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What is the Absolute Breadth Index?
The Absolute Breadth Index (ABI) is a market breadth indicator, calculated using the absolute value of the difference between the number of advancing stocks and declining stocks to indicate the size of market movement without considering price direction. Larger ABI numbers will indicate more volatility. When breadth is smaller, it means that the market isn’t experiencing significant movement, or movement in a definitive direction. When advances or declines pull away from the other, it indicates the presence of market-wide trends. Continue reading...
What is a commodity etf?
Commodity ETFs are focused on tracking the performance of commodity prices and their derivatives contracts. ETFs are like mutual funds that trade intra-day like stocks, but the volatility of commodities prices can make these equally unpredictable. Commodity ETFs are intended to track the performance and price movements of commodities and their derivatives. All sorts of commodities can and have become part of an ETF offering, from gold to grain, cattle, and coffee, and even US and foreign currencies. Each commodity has its peculiarities and it would be good to know about the market for each commodity that you intend to invest in. Continue reading...
What is the Hindenburg omen and is there any merit to it?
The Hindenburg Omen is technical indicator meant to predict bear markets, sell-offs, and declines. It is named after the famous tragedy of the Hindenburg Zeppelin in Germany on May 6th, 1937. The “Omen” identifies several very complex technical patterns in the behavior of the NYSE, such as the number of new highs, new lows, and some other indicators. It claims to predict market crashes within a very short period of time (about 40 days). Continue reading...
What does Ticker Mean?
A ticker symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock or security on whatever market it trades on. Stocks are usually represented by a combination of letters (typically 3-4), ETFs are generally identified with 3 letters, and mutual funds often have 5-letter combinations that end in the letter “X”, but they can also be alphanumeric. A ticker can consist of a combination of letters, numbers, and sometimes (but not often) both. Continue reading...
What does it Mean to be "Listed"?
To be “listed” means a stock has been registered and approved for trading on an exchange. The most relevant companies will aim to be listed on a major exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the NASDAQ. Who are Venture Capitalists? Should I Listen to Commentators on Financial News Programs? Continue reading...
What is a Stock?
Buying a stock means taking an ownership position in a publicly traded company. Once you purchase a stock, you become a shareholder. A company has two ways of acquiring capital needed for growth: borrowing it (often in the form of issuing bonds), or selling shares of their company's equity, which is known as stock. In other words, when you buy shares of a company’s stock, you are buying a claim to the company's profit margin, because you are technically a part-owner in the company. Those who hold shares of Common Stock, the most typical form of stock, have voting rights in the election of the company’s board members. Continue reading...
Understanding the Watchlist Exchange on Tickeron
NEEDS AN EXPLANATION? WHAT IS A WATCHLIST or WATCHLIST EXCHANGE To access from the menu bar, simply click on the marketplace and then select watchlist exchange marketplace. The unique feature about this watchlist module is that you have a lot of options you can choose from. The home watchlist is the most popular, allowing you to track everything happening on your home page. The watchlist comes with a tracking feature. Click on the Alert bell to set up alerts and notifications once there are changes according to the setup you made. You can create a watchlist from the different available modules on Tickeron. Click on the watchlist in the menu bar and select the watchlist type you want. Continue reading...
What is the NASDAQ?
The NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an electronic marketplace for trading stocks, and is also used to track major Technology stocks. The NASDAQ Composite is an index of over 3,000 publicly traded companies on the NASDAQ stock market, which includes the world's biggest and most relevant technology companies - Apple, Google, Amazon, Intel, Oracle, and so on. Continue reading...
What is the Hang Seng Index?
The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is comprised of the 50 biggest stocks traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Hong Kong stock market is much different than that of China, in that foreign investors are allowed access and the index is calculated on a free floating cap-weighted basis. It tracks the 50 biggest companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and is a better barometer for measuring overall performance of companies from the region. Continue reading...
What is an Electronic Communication Network (ECN)?
An ECN is an alternative platform to an index for making trades. An Electronic Communication Network is a type of alternative trading system that allows for trading listed stocks and other exchange-traded products. Trading on an ECN is typically limited to institutions and broker-dealers, and trades are facilitated when the price on a buy order intersects with a price on a sell order. ECN’s must register with the SEC, and you must be a subscriber to trade on one. Continue reading...
What is Chapter 11?
Chapter 11 is a type of bankruptcy filing a company can make to give itself time to reorganize and hopefully continue business. There are different types of bankruptcy filings a person or business can make, depending on how overwhelming their debt load is. Chapter 11 is a kind of bankruptcy filing that allows the corporate leadership to stay in control of a company while trading freezes on their stock and the company and its debts are reorganized. This is called “debtor in possession.” Continue reading...
What is market breadth?
Market Breadth is a descriptor that is used in several market indicators such as the daily breadth, the A/D Line, the McClellan Oscillator, and Arms Index. Breadth is the relative difference in the amount of advancing stocks and declining stocks. Daily breadth is simply computed by subtracting one from the other, or creating a ratio in which one is divided by the other. Daily breadth is closely related, even interchangeable, with the Advance/Decline ratio. It can also refer to the difference between New Highs and New Lows, or Net New Highs. Continue reading...
How Can You Buy a Stock?
There are many services online and custodians that that can facilitate stock trades. Anybody can buy shares of a publicly traded company, but it must be done through a brokerage firm or a custodian. Brokers and brokerage firms act as middle men between the buyer and the seller. Some brokerage houses such as E-Trade, Ameritrade, or Charles Schwab offer low-cost services online to anyone with a checking account, and offer no personal advice. Other brokerage firms focus on the human element, offering investment advice and making additional money through long-term client relationships and the commissions and fees that result from portfolio management. Continue reading...
What is a commodity?
A commodity is usually a raw material or agricultural good which has an extremely high demand and very little price differentiation between competitors. If a good will not increase or decrease significantly in quality regardless of who brings it to market, and the demand is very high (such as for a good used in the production of many other products) it might be considered a commodity. Examples would be oil, silver, gold, steel and wheat, but a full list would be very extensive. Continue reading...
What is the Shanghai Composite Index?
The “Shanghai” is an index measuring all shares that are traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (China). The Shanghai Index - also referred to as the SSE Composite Index or simply “the Shanghai” - is an index measuring price changes of all A and B shares traded on China’s Shanghai Exchange. Many foreign investors have only limited access to trading shares on China’s main exchange, which makes price discrepancies likely. Continue reading...
What Does Maintenance Margin Mean?
A maintenance margin is the minimum amount of equity an investor must keep in a brokerage account to cover margin balances. Under the regulatory guidance of NYSE and FINRA, an investor has to have in equity at least 25% of the total market value of the securities in the margin account. Depending on which brokerage firm the account is held, the maintenance margin requirements could be higher. According the the Federal Reserve’s regulation titles “Regulation T,” when a trader buys on margin they must maintain key levels of equity throughout the life of the trade. Continue reading...
Should I Listen to Commentators on Financial News Programs?
It’s easy to become drawn in by the financial media, but it’s important not to let them do your thinking for you. Commentators on the most reputable financial channels will always be sharp-looking, smooth-talking, and quoting a barrage of statistics that makes it seem like you didn’t know anything before you tuned in. Is this an indication of being camera-friendly? Without a doubt. Is it an indication of sound financial advice? Absolutely not. Continue reading...
What is an OTC Stock?
Over-the-Counter securities transactions are done outside of formal exchanges, and the term could refer to private investments and contracts or transactions in unlisted securities, such as penny stocks. The major exchanges have requirements for being listed, pertaining mainly to the size of the company offering equity shares and the nature of the securities. Resources such as the Over the Counter Bulletin Board and "pink sheets" help to facilitate trades that cannot be performed on the largest exchanges, but there are several caveats to bear in mind. Continue reading...
Bitcoin’s Source Code, Part 2: What Does It Mean That Bitcoin Is Open-Source?
Open-source software code can be viewed and changed by anyone, but it actually works in the favor of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s source code was uploaded by Satoshi Nakamoto to a code-sharing site called Sourceforge, which enabled anyone to download, use, and modify the code as they saw fit. In fact, he encouraged the community to do so. The fascinating thing about the design of Bitcoin and many other open-source software is that they will work, and will continue to exist, without anyone owning the rights to the code. In most people’s concept of ownership and responsibility, the owner is responsible for maintaining something, for protecting it from attacks, manipulation, vandalism, fraud, etc, and is also responsible for making sure that it is safe for other people to use. Continue reading...
How do I Invest in commodities?
Commodities can be acquired through brokerage services that can access the commodities markets, or you can buy the stocks of companies that bring commodities to market. Investors can also gain exposure to commodities through mutual funds and ETFs that focus on them. There are a few ways to invest in commodities. One simple way is to purchase the stock of companies that produce commodities. You can also invest through futures contracts, which are agreements to buy a certain amount of a commodity at a certain price at some point in the future; this is the primary way that commodities are traded. They can also trade at spot, which means at the current price, or through the use of other derivative instruments, such as options on futures contracts. Continue reading...