Market today

2006-11-12T22:51:00.002-08:00

Hi.

Are you an active trader or novice to trading....... or you may be the moderator of a site?
But there is nothing wrong in checking this site mentioned below since it is different from other similar sites because it is free to register and user-friendly too with 3 Dimentional trading icons, I bet you would be glued to the system and also remain as a happy trader of the site.

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ABOUT GNUTRADE

2006-11-10T05:38:00.001-08:00

What is Gnutrade?

It is a trading system that allows you to speculate on financial markets without having to actually own the underlying stocks, commodities, bonds or currencies. It provides a much simpler way to trade the markets, with a visually striking display, no paperwork, no brokers and no transaction fees or commissions to pay.

It is designed for people with any level of financial experience who want an easy, enjoyable way to trade and learn about the markets. If you are new to trading or don't want to trade with real money, you can choose to trade live markets with play money.

Who is it aimed at?

This system is designed to appeal to professional and experienced traders as well as people who have little or no experience, but want the opportunity to profit from market price fluctuations. It is also ideal for people who are familiar with online gaming but are looking for original ways to bet and make money.

For more queries..

TRADING WINDOW

2006-11-10T05:06:00.001-08:00

This is a trading window. You may feel bored by looking at the regular trading windows on various sites. Just check this one out for a fresh look given to your window. Here you can play the markets and animated icons will make the new traders work easily and keep them interested. There are few options like betting on the markets and backing a player which will keep you in wonderland.

Play the markets...

ACCOUNTS

2006-11-10T04:45:00.005-08:00

The Accounts window, on the top right, lets you view the money you have in your play and real money accounts. All new users receive g 10,000 (10,000 gnus) play money, and once you deposit money in your real money account, the new balance will be shown in this window. The ‘Margin balance’ is the maximum you could lose from the trades you have currently open, if the markets go against you, and the ‘Profit/Loss’ is your current profit or loss for that day. This figure constantly updates as the markets move up or down, to reflect the price movements on your open trades.

CURRENT MARKETS

2006-11-10T04:45:00.004-08:00

The Current markets window shows you the various markets/financial instruments which you can trade with the GnuTrade system. This site offers free access to the world's major stock indices, global currencies, popular commodities and bond and it focusing on the most commonly traded financial instruments in the world. These are: FTSE 100, CAC 40, ESTOXX 50, DAX, HSI, NIKKEI, EURO, YEN, GBP, GOLD, OIL, BOND 30, BUND 10, DOW, NASDAQ, S&P.

PORTFOLIO

2006-11-10T04:45:00.003-08:00

The Portfolio window shows your current open trades and lets you zoom in to see the details of how they are performing. We can place a bet on the players who performing well. We will get 90% of the profits and the backed player will get 10%. This is the one of the features of this site.

CHAT ROOM FEATURE

2006-11-10T04:45:00.002-08:00

The live Chat area lets you chat with other members who are logged in. We can share our views with the members and send a private massage to another member. The user allows to create new room and the online “Help Desk” will be always with us to help in any matters related to the trading and site.

NEWS DISPLAY

2006-11-10T04:45:00.001-08:00

The News window allows you to view the top news stories of the day and you can select a news channel and topic area which interests you. You can then browse the headlines for the full stories, which will appear in a new window.

http://www.gnutrade.com/register/

It obviously makes some difference from the existing sites.

Play and Win.

Thanks.

US playing with gambling sites

2006-11-01T00:21:00.000-08:00

The online gaming companies are pushed into the crunch with the recent decision from the US government. Big public online companies lost billions of dollars and shut their sites as the recent ban on the gambling sites in US. Private companies and small companies are in quest for the acquisition and mergers with the other companies.

The US president George Bush banned online gambling sites on October 13. The US government imposed a ban on banks transferring money to online sites. This affected the overall gaming industry and most of the companies are earning their profits from the US customers. United States lawmakers said they passed the ban out of concern that the sites would increase gambling addiction and social problems.

Most of the online gambling sites traded on the New York Stock Exchange with nearly $7.6 billions of market value and the decision has impeded the profits of the overall market.
The British government is trying to bring the support from other countries for industry reforms. The British government has conducted a conference with 30 global delegates to bring them under one roof and even the US government was invited but it didn’t send any representative. Many of the big public online sites are running successfully on the basis of US customers but these sites were suspended after President Bush signed on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

The companies which are legally registered in the US are emphasizing on other markets and their growth substantially fell down after this ban. The US might have considering the fact that allowing these sites will not fetch anything for its GDP and even there is a lot of chance that it is spending on them. Revising this decision is not that important to the US but fighting for this “noble cause” may gain huge profits for Britain.

Indian Markets are the Best options for FII’s

2006-10-31T00:48:00.003-08:00

BSE Sensex crossed 13,000 points milestone with FII’s, IT and banking companies bullish performance. In October FII’s pumped 7,000 crores into the equities. In the last two years, for FII fund managers, the Indian markets have been one of the best performing in their portfolio, bringing them millions in bonuses. But, since the sensex had risen substantially during the same time, they had diversified their portfolio to medium-sized companies after the larger ones became fully valued. In the sudden global meltdown in May, stocks of medium-sized companies fell the hardest even as the Indian markets fell faster than their counterparts in other emerging markets. But in the recent months with the performance of IT and banking companies the FII’s are showing interest to invest in Indian markets.

An analyst with a leading US-based FII says: "Investors kept asking why are we not investing in India which showed promise of growing at 8% for the next couple of years rather than in Japan which was coming out of the woods, or Korea.

Since September 15, 2006, when 30-share BSE Sensex had crossed 12,000 mark, banking and IT stocks have been driving the bull run. While Sensex went up by around 8.4% during this period, the BSE index for banking companies improved by 15.5% and that of IT companies also rose by 12.2%.

However, other sectors like FMCG, health care, auto and public sector undertaking (PSUs) did not perform well. Index of FMCG companies moved marginally up by 0.5% during this period. Because of the flood in various parts of the country and drought in other parts, demand for FMCG products did not pick up in the second quarter. Therefore, investors are apprehensive about performance of FMCG companies.

The share price of Hindustan Lever, which is the leader in the FMCG sector and has 3% weightage in the index, fell by 6% from Rs 243.55 on September 15 to Rs 228.75 on Monday. Similarly, share prices of other companies like Nirma, P&G and Colgate have also come down.

The share prices of banking sector companies were a clear indication that the investors have confidence in the Indian economy. The banking sector could be taken as proxy for the economy. As the general perception in the market is that Indian economy would perform well in the short to medium term, there is a demand for the shares of banking sector companies.

Similarly, companies from IT sector also performed well. This is mainly because of better than expected results from large companies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS. Good results by these companies have made the sector attractive. The Bull Run has also encompassed medium and small cap companies indicating that investors' interest in these companies have come back. Still it has not recovered to the pre May 2006 crash level.

Indian Oil Companies are in crisis

2006-10-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

The world markets and companies are fluctuating with the changes in oil prices. OPEC members are trying to moderate production and demand. But none of these facts are going to affect the oil prices in the Indian markets. Indian oil corp. ended this quarter with $211 million loss. Hindustan Petroleum (4.31 billion rupees) and Bharath Petroleum (3.48 billion rupees) also bore losses this year. The oil company's shares fell below 6 percent in these 9 months in India.

The Indian government did not allow the companies to raise the oil price when it reached a high in the global markets. Crude oil went up to a record high $78.40 a barrel in July but this increase could not affect the Indian customers.

The government limited the fuel price increase to 15 percent last year when crude oil costs rose 40 percent but the government provided subsidies to encourage the state-owned refineries and it also compensated with bonds worth 280 billion rupees to help them. State-owned refiners have been allowed to raise fuel prices by about 7 percent since Jan.

The Indian Government is trying to expand its economic growth and its following some policies to protect economy as well as inflation. But the oil companies are becoming more uncertain with these policies. These are moving from profits to losses irrespective of the price changes in the markets.

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , is to control the inflation, he is not imposing any burden on the poor. The government is giving a big hand to privatization, FII’s and Foreign Direct Investments. On the way towards growth of the Indian Economy the oil companies are passing through such barriers.

OPEC recovering its penny

2006-10-26T00:49:00.001-07:00

Oil prices rebounded on Thursday than expected after Saudi Arabia declared its support for a 1m-barrel-a- day cut in actual output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at the cartel’s meeting in Qatar. Saudi Arabia’s declaration on production cut made the markets clear in its policy. Saudi Arabia is unclear for the past two weeks about production cut but it’s encouraged the OPEC members to cut the production.

Saudi Arabian oil minister has announced that they are trying to balance the disequilibrium between the supply and demand. Abu Dhabi and Venezuela have joined with OPEC to cut production on Wednesday. This decision has lead to decline in the US crude and oil product inventories.

The Saudi Arabian oil minister signaled the markets that there may be further cut in production in December. All these changes seems like there is further scarcity in the markets. The oil price may touch $64 per barrel by next week. OPEC is probably moving on the right path to protect the markets with the support of the other members. There are interesting price changes ahead to entertain oil investors.

Let’s check the today's market...

US markets are in a bullish way

2006-10-24T03:13:00.001-07:00

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index touched record high since 2000 and Dow Jones crossed 12000 points milestone as falling in oil prices and increase in consumer spending. Wall Mart, the largest retailer in the world, shares advanced after it announced some plans to reduce the expenses. The Federal Reserve may keep interest rates unchanged in spite of the slump in housing market and these anticipations in the market encouraged share prices.

Crude oil fell for a second day on speculation that OPEC's member countries won't fulfill their pledges to cut production. Reduction in oil prices by the OPEC encouraged consumer related companies. It’s a big relief to the market to reach $58.81 a barrel from the record high $78.40. This fall in price may further make the markets jump.

Consumer spending is boosting the US economy which accounts 70 percent. Gross Domestic Product report has shown the growth in the Consumer spending. All these positive signs are making the investors gain from their investments.

OPEC’s move to protect OIL prices

2006-10-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

OPEC (Oil producing and exporting countries) members agreed to cut output by 3.4 percent to boost up the oil prices. Crude oil is continuing downtrend from the last one month and it fell to a seven-month low of $57.75 on October 4.

Saudi Arabia already started trimming its production by 200,000 barrels a day. Remaining OPEC members Libya, Algeria, Kuwait, Venezuela and Nigeria, which promised to lower the production by 1 million barrels a day. This report made the oil prices to reach 60$ a barrel.

I think this cut in production will create the demand and once the global demand increases, OPEC may increase the production. But this may initially hurt the profits of Saudi Arabia, largest oil producing country.

US bonds get out of clutches

2006-10-06T00:33:00.001-07:00

U.S. Treasuries headed for a weekly gain on speculation a government report today will show hiring slowed, adding to evidence easing economic growth will curb inflation. Employers last month added the least number of jobs to give Fed Reserve more scope to cut interest rates. Industries showed slower expansion in the service and manufacturing sectors.

With signs of an economic slowdown, a weak jobs number means we can expect Treasuries to rise and Lower Interest rates will boost up the bonds and treasuries. It will help the US economy to restrain inflation and economic growth.

But Employment report of US made the European bonds fall little. This report may create inflation pressure in the global market.

European Markets as Global Leaders?

2006-10-05T03:50:00.000-07:00

European stocks climbed to a five- year high on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the world's largest economy. The European Central Bank probably will today raise its benchmark interest rates to keep inflation in check.

In Technology shares, Infineon, Europe's second-largest chipmaker and SAP, the world's largest maker of business-management software drove the European stocks. In Energy shares, BP, Europe's No. 2 oil company and Royal Dutch Shell Plc shares gained heavily.

Europe’s share of global financial markets rose in the past five years compared to America, a survey by International Financial Services London. Between 2001 and 2005, Europe’s share of global business, relative to the US, grew in all categories.

I think Slow down in US creating the opportunity for emerging markets to strengthen themselves in global markets.

It's the time to put up for sale..

2006-09-27T01:07:00.000-07:00

Economists and Investors are anticipating that Fed Reserve will reduce the interest rates in next meeting. It will affect the bond market drastically.

Now Investors are selling off Floating rate notes, whose Interest payments depend on the central bank policy and they are fascinating towards the fixed interest rate bonds.

Floating rate notes will give better average returns than fixed rate bonds. But lower interest rates in the market are pushing the investors towards the fixed rate bonds. They are all buying fixed rate bonds, something they can get capital when the yields go down.

If Fed Reserve reduces the interest rates, Floaters must be ready to bear the losses. Floaters who are enjoying the high average yields from long back need to sell their bonds before it leaves you with losses.

European Markets Rebounds..

2006-09-25T02:01:00.002-07:00

Declined oil prices made the European markets to gain 4 months high. Crude oil fell $60.55 barrel from a record high of $78.40 on July 14. It encouraged the takeovers between the companies in Europe.

In the U.S, Europe's biggest export market, the Federal Reserve unchanged the interest rates may boost the exports of Europe. But a report on Slowing Economic growth in Europe affected the US Export companies.

Higher Interest rates in Europe spurred the Investors to invest in stocks that may be least vulnerable to an economic slowdown.

Overall, fall in oil prices, exports and interest rates made the European markets to rebound the stocks. All these causes made the Euro stronger against Dollar. It seems European markets are becoming powerful than the US markets.

Bullish Bullion

2006-09-20T03:26:00.000-07:00

The bullion market is holding back its sales after the major decline in this month. Asian countries are buying the gold heavily as the drop in the gold prices this month. The bullion's drop is attracting jewelers looking to build stocks before next month's Indian wedding season and the year- end holidays.

India, Thailand, Indonesia, the whole region has been buying heavily in spite of the 8 percent drop in the precious metals.

It seems increase in sales obviously stimulate the proposals of mergers between the gold producing companies like Gold fields and Barrick Gold. These signs may reinforce the strategic move and gives lots of synergies and benefits.

Its probably good news for the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA), which has been looking for the sales boost to reach target by the year end. The CBGA has to sell the 160 tonnes more to achieve the overall target of 500 tonnes.

Slump in Housing Market

2006-09-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Housing market boom is slowing quicker than it was expected earlier in spite of the reports that Federal Reserve may increase the interest rates. US Dollar is becoming weaker against the Euro and the Yen as a result of the down trend in Housing market. Hence, Investors are attracted towards the Lower Interest rates in Japan to buy assets.

In the wake of the 2001 recession, Federal Reserve reduced the interest rates to revive the economy. Stocks, Internet and housing market boom has replaced with that decision. Housing market became the heart of the economy after the recession period.

It’s the time to rethink about the interest rates to boost up the Housing market. But Housing Slowdown is significant to slowing economic growth and as well as to moderate the inflation rate.

Share your opinions on markets...

Fifth anniversary of the 9/11

2006-09-11T06:44:00.001-07:00

US began ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. It again puts the spotlight on who lost their loved ones in the attack.

It took five years to recover from the economical adversity and still fighting against the terrorism in the world.

The US government has blacklisted one of Iran’s biggest banks, Saderat bank with approximately 3,400 branch offices, was used by the government of Iran to transfer money to terrorist organizations.

The bank had facilitated the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organisations, every year.

This may not impede the attacks and terrorism from the gross root level but it definitely assures the peace.

Down trend in markets...

2006-09-08T02:11:00.000-07:00

US stocks declined due to housing slump. All the markets were on the pace to decline. Investors are worried about an economy that is slowing more than expected.

All the major housing company shares fell below the expectations and there may drop in the home prices. The earnings cuts by KB Home and Beazer were followed by a report from the National Association of Realtors today that said home prices may drop as buyers gain negotiating power.

It seems Fed may raise interest rates from the perspective of inflation and economic growth.

Federal Reserve role in US Economy

2006-09-06T02:58:00.000-07:00

The attacks on the World Trade Center five years ago were aimed at the financial centre of the world economy. Many of the world's most important financial markets were located in or near the World Trade Centre. All the markets got huge losses from this disaster. The cost to the economy as a whole appeared to be much higher. Business and consumer confidence fell sharply.

Within a year the US economy was on the path to recovery. Fed Reserve and US central bank responded to disaster quickly, it ensured there was no financial disruption and it cleared the problems in financial functioning.

As soon as financial markets reopened, the Fed cut interest rates by half a percentage point. Before the end of 2001 two further cuts of a similar magnitude followed. Yet more cuts took rates down to a 50-year low of 1% by 2003. Fed reserve also launched housing boom.
It played a vital role in taking economy in the right path.

US Employee - A cog in the machine

2006-09-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

The US economy has been generating strong economic growth over the past few years as it has come out of recession. But the little growth which was seen has been shifted into the hands of the average worker, according to new a research from the Economic Policy Institute.

The US has been expanding its economy and productivity from the last five years without considering the factors like hike in wages and unemployment problems. Median family’s average income growth is stagnant in US even if there is high productivity.

The immigration problem may have had a greater effect on the wages of low-skilled workers. US manufacturers reducing their workforce to compete with china’s low priced products has undoubtedly added to the ever increasing unemployment problem.

US must be ready to face the unemployment problem if it ignores the employee growth.

All about Yen..

2006-09-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

A report showed Japanese companies have increased spending and investment. This spending report made the yen stronger against the dollar and the Euro. Lower rates in Japan have encouraged Japanese investors to send money overseas in search of higher returns.

Even yuan indirectly made the yen stronger against other currencies. A stronger yuan made China's goods more expensive for overseas consumers and increased its buying power for Japanese goods, helping the yen.

In a survey Fifty-seven percent of 49 traders, strategists and investors advised to sell the dollar against the euro. Forty-three percent of those surveyed said to sell the U.S. currency versus the yen. It seems dollar is becoming weak day by day.

I think yen may hamper the path of world currencies and the dollar has to face adverse condition in the coming days.