1. Trading on the Financial
Market
OANDA
This assignment is a detailed report on the transactions carried out on OANDA. It also contains
essential information, rules, and facts about trading on the financial markets. These are very useful
information for beginner Traders on the financial markets.
2013
2. Introduction
What is forex trading?
Forex means foreign exchange; it involves simultaneously trading one currency for the other. It involves
buying currencies based on its speculation.
What is OANDA?
OANDA uses innovative computer and financial technology to provide Internet-based forex trading and
currency information services to everyone, from individuals to large corporations, and from portfolio
managers to financial institutions. OANDA is a market maker and a trusted source for currency data. It has
access to one of the world's largest historical, high frequency, filtered currency database.1
1http://www.oanda.com/.
3. 9/11/2013
Current Balance$100,000
Ordered 300 Units USD at $1.03173 CAD= $309.519
Buying USD against Canadian Dollar
Sold Short 100 units at $1.3319
Currently offered: $1.33321
Made a loss of $0.00025 on each dollar
1. What does PIPs mean?
PIP means "price interest point". A pip measures the amount of change in the exchange rate for a currency
pair.
For currency pairs displayed to four decimal places, one pip is equal to 0.0001. Yen-based currency pairs
are an exception and are displayed to only two decimal places (0.01).
4. 2. What is NASDAQ, DOW Jones, S&P 500?
These are stock Market indices; each index represents a statistical measure of change in an economy or a
securities market. In the case of financial markets, an index is an imaginary portfolio of securities
representing a particular market or a portion of it. Each index has its own calculation methodology and is
usually expressed in terms of a change from a base value. Thus, the percentage change is more important
than the actual numeric value.
Stock and bond market indexes are used to construct index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds
(ETFs) whose portfolios mirror the components of the index.
3. What is does long and short in the financial Markets?
Short selling this means selling a stock you don't own and you have to buy it back later
Long selling this means selling a stock after buying it yourself. Usually expressed in base currency terms.
If a trader is long the EUR/USD at 1.98, he has bought a currency, the EUR in this case. The trade would
yield a profit if the EUR/USD increases and he is able to sell it at a higher price than what he paid for it plus
the spread and a loss if the price declines or does not increase beyond the spread.
5. 9/17/2013
Opening Balance $100,005.35
Sold 60 units of USD against CAD at
Margin used $3.09
Buy 200,000 units if GBP/USD $1.59034
Margin used $16384
Sold 10,000 units of GBP/USD at $ 1.59019
Buy 2,000 Euros using USD at a rate of $1.33502
Margin used $137.5370
The interest payment of $0.0002 for one unit had decreased the balance to $100,003.81
6. 1. What does BID and OFFER mean?
Bid price
The "bid" is the current highest price at which you could sell. In the other word, if you want to sell your
gold, in generally, you can sell it closest to the bid price but not the bid price.2
Ask price
The ask price is the opposite of the bid. The "ask" is the current lowest price at which you could buy. As a
rule, you buy it often higher than the ask price.3
2 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bid-and-asked.
3 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bid-and-asked.
7. Balance $100,003.81
Buy 100 units of Wall St. 30 against USD at $15545.8
Margin Used $81,693.33
Buy 200 unit of West TX Oil against USD at $105.497
Margin Used $1695.78
Sold 100 units EURO at $0.0124
The unrealized Profit was between the range of $240 and $400; what does this mean?
This means that all open positions have a profit ranging between $240 and $400. The profits fluctuate
based on the rise and fall of the market value of the currency.
What are your open positions?
In investing, any trade which has been established, that has yet to be closed with an opposing trade. An
open position can exist following a buy (long) position, or a sell (short) position. In either case, the position
will remain open until an opposing trade has taken place.
Attempt to make 9900 units order from Brent Oil at $109.245; however, there was not sufficient fund.
Reordered 10 units of Brent.
After this purchase was made, unrealized profit kept fluctuating between $200 and $600 range.
8. How is interest earned or paid calculated? How does someone know what interest rate they are
paying or receiving for the units they are holding?
OANDA pays interest rates on the account balances, and it pays and charges interest rates on the currency
pairs currently held in customer positions. OANDA also calculates interest rates charged and paid
continuously, second-by-second. 4
There are two types of interest rates:
Lending (ask) interest rates apply when OANDA lends you money to buy a currency.
Borrowing (bid) interest rates apply when OANDA holds your money.
If you are using OANDA to trade on the financial Market the Interest rates can be found at the following
link: http://fxtrade.oanda.ca/analysis/historical-rates5
4 http://fxtrade.oanda.ca/help/policies/interest-rate-calculation
5 http://fxtrade.oanda.ca/analysis/historical-rates
9. 9/18/2013
Current Balance $100,508.21
Profit of $469.3380 this increased the Balance to $100508.21
9/21/2013
Balance $100,003.79
It was noted that interest from West TX Oil was $33.1712
The 10 units of Brent Oil Earned a Profit of $1.6996
The Profit earned from Wall St. 30 of 100 units was $2497.6998 this increased the Balance to $103,005.25.
There was an interest earned of $25.2230
Profit from USD/CAD was $0.954; the interest earned at this time was $25.2230
EURO/USD interest paid was $0.0222
10. What does margin used mean?
Margin is the amount of money required in your account to keep your trades on the market. If you are
trading at 50:1 leverage and you have an open trade for 10,000 USD, the margin required in your account
to support that trade is around $200 USD. You can figure out this number by dividing your trade size by
your leverage amount. So 10,000/50 = 200.
What does leverage mean?
Leverage refers financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to increase the potential return
of an investment. The amount of debt used to finance a firm's assets.
A firm with significantly more debt than equity is considered to be highly leveraged.Leverage is most
commonly used in real estate transactions through the use of mortgages to purchase a home.
Edited the Euro/USD to take profit and stop losses
If you are holding a long GBP/USD position, you can include a stop-loss instruction that automatically
sells your long position if the rate falls to a certain level. This way you can limit the amount that you
could lose on any given trade – even if you are not available to monitor your account constantly.
Take-profit orders are similar because they allow you to establish the rate at which you want open
positions closed in order to lock-in profits. You need to identify the rate at which to take the profits,
and the trading system closes the position without further intervention on your part.
11. 9/22/2013
Balance $103,033.82
Bought 200,000 units of GBP at $1.59034 USD
Sold 10,000 units of GBP at $1.59019 USD
Changed the trade type of trade for the 1900 Euros to ‘Take Profits’, so far the balance in the account has
increased by $38.2287, bringing the balance to $103,072.87
Sold GBP/USD at $1.5991; this seems like a good deal since we bought at $1.59034
Bought 20000 units of $1.35388; because we made profits of $38.2287 from the last purchase of Euro/USD.
Bought 100 units of Wall St. 30 at $15,480 each.
What does exposure mean?
When a company has cash flows that are denominated in a foreign currency, it becomes exposed to foreign
exchange risk, or in other words, has foreign exchange exposure. Foreign exchange exposure can also arise
when a firm has assets denominated in a foreign currency, because the value of those assets will fluctuate
with the exchange rate.6
6 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/transactionexposure.asp
12. 10/1/2013
Balance $101,577.88
Sold 5000 units of GBP at $1.6192 each
Current market price for GBP is $1.5903; since Yahoo.Finance indicated a positive change in GBP dollar
with a current market price of is $1.61925 making us a profit of $12.5613.
Sold 1000 units of Euro at $1.3520 each
Today was the First day of the US government shut down it was assumed that there would be a
decrease in the value of the USD ; however, according to Mr. Younger, there would be no effect on
the US dollar since traders and businesses are accustomed to the government shutdowns almost
every year.
Bought 2000 units of West Texas Oil at $102.144. This Price was very low compared to the price paid at the
beginning of this exercise. After an analysis of the market graph, it is highly likely the price will increase
over time.
Made a loss of $362.0015 on West Texas Oil, because Trailing was set to stop at $15.00.
Trailing Stop for EUR/USD made a loss of $0.8073.
13. 10/2/2013
Balance is $101,232.19
Sold 500 Units of West Texas Oil
Current Selling Price for West Texas Oil $104.156; One unit was purchased at $102.144; selling some of the
units at this point will make us a profit of $80.5678.
10/18/2013
Ordered 1000 units of Brent oil at $110.99, the trend on the graph(graph 6) indicated that the price of this
stock would be raise in the foreseeable future.
10/23/2013
Order of Brent Oil units expired, this is because no one was prepared to offer units at the asking price.
However, the trend for the market for this stock declined, so it is better to buy the now that the prices are
down.
10/25/2013
Ordered 1000 units of Brent Oil at $107.807
14. 10/31/2013
Current Balance
$101, 178.73
The Graph indicated that the cost trend for the AUD/USD has been low since May; it is currently raise; even
though, it is doing so at a slow pace. So buying now, when it is low, then selling it later after the value of
the AUD raises a little higher will make us a profit. (Refer to Graph 1)
Current market price for Brent Oil is $109.199; the Brent oil units on hand were purchased for $107.808
each; if we were to sell at this point would make a profit. However, the market trend, as indicated by the
graph (refer to graph 2) shows a highly likely chance of Market price increasing, so only half of the units
purchased will be sold now.
I t was noticed at this point that when buying any unit on the foreign market, do not use the trailing
stop option buying units, it usually results in a loss. The following are examples from the practice
account that resulted in a loss after selecting the trailing stop when buying units:
10/31/2013 made a loss of $91.7752
10/27/2013 made a loss $159.6968
10/1/2013 made a loss of $362.0015
10/1/2013 made a loss of $0.8073
09/22/2013 made a loss of $1452.9768
15. The current market value of West TX Oil is very cheap; it is on the decline, so we will purchase 5000 units
now and resell it when the price is raising.(refer to the graph 5)
Purchased a 5000 units of West TX Oil at $96.56; this is cheaper than the price we paid when we
purchased units earlier which was at $102.144 and $15.497.
Current Balance $101,886.90
Current value of West Texas Oil is very low (refer to graph 4 and 5), when the market trend is low buy
more units because it is cheap. Eventually the price will raise, when this happens you can sell to make a
profit.
Placed an order for 2000 units of West TX Oil at a quote of $94.642, this order expires in 1 day.
Without my doing so, the order was cancelled this happens when the most current exchange rate at
the OANDA servers lies outside the interval specified by the lower and upper bounds. The limit order
will be rejected and the limit order is erased from the system.
Bought 2000 units of West TX Oil at $95.04
16. 11/6/2013
Current Balance $103,114.95
It was noted, a profit in the amount of $1268.5693 was made on the selling of US Wall St. 30.
It was also noted that that we have to make a significant amount of interest payments on the Long position
for West TX Oil and US Wall St. 30.
The current value market value of GBP / USD is $1.6070. This is very high, so we will sell short. This will
allow us to sell units we don’t own now and buy it back when it is cheaper. We know it is going to get
cheaper because, as it is with most market trends, after a while of being high, the prices will drop.
17. 11/11/2013
Current Balance $ 103,312.74
The current selling Price for West TX Oil is $95.17
This is significantly higher than the price we paid to for the 2000 units we bought in the previous purchase
of this unit, which was $95.04.
It was noted, that the interest is very high at approximately $13 per day for long stock so we will, reverse
our long position by selling 2000 units of West TX Oil. However, it was noted that a loss was made after
you sold the 2000 unit; this is because the price was executed at $94.98. It should be noted that the prices
on the Forex markets fluctuate constantly, so a trader should be careful when executing a transaction.
Always recheck the offered and ask price.
18. CONCLUSION – Summary
What are some indicators for making profits on the Financial Market?
To profit from the foreign market, it is better to follow the market trend; this can be done from the use of
the graphs for each unit.
If the graph is showing an upward slope you would want to sell, however, you should wait until it is at
its highest or maximum value, so you can make as much profit as possible. However, you do not want to
wait too long, so that the prices offered goes down.
It is very important that you constantly check market trends, however, you are not required to do so as
frequently in the would have to when trading stocks.
Yahoo. Finance is a good source of information if you are unable to check the market trends on the
individual graphs often.
It is important that to keep track of the number of units you buy and sell. Long and short positions for the
different units can have very high interest rates. Calculate the profit you would make from the short or
long position, then calculate the amount of interest you will have to pay for the position. If you expect to
have a long or short position open for a long time, the interest you have to pay may higher than the profit
you will earn. In this situation, you would not want to do any transaction as it may result in a loss.
19. What are some of the mistakes to avoid?
When buying on the Finance markets, do not use the trailing stop option buying units, this usually
results in a loss.
Avoid trading too many units at the same time, pick a few and concentrate on them. Too many trades
can get confusing.
20. Summary tables on Round trips for different units
EUR/USD
Number of RoundTrips Total ProfitfromroundTrips Wins Losses Win/Loss% Average Win Average loss
6 $-11.4246 1 5 20 $38.4288 $10.04522
GBP/USD
Number of RoundTrips Total ProfitfromroundTrips Wins Losses Win/Loss% Average Win Average loss
6 $736.6003 4 2 200 $185.308825 $2.3175
WTICO/USD
Number of RoundTrips Total ProfitfromroundTrips Wins Losses Win/Loss% Average Win Average loss
6 $380.94 3 3 100 $298.4966667 $171.5
USD/CAD
Number of RoundTrips Total ProfitfromroundTrips Wins Losses Win/Loss% Average Win Average loss
2 $0.5604 2 0 200 $0.2802
US30/USD
Number of RoundTrips Total ProfitfromroundTrips Wins Losses Win/Loss% Average Win Average loss
3 $2313.29 2 1 200 $1883.135 $1452.98
BCO/USC
Number of RoundTrips Total ProfitfromroundTrips Wins Losses
Win/Loss
% Average Win Average loss
2 -249.7724 1 1 100 1.6996 251.472
37. Reference
http://www.cityindex.co.uk/forex-trading/what-is-forex-trading.aspx#sthash.MNXSEqam.dpuf
http://www.oanda.com/. - Dr. Michael Stumm and Dr. Richard Olsen, OANDA. OANDA Corporation. 1.5. Web. 11 Sept. 2013
http://www.ehow.com/about_6579066_foreign-exchange-exposure_.html - Eliah Sekirin, eHow.Version 8. Demand Media Inc. Web. 23 Oct.2013
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/leverage.asp - Investopedia. Not provide. ValueClick Inc. Web. 26 Sept. 2013
https://www.google.ca/webhp?hl=en&sa=N&tab=lw#hl=en&q=what+does+margin+used+mean%3F –
Kesavan Balasubramanuiam. Investopedia.Version . ValueClick Inc. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
http://fxtrade.oanda.ca/learn/intro-to-currency-trading/conventions/pips-
Dr. Michael Stumm and Dr. Richard Olsen, OANDA. OANDACorporation. 1.5. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
https://www.google.ca/webhp?hl=en&sa=N&tab=lw#hl=en&q=What+is+OANDA%3F-
Dr. Michael Stumm and Dr. Richard Olsen, OANDA. OANDACorporation. 1.5. Web. 11 Sept. 2013