Press Release Summary: Last week the bulls finally gave some ground to the bears with the US markets hitting reverse gear on Thursday after making new record highs on the day. There was no obvious reason for the reversal other than the general feeling that things were getting a little 'frothy'...
Press Release Body: Last week the bulls finally gave some ground to the bears with the US markets hitting reverse gear on Thursday after making new record highs on the day. There was no obvious reason for the reversal other than the general feeling that things were getting a little 'frothy'. The tech sector took the brunt of the selling, just as it has been enjoying the lion's share of the gains. The Nasdaq 100 was hard hit hard, with sellers dragging down stocks like Google and Apple from their stellar orbit.
What is remarkable about the performance of the Nasdaq is that there has been relatively little media attention paid to the tech rally Mk II. The sub prime problems hogged the headlines of late, but the villains of the last bubble had become the unsung heroes of the recent rally. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 has recovered 14% from the subprime low. Meanwhile the Nasdaq 100 has recovered 14% and the internet sector 20%. The main stars have been Google (up 37% this year alone), Apple (up 97%), RIM (Blackberry, up 177%) and Amazon (up 144%). One of the year's highest flyers also got hit the hardest last Thursday and dragged the sector down with it. The Chinese search engine Baidu crashed 11% on the day but is still up a remarkable 174% for the year.
With such gravity defying growth rates it may not be wholly surprising that the markets stalled last week. The big question of course is whether this was just some healthy profit taking or the turning point for these 'new new things'. The wider economy is looking weak, but the least round of results indicated that US companies are in rude health (housing and banking stocks a case apart). Tuesday's Fed minutes hinted that another rate cut was on the cards. This could help the engine of the US economy, the consumer. Consumer spending seems to be holding up despite a dire housing market. Western central banks are currently stuck between a rock and a hard place. Rate cuts may be required to stave off thoughts of a recession, but inflation pressures do remain with oil, gold and wheat still stretching higher.
Next week's US housing market data will be followed keenly by economists and traders alike. Wednesday's MPC minutes will provide some hints as to the likelihood of a UK cut follow the US. British retail sales figures and GDP data will round off what looks to be a data heavy week.
Key tech names such as Intel, Yahoo, Ebay and Google all report earnings next week which should make for some interesting trading at least. This data could produce some volatile moves and with the Nasdaq a candidate for further explosive action, a volatility play could be the best option next week. In addition Friday is options expiry day which usually leads to volatile price movements.
According to BetOnMarkets.com traders, an up or down trade rewards the trader if either of two levels are touched. Only one of them has to be touched once for you to win. An up or down trade with a high trigger of 2855 and a low trigger of 2750 returns 10% over 10 days. This equates to roughly 50 points either side of the current price level. The bulk of the earnings start from Wednesday with Thursday offering the greatest number of earnings announcements by far. Therefore you may wish to leave it until later in the week before placing a similar trade, especially with Bernake speaking on Friday.
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Betonmarkets.com is the leading fixed-odds financial betting website. The website has processed over 10 million bets since inception in 2000, and generates annual turnover in excess of US$ 100 million. Betonmarkets offers a wide range of fixed-odds financial bets on forex rates, stock indices, and international stocks.
Betonmarkets is operated by the Regent Markets Group of companies. Regent Markets is affiliated to the Regent Pacific Group, a Hong Kong-listed investment group. Regent Markets has offices in three countries, and holds bookmakers licenses in the Isle of Man, the UK, and Malta.
Fixed-odds financial betting offers particular advantages over other forms of financial betting and investments, such as limited risk, potentially high payouts, and unique market opportunities. Particularly popular is Betonmarket\'s Range Bet, which offers the opportunity to profit from a period of quiet market action.
Betonmarkets also offers the following bet types: the Bull/Bear bet, the One Touch bet, the No Touch bet, the Range and Expiry Range bets, the Double One Touch and Double No-Touch bets, and a variety of intraday bets. Contracts are available on foreign exchange rates, major stock indices, and stocks.
Fixed-odds bets are also known as binary options, binary bets, contingent claims, spot options, box options, clickoptions, and offer market participants a unique tool to profit from market movements.
BetOnMarkets Bet Types:
One Touch Bet: You would buy a one-touch bet if you believe the market will touch a given point at least once before the bet expires. In other words, a one-touch pays out, if at any time prior to expiration, the market touches or trades through the specified barrier. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE touches X between today and date T]
No Touch Bet: A no-touch bet is the opposite of the one-touch bet. You would buy a no-touch bet if you think the market will never reach a certain level within a specified range of time. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE does not touch X between today and date T]
Bull Bet: You would buy a bull bet if you believe the underlying security/index/currency pair will be higher than a certain level (also referred to as the barrier level) on the maturity date. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes higher than X on date T]
Bear Bet: You would buy a bear bet if you believe the underlying security/index/currency pair will be lower than a certain level (also referred to as the barrier level) on the maturity date. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes lower than X on date T]
Expiry Range Bet: You believe that the market will be between two distinct levels (high and low) on the expiry date. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes between X and Y on date T]
Barrier Range Bet: You believe that the market will never touch two pre-determined barrier levels (high and low) before or on the date the bet expires. In other words, when you buy a barrier range you will win only if the market never touches the two barrier levels you have chosen. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE never touches X and Y between today and date T]
Double Touch Bet: You believe that the market will touch two pre-determined barrier levels (high and low) before or on the date the bet expires. In other words, when you buy a barrier range you will win only if the market touches both of the two barrier levels you have chosen. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE touches both X and Y between today and date T]
Up or Down Bet: You win if the market touches either of two pre-determined barriers before or on the date the bet expires. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE touches either X or Y between today and date T]
Double Up Bet: A Double Up bet pays two times the premium if the market rises above a given level between the time of purchase and the close of trading. It expires at the close of business on the day of purchase of the bet. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes above X between now and the close of trading today]
Double Down Bet: A Double Down Bet pays two times the premium if the market drops below a given level between the time of purchase and the close of trading. It expires at the close of business on the day of purchase of the bet. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes below X between now and the close of trading today]
Intraday Double Up Bet: Buy this bet to play a market rise between two given hourly market times today. You will have the possibility to set the starting hour of the bet and the ending hour of the bet, and you will win double your stake if the market follows your prediction. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE rises between the starting time hour and the expiry hour]
Intraday Double Down Bet: Buy this bet to play a market drop between two given hourly market times today. You will have the possibility to set the starting hour of the bet and the ending hour of the bet, and you will win double your stake if the market follows your prediction. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE declines between the starting time hour and the expiry hour]
Run Bets: These fun bets are over in the space of less than a minute; so you can make money in seconds. Here, you have to guess the last decimal digit of say, the USD/JPY (predict 3rd decimal place) after 5 ticks.
Web Site: http://www.betonmarkets.com
Contact Details: Name: Mike Wright
Address: Regent Markets (IOM) Limited 3rd Floor, 1-5 Church Street, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 2AG, British Isles.
2022
