Category Archives: Market Analysis

Technical Analysis Software – Five Features That Make Trading Easier

A technical analysis software is a great tool for any trader to predict the future market movement; this can be done by analyzing charts, utilizing backtesting, etc. If you have learnt manual trading, you must realize how confusing it is to analyze many charts, prices, and volume data in order to make a profitable entry decision.

Using a technical analysis software can greatly help you to make the best entry and exit decisions.

The features of this software may vary from the one that only help you in specific area to the one that will automate all the process for you. These are some features of a technical analysis software:

1. Charting
Charting is the bread and butter of technical analysis. Basically, no technical analysis can be done without charting. The chart form is a graphical interface that presents price, volume, and technical analysis indicator such as Elliot Wave, Fibonacci, Gann Fan, etc. There are time frame selection available so you can pick the one that match your strategies.

When selecting a time frame, you can choose from tick (seconds), minutes, daily, weekly, to monthly. Viewing historical data on a specific period of time is also possible; you just input the date range that you want.

2. Back Testing
Back testing is used when you are testing various trading strategies or systems. In order to do this, you convert your strategies into a set of rules and test it against a time frame of the historical data and see the results.

This is a good mehtod, but remember not to depend on it too much; it has proven to make many traders fails if not used carefully. The reason is they tested their strategies with historical data and keep modified it so it can be a profitable strategy during that time period. Most of the time, these tester will forget to test their modified strategy in current market condition. This is not a wise decision; a strategy that works well in 2001 but fail at the current condition is as good as trash.

If you have a strategy that worked with historical data, open a practice account and have it against current market; if it can survive and give you adequate profit for at least two months, then you have a working trading strategy.

3. Alerts
Forex traders using alert software to notify them when the particular conditions are met at the market. For instance: the prices has gone through support or resistance line. This notification will be send to the trader via screen pop up, email, short messages, instant messenger, or any other communication means.

4. Custom Indicators
In a good technical analysis software, you can use, customize, or combine various standard indicators such as MVA (Simple Moving Average), EMA (Exponential Weighted Moving Average), LWMA (Linear Weighted Moving Average), etc. If you have better skills, creating a new indicator to support your strategies is not impossible.

5. Broker Interface
Certain technical analysis software has feature that allows it to integrate itself with a brokerage platform, thus you can trades on a familiar platform. This will makes your trading process easier because you can input orders directly from the chart.

Using technical analysis software can make market analysis, deciding entry and exit prices, and predict future market movement a lot easier. If you enjoy analyzing market and don’t want to depend on somebody else for that, this software is a must have.

Database-Assisted Marketing Management

Database-assisted marketing management involves choosing target markets that not only get new customers but also retain the existing ones. It is a business subject, which is based on research and study of practical applications of marketing techniques and management of the marketing resources.

Anyone who practices techniques associated with this field could be referred to as a marketing manager with additional skills stemming from the ability to query and analyze database reports that improve marketing vision. The role of this kind of marketing manager is to use this analysis to influence the timing and level of customer demand so as to help the sales process.

This role of marketing manager is actually a virtual function and the ultimate naming convention depends on the size of the business and the type of product or service environment we are focusing on. If the work takes place in a huge production company there could be many general managers each assigned a particular product or product category. In this case, the manager would be responsible for database reporting analysis of the product or category and its profit and loss.

In a smaller business environment the marketing manager with database query and reporting credentials of a particular product or service may very well be the owner or partners of the company.

Creating and communicating best customer values can increase the number of customers. The steps taken and resources utilized to maintain existing customers and get new customers fall under database-assisted marketing management. The scope is quite large because it not only consists of developing a product, but also retaining it. The additional burden includes the constant renewal of proven sales and marketing concepts coupled with database query and data analysis necessary to sustain a growing business.

The term database-assisted marketing management has many definitions. The concept actually depends on individual firms and how the marketing department functions and activities of other departments like operations finance, pricing and sales. But our concerns rely mainly on the ability to obtain accurate sales and marketing data and when depending on a database system to deliver this data to us, we naturally turn to database verification, calibration and validation of its inputs and output processes.     

Before deciding about a marketing strategy, the company must do an in-depth study about their business, and the market. This is where database-assisted marketing management merges with strategic planning. Usually the marketing strategies are of three types, customer analysis, company analysis and competitor analysis. Using the customer analysis, the market is broken down into different types of customers.

The database-assisted marketing manager realizes the characteristics and other variables of each group. They are geographical location, demographic, customer behavior pattern and need. Groups of people might be recognized as to who can be less price sensitive with growing purchases. Such groups can be worked on by heavy investments as they are worth the money and time. They cannot only retain such customers and make new customers in this group but they can go to the very extent of turning back customers who don’t belong to this group.
Understanding the needs makes customer’s expectations to be met per their satisfaction, better than the competitors, which will lead to higher sales and obvious profit.

Company analysis highlights the cost structure and resources of the company and cost position when compared to competitors. The accounting executives use it to learn about the profit earned by a particular product. From time to time, audits are conducted to study about the strengths of various brands of the company. Here again the functions derived from software database validation audits strengthens the reach of data reliability.  

Marketers using competitor analysis build detail customer profiles using validated database queries and reporting techniques. It gives a clear picture about the strengths and weaknesses of the firm, when compared to a competitor. The competitor’s cost structure, resources, competitive positioning, degree of vertical integration, product differentiation, and profits are studied in detail and are compared to what each company is doing in those regards.

The database-assisted marketing analysis introduces additional query and reporting phases that help carry out the marketing research. The most common types of these researches are qualitative marketing research, quantitative marketing research, experimental techniques and observational techniques. All of these research marketing phases are enhanced with the employment of well known database validation processes that are approved by the company

Because of all the studies and researches conducted through the use of a software validated database, it is easier for the marketing manager to make strategic decisions and they then can design a marketing strategy to increase the profits and revenues of their company. This approach of database assistance extends the reach into profits over the long run, an increase in market share and revenue growth.

The Forex Market – Deciding When and When not to Trade

The movie ‘A Good Year’ begins with a scene that takes place in the financial centers of London, England where the protagonist Max Skinner earns over $70 million dollars in a single morning with his agressive trading style. There is a quote from that scene that is relevant to all traders: “The secret to riches is the same as the secret to comedy… Timing.”

In currency trading, knowing when to get in and knowing when to get out is what its all about. Having a profitable trading strategy is a great thing, but even the best trading strategy in the world will fall apart if it is not executed with proper entry and exit points. This article will show you a few forex market analysis methods that you can use to determine when is a good time to trade, and more importantly when to stay on the sidelines.

If you are already a trader then you have probably narrowed down a list of currency pairs (or perhaps just a single popular currency pair like the EUR/USD) that you feel comfortable trading and that fits your trading style. Once you know the pair you are trading, the next step is to open up your price charts and determine where the market is and where it is likely to go next.

One of the best ways to determine the overall trend of any set of price data is to overlay a 200-period moving average line. This principle applies whether you are looking at a 15-minute chart or a daily chart, and the nature of your trading strategy will determine how big of a price movement you are trying to capture and consequently which time frame is most relevant to your trading.

If you had a short-term forex trading strategy where you went for gains in the range of 10-30 pips per trade, a 10-minute or 15-minute chart would serve you well and you could look at your moving average line to see if the market is in an uptrend, a downtrend, or if there is no defined trend. You may likely want to stay out of the market if there is a sideways moving market because these market conditions are the hardest to predict.

It will also serve you well to bring up a longer term price chart for your chosen currency pair such as a 4-hour or daily chart and to bring up your 200-period moving average line on this chart as well to see what the overall activity of this currency pair has been over the past weeks and months. With this knowledge you will know what type of market conditions you are dealing with and whether you should trade an open position or stay out of the market.

Use Fundamental Marketing Tips for Great Success

The answers are not exhaustive but by prioritizing, implementing marketing strategies, marketing tools will all help to set up a marketing structure that will assist your business to grow more rapidly.


Achieving Customer Confidence


Customer uncertainty, cynicism, apathy, or perplexity is among the top reasons sales are not successful in business. It is your responsibility to present an image of knowledge, quality, reliability, first-rate customer service, and added value to your prospective customers to ensure that you gain their confidence.


If you haven’t visibly shown them the advantages and given them concrete reasons to do business with you, then they’ll be wary to commit and the sale will be lost to your rivals.


Effective Marketing


The probability of your business achieving brand recognition, integrity, and larger market share will significantly improve by marketing in many ways. The more ways the public is made aware of your business, the better it will be. Successful marketing is to a certain extent, the consequence of exposing your target market to your business name and your selling points regularly, in many different ways and as inexpensively as possible.


Genuine Passion


Having a genuine belief in your own business products or services will have a profound effect on prospective customers. Relaying your positive feelings in your sales copy and subsequent messages will instill greater faith in your business and make prospects feel safe and secure about purchasing from you.


Emotional Buying Triggers


Purchasing for the most part is an emotional decision. Encourage your prospects to feel good about dealing with your business, build a good rapport with them, and tell them how you can improve their lives or resolve their problems. This is an important achievement to make and is up there with the focus on the features and benefits of your product or service.


Disperse Mistrust


Inspire customer confidence in your business and prevail over possible feelings of mistrust by offering written guarantees of satisfaction when or if possible. In addition, you could show customer testimonies if possible.


Impose a Time Limit


Procrastination will be your biggest enemy where sales are concerned. Humans can be great procrastinators and you need to overcome their tendency to put it off until later or their indecisions to purchase now. People like that will always have a good reason to wait.


Therefore you should add a sense of urgency to your adverts, sales material and marketing messages. A number of prospects need to have a time limit or a reason to encourage them to take action immediately; this could be that there are limited supplies or that prices will increase after that time limit.


Form a Marketing Plan


A marketing plan is an essential element to the overall success of a business and a way to identify and get the most out of your strengths and opportunities. External pressures like your competitors should be analyzed their market position, share of the market etc.


Economic factors need to be considered, target market analysis. Marketing plans for your product or service, pricing, media strategies, expense budgets and any other thing that will be essential to facilitate the smooth running of your marketing campaigns.

Clearing The Path To Your Internet Marketing Strategies

It’s easy to set up a website for your organization, but takes some planning to make sure your website is set up for marketing online. One of the most important facets of online marketing that must be considered when you first put up your company site, and before you even consider an internet marketing plan, is creating a virtual environment for your website that will thrive in the business of “internet marketing”. Many organizations make the mistake of focusing their time and energy on internet marketing without first setting the groundwork, or laying the foundation, for their websites to thrive in the online environment. Below are some tips you may find useful in making sure your website is “internet marketing ready”.

Re-Discovering Your Niche Market:

In clearing the path to your internet marketing strategies, your organization must have a website specifically developed for the purpose of giving information, advice, products, or services to a community of online visitors. Notice, I said “online visitors”. You are now developing your site to serve the online community, so be sure to include them in your niche market analysis. This is an important first step toward online success. Once you know who your target market is, internet marketing becomes substantially easier. You may need to re-evaluate your target market, or re-discover who they are. Your target market online can be different than your target market offline. Whereas, your current marketing strategies may be geared toward your local community and offline marketing endeavors, it is first important to realize the necessity of thinking of your online site visitors as your new market.

Keeping In Touch With Consumers:

You’ll first need to consider your target market, and develop your website with your market in mind. If you will be selling products or services, consider your e-commerce solutions, such as shopping carts or other 3rd party e-commerce vendors. Think about how your potential clients may contact you, whether by email or web form. Also keep in mind that you will want to keep in touch with your online visitors, giving them an opportunity to subscribe to a newsletter or mailing list. All of these things should be taken into consideration during the build of your website, so be sure to address these issues with your web developer.

Branding Your Company:

Purchase a first level domain name so that your site visitors know they are visiting a legitimately professional company. You don’t want to send your web visitors to a subdomain such as Bravenet, for example. Although there are many options for free hosting online, be aware that these free subdomains may cost your business in the long run, when visitors are chased away because of the various banner advertising and annoying popup windows. This is where branding is especially important. Brand your company image so that it stands out professionally head and shoulders above your competitors. Purchase your own domain name and professional hosting account, and always keep your email addresses under the domain name of your organization (rather than using free mail accounts such as Hotmail or Yahoo).

Once you have considered rediscovered your target niche market, determined how you will keep in touch with your site visitors, and re-branded your company for a professional image, you are well on your way to clearing the path for a successful internet marketing plan that will propel your organization to the next level!