices, and bitcoin. Moreover, it is in real time

The bottom line

To find if a forex broker is regulated by the FCA, you have to identify the register number. You can find it in the disclosure at the bottom of the broker’s UK homepage.

To find the best Forex brokers UK FCA regulated you have to make research. The reviews may help you. But the best way is to test them through their demo accounts or, even better, open a real account with a small amount. Small that you can afford to lose.

That will give you the real picture about the quality the broker you are testing.

Don’t waste your money!

risk disclosure
3rd April 2019