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  • How Long Will The Bear Market Last?

    How Long Will The Bear Market Last?

    How Long Will The Bear Market Last?
    Stock markets over the world experienced great losses from the beginning of this year due to a massive sell-off caused by the COVID-19. 

    How long will the bear market last? We believe not forever. In fact, the bear markets are much shorter than bull markets. Especially when they are driven by some event. Coronavirus outbreak is such an event. like this one is. But if we take a look at historical data we may conclude that the question of how long will the bear market last, pretty naive. How is that? Well, this kind of bear market recovers very fast.

    How can we be so sure?

    Let us explain. If we want to put different types of a bear market into categories, we will see we can put them into 3 key categories based on the type of drivers. 

    The first type of bear market is caused by the business cycle. That is when growth leads to inflation, interest rates increase too fast, the yield curve inverts, demand decreases, loan activity decreases, etc. They are so-called cyclical bear markets.

    The second type is caused by market bubbles, much more leverage, turbulences, and disruptions on the credit markets. In other words, this structural type of bear market occurs when we have structural asymmetries in the market or economy. So, we are pointing to another type of bear market, the so-called structural bear market. We already saw it in the 2008-2009 market downturn.

    But also, we can recognize a bear market driven by some event which is this one, caused by a coronavirus outbreak and global pandemic. Of course, this kind of bear market can be triggered by some crises, wars, political instabilities, etc.

    How long will the bear market last?

    This month can be an important test for stock-market investors. Everyone is looking for hints that the worst of this stock market massacre is ended. But the coronavirus outbreak moves on and demands at least short-term economic distress. In the next several weeks we will be faced with more and more bad news as a pandemic is spreading. That may cause further sellings. Bad news has such an influence on the stock market. Also, a surge of business failures can occur. 

    The experts sound pretty sure that the stock market’s bounceback last week is a good sign even though all markets are volatile. The stock market was dropping with great speed into the bear market. But yet, there is a hope that March lows for main indexes may be kept from further declines. That is just our opinion, based on the reaction of central banks. 

    Well, this bear market isn’t easy for any investor. Even the most optimistic investors claim that further decline is possible before the stocks find the bottom. That is true especially if we know that sharp rebounds are possible before retesting new lows. But as we said, there is a logical chance that recent lows can be the last we saw and rebounds can be better than in former significant selloffs.

    Predictions for the stock market

    Robert J. Shiller, a Nobel laureate is exactly certain about the stock market in the long run. His concerns are about how long will the bear market last, where the stock market is heading.

    He wrote for The New York Times:

    “It is too simple to assume that with its steep decline, the market has already discounted epidemiologists’ forecasts for COVID-19. By this logic, the stock market would fall further only if the virus turns out to be worse than forecast.”

    Yes, but we are dealing with an entirely unknown situation. We never have had before such a massive lockdown of everything companies, whole industries, millions of people, the numerous countries. This is a totally unique event.

    But Robert J. Shiller added in his column:

    “People are seeking reassurance from homespun investment advice, like the old nostrum that the percentage of stocks in your portfolio should be equal to 100 minus your age, come what may. If you are 60, for example, you should hold 40 percent stocks, under this rule.”

    And also admitted that “this advice isn’t grounded in any scientific truth about financial markets.”

    Well, this advice isn’t bad, it is good advice. It isn’t against common sense. While people are doing something, taking action they may feel better. That is from a psychological point of view. Also, it is a quite reasonable decision to risk less in such a market downturn but yet inspires you to take action. 

    Shiller advises further “buying just enough to restore the stock balance after market declines.”

    Bear markets rule a short time

    Maybe this is the answer to the question of how long will the bear market last. Bear markets rule for a short time. What we can expect is the market data will be weak in the weeks ahead. The problem is what are we expecting.

    Stocks in March entered a bear market with record speed. After March 23 they were bouncing sharply. But DJIA has the biggest first-quarter decline of -1.68% on record with a 23.2% fall. The S&P 500 Index had a decline of -1.51% on a 20% first-quarter fall this year. It is the biggest since 2008. After March 23 both indexes had a rebound and for example, DJIA had its biggest three-day gain, which had been seen last time in 1931.

    Let’s see how long this bear could market last?

    As we said we can recognize three main types of bear markets: caused by the business cycle, caused by some event (like this one) and a structural bear market.

    The most severe is the structural bear market because it is the result of problems in the financial system and capital markets.

    A cyclical bear market is bad also but tends to fix itself over a short time and sufficient policy answers.

    And last but not the least, the bear market caused by some event. According to historical data, this kind of bear market was shorter, less critical on the downside. Such a market took less time to recover. It is quite logical. Before the market was hit with a drastic event such as a coronavirus outbreak, the markets all over the world were in good condition. And you see, that’s why we think that it does not take as long for the economy to recover once the shock of this event disappears. It’s true that so many people lost jobs in the early stage of the pandemic, the companies are faced with shutdowns and limitations. But when this kind of problem disappears, everything can return in normal pretty quickly.

    Bottom line

    How long will the bear market last? There is no way to predict that, honestly. Who can predict when the market will bottom? From what we know, the bear market will end even before bad news stops coming up to us. For investors, the main point is to be ready for that first day of recovery, they have to adjust their positions for that to join the rebound when it happens. We believe it can happen sooner than many investors expect or predict.

    In the meantime, we recommend investors wait for it calmly. Stay focused on long-term investments and don’t let your emotions take control of your decisions. Use this period to learn something new and expend your horizons.

  • Stock Market Bottom And How To Recognize It

    Stock Market Bottom And How To Recognize It

    Stock Market Bottom And How To Recognize It
    Nobody can with certainty predict a stock market bottom. Still, it’s worth at least thinking about different entry points to let your money work for you.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    The questions for the past several weeks mainly were all about the stock market bottom. Did the stock market hit the bottom? Will the stock prices stop dropping? Have stocks reached support levels? When will prices stop falling? 

    Stock traders have so many questions these days and weeks. But do they really know where to look? 

    Maybe one of the most terrifying jobs related to investing is about the stock market bottom and how to recognize it. The idea to predict when a given stock will hit the bottom is old as much as investing and trading. The point is to recognize the point where the stock will no longer drop. The rule of thumb is: buy low, sell high. The problem arises when we have some unpredictable events in the market such as this one, coronavirus pandemic. That has an influence on the global economy, almost all economic and political events, and decisions. So, with a high level of certainty, we can say finding the stock market bottom can be a discouraging job.

    Well, this kind of question traders ask almost every day but are they looking in the right place to find the answer? For example, investors are looking at Dow Jones. Is it the right place? We are afraid that the value of DJIA isn’t able to alarm you when the stock market hits the bottom. Okay, it will tell you but after it happened. 

    So what to do? 

    How to recognize the stock market bottom? 

    If you want to find it, you’ll need some indicators. Indicators can tell you when is the stock market going to hit a bottom but also when it is going to recover. By using indicators you’ll not miss the beginning of the wave. When buying a stock you want to do so at the lowest possible price but you wouldn’t like to hold falling stocks. You would like them to start rising after you bought them, right? That’s why it is so important to recognize the stock market bottom. The point where the stock can find support.

    That knowledge can give you huge profits and prevent huge losses. So, how can we know with certainty that a stock has touched a low point? To be honest, no one can do that with 100% certainty and consistency, but traders and investors have some tools, fundamental and technical trends, and indicators. They arise in stocks when they are about to tap the bottom.

    The indicators of stock market bottoms

    Some indicators can help us determine when the stock market is going to form a bottom. What we really need to have are indicators of the health of a global economy and what the main participants in the market are doing with their money. But keep in mind, there is no such thing as a magic indicator to identify a stock market bottom. We have to look at several indicators to have an idea of the economy’s and stock market’s health.

    Second, we have to look at history because it will tell us that the average bear market persists about 17 months. Also, it corrects around 35% from the maximum. But keep in mind that you cannot find the two bear markets alike 100%. All we can do is to suppose that the next will be similar. 

    Further, we have to understand the valuation. For example, the S&P 500 has a P/E ratio and earnings. The P/E ratio will move up and down depending on the market period. It will be up when we have good earnings growth, all ratios including the P/E ratio will go up. But when the circumstances are changed, with rising pessimism the valuation is likely to go down. 

    For example, when the S&P Index was above 2.500 the P/E ratio was at 19.

    Also, the higher the VIX is, the chances for the stock market to hit the bottom are growing. These first two days in April this year, VIX traded between 54 and 57. If we take a look at historical data we can see that in 2008, the VIX was somewhere between 70 and 95. During the March this year, VIX traded over 75.

    Other indicators of the stock market bottom 

    The stock market fell over 25% in 3 weeks. This is the sharpest drop in history. The biggest decline occurred on March 12th, the biggest since the market crash in 1987. Many investors thought that a stock market hit a bottom. 

    If you want to recognize when the stock market bottom is, check out your emotions. Did you feel fear at that time? If yes, you were one of the millions with the same emotion. Fear was so obvious in the middle of March. To be honest, almost all were panicked.

    But we have to try to be reasonable. Just take a look at the charts and the technical levels for those days. Can you notice the major pivot? Do you notice a bottoming tail and a huge volume? 

    Okay! A major pivot, bottoming tail, and a huge volume on the same day and combined with a market 3-weeks decline of 25%, are indicators there was some at least short-term bottom.

    What to do when the stock market is near the bottom?

    The most intelligent investors started to buy those days. Small chunks, nothing big. Smart investors are doing such a thing to accumulate their full positions. The point is to buy 25% or 30% even 50% of the total position. That will keep your potential stress down and provide you an all in all a better average. But remember, don’t buy some small-cap, go for the brands. 

    Where is the market bottom now? 

    That is the most frequently asked question since coronavirus appeared. 

    Market experts like to say that it’s impossible to time the market. Well, it isn’t the truth. If we can see the market tops, why shouldn’t we see the market bottoms? Institutional investors know that. Follow what they are doing. Their actions could be the key bottoming signal. Follow-through has been noticed at almost every stock market bottom. This signal is extremely important because it can provide you profits when the early stages of a new market uptrend is confirmed.

    The quest for a stock market bottom

    This signal works quite simply. When there is a sustained stock market downturn, the first rising day from the index low is most important. That could be the beginning of a rally attempt. No matter which index you are using S&P 500, Dow Jones or Nasdaq. 

    According to some experts, the gain expressed in percentages isn’t important at this point. Also, don’t pay attention to the trading volume. What you have to look at is a down session and the moment when the index bounces after a great drop and closes close to session highs. Some experts deem that closing in the top half of the day’s trading range is adequate also.

    Further, find a bigger percentage gain in higher volume than the prior session several days in the rally attempt. This time period is making it possible for short covering to resolve and for a rally attempt to gain ground. The rally will be halted in place only if the index reaches a new low.

    How will the market react after the pandemic?

    It is good if the market supports the new buyings, but if it doesn’t, just be patient. Sometimes, breakouts are visible on the charts after a few weeks. This market crash caused by the coronavirus outbreak has a large supply of stocks making the new base. But a lot of them have yet to bottom.

    If an index suffers a decline in higher volume shortly after the follow-through day, the signal will fail in most cases. If close below the low of the follow-through day, it is almost the same. It is more the sign to start selling the stocks you bought recently.

    These signals don’t mean you should rashly jump into the market since they tend to fail after indexes have dropped clearly in a short time. That happened with the stock market correction in February. The more suitable is to buy a few stocks, maybe one or two, and test how they will work. If there is a real uptrend your stocks will rise.

    Every investor wants to know when trends are going to make a significant change. Will they reach tops or bottoms. The truth is no one knows that for sure. Only the big volume spikes, and staying stick to the chosen sector, will give you some clue if the stock has reached the lowest level from which it will not decline more. We pointed just one of the numerous scenarios. There are many others. 

  • Greeks In Trading Options As A Risk Measure

    Greeks In Trading Options As A Risk Measure

    Greeks In Trading Options As A Risk Measure
    Using Greeks in trading options can confuse a trader but can be extremely helpful. 

    By Guy Avtalyon

    Greeks in trading options can provide helpful information, but also they can add a bit of complexity that can confuse options traders. Greeks in trading are a measure of how some option’s price is sensitive to its basic parameters, volatility, or price of the underlying asset. This measure is important when you analyze the sensitivity of your options’ portfolio or single option. So many traders and investors think this is a vital measure for decision making in options trading.

    The key Greeks are Delta, Gamma, Vega, Theta but some will include Rho too. Also, you’ll find some other Greeks derived from these four or five.

    Greeks in trading options can indeed hide the most important part, the difference between the stock price and strike price and the value decrease with reducing time to expiration on the option. For these reasons some options traders never examine the Greeks at all when making trades. But they are important and we will show you why.

    The importance of Greeks in trading options

    It isn’t easy to have an accurate prediction of what is going to happen to the price of the option especially when the market is moving. Even more difficult can be to predict the options positions that efficiently couple multiple individual positions. That is the case with options spreads, for example. 

    The problem is that most options trading strategies require the spreads, anything that can help you to predict the option position is important and you have to know them better. These measures can be very useful when you have to predict the future of the option price since they measure the sensitivity of a price related to the price of the underlying assets, interest rates, volatility, and time decay. By having all this information you can be in a much better position because you will know when and which trades to make. 

    How is that possible?

    The Greeks in trading options will provide you a hint of how the price of your options will run related to how the price of the underlying asset changes. Also, the Greeks will help you forecast how much time value an option is losing daily. Moreover, by using Greeks in trading options you will have a valuable tool for risk management. In other words, you can use these measures to understand the risk for each position and where the risk will appear. Greeks will help you to recognize which risk factors you have to remove from your position and your positions’ portfolio. Also, they can show you how much hedging you need for that. 

    Keep in mind, you can use Greeks as an indicator of how the price will go related to different factors but they are theoretical. To make this more clear, Greeks are actually values based on mathematical rules and can be accurate only if they are calculated according to the exact mathematical model.

    How to calculate Greeks?

    It is possible to do yourselves but, we have to warn you, the process is complex and you’ll need a lot of time for that. Usually, traders use some software to do that for them and get accurate calculations. The serious online broker will automatically present values for the Greeks in the options they display. That makes the use of Greeks in trading options a lot easier.

    Anyway, we will show you how to calculate the four most popular Greeks.

    Calculate Greek Delta

    Delta, the sign is Δ, can measure the sensitivity of price changes related to the moves in the price of the underlying assets. So, for example, when the price of the underlying asset grows by some amount in money, the price of the option will change by Δ amount. Here is the formula to calculate that Δ amount

    Δ = ∂V/∂S

    ∂  represents the first derivative
    V  represents the option’s price which is the theoretical value
    S –represents the price of the underlying asset

     Why did we take the first derivative of the option and price of the underlying asset? Because the first derivative is a measure of the rate change of the variable over a determined period.

    The delta is visible as a decimal figure from -1 to 1. For example, call options will have a delta from 0 to 1, but puts will have a delta from -1 to 0. We have to point one important thing here, to give you a better perception of how to understand Delta numbers. When you see the option’s delta is close to 1 or -1, you will know the options are deep-in-the-money.

    Also, you can calculate delta for your options’ portfolios. It is the weighted average of all deltas of options added to the portfolio. As one of the Greeks, delta can be a hedge ratio, also. When you know the amount of delta, you can hedge your position if you buy or short the number of underlying assets multiplied by delta. It’s quite simple, don’t you think? 

    Gamma as one of the Greeks in trading options

    Gamma or Γ is a measure of the rate of change of its delta per 1-point move in the price of the underlying stock.

    The formula to calculate is expressed as:

     Γ = ∂Δ/∂S = ∂2V/∂2S

    The gamma can be expressed as a percentage also. And as same as delta, gamma is changing even with very small moves of the underlying asset price. Gamma is at its peak when the asset price is near to strike price of the option. It drops when the options go deeper out of or into the money. When the option has gamma value close to 0 that means it means the option is very deep out of or into the money. 

    Long options will have positive gamma values. When the options strike price is equal to the price of the underlying stock gamma will have the maximum value.

    One of the Greeks in trading options is Vega

    Vega or ν is also an option Greek. It measures the influence of changes in the underlying volatility on the option price. In other words, it measures the sensitivity of the option price in comparison to the volatility of the underlying stock. Vega will show the change in the price of the option for each change in underlying volatility, for every 1% of it.

    Here is the calculation:

    ν = ∂V / ∂σ

    ∂  represents the first derivative
    V  represents the option’s price  which is the theoretical value
    σ  represents the volatility of the underlying asset

    The vega is shown as a money amount.

    Options will be more costly when volatility is higher. So, when volatility rises, the price of the option will rise too. Consequently, when volatility decreases, the price of the option will drop also. Hence, when you want to calculate the new option price caused by volatility changes, you have to add the vega when volatility goes up. This means, to subtract it when the volatility decreases.

    Theta

    Theta symbol is θ. It is a measure of the sensitivity of the option price relative to the option’s time decay. If the date of expiry is closer by one day, the option’s price will change for the theta value. The theta is related to the option’s time to maturity.

    The formula is:

    θ = ∂V / ∂τ

    ∂ represents the first derivative
    V is the option’s price in sense of theoretical value
    τ represents the option’s time to maturity

    Generally speaking, the theta is expressed as a negative figure and it is negative for the options. Well, for some European options it can be positive. This is possible because theta describes the most negative value when the asset is at-the-money and shows the value by which the option’s price will decrease every day.

    Long-term options will have theta of near 0 because they do not lose value daily. Hence, theta is higher for short-term options, particularly at-the-money options. The reason is that short-term options have more premiums and a chance to lose every day. Theta will dramatically increase when the option is near to the date of expiry and time decay is greatest during those periods.

    Rho

    Rho or ρ. It measures the sensitivity of the option price related to interest rates. When a benchmark interest rate rises by 1%, the option price will switch by the rho value. The rho isn’t too important as other  Greeks are. Interest rates don’t have such a big influence on option prices and they are less sensitive to interest rate changes.

    Nevertheless, here is the formula to calculate:

    ρ = ∂V / ∂r

    ∂ is the first derivative
    V is the option’s price meaning the theoretical value
    r is the interest rate

    The call options will have a positive rho, but the rho for put options will be negative.

    Why using Greeks in trading options?

    In real trading, the Greeks will all change and develop their changes over the other variables. Every single change in the underlying asset’s price, interest rates, the expiry date may influence all variables simultaneously. So, it’s a smarter decision to use some software to calculate the final result.

    But it is very important to know why and how the Greeks can help and provide you a measure of position’s risk and reward. When the Greeks in trading options become familiar to you, apply them to your trading strategies. It is necessary to use all types of risk-exposure measures. This may bring your options trading to a higher level.

    Meanwhile, learn more about pattern trading from the “Two Fold Formula” book and check it with the our preferred trading platform.

  • Risk Management Strategy For Buying Stocks

    Risk Management Strategy For Buying Stocks

    Risk Management Strategy For Buying Stocks
    Risk management is the most important thing that you can learn if you want to trade stocks. That will provide you with staying in the game.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    A risk management strategy for buying stocks means you have a plan. It seems a bit fishy to suggest that you can simply search for  “high yield” and “low risk” and find trading opportunities that will beat the odds in the stock market for sure and do it with minimum risk. If it is so simple, why do we have losing trades? How is it possible that no one is doing that?  What forces you to choose low yield stock with high risk? Must we really be a genius to be able to find a risk management strategy for buying stocks?

    To be honest, smart trading or investing isn’t that simple. In other words, buying stocks requires a risk management strategy among other things. 

    Risk management for some unknown reasons is low placed on the list of the priorities for the majority of stock traders. Every single trader would rather seek the best indicator than to create a risk management strategy for buying stocks. There is no reason to put this very important issue so low. It is the opposite. 

    A risk management strategy for buying stocks has to be on the top of a stock trader’s priorities. Without knowledge about risk management, no one can be a profitable trader. As a trader, you must understand how to manage your risk, how to size your position, how to set the orders accurately. 

    Of course, only if you want to be a profitable trader. In case you don’t stop reading this. For those who want, here is a risk management strategy for buying stocks. Actually, several suggestions. 

    What is a risk management strategy for buying stocks?

    A risk management strategy for buying stocks helps to lower losses. If you have a risk management strategy or you improve it, you’ll avoid most of the problems that can arise and cause you to lose money.

    One of the tips is, determine where you will set your stop loss and take profit order but before you enter the position. At the same moment when you find a good entry point, you have to decide where you’d set these important levels: stop loss and take profit points.

    When you have recognized the right price levels for your orders, you have to measure the risk/reward ratio. If it doesn’t match your goals, stay away from the trade. Never try to stretch your take profit order or squeeze your stop loss to reach a higher risk/reward ratio. Keep in mind that the reward is always potential, it isn’t 100%-sure. What you can control for sure is a risk. 

    Yes, we know very well some beginners in stock trading who do this thing totally opposite. They think it is possible to randomly find a risk/reward ratio and then adjust stop loss and take profit orders to reach the desirable ratio. Well, it is possible but what really you’ll get is a losing trade.

    Can a trader who has made solid profits waste it all in one bad trade?

    Yes, it is particularly true if you don’t have a proper risk management strategy for buying stocks. 

    Failed traders enter a trade without having any idea of break-even stops or what does it mean at all. Somewhere and somehow they picked that phrase and wanted to implement. Please, avoid it. First of all, if you move the stop loss to the level of your entry wanting to create a trade without losses you are entering one of the most dangerous trades. Moreover, such a trade will often end up as unprofitable. Yes, you have to protect your position but this tactic is going to put you into various problems. It is particularly true if you base your trades on technical analysis. How is that possible? Your entry point is very often evident for other traders too. So many of them will have the same or similar entry point. And what can happen? Well, the elite traders will eat you. 

    For example, you enter a short trade when support breaks, and the stop loss point is above the support level. But you move your stop loss to a break-even point in order to protect your trade. What happened? The price goes back into support and takes out your stop loss. Support held but you miss profits. Yes, support validated your trading idea but your risk or, in this case, stop loss management fired you out. You moved too soon. That’s a possible danger which amateurs almost never notice. One bad trade and you lost all your money.

    Set stop-loss points more effectively

    You can do this by using technical analysis, but fundamental analysis can help in timing. For example, you are holding a stock ahead of earnings and drama grows. But you may want to sell before expectations become too high. Use the moving average. For experienced traders, it is maybe the most popular method to set stop loss and take profit points. It’s easy to calculate. Main averages are 5-days, 9-days, 20-days, 50-days, 100-days, and 200-days moving averages. Just apply them to your chart and check how the stock price reacted to them previously, both as support or as a resistance level.

    Also, you can set stop-loss or take-profit levels on support or resistance trend lines. Just connect the prior highs or lows that befell above-average volume. The point is to find the levels at which the stock price responded to the trend lines and on volume. For more volatile stocks use a long-term moving average. This will minimize the possibility of an unimportant price move to execute your stop-loss order before it’s time. 

    Also, you have to adjust moving averages to your target price. For long targets use longer averages. In this way, you’ll reduce the number of generated signals. This will reduce the noise too. If the stock price is changing too much it is the sign of high volatility, set a stop loss adjusted to the market’s volatility. The great help is to know when some major event may occur. For example, earnings reports can be a good time to be in or out of the trade because the volatility can arise.

    Pay attention to extremely low P/E stocks as a risk management strategy for buying stocks

    Don’t think that playing the stock market is easy. Beating it is more difficult. All you need is to find a stock that is trading at fantastic bargain levels. Well, how to find such opportunities?

    One way is to use the P/E ratio. Calculate it by dividing the share price by the number of earnings per share. If the stock is making a high-profit but its share price is low, the stock is undervalued. Beginners may think it is a good opportunity but if they never calculate the P/E ratio they could increase their risk.

    A trick of finding low-priced stocks

    For example, the stock made $4 per share of profit last year. But this stock is still cheap, its share price is $8 and the P/E ratio is, for example, 4. The average P/E ratio for the industry is, let’s say, 16. And you may think this stock should be trading at least over 4 times higher based on this ratio. But remember, that is just one single ratio. 

    This stock doesn’t have such a low P/E ratio without the reason. For example, the earnings are unsteady and the company may have problems paying a debt. So, the stock can be cheap if you look at the P/E ratio as a sole metric but traders noticed an increased risk and volatile stock. That affected its share price and the stock is trading at a lower price with the possible high risk involved.

    So, you’ll need to analyze other earning ratios or numbers. For example, compare the company’s share price to its cash flow per share. Find the industry average.  Only than you’ll if the stock is fairly valued. One note more, if the company boasts a low P/E ratio, be cautious. There is an added risk.  

    Traders-Paradise wants to show you how to do smart trading. A risk management strategy for buying stocks is one of the most important parts of trading. As far as you learn this, the more successful your trades will be. 

  • Coronavirus Is Crashing The Global Markets

    Coronavirus Is Crashing The Global Markets

    Coronavirus Is Crashing The Global Markets
    COVID-19 is crashing the global markets but history has shown that the markets bounce back again and again over time.

    Coronavirus is crashing the global markets but investors are returning to China. It looks like the appetite for Chinese shares is rising again. For example, Pinebridge Investments from New York. According to CNBC this firm “had total assets under management of $101.3 billion as of the end of last year, including $25.5 billion in stocks and $64.3 billion in fixed income.”

    Despite the fact that the novel coronavirus is crashing the global markets fund managers start buying Chinese assets again. And all Asian markets rise moderately.

    Major markets in Asia were up nearly 1% yesterday (Tuesday, March, 30) and Hong Kong and South Korean shares rose about 1.5%.  

    Fund managers have recently boosted China A-shares. It was “a small single-digit” starting position and now is “a low double-digit weighting.”  So we can conclude the Far East, led by China, is already showing recovery.

    China President Xi Jinping presented strong growth signals. Goldman Sachs reported the Chinese policy is concentrating on demand. Also, the government’s concern is to sustain employment, financial markets, trade, and foreign capital. 

    Russian financial market

    On the other hand, the Russian economy has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic. The main impact on the Russian economy came from the breakdown of the production pact between Russia and Saudi Arabia. This was a shock for traders all over the world. The consequence was intense volatility on the Russian stock markets which dropped around 20%. The value of the ruble also is down around 20% from the beginning of this year.

    The price of oil futures is rising 

    Coronavirus is crashing the global markets but recently the analysts showed some optimism toward financial markets. 

    Oil futures surged on Tuesday after dropping to their lowest levels since 2002. Maybe the oil prices allow the best check of how investors anticipate the economy to function. The rising price of oil futures is probably a weak sign because on the other side we have gold as a standard safe-haven investment but the price of gold dropped significantly in trading on March 30. 

    When coronavirus is crashing the global markets it looks like there is no safe place to put money. Another safe place was longer-term U.S. Treasury bonds, also known as T- bills, but it dropped also.

    Investors’ worries have not gone away yet. The stock market is still volatile. The VIX index is still at historically high levels. It fell a bit two days ago but this level still shows an extreme stock market volatility.

    Coronavirus is crashing the global markets – what investors should do?

    Here is what investors should do while the coronavirus is crashing the global markets. First of all, every single investor must understand the value of the overall portfolios is lower. But it is a paper loss, why would you transfer it in true loss? That is exactly what you would do in case you try to sell. So, sit back and do nothing. Don’t check your portfolio every single day. Put away your desktop or laptop computer and turn off notifications on your phone. The time for your reaction has passed anyway. You can’t do anything now. Just try to stay calm and avoid stress. As a serious investor, you should be prepared for market volatility. Even for this extreme one, that we have now. 

    Market volatility is a good time to start investing

    If you can’t sit in peace, start small and not frequently. For example, buy a small chunk of stock per week. And repeat it until you buy what you want. Diversify your investments across major asset classes, don’t buy from the single one. 

    This period when the coronavirus is crashing the global markets is a good time to enter the market. The stock prices are low, you don’t need too much money to buy them and you can start with small parts buying from time to time. This is a great time to estimate your personal risk tolerance. But you have to follow some rules.

    The rules to follow when the markets are down

    As we pointed before, invest gradually. This means you have to invest a predetermined amount into the same asset over a long time. In this way, you’ll be able to buy more chunks at lower prices (we suppose you want to buy stocks when the price is low, that’s the rule of investing – buy low, sell high, right?) Thus this method will allow you to buy less when the price is high. So, even if you are a total novice in the stock market by doing this you’ll implement one of the most efficient strategies – a dollar-cost averaging. 

    When you estimate where to invest try to find and pick the stock for long-term investment. That’s the reason you shouldn’t start investing if you don’t have saved and put aside cash equal to at least three months’ salary. You will need that money for rainy days. You can invest the rest of your money. 

    Compound interest and diversification

    Keep in mind the advantage of compound interest. That’s when you earn interest on the interest you receive, but you must have an investing plan and stick to it. And the mother of all investments, diversify.

    Diversification will give you more exposure to a wide range of stocks.

    Remember, the current market drop can give you a very good opportunity for young and new investors who can play for a long time. All researches highlighted the young people who invested systematically during market corrections and during the market downturns done better than the others who withdrew. 

    The existing investors should hold their investments tight. Remember, this period when coronavirus is crashing the global markets is just a stress test. Nothing more. Don’t let your emotions lead you, don’t sell your shares in a panic. Sell only if you have some urgent need for cash.

    It’s impossible to pick the market bottom. Resist those thoughts. If you want to trade the stocks you can learn more in the “Two Fold Formula” book. Also, you can check it with our preferred trading platform.

    Bottom line

    Coronavirus is crashing the global markets, that’s the reaction of the market to the spreading of a pandemic. From some point of view, it was expected. A virus outbreak can cause many problems. From day-to-day individual activity to global productivity. This new COVID-19 virus changes the economic outputs since it is progressing in almost every part of the globe. 

    The investors are reasonably worried. The broad disruption to global trade could have a large influence on global growth. Along with these fears in the financial markets, the fears for individual safety is due to the threat of the virus itself. This level of fear may cause even the most rational investors to play by emotions. As negative news appeared the investors with lower risk tolerance started to sell in panic. And as it was expected, they caused a market correction. Just keep in mind, the market corrections are normal even in a bull market. The market needs to neutralize bad behavior. For example, FOMO. But the market will move forward despite anything. The markets will bounce back again. Also, it will be more sustainable. It just needs some time to catch a breath.

  • Volatility Trading – How To Trade Volatility Profitably?

    Volatility Trading – How To Trade Volatility Profitably?

    (Updated November 2021)

    Volatility Trading - How To Trade Volatility Profitably?
    Volatility traders do not pay attention to which direction stock prices move, they are interested in the level of volatility itself.

    Volatility trading describes trading the volatility of the price of an underlying asset. Make a note of the difference, it isn’t trading of the price itself. Or in other words, volatility trading indicates trading the assumed future volatility of the index. Hence, it is buying and selling the anticipated future volatility of the asset. Every single asset in which price changes, actually manifests price volatility. So, traders that trade volatility looks at how much change, in any direction, will happen. They don’t pay attention to the price, they don’t want to predict the price itself. Such traders just think about how much the price of some asset will move in the future, in the stock price, for example. No matter if it will go up or down. And it isn’t random trading. They have developed strategies which we’ll present to you.

    But firstly, we would like to make clear what volatility trading is.

    For example, options are a favorite tool for volatility trading. Why is that? Well, many factors can affect the value of the option but a crucial for its value is the expected future volatility of the underlying asset. Hence, options with higher expected volatility are more valuable than options on instruments with low expected volatility in the future.
    Therefore, options represent an easy way to get exposure to the volatility of the underlying instruments. Basically, that expected future volatility of the underlying instrument of an option is a very important part when traders’ valuing the option.

    Factors important to determine the volatility

    We can recognize seven factors that determine the price of an option and they are also called variables. While all of them are variable only one is an estimate and represents the most important part. The known factors are the current price of an underlying asset, strike price, also the known part is calls and puts, meaning what is the type of an option. Further, we always know what is the risk-free interest rate, and the dividends on the underlying assets. But what we don’t know is volatility. The volatility is the most important variable to determine the price of an option. So we need to know what indicates volatility. 

    First of all, it is one of the “Greeks” – Vega. 

    It is the measure of an option’s price sensitivity to shifts in the volatility of the underlying instrument. Vega outlines the value that an option’s price changes as a response to a 1% move in the expected volatility of the underlying asset. This “greek” will show the change of an option for every 1% of the change in volatility. 

    Main points related to volatility trading

    Traders should pay attention to two main points related to volatility.

    One is relative volatility. It refers to the current volatility of the stock in comparison to its volatility over a given period. For example, ABC stock options that expire in one-month historically showed expected volatility of 15%, but current volatility is 25%. Let’s compare it with XYZ stock options that had expected volatility of 25% but now grown to 30%. If we want to estimate absolute volatility it is obvious that XYZ stock has a greater. But the stock ABC gained a greater change in relative volatility. 

    The volatility of the overall market is important too. The most used is VIX ( the CBOE Volatility Index) that measures the volatility of the S&P 500. VIX is also known as the investors’  fear gauge. When the S&P 500 experiences a sharp decline, the VIX increases sharply. Every time when the S&P 500 is rising gradually, the VIX will be pacified. 

    Strategies for volatility trading

    Straddle strategy

    As we said, traders who trade volatility are not interested in the direction of the price changes. They make money on high volatility, no matter whether the price goes up or down. 

    One of the most popular strategies for volatility trading is the Straddle strategy with pending orders. This strategy provides a profit when the price goes considerably in one direction, no matter if it is up or down. The best time to use this strategy is when the traders expect an extreme increase in volatility.  

    We said it has to be used with pending orders. The pending orders are orders that were not yet executed, hence not yet becoming a trade. They’ll become market orders when certain pre-specified conditions are met.
    If you want to use this strategy, you’ll need to identify a market in consolidation before some significant market release. Further, set a buy stop pending order above the upper consolidation resistance. A sell stop pending order you should set below the lower consolidation support.  

    In Forex trading

    For example, you are trading Forex and have a currency pair that entered a consolidation stage with low volatility. Just put buy stop orders a few pips above the upper resistance,  so a sell stop order should be a few pips below the lower support. No matter in which direction the price will change, it will trigger one of these orders and when the volatility continues, the trade will end up in a profit.

    The real trigger for pending orders is volatility. Volatility occurs a bit before important reports in the market and traders usually schedule this kind of trades before them.
    In a straddle strategy, the traders write or sell a call and put at the same strike price wanting to receive the premiums on both positions. The reason behind this strategy is that the traders await expected volatility to decrease significantly by option expiry. That allows them to hold most of the premiums received on short put and short call positions.

    Ratio Writing

    Ratio writing is simply writing more options than are bought. Use a 2:1 ratio, just two options, sold or written for every option bought. The aim is to profit on a large fall in expected volatility before the date of expiry.

    Iron Condors in volatility trading

    In this strategy, the traders combine a bear call spread with a bull put spread of the same expiration. They hope to profit on a reversal in volatility. The result would be the stock trading in a tight range during the life of the options.
    The iron condor strategy has a low payoff, but the potential loss also has a limitation.

    Go long

    During the high volatility, traders who are bearish on the stock can buy puts on it. Keep in mind the saying “the trend is your friend.”
    “Go long” strategy or buy puts is expensive. It requires, from traders who want to lower the costs of long put positions, to buy more put out-of-the-money or, the other way is to add a short put position at a cheaper price to meet the cost of the long put position. You can find this strategy under the name a bear put spread.

    Go Short

    The other name for this strategy is “write calls”. The traders who are bearish on the stock but think the level of expected volatility for options could decrease may write naked calls to pocket a premium.
    Writing or shorting a naked call is a very risky strategy, keep that in mind. There can be an unlimited risk if the underlying stock boosts in price before the expiry date of the naked call position. In such a case, you can end up with several hundred percent of the loss. To reduce this risk, just combine the short call position with a long call position at a higher price. This strategy you can find under the name “a bear call spread.”

    Use VIX to predict the volatility 

    Yes, you can recognize market turns by using VIX. To be more specific,  you’ll recognize the bottoms. Well, the stock market regularly rises gradually and the VIX will decrease in the same manner. So very low levels can occur. The investors don’t feel they need any protection. If these periods last longer, the VIX as a sell signal can be useless. 

    But, the nature of the S&P 500 is long-biased. If index declines investors start to buy protection (simple put options) fast. That pushes up the VIX. Can you see how great the “fear barometer” VIX is? When you notice a high VIX you can be sure the investors and traders are overreacting because the market drops. The VIX during times of market drops will behave as the spike. That is a good signal to discover when selling is overdone and the market is moving higher due to bounce or even bottom for a longer-term.

    This strategy is suitable when the VIX ‘sign’ appears during a bullish trend in the S&P 500.

    Bottom line

    Volatility trading is an excellent way to get profitable trades even if you are wrong about the direction of the price. Volatility is the main interest of volatility traders. They are seeking big changes in any direction. Use the VIX index as a measurement for volatility in the stock market. A rising VIX index indicates fears in the market. But it is a good time to buy stocks. The most popular trading strategy to trade volatility is the Straddle strategy.
    Also, traders use the Short Straddle strategy when they expect a lack of volatility, for example, the prices continuing with steady change.
    No matter which of these strategies you want to use, just keep in mind that you can profit no matter what is the direction of the price movement.

  • A Dead Cat Bounce – How To Trade It

    A Dead Cat Bounce – How To Trade It

    A Dead Cat Bounce - How To Trade It
    Dead cat bounce appears when the markets are in free fall. Is it possible to profit from it?

    A dead cat bounce is a phenomenon that occurs when a stock gap is lower by a remarkable percentage. For example, 5% represents that phenomenon. When the stock is always volatile within a continued period of downside this gap is over 5%. But when the stock isn’t volatile this gap of 5% must be taken into consideration.
    The pattern occurs during bearish moves and it is visible on the charts. A dead cat bounce pattern is an expected correction of a bearish trend.

    To put this simple

    Assume we have a stock that is in a strong downtrend. When it happens we can notice a lot of short-sellers in that stock. But not all are short selling. Some traders will believe that the stock has touched its cheapest possible price, it reached the bottom. So, they would like to close their short trades but some will hold the position longer. And what we have here is increasing buying pressure. The consequence is that such a stock will find its bottom and a short bounce will occur. But the stock proceeds in the direction of its initial trend and that will lead to a quick sell-off. 

    So, we can say, a dead cat bounce is a short recovery of the stock price from a long dropping. But it is followed by the increase of the downtrend. This recovery in stock price is a short-living one. If you take a close look at such a stock’s chart, you will notice that the downtrend is broken by short periods of recovery. They are very small rallies and the stock price can rise for a short time. 

    Why is this phenomenon called a dead cat bounce? Well, there is a belief that even a dead cat would bounce if it falls fast and far sufficient.

    How to identify a dead cat bounce pattern?

    First of all, it is a price pattern and often a repeating pattern. Don’t be naive and think it is a reversal of the current trend because this first bounce will stop and the prior downtrend will continue so the stock price will continue to drop. It is important to understand that a dead cat bounce isn’t a reversal. It appears after a stock price drops below its previous low. When the price of such volatile stock temporarily rises you’ll see it as short periods of recovery. That is due to traders’  short-sellings, they are closing out short positions or maybe buying on the hope that the stock touched the bottom.

    The problem is that we cannot identify this price action before it happens. We can recognize a dead cat bounce as a pattern after it occurs. We can try to predict if the recovery will be temporary by using some analytical tools as analysts do but there are no guarantees. Identifying the exact pattern before it happens is difficult even for experienced traders. We can see a dead cat bounce in the stock price for individual stock or for the group of stocks. Moreover, it can occur for the economy in general, for example, during the recession.

    A real-life example of this pattern

    We have it now, these days. The indexes had the greatest drops last week, three days in a row. The biggest drops after the Great Recession. Last month, February marked several days when the market has grown, but it fell under the pressure. The investors sold some of their positions when they noticed the market has risen after a long decrease. And they unloaded. But the downtrend continued so we have a typical dead cat bounce. During the first four days of last week, for example, Dow Jones declined by almost 18%. The indexes, in general, are oversold. The overall trend indicates further losses in the stock market. Coronavirus caused so much uncertainty.

    The stock price fell, short traders started to look for a point to take profits. Some others started to buy at a discount. And the buying pressure occurred since both groups pushed the price back up. Well, buying pressure isn’t able to maintain the stock price at the current rate. When we have too many short selling in the market and no one left to buy, the downtrend is going to continue. The stock prices are going to drop more. This unbalanced relation in supply and demand causes a dead cat bounce.

    How to recognize a dead cat bounce 

    First of all, a dead cat bounce is a retracement, it isn’t a reversal. So the rebound is short and unstable. Traders can notice in their chart the existence of intent bias coming amid a clear period of failing. That should help to identify a pattern. By using fundamental and technical analysis traders are able to discover if they are set for a leg lower or a broader recovery. This is an important issue for traders. Is a rebound going to form a significant bottom or it will be a short-living rebound? After a short rebound, the stock price will continue to decrease. As we said, if traders notice a sign of rapid selling and it lasts for a longer time, there will not be a bottom. It is a dead cat bounce.

    How to trade a dead cat bounce?

    A dead cat bounce is the reverse of a buy the dip thinking. While “buy the dip” means the traders are sure that the full uptrend is going to come back into play notwithstanding current losses, a dead cat bounce is different.
    For example, your chart highlights the run-up to $100 and each fall is met by buyers. Well, they are taking advantage of drop thinking that history can repeat and produce further highs. 

    But markets recognize each leg lower as being a forerunner to further losses. Periods of selling are longer, the rebounds are short, they may not last. The use of Fibonacci retracement levels can give us a tool. A shallower retracement is characteristic of a market that is prepared for added dead cat bounce.
    The sharp declines show that the market in free fall will see shallow retracements every time where there isn’t enough trust in any rebound. To notice a dead cat bounce, it is important to look for a breakthrough in the previous swing low, hence a continued downtrend. 

    Where to place a stop-loss order?

    Traders can look onto these shallow retracements as a method to start risk-to-reward trades. Your stop loss should be sized smaller. That could provide you a greater chance for a high risk-to-reward profile. Timing is extremely important when you trade this pattern. You need to stick to the trading rules of this pattern. Otherwise, you are at risk to lose everything. So, as we said, short the stock only when the price move breaks the last bottom formed.

    Use the previous swing low as an entry point to ensure the trade is opened upon verification that a dead cat bounce has happened. Then look at the dead cat bounce for a lead on where to place your stop loss. Stop-loss should be proportionately small due to the shallow nature of that rebound. Don’t place a stop loss at the peak of a dead cat bounce. It’s better to place it above. You will need a higher high to neutralize the bearish appearance.

    If you don’t use a stop-loss order you’ll end up in pain. What if the pattern you think you notice isn’t a dead cat bounce pattern? Are you short selling a stock, which reached a significant bottom? So it was ready to make a big move higher. This means you made the wrong decision.

    Don’t trade on margin and always set a protective stop-loss order when you want to trade this pattern.

    Timing is important

    When you see this pattern, you should intend for a minimum price move equal to the prior trend movement. Simply, if the price starts falling quickly and you verify a pattern, you should assume the price to fall at least with the same size. There you should take your profit.

    It is important to highlight that timing is essential when trading this pattern. If you don’t enter the market at the right time, there is a big chance that you’ll miss an important part of the bearish move. You have to be sure you short the stock exactly at the moment when you notice a candle closing below the last low of the stock.

    Bottom line

    When the stock drops more than 5% from the prior closing price but soon the price is back close where it opened, and the price then falls again, we have a dead cat bounce. It isn’t a bargain at discount. But you can make money on it
    The fundamental level in a dead cat bounce trade is near the open price of the initial gap down day. Usually, the price will retest this level during the same day. That will give traders the possibility to go short. This level will stay notable for days or weeks in the future. If you go short and the stock price falls more after that, the price can come back a week later again to test the same level. That would be a second dead cat bounce.

    One single gap may have three cat bounce trades. It is risky to trade this pattern but may give you a high profit.

  • How to Value a Company And Find The Best To Invest?

    How to Value a Company And Find The Best To Invest?

    How to Value a Company?
    For investors, company valuation is a crucial part of determining the potential return on investment. Start by looking at the value of the company’s assets. 

    One of the most confusing questions for all beginners in the market is how to value a company. The worth of the companies is important for every investor. And the question of how to value a company has a sense for any investor, entrepreneur, employee,  and for any size company. Thus, you have to find the best way to determine the worth of the company. Do you need to ask to see the company’s books or you can value a company based on the existing customers or news? How much time will it take to learn how to value a company? When you notice some interesting companies where to go first? Yes, you can ask in many ways how to value a company.

    The first comes first.

    For every investor, the value of a company is a crucial part of determining the potential returns on investment. Every investor should know if the company is fair valued, undervalued, or overvalued because it has a great impact on a company’s stock or stock options. 

    For example,  a higher valuation might indicate the options will grow in value.

    So, if you want to know how to value a company, be prepared to take into consideration a lot of the company’s attributes. This includes revenue and profitability growth, stage of growth, operating experience, technology, commodity, business plans. Yes, but the list isn’t full without market sentiment, growth rate, overall economic circumstances, etc.
    To understand how to value a company in a simple way, you can take a few factors into account. 

    What metrics to use to value the companies?

    Here is how to value a company and basic metrics you can use for that. You can use the P/B ratio and P/E ratio. These two metrics are important when you want to evaluate the company’s stock. These basic metrics you can apply to almost all types of companies. But it is important to know the other and often unique factors that can affect the process of how to value a company.

    One of the variables in the valuation of a company’s health is debt. But a company’s debt is not continually easy to measure or define. So this metric can make the company’s value difficult to value.

    When you want to value a company or stock, it is smart to use the market approach that includes a comparative analysis of precedent transactions and the discounted cash flow which is a form of intrinsic valuation since it is a detailed approach, and also uses an income approach.

    How to value a company’s stock?

    There are several methods that may give you insight into the value of companies’ stocks. 

    They are the market approach, the cost approach, and the income approach. The cost approach means that a buyer will buy a share of stock for no more than a stock of equal value. The market approach is based on the belief that in free markets, supply and demand will push the price of a stock to a point where the number of buyers and sellers match. The income approach defines value as the net current value of a company’s future free cash flows.

    Market value as a method on how to value a company

    The market value is simple. It represents the shares trade for but tells us nothing about stock’s intrinsic value. Thus, we have to know the stock’s true worth. This is a key part of value investing.
    The stock value is shown in stock price. The P/E ratio is helpful to understand this value. To calculate the P/E ratio just divide the price of a stock by its earnings per share

    When the P/E ratio is high it is a signal for higher earnings for investors. This ratio is helpful to use if you want to know how to value a company. The P/E ratio shows the company’s possible future growth rate. But you should be careful when using the P/E ratio to compare similar companies in the same sector.
    Investors connect value to stocks with P/E ratios. If the average P/E ratio is, for example, 20 – 23 times any P/E ratio above 23 times earnings is classified as a company that investors keep in high 

    Investors and traders use the P/B ratio to compare the book value of a stock to stock’s market value. To calculate the P/B ratio use the most recent book value per share and divide the current closing price of a stock by it. If the P/B ratio is low you can be sure the company is undervalued. This metric is very useful if you want to have accurate data on the intrinsic value of the company.

    But be aware, there are several P/E ratios and numerous variations, thus you have to know which one is in play. For more about this READ HERE

    Cost approach or book value

    Book value is the amount of all of a company’s tangible assets (for example equipment) after you deduct depreciation. So, when we are talking about the company’s “net capital value” it means the book value, estimated by the company’s book of net tangible assets over its book of liabilities. To calculate the book value you have to divide the net capital value by the number of outstanding shares. The result is a per-share value. The book value never takes into account the brand, keep that in mind.

    Income as a method on how to value a company

    Use the capitalized cash flow to calculate a company’s worth when future income is expected to stay the same as it was in the past. But if you expect the income is going to vary, use the discounted cash flow method.

    Calculations are simple, divide the result from capitalized cash flow or discounted cash flow by the number of shares outstanding and the figure you get is the price per share.

    Bottom line

    By understanding how to value a company you’ll be able to understand the essence of making investment decisions. No matter if you want to sell, or buy, or hold the shares of stock in some company. Warren Buffett, for example, uses a discounted cash-flow analysis.
    Sometimes, the company valuation is held as the market capitalization. So, to know the value of the company you have to multiply all shares outstanding by the price per share. For instance, a company’s price per share is $10 and the number of outstanding shares is 4 million. If we multiply the price per share by the number of shares outstanding we will find this company is 40 million worth.

    To be honest, it isn’t too hard to value the public company. But when it comes to private companies it can be a bit harder. You can be faced with a lack of information. For example startups. They don’t have a financial track record and you have to value these companies based on the expectation of future growth. To value an early-stage company can be a great challenge. 

    Before you invest in any company, you’ll need to determine its value. This is important because you need to know if it is worth your time and money. Think about the company’s value as its selling price. Maybe it is the simplest way.

  • Stock Buyback: How Does It Impact investors?

    Stock Buyback: How Does It Impact investors?

    Stock Buyback: How Does It Impact Investors?
    A stock buyback decision may send a questionable signal to investors. Not all buybacks will show the management’s opinion that the stocks are undervalued. 

    By Guy Avtalyon

    A stock buyback or a stock repurchase refers to a situation when a company buys its outstanding shares. The reason is simple, they want to decrease the number of available stocks on the market. Did you know this practice was illegal in the past? Oh, yes! It was illegal because it was seen as a type of stock manipulation. Today, a stock buyback is legal, of course. 

    When a company buys its stocks it can cancel them or hold them for re-issue later. To perform a buyback, a company can get its stocks in the market like any other investor. Also, there are two other ways to do so. The company may announce a proportional offer and buy equivalent parts from its shareholders. The other way is a tender offer. This means the company invites its shareholders to sell stocks by buying back a fixed number of its stocks at a specified price. 

    Tender offers are made publicly. The company invites shareholders to sell their stocks at a specified price and usually, they have a defined time frame to do that. The price specified is often at a premium to the market price. It can be conditional upon a minimum or a maximum number of sold shares. 

    The law demands public companies to buyback stocks from funds generated from profits or the gains of a current issue of stocks.

    Buyback can be offered over a specific period. For example, a company announces its plan to buy back $70 million worth shares in the next 3 years.

    What are the reasons behind a stock buyback 

    A stock buyback enables the company to invest in itself. When a company buys back its stocks it actually reduces the number of shares outstanding on the market. But at the same time, this increases the proportion of shares held by investors. A stock buyback is a business action. For example, the company sees its stock is undervalued, so it makes a buyback. This action is usually aimed to provide investors with a return. Such a company is bullish on its operations at that time, and stock buyback can significantly increase the earnings gained from shares allocation. The point is that the stock price will rise only if the P/E ratio is sustained. Also, when the company reduces the number of shares outstanding, it makes them worthier. That is the way to increase the stock’s EPS, stock price, and decrease the P/E ratio.

    A stock buyback shows to investors that the company has enough cash deposited aside for unpredictable difficulties and a low chance of financial problems. 

    Also, a company can do that for the purpose of compensation when it wants to award employees or management with stock and stock options. That’s also the reason behind stock buyback, to avoid the dilution of existing stockholders.

    How stock buyback is carried out?

    The company may present to its shareholders a tender offer. Shareholders have an opportunity to tender all their shares or part, a portion of them. The company limits the time for that. The price of a stock is at a premium price or the current market price. The premium price is compensation for stockholders that are willing more to offer their stocks, rather than hold them.

    The company may buyback stocks on the open market, also. Some have buyback programs and from time to time you can see their offers. The share buybacks have a stimulative effect. Companies have more cash on hand to pay their debts or to provide cash for further operations. Also, some companies can extend share buybacks, which leads to a faster reduction of their shares float. Increasing the company’s important financial ratios also can be one of the reasons as much as undervaluation or ownership consolidation. For example, large, expanded buybacks may affect the share price to go up. 

    Generally speaking, buybacks are a sign of a company’s capacity to return value to its shareholders. One historical data is interesting. The companies that practice regular buybacks have outperformed the wide market.

    The influence on investors

    To the investors that own stock in the company that is doing buybacks, the stock buyback will boost the value per share. This action will give them more money and fast. But to really have any benefit from the company’s stock buyback you must hold enough stock. Otherwise, the buyback will not affect you significantly. To be honest, the greatest portion of the stock holds a small group of investors and they will have greater benefits from this gain.

    That’s true, but also the truth is that the wealthiest 10% of investors hold 80% while almost 80% of shareholders hold just little as 8% of all stock shares.

    A stock buyback isn’t cheap. Companies are spending a lot of money to exercise the buybacks. Some investors think that using extra cash for buying their shares in the open market is quite in contrast to what the companies have to do. They think they should reinvest that extra cash to support growth, to develop the company and provide more jobs or to expand the existing capacity.

    Moreover, some investors claim that stock buybacks are synthetically pushing the per-share price higher. Also, they argue that this move is beneficial for management only. It isn’t secret that management’s capital is connected to stock ownership in their company.

    The conclusion is – the stock buyback can drive the per-share price higher and the stock may look more attractive. The company will have the same earnings but the number of shares outstanding will be reduced.

    Lately, companies like this practice, since the stock buyback is one way more to return value to shareholders. The others are dividends.

    Buybacks vs dividends?

    Both offers are all about how to return funds to investors. But which of these two programs investors like more? In case the financial markets are ideal, in the meaning of perfection, it shouldn’t matter.

    For example, ABC company has one million shares in issue and excess cash of $2 million which it wants to distribute to investors. After this distribution, this ABC company expects profits of $1 million yearly and also expects a P/E ratio to be 8 times. So, this company can distribute this $2 million as a dividend of $2 per share or as a tender offer of 200,000 shares at $10 per share.

    No matter which distribution they choose the total market value will be the same. Whichever method they choose the risks will be the same. But let’s do some math. So, we have to multiply the total market value by the P/E ratio.

    In our example, it is:

    total market value = $1 million x 8 = $8 million

    But what we have here is if the company prefers to pay dividends, there will be a million shares in issue. Under the buyback, there will be 800,000 shares in issue. So, the value per share will be $8 (simple math: $8million/1 million) under the dividend option and $10 ($8 million/800,000) under the buyback option.

    Let’s examine a case of a shareholder that holds 5.000 shares in both the dividend and the buyback situation. Such has a choice to hold or sell the shares.

    As you can see this is the same for investors. Under both dividend and buyback options, shareholder’s wealth remains the same.
    For dividend options, the shareholder has 5.000 shares worth $8 each plus $2 dividend per share. Which makes $50.000. While under the stock buyback option a shareholder will receive $10 per share, which is $50.000 also. Thus, for a shareholder both options are equally beneficial.
    The above case is accurate only if the financial markets are perfect. But in the real world, they are not. So, shareholders may prefer buybacks.

  • Price Action Strategies For Profitable Trading

    Price Action Strategies For Profitable Trading

    Price Action Strategies
    Experienced traders use price action strategies in trading to make more profitable trades. Price action strategies are one of the most used in current financial markets.

    Price action strategies in trading are present for quite some time. They are here for good reason. That’s why these strategies are frequently used in the financial market. Price action strategies are used by both long-term and short-term traders. The point is that analyzing the price of a security is maybe the simplest but at the same time the most powerful approach to getting an edge over the market. And that is crucial for any trader. Having an edge means that you’ll not be found out by the market. 

    Okay, you might think you are a great trader because you had several winnings. Do you really think that having luck is the most important part of trading?

    Anyone can do the same if the lucky is a matter of importance.

    Relying on luck is the danger because the wheel of fortune is turning around. And eventually, your winning trades will become great losses. All the profits you made during your winning streak will vanish like a soap bubble. That’s because you don’t have an edge. Actually, in this case, your edge is with the market which is too risky because at some point that edge will play out in favor of the market securing that trader loss. 

    If you don’t have an edge and the edge is in the favor of the market, it is a matter of time until the edge starts to play out and you’ll become a loser. 

    Think about this as a casino, for example. All tools and machines in the casino have odds adjusted in favor of the casino. In any case, the casino is the winner. Yes, from time to time someone will make a lot of money, but there are many losing players, more than winning. So, the casino will be the winner in any case.

    That is the casino’s edge. The exact comes with your trading if you are only considering your next trade and never think about trading inside the market’s overall edge.

    Stay focused on the price action

    Price action is a trading method that enables a trader to understand the market and make trading decisions based on current and real price actions. So, in price action strategies you are not relying only on technical indicators. As you can see, the action price strategies are dependent on technical analysis. Some traders use price action strategies to generate a profit in a short time. 

    If you want to be a price action trader, you must be focused on price action. This sounds like nonsense, you may think. But if you want to evaluate deeper, you will find the majority of traders think the price action strategies are the same as pattern trading. And that is a great mistake. 

    While pattern trading requires just staring at the last candles of the chart and making a trade based on them, for price action trading you’ll need more. Yes, in pattern trading the last one or two candles can be an excellent entry signal, in price action strategies they are just candles among many many other candles on the chart.

    Every successful price action trader knows how to read a price action chart as a whole and knows how to force them to tell the entire price action story. Price action traders have to interpret the real order flow, support and resistance, traders’ behavior and trends through the live price action.

    What is price action trading?

    Price action trading is trading in which traders base their decisions on the price movements of an asset which can be stock, forex, bonds, etc. There is no need to use other indicators, your trade is based on price action solely. Of course, you can use other methods but it will have a very small impact on your decisions.

    The price action traders believe that the only valid source of data flows from the price itself. For example, when the stock prices go up, the price action traders know that investors or other traders are buying. Based on the aggressiveness of that buying, price action traders estimate will the prices continue to rise. These traders don’t care why something occurs. Their all concern is to find the best possible entry point with lower risks but with greater profits. For that to know, they are using real-time data, for example, volume, bids, offers, magnitude and similar. Also, historical charts are very important.

    In trading – what is that?

    First of all, price action trading is the method where you make all your decisions from the so-called “naked” price chart. That means there are no other indicators. All we have is price action. That’s a lot of data because all markets generate data about the price changes over different periods. And that data is displayed on the price chart. What can you read there? For example, everything about the beliefs and behavior of other traders and investors, no matter if they are humans or computers. Data is for a specific time frame and all opinions, beliefs, all financial data, news that affects price change, and behavior are visible on the chart as price action. 

    The most important part, with knowing the price movements, you’ll be able to develop a really profitable trading system. All signals from the price action chart have a general name – price action trading strategies. These strategies can give you a chance to predict future movements with a high level of accuracy so you can make a profitable strategy.

    Price action trading strategies can be used on a broad variety of securities including stocks, bonds, derivatives, forex, commodities, etc.

    Price action strategies

    Trendline strategy

    One of them is the trendline strategy, very simple to use. The main point here is to know how to draw trendlines. This is an important part because only if you do it properly you’ll be able to predict where the price will bounce off the trendlines. Well, you’ll take a trade based on it so be consistent in how you draw trendlines. 

    Breakout strategy

    The other price action strategy is a breakout. For example, a stock price is moving with a specific tendency. When it breaks the tendency, it is a signal for a new trading opportunity. To make this clearer, suppose a stock traded between $9 and $6 for the last two weeks. Suddenly, it moves above $9. So, the stock price changed the tendency. That is the signal for traders that the sideway moves are probably finished and the stock price is possible to go up to $10 or more.
    Of course, you might be faced with a false breakout, but it is also an opportunity to trade in the opposite direction of the breakout.

    Bars formation

    Another price action strategies examine the price bars formation on a specific model of the chart. For example, candlestick charts. If traders use candlestick strategies, for example, the engulfing candle trend strategy. It is important to wait until the up candle engulfs a down candle during an uptrend. That should be your entry point, the moment when an up candle goes above the opening price of the down candle.

    You can use price support and price resistance zones. That could give good trading chances. Support and resistance zones occur where the price has tended to reverse in the past and these points may be relevant in the future.

    Bottom line

    Price action strategies aren’t suitable for long term investments. They are aimed at short-term traders. So many traders don’t think that the markets never operate on consistent patterns. They believe the markets work randomly. The consequence is that they don’t think it isn’t possible to have a strategy that will work in any case. If you combine technical analysis with historical price data, price action strategies will allow you to make profitable trades. 

    These strategies are very popular today due to its advantages. They provide flexible trades, access to many asset classes, use of any software, apps or trading websites. Moreover, traders have a chance to backtest any strategy on historical data. Also, maybe the most important part of price action strategies is that the traders have an opportunity to choose their actions on their own. So, that creative approach to trading is important for many of them. 

    A lot of proponents on price action trading insist on high success rates. Trading has the potential for making great profits. Traders-Paradise suggests testing and acting after that. Just to be ready to meet your best possible profit chances.