Internet Home Based Businesses Anyone Can Do
3 Internet Home Based Businesses Anyone Can Doby: Kent ThompsonCopyright 2005 Kent ThompsonIf you’re serious about having a home based business, then you need to prepare. The leading reason for a failing home based business is the lack of preparation people commit after they’ve made a decision to start a home based business.So what kind of home based business opportunity should you take on? Do you want to have an internet-based home business? Millions have done it, are doing it and are earning good livings doing so.Here are three different kinds of Internet based business models you can try:1) Be an online retailer for reputable companies. Your home based internet business can give reviews about all the products and services of these companies. Your customers will browse around your website, and then click on to the link. The link will send the customer to the company’s customer service website, which takes care of processing and shipping their order.Your home based online business website does the marketing, promoting and advertising aspects for these companies. Your commission comes from the proceeds of the sale. You don’t even have to spend money for expensive e-commerce software.2) You may not be able to bear the pain of separating from your oldest possessions, but how about auctioning these things off? For a minimal entry fee and closing fee, you can put your prized possessions on auction at Ebay or other spin-offs found on the net. This is a virtually free home based business since you don’t pay for web presence. You’ll get traffic since Ebay receives as many as 4 million visitors a day, and you won’t need to worry about your e-commerce software. Plus your small home based internet business stays open even when you go fishing!3) Sell information. You can start your home based internet business by writing on a subject that you enjoy or are knowledgeable about. If you can do this, then this small home based internet business is for you. Write your e-book and sell it on sites like Ebay.com, ebookAd.com, or Clickbank.com.These home based internet business are all simple and easy enough to do. You can earn a living on these ideas if you view this small home based business with passion and commitment.Just remember these home based internet tip:Constantly fine-tune your marketing strategy and always test new ad copies to see what brings you the most sales!About the author:Find out how you can make $1000 per sale in one of the hottest home based businesses! Check out http://RunAdsForCash.com
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
What Can You Earn With Adsense
What Can You Earn With Adsense
What Can You Earn With AdsenseAdsense Publisher earnings range from less than $1 a day on one website to over $10,000 a day across a network of websites. The reality is that making money with Adsense has very little to do with Adsense and has everything to do with building websites that target and attract a market. Once you've got people, Adsense is made for monetizing them.Hence, succeeding with Adsense is largely tied to being successful online and requires that you learn and develop your website building, keyword research, niche market finding, copywriting, search engine optimization and link building skills.The "Take Over The Web" network aims to help you learn all these things.
Monday, December 24, 2007
NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock market. It is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the United States. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and on average trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market.
It was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), who divested themselves of it in a series of sales in 2000 and 2001. It is owned and operated by The NASDAQ Stock Market, the stock of which was listed on its own stock exchange in 2002, and is monitored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
With the impending purchase of the Nordic-based operated exchange OMX, following its agreement with Borse Dubai, Nasdaq is poised to capture 47% of the controlling stake in the aforementioned exchange, thereby inching ever closer to taking over the company and creating a trans-atlantic powerhouse.
Over the years, NASDAQ became more of a stock market by adding trade and volume reporting and automated trading systems. NASDAQ was also the first stock market to advertise to the general public, highlighting NASDAQ-traded companies (usually in technology) and closing with the declaration that NASDAQ is “the stock market for the next hundred years.” Its main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has been published since its inception. However, its exchange-traded fund tracks the large-cap NASDAQ 100 index, which was introduced in 1985 alongside the NASDAQ 100 Financial Index.
Until 1987, most trading occurred via the telephone, but during the October 1987 stock market crash, market makers often didn’t answer their phones. To counteract this, the Small Order Execution System (SOES) was established, which provides an electronic method for dealers to enter their trades. NASDAQ requires market makers to honor trades over SOES.
In 1992 it joined with the London Stock Exchange to form the first intercontinental linkage of securities markets. NASDAQ’s 1998 merger with the American Stock Exchange formed the NASDAQ-Amex Market Group, and by the beginning of the 21st century it had become the largest electronic stock market (in terms of both dollar value and share volume) in the United States. NASD spun off NASDAQ in 2000 to form a publicly traded company, the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.On November 8, 2006, NASDAQ agreed to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange(PHLX) for US$652,000,000. PHLX is the oldest stock exchange in America—having been in operation since 1790.
NASDAQ lists approximately 3,200 securities, of which 335 are non-U.S. companies from 35 countries representing all industry sectors. To qualify for listing on the exchange, a company must be registered with the SEC, have at least three market makers (financial firms that act as brokers or dealers for specific securities), and meet minimum requirements for assets, capital, public shares, and shareholders.
The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock market. It is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the United States. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and on average trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market.
It was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), who divested themselves of it in a series of sales in 2000 and 2001. It is owned and operated by The NASDAQ Stock Market, the stock of which was listed on its own stock exchange in 2002, and is monitored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
With the impending purchase of the Nordic-based operated exchange OMX, following its agreement with Borse Dubai, Nasdaq is poised to capture 47% of the controlling stake in the aforementioned exchange, thereby inching ever closer to taking over the company and creating a trans-atlantic powerhouse.
Over the years, NASDAQ became more of a stock market by adding trade and volume reporting and automated trading systems. NASDAQ was also the first stock market to advertise to the general public, highlighting NASDAQ-traded companies (usually in technology) and closing with the declaration that NASDAQ is “the stock market for the next hundred years.” Its main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has been published since its inception. However, its exchange-traded fund tracks the large-cap NASDAQ 100 index, which was introduced in 1985 alongside the NASDAQ 100 Financial Index.
Until 1987, most trading occurred via the telephone, but during the October 1987 stock market crash, market makers often didn’t answer their phones. To counteract this, the Small Order Execution System (SOES) was established, which provides an electronic method for dealers to enter their trades. NASDAQ requires market makers to honor trades over SOES.
In 1992 it joined with the London Stock Exchange to form the first intercontinental linkage of securities markets. NASDAQ’s 1998 merger with the American Stock Exchange formed the NASDAQ-Amex Market Group, and by the beginning of the 21st century it had become the largest electronic stock market (in terms of both dollar value and share volume) in the United States. NASD spun off NASDAQ in 2000 to form a publicly traded company, the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.On November 8, 2006, NASDAQ agreed to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange(PHLX) for US$652,000,000. PHLX is the oldest stock exchange in America—having been in operation since 1790.
NASDAQ lists approximately 3,200 securities, of which 335 are non-U.S. companies from 35 countries representing all industry sectors. To qualify for listing on the exchange, a company must be registered with the SEC, have at least three market makers (financial firms that act as brokers or dealers for specific securities), and meet minimum requirements for assets, capital, public shares, and shareholders.
News
Key Themes for 2008 - What do Economists Expect for the New Year?
2008 promises to be another interesting year. With significant variance in the range of forecasts on offer and fast changing perceptions of risk, financial markets could be in for a prolonged period of volatility. Key themes for 2008 include, have central banks averted a massive rise in corporate defaults or will further cash injections be […]
December 24th, 2007 Posted in News No Comments
Is the Dollar Rally Over?
After holding onto its gains for the past week, the US dollar finally came under pressure today, It fell against the Euro, the Japanese Yen, the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars. The only currency it did not drop against was the Japanese Yen, which benefitted from overall carry trade demand. Does this mean that […]
December 23rd, 2007 Posted in News No Comments
Dollar Steady Against Pound, Euro
U.S. dollar gained against other currencies today, showing a significant change in GBP/USD, along with a little less strong appreciation in EUR/USD. As no important positive data was released for USD, this growth may be accounted to the inertial buying of dollar and position closing on the previous good news and the loss of interest […]
December 22nd, 2007 Posted in News No Comments
Singapore to spend 1.4 billion US dollars to expand port
Singapore is set to spend two billion dollars (1.41 billion US) to increase its port’s annual capacity by about 40 percent, a newspaper reported Saturday.The project is scheduled for completion by 2013 and is expected to allow Singapore’s port to handle higher volumes from increased global trade, the Straits Times reported.The expansion will add 16 […]
2008 promises to be another interesting year. With significant variance in the range of forecasts on offer and fast changing perceptions of risk, financial markets could be in for a prolonged period of volatility. Key themes for 2008 include, have central banks averted a massive rise in corporate defaults or will further cash injections be […]
December 24th, 2007 Posted in News No Comments
Is the Dollar Rally Over?
After holding onto its gains for the past week, the US dollar finally came under pressure today, It fell against the Euro, the Japanese Yen, the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars. The only currency it did not drop against was the Japanese Yen, which benefitted from overall carry trade demand. Does this mean that […]
December 23rd, 2007 Posted in News No Comments
Dollar Steady Against Pound, Euro
U.S. dollar gained against other currencies today, showing a significant change in GBP/USD, along with a little less strong appreciation in EUR/USD. As no important positive data was released for USD, this growth may be accounted to the inertial buying of dollar and position closing on the previous good news and the loss of interest […]
December 22nd, 2007 Posted in News No Comments
Singapore to spend 1.4 billion US dollars to expand port
Singapore is set to spend two billion dollars (1.41 billion US) to increase its port’s annual capacity by about 40 percent, a newspaper reported Saturday.The project is scheduled for completion by 2013 and is expected to allow Singapore’s port to handle higher volumes from increased global trade, the Straits Times reported.The expansion will add 16 […]
Currency Market
Currency Market
Foreign Exchange Markets
Participants of a foreign exchange marketThe main participants of a foreign exchange market are:
Commercial banks
Exchange markets
Central banks
Firms that conduct foreign trade transactions
Investment funds
Broker companies
Private persons
Commercial banks conduct the main volume of exchange transactions. Other participants of the market have their accounts at the banks, conducting necessary conversion transactions. Banks accumulate (through transactions with the clients) the combined needs of the market in exchange conversions as well as in calling and distributing money, breaking with it into new banks. Besides satisfying clients’ requests, banks can operate independently, using their own assets. In the end, a foreign exchange market is a market of interbank dealings, and when speaking about the exchange rates movement, one should bear in mind the existence of an interbank foreign exchange market. In international foreign exchange markets, international banks with the daily volume of transactions of billions dollars have the biggest influence. These are Barclays Bank, Citibank, Chase Manhatten Bank, Deutsche Bank, Swiss Bank Corporation, Union Bank of Switzerland, etc.Exchange markets Contrary to stock markets and markets for terminal exchange dealings, exchange markets do not work in a definite building and they do not have definite business hours. Thanks to the development of telecommunications most of the leading financial institutions of the world use services of exchange markets directly and via mediators 24 hours a day. The biggest international exchange markets are the London, New York and Tokyo exchange markets. In some countries with transitional economies there are exchange markets for currency exchange by juristic persons and for forming a market exchange rate. The state usually regulates the exchange rate in an active manner, using the compactness of the exchange market.
Central banks control currency reserves, realize interventions that influence the exchange rate, and regulate the interest investment rate in the national currency. The central bank of the United States, the US Federal Reserve Bank, or “FED”, has the greatest influence in the international exchange markets. It is followed by the central banks of Germany, (the Deutsche Bundesbank or BUBA) and of Great Britain (the Bank of England, nicknamed the “Old Lady”).
Firms that conduct foreign trade transactions. Companies participating in international trade have a stable demand for foreign currency (importers) and supply (exporters). As a rule, these organizations do not have direct access to exchange markets, and they conduct their conversion and deposit transactions via commercial banks.
Investment funds. These companies, represented by various international investment, pension,and mutual funds, insurance companies, and trusts, realize the policy of diversified management of portfolio of assets by placing there money in securities of the governments and corporations of different countries. The world-know fund, Quantum, is owned by George Soros, and it executes successful exchange speculations. Big international corporations as Xerox, Nestle, General Motors a.o. that make foreign industrial investments (creating branches, joint ventures etc.), also are firms of this kind.
Broker companies bring together a buyer and a seller of foreign currency and conduct a conversion dealing between them. Broker companies take a broker’s fee. As a rule, in the FOREX market there is no fee as a per cent from the sum of a transa
Foreign Exchange Markets
Participants of a foreign exchange marketThe main participants of a foreign exchange market are:
Commercial banks
Exchange markets
Central banks
Firms that conduct foreign trade transactions
Investment funds
Broker companies
Private persons
Commercial banks conduct the main volume of exchange transactions. Other participants of the market have their accounts at the banks, conducting necessary conversion transactions. Banks accumulate (through transactions with the clients) the combined needs of the market in exchange conversions as well as in calling and distributing money, breaking with it into new banks. Besides satisfying clients’ requests, banks can operate independently, using their own assets. In the end, a foreign exchange market is a market of interbank dealings, and when speaking about the exchange rates movement, one should bear in mind the existence of an interbank foreign exchange market. In international foreign exchange markets, international banks with the daily volume of transactions of billions dollars have the biggest influence. These are Barclays Bank, Citibank, Chase Manhatten Bank, Deutsche Bank, Swiss Bank Corporation, Union Bank of Switzerland, etc.Exchange markets Contrary to stock markets and markets for terminal exchange dealings, exchange markets do not work in a definite building and they do not have definite business hours. Thanks to the development of telecommunications most of the leading financial institutions of the world use services of exchange markets directly and via mediators 24 hours a day. The biggest international exchange markets are the London, New York and Tokyo exchange markets. In some countries with transitional economies there are exchange markets for currency exchange by juristic persons and for forming a market exchange rate. The state usually regulates the exchange rate in an active manner, using the compactness of the exchange market.
Central banks control currency reserves, realize interventions that influence the exchange rate, and regulate the interest investment rate in the national currency. The central bank of the United States, the US Federal Reserve Bank, or “FED”, has the greatest influence in the international exchange markets. It is followed by the central banks of Germany, (the Deutsche Bundesbank or BUBA) and of Great Britain (the Bank of England, nicknamed the “Old Lady”).
Firms that conduct foreign trade transactions. Companies participating in international trade have a stable demand for foreign currency (importers) and supply (exporters). As a rule, these organizations do not have direct access to exchange markets, and they conduct their conversion and deposit transactions via commercial banks.
Investment funds. These companies, represented by various international investment, pension,and mutual funds, insurance companies, and trusts, realize the policy of diversified management of portfolio of assets by placing there money in securities of the governments and corporations of different countries. The world-know fund, Quantum, is owned by George Soros, and it executes successful exchange speculations. Big international corporations as Xerox, Nestle, General Motors a.o. that make foreign industrial investments (creating branches, joint ventures etc.), also are firms of this kind.
Broker companies bring together a buyer and a seller of foreign currency and conduct a conversion dealing between them. Broker companies take a broker’s fee. As a rule, in the FOREX market there is no fee as a per cent from the sum of a transa
History of Forex
History of Forex
Forex dates back to ancient times, when traders first began exchanging coins from different countries and groups. However, the foreign exchange industry itself is the newest of the financial markets.
In the last hundred years, the foreign exchange market has undergone some dramatic transformations. In 1944, the postwar foreign exchange system was established as a result of a multinational conference held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. That system remained intact until the early 1970’s.
At this conference, representatives from 45 nations met together to discuss the future exchange system. The conference resulted in the formation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It also produced an agreement that fixed currencies in an exchange-rate system would tolerate one percent currency fluctuations to gold values, or to the U.S. Dollar, which was established previously as the “gold standard.” The system of connecting the currency’s value to gold or the U.S. Dollar was called pegging.
In 1967, a Chicago bank refused a college professor by the name of Milton Friedman a loan in pound sterling because he had intended to use the funds to short the British currency. Friedman, who had perceived sterling to be priced too high against the dollar, wanted to sell the currency, then later buy it back to repay the bank after the currency declined, thus pocketing a quick profit. The bank’s refusal to grant the loan was due to the Bretton Woods Agreement, established twenty years earlier, which fixed national currencies against the dollar, and set the dollar at a rate of $35 per ounce of gold.
The history of the FOREX Market as it exists today begins before 1971 when the FOREX market departed from The Bretton Woods Accord to reflect a radical change in Universal fixed exchange rates. After World War Two, the Bretton Woods Accord was introduced to the FOREX market to stabilize the devastated world economy.
The Agreement was finally abandoned in 1971 and the US dollar would no longer be convertible into gold.
After the Bretton Woods Accord came the Smithsonian agreement in December of 1971. This agreement was similar to the Bretton Woods Accord but allowed for greater fluctuation band for the currencies. In 1972, the European community tried to move away from their dependency on the dollar. The European Joint Float was established by West Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. This agreement was similar to the Bretton Woods Accord, but allowed a greater range of fluctuation in the currency values.
Both agreements made mistakes similar to the Bretton Woods Accord and, by 1973, collapsed. The collapse of the Smithsonian agreement and the European Joint Float in 1973 signified the official switch to the free-floating system. This occurred by default as there were no new agreements to take their place. Governments were now free to peg their currencies, semi-peg or allow them to freely float. In 1978, the free-floating system was officially mandated.
Europe tried, in a final effort to gain independence from the dollar, by creating the European Monetary System in July of 1978. This, like all of the earlier agreements, failed in 1993.
Important milestones in the history of Forex
The Gold Standard
Money was invented when barter was no longer an adequate means of trade, seeing that actual goods could quickly lose value, were subject to value discrepancies, and could many times not easily be divided (Morris, 4). Money, on the other hand, could function as a medium of exchange, a unit of accounting, and a store of value (Ethier, 402). The original form of money was typically something that had value in itself, such a precious metal. The metal itself, usually gold or silver (Eichengreen, 9), was valuable, both because of its scarcity and its inherent usefulness.
By the nineteenth century, both coins and paper money were in popular use. Under the famous “Gold Standard,” currencies were not directly valued in terms of each other. Instead, each currency had a certain, the rate at which the currency could be exchanged for gold. This in turn produced an effective exchange rate between any two currencies.
In 1900, for example, the mint parity for the U.S. dollar was $20.67, while that of the British pound was 3 pounds, 17 shillings, 10½ pence. To exchange U.S. dollars for British pounds, one would divide $20.67 by 3.17.10½, which produces $4.86 per pound after adjusting for the fact that U.S. gold coins had a somewhat greater gold content than did British coins (Aliber, 34).
Paper money could then be used in place of the precious metal. A citizen could carry paper money while the central bank would, in which more money left the country than came in, there would be less U.S. dollars in circulation.
Because central banks have large control over the interest rates, the rates at which banks borrow and lend money, they soon found that they did not have to passively wait for gold flows to be restored. In a trade deficit scenario, with gold supplies leaving the country, a central bank could raise interest rates which would make domestic savings more attractive.
Floating Exchanges Systems
Under a floating exchange system, on the other hand, currencies are not valued in terms of gold - they are valued in terms of other currencies.
In the early 20th century, two world wars brought about social upheavals, rapid inflation, and the destruction of the setting which made the gold standard operable. Between the wars, many countries elected to temporarily abandon the gold standard and opt for floating exchange systems until their economies returned to the point at which in light of the fact that, if a currency drifted too far outside its band and could not be contained by central bank intervention, the country was allowed to adjust its peg by setting a new exchange price.
There were three aspects of the system that were in conflict: constant exchange rates, autonomous domestic economic policies, and increasing international capital mobility. The existence of Bretton Woods did not stop states from using domestic economic policy (manipulating interest rates, for example, as under the gold standard) for domestic reasons, whatever their long-term effects on the exchange rate. Capital mobility simply makes the effects of domestic economic policies on the exchange rate happen sooner than they otherwise would.
With the instability brought about by the Vietnam War, central banks finally began to convert their dollars to gold. To halt the loss of gold, in 1971 Nixon “closed the gold window” by refusing to provide gold to foreign dollar holders (Eichengreen, 133). In 1974 the Bretton Woods System of adjustable pegs was officially abandoned and the Jamaica Agreement basically allowed the presence of any exchange system a country chooses (Aliber, 52).
Exchange Systems Today
There are several exchange systems a country can currently choose from. A free floating exchange system, as mentioned earlier, would simply allow the market to determine the price of a currency. Trade surpluses and deficits, domestic investments versus foreign investments, and domestic taxation policies, to name a few factors affecting the exchange rate, would all be allowed to occur whatever their effects on the currency.
A pegged exchange rate, on the other hand, would function exactly as the gold standard did a century beforehand, except that a country would its currency to the price of another currency, usually the U.S. dollar. If there is a balance of payments deficit, for example the central bank will buy the appropriate amount of the domestic currency in exchange for its foreign currency reserves, thereby returning the price of the currency to its peg but at the same time depleting the size of its reserves.
Some countries practice by, while remaining officially free-floating, sometimes intervening in their currency rates in order to suite domestic interests - increasing (revaluing) their exchange rate before an oil shipment, for example (Luca, 17). Other countries, for example Brazil before its turn to a free floating system, peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar or some other currency but allow the rate to float within a certain band similar to the Bretton Woods adjustable peg system.
The FOREX Market, often considered to be the playground of governmental institutions operating under the agency of central banks, expanded its horizons in recent years to include corporations, hedge funds, and speculators and most recently with the dot com boom and the expansion of the world wide web, now the private investors have been afforded the lucrative opportunity to be a part of the action.
The appeal of The FOREX Market is one of non-stop, twenty four hour a day trading for the five business days of the week. The first tentative steps towards a global economy have created a fast moving liquid market facilitating a wide variety of transaction options. Combine this with the ability to make money in both winning and losing markets and you will see why The FOREX Market is considered by some to be the fastest developing most lucrative business opportunity open to the savvy investor who has the skill, intelligence, acumen and backing to create substantial profits.
The FOREX Market provides a number of ways for investors to get in on the global high stakes action. From the spot market to spread betting, options, contracts for difference and futures, these are just some of the ways FOREX can turn a modest portfolio with moderate potential, into a heavy hitting enterprise totaling far in excess of what it once was. The BIS or Bank of International Settlements estimated in a recent survey that over $1,200,000,000.00 is exchanged everyday on The FOREX Market. Currently industry analysts think the market is not living up to its 1978 potential of $1,490,000,000.00 and still view this as an attainable goal for the FOREX Market of the future.
Forex dates back to ancient times, when traders first began exchanging coins from different countries and groups. However, the foreign exchange industry itself is the newest of the financial markets.
In the last hundred years, the foreign exchange market has undergone some dramatic transformations. In 1944, the postwar foreign exchange system was established as a result of a multinational conference held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. That system remained intact until the early 1970’s.
At this conference, representatives from 45 nations met together to discuss the future exchange system. The conference resulted in the formation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It also produced an agreement that fixed currencies in an exchange-rate system would tolerate one percent currency fluctuations to gold values, or to the U.S. Dollar, which was established previously as the “gold standard.” The system of connecting the currency’s value to gold or the U.S. Dollar was called pegging.
In 1967, a Chicago bank refused a college professor by the name of Milton Friedman a loan in pound sterling because he had intended to use the funds to short the British currency. Friedman, who had perceived sterling to be priced too high against the dollar, wanted to sell the currency, then later buy it back to repay the bank after the currency declined, thus pocketing a quick profit. The bank’s refusal to grant the loan was due to the Bretton Woods Agreement, established twenty years earlier, which fixed national currencies against the dollar, and set the dollar at a rate of $35 per ounce of gold.
The history of the FOREX Market as it exists today begins before 1971 when the FOREX market departed from The Bretton Woods Accord to reflect a radical change in Universal fixed exchange rates. After World War Two, the Bretton Woods Accord was introduced to the FOREX market to stabilize the devastated world economy.
The Agreement was finally abandoned in 1971 and the US dollar would no longer be convertible into gold.
After the Bretton Woods Accord came the Smithsonian agreement in December of 1971. This agreement was similar to the Bretton Woods Accord but allowed for greater fluctuation band for the currencies. In 1972, the European community tried to move away from their dependency on the dollar. The European Joint Float was established by West Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. This agreement was similar to the Bretton Woods Accord, but allowed a greater range of fluctuation in the currency values.
Both agreements made mistakes similar to the Bretton Woods Accord and, by 1973, collapsed. The collapse of the Smithsonian agreement and the European Joint Float in 1973 signified the official switch to the free-floating system. This occurred by default as there were no new agreements to take their place. Governments were now free to peg their currencies, semi-peg or allow them to freely float. In 1978, the free-floating system was officially mandated.
Europe tried, in a final effort to gain independence from the dollar, by creating the European Monetary System in July of 1978. This, like all of the earlier agreements, failed in 1993.
Important milestones in the history of Forex
The Gold Standard
Money was invented when barter was no longer an adequate means of trade, seeing that actual goods could quickly lose value, were subject to value discrepancies, and could many times not easily be divided (Morris, 4). Money, on the other hand, could function as a medium of exchange, a unit of accounting, and a store of value (Ethier, 402). The original form of money was typically something that had value in itself, such a precious metal. The metal itself, usually gold or silver (Eichengreen, 9), was valuable, both because of its scarcity and its inherent usefulness.
By the nineteenth century, both coins and paper money were in popular use. Under the famous “Gold Standard,” currencies were not directly valued in terms of each other. Instead, each currency had a certain, the rate at which the currency could be exchanged for gold. This in turn produced an effective exchange rate between any two currencies.
In 1900, for example, the mint parity for the U.S. dollar was $20.67, while that of the British pound was 3 pounds, 17 shillings, 10½ pence. To exchange U.S. dollars for British pounds, one would divide $20.67 by 3.17.10½, which produces $4.86 per pound after adjusting for the fact that U.S. gold coins had a somewhat greater gold content than did British coins (Aliber, 34).
Paper money could then be used in place of the precious metal. A citizen could carry paper money while the central bank would, in which more money left the country than came in, there would be less U.S. dollars in circulation.
Because central banks have large control over the interest rates, the rates at which banks borrow and lend money, they soon found that they did not have to passively wait for gold flows to be restored. In a trade deficit scenario, with gold supplies leaving the country, a central bank could raise interest rates which would make domestic savings more attractive.
Floating Exchanges Systems
Under a floating exchange system, on the other hand, currencies are not valued in terms of gold - they are valued in terms of other currencies.
In the early 20th century, two world wars brought about social upheavals, rapid inflation, and the destruction of the setting which made the gold standard operable. Between the wars, many countries elected to temporarily abandon the gold standard and opt for floating exchange systems until their economies returned to the point at which in light of the fact that, if a currency drifted too far outside its band and could not be contained by central bank intervention, the country was allowed to adjust its peg by setting a new exchange price.
There were three aspects of the system that were in conflict: constant exchange rates, autonomous domestic economic policies, and increasing international capital mobility. The existence of Bretton Woods did not stop states from using domestic economic policy (manipulating interest rates, for example, as under the gold standard) for domestic reasons, whatever their long-term effects on the exchange rate. Capital mobility simply makes the effects of domestic economic policies on the exchange rate happen sooner than they otherwise would.
With the instability brought about by the Vietnam War, central banks finally began to convert their dollars to gold. To halt the loss of gold, in 1971 Nixon “closed the gold window” by refusing to provide gold to foreign dollar holders (Eichengreen, 133). In 1974 the Bretton Woods System of adjustable pegs was officially abandoned and the Jamaica Agreement basically allowed the presence of any exchange system a country chooses (Aliber, 52).
Exchange Systems Today
There are several exchange systems a country can currently choose from. A free floating exchange system, as mentioned earlier, would simply allow the market to determine the price of a currency. Trade surpluses and deficits, domestic investments versus foreign investments, and domestic taxation policies, to name a few factors affecting the exchange rate, would all be allowed to occur whatever their effects on the currency.
A pegged exchange rate, on the other hand, would function exactly as the gold standard did a century beforehand, except that a country would its currency to the price of another currency, usually the U.S. dollar. If there is a balance of payments deficit, for example the central bank will buy the appropriate amount of the domestic currency in exchange for its foreign currency reserves, thereby returning the price of the currency to its peg but at the same time depleting the size of its reserves.
Some countries practice by, while remaining officially free-floating, sometimes intervening in their currency rates in order to suite domestic interests - increasing (revaluing) their exchange rate before an oil shipment, for example (Luca, 17). Other countries, for example Brazil before its turn to a free floating system, peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar or some other currency but allow the rate to float within a certain band similar to the Bretton Woods adjustable peg system.
The FOREX Market, often considered to be the playground of governmental institutions operating under the agency of central banks, expanded its horizons in recent years to include corporations, hedge funds, and speculators and most recently with the dot com boom and the expansion of the world wide web, now the private investors have been afforded the lucrative opportunity to be a part of the action.
The appeal of The FOREX Market is one of non-stop, twenty four hour a day trading for the five business days of the week. The first tentative steps towards a global economy have created a fast moving liquid market facilitating a wide variety of transaction options. Combine this with the ability to make money in both winning and losing markets and you will see why The FOREX Market is considered by some to be the fastest developing most lucrative business opportunity open to the savvy investor who has the skill, intelligence, acumen and backing to create substantial profits.
The FOREX Market provides a number of ways for investors to get in on the global high stakes action. From the spot market to spread betting, options, contracts for difference and futures, these are just some of the ways FOREX can turn a modest portfolio with moderate potential, into a heavy hitting enterprise totaling far in excess of what it once was. The BIS or Bank of International Settlements estimated in a recent survey that over $1,200,000,000.00 is exchanged everyday on The FOREX Market. Currently industry analysts think the market is not living up to its 1978 potential of $1,490,000,000.00 and still view this as an attainable goal for the FOREX Market of the future.
What is FOREX?
FOREX (FOReign EXchange market) is an international foreign exchange market, where money is sold and bought freely. In its present condition FOREX was launched in the 1970s, when free exchange rates were introduced, and only the participants of the market determine the price of one currency against the other proceeding from supply and demand.As far as the freedom from any external control and free competition are concerned, FOREX is a perfect market. It is also the biggest liquid financial market. According to various assessments, money masses in the market constitute from 1 to 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. (It is impossible to determine an absolutely exact number because trading is not centralized on an exchange.) Transactions are conducted all over the world via telecommunications 24 hours a day from 00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday. Practically in every time zone (that is, in Frankfurt-on-Main, London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, etc.) there are dealers who will quote currencies.
FOREX is a more objective market, because if some of its participants would like to change prices, for some manipulative purpose, they would have to operate with tens of billions dollars. That is why any influence by a single participants in the market is practically out of the question. The superior liquidity allows the traders to open and/or close positions within a few seconds. The time of keeping a position is arbitrary and has no limits: from several seconds to many years. It depends only on your trading strategies. Although the daily fluctuations of currencies are rather insignificant, you may use the credit lines, that are accessible even to currency speculators with small capitals ($ 1,000 - 5,000), where the profit may be impressive. (You can learn more about it in the section: The main principles of trading.)
The idea of marginal trading stems from the fact that in FOREX speculative interests can be satisfied without a real money supply. This decreases overhead expenses for transferring money and gives an opportunity to open positions with a small account in US dollars, buying and selling a lot of other currencies. That is, on can conduct transactions very quickly, getting a big profit, when the exchange rates go up or down. Many speculative transactions in the international financial markets are made on the principles of marginal trading.
Margin trading is trading with a borrowed capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market uses lots. 1 lot equals approximately $100,000, but to open it it is necessary to have only from 0.5% to 4% of the sum.
For example, you have analyzed the situation in the market and come to the conclusion that the pound will go up against the dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the pound (GBP) with the margin 1% (1:1000 leverage) at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to go up. Some time later your expectations become true. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips (about $ 405). For the calculation of 1 pip click here.
Everyday fluctuations of currencies constitute about 100 to 150 pips, giving FX traders an opportunity to make money on these changes.
In FOREX, it’s not obligatory to buy some currency first in order to sell it later. It’s possible to open positions for buying and selling any currency without actually having it. Usually Internet-brokers establish the minimum deposit such as $ 2000, for working in the FOREX market, and grant a leverage of 1:100. That is, opening the position at $100,000, a trader invests $1,000 and receives $99.000 as a credit. The major currencies traded in FOREX, are Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British Pound (GBP), and Swiss Franc (CHF). All of them are traded against the US dollar (USD).
In order to assess the situation in the market a trader has to be able to use fundamental and/or technical analysis, as well as to make decisions in the constantly changing current of information about political and economic character. Most small and medium players in financial markets use technical analysis. Technical analysis presupposes that all the information about the market and its further fluctuations is contained in the price chain. Any factor, that has some influence on the price, be it economic, political or psychological, has already been considered by the market and included in the price. The initial data for a technical analysis are prices: the highest and the lowest prices, the price of opening and closing within a certain period of time, and the volume of transactions.
A technical analysis is founded on three suppositions:
Movement of the market considers everything;
Movement of prices is purposeful;
History repeats itself.
That is, technical analysis is a statistical and mathematical analysis of previous quotes and a prognosis of coming prices.A number of technical indicators have been installed into the PRO-CHARTS trading system. Analyzing the indicators one can come to the conclusion about further movements of the quoted currencies. For a more detailed description of the indicators, analyzing price charts and volumes of trading, click here.
Fundamental analysis is an analysis of current situations in the country of the currency, such as its economy, political events, and rumors. The country’s economy depends on the rate of inflation and unemployment, on the interest rate of its Central Bank, and on tax policy. Political stability also influences the exchange rate. Policy of the Central Bank has a special role, as concentrated interventions or refusal from them greatly influence the exchange rate.
At the same time one should not consider fundamental analysis just as an analysis of the economic situation in the country itself. A far bigger role in the FOREX market belongs to the expectations of the market participants and their assessment of these expectations. Various prognoses and bulletins, issued by the participants, have a strong influence on the expectations. Very often an effect of the so-called self-filfilling prophecy occurs when market players raise or lower the exchange rates according to the prognosis. But a deep and thorough fundamental analysis is available only for big banks with a staff of professional analysts and constant access to a wide field of information.
In spite of these different approaches, both forms of analyses complement one another. Traders who act on the basis of a fundamental analysis, have to consider some technical characteristics of the market (the main rates of support, such as resistance and resale), and supporters of the technical approach to the market must track the main news (interest rates, important political events).
The main merits of the FOREX market are:
The biggest number of participants and the largest volumes of transactions;
Superior liquidity and speed of the market: transactions are conducted within a few seconds according to online quotes;
The market works 24 hours a day, every working days;
A trader can open a position for any period of time he wants;
No fees, except for the difference between buying and selling prices;
An opportunity to get a bigger profit that the invested sum;
Qualified work in the FOREX market can become your main professional activity;
You can make deals any time you like.
FOREX is a more objective market, because if some of its participants would like to change prices, for some manipulative purpose, they would have to operate with tens of billions dollars. That is why any influence by a single participants in the market is practically out of the question. The superior liquidity allows the traders to open and/or close positions within a few seconds. The time of keeping a position is arbitrary and has no limits: from several seconds to many years. It depends only on your trading strategies. Although the daily fluctuations of currencies are rather insignificant, you may use the credit lines, that are accessible even to currency speculators with small capitals ($ 1,000 - 5,000), where the profit may be impressive. (You can learn more about it in the section: The main principles of trading.)
The idea of marginal trading stems from the fact that in FOREX speculative interests can be satisfied without a real money supply. This decreases overhead expenses for transferring money and gives an opportunity to open positions with a small account in US dollars, buying and selling a lot of other currencies. That is, on can conduct transactions very quickly, getting a big profit, when the exchange rates go up or down. Many speculative transactions in the international financial markets are made on the principles of marginal trading.
Margin trading is trading with a borrowed capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market uses lots. 1 lot equals approximately $100,000, but to open it it is necessary to have only from 0.5% to 4% of the sum.
For example, you have analyzed the situation in the market and come to the conclusion that the pound will go up against the dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the pound (GBP) with the margin 1% (1:1000 leverage) at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to go up. Some time later your expectations become true. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips (about $ 405). For the calculation of 1 pip click here.
Everyday fluctuations of currencies constitute about 100 to 150 pips, giving FX traders an opportunity to make money on these changes.
In FOREX, it’s not obligatory to buy some currency first in order to sell it later. It’s possible to open positions for buying and selling any currency without actually having it. Usually Internet-brokers establish the minimum deposit such as $ 2000, for working in the FOREX market, and grant a leverage of 1:100. That is, opening the position at $100,000, a trader invests $1,000 and receives $99.000 as a credit. The major currencies traded in FOREX, are Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British Pound (GBP), and Swiss Franc (CHF). All of them are traded against the US dollar (USD).
In order to assess the situation in the market a trader has to be able to use fundamental and/or technical analysis, as well as to make decisions in the constantly changing current of information about political and economic character. Most small and medium players in financial markets use technical analysis. Technical analysis presupposes that all the information about the market and its further fluctuations is contained in the price chain. Any factor, that has some influence on the price, be it economic, political or psychological, has already been considered by the market and included in the price. The initial data for a technical analysis are prices: the highest and the lowest prices, the price of opening and closing within a certain period of time, and the volume of transactions.
A technical analysis is founded on three suppositions:
Movement of the market considers everything;
Movement of prices is purposeful;
History repeats itself.
That is, technical analysis is a statistical and mathematical analysis of previous quotes and a prognosis of coming prices.A number of technical indicators have been installed into the PRO-CHARTS trading system. Analyzing the indicators one can come to the conclusion about further movements of the quoted currencies. For a more detailed description of the indicators, analyzing price charts and volumes of trading, click here.
Fundamental analysis is an analysis of current situations in the country of the currency, such as its economy, political events, and rumors. The country’s economy depends on the rate of inflation and unemployment, on the interest rate of its Central Bank, and on tax policy. Political stability also influences the exchange rate. Policy of the Central Bank has a special role, as concentrated interventions or refusal from them greatly influence the exchange rate.
At the same time one should not consider fundamental analysis just as an analysis of the economic situation in the country itself. A far bigger role in the FOREX market belongs to the expectations of the market participants and their assessment of these expectations. Various prognoses and bulletins, issued by the participants, have a strong influence on the expectations. Very often an effect of the so-called self-filfilling prophecy occurs when market players raise or lower the exchange rates according to the prognosis. But a deep and thorough fundamental analysis is available only for big banks with a staff of professional analysts and constant access to a wide field of information.
In spite of these different approaches, both forms of analyses complement one another. Traders who act on the basis of a fundamental analysis, have to consider some technical characteristics of the market (the main rates of support, such as resistance and resale), and supporters of the technical approach to the market must track the main news (interest rates, important political events).
The main merits of the FOREX market are:
The biggest number of participants and the largest volumes of transactions;
Superior liquidity and speed of the market: transactions are conducted within a few seconds according to online quotes;
The market works 24 hours a day, every working days;
A trader can open a position for any period of time he wants;
No fees, except for the difference between buying and selling prices;
An opportunity to get a bigger profit that the invested sum;
Qualified work in the FOREX market can become your main professional activity;
You can make deals any time you like.
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