24option abandons binary options, turns to forex, CFDs

SMNWeekly.com - 24option, a Cyprus-regulated binary options broker, is planning to abandon binary options in favor of forex and CFD instruments. According to reports of the site Finance Magnates, the existing binary options clients of the brokerage may continue to deposit and trade, but the broker will stop accepting deposits from new EU clients this week. New binary options clients from the rest of the world will not be accepted from next week. New clients of the brokerage will be able to deposit into forex and CFD trading accounts. 24Option launched its forex and CFD instruments several months ago. Full Article

Contarct For Difference and Spread Betting Survey on Their Advantages, Disadvantages, Risks and Usage Frequency

I was reading a very comprehensive survey appeared on nasdaq.com about the disadvantages and advantages of using contract for difference or spread betting as a means of trading the financial and stock markets - There were some very interesting answers and statistics given by traders, financial managers etc, which I like to share with you on The CFD Traders Blog -

I've picked and illustrated the most pertinent and interesting pieces for you since it was a fairly large survey which may have bored some of you as I know some traders are not the most patient individuals around - You can say that again :)

So here we go with the questions and answers and I hope you will find it educational:

Percentage of traders using Contract For Difference and Spread Betting as day trading/hedging instruments:

As shown in the above diagram, 46% of traders use CFD's, 37% trade via spread betting and the remaining traders use both CFD's and SB together.

Percentage of CFD/SB traders using other instruments also:

As can be seen in the above chart, 79% of cfd/sb traders also trade in equities, 72% EFTs, 31% Investment Trusts, 28% Bonds, 21% Future markets and 7% traded in Options in addition to using CFD's/SB's.

Percentage of financial markets, CFD & Spread Betting traders are most likely to trade:

• The FTSE 100 Index (footsie) appears to be the most popular market that CFD/SB traders use for trading at 66%.
• Single stocks and equities were used by 62% of traders.
• 35% traded the US market indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial and the S&P500.
• 28% traded currencies (FX)
• Commodity trades were at 24%
• ex-UK European indices like CAC & the German Index DAX were also traded by 24% of traders.
• Asian markets had 21% share of trading.
• Other markets formed 10% of the trades.

Advantages and Benefits of Contract For Difference and Spread Betting trading:

• 69% of traders liked the high leverage CFD could offer
• Also, 69% mentioned the ability of placing short-sell trades as well as going long on trade positions as a flexible advantage of trading CFD's and Spread bets.
• Spread Betting being tax free was another advantage mentioned by 54% of traders.
• Being able to use stop-losses was another factor mentioned by 15% of CFD traders.
• Other factors formed 8% of the votes.

Which CFD & Spread Betting Brokers are used most:

• IG (IG Index previously) was the most popular CFD Broker at 39%
• CMC Market & City Idex got 13% of the traders' choice.
• 4% of CFD traders used Capital Spreads as their favourite CFD/SB provider.
• 13% said they used more than one CFD provider.
• 22% of traders used other than above mentioned brokers (and there are vast number of other CFD providers as some know)

CFD Traders - Number of years of using Leverage Trading:

• 52% said they've been trading using leverage between 1 to 5 years.
• 22% were experienced traders as they traded on leverage between 5 to 10 years.
• The very much more experienced professional traders who were trading longer than 10 years formed 17% of the answers.
• Traders who traded on leverage for less than 1 year were in the 9% category.

Profits and Losses Made by Traders during one year:

• The majority of CFD traders which was 27% reported small profits during last 12 months.
• 23% of either lucky or more professional traders reported significant gains.
• Also, traders who showed small losses or gains were 23% each.
• 4% of traders who were probably more honest to themselves confessed that they had significant losses.

Biggest Trading Risks Reported by CFD & Spread Betting Traders:

• 29% said losing more money than their original invested capital as a concern.
• Another 29% of traders mentioned their trading positions being closed out due to insufficient funds.
• Getting Margin Calls was chosen as a risk by another 24% of traders.
• 62% mentioned the above three risks were the disadvantages of CFD/SB trading.

MT5 brokers now can connect to NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE via Interactive Brokers Gateway

MetaQuotes announced today a partnership with oneZero for the purpose of launching new connectivity gateway for MT5 integration with Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NYSE:IBKR). The solution will enable access to stocks, futures and other exchange traded instruments on the largest global exchanges, which are included in the leading U.S. broker’s products portfolio.

The new gateway, made available through the oneZero Hub product, will in fact enable MT5 brokers to gain access to 15 out of 20 Biggest Exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) and others.

Read The Full Article

The London trader who lost the Swiss bank UBS £1.4bn ($1.9bn) has apologised and said that banking has not done enough to regain the public's trust.

Read The Full Article

Will UK Banks Charge Savers Soon?

Roy Scott | Getty Images

The idea of savers being charged to keep their money in the bank might seem extraordinary even in an era of unprecedented monetary policy measures - and has never happened before in the UK.

Now one of the country's biggest banks, NatWest, part of RBS, has warned its business customers that it may have to charge for deposits. The announcement comes ahead of a meeting by the Bank of England next week which is widely expected to set a further historically low interest rate.

Read the Full Artilce

The Huge Donation Of Warren Buffet To Gates Foundation

Warren Buffett donated about $US2.2 billion ($2.9 billion) of stock in his annual gift to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, betting that risk takers at the group will make breakthroughs in global health and US education even as they acknowledge that some efforts will be unsuccessful.

What Bill Gates' Goals are for the Gates Foundation.

"Some of the projects we fund will fail," the Gateses wrote in a message on their website. "We not only accept that, we expect it -- because we think an essential role of philanthropy is to make bets on promising solutions that governments and businesses can't afford to make. As we learn which bets pay off, we have to adjust our strategies and share the results so everyone can benefit."

Warren Buffett: "If you succeed in everything you're doing in charity,
you're attempting things that are too easy"

[Full Article]

Why Equity Rally Continues Despite Shakey Economic Fundamentals

Investors have been bailing out of equity funds at a rapid clip. So how come stocks keep rising?

One Citigroup analyst may have the answer: It appears that, as regular investors flee, central banks have stepped into the breach.

Asset purchases by central banks have risen to their highest levels since 2013, suggesting that the rallies in equity and credit markets—which some say already appear stretched—could continue picking up steam, according to Matt King, a credit analyst at Citigroup.

He illustrates his points in the charts below:

Central-bank buying is closely correlated with equity gains:

[Full Article]

Brexit to have limited credit impact on Asia Pacific sovereigns

Moody Says "Brexit will have little credit impact on Asia Pacific Countries

Moody's Investors Service says that the United Kingdom's (UK, Aa1 negative) vote to leave the European Union (EU, Aaa stable) will not have a significant credit impact on Asia Pacific sovereigns, but dependence on external finance poses a vulnerability for some countries. [Full Article]

Why Bitcoin's Prices Could Even Go Higher

USD/BTC 2-Year Chart

Here's why Joseph Adinolfi from Marketwatch thinks the prices of Bitcoins could appreciate further:

- A quadrennial event called “the halving” has sharply reduced the number of new coins being created.

Currency traders are seemingly obsessed with trying to predict the Federal Reserve’s next move, meticulously analyzing every word of every official communique for clues about the future path of monetary policy.

There’s nothing like that in the world of bitcoin. Instead, the rate at which the bitcoin supply increases is preordained by a few lines of code. [Full Article]

Barclays Was Fined 560k For Inaccurate Swaps Position Reports

Barclays Plc, was Fined Loads of Money and rightly so!

(Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Barclays Plc to pay $560,000 (£433,433) on Wednesday, saying the bank failed to submit accurate reports on large traders' positions for physical commodities swaps.

The CFTC found that between July 2012 and March 2013, Barclays submitted reports with incorrect position information for certain transactions, it said in a statement. The bank did the same in 2014 for positions related to crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, heating oil and agricultural products, the CFTC said.

The CFTC regulates futures and options markets in the United States.