Interest rate risk: What is it and how do you manage it? Bonds and other fixed-income products play a large role in the portfolios of most savvy investors. With guaranteed returns and lower exposure to market volatility, bonds typically don't offer the large potential sums that excite some investors. But increased confidence and opportunity to plan offer great benefits to long-term strategies. One factor that majorly influences the value of…

How to diversify your portfolio, and why it matters Markets go down as well as up – in trading, it's the closest thing there is to a law of the jungle. As such, while it's every trader's goal to see the value of their portfolio of investments (all the positions and asset classes they hold at any one time) go up, it's highly likely that not all will rise at…

Stocks vs derivatives: Which is right for you? Providing fundamentally different ways to trade, stocks and derivatives offer investors a way of diversifying their portfolio. So, you'll often find that traders spread their investments across a mix of each. While sometimes known as a secondary method of trading due to the relation to an underlying asset, derivatives offer a separate, unique way to trade via a variety of instruments. Meanwhile,…

A beginner's guide to the ASX 200 index Index trading can prove a smart way to diversify your investment portfolio. It allows you to speculate on the performance of a group of major companies or sectors, rather than individual stocks. The ASX 200 is one such index. It's highly liquid and tradable and considered the preeminent benchmark index for Australia. And like any index, having a deep understanding of how…

Your guide to entry orders Keeping track of the price movements of securities is crucial to effective trading. Whether you're involved in forex, commodities, shares or indices, the ability to know whether it's time to buy or sell is the difference between profit and loss. But watching price charts poised to buy isn't the most effective use of your time. You need entry orders. Comprising market, stop-loss, and stop-limit orders,…

Sentiment Analysis: What is it? Why do you need it? It's not unusual for a trader to have a hunch – to feel as if the market or the price of an asset is about to move. But is a hunch enough to make fully informed decisions about any investment? Using sound logic, reasoning, and analysis gives you the best chance of achieving returns. And sentiment analysis is one of…

Everything You Need to Know About Margin Trading Margin trading is a popular method used by traders all over the world. It can offer attractive opportunities, but as with any form of trading there are no guarantees and the level of risk must be taken into account before any decision is made. Trading on margin means using leverage, which has the potential to magnify profits or losses depending on the…

Your guide to out-of-hours trading Many stick to day trading, ending their buying, selling and speculating once the final bell has rung. However, there are those who trade after the markets close. There are plenty of benefits and opportunities that come with trading out of hours, and there is a real appetite for holding off until the day traders have finished up. If you want to know how to trade…