Monday, January 13, 2014

TOP 10 CURRENCY TRADERS



1. DEUTSCHE BANK AG: is a German global banking and financial services company, headquarters in the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers, Frankfurt, more than 100,000 employees in over 70 countries, a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the emerging markets; 2009 Deutsche Bank was the largest foreign exchange dealer in the world with a market share of 21%, offices in major financial centers including London, New York city, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Moscow, Sydney, Toronto, Istanbul, Madrid, Dublin, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, São Paulo, Dubai, Riyadh, Bangkok, Karachi, Belgrade, Manila and George Town (Cayman Islands); the bank offers financial products and services (sales, trading, research and origination of debt and equity; mergers and acquisitions (M&A); risk management products, such as derivatives, corporate finance, wealth management, retail banking, fund management, and transaction banking) for corporate and institutional clients along with private and business clients. 

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 15.18%

2. CITIGROUP: an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, formed from one of the world's largest mergers by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group in October 1998, currently the third largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, the largest shareholders include funds from the Middle East and Singapore; the world's largest financial services network, spanning 140 countries, approximately 16,000 offices worldwide, employs approximately 260,000 staff around the world, it holds over 200 million customer accounts in more than 140 countries, one of the primary dealers in US Treasury securities, used to be the largest company and bank in the world by total assets with 357,000 employees until the global financial crisis of 2008, today it is ranked 20th in size under the Fortune 500 list. Citigroup is one of the Big Four banks in the United States, along with Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 14.90%

3. BARCLAYS INVESTMENT BANK: the investment banking division of the British multinational Barclays bank headquartered in London, provides financing and risk management services to large companies, institutions and government clients, a primary dealer in U.S. Treasury securities and various European Government bonds, offices in over 29 countries, employs over 20,000 people, over 7,000 people work in the IT division, significantly increased Barclays Capital's presence in North America.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 10.24%

4. UBS: a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, providing investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, retail clients in Switzerland, the biggest bank in Switzerland, operating in more than 50 countries with about 63,500 employees globally, considered as the world's largest manager of private wealth assets (over 2.2 trillion Swiss Franc) in invested assets, a leading provider of retail banking and commercial banking services in Switzerland, had assets under management (AuM) of US$1,705.0 billion, representing a 9.7% increase in AuM versus 2012.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 10.11%

5. HSBC HOLDINGS: a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom, one of the world's largest banks, founded in London in 1991 by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, around 7,200 offices in 85 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America,  around 89 million customers, 2012 total assets of $2.693 trillion, roughly half were in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and a quarter in each of Asia-Pacific and the Americas, organized within four business groups: Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Global Private Banking, primary listing on the Hong Kong and London Stock Exchange, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 6.93%

6. JPMORGAN CHASE & CO: an American multinational banking and financial services holding company, the largest bank in the United States, total assets of US$2.509 trillion, a major provider of financial services, the world's second largest public company based on a composite ranking, the hedge fund unit of JPMorgan Chase is the second largest hedge fund in the United States, the investment banking, asset management, private banking, private wealth management and treasury & securities services divisions, credit card services, retail banking activities, commercial banking, one of the Big Four banks of the United States with Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 6.07%

7. THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC (RBS Group): a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, operates a wide variety of banking brands, offering personal and business banking, private banking, insurance and corporate finance throughout its operations located in Europe, North America and Asia, in the UK and Ireland, its main subsidiary companies are The Royal Bank of Scotland,[4] National Westminster Bank, Ulster Bank, Drummonds Bank, and Coutts, issueing banknotes in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the only bank in the UK still to print a £1 note, owning Citizens Financial Group, the 8th largest bank in the United States, from 2004 to 2009 it was the second largest shareholder in the Bank of China, the world's fifth largest bank by market capitalization in February 2008, had a market capitalization of approximately £12.2 billion.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 5.62%


8. CREDIT SUISSE GROUP AG: a Switzerland-based multinational financial services holding company headquartered in Zürich that operates the Credit Suisse Bank and other financial services investments, four divisions: Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management, and a Shared Services Group that provides marketing and support to the other three divisions.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 3.70%

9. MORGAN STANLEY (NYSEMS): an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in the Morgan Stanley Building, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, operates in 42 countries, more than 1300 offices, 60,000 employees, has US$347 billion in assets under management or supervision, the main areas of business for the firm today are Global Wealth Management, Institutional Securities, and Investment Management.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 3.15%

10. BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH: the corporate and investment banking division of Bank of America, provides services in mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital markets, lending, trading, risk management, research, and liquidity and payments management.

MARKET SHARE CALCULATED IN % OF OVERALL VOLUME, MAY 2013: 3.08%

FOREX & ECONOMY GLOSSARY


1. FOREX GLOSSARY: 

TRADE SIZE: The number of units of product in a contract or lot. 

TRAILING STOP: A trailing stop allows a trade to continue to gain in value when the market price moves in a favorable direction, but automatically closes the trade if the market price suddenly moves in an unfavorable direction by a specified distance. Placing contingent orders may not necessarily limit your losses.

TREND: Price movement that produces a net change in value. An uptrend is identified by higher highs and higher lows. A downtrend is identified by lower highs and lower lows. 

BAR CHART: A type of chart which consists of four significant points: the high and the low prices, which form the vertical bar, the opening price, which is marked with a little horizontal line to the left of the bar and the closing price, which is marked with a little horizontal line to the right of the bar. 

ASK PRICE: The price at which the market is prepared to sell a product. 

BID PRICE: The price at which the market is prepared to buy a product.

BID/ASK SPREAD: The difference between the Bid and the Ask price. 

2. ECONOMY GLOSSARY: 

FISCAL POLICY is Government spending policies that influence macroeconomic conditions. Through fiscal policy, regulators attempt to improve unemployment rates, control inflation, stabilize business cycles and influence interest rates in an effort to control the economy. Fiscal policy is largely based on the ideas of British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) who believed governments could change economic performance by adjusting tax rates and government spending. 

ECONOMICS is a social science that studies how individuals, governments, firms and nations make choices on allocating scarce resources to satisfy their unlimited wants. Economics can generally be broken down into: macroeconomics, which concentrates on the behavior of the aggregate economy; and microeconomics, which focuses on individual consumers. Economics is often referred to as "The Dismal Science". 

FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD is the governing body of the Federal Reserve System. The seven members of the board of governors are appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate.  The board sets Fed policy regarding the discount rate and reserve requirements (among other key economic decisions), the chairman of the board of governors is also the chairman of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC). 



Sunday, January 12, 2014

CENTRAL BANKS




1. Federal Reserve (FED), (USA) 

The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created in 1913 by the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely as a response to a series of financial panics or bank runs, particularly a severe panic in 1907. Over time, the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System have expanded and its structure has evolved.

Chairman: Janet L. Yellen

Current Voting Members: William C. Dudley, James Bullard, Elizabeth A. Duke, Charles L. Evans, Esther L. George, Jerome H. Powell, Sarah Bloom Raskin, Eric S. Rosengren, Jeremy C. Stein, Daniel K. Tarullo.



2. European Central Bank (ECB), (Europe)

The European Central Bank (ECB) is one of the world's most important central banks, responsible for monetary policy covering the 16 member States of the Eurozone. It was established by the European Union (EU) in 1998 with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
President: Mario Draghi.

Current Voting Members: Mario Draghi, Vítor Constâncio, Jörg Asmussen, Benoît Cœuré, Yves Mersch, Peter Praet, Luc Coene, Jens Weidmann, Patrick Honohan, George A. Provopoulos, Luis María Linde, Ardo Hansson, Christian Noyer, Ignazio Visco, Panicos Demetriades, Gaston Reinesch, Josef Bonnici, Klaas Knot, Ewald Nowotny, Carlos Costa, Marko Kranjec, Jozef Makúch, Erkki Liikanen.


3. Bank of England (BOE) (UK)

The Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK Government.

Chairman: Mark Carney

Current Voting Members: Charles Bean, Dr Ben Broadbent, Paul Fisher, Prof. David Miles, Dr. Adam Posen, Spencer Dale, Dr. Martin Weale, Paul Tucker, Ian McCafferty.


4. Swiss National Bank (SNB), (Switzerland)

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is the central bank of Switzerland. It is responsible for Swiss monetary policy and for issuing Swiss franc banknotes. The SNB is an Aktiengesellschaft under special regulations. About 55% of its shares are owned by public institutions like cantons and cantonal banks. The remaining shares are traded on the stock market. They are mostly owned by private individuals.

Chairman: Thomas Jordan

Current Voting Members: Thomas J. Jordan, Jean-Pierre Danthine, Fritz Zurbrügg.


5. Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), (Australia)

The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it. The Bank has the responsibility of providing services to the Government of Australia, which the profits of the Bank are transferred back to, in addition to also providing services to other central banks and official institutions.

Chairman: Glenn Stevens

Current Voting Members: Glenn Stevens, Philip Lowe, Martin Parkinson PSM, John Akehurst, Roger Corbett AO, John Edwards, Heather Ridout AO, Catherine Tanna, Kathryn Fagg.


6. Bank of Canada (BOC), (Canada)

The Bank of Canada (in French: Banque du Canada) is Canada's central bank. It was created by the Bank of Canada Act of 1934, to "promote the economic and financial well-being of Canada." It is the sole issuer of banknotes in Canada, and the central bank for the Canadian dollar. The bank's headquarters are located in the Bank of Canada Building at the corner of Wellington and Bank Streets in downtown Ottawa.

Chairman: Stephen S. Poloz

Current Voting Members: Stephen S. Poloz, Tiff Macklem, William Black, Phyllis Clark, Philip Deck, Douglas Emsley, Jock Finlayson, Brian Henley, Daniel Johnson, Claire M. C. Kennedy, Derek D. Key, David Laidley, Leo Ledohowski, Richard McGaw.


7. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), (New Zealand)  

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is the central bank of New Zealand and is constituted under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. The Governor of the Reserve Bank is responsible for New Zealand's currency and operating monetary policy. Employees of the bank operate under the framework of a managerial hierarchy.

Chairman: Graeme Wheeler

Current Voting Members: Dr Rod Carr, Dr Chris Eichbaum, Dr Arthur Grimes, Professor Neil Quigley, Ms Sue Sheldon, Mr Keith Taylor, Ms Kerrin Vautier.


8. Bank of Japan (BOJ), (Japan)

The Bank of Japan is the central bank of Japan. The Bank is often called Nichigin for short.The Bank of Japan is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, on the site of a former gold mint (the Kinza) and, not coincidentally, near the famous Ginza district, whose name means "silver mint".

Chairman: Haruhiko Kuroda

Current Voting Members: Kikuo Iwata, Hiroshi Nakaso, Ryuzo Miyao, Yoshihisa Morimoto, Sayuri Shirai, Koji Ishida, Takehiro Sato, Takahide Kiuchi.