Throughout July, the trade talks (or lack thereof) between the United States and China have taken a back seat as a leadership change in the United Kingdom along with its looming Brexit deadline have been a focus, as well as ongoing concerns about global growth and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first rate cut since 2008.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed its forecast for global economic growth again thanks to trade wars, inflation concerns and Brexit. “Risks to the forecast are mainly to the downside,” the IMF said. “They include further trade and technology tensions that dent sentiment and slow investment; a protracted increase in risk aversion that exposes the financial vulnerabilities continuing to accumulate after years of low interest rates.  Mounting disinflationary pressures that increase debt service difficulties, constrain monetary policy space to counter downturns, and make adverse shocks more persistent than normal.”

Known informally among forex traders as “Geppy,” the GBP/JPY pairing is viewed as a reliable indicator of global economic health. These individual currencies provide a strong reflection of economic health and policymaking in both the Asia-Pacific region as well as Western Europe.

But this reliance on GBP/JPY as an economic indicator shouldn’t mislead traders into treating it as a safe pairing for beginners to get their feet wet with. Though the pairing’s volatility is great for generating potential earnings, it also creates significant risk for forex traders. This is why “Geppy” has one of the most fearsome reputations among all forex pairs.

Index trading is a popular, easy way to invest in a group of businesses, or a representative sample of a country’s largest companies, without being forced to invest in individual companies.

For forex traders, index trading is an attractive alternative to directly investing in a specific country’s stock market. Typically, these indices are designed to offer a reflection of a given country’s economic strength. But these indices can also serve as a high-performing collection of select holdings from a single market, offering a more concentrated investment opportunity in a foreign country’s economy.

The United States and Canada have vastly different economic structures, with Canada leaning toward more liberal economic policies and looser immigration regulations than its southern counterpart. 

While the U.S. depends on the economic boost of educated, talented immigrants entering its workforce, the country also benefits from a much larger volume of trading activity, as well as a mature presence in virtually every major global industry.

If you’ve never traded the HK50, you might be missing out on a great opportunity to capitalize on economic growth in a promising foreign market.

Although the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the third-largest stock exchange in Asia, and the sixth largest in the world, it often gets overshadowed by the Chinese and Japanese markets, not to mention the markets in New York and London. But seasoned investors are aware of the trading opportunities available in Hong Kong, especially with the HK50.

The Hang Seng Index, or HK50, tracks the 50 largest and most liquid companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), offering a reliable reflection of the economic strength of Hong Kong as well as China.

Here’s an overview of the HK50, including a primer on how to approach trades in this market.

If you’re unfamiliar with oil investing, the market’s volatility likely gives you pause for concern. Even though traders recognize high volatility in any market as an opportunity to potentially generate profits off of trades, unpredictable and extreme volatility can be unnerving and discouraging. With high rewards come high risks, and if you don’t understand the factors at play, your investment strategy is hardly more than gambling.

When analyzing chart patterns to identify potential volatility with an asset’s price, an inside bar indicator is one of the stronger signals traders can spot. Inside bars on a candlestick chart represent consolidation of price action where the bulls and bears are both struggling to move the price higher or lower from its current position.

Investors of all stripes use hedging as a strategy to protect one position from adverse price movements. Typically, hedging involves the opening of a second position that is likely to have a negative correlation with the primary asset being held, meaning that if the primary asset’s price makes an adverse movement, the second position will experience a complementary and opposite movement that offsets those losses.

In forex trading, investors can use a second pair as a hedge for an existing position they’re reluctant to close out. Although hedging reduces risk at the expense of profits, it can be a valuable tool to protect profits and stave off losses in forex trading.

As the third-most popular currency trading pair in the world, GBP/USD offers one of the most liquid forex tradings you can expect to find. That comes with many of the expected characteristics of a pairing traded at a high volume, including narrow spreads, high volatility, and opportunity to carve out strong profits with well-timed positions.

If you’re new to contract-for-difference (CFD) trading, one of the biggest decisions you can make is choosing where to put your money.