James Bond now finds himself snared in a trap of a different kind. He’s moved from the world of espionage to the world of fake celebrity endorsements. Bitcoin scammers have appropriated the iconic image of Bond star Daniel Craig to shill their automated trading scheme which is named “Bitcoin Revolution”. It’s not just Craig either. Countless celebrities have found their faces plastered on advertisements for scam brokers that steal funds from their clients. With the price of Bitcoin on the rise, these scams will likely continue to thrive for the foreseeable future.

A New Kind of Online Finance Fraud

It’s important to note that these brokers aren’t offering the chance to invest in Bitcoin itself. The high-security nature of cryptocurrencies makes them a poor choice for fake investments. Instead, the brokers are offering contracts for differences. These assets are derivatives of Bitcoin that follow it’s price changes. It’s like betting on which way the price will go, up or down. These assets are hazardous even if you get them from a real broker, but these scam brokers won’t pay out even if you do bet right.

While the word of James Bond is good enough to get people to click, these scammers need a little something else to get their victims to bite. The bait they’ve chosen is automated trading. Brokers claim that they have advanced algorithms that can predict the market and make trades on their clients’ behalf. Any broker claiming to offer automated trading is trying to scam you. If a system like this did exist, the broker would not be soliciting novice traders online with fake celebrity endorsements.

Specter of Fraud Looms Over Bond Star

Likely of the most well-known British actor today, Daniel Craig has been a star of stage and screen for decades. Since 2006, he’s been this generation’s James Bond. More than just a movie star, Craig is involved with several international organizations that remove land mines and other hazardous materials from war-torn communities. He’s one of the most easily recognizable actors out there, making him a perfect pick for a fake celebrity endorsement.

Online investment scams often use fake endorsements to promote their websites. Daniel Craig’s image has been appearing in a number of these ads recently. A major scam broker has been running ads claiming to be endorsed by Daniel Craig. They say that the Bond star has made big money investing with them, and the hundreds of other people have followed his advice and done the same. In reality, Daniel Craig has no affiliation with the broker in question. If he had invested any money with them, he would have lost it all by now.

Keep One GoldenEye Open for Online Fraud

Aside from Mr. Bond, you only live once. Losing your savings to online investment fraud is no way to live that life. Always research your options carefully, never invest impulsively in get-rich-quick schemes. Choose a broker with a longstanding reputation of honoring the best interest of their clients. Don’t invest with an unregistered broker that you found through an ad on Facebook. Social media platforms don’t vet their ads before running them. You’re responsible for avoiding the scams found there.

November is traditionally the best month for investors, this is especially true during an election year in the US. The reason for this is the markets manage to get clarity about the administration going forward. If there is uncertainty or doubt about the ability of the administration to aid entrepreneurship, this can have a negative effect on the value of stocks amidst speculation. We have done a full analysis of popular stocks, exchanges and cfd trading platforms throughout the internet in order to see which stocks are the most popular.

With the post-election volatility, we are seeing some massive stock buying opportunities. But don’t worry, we have done all the research for you and below is a list of stocks that we think will see great growth in the month of November. Read on to find out which stocks we have chosen and why.

Visa

Visa is a powerhouse in the payment processing industry. It is an extremely profitable company that pays out a decent dividend with a five-year growth rate of 20.11%. Visa has even gone on to beat their projected earnings estimate regardless of the current global pandemic.

Visa stock is valued at $212.70 which is currently down roughly 18% from its highs earlier in the year. Purchasing Visa stocks now is seen by many analysts as a discounted price as previous trends show this 18% drop is down to its support line. Given the volatility of the market, we are likely to see a bullish trend upwards in the value of the stock as we are heading into the end of this quarter and a new administration in the US.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA)

This is a massive Chinese tech company that has businesses in ecommerce, retail, internet and technology. The current worth per share is $306.87, this value has almost doubled over the last year showing incredible growth of 85%, and right now they also have a profit margin of 32.00%. This rate of growth shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. They own multiple businesses under their brand which means they have diverse revenue streams.

The next quarter ending in December 2020 they are expecting to see revenue growth of 51%, stabilising to 38% in 2021. They recently invested ~$3.6B in Sun Art Retail Group which is a Chinese supermarket. Deals such as these will only serve to increase Alibaba’s profit margins and stock value.

Etsy

This is an American ecommerce company that focuses on the niche of handmade, custom and vintage goods. At the end of last year, the stock was hovering around the $50.00 mark, and at the beginning of the pandemic they took a big hit. Since then, the stock has seen exponential growth, increasing their value per stock to $139.73. They currently have a profit margin of 13.78% and a return equity of 32.08%.

They do not currently pay put a dividend but are still able to attract investors with the longevity and rate of growth they have achieved in this past year. It is for these reasons that we have included Etsy onto our list of most popular stocks in November.

There you have it, our selection of the most popular stocks in the month of November. These companies have been included for the durability they have shown, throughout a time which has been financially difficult. By showing adaptive innovation, it has allowed them to continue growing and they have positioned themselves at the forefront of their respective industries.

When the final report of the Banking Royal Commission came out in 2019, the conclusion was clear – things need to change in the financial system. The changes envisioned by the experts encompass all the areas and all the levels in the banking industry, from the high-ranking executives down to the employees that work directly with the clients.

The culture of greed must end

The final report of the Australian Royal Commission into Misconduct in Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry uncovered an appalling array of dishonest practices, many of Australia’s leading banks and financial institutions implementing a top-to-bottom culture of greed that cost the customers millions of dollars. The report presented 76 recommendations meant to prevent such a scandal from happening in the future. Let’s have a look at the most relevant changes suggested by the commission.

Background checks for brokers

While the scandal exposed institutional malpractice and a sales-driven culture, much of the blame resides with the brokers that interacted directly with the customers.

According to the commission, many brokers deliberately offered customers loans they could not afford and on such terms that would drive many people to bankruptcy, which they actually did.

According to the report, to prevent such things from happening again brokers must act with the best interests of the customer in mind. This means that, for the future, a broker could be fined for disregarding the customer’s financial situation on the excuse that it was the company policy that made him act that way.

Australian Brokers will have to undergo pre-employment background checks like the ones provided by the Australian National Character Check (link) to make sure they do not have prior misconduct charges on their criminal record. For the customer this means that a dishonest broker fired from a financial institution for misconduct will not be able to find a position in another bank or lending institution. Further information on commonly asked questions about Australian criminal record checks can be found here.

Background checks for financial advisers

The Banking Royal Commission recommended in its final report that banking licence holders should report to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission any concerns about the professional conduct of independent financial advisers. To keep things under control and the customers protected, such reports should be made on a quarterly basis.

One way of making sure financial advisers take their responsibilities seriously is imposing mandatory financial services background checks on the profession. According to the commission, the profession will be governed by a single body and financial advisers will have to be registered with it.

Special provisions for agricultural bankers

The Banking Royal Commission dedicates an important part of its report to the agricultural banking sector. The commission was appalled by the extent of the misconduct in this area, with many distressed farmers being burdened with disastrous loans.

First of all, the report recommends checks on all the banking employees working in this particular field to make sure they have a reasonable experience in agricultural matters. At the same time, they should undergo pre-hire background checks to exclude people convicted for gross misconduct from ever working in the same capacity again and destroying the lives of other farmers.

Studying the dynamics of an asset with the help of a chart can help determine the direction it is moving in. There are a lot of graphs and charts of all shapes and, whereas some of them are pretty self-explanatory, others are a bit more complex. 

How to Read Forex Charts

Forex trading is all about anticipating trends: their ups, downs and reverse movement starting points. 

No matter the asset you are dealing with, you must know your charts. Trading is all about reading charts, so naturally, the better your technical analysis is, the more success trading can bring you. 

If there is one thing we all know about learning, it’s that practice is everything. This article offers the fundamental techniques you can apply, when studying charts, to improve your trading experience. 

Traders that make decisions based on the charts are known as technical traders. They rely on chart and indicator tools to identify peaking trends and price points, which enables them to enter and exit the markets at just the right moment.

Then, there are the fundamental traders, who make their decisions based on what the news are. They rely on changes in economic growth, oil supply, employment data, interest rate changes, war and political instability to make the correct prediction.

Before jumping to patterns and indicators, it is important to understand what a chart actually is. To put it simply, a chart is a sequence of changes in prices of assets depicted over a certain time frame and illustrated in a graph. 

Understanding trends

There are two types of trends you will hear most often about: the Bullish trend and the Bearish one. The Bullish trend is an upward trend (because the bull is pushing the prices higher, when charging upwards with its horns), whereas the Bearish trend is its opposite ー a downward one (because the bear pushes the prices down with its claws). There is also the horizontal (also known as sideways or flat) trand, that moves across. 

Whenever an asset’s price hits the same highs (resistance line) and the same lows (support line) at least three times in a row, we call it a ranging market ー because it is trading in a range. 

Types of trading charts

There are three types of trading charts that are most popular among professional traders. Each chart represents pieces of data helpful for the traders. How useful the chart is, of course, also depends on the skillfulness of the trader. 

The line chart is the most basic chart, but also a first step to successful technical analysis. The chart only offers one piece of information ー the asset’s closing price displayed over time. The closing price is known to be considered the most important part of data analysis. The line chart is formed by connecting the asset’s closing prices over time, neglecting the visual representation of the trading range or any information about the opening prices. 

The bar chart offers more information on the market as it includes a few more fragment details to each data point on the graph. The bar chart consists of a sequence of vertical lines, each of which represents trading data. Unlike the line chart, it offers information on the asset’s highs and lows, as well as the opening and closing prices. The opening and closing prices are visualised by a short horizontal line. 

The opening price is indicated by a “dash” on the left side of the vertical bar, whereas the closing price is the “dash” on the right side. Therefore, if the left dash is lower than the right one, we can tell that there has been an increase in the price. Moreover, in this case, the dash will be green, black or blue. If we are looking at a price decrease, the dash will be red.

The candlestick chart is pretty similar to the bar chart, but offers more information. Both charts have the vertical lines representing the price range within a certain trading period, but the body of the candle also shows us changes in the market with the help of colors. 

A closer look at the Candlestick chart

All the way back in the 17th century, the Japanese started applying technical analysis when trading on rice. This led to the modern-day popularity of the Japanese Candlesticks. 

The data displayed with candlesticks includes the asset’s highs, lows, opening and closing prices.

The empty and the colored parts are called the body. The thin lines above and below the body represent high and low ranges and are also known as shadows, wicks or tails. 

The lines illustrated on top of the body will let you know the high and its closing price, whereas the bottom line will show the low and its closing price. 

The colors of the body can vary, depending on the broker, but they remain pretty self-explanatory: the green represents a price increase, the red ー a decrease. 

An empty candlestick lets you know that the closing price is higher than the opening price, which puts a huge “buy” sign on the asset. A colored candlestick represents the opposite, which means you should sell immediately. 

You should also pay attention to the size of the body, which is an indicator of how big the difference in the price is. A short body, also known as Doji, shows that the price movement is insignificant and is perceived as a consolidation pattern. 

Doji is an essential component of the candlestick charts, as they provide information in a sequence of candlestick patterns. They form whenever the asset’s opening and closing prices are not too different from one another. 

The Doji candles prove to be useful when they show traders that the buying pressure is starting to fade out following a long green candlestick or when the selling pressure is weakening and supply and demand are evening out after a small red candle. 

Graphical Analysis

There are numerous patterns you can identify when looking at a chart. The chart patterns are conditioned by the fact that human psychology is not that flexible, which leads to history repeating itself over and over. 

Chart patterns reflect the psychology of the financial markets and are paid attention to based on the assumption that if they worked in the past, they will work in the future too. 

They can offer clues regarding what direction the asset is going to be moving in. Patterns help form a connection between trends based on the significant price movements. Analysis of chart patterns is a separate trading strategy you can use to your advantage. 

There are a few most essential patterns, Triangles is one of them. It is a continuous pattern that shows the battle between the rising and the falling prices. It lets you assume the price will eventually be moving in the direction it was taking before the pattern was identified. 

Another important pattern is the double top, which includes a price having two highs – this leads us to being sure the price will soon be going down again. The opposite of this is the double bottom – two lows, that will naturally be followed by an upward trend. 

Hopefully, these examples help you understand just how important it is to be able to identify a pattern. 

Using Indicators and Studies on Your Chart

As you become more familiar with reading and analyzing charts, you will eventually start using additional tools (like technical indicators) to measure the market volatility’s rate and shifts in value. 

Technical indicators help you see when the markets are “oversold” or “overbought”. When these situations occur, markets tend to struggle with sticking to a certain direction, which often is a sign of inevitable reverse movement. 

Then, there are momentum indicators, like oscillators, that measure the speed of the asset’s price changes. Most commonly used momentum indicators are the RSI, Stochastic or the MACD. Other forms of analysis, like the Bollinger Bands, will help you identify the time to enter or exit a trade. 

Trend line indicators, like the Moving Average, will help determine the direction a trend is moving in by neglecting all the smaller price movements. 

All of these indicators are offered on most trading platforms and can be used together to ensure you are making the right call on the market.