Tag: trading

Overrated Business Tips to Forget

On January 28, 2021

In Career, Education, Finance, fitness, health, Investing, Leadership, Nicholas Fainlight, postgraduate, Technology, Uncategorized

Wherever you go, people provide unsolicited guidance on how to grow, run, or start a business. Out of the pointers they offer, some are valuable, and you must observe them. However, others are misinterpreted, outdated, or just plain wrong for the business you’re running. Here are some overrated business tips to forget.

1. Your Service or Product Must Be Unique

Businesspersons are often advised to outline what makes them stand out. However, it is not necessary to find an exclusive approach to achieve corporate success. A subtle change may improve the entire experience.

2. Customers Are Always Right

Do you need to make the customers happy? Yes. However, if your main goal is to please people, you may end up in a world of unnecessary suffering. It’s best to pay attention to the things that bring you a long-term profit, not the things that take your energy and time.

3. Do Not Start a Business With Your Friend

Many people think it’s a bad idea to start an enterprise with a friend, but that’s not true—friends whose expertise supplements each other may build a thriving business. Establishing a company may be straining to the relationship; however, the benefits of operating with a person you trust may be worth it.

4. Promote Your Business on Facebook

Companies have acknowledged that paid advertising is the only path to increase your Facebook image, which is still one of the world’s best social platforms. However, it is not always the top place to use up your advertising budget. There are other more effective means to reach your audience for a much lower price per lead, for instance, on platforms like Pinterest.

5. Concentrate on Your Site Instead of Building the Brand

It is important to have a brand that reverberates with ideal customers. However, investing all energy and time in the “perfect” site is not how to make it.

6. Never Reject an Opportunity

It is tempting to “do it all” and take all opportunities that cross your path at the beginning of your business. Saying “yes” to all opportunities in your corporate encounters will stifle your time and dilute your brand.

7. Gather as Much Cash as Possible

Each business needs cash to start and grow; however, not all businesses must seek that through financiers. While funding may help some companies grow significantly, other lifestyle corporations are at an advantage without it.
Finally, despite all the advice that entrepreneurs receive, they should filter what is right for their business.

How The World’s Stock Markets Have Evolved Over Time

By Nicholas Fainlight

On October 2, 2017

In Finance

Stock markets are one of the most important parts of the global economy. Stock markets are an important part of economic growth. The origins of the stock market can be traced back to France, where residents used a system that managed debts while serving the best interests of the banks. In Italy, bankers started trading government securities. The actual beginning of the stock market occurred in Belgium and the Netherlands. Antwerp, Belgium is recognized as having the World’s first organized stock market system. However, during this time period, debt was being regularly traded instead of shares of a company.

East India Company

The East India Company is considered the first publicly traded company in the World. Investors realized that going all in was not a long term beneficial strategy. They started buying shares in other companies so that investments would be less risky. Over the next few years, many European countries started using the system. Investors traded ideas in coffee shops. However, due to a lack of regulation, the early days of the stock market were very unorganized.

New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange was considered a breakthrough. Soon the NYSE established itself as the center of US trade. Thanks to a void of any real competition, the NYSE thrived.

Today’s Climate

Almost every country in the World has their own stock market. Over a trillion dollars are traded on stock markets throughout the World every day. NASDAQ has moved the stock markets into the future. NASDAQ was created by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and The National Association of Securities Dealers. NASDAQ is unique because instead of relying on a physical location, all of the trading is performed electronically on a network of computers. NASDAQ has influenced a new era of innovation and expansion.

Looking Ahead To The Future

Stock markets are an important part of the World’s economy. Analysts feel that we will continue to see mergers among different stock markets. There is even an outside chance of a single global stock market. The recent natural disasters that have occurred have also challenged the stock market. While Hurricane Harvey has caused lots of damage, the stock markets have shown growth in these damaged areas. This is another example of how the stock market is relatively immune to the impact of natural disasters. Investors are aware of the economic growth that will take place in the aftermath of these disasters because there will be a lot of jobs created through rebuilding the damaged areas.

Futures Trading Part 4: Stops and Rolls

By Nicholas Fainlight

On February 24, 2017

In Finance

If you’ve stuck it out this long, I commend you. Just kidding- hopefully you’ve enjoyed my four-part series on futures trading! If you stumbled upon this blog by chance and don’t know what I’m talking about, TURN BACK NOW. Not actually- but if you want a full understanding of futures trading, I suggest you start from the beginning with Futures Trading 101. This is the fourth and final section of my series on futures trading. We just looked at the risk associated with futures trading and the considerations you should make before investing in a contract, so now we’ll take a look at stops and rolls.

Stops and rolls kind of reminds me of the stop, drop and roll fire safety technique kids are taught in elementary school. The kind I’m talking about are a little different, but they’re also a safety tactic, as they go along with risk management.

Stop orders (stops for short) are a tool that investors can use to practice risk management in futures trading. They are a way for traders to buy or sell at a set price in order to limit losses and secure gains. The idea of a stop order, according to financial analysts Richard Illczyszyn, is to take the emotion of the trade by helping you set forth a plan of how much you’re willing to lose and how much you hope to gain. Stop orders allow you to back out of a trade at a set level and cut your losses to avoid substantial loss of money. In addition to having a set level at which to back out in mind, traders can also place physical stop loss orders when entering a trade that will automatically terminate the contract if the level you choose fails. It’s important to note, Investopedia states, that stop orders are not failsafe: in volatile markets, they could fail to execute at your desired level, causing you to lose more than intended.

Another movement in futures trading is rolls. Just as the basic meaning of stop orders is obvious, rolls are just what they sound like. Futures contracts have set expiration dates, so when you reach the end of your contract, you have a decision to make: do you want to close out or roll over into another expiration date? If you decide to close your position, you have the option to sell the futures you own or purchase the ones that you’re short. If you let your position roll over, then you need to close your current position and open a new one with a new contract with a longer expiration date, allowing your trade more time to succeed.

Anthony Grisanti, founder and president of GRZ Energy, advises giving yourself plenty of time (at least two weeks) to formulate a strategy if you decide to roll over your position. “That way, you can take stock of the market dynamics and not feel rushed as you manage your positions,” he says.

It’s also important to realize that there will sometimes be a roll cost associated with rolling your position to a further date, which is a normal consequence of rolling a position, as multiple variables such as market conditions, storage costs, interest rates, and dividends can cause the value of a contract to increase. A roll cost is simply the price of maintaining one’s position in a later month.

Well, this is where I leave you. I hope that I’ve provided you a strong foundation from which to continue your study of futures trading. My guide is by no means exhaustive, so I encourage you to explore other resources in your quest for trading knowledge.

Futures Trading Part 3: Risk

By Nicholas Fainlight

On February 23, 2017

In Finance

If this is your first time tuning in, then you’ll probably want to check out my first two blogs in this futures trading series first, where I cover a basic introduction to futures trading and leverage. I’ve had an interest in futures trading for about as long as I’ve had an interest in finance- which is to say, it’s been awhile. It’s a tricky area of the stock market to explain to anyone because it is both a part of and separate from the overall stock market. Long story short, futures contracts have set expiration dates and stocks do not. But there’s a lot more to it than that, so I broke my explanation of futures trading into four sections covering key concepts. This is lesson three of four, covering risk.

Risk: you know what it is in general terms, but do you know how it relates to futures contracts? Unless you study the stock market as I do, probably not, but I’ll do my best to explain. Essentially, investing in futures contracts can be risky business. Managing risk is an important consideration for stock investment; however, unlike with traditional trading, with futures trading you can stand to lose more money than you put in. Therefore, you should have a full understanding of risk capital before trading in futures.

Risk capital is defined as the funds that traders can afford to lose. According to Rich Ilczyszyn, CEO and founder of iiTRADER.com, “You should not be trading futures with money reserved for necessities, such as housing, food, transportation.” Instead, you should consult an experienced broker to help you develop and assess your risk profile, and determine the right asset classes.

To know what you’re getting yourself into and avoid trading with risk capital, there are several considerations that should factor into your decisions before trading in futures. First, do your research and go with an experienced brokerage firm. Commission rates, margin requirements, level of executions, types of trade, software and user interface, and customer service are all important considerations. Also consider the level of service you require. If you’re more of a do-it-yourself person, then you may want to save yourself some money and go with a discount broker for lower commissions and fees. However, if you’ve never traded in futures before (or any stocks) then a full-service broker may be for you, as they will provide a higher level of service and advice for a slightly higher cost.

Your next considerations should be the category and type of futures that you want to trade. There are various categories involved in the futures market, which Investopedia suggests thinking of as industries. The individual contracts within these categories can be compared to stocks. For instance, agriculture energy, equity index, currency futures (FX), interest rates, and metals are all categories and there are contracts within those categories. As a general rule of thumb, you should stick to what you know when deciding which market categories and instruments you will trade. If you have a background in agriculture, for example, then you might want to trade in that category since you already have an understanding of the market.

There are also different types of trades to consider. At the most basic level, you can either buy or sell futures contracts, but there are different trading techniques employed by futures traders, starting with basic trades whereby the trader makes a wager that the price difference between investment and futures will fluctuate, and encompassing spread trades (a wager that the price difference between two futures contracts will change) and hedging (where a trader sells a futures contract to protect against a stock market decline).

My explanation of risk management in futures trading is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it makes you realize that there are a lot of important considerations that go into futures trading and encourages you to do your research before committing to a contract.

Futures Trading Part 2: Leverage

By Nicholas Fainlight

On January 27, 2017

In Finance

I promised I would give you a four-part series on futures trading, and I always deliver on my promises. So ta-da, here it is for those of you who have an interest in the stockmarket like I do. In my first post about futures trading, I gave a general introduction to this area of the stock market, where I described what futures contracts are and how they work. As a refresher, a futures contract is a standardized forward contract between a buyer and a seller in which the delivery and payment of the asset occur at a future point in time. Because futures are functions of underlying assets, they are derivative products, meaning they derive their value from the price movements of the various assets they pertain to.

Leverage is a key concept of futures trading, and anyone looking to get into this field should have a thorough understanding of it. According to Rich Ilczyszyn, CEO and founder of iiTrader.com, “Leverage allows traders to make a large investment in a commodity using a comparatively small amount of capital.”

So, an investor that is interested in buying or selling a futures contract does not need to pay for the whole contract upfront; rather, they can make a small investment to stake a claim in the commodity. Investopedia gives an example to demonstrate this principle at work in the stock market: Say you have a contract valued at $350,000. This value of the contract, which trades on the CME, is derived from the level of the S&P 500; it is $250 times this level. If the S&P is at 1400, the value of the futures contract is $250 X 1400, which comes to $350,000. A person looking to initiate a trade on this contract does not need to pay the $350,000 upfront, however; they only need to post an initial margin of $21,875 (according to current CME exchange margin requirements).

Now, where leverage comes in: if the level of the S&P 500 happens to increase, then the value of the contract also goes up, and the investor makes a profit. In the example given, if the S&P rises to 1500, then the contract increases its value to $375,000, and the investor makes a $25,000 profit off their initial investment.

The investor also has a chance of losing money if the S&P falls and being hit with a margin call, requiring them to deposit more funds into their account to bring the balance back up, so risk is involved. Nevertheless, the chance of making such a large profit with a relatively small investment (leverage) is what makes futures trading so appealing.

Next time, I’ll go into more detail on the risk involved with futures trading.

Futures Trading 101-Part 1: What is Futures Trading?

By Nicholas Fainlight

On December 12, 2016

In Finance

I recently published a blog post covering an introduction to the topic of futures trading, one of my personal favorite areas of finance. This is going to be part of a four-part series focused on the following:

Intro: What is futures trading?
Leverage
Risk
Stops and rolls/conclusion

For the original post, please follow the link here. The rest of this series will be published on this new blog dedicated to macroeconomic trends.