Archives for the ‘Educational’ Category

What to Know Before You Trade: New Trader Tips

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Mar 8th, 2010 • Category: Educational, Friedman's Futures Forecast

by Jeff Friedman
If you are new to futures trading, it can all seem overwhelming. Which fundamental reports should you follow? Which technical analysis techniques will give you an edge? Which markets are the best to trade? There are far too many questions than I can possibly address in this brief article, but I will attempt [...]



Basics of Options

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Mar 3rd, 2010 • Category: Educational

by Matt Roma
If you aren’t trading options, you are missing out on a wide range of investment opportunities! Options on futures can offer you the ability to create a customized trading strategy based on your unique viewpoint of market price action, and can offer you the ability to define your risk. Options can give you [...]



Commodity News Digest - March 3, 2010

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Mar 3rd, 2010 • Category: Commodity News Digest, Educational

The Problem with Commodities ETFs - Seeking Alpha
Services Sector Shows Best Growth in Two Years: ISM Data - MarketWatch
Private Sector Sheds 20,000 Jobs, ADP Says - MarketWatch
Chile Top Refinery Could be Down for a Month - Reuters
Fed Says Economy Stronger in February Despite Snow - Reuters
U.S. Copper Adds to Gains as Euro Advances on Dollar [...]



Canadian Monetary Policy and the Dollar

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Mar 3rd, 2010 • Category: Broker Commentary, Educational, Lind-Waldock In the News, Market Updates, Trader Viewpoints, Webinars

by Drew Shaw
At its March 2 policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BOC) maintained its benchmark short-term interest rate at an all-time low of 0.25 percent. It’s been at this level since April 2009, and is not expected to change until the end of the second quarter of this year. The BOC said that the [...]



Global Stock Indexes Let You Trade the World

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Mar 1st, 2010 • Category: Broker Commentary, Educational

By Aaron Fennell
One of the benefits of trading futures is that you have a global toolbox to take advantage of an outlook on nearly any market. Often traders get focused on only a couple of the most popular or familiar contracts, but there are a wide range of markets you can consider. The more tools [...]



Options Greeks 101

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Feb 24th, 2010 • Category: Educational

by Phil Streible
New clients often think they have options figured out, but can’t figure out why they aren’t profitable. They throw an unbelievable sum of money at a particular option, and even though the market moves in their direction, their option wastes away. Gaining an understanding of some the mathematical variables that influence options [...]



Commodity News Digest - Feb 19, 2010

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Feb 19th, 2010 • Category: Commodity News Digest, Educational

Consumer Prices Excluding Food and Energy Fall - AP/Yahoo Finance
Oil Prices up 11 Percent in 2 Weeks - AP/Yahoo Finance
Fed Seeks to Calm Markets After Discount Rate Rise - Reuters
Gold up as Investors Seek Refuge in Bullion - Reuters
USDA Sees Record Corn Crop, but Downturn in Soybeans and Wheat Acres - AgWeb
India Should Take “Urgent” [...]



A Greek Tragedy in the Eurozone

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Feb 12th, 2010 • Category: Broker Commentary, Educational, Futures Feature, Market Updates

by Aaron Fennell
The disheartening events taking place in Greece over the past few weeks have been a setback to the global financial recovery. You might be surprised  to learn that Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio isn’t actually the highest in the Eurozone. It’s interesting to compare countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios, and see how dire the situation really is. [...]



Short Sellers Rule Stocks in January

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Feb 10th, 2010 • Category: Educational, The Lighter Side

The Wall Street Journal reported  that short-selling proved quite popular among stock investors in the second half of January at the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market.
“In the exchanges’ latest twice-a-month statistics, for the period ended Jan. 29, the number of short-selling positions at the NYSE not yet closed out, known [...]



Pivot Point Trading 101

By Kristina Zurla Landgraf • Feb 5th, 2010 • Category: Educational, The Lighter Side

By Jeff Friedman
Pivot-trading has been around a long time, and is a favorite technical analysis tool for many professional traders. Learning how to use pivot points helps take the emotion out of trading, and gives you discipline. Pivots are useful in not only helping you to determine price direction, but also as a money management [...]