FXCM Research Team

For active currency traders, market volatility presents a vast array of opportunities and challenges. Fluctuations in the exchange rates of forex pairs can occur rapidly and seemingly out of nowhere. If not consistently put into a manageable context, turbulent price action can prove detrimental to a trader's chances of sustaining long-run profitability. Standard deviation is one mechanism used by forex market participants to identify normal and abnormal moves in pricing.…

The Sterling ratio is an risk-adjusted investment performance measure. Similar to the Sharpe and Sortino ratios, the Sterling ratio is used to define how efficiently risk capital is being allocated. It is frequently implemented by individual investors and hedge funds in the arena of portfolio management. What Is The Sterling Ratio? In practice, the Sterling ratio quantifies investment performance by comparing periodic returns to periodic drawdowns. The unique aspect of…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is the largest issuer of bonds in the world. It issues debt securities in order to fund the activities of the U.S. government, which generally runs high budget deficits. As of 31 December 2018, the U.S. federal debt totaled slightly below US$22 trillion. Of that amount, $16.1 trillion was held by the public and $5.9 trillion was held by other entities of the federal…

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is an official provider of energy-related data and analytics. Initially created by the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, the EIA specializes in the collection, analysis and dissemination of energy industry data at the federal level. Producers, traders and government officials view the EIA as a leading authority on the current state of global energy. Mission And Products Dating back to the oil crises…

The forex is an immense international marketplace, accounting for more than US$5 trillion in average per session traded volume. Everyday participants from around the world trade forex pairs in the hopes of achieving their financial goals. Due to the fact that currency trading is a truly global pastime, the forex is open for business 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Although technically operational around the clock, each day…

What Is A Central Bank? A central bank manages a nation's currency, money supply and interest rates and acts as a lender of last resort to the country's banks. Many are also responsible for regulating and supervising their country's banks. Many are set up to be independent from their government, although their directors are usually appointed by that country's chief executive or leader of government. Most countries have their own…

What Are The Basel Accords? The Basel Accords are a set of standards created by the Basel Committee to establish uniform banking regulation among the world's financial systems. The Basel Committee was originally called the Committee on Banking Regulations and Supervisory Practices, and it was headquartered at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. It was created in 1974 by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten…

What Is The Bank For International Settlements? The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), also known as "the bank for central banks," defines its mission as being an "international organisation that serves central banks and other financial authorities across the globe to build a greater collective understanding of the world economy, fosters international cooperation among them and supports them in the pursuit of global monetary and financial stability." Based in Basel,…

A pivot point is a technical tool used in forex trading to determine potential support and resistance levels and the direction of a prevailing trend. While the basis of the indicator is rooted in elementary arithmetic, performing the necessary computations manually is time consuming and cumbersome. However, through the use of the Pivot Point Calculator, traders can quickly and easily execute the necessary calculations in an efficient manner. Warning: Ad-blockers…

In forex, the term "pip" is an acronym that stands for "percentage in point." Pips represent the smallest increments of currency pricing and are key to the establishment of bid/ask spreads. For the active forex trader, pips play an important role in both risk and trade management. Exchange rate fluctuations are typically quantified in pips, making them the de facto measurement of profit and loss for currency traders. Accordingly, the…

A "pump and dump" is an illegal scheme used to artificially boost the price of a stock by making false and misleading claims about a company's business prospects. Then, the shares are sold before the fraud becomes known, at which point the stock price usually plummets and the unsuspecting investors lose their money. Pump and dump scams have been around for a long time but are now more commonly perpetrated…