Remember that both stocks and forex trading involve risk. Forex trading is not conducted on a regulated exchange and as a result, there are additional risks associated with forex trading.
Though stocks were traditionally viewed as an investment, recent volatility and instability has led to stock trading taking on a more speculative role. Many stock traders are also trading another speculative market with many differences – forex. Instead of trading stocks of individual companies, traders are switching to trading currencies in the world’s primary market. Greater leverage, sophisticated software and strong market trends have led many former stock traders to explore the benefits of currency trading.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
How You Can Find and Choose the Best EA in Forex Trading to Dominate the Market No Matter Who You Are
Even in recessions there is good money to be made in the forex market. Not only that but it offers 24 hour trading schedules and greater liquidity. That's not to say that there isn't risk involved in this form of trading like any other. For this reason it's best to arm yourself with an EA in forex trading or a program which automatically enacts and ends trades by reacting to changes in the market.
30% of all traders are currently using an EA in forex trading as it is the most guaranteed and safe way to trade. Not every EA in forex trading is as good as the next nor operates the same, so here is a newbie guide for what do look for for choosing the most profitable and reliable trader out there.
The major difference between each EA in forex trading lies in how it trades. Some programs are more aggressive, going after any and all trades if there is a lot of money to potentially be made. These programs require you to check in on them from time to time, however, I've found, otherwise they'll get caught in a cyclical tough spot and lose much to all of their investments from time to time. Not ideal.
More conservative EAs, however, are more discerning in the trades which they initiate and will only do so if they are sure that they'll make money on a trade. A more conservative EA in forex trading keeps higher standards which a trend must meet before it invests, and the result is that these programs boast easily the greatest winning rates over other systems as well as their human counterparts.
Because of these reasons, a more conservative trading system is recommended for a less experienced forex trader.
I also recommend you go with an EA in forex trading which comes with a decent warranty on it. Anything over 30 days is both pretty much standard but also gives you more than enough time to test it with the option of getting your money back in full. You can test it without the risk by trading in a practice account where the program can invest virtual or fake currency just as a means of tracking its effectiveness and capability.
30% of all traders are currently using an EA in forex trading as it is the most guaranteed and safe way to trade. Not every EA in forex trading is as good as the next nor operates the same, so here is a newbie guide for what do look for for choosing the most profitable and reliable trader out there.
The major difference between each EA in forex trading lies in how it trades. Some programs are more aggressive, going after any and all trades if there is a lot of money to potentially be made. These programs require you to check in on them from time to time, however, I've found, otherwise they'll get caught in a cyclical tough spot and lose much to all of their investments from time to time. Not ideal.
More conservative EAs, however, are more discerning in the trades which they initiate and will only do so if they are sure that they'll make money on a trade. A more conservative EA in forex trading keeps higher standards which a trend must meet before it invests, and the result is that these programs boast easily the greatest winning rates over other systems as well as their human counterparts.
Because of these reasons, a more conservative trading system is recommended for a less experienced forex trader.
I also recommend you go with an EA in forex trading which comes with a decent warranty on it. Anything over 30 days is both pretty much standard but also gives you more than enough time to test it with the option of getting your money back in full. You can test it without the risk by trading in a practice account where the program can invest virtual or fake currency just as a means of tracking its effectiveness and capability.
Online Forex Trading Strategies - Key to Success
Online Forex trading strategies represents the chief key to successful forex trading or online exchange trading. An understanding of these online forex trading strategies can stand for the distinction among profit and loss and it is as a result very important that you completely know the strategies that are usually used in forex trading.Forex trading is especially different from trading with stocks and using online forex trading strategies would certainly give you more benefits and assist you understand even superior profits in the short term investments. There are a huge variety of online forex trading strategies accessible to investors and one of the most helpful from these online forex trading strategies is a strategy acknowledged as leverage. Leverage is a forex trading strategy that is intended to permit online currency traders to advantage of more funds than are actually put down and by making use of this forex trading strategy you could certainly make the most of the forex trading benefits. Using this online strategy you could make the most of as much as 100 times the sum in your deposit account against any other forex trade which would make support higher yielding dealings even easier and therefore permitting improved results in your online forex trading. The leverage online forex trading strategy is commonly used on an accepted basis and permits investors to take benefit of short term fluctuations in forex industry.Another universally used online forex trading strategy is recognized as the stop loss order. It is a forex trading strategy that is used to guard investors and it generates a prearranged point at which investor would not go for a trade. Using this online forex trading strategy investors are allowed to reduce losses.
This plan could nevertheless, go wrong and the investor could also run the risk of stopping their online forex trading which could really go higher and however it is up to the individual forex trader to desire whether or not to follow this forex trading strategy.All these online forex trading strategies are especially intended to help investors on getting the most from their forex trading and assist to reduce their losses. As stated earlier information of these forex trading strategies is very important if you aspire to be successful in online forex trading.
This plan could nevertheless, go wrong and the investor could also run the risk of stopping their online forex trading which could really go higher and however it is up to the individual forex trader to desire whether or not to follow this forex trading strategy.All these online forex trading strategies are especially intended to help investors on getting the most from their forex trading and assist to reduce their losses. As stated earlier information of these forex trading strategies is very important if you aspire to be successful in online forex trading.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Forex technical analysis – an introduction to its advantages
Knowing the fundamentals or the news does not guarantee currency trading success – You need to be able to measure investor psychology and how they perceive the fundamentals, to get the big picture and that’s exactly what forex technical analysis does.
Many traders don’t fully understand the advantages of technical analysis – and refuse to believe that it works but it does – so let’s look at how and why it works.
Forex Technical Analysis Defined?
Is defined as the study of price action through the use of forex charts – for the purpose of identifying price trends – Forex technical analysis uses the following equation:
Market Perception (trader psychology) + Fundamentals = Price Movement
Forex technical analysis assumes that all known fundamentals are instantly reflected in price action and with the news available to all in a split second this is true. Forex technical analysis therefore concentrates on the price action.
So technical analysis does study the fundamentals and more importantly how they are perceived by the participants.
Many forex traders claim that technical analysis can’t work – because you need to know and study the fundamentals in depth – this is simply not true and won’t help you.
Why?
Because we all have the same facts to look at and we all draw different conclusions from what we see – its is humans that determine the price of anything and this is the key to why technical analysis is so powerful it gives you the whole picture.
The fundamentals and how humans perceive them.
Some of the largest price moves in history have occurred with little or no change in the fundamentals and any market is most bullish at a market top and most bearish at a market bottom – this is investor psychology at work.
If you use technical analysis you are trading the reality and you don’t have to guess or predict it’s clear for you to see from your forex charts.
You don’t need to let your emotions get involved or listen to the opinions of experts you simply trade on what you see.
Of course because human nature is constant you can trade repetitive chart patterns that reflect human psychology and if you look at the price history of any currency you will see them.
Technical analysis is easy to learn and takes very little time to apply but if you use forex charts correctly you can make huge long term gains.
It’s an art not a science and you need to use the right tools and that will be the subject of the second article in this series.
Stock exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange are major Stock Exchange is India. Like India there is uncountable investor’s puts their money to grow. Stock market is also one of those places which provide growth to investor’s money. Some of investors who want make money fast as they want they comes to stock market. Some times it is not shows growth due to some reason or factors otherwise it best way to give a chance to your money. Any stock market is also decides its countries growth u saw also in this world those country who have good stock market record they are leading.
Stock market always stay ahead from other resources if investments. It gives better return and as well as surety of your money but not all time because there are some factors are present at that place who really don’t want that stock market do well.
Some times this market become tumble down and investors get fear by it but if they keep patience they can make good money because according to market rule u should go for buying in crush time because when the market go up you can get good profit form those buying which u done at tumble time.
Now our stock exchange provides other facilities like online buying or selling.It really helps to investor who are stay from stock market just because of time.
In these days Stock Exchange Board Of India also keep watching on Stock Exchange because in our past we saw some most powerful cases of cheating that why Stock Exchange Board Of India working for those investors who puts their blooded money in the market.
Online stock brokers explained – a guide to using online stock brokers
Stock market brokers are the people who buy and sell stocks for investors. As an investor it is very difficult for you to TRADE a share or any amount of stock on your own. To trade stocks, you must go through a broker. Brokers have actual licenses that allow them to buy and sell shares of stock. They also have much quicker access to the stock market exchanges than you or I do.
How it works is this, let us say you want to buy five hundred shares of IBM’s stock. However you personally cannot buy IBM shares of stock, we just cannot purchase stock, the same way we buy groceries at store.
To purchase our shares of IBM stock, We sign up with a discount online broker. The discount online broker would then purchase or buy stocks of on our behalf. When we’re ready, we would then call the broker or go online on a computer and sell the stocks. The process of buying and selling stocks is called trading.
For the brokers service, they take a small percentage of every transaction that you do in the stock market. So when you buy a stock, the broker earns a commission. When you sell a stock, the broker also takes a commission on the sale.
There are different types of brokers, but the best broker especially for the beginner or intermediate or even advanced investor, is the online discount broker. Many online discount brokers allow you to trade stocks very cheaply in the stock market. This reduces the overall cost of trading and increases your net profits when you actually sell the stock.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The History of FOREX Trading
The origin of FOREX trading traces its history to centuries ago. Different currencies and the need to exchange them had existed since the Babylonians. They are credited with the first use of paper notes and receipts. Speculation hardly ever happened, and certainly the enormous speculative activity in the market today would have been frowned upon.
In those days, the value of goods were expressed in terms of other goods(also called as the Barter System). The obvious limitations of such a system encouraged establishing more generally accepted mediums of exchange. It was important that a common base of value could be established. In some economies, items such as teeth, feathers even stones served this purpose, but soon various metals, in particular gold and silver, established themselves as an accepted means of payment as well as a reliable storage of value. Trade was carried among people of Africa, Asia etc through this system.
Coins were initially minted from the preferred metal and in stable political regimes, the introduction of a paper form of governmental I.O.U. during the Middle Ages also gained acceptance. This type of I.O.U. was introduced more successfully through force than through persuasion and is now the basis of today’s modern currencies.
Before the First World war, most Central banks supported their currencies with convertibility to gold. However, the gold exchange standard had its weaknesses of boom-bust patterns. As an economy strengthened, it would import a great deal from out of the country until it ran down its gold reserves required to support its money; as a result, the money supply would diminish, interest rates escalate and economic activity slowed to the point of recession. Ultimately, prices of commodities had hit bottom, appearing attractive to other nations, who would sprint into buying fury that injected the economy with gold until it increased its money supply, drive down interest rates and restore wealth into the economy.. However, for this type of gold exchange, there was not necessarily a Centrals bank need for full coverage of the government's currency reserves. This did not occur very often, however when a group mindset fostered this disastrous notion of converting back to gold in mass, panic resulted in so-called "Run on banks " The combination of a greater supply of paper money without the gold to cover led to devastating inflation and resulting political instability. The Great Depression and the removal of the gold standard in 1931 created a serious lull in FOREX market activity. From 1931 until 1973, the FOREX market went through a series of changes. These changes greatly affected the global economies at the time and speculation in the FOREX markets during these times was little.
In order to protect local national interests, increased foreign exchange controls were introduced to prevent market forces from punishing monetary irresponsibility.
Near the end of World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement was reached on the initiative of the USA in July 1944. The conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire rejected John Maynard Keynes suggestion for a new world reserve currency in favor of a system built on the US Dollar. International institutions such as the IMF, The World Bank and GATT were created in the same period as the emerging victors of WWII searched for a way to avoid the destabilizing monetary crises leading to the war. The Bretton Woods agreement resulted in a system of fixed exchange rates that reinstated The Gold Standard partly, fixing the USD at $35.00 per ounce of Gold and fixing the other main currencies to the dollar, initially intended to be on a permanent basis.
The Bretton Woods system came under increasing pressure as national economies moved in different directions during the 1960’s. A number of realignments held the system alive for a long time but eventually Bretton Woods collapsed in the early 1970’s following president Nixon's suspension of the gold convertibility in August 1971. The dollar was not any longer suited as the sole international currency at a time when it was under severe pressure from increasing US budget and trade deficits.
The last few decades have seen foreign exchange trading develop into the world’s largest global market. Restrictions on capital flows have been removed in most countries, leaving the market forces free to adjust foreign exchange rates according to their perceived values.
The European Economic Community introduced a new system of fixed exchange rates in 1979, the European Monetary System. The quest continued in Europe for currency stability with the 1991 signing of The Maastricht treaty. This was to not only fix exchange rates but also actually replace many of them with the Euro in 2002. London was, and remains the principal offshore market. In the 1980s, it became the key center in the Eurodollar market when British banks began lending dollars as an alternative to pounds in order to maintain their leading position in global finance.
In Asia, the lack of sustainability of fixed foreign exchange rates has gained new relevance with the events in South East Asia in the latter part of 1997, where currency after currency was devalued against the US dollar, leaving other fixed exchange rates in particular in South America also looking very vulnerable.
While commercial companies have had to face a much more volatile currency environment in recent years, investors and financial institutions have discovered a new playground. The FOREX exchange market initially worked under the central banks and the governmental institutions but later on it accommodated the various institutions, at present it also includes the dot com booms and the world wide web. The size of the FOREX market now dwarfs any other investment market. The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world. Approximately 1.9 trillion dollars are traded daily in the foreign exchange market. It is estimated that more than USD 1,200 Billion are traded every day. It can be said easily that FOREX market is a lucrative opportunity for the modern day savvy investor.
In those days, the value of goods were expressed in terms of other goods(also called as the Barter System). The obvious limitations of such a system encouraged establishing more generally accepted mediums of exchange. It was important that a common base of value could be established. In some economies, items such as teeth, feathers even stones served this purpose, but soon various metals, in particular gold and silver, established themselves as an accepted means of payment as well as a reliable storage of value. Trade was carried among people of Africa, Asia etc through this system.
Coins were initially minted from the preferred metal and in stable political regimes, the introduction of a paper form of governmental I.O.U. during the Middle Ages also gained acceptance. This type of I.O.U. was introduced more successfully through force than through persuasion and is now the basis of today’s modern currencies.
Before the First World war, most Central banks supported their currencies with convertibility to gold. However, the gold exchange standard had its weaknesses of boom-bust patterns. As an economy strengthened, it would import a great deal from out of the country until it ran down its gold reserves required to support its money; as a result, the money supply would diminish, interest rates escalate and economic activity slowed to the point of recession. Ultimately, prices of commodities had hit bottom, appearing attractive to other nations, who would sprint into buying fury that injected the economy with gold until it increased its money supply, drive down interest rates and restore wealth into the economy.. However, for this type of gold exchange, there was not necessarily a Centrals bank need for full coverage of the government's currency reserves. This did not occur very often, however when a group mindset fostered this disastrous notion of converting back to gold in mass, panic resulted in so-called "Run on banks " The combination of a greater supply of paper money without the gold to cover led to devastating inflation and resulting political instability. The Great Depression and the removal of the gold standard in 1931 created a serious lull in FOREX market activity. From 1931 until 1973, the FOREX market went through a series of changes. These changes greatly affected the global economies at the time and speculation in the FOREX markets during these times was little.
In order to protect local national interests, increased foreign exchange controls were introduced to prevent market forces from punishing monetary irresponsibility.
Near the end of World War II, the Bretton Woods agreement was reached on the initiative of the USA in July 1944. The conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire rejected John Maynard Keynes suggestion for a new world reserve currency in favor of a system built on the US Dollar. International institutions such as the IMF, The World Bank and GATT were created in the same period as the emerging victors of WWII searched for a way to avoid the destabilizing monetary crises leading to the war. The Bretton Woods agreement resulted in a system of fixed exchange rates that reinstated The Gold Standard partly, fixing the USD at $35.00 per ounce of Gold and fixing the other main currencies to the dollar, initially intended to be on a permanent basis.
The Bretton Woods system came under increasing pressure as national economies moved in different directions during the 1960’s. A number of realignments held the system alive for a long time but eventually Bretton Woods collapsed in the early 1970’s following president Nixon's suspension of the gold convertibility in August 1971. The dollar was not any longer suited as the sole international currency at a time when it was under severe pressure from increasing US budget and trade deficits.
The last few decades have seen foreign exchange trading develop into the world’s largest global market. Restrictions on capital flows have been removed in most countries, leaving the market forces free to adjust foreign exchange rates according to their perceived values.
The European Economic Community introduced a new system of fixed exchange rates in 1979, the European Monetary System. The quest continued in Europe for currency stability with the 1991 signing of The Maastricht treaty. This was to not only fix exchange rates but also actually replace many of them with the Euro in 2002. London was, and remains the principal offshore market. In the 1980s, it became the key center in the Eurodollar market when British banks began lending dollars as an alternative to pounds in order to maintain their leading position in global finance.
In Asia, the lack of sustainability of fixed foreign exchange rates has gained new relevance with the events in South East Asia in the latter part of 1997, where currency after currency was devalued against the US dollar, leaving other fixed exchange rates in particular in South America also looking very vulnerable.
While commercial companies have had to face a much more volatile currency environment in recent years, investors and financial institutions have discovered a new playground. The FOREX exchange market initially worked under the central banks and the governmental institutions but later on it accommodated the various institutions, at present it also includes the dot com booms and the world wide web. The size of the FOREX market now dwarfs any other investment market. The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world. Approximately 1.9 trillion dollars are traded daily in the foreign exchange market. It is estimated that more than USD 1,200 Billion are traded every day. It can be said easily that FOREX market is a lucrative opportunity for the modern day savvy investor.
Funding terror? The flip side of forex boom
About 90 per cent of the operators do not indicate the sources and purposes of foreign exchange. This could assist money laundering. / Courtesy: google pics
The huge amounts of money handled by private forex bureaus could be a threat to the country and the region if foreign exchange rules are disregarded, the Bank of Uganda has warned.
In a meeting held in Kampala by forex bureaus and money remittance operators on April 30, the executive director of bank supervision at the Bank of Uganda, Justine Bagyenda, raised the alarm on possible money laundering and financial terrorism.
She said the laid-down guidelines should be adhered to as the country awaits the enactment of the Anti Money Laundering Law.
A survey by the EastAfrican reveals that many operators are not complying with Know Your Customer requirements and procedures drafted by the central bank.
These procedures were issued to all forex bureaus and money remitters in August 2003 to assist in combating the vice in Uganda’s financial sector.
Said Ms Bagyenda: “For instance, some of you are not undertaking due diligence to ensure that customer identification details for large transactions are provided.”
She added: “We have noted that 90 per cent of the operators do not capture the sources of and the purposes of foreign exchange.
“This is very dangerous as it is a possible avenue for money laundering. You should comply with the law on declaring sources and purposes of foreign exchange, and the ‘know your customer’ measures that are crucial to turn down illegally-acquired funds and prevent possible financing terrorism.”
Foreign exchange regulations require dealers to report to the Bank of Uganda the details of any individual selling amounts in excess of $5,000.
Privately run foreign currency exchange bureaus and money remittance outlets handled 30 percent of the net foreign exchange transactions in Uganda in 2008, but the regulators are concerned by increased laxity.
The Bank of Uganda says the forex bureau and money remittance sector has remained largely buoyant, with a total of 122 forex bureaus and 75 money remittance outlets.
But a few were not following operational procedures regarding identification of clients, leaving the country open to money laundering.
Ms Bagyenda said an increase was reported in the inflows and outflows of licensed money remittances in the country that stood at the equivalent of $226.01 million in inflows and $104.20 million in outflows, at the close of December 2008.
This was a tremendous improvement compared with $99.44 million and $40.59 million recorded inflows and outflows during 2007.
Statistics from the bank show that total purchases in the forex bureaus market increased from $1.2 billion at the end of December 2007 to $1.5 billion at the end of December 2008, while total sales increased from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion over the same period.
It is due to this performance that the Bank of Uganda continues to recognise the crucial role played by forex bureaus and money remitters as partners in deepening the financial sector and fostering macroeconomic stability and growth in the country, Ms Bagyenda said.
She added that increased risk aversion by investors and the effects of the global recession were presenting significant macroeconomic challenges to Uganda’s financial system.
If the global recession is prolonged, Uganda could face reduced export earnings, a decline in foreign direct investments and reduced remittances, which would significantly reduce the banking system liquidity and exert pressure on exchange rates and debt service capacity.
Uganda’s forex bureaus and money remitters operate under the Foreign Exchange Act of 2004 and the Foreign Exchange Remitters Act 2006.
The two Acts provide for exchange of foreign currencies in Uganda and making of international payments and transfer of foreign exchange; and for other related and incidental matters.
Ms Bagyenda promised more rigorous inspections to ensure compliance with laws through off-site and on-site surveillance of forex bureaus and money remittance sector.
In a related development, the bank’s assistant director of non-bank financial institutions, Benedict Ssekabira, said Uganda and Kenya had started harmonising the supervision of forex bureaus.
Two Bank of Uganda officials were to be in Kenya from May 4-8 for an insight into on-site and cash audit operations, he said.
Likewise, CBK officials have been in Uganda for lessons on risk-based supervision of commercial banks and financial institutions. The visits were arranged by a committee of the East African Monetary Community, which is handling the East African Monetary Union.
The East Community Monetary Committee Affairs — under the umbrella of the five governors of central banks of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi — is trying to beat the 2012 target of fast-tracking the East African Monetary Union.
The huge amounts of money handled by private forex bureaus could be a threat to the country and the region if foreign exchange rules are disregarded, the Bank of Uganda has warned.
In a meeting held in Kampala by forex bureaus and money remittance operators on April 30, the executive director of bank supervision at the Bank of Uganda, Justine Bagyenda, raised the alarm on possible money laundering and financial terrorism.
She said the laid-down guidelines should be adhered to as the country awaits the enactment of the Anti Money Laundering Law.
A survey by the EastAfrican reveals that many operators are not complying with Know Your Customer requirements and procedures drafted by the central bank.
These procedures were issued to all forex bureaus and money remitters in August 2003 to assist in combating the vice in Uganda’s financial sector.
Said Ms Bagyenda: “For instance, some of you are not undertaking due diligence to ensure that customer identification details for large transactions are provided.”
She added: “We have noted that 90 per cent of the operators do not capture the sources of and the purposes of foreign exchange.
“This is very dangerous as it is a possible avenue for money laundering. You should comply with the law on declaring sources and purposes of foreign exchange, and the ‘know your customer’ measures that are crucial to turn down illegally-acquired funds and prevent possible financing terrorism.”
Foreign exchange regulations require dealers to report to the Bank of Uganda the details of any individual selling amounts in excess of $5,000.
Privately run foreign currency exchange bureaus and money remittance outlets handled 30 percent of the net foreign exchange transactions in Uganda in 2008, but the regulators are concerned by increased laxity.
The Bank of Uganda says the forex bureau and money remittance sector has remained largely buoyant, with a total of 122 forex bureaus and 75 money remittance outlets.
But a few were not following operational procedures regarding identification of clients, leaving the country open to money laundering.
Ms Bagyenda said an increase was reported in the inflows and outflows of licensed money remittances in the country that stood at the equivalent of $226.01 million in inflows and $104.20 million in outflows, at the close of December 2008.
This was a tremendous improvement compared with $99.44 million and $40.59 million recorded inflows and outflows during 2007.
Statistics from the bank show that total purchases in the forex bureaus market increased from $1.2 billion at the end of December 2007 to $1.5 billion at the end of December 2008, while total sales increased from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion over the same period.
It is due to this performance that the Bank of Uganda continues to recognise the crucial role played by forex bureaus and money remitters as partners in deepening the financial sector and fostering macroeconomic stability and growth in the country, Ms Bagyenda said.
She added that increased risk aversion by investors and the effects of the global recession were presenting significant macroeconomic challenges to Uganda’s financial system.
If the global recession is prolonged, Uganda could face reduced export earnings, a decline in foreign direct investments and reduced remittances, which would significantly reduce the banking system liquidity and exert pressure on exchange rates and debt service capacity.
Uganda’s forex bureaus and money remitters operate under the Foreign Exchange Act of 2004 and the Foreign Exchange Remitters Act 2006.
The two Acts provide for exchange of foreign currencies in Uganda and making of international payments and transfer of foreign exchange; and for other related and incidental matters.
Ms Bagyenda promised more rigorous inspections to ensure compliance with laws through off-site and on-site surveillance of forex bureaus and money remittance sector.
In a related development, the bank’s assistant director of non-bank financial institutions, Benedict Ssekabira, said Uganda and Kenya had started harmonising the supervision of forex bureaus.
Two Bank of Uganda officials were to be in Kenya from May 4-8 for an insight into on-site and cash audit operations, he said.
Likewise, CBK officials have been in Uganda for lessons on risk-based supervision of commercial banks and financial institutions. The visits were arranged by a committee of the East African Monetary Community, which is handling the East African Monetary Union.
The East Community Monetary Committee Affairs — under the umbrella of the five governors of central banks of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi — is trying to beat the 2012 target of fast-tracking the East African Monetary Union.
FOREX vs. Futures Trading
Which to trade - Forex, Futures, Or Options on Futures?
Both futures and forex trading have their advantages and disadvantages.
Trading forex - or foreign currency pairs - gives greater leverage than outright futures trading, of up to 100:1.
This means that for every $1000 put up in margin, you can trade with up to $100,000 in currency value. If you put up $10K, you could trade with $1 Million of currency. This means that if there is a 1% move in the value of the currency pair that day, it would give you a profit/loss of $10,000, or 100% change on your investment. This would be great if you were right, but disastrous if you were wrong as you would have lost your entire trading account.
Trading futures, you usually get leverage of around 2%, so you can do twice as much with your money trading forex (losing twice as much as well as winning twice as much. Money management is important!). If you are swayed to forex because of the increased leverage, hang on a minute because you may be able to get much more leverage using options on futures...
Deep out the money options will cost little but if you are right on your prediction, you could make a vast sum in a short period of time. For example, Feb Gold is trading at 455.00 on December 3rd 2004. You expect a sharp drop in prices to trend-line support at 435. You have $100,000 to trade with. 435 Feb gold puts are priced at $500 each - quite cheap as they are deep-out-the-money. You have enough to buy 200 puts $500 x 200 = $100,000.
On Dec 10th, the market has plummeted to 435 and you exit your position by selling your 200 puts. In effect, you sold the futures at 455 and bought futures at 435, giving a profit of $20 per contract. There are 100 troy ounces per contract so you make $2000 per contract. You bought 200 contracts so you have made $400,000 in a week, or 400% on your money while the market has dropped less that 5%.
If you had done an outright futures trade, you may have had to put up $2000/contract in margin, so you could only have traded 50 contracts as opposed to the 200 using options. If you had sold 200 futures at $455 and bought at $435, you'd have made $200,000 or 200% on your investment.
For more on the pros and cons of trading futures options, see here.
Trading forex has the advantage of being commission free. The forex broker is compensated for its services through the spread between the bid/ask prices.
Spot currency trading is a worldwide inter-bank market that allows buyers to be matched with sellers instantly. Although you do not pay a commission charge to a broker to match buyer up with seller, the spread is usually larger than trading futures.
For example, trading a Japanese Yen/US Dollar pair USDJPY forex trade would have a 3 point spread worth $30. Trading a JY futures trade would more likely have a spread of 1 point worth $10 but you would also be charged the broker's commission. This could be as low as $10 in-and-out for self-directed online trading, or as much as $50 for full-service trading that may include live assistance, help and advice from the broker. You need to compare both online forex and your particular futures commission charge to see which "commission" is greater. Chances are they actually work out about the same.
Forex trading is a 24-hour market, trading 5-days a week. Opening hours follow the sun around the world from one country to another e.g. New York, London, Tokyo, back to New York. This is good because you can get in/out of a trade at any time. If there is a major announcement or news story breaking that could effect the markets, you could log-in to your account and make a trade. That is, if you can stay awake 24-hours a day, 5-days a week!
In recent years, most futures markets also trade around the clock too, on the GLOBEX markets.
Charges on Your Account
Forex trades carry an interest charge of around 1% per year. This may sound small, but with the high leverage of forex trading, you can trade with a lot larger amount of forex than in your account.
For example, you have $50,000 to trade forex. There is 100:1 leverage allowing you to control $100,000 with $1000 margin. Therefore, with your $50,000 you can trade $5 million of currency. If you fully margined your $50K for a year and ended up breaking even on your trades, the 1% interest charge will cost you $50,000 - your entire account value!
Even trading smaller amounts, the interest charges can add up. For example, you have $100,000 in your trading account and use $30,000 in margin. Over a few weeks, some trades go your way and some do not, some positions are stopped out and a couple are left on the market. You have a profit of $3000 from all your trades, or 10% on your margin. But the interest charges could amount to perhaps $1000, or 30% of your profits.
With futures, there is no interest charged on your account or positions.
Exchange Rates
If you are located in a country other than the United States of America and need to transfer your local currency into US dollars to deposit into your trading account, you should also be aware of the currency exchange rate.
For example, you are British and want to open an account trading US futures markets. You convert £50,000 British Pounds Sterling into US Dollars at an exchange rate of 1.8000 USDGBP and get $90,000.
Six months later, the dollar has fallen in value against the Pound and you could now get 1.9500 USD for every GBP.
Were you to not make any trades at all during this period, or your trades had broken even, and you then decided to convert your dollars back in Sterling, you would only get £46,154 less the spread and commission fees. You would also have received no interest on your money while it was sat in your trading account, whereas you may have got - perhaps - 5% had you left it in a UK bank account. This has devalued your money in the 6-month period.
Both futures and forex trading have their advantages and disadvantages.
Trading forex - or foreign currency pairs - gives greater leverage than outright futures trading, of up to 100:1.
This means that for every $1000 put up in margin, you can trade with up to $100,000 in currency value. If you put up $10K, you could trade with $1 Million of currency. This means that if there is a 1% move in the value of the currency pair that day, it would give you a profit/loss of $10,000, or 100% change on your investment. This would be great if you were right, but disastrous if you were wrong as you would have lost your entire trading account.
Trading futures, you usually get leverage of around 2%, so you can do twice as much with your money trading forex (losing twice as much as well as winning twice as much. Money management is important!). If you are swayed to forex because of the increased leverage, hang on a minute because you may be able to get much more leverage using options on futures...
Deep out the money options will cost little but if you are right on your prediction, you could make a vast sum in a short period of time. For example, Feb Gold is trading at 455.00 on December 3rd 2004. You expect a sharp drop in prices to trend-line support at 435. You have $100,000 to trade with. 435 Feb gold puts are priced at $500 each - quite cheap as they are deep-out-the-money. You have enough to buy 200 puts $500 x 200 = $100,000.
On Dec 10th, the market has plummeted to 435 and you exit your position by selling your 200 puts. In effect, you sold the futures at 455 and bought futures at 435, giving a profit of $20 per contract. There are 100 troy ounces per contract so you make $2000 per contract. You bought 200 contracts so you have made $400,000 in a week, or 400% on your money while the market has dropped less that 5%.
If you had done an outright futures trade, you may have had to put up $2000/contract in margin, so you could only have traded 50 contracts as opposed to the 200 using options. If you had sold 200 futures at $455 and bought at $435, you'd have made $200,000 or 200% on your investment.
For more on the pros and cons of trading futures options, see here.
Trading forex has the advantage of being commission free. The forex broker is compensated for its services through the spread between the bid/ask prices.
Spot currency trading is a worldwide inter-bank market that allows buyers to be matched with sellers instantly. Although you do not pay a commission charge to a broker to match buyer up with seller, the spread is usually larger than trading futures.
For example, trading a Japanese Yen/US Dollar pair USDJPY forex trade would have a 3 point spread worth $30. Trading a JY futures trade would more likely have a spread of 1 point worth $10 but you would also be charged the broker's commission. This could be as low as $10 in-and-out for self-directed online trading, or as much as $50 for full-service trading that may include live assistance, help and advice from the broker. You need to compare both online forex and your particular futures commission charge to see which "commission" is greater. Chances are they actually work out about the same.
Forex trading is a 24-hour market, trading 5-days a week. Opening hours follow the sun around the world from one country to another e.g. New York, London, Tokyo, back to New York. This is good because you can get in/out of a trade at any time. If there is a major announcement or news story breaking that could effect the markets, you could log-in to your account and make a trade. That is, if you can stay awake 24-hours a day, 5-days a week!
In recent years, most futures markets also trade around the clock too, on the GLOBEX markets.
Charges on Your Account
Forex trades carry an interest charge of around 1% per year. This may sound small, but with the high leverage of forex trading, you can trade with a lot larger amount of forex than in your account.
For example, you have $50,000 to trade forex. There is 100:1 leverage allowing you to control $100,000 with $1000 margin. Therefore, with your $50,000 you can trade $5 million of currency. If you fully margined your $50K for a year and ended up breaking even on your trades, the 1% interest charge will cost you $50,000 - your entire account value!
Even trading smaller amounts, the interest charges can add up. For example, you have $100,000 in your trading account and use $30,000 in margin. Over a few weeks, some trades go your way and some do not, some positions are stopped out and a couple are left on the market. You have a profit of $3000 from all your trades, or 10% on your margin. But the interest charges could amount to perhaps $1000, or 30% of your profits.
With futures, there is no interest charged on your account or positions.
Exchange Rates
If you are located in a country other than the United States of America and need to transfer your local currency into US dollars to deposit into your trading account, you should also be aware of the currency exchange rate.
For example, you are British and want to open an account trading US futures markets. You convert £50,000 British Pounds Sterling into US Dollars at an exchange rate of 1.8000 USDGBP and get $90,000.
Six months later, the dollar has fallen in value against the Pound and you could now get 1.9500 USD for every GBP.
Were you to not make any trades at all during this period, or your trades had broken even, and you then decided to convert your dollars back in Sterling, you would only get £46,154 less the spread and commission fees. You would also have received no interest on your money while it was sat in your trading account, whereas you may have got - perhaps - 5% had you left it in a UK bank account. This has devalued your money in the 6-month period.
Forex Trading - Who participate in Forex Trading?
In the last years, the foreign exchange market has expanded from one where banks would execute transactions between themselves to one in which many other kinds of financial institutions like brokers and market-makers participate including non-financial corporations, investment firms, pension funds and hedge funds.
Its' focus has broadened from servicing importers and exporters to handling the vast amounts of overseas investment and other capital flows that currently take place. Lately foreign exchange day trading has become increasingly popular and various firms offer trading facilities to the small investor.
Foreign exchange is an 'over the counter' (OTC) market, that means that there is no central exchange and clearing house where orders are matched. Geographic trading 'centers' exist around the world however and are: (in order of importance) London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt, Geneva & Zurich, Paris and Hong Kong. Essentially foreign exchange deals are made between participants on the basis of trust and reputation to deliver on an agreement. In the case of banks trading with one another, they do so solely on that basis. In the retail market, customers demand a written legally accepted contract between themselves and their broker in exchange of a deposit of funds on which basis the customer may trade.
Some market participants may be involved in the 'goods' market, conducting international transactions for the purchase or sale of merchandise. Some may be engaged in 'direct investment' in plant and equipment, or may be in the 'money market,' trading short-term debt instruments internationally. The various investors, hedgers, and speculators may be focused on any time period, from a few minutes to several years. But, whether official or private, and whether their motive be investing, hedging, speculating, arbitraging, paying for imports, or seeking to influence the rate, they are all part of the aggregate demand for and supply of the currencies involved, and they all play a role in determining the exchange rate at that moment.
Its' focus has broadened from servicing importers and exporters to handling the vast amounts of overseas investment and other capital flows that currently take place. Lately foreign exchange day trading has become increasingly popular and various firms offer trading facilities to the small investor.
Foreign exchange is an 'over the counter' (OTC) market, that means that there is no central exchange and clearing house where orders are matched. Geographic trading 'centers' exist around the world however and are: (in order of importance) London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt, Geneva & Zurich, Paris and Hong Kong. Essentially foreign exchange deals are made between participants on the basis of trust and reputation to deliver on an agreement. In the case of banks trading with one another, they do so solely on that basis. In the retail market, customers demand a written legally accepted contract between themselves and their broker in exchange of a deposit of funds on which basis the customer may trade.
Some market participants may be involved in the 'goods' market, conducting international transactions for the purchase or sale of merchandise. Some may be engaged in 'direct investment' in plant and equipment, or may be in the 'money market,' trading short-term debt instruments internationally. The various investors, hedgers, and speculators may be focused on any time period, from a few minutes to several years. But, whether official or private, and whether their motive be investing, hedging, speculating, arbitraging, paying for imports, or seeking to influence the rate, they are all part of the aggregate demand for and supply of the currencies involved, and they all play a role in determining the exchange rate at that moment.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
"BREAKING NEWS"
Energy and Asset Technology, Inc. (EGTY) owns a global license to market
the genetically enhanced Global Cedar growth trees, with plans to
REVOLUTIONIZE the forest-timber industry.
These newly enhanced Global Cedar trees require only 9-12 years of growth before they can
be harvested for lumber, whereas worldwide growth time for lumber is 30-50 years.
Other than growing at an astonishing rate, the Global Cedar has a number of other benefits.
Its natural elements make it resistant to termites, and the lack of oils and sap found in the wood
make it resistant to forest fire, ensuring higher returns on investments.
the wood is very lightweight and strong, lighter than Poplar and over twice
as strong as Balsa, which makes it great for construction. It also has
the unique ability to regrow itself from the stump, minimizing the land and
time to replant and develop new root systems.
Based on current resources and agreements, EGTY projects revenues of $140 Million
with an approximate profit margin of 40% for each 9-year cycle. With anticipated
growth, EGTY is expected to challenge Deltic Timber Corp. during its initial 9-year cycle.
Deltic Timber Corp. currently trades at over $38.00 a share with about $153 Million in revenues.
As the reputation and demand for the Global Cedar tree continues to grow around the world
EGTY believes additional multi-million dollar agreements will be forthcoming. The Global Cedar nursery has produced
about 100,000 infant plants and is developing a production growth target of 250,000 infant plants per month.
Energy and Asset Technology is currently in negotiations with land and business owners in New Zealand,
Greece and Malaysia regarding the purchase of their popular and profitable fast growing infant tree plants.
Inquiries from the governments of Brazil and Ecuador are also being evaluated.
Conclusion:
The examples above show the Awesome, Earning Potential of little
known Companies That Explode onto Investor�s Radar Screens.
This stock will not be a Secret for long. Then You May Feel the Desire to Act Right
Now! And Please Watch This One Trade!!
the genetically enhanced Global Cedar growth trees, with plans to
REVOLUTIONIZE the forest-timber industry.
These newly enhanced Global Cedar trees require only 9-12 years of growth before they can
be harvested for lumber, whereas worldwide growth time for lumber is 30-50 years.
Other than growing at an astonishing rate, the Global Cedar has a number of other benefits.
Its natural elements make it resistant to termites, and the lack of oils and sap found in the wood
make it resistant to forest fire, ensuring higher returns on investments.
the wood is very lightweight and strong, lighter than Poplar and over twice
as strong as Balsa, which makes it great for construction. It also has
the unique ability to regrow itself from the stump, minimizing the land and
time to replant and develop new root systems.
Based on current resources and agreements, EGTY projects revenues of $140 Million
with an approximate profit margin of 40% for each 9-year cycle. With anticipated
growth, EGTY is expected to challenge Deltic Timber Corp. during its initial 9-year cycle.
Deltic Timber Corp. currently trades at over $38.00 a share with about $153 Million in revenues.
As the reputation and demand for the Global Cedar tree continues to grow around the world
EGTY believes additional multi-million dollar agreements will be forthcoming. The Global Cedar nursery has produced
about 100,000 infant plants and is developing a production growth target of 250,000 infant plants per month.
Energy and Asset Technology is currently in negotiations with land and business owners in New Zealand,
Greece and Malaysia regarding the purchase of their popular and profitable fast growing infant tree plants.
Inquiries from the governments of Brazil and Ecuador are also being evaluated.
Conclusion:
The examples above show the Awesome, Earning Potential of little
known Companies That Explode onto Investor�s Radar Screens.
This stock will not be a Secret for long. Then You May Feel the Desire to Act Right
Now! And Please Watch This One Trade!!
GO EGTY! FOREX
All statements made are our express opinion only and should be treated as such.
We may own, take position and sell any securities mentioned at any time. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect
to predictions, goals, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are
not statements of historical fact and may be "forward, looking
statements." forward, looking statements are based on expectations, estimates
and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results
or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. This newsletter was paid $3,000 from third party (IR Marketing).
Forward,|ooking statements in this action may be identified through the use of words such as: "projects", "foresee", "expects". in compliance with Se'ction 17. {b), we disclose the holding of EGTY shares prior to the publication of this report. Be aware of an inherent conflict of interest resulting from such holdings due to our intent to profit from the liquidation of these shares. Shares may be sold at any time, even after positive statements have been made regarding the above company. Since we own shares, there is an inherent conflict of interest in our statements and opinions. Readers of this publication are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward,looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and expectations involving various risks and uncertainties that could cause results to
differ materially from those set forth in the forward- looking statements. This is not solicitation to buy or sell stocks, this text is
or informational purpose only and you should seek professional advice from registered financial advisor before you do anything related with buying or selling stocks, penny stocks are very high risk and you can lose your entire investment.
We may own, take position and sell any securities mentioned at any time. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect
to predictions, goals, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are
not statements of historical fact and may be "forward, looking
statements." forward, looking statements are based on expectations, estimates
and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results
or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. This newsletter was paid $3,000 from third party (IR Marketing).
Forward,|ooking statements in this action may be identified through the use of words such as: "projects", "foresee", "expects". in compliance with Se'ction 17. {b), we disclose the holding of EGTY shares prior to the publication of this report. Be aware of an inherent conflict of interest resulting from such holdings due to our intent to profit from the liquidation of these shares. Shares may be sold at any time, even after positive statements have been made regarding the above company. Since we own shares, there is an inherent conflict of interest in our statements and opinions. Readers of this publication are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward,looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and expectations involving various risks and uncertainties that could cause results to
differ materially from those set forth in the forward- looking statements. This is not solicitation to buy or sell stocks, this text is
or informational purpose only and you should seek professional advice from registered financial advisor before you do anything related with buying or selling stocks, penny stocks are very high risk and you can lose your entire investment.
Fundamental review of the week from 01.06.year to 05.06.2009
The week begins with retail sales in Australia in April. The sector enjoyed solid sales in recent months as the combination of fiscal and monetary incentives "otduha 'consumer portfolios. Over the past months, signs of improving the overall consumer confidence also support retail. By continuing incentives (in the form of fiscal variations) during April, and total disappearance of the speculator market during this period we expect a new sound-percent increase in sales for the month. Later PM I index of European countries and the euro will show whether improvements in the Old Continent and may lead to new "bi chi movement in favor of the euro. The main index of U.S. consumer spending for April will also be removed - the capacity and extend the recession reduced price to a point of deterioration and inflation pressure down during the next 12 months. But it is proven that this will show a little more slowly in the data, based on inflation, which has stabilized recently. Manufacturing index recovered from 28-year bottomed in 32.9 in 40.1 Dkemvri it for April, which was the lowest for the past 18 years, if the last 6 months were never happen.
On Tuesday the Swiss GDP may help to "rally" in the franc and the pair dollar / Frank down to below 1.0400, if any improvement in the Swiss economy. Mortgage loans approved in the UK 11:30 will give us a clearer picture of England and if there is resurgence in the credit sector. Pounds are expected to be extremely volatile on its main krosove. Unemployment rate of the euro is expected to increase compared to the previous period, which may slow down upward movement of the euro against the dollar, but we assume that this will be only short-term correction in favor of the state currency. Unsold U.S. homes go 17:00 on Tuesday and will reveal whether there is a chance the U.S. construction sector to show any effect.
On Wednesday morning PMI index released by the European countries and we suggest that management's confidence in the sector has improved, and if so, to support the euro in the news. Then the UK also exports its PMI index, and decrease it may weaken pounds short. U.S. ISM index afternoon - the decline in services is no longer so sharp, even refund is quite sharp. Shows continued improvement for profits, but we see that the ISM is less important for obrashtaemostta inventory and probably more frustrating than production data.
Thursday, we expect highly volatile session for the main doubles as removal of the decisions of the Central Bank interest rates in the euro area, UK and Canada then. ECB will not surprise us, and levels are expected to remain unchanged to 1.00 percent, but there is little chance for reduction of 25 basis points to 0.75 percent and if this happens will quickly lead over euro 1.5000 against the dollar. Predictability studies show that the interest of England will also remain unchanged since the British economy shows signs of improvement and the government prefers to maintain a 0.5%. Canada to suggest that because the strong Canadian dollar against major opponents.
On Friday will be removed from the CPI and the Swiss can support Frank during the morning session. Later that day Zaetostta in non-agricultural sector for the month of May and the unemployment rate (9.2 percent expected) are expected to be exported. Like most recent statistics, wages seem to be prepared to show improvement. Weekly initial jobless claims to step back slightly from recent peaks and indicators of labor market improve. But levels continue to grow and the level of unemployment nearing 10 percent. We believe that these figures reflect more on the demand in the economy and will be too slow to improve it will continue to be key challenges for households and politicians.
On Tuesday the Swiss GDP may help to "rally" in the franc and the pair dollar / Frank down to below 1.0400, if any improvement in the Swiss economy. Mortgage loans approved in the UK 11:30 will give us a clearer picture of England and if there is resurgence in the credit sector. Pounds are expected to be extremely volatile on its main krosove. Unemployment rate of the euro is expected to increase compared to the previous period, which may slow down upward movement of the euro against the dollar, but we assume that this will be only short-term correction in favor of the state currency. Unsold U.S. homes go 17:00 on Tuesday and will reveal whether there is a chance the U.S. construction sector to show any effect.
On Wednesday morning PMI index released by the European countries and we suggest that management's confidence in the sector has improved, and if so, to support the euro in the news. Then the UK also exports its PMI index, and decrease it may weaken pounds short. U.S. ISM index afternoon - the decline in services is no longer so sharp, even refund is quite sharp. Shows continued improvement for profits, but we see that the ISM is less important for obrashtaemostta inventory and probably more frustrating than production data.
Thursday, we expect highly volatile session for the main doubles as removal of the decisions of the Central Bank interest rates in the euro area, UK and Canada then. ECB will not surprise us, and levels are expected to remain unchanged to 1.00 percent, but there is little chance for reduction of 25 basis points to 0.75 percent and if this happens will quickly lead over euro 1.5000 against the dollar. Predictability studies show that the interest of England will also remain unchanged since the British economy shows signs of improvement and the government prefers to maintain a 0.5%. Canada to suggest that because the strong Canadian dollar against major opponents.
On Friday will be removed from the CPI and the Swiss can support Frank during the morning session. Later that day Zaetostta in non-agricultural sector for the month of May and the unemployment rate (9.2 percent expected) are expected to be exported. Like most recent statistics, wages seem to be prepared to show improvement. Weekly initial jobless claims to step back slightly from recent peaks and indicators of labor market improve. But levels continue to grow and the level of unemployment nearing 10 percent. We believe that these figures reflect more on the demand in the economy and will be too slow to improve it will continue to be key challenges for households and politicians.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Blog.com signups are online again
The signpost page is enabled again. Yesterday we had to disable it, because we stopped being able to connect to recapture servers. recapture provides us with the anti-spam verification on new account signpost and on anonymous comment submission. Without it, we’d be flooded with spammers.
The problem is solved. It was a network routing problem, not recapture fault. It was not our fault either. We’ll just chalk the blame for this event to computers on the other side of the ocean. I’m sure they are not sentient (yet) and won’t care (yet).
Fully featured for free
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Your Blog.com account costs nothing, and is brim full with tools for you to express your thoughts. Publish photos, share private posts with friends, create email notification lists, create static pages or just write plain old blog posts. Everything is ready. Your imagination is all that’s needed to get your Blog.com blog into high gear.
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Friday, October 16, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Latest FBI Crackdown on Phishing Targets 100 Defendants in U.S., Egypt
UPDATED: 7:45 p.m. Law enforcement authorities in California, Nevada, North Carolina arrested 33 people Wednesday as part of an international crackdown on "phishing," e-mail scams that trick people into giving personal and financial data to counterfeit Web sites.
The action, dubbed "Operation Phish Phry" by the FBI, targeted at least 100 people, including 20 defendants in the United States who remain at large. The FBI said that authorities in Egypt have charged at least 47 uninfected co-conspirators there in connection with the scam, which ran from January 2007 through September. It is the largest group of defendants to face charges in a cybercafe case, the FBI said.
According to a 51-count indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury in Laos Angles, the defendants in Egypt used e-mails to lure customers of Wells Fargo and Bank of America to phony bank Web sites rigged to steal victims' usernames and passwords. The Egyptian defendants then siphoned funds from the victims' accounts into new accounts opened by the U.S.-based defendants, according to the indictment..
Laura Eimile, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Laos Angles field office, said the group is thought to have tricked several thousand people into giving up their online banking credentials.
All told, the group is accused of moving more than $1.5 million to the dummy accounts. But Eimile said not all of that money was withdrawn, because the banks eventually worked with authorities to identify accounts receiving fraudulent transfers. Wells Fargo declined to comment. Bank of America did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Each of the 53 U.S. defendants named in the indictment is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Some of the defendants are named in additional counts that would increase their maximum possible sentences.
Phishing remains a growing problem. Some 49,084 unique phishing Web sites were set up in June, the second largest number recorded in a single month, according to the a industry consortium.
In May 2008, the Justice Department charged 38 people -- many of them Romanians living in the United States -- with orchestrating a global phishing ring that defrauded thousands of consumers and hundreds of financial institutions.
Comcast Trials Browser Alerts for Bot-InfectedCustomer PCs
Com cast, the nation's largest residential Internet service provider, this week began rolling out an initiative to contact customers whose PCs appear to be infected with malicious software, by notifying these users via Web browser alerts.
The Philadelphia-based cable Internet company has already been alerting bot-infected customers via phone for the past year, but a pilot program in Denver that began Thursday will inform affected users with a so-called "service notice," a semi-transparent banner that overlays a portion of whatever page is being displayed in the customer's Web browser.
Customers can then either move or close the alert, or click "Go to Anti-Virus Center," for recommended next-steps, which may include downloading and running the McAdam anti-virus tools the company offers for free, or purchasing a cleanup package and allowing a Com cast technician to attempt to remotely diagnose and fix the problem.
Jay Superman, senior director of security and privacy at Com cast, said the company opted to move to Web-based alerts due to an overwhelmingly positive response from customers who were alerted about bot infestations via telephone. To identify problem customers, the company is relying mostly on reputation information gleaned by anti-spam groups like Spammers.org, which track the Internet addresses of systems seen sending spam or participating in prolonged malicious activity online.
"These bots not only send spam, but [most of them] also steal financial and credit card information, and people are put at significant risk when their personal information has been stolen," Superman said.
Customers who receive the alerts but do nothing will be reminded again in seven days if Com cast detects that the user's PC is still infected, Superman said.
Superman declined to say how many alerts the company has issued -- either via phone or through this new system, but said the company will focus on working out any kinks in the system before scaling it up.
"We could be serving a lot more alerts, millions really," Superman said. "In general, the data we get [shows that] anywhere between 10-15 percent of [an average I S P's customers] is with these bots at any one time. Because it's a new system and a new experience for customers, we're going to start up slow and then scale."
Com cast is using the Denver testbed to fine tune their response to customer feedback, but the program is very much on track for completely deploying the service across the company's residential network: Superman said he expects the initiative, which the company has dubbed "Constant Guard," to be rolled out to all of Com cast's 15.3 million residential customers by the first quarter of next year.
Superman said he believes the project is the first of its kind in the industry, and that Comcast studied multiple alternative approaches before settling on this one. Specifically, the company considered placing problem customers in so-called "walled gardens," which attempt to limit the customer to browsing a small number of sites designed to help them clean up a bot infection. Canada's Cogency and Cox Communications both have experimented with the walled garden approach on this topic from back in April 2007).
"We looked at those mechanisms, and they're very disruptive to other services, like VoIP [voice over Internet protocol, or Internet-based telephone calls]," he said. "We felt the service notice was the best way to inform customers and get them to contact us so we can help. without being disruptive."
The primary challenge to this program, aside from actually helping customers rid their PCs of bot infections and keep them clean, may come from the criminals themselves. One of the most persistent threats to Internet users today are rogue anti-virus programs that use fake security alerts to trick consumers into downloading malicious programs or at the very least paying for worthless software.
Supermansaid Com cast is attempting to combat this potential scam by including a link in the banner alert that explains "How do I know this notice is from Com cast?" Among the answers they will list is that Comcast will be sending affected users an e-mail alert at their primary account at the same time as the browser alert is display
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