Friday, December 9, 2011

Federal Reserve Current Prime Interest Rate - Market Update

           Federal Reserve, every now and then takes care of the economy and the growth of it. The Federal Reserve tries to balance the economy thereby, stipulating the growth, and make sure that no problems are hovering around in the economy.

          For this reason, the Federal Reserve maintains the rates, which help in taming the inflation and other data. All this is taken care by the Federal Reserve and it does change the fed rate very now and then, so that it could balance the economy.

         The inflation and other currency data is taken in to consideration and the rates are fixed for a certain period of time.

        What are interest rates, Prime fed rates, lending interest rates and many others? What is the usage of these fed rates to the coming public or the banks or industries in a certain economy? Firstly, prime rate is a reference interest rate which is used by banks.

         They use it to lend money to their customers against which they charge this particular fed rate. This is the main use of interest rate.

       When you buy something big or unaffordable, you try to pay them in installments. Here, the interest rates come in to play. Even when you are in a state of debt, the person who gives you money or the company charges you of a particular interest rate which is in most cases, equal to the prime interest rate, in the case of big financial institutions or banks.

      These are some of the important uses of rates. Paying installments and others come under this 'prime interest rates' thing.

         Why does the Federal Reserve always change the prime fed rates? Because, the inflation always changes and the economy never remain stable.

         If the economy is stable and everything seems to be fine, then there would be no reason to increase or decrease the fed rates.

         But, if the inflation numbers are going up and the economy in turn, is degrading, then there is a reason and every necessity to increase the fed reserve rate.

         And again when the inflation numbers come back to their original ones or are stable, then the Federal Reserve will see to cut down the rates and keep the economy going on.

        The prime rate is also used as an index which helps in calculating the rates for Adjustable rate mortgages [ARM]. It is also widely used in the case of loans. The current prime interest rate set by the Federal Reserve is '3.25' %.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Understanding Forex: Top Seven Key Points on Predicting Interest Rates

           Interest rate is as important as the currency pairs in the market. It is not considered as the main character but it serves as the supporting character that enhances performance of the leaders. This is relevant information for traders to realize and look into how the interest rate as well as the monetary policies plays an important role.

           First we must know what is an interest rate? Define as the overall amount charge to borrowers in a common business or market transactions for goods and services. In Forex market it is a force that drives the currency rate to change. The trading principles in the market decide how you predict the changes and movement of the interest rate. In which drives the rate of the foreign currencies. These include the factors that influence the said changes for buying and selling purpose. If you can practice the technical and analytical pattern, you are on your way to Forex success. Here are just few principles that you can use to predict the movement on interest rates.

Policies

           Interest Rates is set for investors and traders. This is to offer low percentage to let investors borrow for further investments. In currency trading such as you can borrow Japan Yen in a lower rate interest to buy much stronger currencies like the US Dollar, British Pound, Euro and Swiss Franc. This results in a higher return or higher paying interest from the said currencies. An interest rates task is to offer traders option to further advance in the market.

Profit Margin

           One common prediction with traders is to use the interest rate to profit. In what way they can gain profit is when they decide to buy a currency that has a higher interest rate. This pattern can drive the other currencies to reach its higher potential of the same. Traders can take this as an opportunity to profit, through trading and making it easier for them not to invest to other countries.

Central Bank's Influence and Action

         In trading its influence is undeniable; it drives the sudden changes made by major central banks around the globe. In this case as traders predict how the interest rate moves the better chances they have on predicting their profit margin. Relation of Interest rate to Forex trading is quite easy. It is the theory of acceleration, when interest rate drops it pushes currency to increase faster. Strategy wise, speculations are more vivid. Along with Risk of these currencies to fluctuate, you can imagine how it affects traders. Following actions of central bank, can give you an edge to act quickly if sudden change occurs. As traders we want to maximize of chances of gaining a higher profit. To be able learn how central bank influence not only the currency rate but also fluctuation on the market.

Bank to Bank Lending Principle

            This is not only significant to traders. It is also the key element on how banks communicate with each other. The central banks as the major unit can let other commercial banks borrow in a shorter term process with a very low-interest. In which this banks can have their clients borrow or loan from them as well. A cycle that helps Forex trading system works in a way that's organized. Since the central bank has the control, they can actually increase interest rate to its most to encourage clients to invest and pull up the country's economy. This policy applies to currency trading as well.

Economic and Social Factors

           Not all traders are capable to predict on what way it move. The great thing about speculating is that there are factors that you can watch. This includes the consumer index, Employment statistics, international market supply or demand and real estate market. Through the daily reports and data of these said factors you can figure and predict which way the interest rate goes. A rough estimate are also shown as the market open and closes; with this you can gather clear information on how you play the game in your advantage.

Reliable Announcement

          Other ways to predict aside from the Central banks behavior and common factors is thru daily updates. There are Forex announcement and sudden changes that central bank pass for traders to use. These are ways on how the central bank communicates to its clients, investors, and traders. One tool that you as beginner must keep in mind, that when they announce one thing it means that they are providing the public ideas on how it moves. This is forcing the currency for a drastic change as well as how these banks see currency or future inflation.

Forecast Speculation and Analysis

             These are charts that you can download and study to predict the estimate movement of the interest rate. Since daily you got results, you can come up with conclusions as obvious predictions on the changes. Many of the brokers, banks and day traders for long or short-term trends follow forecast to make reliable facts

How To Recognize A Bucket Shop Broker - Six Signs of A Fraud Brokerage

        By definition, a bucket shop broker is an illegal brokerage firm that accept trade orders by the customer but fails to execute them immediately when the orders have been accepted. This name is derived from the general practice of placing orders in a bucket rather than executing them immediately. In this case, the Forex broker intentionally delays the execution of the trader orders that they received. They do this for various reasons which are primarily fraud-oriented. There are many such brokers in the market that will accept the customer orders but hold them for sometimes before executing. There are different ways through which you can recognize these fraudulent Forex brokers. Discussed below are some of the basic methods you can use to identify these Forex brokers.

Delayed Execution Of Trade Orders

        Just as illustrated in the definition, bucket shop Forex brokers delay the execution of customer trade orders. If you realize that your trade orders are not executed immediately then you may be dealing with a bucket shop broker. They do this primarily to gain substantial market position before the order is executed. Such Forex broker simply holds a customer orders until a point where the trade would be advantageous to their firm. Afterwards they execute the trade and keep the difference which is a profit to their firm.

Fraudulent Transactions

         You will realize that these Forex brokers have long history of fraudulent transactions. Most of them are characterized by showing trade quotes that are not real. The trades they display are remotely not coinciding with what other brokers are providing and the market in general. There is not conformity with most transactions and they seem altered. One thing eminent is that most traders using bucket shop broker is that they lose money regularly. This is due to the fraudulent nature of their transactions.

Use Of Remote Quotes

        One easiest way to identify a bucket shop broker is to compare the trade quotes they provide and those provided by other brokers in the market. Making this comparison of the quotes, you will realize there is not conformity at all. These brokers simply provide remote trade quotes which are not in line with what other brokers in the market are providing. Similarly, their quotes do not show any conformity to the market situation. You can use different currency feeds provided by multiple to make this comparison. The currency feeds will help you check if their quotes are consistent at any given time frame. Even if lots of traders are following one side of the trader, these brokers decide to provide quotes which are higher or lower than the expected.

Trading Fantasies

         Trading fantasies is a general characteristic of illegal Forex brokerage firms. They make big promises that are beyond your imagination. It is not rare to find brokers that uses ads with enticing lines such as "Easy free money from Forex!", "Make $5,000 a day sitting at home!" etc. This is a general characteristic of bucket shop brokers. Therefore you can use these and any similar ad lines to identify them. What they promise is unrealistic and is usually ended with an exclamation mark. Why? To ensure that you get the drifts. A genuine and good Forex broker does not need to entice you with fantasies.

Negative Expectancies Trades

          One thing very common with these Forex brokers is that they trade on negative expectancies. A bucket shop broker is designed to use negative expectancies to trade against its clients. But how do they manage to trade against their clients? These brokers serve as market makers and usually take the side of the trades that will be against their clients. They understands that statistically a good number of market traders undertake negative expectancies. With this in mind, they are able to trade against the losing crowd and make profits at the end. They understands the market very well and what the expectations that traders hold. Trading on negative expectancies also explains why such brokers primarily targets newbies in the market.

Lack Of Regulation

          It is not a secret that these brokers are not regulated. In most cases you cannot very whether they are regulated and by which regulatory body. Regulated brokers will not act in fraudulent trading activities like these brokers do. To be on the safe side, ensure that you only trust your money with regulated a Forex broker.

Conclusion

          There are several bucket shop brokers in the Forex market. You may know little about them but they exist. These are illegal Forex brokers that are characterized with fraudulent activities and deceptions to corn you the money. It is pretty good if you take precautions against such brokers so that you don't end up losing your money. The first thing to do is to ensure that your broker is regulated by the right regulatory.