South Africa Update 8th August 2017, the day president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, which made sure that he will maintain power of one of the biggest economies in the African continent. It is worth noting that it was the eighth vote of no-confidence that Zuma has survived since being in charge. About Jac...
Trading Forex - USD/CNH The Chinese Yuan (RMB) has doubled its share of global currency trading from 2013 to 2016, advancing from the ninth place to the sixth-most traded currency pair, according to the triennial survey conducted by the Bank for International Settlements last year. This highlights the growing importance of the Chinese Yuan as a glo...
French elections 2017 With Brexit in full swing, Europe is getting ready for another political event and the people of France are going to decide on who will run their country next. There are four main candidates for the job – Benoit Hamon, Emmanuel Macron, Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen. Each of the candidates has his/her own views of ...
Every day currency markets are being bought and sold by institutions and banks and large speculators based on economic news announcements that are released. But why do currencies react strongly to some news announcement and not to others? Let me explain. Financial institutions, banks and large speculators often have access to a Bloomberg or Reu...
The Swiss Franc for close to 100 years has acted as a safe haven currency in times of market uncertainty but many traders and investors have no idea why. So here is the answer. Switzerland is traditionally seen as a neutral country when it comes to global conflict. In fact the Catholic Church has for centuries entrusted Swiss National Guards to loo...
Upcoming News » 6:30pm Manufacturing Production – GBP Overnight we saw small drops on the DOW and S&P500, Gold settled around its lows still finding support around 1333.50. Oil rallied higher with hopes OPEC will stabilize supply. The USD was mixed as the AUDUSD tested highs. The USDJPY rallied by 37 pips to test short a term high of 102.55...
Upcoming News » 10:30pm GDP - CAD » 10:30pm Advance GDP - USD » Sat 6:00am EBA Bank Stress Test Results - EUR, USD, JPY The JPY saw a wild trading session today as the BOJ boosts dollar lending and ETF purchases. Interest rates to be kept steady at this point. We found out on Wednesday the amount of the stimulus package. This weekend ...
Top 5 Benefits of a MT4 Demo Trading Account A MT4 Demo trading account is a virtual trading account that allows you to make virtual trades with play money. Demo trading accounts replicate Live trading accounts, but it removes the risk of losing your own trading capital until you are comfortable trading with real money. Most Forex brokers now o...
Forex has grown considerably in popularity over the last 5 years, resulting in many new and popular online Forex trading platforms hitting the global marketplace. One of the most popular online Forex trading platforms that have been around since 2005 is MetaTrader 4, developed by MetaQuotes Software. Why is MT4 considered one of the world’s top ...
Forex (FX) trading has changed a lot over the past several years. From a handful of providers in 2002 – 2003 period, there are now more than 50 FX and CFD providers in Australia alone. The number FX and CFD traders have also increased over the years. In this kind of environment there’s bound to be stiff competition. And at the heart of this c...
Discover the key MT4 tips and tricks to make you a power user The MetaTrader 4 (MT4 Platform) is arguably the world’s most popular electronic trading platform used by retail FX traders and professional fund managers alike. It was first released by MetaQuotes Software in 2005, and Alphates was the first Australian Forex broker to offer it to the...
We are four months into 2016 and the global economic prospects are still uncertain. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief has just issued another warning in recent days, stating that the outlook for global growth is weak and has encouraged policy makers across the world to work together to “bolster confidence, support growth, and guard more...
Annihilation of the Yen It was the year 2013. Some interesting events took place that caused some reverberations in global markets. The once one booming city of Detroit (known for its car manufacturing) filed for bankruptcy and the US government shutdown for almost two weeks. But the most significant story was the fall of the Japanese currency a...
Forex is one of the heaviest news driven markets in the world. Major news announcements play such a critical role to the intraday volatility, which in turn create trading opportunities. Most of the time, particularly for the active traders, market volatility can present more trading opportunities. So it stands to reason, all Forex traders should be...
Another year down, and another year spent under pressure for the Australian dollar. If January’s performance is any indication, 2016 may very well be another year spent on the ropes, with solid losses of over 5 percent in January alone. While it is not unusual for the AUD/USD pair to post such significant declines, what’s worth noting was that ...