Showing posts with label day trading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day trading. Show all posts

Monday, August 12, 2013

Binary Options Bonus Reviews

Sizeable binary options bonus offers are extremely common in the industry. All the top brokers offer at least some form of incentive to encourage prospective new clients to open accounts and give day trading a try. Here we will look at some of the types of incentives offered and compare them across the various leaders in the field.

 

Read the Fine Print on Incentive Offers

The most important thing you can do when considering a bonus offer from a binary options broker is to read the fine print. Offers come with restrictions. Don't expect to open an account, get some bonus cash, and immediately withdraw it. Bonuses are incentives to try day trading - not simply free money for you to take at will.

Typical Bonus Offers

...and Restrictions

Every single cash or prize offer in the financial markets comes with some sort of restriction. The reason brokers make these offers is to encourage new clients to try the product - a.k.a. open an account, make a deposit, and make a few trades - take a few risks. Here is what you can typically expect to see in an offer and what you will likely find in the fine print.

  • Straight Bonus Cash with Trading Volume Minimum Based on Bonus Amount - This type of cash award is typically granted at the time of account opening and initial deposit. The award may vary from 20-50% of the deposit amount but usually comes with a restriction that the trading volume by the new customer must exceed 15-30 times (depending on the broker) the amount of the award. (see an example of a binary options broker offering this kind of award).
  • Straight Bonus Cash with Trading Volume Minimum Based on Deposit + Bonus - A second kind of cash award based on deposits made by new clients comes with a different set of restrictions. In this case a new trader would be expected to make enough transactions to exceed anywhere from 5-15 times the combined total of the initial deposit plus the bonus award amount. The size of the cash stake similarly would range from 20-50% typically - usually depending on the size of the initial deposit with some sort of maximum cap. Click here for an example of a company with this kind of bonus.
  • Progressive Cash Bonus Earned with Trading Volume - Along similar lines to the previously mentioned cash awards, a progressive earned bonus offers additional account funds with a twist: the client earns the award after accumulating a certain amount of trading volume. The benefit from this kind of incentive is that the funds are free and clear once earned (a.k.a. available for withdrawal by the investor). Once the award is earned no further restrictions are put on the money. This type of bonus (20-40%) is far less common in the marketplace but is much easier for new clients to understand - as the restrictions put on other types of bonuses frequently confuse beginners. See a broker review page where this type of offer is made.
  • Periodic Preferred Customer Trading Cash Incentive - This type of award is typically reserved for VIP customers and / or high-volume traders. Offers vary. Restrictions vary. This type of award is offered to high rollers and is not usually going to be seen or made to beginners or amateurs. See a reputable broker where this bonus cash policy is used.
  • Electronics Gifts with Trading Volume Restriction - A last (and previously more common amongst other industries outside financials) new client deposit incentive is in the form of consumer electronics. A firm will offer the latest gadget / widget / electronic consumer goodie in exchange for a new customer signup and depsosit. Like the similar cash awards, as trading volume restriction will apply - usually something on the order of 20 times the value of the deposit required to qualify for the award. While this volume hurdle is lower than the others - usually the gadget or gizmo is not likely as valuable as a cash bonus otherwise offered might be. See a binary broker where this offer is available.

Binary Options Broker Bonuses Vary

Be Aware of Changing Restrictions and New Offers

As interest in binary options trading increases and decreases over time incentives to promote new business will vary. It pays to shop around and pay attention to the latest offers in the market because from time to time very special awards come along. One firm may offer precious metals - like a paid in gold bonus. You can be sure that whatever is hot in the marketplace is sure to be available at some point as part of a promotional incentive to start trading. On the other hand it also pays to read the fine print and make sure you understand the restrictions that go with these special limited-time offers.

How to Avoid Being Scammed by Binary Options Brokers

Here's a short video we ran across that makes some good points as to how to avoid being / feeling scammed when opening your trading account.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Using Currency Rates to Make Money

The most powerful traders in the world have been using currency rates to make money for decades but average joes can as well with a little bit of understanding. While the deep pockets that play in forex markets can tend to push out smaller traders at will there are other markets where foreign exchange knowledge can come in very handy.

Markets Where Currency Rates Impact Trading

If a retail trader can not reasonably expect to make money trading in forex markets, where else might this knowledge be useful? It turns out in fact that the interconnected-ness of global markets has made it such that changes in currency rates impacts trading results in markets everywhere. It does not really matter if you trade futures in Chicago or stocks in New York or Gold in London. Wherever assets are priced in some form of currency, exchange rates will most certainly play a role.

Global Foreign Exchange Creates Rising Tides in Risky Assets

Money is moved so fast between not only assets, but also countries these days - such that literally a ripple effect is observed when foreign exchange markets cool on one currency or heat up in another. Followers of global markets have observed this phenomena for a number of years now with the result being greater correlation amongst risk-based assets. Basically it almost as though as global sentiment becomes more favorable piles of money appear out of mattresses and swell the market - lifting nearly all asset classes at once. Similarly when confidence tanks money leaves the market as though absorbed by a sponge.

So How Does a Retail Trader Take Advantage?

There are a few ways a retail trader can try to capitalize on forex movements. The most obvious way would be to attempt to fast-follow changes in the currency markets themselves - but as previously mentioned this strategy is fraught with peril. Better ways to capitalize on forex movements with limited capital (in order of declining initial stake) can include leveraged ETFs, index options contracts, and binary options (more info). Each of these investments carries their own specific sets of risks - but because they are insulated somewhat from the crashing waves of the foreign exchange markets (and their dreaded margin calls) the risks can be (to a much greater extent) managed. An investor's ability to make money using currency rates then becomes more a story of how well the trader understands and correctly reacts to changes in global markets and less a story of how big a capital stake they start out with.

For a more in depth discussion of the complexity of currency rates and trading forex, visit http://forex-signals-trading.info.

Other day trading resources / tutorials:
On Options Trading: http://optionstradingtutorial.blogspot.com
On Leveraged ETFs: http://leveraged-etf.info