The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change in prices of a basket of goods and services over a period of time. It is usually expressed as a percentage change on a month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) basis. Core CPI is the figure targeted by central banks as it excludes volatile food and fuel inputs. When Core CPI rises above 2% it usually results in higher interest rates and vice versa when it falls below 2%. Since higher interest rates are positive for a currency, higher inflation usually results in a stronger currency. The opposite is true when inflation falls.
Inflation measures the rise in the price of a representative basket of goods and services. Headline inflation is usually expressed as a percentage change on a month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) basis. Core inflation excludes more volatile elements such as food and fuel which can fluctuate because of geopolitical and seasonal factors. Core inflation is the figure economists focus on and is the level targeted by central banks, which are mandated to keep inflation at a manageable level, usually around 2%.
Interest rates are charged by financial institutions on loans to borrowers and are paid as interest to savers and depositors. They are influenced by base lending rates, which are set by central banks in response to changes in the economy. Central banks normally have a mandate to ensure price stability, which in most cases means targeting a core inflation rate of around 2%.
If inflation falls below target the central bank may cut base lending rates, with a view to stimulating lending and boosting the economy. If inflation rises substantially above 2% it normally results in the central bank raising base lending rates in an attempt to lower inflation.
On the iPhone app, tap the ‘More’ button, then ‘Switch Accounts’. On the Android app, select ‘Switch Accounts’ on the left side menu.
There are a number of bond trading strategies with names like swaps, barbells, and ladders. Each has a specific function, for example the swap is often used to lower an investor’s tax liability, or to simply improve the yield being collected. A ladder is used to smooth out interest payments over a period of time. A barbell uses primarily very short and very long maturity bonds for diversification and flexibility. One profitable strategy is called rolling down the yield curve. As long as bonds with short maturities yield less than those with long maturities it is profitable to buy the long dated bonds and then sell them after 2-3 years, collecting a profit and reinvesting the proceeds in new long term bonds.
There are a number of different types of bonds, from corporate bonds issued by individual companies, to municipal bonds that are typically issued to pay for a specific project, such as improvements to schools, to government Treasuries which fund the Federal government. At their heart they are all the same, they are all debt instruments. So which are best to trade? Rather than considering the source of the bond it is helpful to consider the ranking instead. There are three major bond ranking agencies, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch. They all use a similar ranking method and the higher a bond is ranked, the safer it is. However lower ranked bonds are often better for trading as investors can be willing to pay more as they chase the yield.
Stocks and bonds are quite different in the financial world since stocks represent a partial ownership of a company, while bonds represent debt owed by a company to the bond holder. In some respects they do seem similar however. Both are used to raise capital. And both can give investors regular income since bonds pay out the interest payments to the holder, while stocks often pay dividends. Of the two stocks are far more common in the open market, and typically only the largest blue chip companies will have bonds that trade on public exchanges.
Movements in stock market indices are influenced by factors such as economic indicators, interest rates, political events, and company earnings reports.
For your subsequent deposits, the minimum deposit amount is USD$50.
No, you can keep your demo account open for as long as you like, and use it to test strategies, even after you’ve opened a live account. Add more virtual funds at any time via the ‘Payments’ menu.
Please note that shares on a demo account are available for a limited period due to exchange restrictions. Once activated, you’ll be able to practise trading on shares for 30 days.
Holding rates for FX are based on the tom-next rate in the underlying market for the currency pair and are expressed as an annual percentage, with an additional Today Markets charge of 1% added. To view the holding rates for individual FX pairs, please refer to the ‘Product Overview’ for the relevant pair.
Because market makers are taking the opposite side of their client’s trades it adds a great deal of liquidity. It can also assure traders that they get filled quickly when placing trades. Market makers also set their own spreads, and because competition in this space is so fierce these spreads are often very good. The market making broker also provides trading software to clients free of charge, and often their price movements aren’t as volatile as the prices quoted on ECN or STP networks.
Because an ECN passes all its trades along to the institutions it receives pricing from there is little chance of price manipulation taking place. It is also possible to get excellent spreads from the ECN broker during periods of great liquidity. In some cases, you could get zero spreads on the most liquid pairs like the EUR/USD, USD/JPY, or GBP/USD. Even when there is a spread it is often quite low since the ECN broker gets its prices from a number of sources. Scalpers can do better with an ECN broker too because their pricing tends to be more volatile.
The STP broker has many of the same benefits as the ECN broker. They will typically offer very competitive spreads since they are getting pricing directly from the interbank market. They also offer almost no chance of price manipulation because they never take the other side of their client’s trades. STP brokers are also the most likely to offer no requites and positive slippage, or better prices than what you’re quoted. Finally, the STP brokers typically have no restrictions on scalping, hedging, news trading, and high-frequency trading.
We offer two types of accounts: Standard STP account and our most popular,Raw ECN account.
There is no commission charged on the Standard STP account but instead, there is a markup on the spreads above the Interbank rate received from our pricing providers.
Our Raw ECN account shows the raw spreads received from our pricing providers. On this account, there is a commission charge applicable for USD$6 per standard lot round turn.
You can compare the difference between our various trading account types by using the table at our compare forex trading accounts page here.
ECN trading, short for ‘electronic communication network’ trading, is a state-of-the-art trading method that operates on a computerised system. It matches buy and sell orders for various financial instruments, such as currencies, stocks, and derivatives. ECN trading allows traders to tap into deep liquidity provided by multiple market participants, resulting in highly competitive pricing, rapid order execution, and enhanced transparency.
While it has traditionally been popular among professional traders like hedge funds and institutional investors, ECN trading is increasingly being embraced by retail traders, levelling the playing field for all.
Take your pick from a huge selection of Commodities, Stocks and Indices with some really competitive conditions and dedicated support.
- A selection of powerful trading platforms, including MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms for desktop, tablet & mobile
- Cutting-edge Web trading platform (no download and installation required)
- Trade leading US, European & Asian stocks trade as CFDs
- Go long or short – trade your view on the market
- Get leverage of up to 400:1 on CFD trading
- Trade on the move with our new Today Markets app with unique risk-limiting tool AvaProtect
- Both manual and automated trading platforms available
Contracts For Difference (CFDs) are popular Over The Counter (OTC) financial derivative products which enable you to trade on the price movement of financial assets like Currency pairs Indices Futures, Commodity Futures, Cryptocurrencies, Shares and Exchange Traded Funds.
With CFDs, you can trade freely on price fluctuations 24/7, without actually owning the underlying asset or acquiring any rights or obligations in relation to the underlying asset. The main benefit of trading CFDs is the flexibility to trade against the price movements without actually buying or selling the physical instrument. That means never having to take ownership of barrels of oil or blocks of Gold.
While our 100% margin requirement and real-time margin system is designed to limit your trading losses and help ensure that total losses never exceed your total account balance, you do risk incurring losses greater than your account balance, especially during periods of extreme market volatility. While it is not todaymarkets.com’s policy to hold clients responsible for modest negative balances, we do reserve the right to hold clients responsible for large debit balances and when special circumstances apply. For this reason, we strongly encourage you to manage your use of leverage carefully.
The todaymarkets.com platform does not support changing from the default leverage setting of 50:1. MetaTrader 4 accounts can be reduced to 10:1 and 20:1. Keep in mind that increased leverage increases risk. You can request a change to your level of leverage by filling out a Margin Change Request Form and submitting it to support@todaymarkets.com.
Technical analysis is a method of identifying trading opportunities that relies on reading price charts. Technical traders use these charts to determine the future direction of a market, as well as possible entry and exit points for each position.
Remember, you can view technical charts by logging in to your Today Markets.com trading account and selecting the name of any market. Traders also use independent charting software, such as the popular Metatrader5 trading platform, available through Today Markets.com.
Leverage is the ability to control a large position with a small amount of capital. It is usually denoted by a ratio. For example, if your account has a leverage of 50:1, that means you can trade a position of $50,000 with only $1,000. Please note that increased leverage increases risk.
There are several proactive measures that you can employ to prevent liquidation and manage risk:
- Actively monitor the status of your open positions.
- Specify a stop-loss order for each open trade to limit downside risk. You can specify the stop-loss rate at the time you issue a trade, or add a stop-loss order at any time for any open trade. You can also change your stop-loss orders at any time to take current market prices or other conditions into account. The use of stop loss orders may not necessarily limit your losses.
- Keep your account funded in excess of your required margin. These extra funds act as a cushion, protecting you if the market moves against you. If you are in danger of breaching your margin limits, either incrementally reduce the size of your position or add funds to your account as soon as possible.
- Employ lower leverage. You may request a leverage change at any time.
Risk in trading is the potential for your return from a trade to be lower than you expected. That could be because you had to close it beneath your profit target, or it could mean losing all the capital you spent on the position.
No trader gets every decision right. So, it’s essential to develop a comprehensive plan for managing risk within your trading – especially when using leverage, which will amplify losses as well as profits.