Conducting Business Hong Kong

More and more people are making the switch from cable TV to satellite TV. When there are hundreds of channels to choose from, who can blame them? Satellite TV services offer one of the best means possible to take advantage of digital programming technology. That means you have access to high quality pictures and excellent sound. But with all these extras in terms of quality and service, what types of channels can you really expect from a satellite TV service? Here, we take a look at some of the goodies you can look forward to:

Arts and Entertainment

There are two types of programming you can expect from the arts and entertainment channels in satellite TV. These are the standard-definition and the high-definition. There are about 3 high-def channels in this programming, including HDNet, Mojo and Universal. For standard-def, you could expect around 30 channels, including BBC America, FX, Sci Fi, Classic Arts, Chiller, E!, SOAPNet and Style Network, among others.

Movies and Film

There are three packages offered in satellite TV – Basic, Premium and High-Def. The Basic package lets you access channels such as Turner Classic Movies, MGM HD, Sundance, Fox, Hallmark, American Movie Classics and Independent Film Channel, among others. If you want HBO, Max, The Movie Channel and MoviePlex, you’ll need to opt for the Premium package. High-def programming comes courtesy of the HDNet Movies channel.

Sports

Probably one of the main reasons that sports fans go for satellite TV is that it offers a huge variety of sports channels to choose from. And indeed there are around 35 channels dedicated to athletics – from college football to professional basketball, from horse racing to tennis, from professional wrestling to extreme sports. You could flip one channel to the next and probably never see the same thing twice. Plus… there are several regional sports networks to choose from.

Family and General Patronage

There are around 6 high quality satellite TV channels that you can access, depending on the plan you chose. These include ABC Family, the Hallmark Channel, AMG TV, ION Television, Guardian Television and America One.

For children and teen-oriented entertainment and learning and for fans of animation and Japanese anime, there are around 18 channels to choose from, including popular channels such as Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Discovery Kids, Cartoon Network, Anime Network, Adult Swim and of course, the Disney Channel.

Learning and Education

Satellite TV providers have over 20 learning channels, including long-time favorites such as the National Geographic, Discovery, Discover Health, Science Channel, Smithsonian, Documentary and Animal Planet. High-def programming lets you access HD Theater from Discovery Communications.

News and Local TV

You can keep yourself updated with the latest events and newsmakers with satellite TV channels such as ABC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Business news comes courtesy of CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business. Network feeds are categorized as either East Coast or West Coast. For local news TV, there are around 28 channels to choose from.

Home Shopping

If you prefer to shop without leaving the house, satellite TV has a whopping 30 channels to choose from, ranging from HSN to Jewelry to Hollywood Celebrity Products to PIN to QVC to Healthy Living.

Music and Music Videos

Satellite TV services offer 6 audio-only music channels offering digital audio. For music videos, however, there are around 26 channels, with genres such as bluegrass, gospel, classic rock, blues, R & B, country, dance and even folk music.

Foreign Programs

Only in satellite TV can you view channels offering foreign programming in high quality picture. Other than channels programmed specifically for ethnic groups, there are also multiple offerings from countries such as the UK, UAE, Australia, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Peru and Argentina.

Thomas Martinez
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/want-satellite-tv-top-channels-you-can-expect-to-view-672590.html

Analysis and Discussion with IP Global Founder Tim Murphy: Vietnam May Become a Property Investment Opportunity in Late 2009; Hong Kong Capital Values May Fall by 10-20%, Stronger Second Half Expected

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Technorati Tags: banking, business, economy, estate, Finance, Government, International, Issues, Law, Legal, luxury, Personal, Politics, real

World Business: As China boomed, so did investment in the means to deliver its huge volume of exports from the factories to the worlds sea lanes. But then, the Financial Tsunami struck. Exports shrunk dramatically and rapidly. And now, quaysides are stacked high with empty containers while shipyards nervously wait for the next order. Chinas logistics industry is clearly weathering the storm badly.

Reporter: Nick Mackie

Duration : 0:5:9

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Technorati Tags: auto, building, business, car, cargo, China, Competition, containers, contract, Council, crises, Development, discount, domestic, export, Financial, foreign, growth, handling, high, Hong, income, industry, Kong, Lin, logistics, Market, parked, production, red, redundant, related, Road, seas, sector, ship, Shippers, strategic, tape, tolls, Transport, Willy, World

http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/

Adela Liew talks about Hong Kong in The china event of Fresh Business thinkings international Trade week in April 2008. Following the reverse to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong remains a vibrant economy with a relatively high standard of living. Unlike mainland China, the population is small, and businessmen and women are used to western business practices. Our Hong Kong experts will discuss the peculiarities of the Hong Kong market and how new businesses and products can gain market share amongst intense competition.

Duration : 0:6:13

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Technorati Tags: Doing Business In China, Focus On Hong Kong

http://uk.asiancorrespondent.com/video/travel-chaos-from-iceland-s-volcano.htm

The chaos caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption shows no signs of abating, with flights from all the globe effected.

Air passengers stranded in Hong Kong were warned of further delays as a result of the ash cloud from the volcano, although some European airports were open to limited traffic.

All flights to and from London, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan have been cancelled. Flights to Rome are flying but the service is subject to continuous review. Travellers with onward connections to Europe via Hong Kong will not be accepted for travel from their point of origin, according to an announcement on the airline’s website.

With so many passengers grounded in Hong Kong and all over Asia, the demand for accommodation is at a premium.

Bert Groot-Hulze, business passenger from the Netherlands:

“Since all the hotels in Hong Kong are full, our company had to book a pretty expensive hotel in Hong Kong, which costs around, I don’t know, 250 Euros each day. And we are here with five colleagues for four nights now, so do the math, it’s pretty expensive.”

Busi Daniel, French tourist:

“Yesterday we have a price of room at 250 Euro, at midday, it was 460 Euro, and in the evening, the price was 800 Euro a room, for a day – we can’t pay that.”

Australian airline Qantas said that it will continue to cancel its flights to Europe until further notice, effecting over 12,000 passengers, however, its services between Australia and Asia were still operating.

Southern Iceland’s Eyjafyoll volcano began erupting for a second time sending ash several miles into the air.

Winds have pushed the plume south and east across Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and into the heart of Europe. The ash has a potentially lethal effect on jet engines.

It’s estimated the shutdowns are costing the aviation industry, already reeling from a punishing economic period, at least 200 million US dollars a day, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Duration : 0:3:36

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Technorati Tags: ASIA, chaos, From, Iceland's, spreads, travel, volcano

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Alderman Ian Luder is the 681st Lord Mayor of the City of London, and today’s guest on White Collar. His main role as Lord Mayor is to represent, support and promote UK businesses.

The Lord Mayor recently toured a number of Chinese cities and also stopped off in Hong Kong to maintain the relationship between the Hong Kong Government and the UK. Mr Luder also spoke of gaining a deeper understanding of the economic development of both Hong Kong and China.

In these videos, Mr Luder discusses the economic crisis, reforms stemming from the crisis, and China’s plans to turn Shanghai into an international financial centre and how this will affect London’s relationship with Hong Kong. 3 of 3.

Duration : 0:3:55

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Technorati Tags: business, city, crisis, Economic, Finance, Financial, Hong, Kong, London, lord, mayor, recession, reform, scmp

According to recently revealed information, 80% of Hong Kong small businesses are dipped into a crisis and fall under the follwing situation: 1) More than 20% of Hong Kong small businesses are already bankrupt and awaiting the liquidation and court hearing for auction of all assets. 2)About 40% of Hong Kong businesses are losing ranging from 10k to more than a million dollars each month but still keep on operating. 3)About 20% of Hong kong business is merely make it even. 4)About less than 10% is actively making profits. 5) The remaining 10% are probably murky business.
What causes such difficulty in Hong Kong to run a business? 1) The rental cost is the highest among all Asian cities. 2)The overheads are also most expensive among all Asian cities. 3) The cost of labour and management probably slightly lower than Japan only. 4) The government tax and additional service charges are likely higest in Asia.
Many Hong Kong businesses have already relocated to China and other Asian cities
It is estimated that Hong Kong total business debt is more than 500 billion HK dollars. Many newly opened small business in Hong Kong last for as short as two months and then closed. It is only because the onwers don’t know how to run a business and without the basic knowledge of cost overheads to run. Many senior citizens told me that they lost ranging from 100k to five millions in ranging from one month to three years operations in Hong Kong, Kowloon, and New Territory. A smart old man told me once in Kowloon about 8 years ago with most realistic and greatest wisdom words:" If Hong Kong civil servants don’t cut their overpaid salaries, the property don’t take a huge decline, the Heng Seng Index don’t drop to lower than 10,000 point. The Hong Kong next generation will become hookers and robbers". I can see the Hong Kong civil servants get a big raise in salary, property values up, and Heng Seng Index exceed 30,000. Can you answer me this?Please quote words relate to the wise oldman’s.
Another wise old man said that i should never run a losing money business. Go for a chop head business, if it makes money. This has evoked me with a definite decision of never think about to run a business in Hong Kong. It’s not worth it!

yes tb

Most of us foreigners living in China have heard of Feng Shui, yet the mystery and magic associated with it has convinced the majority of us that it’s primarily a dogma of ancient superstitions. Feng Shui is not a religion, although it has roots in both Buddhism and Hinduism (as well as in cosmology and other forms of metaphysics). It is said that it takes a Feng Shui apprentice thirty years to master the art. This being said, I’d like to say that the intention of this article is to simply describe what Feng Shui is; it’s not a how-to on channeling its power.

The name Feng Shui originates from China and can be translated to ‘Wind and Water.’ At its essence, Feng Shui is about living consciously in harmony with Earth and enjoying the highest quality of life possible while residing here. It’s the art of balancing and enhancing the flow of natural energies, or Chi, that make up the essence of every person, place and object. Feng Shui has evolved over thousands of years from a folk art to a highly sophisticated system of philosophy and science, often blending the old with the more new age trends and fads of the west. But its ancient form is still practiced by professional consultants throughout China, and is based on the principles of the classic Chinese book, I Ching.

Feng Shui was first used in ancient China about 3000 years ago to determine the most auspicious sites for the tombs of ancestors in order to give them the best vantage to help their living descendants. Later, it started to be used in selecting sites for palaces, important government buildings and monuments, until finally whole cities were designated and built according to Feng Shui principles.

Hong Kong is one such example, and its prosperity is often cited as a prime example of Feng Shui effectiveness. About 90% of all the properties there are built according to Feng Shui protocols. An example of trying to manipulate chi energies, the Hong Kong Bank of China was sued by neighboring businesses because of its construction of a seventy story building of sharp angles. There’s no doubt that the architect of the building knew exactly what he was doing and deliberately designed a structure that sends arrow-like ‘killing chi’ energy at its competitors. The recourse of the occupants surrounding the building was to erect Feng Shui mirrors in an attempt to reflect the dangerous energy back to its source, and then commence litigation.

Feng Shui is based on the prevailing view of Asians that everything in our environment, living or inanimate, is imbued with energy. This is now no longer considered simply a belief, it’s currently a scientific fact that objects and elements are made up of tiny molecules and atoms that vibrate and are constantly in motion. These objects and elements are imbued with an energy that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but they are able to influence our every day life.

The energy (or Chi) of an object, person, or place is very important in Feng Shui. This Chi relates to whatever is in space, and the flow of Chi is unique to every home, business and recreational space. Space is defined as the directional orientation of a structure and is traditionally determined with a Chinese Feng Shui compass. Tools used to evaluate space calculate the Chi field, its Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements.

Chi can be broken into two components: (1) Yin and Yang, representing the opposite forces that are constantly interacting with one another, such as: feminine/masculine; passive/active; destructive/creative; soft/hard; dark/bright. These forces are always moving and always seeking balance. And: (2) The Five Elements, which are water, wood, fire, metal, and earth. These elements are believed to affect everything we do, determining our personalities, our professions, and our degree of success in life.

Learning about Feng Shui isn’t a study in “magic,” but rather, it’s about developing an awareness of the living, natural elements that we interact with daily in our lives.

Timothy Green
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/what-is-feng-shui-134108.html

Silicon Valley, CA, Dec 9th, 2008— Red Herring today announced that iYogi is a winner of the Red Herring 100 Award, a selection of the 100 most innovative private technology companies based in Asia.

iYogi delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based in India with more than 50,000 customers. The company offers consumers an Unlimited, annual subscription service for $119.99 per desktop that includes support for a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware, Microsoft  Products Support, Windows Operating systems, Computer Support ,Software applications, MP3 players, Networking devices, Digital camera, Printers and scanners etc.

The Red Herring editorial board diligently surveyed the entrepreneurial scene throughout Asia and identified the top 100, out of more than 1,000 closely evaluated companies that are leading the next wave of innovation.  

“Our winners and Finalists demonstrate that Asia is increasingly becoming a leader in innovation, contrary to common stereotypes”, said Joel Dreyfuss, editor-in-chief of Red Herring.  ” It was tough to choose just the top 100 finalists from such a large list of excellent contenders, and we are very happy with the quality of the companies we selected as finalists.”

“We believe consumers and small business owners should have low-cost access to the highest quality support available on the planet”, said Uday Challu, CEO of iYogi.  “We are thrilled that our innovative approach to solving everyday technology problems for consumers and our managed services for small businesses has been recognized by Red Herring’s keen-eyed leadership. We are continuously innovating in adding new services that includes PC recovery, anti-virus, anti-spyware, data back-up and PC optimization in providing the best tech support experience for our customers”, adds Uday.

The 100 winning companies have been announced at the Red Herring Asia event in Hong Kong. The CEOs of the winning start ups presented their innovative ideas and technologies to an audience of leading entrepreneurs, financiers, and corporate strategists at the event at the Hong Kong, JW Marriott Hotel earlier this week.

About Red Herring

Red Herring is a global media company, which unites the world’s best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters and major events for technology leaders around the globe.  Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available on the Internet at www.redherring.com.

About iYogi

iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and small business technical support service from India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical support, iYogi now boasts of more than 50,000 customers. The company employs 600 professionals servicing customers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi’s resolution rate of 87 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 93 percent are amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further information, please visit www.iyogi.net.

iYogi Contact

Vishal Dhar
President Marketing, iYogi Inc.
Phone:  212 229 0901
Email: vishal@iyogi.net

Red Herring Contact :

Anam Alpenia, Red Herring Inc.
Phone :  650-428-2900
Email :  aalpenia@redherring.com

Joshep John
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/red-herring-awards-iyogi-for-the-2008-red-herring-top-100-asia-america-679891.html

 

What is FOREX?

The Foreign Exchange Market (Forex) is the arena in which a nation’s currency is exchanged for that of another at a mutually agreed rate. It was created in the 1970′s when international trade transitioned from fixed to floating exchange rates, and is now considered to be the largest financial market in the world because of its huge turnover.

Introduction to Forex

All currencies are traded in pairs and each is assigned with an abbreviation. Here are some of them (Table 1):

EUR Euro

USD US Dollar

GBP British Pound

JPY Japanese Yen

CHF Swiss Franc

AUD Australian Dollar

CAD Canadian Dollar

NZD New Zealand Dollar

SGD Singapore Dollar

‘Base’ currency is the first currency in the pair. ‘Quote’ currency, or ‘term’ currency is the second currency in the pair.

USD / JPY = 120.25

Base currency Quote currency Rate

This abbreviation specifies how much you have to pay in the quote currency to obtain one unit of the base currency (in this example, 120.25 Japanese Yen for one US Dollar). The minimum rate fluctuation is called a point or a pip.

Most currencies, except USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, CHF/JPY and GBP/JPY where a pip is 0.01, have 4 digits after the period (a pip is 0.0001), and sometimes they are abbreviated to the last two digits. For example, if EURUSD is traded at 1.2389/1.2391 the quote may be abbreviated to 89/91.

The currency pairs on Forex are quoted as the Bid and Ask (or Offer) prices:

Bid Ask

USD / JPY = 120.25 / 120.28

Bid is the rate at which you can sell the base currency, in our case it’s the US dollar, and buy the quote currency, i.e the Japanese Yen.

Ask ( or Offer) is the rate at which you can buy the base currency, in our case the US dollar, and sell the quote currency, i.e. the Japanese Yen.

Spread is the difference between the Bid price and the Ask price.

Pip is the smallest price increment a currency can make. Also known as a point. e.g. 1 pip = 0.0001 for EUR/USD, and 0.01 for USD/JPY.

Currency Rate is the value of one currency expressed in terms of another. The rate fluctuation depends on numerous factors including the supply and demand on the market and/or open market operations by a government or by a central bank.

1.0 lot size for different currency pairs (Table 2)

Currency 1.0 lot size 1 pip

EURUSD EUR 100,000 0.0001

USDCHF USD 100,000 0.0001

EURUSD EUR 100,000 0.0001

GBPUSD GBP 100,000 0.0001

USDJPY USD 100,000 0.01

AUDUSD AUD 100,000 0.0001

USDCAD USD 100,000 0.0001

EURCHF EUR 100,000 0.0001

EURJPY EUR 100,000 0.01

EURGBP EUR 100,000 0.0001

GBPJPY GBP 100,000 0.01

GBPCHF GBP 100,000 0.0001

EURCAD EUR 100,000 0.0001

NZDUSD NZD 100,000 0.0001

USDSEK USD 100,000 0.0001

USDDKK USD 100,000 0.0001

USDNOK USD 100,000 0.0001

USDSGD USD 100,000 0.0001

USDZAR USD 100,000 0.0001

CHFJPY CHF 100,000 0.01

Spreads & Margins

Alpari (UK)’s mission is to provide innovative currency trading technology combined with quality execution, tight spreads and competitive margins.

Margin is the collateral required by Alpari (UK) to open and maintain a position:

*

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+ An open position of less than 3,000,000 USD (3M) nominal value carries a maximum leverage of 1:500.

+ An open position of 3M – 5M USD carries a leverage of 1:500 for the first 3M and a leverage of 1:200 for the remaining 2M.

+ An open position of 5M – 10M USD carries a leverage of 1:500 for the first 3M, a leverage of 1:200 for the next 2M and a leverage of 1:100 for the remaining 5M.

+ For open positions higher than 10M USD, the first 3M carries a leverage of 1:500, the next 2M carries a leverage of 1:200, the next 5M carries a leverage of 1:100. Everything above carries a leverage of 1:33.

For example, a client opens a position of 12 million USD (for example, 120 lots in USDCHF). His margin requirements will be the following:

Nominal value of open position Funds required to open position Maximum leverage offered

First 3 million = 3,000,000 / 500 = 6,000 USD 1:500

Next 2 million = 2,000,000 / 200 = 10,000 USD 1:200

Next 5 million = 5,000,000 / 100 = 50,000 USD 1:100

Remaining 2 million = 2,000,000 / 33 = 60,606 USD 1:33

TOTAL: 12 million = 126,606 USD

Balance is the total financial result of all completed transactions and deposits/withdrawals on the trading account.

Floating Profit/Loss is current profit/loss on open positions calculated at the current prices.

Equity is calculated as balance + floating profit – floating loss.

Free margin means funds on the trading account, which may be used to open a position. It is calculated as equity less necessary margin.

Calculating profit/loss

For example, EUR/USD exchange rate is 1.2505/1.2507 and your leverage is 1:100. You believe that EUR/USD will go up and buy 0.1 lot of EUR/USD at 1.2507 (Ask price) – for the contract size refer to Table 2. As we can see from Table 2, 1.0 lot of EUR/USD is 100,000 EUR, which means that 0.1 lot (our example deal size) is 10,000 EUR.

So, you buy 10,000 EUR and sell 10,000*1.2507=12,507 USD. In fact to fund this position you do not have to have 12,507 USD but only 125.07 USD. The rest of the money (in our example 12,381.93 USD) is leveraged to you by Alpari (UK).

The leverage (or gearing) mechanism allows you to open and hold a position much larger than your trading account value. 1:100 leverage means that when you wish to open a new position, you need to support a deposit 100 times less than the value of the contract you are interested in.

For example, you believe that EUR/USD is moving higher and buy 10,000 EUR and sell 12,507 USD. Assuming you are right and EUR/USD goes up to 1.2599/1.2601 and you decide to close the position: when you close a long position you sell the base currency (10,000 EUR in our example) and buy the quote currency (10,000*1.2599 = 12,599 USD):

Transaction EUR USD

Open a position: buy EUR and sell USD + 10,000 – 12,507

Close a position: sell EUR and buy USD – 10,000 + 12,599

Total: 0 + 92

NB: When you close a short position you buy the base currency and sell the quote currency.

To fund this position you only need 100 EUR (approximately 125 USD) not 10,000 EUR. The profit on this position is 92 pips (1.2599-1.2507=0.0092). A pip or point is a minimal rate fluctuation. For EUR/USD 1 pip is 0.0001 of the price (see Table 2).

This example shows a favourable outcome. If EUR/USD had fallen you would realise a loss and not a profit. This loss will be magnified as a result of leveraging. For example, if you close the position at 1.2419, your loss would be $88. Should you have doubts about your understanding of risks, please consult a qualified financial adviser.

Lot Size is the number of base currency, underlying asset or shares in one lot defined in the contract specifications. For details refer to the Table 2.

Lot is an abstract notion of the amount of base currency, shares or other underlying asset on the trading platform.

Transaction (or deal) size is lot size multiplied by the number of lots.

Long Position is a buy position whereby you profit from an increase in price. In respect of currency pairs: buying the base currency against the quote currency.

Short Position is a sell position whereby you profit from a decrease in price. For currency pairs: selling the base currency against the quote currency.

Completed Transaction consists of two counter deals of the same size (open and close a position): buy then sell or vice versa.

Leverage is the term used to describe margin requirements: the ratio between the collateral and the value of the contract. 1:100 leverage means that you can control $100,000 with only $1,000 (1%).

Rollover / Interest Policy

Foreign exchange trading at Alpari (UK) is dealt on a "Spot" basis only. This means that all trades settle two business days from inception, as per market convention. The settlement date is referred to as the value date. Alpari (UK) does not arrange physical delivery of currencies hence, all positions left open from 10:59:45 p.m. to 10:59:59 p.m. (London time) will be rolled over to a new Value Date.

As a result, positions are subject to a swap charge or credit based on the "Rollover/Interest Policy" webpage.

Please note that since 03 June 2007 Alpari (UK) Limited no longer closes and reopens the positions which are open at 11:00 pm London time. Instead we have introduced a more convenient method of rollover which involves debiting or crediting a customer’s trading account when he/she holds open positions overnight.

The cost of rollover is based on the interest rate differential of the two currencies. Let’s assume that the interest rates in the EU and USA are 4.25% p.a and 3.5% p.a respectively. Every currency trade involves borrowing one currency to buy another. If you have a buy position of 1.0 lot in EUR/USD, then you earn 4.25% on your Euros and borrow USD at 3.5% per year.

In other words:

* If you have a long position (i.e. bought) and the first currency in the currency pair has a higher overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you receive a gain.

* If you have a short position (i.e. sold) and the first currency in the currency pair has a higher overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you lose the difference.

* If you have a long position (i.e. bought) and the first currency in the currency pair has a lower overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you lose the difference.

* If you have a short position (i.e. sold) and the first currency in the currency pair has a lower overnight interest rate than the second currency, then you receive a gain.

Please note that if you open and close a position before 10:59:45 p.m. (London time) you will not be subject to a rollover.

The act of rolling the currency pair over is known as tom.next, which stands for tomorrow and the next day.

NB: When you roll an open position from Wednesday to Thursday, then Monday next week becomes the value date, not Saturday; therefore the rollover charge on a Wednesday evening will be three times the value indicated on the "Rollover/Interest Policy" webpage.

Why trade Forex?

Unlike other financial markets Forex has no physical location, like stock exchanges, for example. It operates through the electronic network of banks, computer terminals or via telephone. The lack of a physical exchange enables Forex to operate on a 24-hour basis, spanning from one time zone to another across the major financial centres (Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, New York etc). In every financial centre there are many dealers, who buy and sell currencies 24 hours a day during the whole business week. Trading begins in the Far East, New Zealand (Wellington), then Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Moscow, Frankfurt-on-Maine, London and ends in New York and Los Angeles. Below there are approximate trading hours for regional markets (London time):

Japan 00:00-06:30

Continental Europe 06:30-13:00

Great Britain 8:30-15:30

USA 14:30-21:30

Forex has some advantages which make it very popular among investors:

* Liquidity. Forex is the largest financial market in the world, with the equivalent of over $3-4 trillion changing hands daily whereas traded volume on the stock markets equates to only 500 billion US dollars.

* Flexibility. Forex is a 24-hour market, which offers a major advantage over other markets, for example, stock exchanges which are only open during regional business hours. You can respond to breaking news immediately if the situation requires it and customise your trading schedule.

* Lower transaction costs. Traditionally there are no commissions or charges on Forex, except for the spread.

* Margin. Our 1:100 leverage (only for deposits below $ 100,000) is a powerful tool. You need to support a deposit of 1,000 US dollars to make a deal with $100,000. Such high leverage combined with rapid rate fluctuations can make this market profitable but at the same time risky: please see Risk Warning below.

Risk Warning

Under margin trading conditions even small market movements may have a great impact on the customer’s trading account. You must consider that if the market moves against you, you may sustain a total loss greater than the funds deposited. You are responsible for all the risks, financial resources you use and for the chosen trading strategy.

 

richard
http://www.articlesbase.com/currency-trading-articles/intoduction-to-forex-676645.html