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Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #18 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #18 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is the Blockchain? - The Blockchain is a decentralized ledger that is append-only meaning that data can only be added to it. Once information is added, it is extremely difficult to modify or delete it. The Blockchain enforces this by including a pointer to the previous Block in every subsequent Block. The pointer is a Hash of the previous block. Hashing involves passing data through a one-way function to produce a unique Fingerprint of the input. If the input is modified even slightly, the Fingerprint will look completely different. Since the Blocks are linked in a Chain, there is no way for someone to edit an old entry without invalidating the Blocks that follow, allowing a secure structure. What Is a Blockchain Consensus Algorithm? - A consensus algorithm is a mechanism that allows users or machines to coordinate the agreement of what is a valid block in the Blockchain in a distributed setting. It needs to ensure that all participants in the system can agree on a single source of truth. Types of consensus algorithms include Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS). What is Proof of Work? - Proof of Work (PoW) is a mechanism for preventing the same bitcoin funds from being spent more than once. Proof of Work consists of a consensus algorithm, which is a protocol that sets out the conditions for what makes a block in the Blockchain valid. It ensures the security and integrity of bitcoin’s distributed ledger. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Hedging Portfolio Risk Hedging bitcoin exposure with the Bakkt ® Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures (BMC) contract is a way to manage portfolio risk by taking a directional position opposite to the underlying asset as protection. For example, a hedger may have plans to hedge downward price movement in bitcoin using futures contracts based on in-house market and portfolio analytical processes. The market analysis may use common technical analytical techniques such as support and resistance to formulate the trade decision. If bitcoin is expected to weaken as it nears the resistance area, the hedger may plan to enter into a short futures position using the Bakkt ® Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures contract under either price levels of $27,500 or $32,500 to lock in the value of their underlying bitcoin position. Alternatively, if the hedger was in a short bitcoin position and wanted to hedge their position as price rose, entering a long futures position above price levels $12,500 or $16,500 could be considered. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #17 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #17 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is a custodian? - A custodian is a financial institution that holds customers' assets or securities for safekeeping to prevent them from being stolen or lost. The custodian may hold equities, bonds, derivatives, or other assets in electronic or physical form on behalf of its customers. Custodians could offer related financial services such as account management and reporting, transaction settlement, and compliance related to anti-money laundering and tax regulations. What is an exchange? - An exchange is a venue where buyers and sellers trade equities, bonds, derivatives, and other tradable assets. Exchanges are often regulated by financial regulators and provide liquidity, which give market participants the ability to buy and sell assets at a fair market value. What is a financial regulator? - Governments have various agencies in place given the responsibility to regulate and oversee financial markets and companies participating in the financial system. These agencies each have a specific range of duties and responsibilities that enable them to act independently of each other while they work to accomplish similar objectives. For example, in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has oversight of the securities industry (stocks and shares), whereas the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates and oversees derivative markets (futures, swaps, and options). RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Position and Risk Management Risk management is the responsibility of market participants designed to limit risk exposures that specifically applies to the participants financial profile in the market. The financial profile of a participant may include their role in the financial market or the amount of capital under their responsibility to be managed in the market, and therefore the risk variables that each would need to identify may be unique. For both corporate and individual investors, the market to trade would be a key variable to clearly state and support with reasons for trading or investing. Reasons for selecting one market over another could include price volatility, liquidity, daily volume traded, size of the minimum price increment, and value of the minimum price increment. Comparing these variables between markets will help decide the suitability and/or risk of each. For example, if Mini-Brent Crude Oil futures (BM) moves around $2.00 per day (or 2 points) and a point is worth $100, a trader might experience a $200 fluctuation in their account balance for one day. Another example is the U.S Dollar / Singapore Dollar (USDSGD), which could move 70 pips or more per day and trading a standard lot size with each pip worth $10, a $700 fluctuation could be expected for one day. Market participants may also manage their risk through the size of their positions. The larger their position size, the greater is their exposure and the smaller their position size their exposure is lower. Investors should determine the risk that would result from various position sizes and select the size that ensures that their risk limit is not exceeded. Finally, setting stops with a specified loss amount provides protection if the market does not move in the desired direction. It helps to prevent creating a loss scenario which is larger than an account can handle. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
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ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
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Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #16 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #16 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is liquidity and what is its significance? - Liquidity refers to the availability of a product and ensures market participants have the ability to buy and sell easily. A liquid market increases the likelihood for finding a counterparty when entering or exiting a trade. What is volume a measurement of in trading? - Volume in trading refers to the total number of contracts exchanged between buyers and sellers of a market during trading hours over a given period. Higher trading volumes are considered more positive than lower trading volumes because they indicate the availability of orders in the market allowing better order execution during the trading session. What is open interest in the derivatives market? - Open interest is the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as options or futures that have not been settled for an asset. Open interest equals the total number of bought or sold contracts, not the total of both added together. Increasing open interest represents new or additional money coming into the market while decreasing open interest indicates money flowing out of the market. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Diversification: Futures Spreads with Currency Futures A futures spread is usually created when one futures contract is sold simultaneously to the buying of a second related futures contract in order to capitalize on a discrepancy in price. Currency futures spreads combine the use of different currencies usually paired to the U.S. Dollar with the same contract month to express a relationship between the two currencies usually taking into account their strength or weakness relative to each other. For example, the Singapore Dollar (USDSGD) may be seen to be strengthening (price movement is downward) while the Chinese Yuan (USDCNY) may be seen as being very weak (price movement is upward). To take advantage of this observation, we would want to buy Singapore Dollar (sell the USDCNY future) and sell the Chinese Yuan (buy the USDCNY future) and as a result eliminate the U.S. Dollar. However, it must be noted that not all currencies are quoted in the same way like the Australian Dollar futures is quoted “AUDUSD”. It means then that to take advantage of a strong Australian Dollar and a weak Chinese Yuan quoted as “USDCNY”, an investor would need to buy both the AUDUSD future and the USDCNY future. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #15 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #15 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is an Interest Rate Differential? - An interest rate differential is a change in the interest rates between the currencies of two countries. It is a measure of how money from two countries compares to each other. What is the Carry Trade? - The carry trade is where an investor borrows in a currency where the interest rate is low and converts those funds into a currency where the interest rate is higher. For example, if one currency has an interest rate of 5% and the other has a rate of 1%, it has a 4% interest rate differential. If you were to buy the currency that pays 5% against one that pays 1%, you would be paid on the difference with daily interest payments. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Diversification: Portfolio Risk Using FX Futures Portfolio diversification is the process of investing your money in different asset classes and securities in order to minimize the overall risk of the portfolio. For both corporate and individual investors, having access to markets that enable the building of a diversified portfolio is an important consideration when managing futures focused accounts. Similar to managing risk, the market to trade would be a key variable to clearly state and support with reasons for trading or investing. Reasons for selecting one market over another could include price volatility, liquidity, daily volume traded, size of the minimum price increment, and value of the minimum price increment. Comparing these variables between markets will help decide the suitability and/or risk of each. For example, the parameters for a price driven strategy may be designed to be applied to any market whether it be index equity futures or forex futures. However, the signals for entry may not always trigger if a trader were just to focus on a single index equity futures. Having access to markets such as the Micro MSCI USA Index futures could add diversification to a portfolio in an efficient manner. Having access to other futures markets to apply the strategy to allow for the creation of a diversified portfolio with varying entry and exit points or the ability for more trading oriented investors increased opportunities to execute price driven strategies more often across a range of futures markets. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #14 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #14 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What defines a Bear Market? - A bear market is when a market or even individual securities experiences extended price declines. The condition observed in the equity markets is where securities prices fall 20% or more from recent highs triggered by negative investor sentiment and/or overall pessimism in the markets. What defines a Bull Market? - A bull market is the condition seen in a financial market or individual security in which prices are rising and/or are expected to rise. Commonly the rise in price is observed over an extended period of time and can last months or years. What is Inflation? - Inflation is a rise in prices and is often expressed as a percentage change over a period of time. Inflation could also be interpreted as a decline of purchasing power over time, meaning that a unit of currency buys less than it did in prior periods. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Diversification: Portfolio Risk Using FX Futures Individual investors taking a portfolio approach with managed futures and spot foreign exchange could be entering into emerging market currency positions including for example Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore Dollar or South Korean Won. Depending on the view of each of the currencies in the portfolio, it could be constructed to eliminate exposure to the U.S. Dollar. However, there may be a time during which investors would like to introduce U.S. Dollar exposure and they could do so by using Mini US Dollar Index ® Futures with a contract value of $10,000. For example, the U.S. Dollar Index ® may be observed to be in a medium term uptrend and an investor may want to consider entering into a long position in the Mini US Dollar Index ® Futures based on their strategy of choice and exit the position when either their profit target is achieved or their loss limits are triggered. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #13 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #13 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is Bitcoin and from where did it originate? - Bitcoin is a digital form of a medium of exchange with no central bank control which issues fiat currencies. Instead, the financial system involving bitcoin is managed by thousands of computers distributed around the world, a decentralized ledger, where anyone can participate by downloading open-source software and connecting to the ecosystem. The invention and implementation of bitcoin is credited to the person or persons known Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. The white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System“ states that bitcoin was to be, “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” What is the Blockchain? - The Blockchain is a decentralized ledger that is append-only meaning that data can only be added to it. Once information is added, it is extremely difficult to modify or delete it. The Blockchain enforces this by including a pointer to the previous Block in every subsequent Block. The pointer is a Hash of the previous block. Hashing involves passing data through a one-way function to produce a unique Fingerprint of the input. If the input is modified even slightly, the Fingerprint will look completely different. Since the Blocks are linked in a Chain, there is no way for someone to edit an old entry without invalidating the Blocks that follow, allowing a secure structure. What is Mining? - Mining is the process in which transactions between users are verified and added to the decentralized ledger. The process of mining bitcoin is responsible for introducing new coins into the existing circulating supply and is one of the key elements that allows bitcoin to work within the peer-to-peer decentralized network, without the need for a third party central authority. What Is a Blockchain Consensus Algorithm? - A consensus algorithm is a mechanism that allows users or machines to coordinate the agreement of what is a valid block in the Blockchain in a distributed setting. It needs to ensure that all participants in the system can agree on a single source of truth. Types of consensus algorithms include Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS). What is Proof of Work? - Proof of Work (PoW) is a mechanism for preventing the same bitcoin funds from being spent more than once. Proof of Work consists of a consensus algorithm which is a protocol that sets out the conditions for what makes a block in the Blockchain valid. It ensures the security and integrity of bitcoin’s distributed ledger. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Alternatives: Correlation in Futures Investors could allocate a portion of their portfolio to establish a managed futures position and use market correlations to determine alternative markets to enter that meet their account size and risk parameters. For example, the Asia Tech 30 Index when charted against bitcoin shows a positive correlation between the two markets. Traders or investors may have interest in gaining exposure to bitcoin, but due to their smaller account size, may prefer to participate in a market that is correlated and fits their capital limitations. In this case, the Micro Asia Tech 30 futures contract could be a viable alternative to trading bitcoin with its lower margin requirements. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #12 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #12 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is Hedging? - Hedging is the action taken through the use of a financial instrument to minimize the loss or risk of the loss of value of an asset due to adverse asset price movements. Who are Hedgers? - Hedgers are market participants such as commodity producers who want to lock in selling prices of commodities they produce, or food manufacturers who want to lock in buying prices of raw materials purchased. Market participants also include financial institutions handling financial assets and use derivative products such as futures to manage the risk of a portfolio of financial assets. What is the difference between Physically Delivered vs Cash Settled Futures Contracts? - Physical delivery is a term in a futures contract which requires the actual underlying asset to be “physically delivered” upon the specified delivery date, rather than being traded out with an offsetting contract. Cash settled futures on the other hand allows for the net cash amount to be paid or received on the settlement date of the futures contract. Futures exchanges may offer both types of contracts to market participants who have different purposes for trading futures contracts. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Diversification: Correlation in Futures Investors could allocate a portion of their portfolio to establish a managed futures position to deliver non-correlated results under most market conditions, which may serve as a risk mediator within an overall portfolio. This may deliver lower relative returns during periods of price stability. However, during periods of market stress, managed futures could outperform the broad market. For example, the Asia Tech 30 index which has no Thai companies as a component stock would not be expected to have any Thai Baht (USDTHB) currency exposure and which could be included in a managed futures portfolio at times where there is no or low correlation between the two markets and could be used as a hedge during times of negative correlation. Diversification: Portfolio Focused on Asset Returns Individual investors who have a portfolio of foreign stocks will have a return that is composed of the return of the foreign currency-denominated stock plus the change in currency exchange rates. Therefore, investing abroad means having exposure to two different sources of risk and return made up of the underlying asset and the exchange rate. For a long-term investor, the focus on return-generating assets may be the priority rather than returns from currency exchange rates. This could imply removing currency risk through a clearly defined hedging strategy process initially and then adding back currency exposure at a later stage if it is determined that currency exposures could improve a portfolio’s return. Investors would need to analyze their expected returns with and without currency exposures and determine their net currency exposure that they would like to remove. U.S. Dollar based portfolios could use futures contracts such as the Mini US Dollar Index ® Futures to hedge a basket of foreign stocks denominated in their respective domestic currencies. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #10 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is the Notional Value of a Futures Contract? - Notional value of a futures contract is how much total value the contract theoretically controls. Contract Size * Underlying Price = Notional Value Mini US Dollar Index® Futures (SDX) for example has a contract size of $200 x Index value and assuming the SDX price is 98.000, the notional value of the futures contract is $19,600.00. What is the difference between Margin and Leverage? - Margin is the amount of money deposited with the broker to control a futures contract. It is determined by the futures exchange and maybe adjusted by the broker to manage risk to their clients. Leverage is the ability to use less money to theoretically control 1 futures contract compared with buying the product underlying the contract outright which amounts to the notional value of the futures contract. To calculate how much leverage a futures contract gives, divide the notional value of the contract by the margin. The SDX example above had a notional value of $19,600.00 and with a margin requirement of $380, is equal to approximately 51 times leverage on our money ($19,600.00 / $380 = 51). What is a Point and a Tick? - Point is the smallest price increment that can occur on the left side of the decimal point. (Example. 90.000) Tick is the price movement that occurs on the right side of the decimal when looking at the price of a futures contract and is the smallest possible price change measured by markets. A Point is composed of Ticks. (Example. 90.000) Mini US Dollar Index® Futures (SDX) has a minimum price fluctuation of $0.005 representing one tick and would move from 90.000 to 90.005. It takes 200 ticks to make one point or a move from 90.000 to 91.000. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Hedging Portfolio Risk Hedging spot Australian Dollar (AUD) exposure with the Mini US Dollar Index® Futures (SDX) contract is a way to manage portfolio risk by taking a directional position opposite to the underlying asset as protection. For example, a hedger may have plans to hedge downward price movement in AUD using futures contracts based on in-house market and portfolio analytical processes. The market analysis may use common technical analytical techniques such as support and resistance to formulate the trade decision. In the chart (Figure 1), if AUD is expected to weaken as it nears the resistance areas, the hedger may plan to enter into a long futures position using the Mini US Dollar Index® Futures (SDX) contract at or under the price levels of $0.7560 or $0.7460 to lock in the value of their underlying AUD position. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #9 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #9 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is Hedging? - Hedging is the action taken through the use of a financial instrument to minimize the loss or risk of the loss of value of an asset due to adverse asset price movements. Who are Hedgers? - Hedgers are market participants such as commodity producers who want to lock in selling prices of commodities they produce, or food manufacturers who want to lock in buying prices of raw materials purchased. Market participants also include financial institutions handling financial assets and use derivative products such as futures to manage the risk of a portfolio of financial assets. What is the difference between Physically Delivered vs Cash Settled Futures Contracts? - Physical delivery is a term in a futures contract which requires the actual underlying asset to be “physically delivered” upon the specified delivery date, rather than being traded out with an offsetting contract. Cash settled futures on the other hand allows for the net cash amount to be paid or received on the settlement date of the futures contract. Futures exchanges may offer both types of contracts to market participants who have different purposes for trading futures contracts. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS - Common application of financial market instruments for managing risk and opportunities. Risk management is the responsibility of market participants designed to limit risk exposures that specifically applies to the participants financial profile in the market. The financial profile of a participant may include their role in the financial market or the amount of capital under their responsibility to be managed in the market, and therefore the risk variables that each would need to identify may be unique. For both corporate and individual investors, the market to trade would be a key variable to clearly state and support with reasons for trading or investing. Reasons for selecting one market over another could include price volatility, liquidity, daily volume traded, size of the minimum price increment, and value of the minimum price increment. Comparing these variables between markets will help decide the suitability and/or risk of each. For example, if Mini-Brent Crude Oil futures (BM) moves around $2.00 per day (or 2 points) and a point is worth $100, a trader might experience a $200 fluctuation in their account balance for one day. Another example is the U.S Dollar / Singapore Dollar (USDSGD), which could move 70 pips or more per day and trading a standard lot size with each pip worth $10, a $700 fluctuation could be expected for one day. Market participants may also manage their risk through the size of their positions. The larger their position size, the greater is their exposure and the smaller their position size their exposure is lower. Investors should determine the risk that would result from various position sizes and select the size that ensures that their risk limit is not exceeded. Finally, setting stops with a specified loss amount provides protection if the market does not move in the desired direction. It helps to prevent creating a loss scenario which is larger than an account can handle. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #8 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #8 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is a Digital Asset Wallet? – A Digital Asset Wallet is a technology-based tool used to interact with a blockchain network. There are two types of wallets commonly grouped as software and hardware wallets. Alternatively, depending on their working mechanisms, they may also be referred to as “hot” or “cold” wallets. Digital asset wallets generate the necessary information to send and receive digital tokens (“tokens”) via blockchain transactions. Significant information contained in the wallet includes an “address”, an alphanumeric identifier that is generated based on the public and private keys. It is a specific location on the blockchain to which tokens can be sent to and it may be publicly shared with others. The private key should not be shared as it gives access to tokens held by the user, regardless of the type of wallet used. Digital assets essentially never leave the blockchain as they are just transferred from one address to another within the blockchain network. What is the difference between a “Hot” and “Cold” Wallet? – Digital asset wallets may be defined as “hot”, “warm” or “cold,” according to their working mechanisms or the way they operate. A hot wallet is any wallet that is continuously connected to the Internet. These wallets are easy to set up and enable funds to be readily accessible, making them convenient for users to transact. Centralized finance exchanges (CeFi) tend to provide their users with wallet technology to access their accounts, whereas decentralized finance exchanges and applications (DeFi) would require users to obtain a third-party wallet technology provider that allows them to connect to DeFi services. Cold wallets are not connected to the Internet and use a physical medium to store information offline, such as private keys, making them resistant to online hacking attempts. While less convenient, cold wallets serve as a safer storage option. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS – Portfolio Focused on Global Macro Strategies – Global macro strategies are used by funds to base their holdings on their overall economic and geopolitical analysis of various countries. Holdings may include long and short positions in various equity, fixed income, currency, commodities, and futures markets. These funds take longer-term directional views of markets and may not always hedge their positions, but could actively manage their fund to take advantage of what they see as short-term moves opposite to their main view. An individual investor with a long-term view of Brent crude oil who maintains long dated futures positions could consider using front or near month Mini Brent Crude Futures to actively take advantage of shorter-term retracements to certain price levels. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #7 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #7 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is Bitcoin and from where did it originate? – Bitcoin is a digital form of a medium of exchange with no central bank control which issues fiat currencies. Instead, the financial system involving bitcoin is managed by thousands of computers distributed around the world, a decentralised ledger, where anyone can participate by downloading open-source software and connecting to the ecosystem. The invention and implementation of bitcoin is credited to the person or persons known Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. The white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System“ states that bitcoin was to be, “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” What is the Blockchain? – The Blockchain is a decentralised ledger that is append-only meaning that data can only be added to it. Once information is added, it is extremely difficult to modify or delete it. The Blockchain enforces this by including a pointer to the previous Block in every subsequent Block. The pointer is a Hash of the previous block. Hashing involves passing data through a one-way function to produce a unique Fingerprint of the input. If the input is modified even slightly, the Fingerprint will look completely different. Since the Blocks are linked in a Chain, there is no way for someone to edit an old entry without invalidating the Blocks that follow, allowing a secure structure. What is Mining? – Mining is the process in which transactions between users are verified and added to the decentralised ledger. The process of mining bitcoin is responsible for introducing new coins into the existing circulating supply and is one of the key elements that allows bitcoin to work within the peer-to-peer decentralized network, without the need for a third party central authority. What Is a Blockchain Consensus Algorithm? – A consensus algorithm is a mechanism that allows users or machines to coordinate the agreement of what is a valid block in the Blockchain in a distributed setting. It needs to ensure that all participants in the system can agree on a single source of truth. Types of consensus algorithms include Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS). What is Proof of Work? – Proof of Work (PoW) is a mechanism for preventing the same bitcoin funds from being spent more than once. Proof of Work consists of a consensus algorithm which is a protocol that sets out the conditions for what makes a block in the Blockchain valid. It ensures the security and integrity of bitcoin’s distributed ledger. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS – Diversification: Portfolio Focused on Pairs Trading Strategies – Many individual investors use a pairs trade as a trading strategy that involves matching a long position with a short position in two markets with a high correlation. In currency trading, the most economically and politically stable and liquid currencies are commonly the focus of market participants as the focus for currency pairs trading like these eight most traded currencies: U.S. dollar (USD), euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British pound (GBP), Australian dollar (AUD), Canadian dollar (CAD), Swiss franc (CHF), and Chinese Yuan (CNY). If an individual investor is pairing EUR with CHF as part of their pairs trading portfolio, they could use common technical indicators like moving averages as part of their analysis in forming a trade decision. For example, EURUSD on 4th May had crossed the moving average, but USDCHF had not shown similar price action, which could indicate the potential for follow through failure in the EURUSD to the downside. Contrast this with the 16th June where both EURUSD and USDCHF had both crossed the moving average and had clear follow through subsequently. Investors would need to analyze their expected returns with and without currency eThe investor could alternatively consider trading the Mini US Dollar Index ® Futures given that the analysis could point to an opportunity being in the U.S. Dollar, which had been removed as a factor in this pairing. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #6 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #6 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is Hedging? – Hedging is the action taken through the use of a financial instrument to minimize the loss or risk of the loss of value of an asset due to adverse asset price movements. Who are Hedgers? – Hedgers are market participants such as commodity producers who want to lock in selling prices of commodities they produce, or food manufacturers who want to lock in buying prices of raw materials purchased. Market participants also include financial institutions handling financial assets and use derivative products such as futures to manage the risk of a portfolio of financial assets. What is the difference between Physically Delivered vs Cash Settled Futures Contracts? – Physical delivery is a term in a futures contract which requires the actual underlying asset to be “physically delivered” upon the specified delivery date, rather than being traded out with an offsetting contract. Cash settled futures on the other hand allows for the net cash amount to be paid or received on the settlement date of the futures contract. Futures exchanges may offer both types of contracts to market participants who have different purposes for trading futures contracts. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS – Diversification: Correlation in Futures – Investors could allocate a portion of their portfolio to establish a managed futures position to deliver non-correlated results under most market conditions, which may serve as a risk mediator within an overall portfolio. This may deliver lower relative returns during periods of price stability. However, during periods of market stress, managed futures could outperform the broad market. For example, the Asia Tech 30 index which has no Thai companies as a component stock would not be expected to have any Thai Baht (USDTHB) currency exposure and which could be included in a managed futures portfolio at times where there is no or low correlation between the two markets and could be used as a hedge during times of negative correlation. Source: ICE Connect Diversification: Portfolio Focused on Asset Returns – Individual investors who have a portfolio of foreign stocks will have a return that is composed of the return of the foreign currency-denominated stock plus the change in currency exchange rates. Therefore, investing abroad means having exposure to two different sources of risk and return made up of the underlying asset and the exchange rate. For a long-term investor, the focus on return-generating assets may be the priority rather than returns from currency exchange rates. This could imply removing currency risk through a clearly defined hedging strategy process initially, and then adding back currency exposure at a later stage if it is determined that currency exposures could improve a portfolio’s return. Investors would need to analyze their expected returns with and without currency exposures and determine their net currency exposure to be removed. U.S. Dollar based portfolios could use futures contracts such as the Mini US Dollar Index ® Futures to hedge a basket of foreign stocks denominated in their respective domestic currencies. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #5 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #5 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is the bid-ask spread? – Bid-ask spread is the amount by which the ask price exceeds the bid price for a market. The bid-ask spread is the difference between the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay and the lowest price that a seller is willing to accept. An individual looking to sell will receive the bid price while the one looking to buy will pay the ask price. A wide spread may indicate low supply or demand for a market at that point of time during the trading period, while a narrow spread would indicate sufficient supply and demand for a market meaning strong buying and selling competition is at play. What is the role of a market maker in the financial markets? – Market makers are market participants who ensure there is enough liquidity and volume of trading in the markets and offer to sell a market at the ask price and will also bid to purchase a market at the bid price to traders and investors. How does the bid-ask spread relate to liquidity of a market? – The size of the bid-ask spread from one market to another differs mainly because of the difference in liquidity of each market. Certain markets are more liquid than others and that commonly is reflected in their lower spreads. Price takers demand liquidity while market makers supply liquidity. For example, foreign currency futures would have very low spreads during the trading day given the use of currencies as a medium of exchange to do business globally compared to live cattle futures, which relates more to businesses in the United States domestic market. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS – Diversification: Futures Spreads with Currency Futures – A futures spread is usually created when one futures contract is sold simultaneously to the buying of a second related futures contract in order to capitalize on a discrepancy in price. Currency futures spreads combine the use of different currencies usually paired to the U.S. Dollar with the same contract month to express a relationship between the two currencies usually taking into account their strength or weakness relative to each other. For example, the Singapore Dollar (USDSGD) may be seen to be strengthening (price movement is downward) while the South Korean Won (USDKRW) may be seen as being very weak (price movement is upward). To take advantage of this observation, we would want to buy Singapore Dollar (sell the USDSGD future) and sell the South Korean Won (buy the USDKRW future) and as a result eliminate the U.S. Dollar. However, it must be noted that not all currencies are quoted in the same way like the Australian Dollar futures is quoted “AUDUSD”. It means then that to take advantage of a strong Australian Dollar and a weak South Korean Won quoted as “USDKRW”, an investor would need to buy both the AUDUSD future and the USDKRW future. Diversification: Portfolio Risk Using FX Futures – Individual investors taking a portfolio approach with managed futures and spot foreign exchange could be entering into emerging market currency positions including for example Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore Dollar or South Korean Won. Depending on the view of each of the currencies in the portfolio, it could be constructed to eliminate exposure to the U.S. Dollar. However, there may be a time during which investors would like to introduce U.S. Dollar exposure and they could do so by using Mini U.S. Dollar Index ® Futures with a contract value of $10,000. For example, the U.S. Dollar Index ® may be observed to be in a medium term uptrend and an investor may want to consider entering into a long position in the Mini U.S. Dollar Index ® Futures based on their strategy of choice and exit the position when either their profit target is achieved or their loss limits are triggered. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #4 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #4 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is the role of a financial custodian? – A custodian or custodian bank is a financial institution that holds customers’ securities for safekeeping to prevent them from being stolen or lost. Custodians are responsible for the safety of assets and securities and provide services that include trade settlement, investing cash balances as directed, collecting income, processing corporate actions, providing valuation of securities positions, and providing recordkeeping and reporting services. What is the role of a financial exchange? – An exchange is a marketplace where securities, commodities, derivatives and other financial instruments are traded. The core function of an exchange is to ensure fair and orderly trading and the efficient dissemination of price information for any financial instrument trading on that exchange. What is the role of financial regulators? – A regulator authorizes, supervises and regulates, financial institutions operating in a country to ensure the soundness of the overall banking and financial system. This supervision enables financial institutions to operate and provide efficient banking and financial services. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS – Portfolio Diversification – Portfolio diversification is the process of investing your money in different asset classes and securities in order to minimize the overall risk of the portfolio. For both corporate and individual investors, having access to markets that enable the building of a diversified portfolio is an important consideration when managing futures focused accounts. Similar to managing risk, the market to trade would be a key variable to clearly state and support with reasons for trading or investing. Reasons for selecting one market over another could include price volatility, liquidity, daily volume traded, size of the minimum price increment, and value of the minimum price increment. Comparing these variables between markets will help decide the suitability and/or risk of each. For example, the parameters for a price driven strategy may be designed to be applied to any market whether it be index equity futures or forex futures. However, the signals for entry may not always trigger if a trader were just to focus on a single index equity futures such as the Micro MSCI USA Index futures. Having access to other futures markets to apply the strategy to allow for the creation of a diversified portfolio with varying entry and exit points or the ability for more trading oriented investors increased opportunities to execute price driven strategies more often across a range of futures markets. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #3 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #3 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is liquidity and what is its significance? – Liquidity refers to the availability of a product and ensures market participants have the ability to buy and sell easily. A liquid market increases the likelihood for finding a counterparty when entering or exiting a trade. What is volume a measurement of in trading? – Volume in trading refers to the total number of contracts exchanged between buyers and sellers of a market during trading hours over a given period. Higher trading volumes are considered more positive than lower trading volumes because they indicate the availability of orders in the market allowing better order execution during the trading session. What is open interest in the derivatives market? – Open interest is the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as options or futures that have not been settled for an asset. Open interest equals the total number of bought or sold contracts, not the total of both added together. Increasing open interest represents new or additional money coming into the market while decreasing open interest indicates money flowing out of the market. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORPORATES AND INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS – Position and Risk Management – Risk management is the responsibility of market participants designed to limit risk exposures that specifically applies to the participants financial profile in the market. The financial profile of a participant may include their role in the financial market or the amount of capital under their responsibility to be managed in the market, and therefore the risk variables that each would need to identify may be unique. For both corporate and individual investors, the market to trade would be a key variable to clearly state and support with reasons for trading or investing. Reasons for selecting one market over another could include price volatility, liquidity, daily volume traded, size of the minimum price increment, and value of the minimum price increment. Comparing these variables between markets will help decide the suitability and/or risk of each. For example, if bitcoin (BTC) moves around 1,000 points per day and each point is worth $1, a trader might experience a $1,000 fluctuation in their account balance for one day. Another example is the U.S Dollar / Singapore Dollar (USDSGD), which could move 70 pips or more per day and trading a standard lot size with each pip worth $10, a $700 fluctuation could be expected for one day. Market participants may also manage their risk through the size of their positions. The larger their position size, the greater is their exposure and the smaller their position size their exposure is lower. Investors should determine the risk that would result from various position sizes and select the size that ensures that their risk limit is not exceeded. Finally, setting stops with a specified loss amount provides protection if the market does not move in the desired direction. It helps to prevent creating a loss scenario which is larger than an account can handle. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:BMC1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #2 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #2 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is the Notional Value of a Futures Contract? – Notional value of a futures contract is how much total value the contract theoretically controls. Contract Size * Underlying Price = Notional Value. Bakkt ® Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures (BMC) for example has a contract size of 1 bitcoin and assuming the BMC price is $60,000.00, the notional value of the futures contract is $60,000.00. What is the difference between Margin and Leverage? – Margin is the amount of money deposited with the broker to control a futures contract. It is determined by the futures exchange and maybe adjusted by the broker to manage risk to their clients. Leverage is the ability to use less money to theoretically control 1 futures contract compared with buying the product underlying the contract outright which amounts to the notional value of the futures contract. To calculate how much leverage a futures contract gives, divide the notional value of the contract by the margin. The BMC example above had a notional value of $60,000.00 and with a margin requirement of $18,000.00, is equal to approximately three times leverage on our money ($60,000.00 / $18,000.00 = 3.33). What is a Point and a Tick? – Point is the smallest price increment that can occur on the left side of the decimal point. (Example. 90.000) Tick is the price movement that occurs on the right side of the decimal when looking at the price of a futures contract and is the smallest possible price change measured by markets. A Point is composed of Ticks. (Example. 90.000) Mini US Dollar Index® Futures (SDX) has a minimum price fluctuation of $0.005 representing one tick and would move from 90.000 to 90.005. It takes 200 ticks to make one point or a move from 90.000 to 91.000. Risks and opportunities for corporates and individual investors: HEDGING PORTFOLIO RISK – Hedging bitcoin exposure with the Bakkt ® Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures (BMC) contract is a way to manage portfolio risk by taking a directional position opposite to the underlying asset as protection. For example, a hedger may have plans to hedge downward price movement in bitcoin using futures contracts based on in-house market and portfolio analytical processes. The market analysis may use common technical analytical techniques such as support and resistance to formulate the trade decision. In the chart (Figure 1), if bitcoin is expected to weaken as it nears the resistance areas, the hedger may plan to enter into a short futures position using the Bakkt ® Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures contract under either price levels of $46,000 or $52,000 to lock in the value of their underlying bitcoin position. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:BMC1!Education
by traddictiv
Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #1 (short read)Bites Of Trading Knowledge For New TOP Traders #1 --------------------------------------------------------------- What is Hedging? – Hedging is the action taken through the use of a financial instrument to minimize the loss or risk of the loss of value of an asset due to adverse asset price movements. Who are Hedgers? – Hedgers are market participants such as commodity producers who want to lock in selling prices of commodities they produce, or food manufacturers who want to lock in buying prices of raw materials purchased. Market participants also include financial institutions handling financial assets and use derivative products such as futures to manage the risk of a portfolio of financial assets. What is the difference between Physically Delivered vs Cash Settled Futures Contracts? – Physical delivery is a term in a futures contract which requires the actual underlying asset to be “physically delivered” upon the specified delivery date, rather than being cash-settled. Cash settled futures on the other hand allows for the net cash amount to be paid or received on the settlement date of the futures contract. Futures exchanges may offer both types of contracts to market participants who have different purposes for trading futures contracts. Risks and opportunities for corporates and individual investors: HEDGING – Hedging currency exposure with the Mini U.S. Dollar Index ® futures contract is a way to manage business currency risk by taking a directional position depending on business requirements for conversions to or from the U.S. Dollar. For example, a hedger may have expected the U.S. Dollar to weaken from 93.50 on 31st March (based on an analysis involving the overall downward trend in the market having retraced to the Fibonacci retracement level 76.8%) and may have had plans to convert U.S. Dollars to Singapore Dollars over the coming months to make payments to suppliers in Singapore Dollars. The hedger could have opened a short position using the Mini U.S. Dollar Index ® futures contract at or around 93.50 to lock in the value of the U.S. Dollars that they planned to use in the future at the time of payment to the supplier. TRADDICTIV · Research Team -------- Disclaimer: We do not provide investment advice, nor provide any personalized investment recommendations and/or advice in making a decision to trade. Before you start trading, please make sure you have considered your entire financial situation, including financial commitments and you understand that trading is highly speculative and that you could sustain significant losses.
ICESG:SDX1!Education
by traddictiv