Saxo Bank launches new TradingFloor.com

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:28:22 GMT

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has announced the re-launch of TradingFloor.com, its trading commentary, news and analysis web site. It represents the first upgrade since the site was originally launched mid-2009.

The new site still provides a wealth of information about financial markets to help users make informed decisions when investing. Specifically it covers forex, equities, commodities and macroeconomic data, but it now also reflects the overall goal of building a closer rapport with users to allow for greater engagement and more interaction.

"The new release signifies Saxo Bank's ongoing commitment to improving the site's value to clients, prospects and the Bank," said Hugh Taggart, the head of Saxo Bank's Content & Strategy Team. "The upgrade also represents the start of an ambitious roadmap to include closer integration with social media channels."

Some of the improvements include:
- User accounts, a unique user log-in function allowing users to create their own customised dashboards, set and save their interests (including following individual blogs and authors and linking their Twitter accounts) and comment on and 'like' content
- Refreshing new branding and overall design
- More analysis from a wider range of sources, including qualified guest contributors
-Educational content on forex, forex options and contracts for difference (CFDs) from Saxo Bank and its trading staff
- Improved content RSS/Atom feed capabilities

The new TradingFloor.com still contains an economic calendar, stock screener and basic free forex charting package.

About TradingFloor.com
TradingFloor.com is hosted, owned and managed by Saxo Bank A/S. The site provides commentary and analysis on trading in the financial markets. Content is delivered in text and video format. The site’s contributors and bloggers include economists, analysts, trading advisors and journalists employed by Saxo Bank. The site also hosts content from other individuals and organisations. The website is embedded in all of Saxo Bank's trading platforms.

About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a leading online trading and investment specialist. The three specialised and fully integrated trading platforms; the browser-based SaxoWebTrader, the downloadable SaxoTrader and the SaxoMobileTrader application are available in over 20 languages. Saxo Asset Management accommodates high-net worth private clients and institutional investors. In 2011 Saxo Bank continued the diversification of its business and launched Saxo Privatbank. The Saxo Bank Group is headquartered in Copenhagen with offices throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East and Australia.

TradingFloor.com releases video on the effects of oil on stocks

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:59:31 GMT

TradingFloor.com, the home of Saxo Bank's trading commentary, financial research and analysis, has realised a video discussing the current oil situation and what effect it is having on stocks.

With Gadaffi still holding out in Libya and the spreading of protests to Oman, the underlying concern about oil supply instability is set to continue to impact stock performance for at least the next few months. In the video Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, Equity Strategist at Saxo Bank's TradingFloor.com, discussed how he feels the market will be affected by the oil situation.

Christian talked about the current outlook for the equity market while there is this backdrop of concern about oil prices, supply and stability. While this is seen to pose a real issue for the equities market, Christian believes this will continue for a long time with a mixture of good and bad days. The good days will see the price of oil drop below the $100 mark, but the prices will rise above it again, which is a less desirable outcome.

However, while this looks set to continue for some time, Christian commented that the oil trading situation is not the main problem, but that it will be an underlying problem for the next few months. Due to the fact the oil situation is so well known, it is making the market nervous of what will happen to the oil supply. However, the countries that are currently involved in the unrest do not pose that big a threat to oil, and a major threat would only arise if major countries like Saudi Arabia became involved in a revolution, which Christian finds unlikely.

Additionally, Christian discussed what is on the horizon that could provide some relief from the current situation, if only temporary. The U.S. macro numbers have been a bit soft lately, but if they pick up in the same way as they did at the end of 2010 then it would show that the U.S. recovery is coming and is very strong. However, at the opposite side of the scale, southern countries in the Eurozone have not been fairing as well, as they suffer from further bad debt.

Finally, Christian talked about whether oil and gas stocks are the only winners in the current limbo market. Christian believes that benefits are also felt by oil drilling companies, oil storing companies and shipping companies who transport the oil, as these all benefiting from the higher oil prices.

Groups who are not experiencing benefits from the situation are airlines, who are quite dependant on the oil prices, and car manufacturers, as petrol is less affordable if the prices continue to rise.

About TradingFloor.com:
TradingFloor.com is the web portal home of Saxo Bank's trading commentary, financial research and analysis.

TradingFloor.com's diverse contributors who range from macroeconomists to trading advisors, all strive to deliver insightful, enlightened commentary on trading in the financial markets - particularly on forex and forex trading, equities, stocks and commodities. Tradingfloor.com also publishes periodical model-based research and analysis to help longer-term traders allocate funds between and within asset classes.

TradingFloor.com's commentary and analysis is delivered in text and video via the website, where users can watch forex videos and receive information on products such as CFDs.

The website is also embedded in all Saxo Bank's trading platforms. Users can also subscribe to content from TradingFloor.com, or from their favorite contributor, via RSS feed or via Twitter.

Saxo Bank launches new morning markets and trading notes on TradingFloor.com

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:22:29 GMT

Saxo Bank, the specialist in online trading and investment, has launched two new European morning publications entitled the 'Morning Kickoff @ Saxo Bank' and the 'Saxo Bank Charts of the Day' which will be published through the Tradingfloor.com site.

The trading Morning Kickoff @ Saxo Bank will deliver analysis and trading commentary on both short-term intraday events and the longer-term trends which are important to traders dealing Forex - foreign exchange or equity markets.

The Saxo Bank Charts of the Day, on the other hand, provides a snapshot of key graphical indicators traders should be watching to detect any changes in market trends and sentiment.

David Karsbol, Saxo Bank's Chief Economist, said, "The creation of these two notes marks our (Saxo Bank / Tradingfloor.com) desire to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the market drivers without cluttering up an already information-overloaded world.

"We have balanced the need for fundamental information on what has happened, what is about to happen and what could transpire, with a set of charts to help understand the relationships between key instruments and indicators."

Tradingfloor.com is a website bringing traders insightful commentary, analysis and research to keep them informed on strategies and news in Forex, FX-options, stocks, commodities and CFDs. Some of its key publications and channels include:

- FX and equities comments several times daily by the Saxo Bank team of analysts and traders
- Weekly commodities update
- Video content offered regularly on the website, as well as on the Video.saxobank.com channel and YouTube
- Trading Floor's Twitter account

Top line trading and investment information and markets research drives profitable decision-making, making Tradingfloor.com an important trading and investment tool for anyone involved in the markets.

Tradingfloor.com is owned and managed by Saxo Bank - the firm behind the award-winning SaxoTrader platform - and replaces the Investor site and newsletter.

About tradingfloor.com
Trading Floor delivers tradable knowledge about key industry events and global trends within the Forex and commodities markets. Trading Floor aims to inform, inspire and provide an entertaining read for the contemporary trader.

About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is renowned for its award-winning online Forex trading offering of 155 FX crosses.

Saxo Bank is a worldwide fully regulated operator in investment and trading services catering to investors and institutional clients. Clients all over the world can trade FX, CFDs, Stocks, Fixed income, Futures, Commodity CFDs, ETFs, Options and other derivatives using its multiple and award-winning, multi-asset online platforms: SaxoTrader, SaxoWebTrader and SaxoMobileTrader.

Saxo Bank has a proven track record and is a trusted and trading business facilitator for licensed financial institutions. The Saxo Bank White Label Solution programme combines the bank's technology, resources and liquidity with its institutional client´s local market knowledge, regional expertise and language skills.

Trading Floor unveils new Forex strategy to strengthen portfolios and reduce volatility

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:55:38 GMT

Trading Floor has unveiled a new Forex Portfolio Model created by Saxo Bank's strategy team.

The Portfolio model offers a way to reduce total portfolio volatility in the wake of the stock market rally that saw many investors turn away from Forex trading.

"Many investors are staying out of the Forex market - either because they lost money and have given up, or because they simply don't know where to put their money," said David Karsbøl, Chief Economist at Saxo Bank and Trading Floor commentator. "The Saxo Bank Forex Portfolio Model is a way of re-activating this idle money by applying them in a low-cost and relatively low risk fashion."

The portfolio model is based on the Saxo Bank Fundamental Indices that measure the underlying economic strength (contraction or expansion) of 10 currencies: NZD, AUD, CAD, JPY, EUR, GBP, USD, CHF, SEK, and NOK. This should give a theoretical 45 possible currency crosses, but the model subtracts the12 most illiquid and expensive to trade and looks at 33.

The allocation signals are generated by the spreads in the fundamental indices and the idea is to always allocate more capital to the currencies with a relatively strong economic activity (and positive rate outlook) and fund the positions by going short on the currencies with weak economic activity (weak rate outlook).

The model allocates capital after changes in the spreads between the fundamental indices. For example, if the Eurozone Fundamental Index suddenly drops relative to the US Fundamental Index, the model (everything else being equal) would reduce exposure to EURUSD. Additionally, positions are scaled up or down according to the volatility of the currency crosses in question so that the expected risk-adjusted return for positions in EURCHF is the same as for positions in EURCAD.

"The model is always well diversified and is always in the market," said David Karsbøl. "It is therefore not exposed to timing issues."

The model doesn't use stops, since the overall volatility of returns tends to be low (especially on single leverage). One particularly interesting feature is that returns tend to be almost completely uncorrelated to returns in stock markets (correlation = 0.1) and other risky asset classes (correlation to the CRB Index is 0.11).

In back testing since 1991, the model has produced annual returns of 5.34% using single leverage, 10.58% using double leverage and 15.67% with triple leverage.

"Therefore, if the back-testing is indicative of future returns, it would make a lot of sense to use part of one's portfolio to allocate to the FX Model and thereby decreasing overall portfolio volatility without lowering returns too much or at all, depending on the leverage used."

About Trading Floor:
Trading Floor is run by Saxo Bank - one of the most successful of the new generation of trading platforms. Trading Floor delivers trading strategy and knowledge about key industry events and global trends within commodity markets including CDF trading and Forex strategy. Good information drives profitable decision-making, making Trading Floor an important tool for anyone involved in the markets. Trading Floor aims to inform, inspire and provide an entertaining read for the contemporary trader.

Trading Floor adds video content from Saxo Banks team of experts

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:20:21 GMT

Trading Floor, the forex, equity and commodities blog written and run by Saxo Bank’s strategy team, is now adding regular video comments throughout the European trading session.

The comments on macroeconomic indicators, financial issues and earnings releases will complement the Daily Trading Stance video released every morning and the weekly forex options and equity update released every Friday.

Videos are recorded in the studio on the Saxo Bank trading floor, minutes after the news is released. Saxo Bank's chief economist, David Karsbol, said: "The advantage of video is that it fills in the gap between reporting the headlines and the more detailed research notes we publish.

He added: "We comment on macroeconomic indicators or earnings or central bank decisions in a way that is fast, but also allows us to give more detail in a way that allows our blog visitors to get to know us a little better."

Trading Floor has been running since May 2009 and features expert commentary starting every morning with The Daily Trading Stance that Saxo Bank’s strategists distribute to clients giving a rundown of the main themes of the day in FX, equities, FX options and commodities.

The commentary is prepared by David Karsbøl, Equity Strategist Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg and forex expert John Hardy. Commodities expertise is provided by Ole S Hansen and Alan Plaughmann. Also commenting are Market Strategist Mads Koefoed and Research Analyst Robin Bagger-Sjöbäck.

The Daily Trading Stance, daily commentaries and Weekly Forex and Equities Update are available on the Trading Floor web site and on Trading Floor’s dedicated YouTube channel.

About Trading Floor:
Trading Floor is run by Saxo Bank - a global investment bank specialising in online trading and investment across the international financial markets. Trading Floor provides up to date forex news and market place analysis.

About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is an online trading and investment specialist, enabling forex trading for clients, CFD trading, stocks, futures trading, options and other derivatives, as well as providing portfolio management via SaxoWebTrader and SaxoTrader, the leading online trading platforms. SaxoTrader is available directly through Saxo Bank or through one of the Bank's global partners. White Labelling is a significant business area for Saxo Bank, and involves the Bank's online trading platform being customised and branded for other financial institutions and brokers. Saxo Bank has more than 120 White Label Partners and boasts thousands of clients in over 180 countries. Saxo Bank is headquartered in Copenhagen with offices in Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and the United Arab Emirates.

Trading Floor expert predicts positive economy growth for late 2009

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:14:33 GMT

Trading Floor columnist and Saxo Bank chief economist David Karsbol says the American economy will return to positive GDP growth in the second half of 2009; however, the reliance of the recovery on government spending and inventory re-stocking may mean the growth is not sustainable.

Karsbol says consumer deleveraging will continue and demand will remain subdued. US unemployment will continue to rise over the coming months, further hindering debt repayments and consumption.

Saxo Bank's fourth quarterly financial outlook for 2009 is available for download on the Trading Floor site, which has been running since May 2009. Trading Floor gives daily and quarterly outlook and trading analysis of Forex, Equities, FX options, CFD trading, and commodities.

The Saxo Bank quarterly report is put together by the bank's strategy team of chief economist David Karsbol, chief equity strategist Christian Blaabjerg, consulting FX strategist John Hardy and market strategist Mads Koefoed.

The quarterly outlook predicts that monetary stimuli and government deficits are likely to continue, leading to a 'Japanisation' of financial markets - higher price-to-earnings ratios and lower yields on both corporate bonds and treasuries.

Karsbol added: "Because Western economies are more flexible and able to embrace the necessary changes, we do not think that things will get as bad as was the case in Japan.

"However, it is increasingly evident that the current scenario in the West bears a close resemblance to post-1990 Japan, and it looks progressively like we have entered a new regime in which everyone assumes that large companies will be bailed out. This means that default risk is 'priced out', and we see higher price-to-earnings ratios and lower yields on fixed income."

With maximum stimulus in the rear view mirror and austerity and exit strategies increasingly on the menu, Forex trading as a whole may begin to shift away from the rosier recovery projection that is already priced in. This could likely mean the exhaustion of many of the trends that are currently in place in FX, where so many trades are aligned along the ubiquitous risk appetite axis.

A USD short seems to be a vote for the global recovery and has become the 'newer and better' carry trade. "The very low US yields and need for external financing and increasing reluctance from China to buy greenbacks is a toxic cocktail that could drive the currency even weaker in the near term," Karsbol said.

Looking towards the end of the year, market dynamics indicate a shift from this year's equity market rally. Global equity markets rallied 59% from the March lows through to August, and looking ahead, dynamics indicate a shift in performance towards micro trends and sector-specific growth and valuation stories.

"Most indicators of economic activity are stabilising, but at very depressed levels. We believe investors should continue to take cyclical risk through regional allocations, with particular emphasis on emerging markets over Europe and the US, where it will be difficult to maintain and improve growth."

About Trading Floor
Trading Floor is run by Saxo Bank - one of the most successful of the new generation of trading platforms . Trading Floor delivers tradable knowledge and stock trading analysis about key industry events and global trends within Forex and commodity markets. Good information drives profitable decision-making, making Trading Floor an important tool for anyone involved in the markets.

Trading Floor to open up trading information for forex and equities

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:00:33 GMT

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, is addressing the problem of market information overload with its TradeMaker module to complement its trading platforms, as well as a new Trading floor website.

The information barriers of the past that limited trading to professional traders with a Bloomberg or a Reuter's screen have long gone. The quantity of trading information and Forex news available to all types of traders on a home or business PC has increased to such an extent that now it is possible to trade not only stocks, but also Forex and more exotic instruments such as Futures and CFDs.

But while speed is vital when making trading decisions, speed without solid strategic insight won't bring any advantages. The main problem is that as the cost of information has fallen, the volume has increased accordingly. Trying to find a way through this jungle of FX crosses, quotes and trades is sometimes a challenge even for the most experienced trader.

TradeMaker is a real-time trading idea generator that is part of Saxo Bank's award winning trading platforms. It provides ten daily intra-day trading ideas on major currency crosses and CFDs including intuitive charts and interface, as well as one click pre-populated trade tickets or the ability to tailor the idea to personal trading strategies.

"Using the information and services provided by TradeMaker, we hope to be encouraging those traders that are looking to enter the market but need more direction," said Patrick Mortensen, Global Head of Partner Marketing at Saxo Bank.

"We have already received feedback that tells us users actually feel more secure in their trading decisions, as TradeMaker enables them to better identify and manage the risks involved in the market," said Patrick Mortensen.

The advent of the electronic trading platform has brought an end to the 'open outcry' of busy, noisy trading floors. As traders have retreated behind desks and screens, the shouting, signaling and pulling faces have disappeared. And with it has gone some of the human interaction that helped inform the markets.

Trading Floor is an attempt by Saxo Bank to bring some of that noise back by getting the markets rubbing shoulders, dealing - and shouting. Trading Floor provides up to date, forex news and market place analysis.

The aim of the new Tradingfloor site is to bring market participants together through the web site. Saxo Bank provides the web site and the expertise of its strategists and analysts and those of its partners.

The Daily Trading Stance is the mainstay of Tradingfloor's daily offering. It is the position that Saxo bank's own strategists distribute to traders with a rundown of the main themes of the day in FX, equities, futures, and FX options.

The commentary is prepared by Saxo Bank's Chief Economist David Karsbøl and Saxo Bank's Equity Strategist Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, with additional advice from Forex expert John hardy, who was named as one of the most influential people in Forex in 2008. Commodities expertise is provided by Ole S Hansen and Alan Plaughmann. Tradingfloor.com also has its own YouTube Trading Floor channel which is updated daily with the day's trading information and delivered by David or Christian.

The speed of trading has picked up tremendously in recent years with the use of automated and semi-automated systems. But the systems are only as good as the information they receive. The key to success in online trading is to find reliable sources of solid tradable information.

About Trading Floor:
Trading Floor is run by Saxo Bank - a global investment bank specialising in online trading and investment across the international financial markets

Top Articles Tagged with trading-floor