Don’t be fooled by the warm and fuzzy name - index huggers are arguably the most vile, misleading vehicles in the investment market. These funds, sometimes called “closet trackers” or “pseudo trackers”, are mutual funds or portfolios of equities that are marketed as actively managed, but in fact keep so close to the relevant index, that one might as well have purchased [...]

In the shadow of more industrialized economies, interest in emerging market assets has increased in recent years. Although these assets tend to be somewhat volatile, the return is often worth the risk, as emerging market funds have produced higher percentages of wealth than benchmark rates. (For the latest news and information on emerging markets, check out Emerging Market News at Forbes.com.) Compared [...]

It’s most often during difficult economic times that the “permanent portfolio” comes back into vogue. But the strategy doesn’t require a crisis to be successfully implemented. Nor is it only during steep market breaks that it reaps the greatest benefits. Indeed, the permanent portfolio has proven itself for over 30 years as a fundamentally sound means of protecting and [...]

Between 2001 and 2004, volume in the foreign-exchange market increased more than 50%, illustrating the overall rise in popularity of currency trading. The advent of online trading following the technology boom has allowed many equity and futures traders to look beyond their more traditional trading instruments. Most short-term traders or speculators trade FX based on technical analysis, so [...]

Oscillators are indicators that are used when viewing charts that are non-trending. Moving averages (MA) and trends are paramount when studying the direction of a stock. A technician will use oscillators when the charts are not showing a definite trend in either direction. Oscillators are thus most beneficial when a company’s stock either is in a horizontal or sideways trading pattern, [...]

The major significance and importance of cross currency triangulation is due to the fact that many spot currency cross pairs are not traded against each other in the interbank market as standard pairs. With a realignment of the currency markets due to the adoption of the euro, cross currency pairs such as the EUR/JPY, GBP/CHF, GBP/JPY and EUR/GBP, as well as many other cross currency pairs, developed [...]

When it comes to understanding the long and short of investing, most beginner investors must learn what seems like a new language. In fact, the phrase “the long and the short of it” originated in financial markets. In this article we discuss certain key terms that will help you better understand and communicate with other market participants. These terms are used in the equity, derivative, [...]

Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes are as integral to the story of economics as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. What Keynes wrought, Friedman undid, and supporters of the free market are deeply in debt to this Chicago school academic for his effort. In this article, we will look at the life and contributions of Milton Friedman. (To learn more about these great economic thinkers, read our related [...]

Because forex (FX) is a decentralized market in which dealers disseminate their own price feeds through proprietary trading platforms, it is crucial to learn the features and idiosyncrasies of each type of trading software before committing real funds to an account. Fortunately, in retail, FX traders can test out each platform using demo dollars. Every reputable dealer in FX allows potential [...]

Speculators get a bad rap, especially when oil prices spike or a currency’s value is shattered. This is because the media often confuses the line between speculation and manipulation. Manipulation leads to overall economic damage, whereas speculation performs several important functions that keep our economy healthy. In this article, we’ll look at the function of speculators in the [...]