Reading and listening the financial news I often hear about the Footsie 100 being up or down a certain number of points.
The Footsie is actually FTSE, an index of “blue chip” stocks on the London Stock Exchange. The FTSE has been a barometer of what’s happening in the financial world for the UK since 1984 and is used as a measure of the UK’s wealth and market confidence.
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Today it was seen that GoCompare, a leading online insurance firm was penalised by Google UK for reasons as yet unclear.
In the past they were dropped from Google’s index for buying links which increases a websites ranking, but is against the Google guidelines. They managed to get back into the results, but have since been penalised once more.
The effect on rankings of the penalty has to be profound to thier business with Go Compare no longer ranking for many of their money phrases:
| Insurance | 71 |
| Home insurance | 55 |
| Car insurance | 59 |
| Home content insurance | 67 |
| Breakdown cover | 69 |
| Home contents insurance | 71 |
| Business insurance | 71 |
| Life insurance | Not in top 100 |
| Travel insurance | Not in top 100 |
| Health insurance | Not in top 100 |
Source: http://www.onlinesales.co.uk/gocompare-not-ranking/
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In Forex trading, currencies are traded against each other. Therefore, each pair of currencies is an individual product, traditionally noted XXX/YYY – YYY being the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency, in which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For example: GBP/USD would be the price of the pound sterling expressed in US dollars.
Forex is a true interbank, over-the-counter market, unlike stocks and futures exchange, which means there’s no single, universal exchange for any specific currency pair. The Forex market operates round the clock throughout the week between individuals who have Forex brokers, brokers with banks and banks with banks. If the European session has ended, the Asian session or US session will start, so all world currencies are continually being traded. This means traders can react to news as it breaks, rather than wait for the market to open.
Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study.
In the Forex market, as in any market, there is a bid/offer spread, which is the difference between buying price and selling price. On major currency crosses (XXX/YYY), the difference between the price at which a market maker will sell to a wholesale customer and the price at which the same market maker will buy, is negligible, usually only 1 or 2 pips. In the GBP/USD price of 1.4238, the pip is the ‘8′ at the end. So, the ratio would be 1.4238/1.4239.
This doesn’t apply to retail customers, however. The majority of individual currency speculators will trade using a broker, who would have a spread marked up to perhaps 3-20 pips. The broker gives his client a huge margin to facilitate the client spending more money on the spread. Individual speculators can work their regular job during the day and trade in the evening, taking advantage of the 24 hour trading day.
See also part one of What is Forex Trading.
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Let’s discuss Forex trading. What does it mean? Forex is the foreign exchange market, or currency market, and is the market in which currencies are traded. It’s the largest, and the most liquid, in the entire world. The average traded value in this market exceeds 1 trillion pounds per day, and includes every currency in the world.
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The Better Business Bureau warns that a pyramid scheme which regularly surfaces during times of economic recession is gaining ground on the Internet. It’s being powered by the realm of social-networking, so be aware.
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After a longshot won the Grand National news broke of bookmakers share price increasing. Today we see an even greater impact on the share price of Partygaming.
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The Internet is, without a doubt, wonderful for investors. It provides an excellent source for research as well as for trading. Sadly, the lack of rules online can also make it the perfect breeding ground for fraud. To keep yourself safe, follow these steps to avoid becoming a victim.
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Share prices can be affected by seemingly irrelevant details. Over the weekend in Britain we had the Grand National horse race. It’s one of the largest races of the year and over £250 million was bet on it – even in the midst of an economic downturn.
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An investment club is a group of people who meet regularly and pool their funds to invest. Often, clubs are formed as much for social and educational reasons as for making profits. Investment clubs offer many benefits with few drawbacks. The individual investor joins with a group of peers to invest in stocks and other securities. The clubs focus on education: each member learns from and teaches the others. The monthly meetings create a comfortable social setting to help the individual stay focused on investment goals. Members are usually required to contribute a minimum amount each month to the investment pool as well as commit time to do investment research. And the clubs’ financial returns are often very successful. You can contact the National Association of Investors Corporation, which offers guidance to new clubs, or visit www.bivio.com and register to connect with others.
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We’re learning that online investing can be an outstanding way to take advantage of opportunities available in the stock market, without the need for a broker. It’s advantageous for the average person to eliminate the middle man and make decisions for yourself. However, many people have reservations about the safety of online investing.
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