What are indices?
Chapter 1: Intro You’ll often hear about stock market indices on TV news reports and in the financial pages. So what are they – and why do they matter? How many times have you heard experts refer to the FTSE 100, S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Hang Seng, DAX, CAC or Euronext or other indices? The reason why they are mentioned […]
What are commodities?
Chapter 1: Intro Commodities are incredibly important – and yet very few people know how they work. They matter because commodities affect so many aspects of our lives: they’re in the food we eat, the metals used in so many of the products we own, and the energy we consume. At some stage in their […]
What are shares?
Chapter 1: Intro Imagine you own a piece of a company. That’s what happens when you buy a share. Shares are how companies parcel out the money that they raise to carry out their business. That money is called ‘capital’ or ‘equity’ – and shares are also referred to as ‘equities’ or ‘stocks’. So, if […]
What is an IPO?
Chapter 1: Intro An IPO is the first time that a company offers shares (or ‘floats’) to the public on a stock exchange. It stands for ‘Initial Public Offering’, but you’ll often see it short-handed to ‘going public’ which has the same meaning. Which exchanges are we talking about? They could include the London Stock Exchange, the New York Stock, Euronext, or the Hong […]
Stock market exchanges
Chapter 1: Intro How does a company list? What are the biggest exchanges? Do they trade every day? Here’s our lowdown on stock market exchanges. First, let’s look at the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Though founded in 1801, its roots actually stretch back much further to the coffee houses of 17th-century London. Today, it hosts the […]
Who are the main market players?
Chapter 1: Intro Let’s look at some of the principle players in financial markets. What are their moves and how do they fit together? We could write much more on each one – but here’s a handy overview. Chapter 2: The market makers Let’s start with market makers. The clue is in the name. A market […]
What is market liquidity?
Chapter 1: Intro Liquidity is a classic City technical term, and it’s bandied about with abandon: you’ll often hear people asking how “liquid” is a certain investment? Or how “illiquid”? And it’s actually very simple. Market liquidity is about how quickly you can exchange, sell or re-sell an asset. Chapter 2: Liquid vs illiquid So, […]
ECB MEETING: Dovish hike causes EUR/USD to drop further.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has hiked its three key interest rates by 25bps in September. Market-implied pricing prior to the meeting was 65% in favour of a hike, but there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether it would happen. The most recent data has shown signs of a lagging economy with consumer […]
US Dollar setups ahead of US CPI: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY
It’s a busy week on the calendar with inflation taking centre stage. With a wide list of countries reporting their latest price changes focus on the end of the week will shift towards the US as it releases its July CPI update. Consumer prices are expected to have trended higher in July after a larger-than-expected, […]
Projected UK interest rates in 5 years
UK projected interest rates in 5 years defy current expectations – Photo: Alexander Spatari / Getty Images The UK interest rates have risen sharply in 2022 to combat soaring inflation. Yet as the energy prices and supply pressures start to ease in 2023, is it time for the Bank of England (BoE) to start cutting, or at least […]
