Trading News

Portfolio margin is a method of determining margin requirements that brokers use to evaluate the overall risk of a client’s portfolio. Unlike traditional margin accounts, which typically calculate requirements based solely on individual securities, portfolio margin accounts use a risk-based model. This approach looks at the entire portfolio’s potential for loss in varying market scenarios. […]

The music industry has massive underlying demand and could be of interest for traders or investors looking to get in on a secular trend. YouTube’s most popular videos and most viewed videos ever are disproportionately music videos. The top ones obtain billions of views, garnering popularity that most forms of content could never fathom even […]

OANDA Labs Prop Trader, part of OANDA, has enhanced its funded trading accounts, offering profit shares of 80% with less stringent challenge conditions, meaning traders could get funded within 3 days. OANDA is one of the few trusted brokers to offer prop trading services, though it’s important to note only skilled traders will get funded. […]

Let’s look at some advanced trading strategies. Some of these strategies might not be directly pursuable for most traders – though some are – but they can show the variety of what’s possible, provide awareness, and inspire creativity: Mortgage Basis Trade (Long/Short MBS Pools vs. TBA) This strategy involves taking positions in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) […]

Arbitrage exploits price discrepancies in identical assets in different markets to secure risk-free profits (given perfect conditions). The “arb” strategy hinges on the ability to execute transactions quickly to exploit these temporary mispricings. This makes it a low-risk, low-return approach. Relative value strategies focus on identifying price mismatches between related but not identical assets. It […]

Moneta Markets has expanded its suite of index CFDs with the Singapore 20 Index (SGP20) and Taiwan RIC Index (TWINDEX). The broker now provides opportunities on three of the four ‘Asian Tigers’ – Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong – with South Korea being the fourth. Key Takeaways The SGP20 and TWINDEX are available on the […]

Financial markets are immense but small at the same time. While there are hundreds of thousands of things you can buy, there are really only a few standard asset classes that people look to for yield: cash bonds stocks Things like private assets and real estate will tend to fall in the bonds (credit) or […]

The basis is a trading strategy that tries to exploit the temporary price differences between a futures contract and its underlying asset (e.g., commodities, bonds, stocks). Basis trading belongs to the broader category of arbitrage, convergence, or relative value strategies. Arbitrageurs try to capture small but relatively risk-free profits arising from price discrepancies in related […]

In fixed-income securities – particularly government bonds like US Treasuries – the terms “on-the-run” and “off-the-run” have important implications for traders. On-The-Run (OTR) Bonds – These are the most recently issued Treasury securities of a specific maturity (e.g., a 10-year Treasury note). They’re actively traded and offer the highest liquidity. Off-The-Run (OFFTR) Bonds – These […]

Contango and backwardation convergence strategies try to profit from the natural tendency of futures prices to converge toward the spot price of the underlying asset as the contract nears expiration.    Key Takeaways – Contango & Backwardation Trading Strategies Contango Convergence Strategy: Involves buying the front-month (or front-period) contract and shorting a later-dated contract. Tries […]