Chinese Central Bank Cut Reserve Requirements to increase liquidity and stimulate the economy

 Bank of China stated that it is diminishing the reserve requirements in order to increase liquidity and stimulate the economy.

On its website, the Bank said that they're cutting the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points from January 6, which would release around 800 billion yuan into the economy.

This would be the eight-time the bank cuts its reserve requirements since the beginning of 2018. It would help the Chinese economy to face a possible liquidity scarcity due to rising public debt levels and increasing cash demand during the spring festival.

“Looking ahead, there’s still room for more reserve ratio cuts in 2020,” said an analyst at China International Capital Corp, “Should economic growth show more signs of stabilization and recovery after the cut, it’s likely the central bank will slow down the pace of further reserve ratio cuts,” she added.

The Chinese economy is currently growing at its slowest pace in 30 years, as it grew 6 percent in the third quarter of last year, a fact that many took as a sign of economic deceleration.

Concerning growth levels, the bank highlighted that Chinese growth remains resilient despite the high level of pressure is facing due to Trump's trade war against the big Asian economy. Both countries' negotiation teams recently announcing the signing of phase one of the trade deal, which would put an end to the trade war.

Analysts expect the Chinese government to further stimulus measures in 2020 in order to avoid stronger economic slowdown.

The institution also aims to keep a flexible monetary policy and to keep working to keep loans cheaper, as they expect the economy to keep facing pressures. It also plans to keep the yuan stable.

"The stance of prudent monetary policy has not changed," stated a bank official.

By 9:26 GMT the Chinese Yuan remained almost steady against the US dollar, gaining 0.0374 percent and hitting the 0.1437 level.

Related Posts:

➤ China stopped British stock due to political tensions

Hyundai and Kia considering 2020 sales after target missing in 2019

SEOUL (Reuters Report)

South Korea's Hyundai Motor (KS:005380) and Kia Motors (KS:000270) turned in their lowest sales in seven years in 2019 as business in China crashed. missing their target for 2019 sales, but forecast better numbers for 2020.

Weak 2019 sales underline the challenges Hyundai Motor Group has been facing, including a string of annual profit declines at Hyundai and higher costs to develop future technologies even as the global auto market stagnates.

"The market environment is very uncertain and internal and external challenges will intensify," Group heir apparent Euisun Chung said on Thursday. But he reiterated that the Group would continue to focus on profitability and technology investment.

Hyundai and Kia reported a 3% drop in their combined global sales to 7.19 million vehicles for 2019, falling short of their target to sell 7.6 million vehicles.

Their sales have slumped in China, the world's biggest auto market, offsetting a recovery in the United States where demand for their new sport utility vehicles and a favorable currency exchange rate have helped.

Hyundai and Kia, however, said they expect combined sales to rise 5% to 7.54 million vehicles this year, without giving any further details. That compares with a 0.4% growth in global market projected by its think tank and a 0.9% contraction forecast by Moody Investors Service.

But analysts caution it will be a daunting task for the car makers, together the world's fifth-biggest by sales, to meet their target for this year.

"I think Hyundai Motor's target may be too aggressive ... my guess is that it assumed a recovery in China, but that's not easy," said Kim Pyung-mo, analyst at DB Financial Investment.

"Hyundai underperformed the (China auto) market in November, and it's too early to say that China's industrial demand will be seeing a complete recovery."

The global auto market is widely expected to stay sluggish in 2020, as demand shrinks further in the United States and Europe, signaling more competition for Hyundai and Kia.

Hyundai and Kia 2020 PLAN:

Hyundai and Kia plan to launch redesigned SUVs like Hyundai's Tucson and Kia's Sorento in 2020.

They will also accelerate their push for mobility services such as ride-sharing, and have plans to establish operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, said Chung, Hyundai Motor Group's executive vice chairman.

The Group, which in 2019 announced a joint venture with U.S. autonomous driving technology company Aptiv (N:APTV), plans to operate autonomous vehicles in select regions in 2023, and reach commercial production by the second half of 2024, Chung added.

Hyundai Motor shares fell 2.1% prior to the sales announcement, while Kia Motors stocks dropped 4.1%.

Top 10 Investment Stories of the Decade (2010-2020)

Investing.com Report

The last 10 years were very kind to long-term equity investors. The major U.S. indexes are closing out the decade setting record highs, but it was hardly a smooth ride, with everything from flash crashing to Fed bashing.

Here’s a look at the top ten stories of the decade that investors keyed in on (and several others of note).

2010 – The Flash Crash

In “The Terminator” Skynet became self-aware in 1997. In the stock market the rise of the machines was evident in 2010 with the flash crash. The U.S. stock markets saw a rapid, unprecedented decline in May that took the Dow down 998.5 points in minutes.

But just as investors were preparing for the worst, the market righted itself and closed down just 3%. The plunge was exacerbated by algorithmic and high-frequency trading as the machines reacted to initial declines and the selling snowballed. When the official regulatory report came out in September, the cause was determined to be a $4.1 billion sell order by a mutual fund.

Also of note this year, the European debt crisis that eventually hit Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, the explosion of a BP (LON:BP) oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, Tesla"s (NASDAQ:TSLA) IPO and the Federal Reserve announcing QE2.

2011 – Occupy Wall Street

Chants of “We Are the 99%!” reverberated around Wall Street in September as the anger over the impact of the financial crisis and widening income inequality turned into a movement. Occupy Wall Street protestors hunkered down in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, staying for almost two months until they were forced out.

The protest was organized by anti-consumerist group Adbusters.

Also this year, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Arab Spring and the passing away of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs.

2012 - Draghi Pledges ‘Whatever It Takes’

Euro zone countries were facing an avalanche of debt, but one man was ready to ride to the rescue, staving off what many saw as the imminent collapse of the single currency.

In a speech in London in July, ECB President Mario Draghi pledged to use any means necessary to save the euro.

“Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro,” he said. “And believe me, it will be enough.”

The EU is still pegged into negative interest rates now, but the euro is still a going concern.

Other big news this year were the Supreme Court upholding Obamacare, the Libor scandal and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) going public.

2013 – Gold Crashes

After 12-straight years of gains, a selloff in gold that many had been predicting for a while finally materialized. Gold prices tumbled more than 25%, going from $1,660 to around $1,200.

The global economy was back on surer footing and there was speculation that central banks would start a tightening cycle, hurting the non-yielding yellow metal. Prices were also hit hard in a two-day period on worries that Cyprus would liquidate its gold holdings.

Also this year, Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) followed Facebook to the public markets, Edward Snowden released secret NSA documents and Bitcoin started to really gain traction.

2014 – Alibaba IPO

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) cemented its place in market history in September when it became the biggest initial public offering. Taking into account the overallotment, or green shoe option, the company raised $25 billion as it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares priced at $68 per share and saw an opening day pop, closing close to $94. The company’s record IPO haul was finally overtaken this year as Saudi Aramco (SE:2222), the state oil company, went public.

Also this year, oil prices were hit as the fracking boom began, Russia invaded Ukraine, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) paid nearly $17 billion to settle accusations of fraud leading up to the subprime collapse

2015 – China Stock Bubble Pops

The chart of the Shanghai Index for 2015 would make even the most seasoned rollercoaster rider a little queasy.

After a huge, fast run-up, equities in China nosedived just as fast. The reason was classically simple: valuations had just gotten way ahead of the businesses’ performance. The Chinese market, which is dominated by retail investors, had pushed up prices with borrowed money (with lots of encouragement from the state).

Devaluations in the renminbi didn’t help either and the government was forced into a series of extraordinary measures, including the possibility of imprisonment for short-selling.

All told, the Shanghai Composite tumbled from a little more than 4,600 in May to a little more than 3,000 in September.

Other news included the ECB beginning its bond-buying program, The Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) merger and Switzerland abandoning its peg to the euro.

2016 – Trump Elected President

While the immediate stock market impact when Donald Trump unexpectedly beat out Hillary Clinton for the U.S. presidency was fairly muted, Trump’s influence on not just the big-picture investing landscape but the day-to-day swings of the market has been huge.

There have been expected, market-pleasing moves like deregulation. There were unexpected, but also market-friendly things like the constant public bashing of the Fed and demands for lower rates. And there’s been moves that the jury is still out on, like a trade war with China that nevertheless have dictated trading.

Among other events that year were Brexit, the release of the Panama Papers and AT&T's (NYSE:T) purchase of Time Warner.

2017 – Bitcoin’s Record High

Cryptocurrencies were already on the radar of the market before 2017, but the nosebleed-inducing rally of Bitcoin brought them into the everyday global consciousness as investing vehicles and not just the payment of choice for the dark web.

Bitcoin entered the year having never traded above $1,000. It lost no time in passing that milestone on its way to its record high near $20,000. That was a gain of more than 2,100%. It closed 2017 around $14,500.

Among other highlights were Trump’s tax cut, the Fed’s series of rate hikes and the appearance of the Fearless Girl statue facing the charging bull near Wall Street.

2018 – A Terrible Fourth Quarter

Few people saw the fourth-quarter 2018 stock-market slump coming. They won't forget it any time soon, with the Dow falling 11.8%, the S&P 500 dropping nearly 14% and the Nasdaq slumping 17.5%.

Including a horrifying 653-point drop in the Dow on Christmas Eve, it was the worst quarter since the 2008 crash.

The causes were multiple.

Oil prices fell more than a third, battering energy stocks.

Battered tech stocks, led by Apple's 30% decline after its market capitalization soared above $1 trillion in the summer. The problem was falling sales of its flagship iPhone.

Rising interest rates and the domestic economy that seemed to be softening.

International concerns, including the U.S.-China trade fight and the Brexit fights roiling the United Kingdom and Europe.

The market was overbought going into that fall.

With the Christmas Eve selloff, the market had fallen too far and too fast. That set up an astonishing rebound on Dec. 26, when the Dow soared 1,086 points.

In other events that year, cryptocurrencies crashed back down to earth, NAFTA was cancelled and the fiduciary rule for financial advisers ended.

2019 – Cannabis Stocks Hammered

The optimism that comes with incredible promise slammed into the wall of reality and regulations in the cannabis sector in 2019.

As the first G7 country to legalize the weed near the end of 2018, Canadian cannabis companies raced into 2019 embracing the bold new and burgeoning global market. But with that head start came the daunting task of ramping up production, setting up international partnerships and worldwide expansion strategies all the while attempting to navigate regulatory hurdles that were not fully defined. The results saw cannabis stocks rocket to new highs and then steadily decline, racking up gut-cringing declines that ranged from 40% to 80%.

In the U.S., the passage of the the federal Farm Bill in late December 2018 gave the cannabis markets its upbeat start to the year unbridling the optimism that national legalization of marijuana moved from “if” to merely a function of “when.” But as 2019 comes to a close, the timeline is still unclear. Individual states, however, continued to embrace the movement.

Also this year, Trump was impeached, the U.S. continued to see record-low jobless numbers, protests engulfed Hong Kong, Uber (NYSE:UBER) went public and WeWork failed to do so.

China stopped British stock due to political tensions

Report by Jonathan Saul for investing.com

China has temporarily blocked planned cross-border listings between the Shanghai and London stock exchanges because of political tensions with Britain.

Suspending the Shanghai-London Stock Connect scheme casts a shadow over the future of a project meant to build ties between Britain and China, help Chinese firms expand their investor base and give mainland investors access to UK-listed companies.

The sources, who include public officials and people working on potential Shanghai-London deals, all said that politics was behind the suspension.

Two of them highlighted Britain's stance over the Hong Kong protests and one pointed to remarks over the detention of a now former staff member at its consulate in Hong Kong.

All five sources have been involved in talks with Chinese officials and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.

British companies and banks involved in the scheme are watching closely how recently-elected Prime Minister Boris Johnson approaches relations with Beijing and what stance he takes on Hong Kong, which has been roiled by protests.

China blames the Hong Kong unrest, heavily supported by an anti-government movement seeking to curb controls by Beijing, on interference by foreign governments including the United States and Britain.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Shanghai Stock Exchange did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange (L:LSE) and a spokeswoman for the UK's finance ministry declined to comment.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a faxed statement that it is not aware of the specifics, but added that it "hopes the UK can provide a fair and unbiased business environment for Chinese companies that invest in the UK and create the appropriate conditions for both countries to carry out practical cooperation smoothly in various fields".

Stock Connect, which began operating last year, was devised as a way of improving Britain's relationship with the world's second biggest economy and was seen as a major step by China to open up its capital markets as well as linking them globally.

Huatai Securities was the first Chinese company to use the scheme in May, with SDIC Power set to become the second in December with a listing of global depository receipts (GDRs) in London representing 10% of its share capital.

However, the alternative energy operator's deal was postponed at an advanced stage, with SDIC Power citing market conditions as the main reason.

Five sources told Reuters SDIC Power's deal was halted because of Beijing's suspension of Stock Connect.

Other hopefuls such as China Pacific Insurance, which one of the sources said could have launched a deal as early as the first quarter of 2020, have also been told to put their cross-border listing plans on ice, they added.

SDIC Power and China Pacific Insurance did not respond to requests for comment.

"It's not only a big blow to the companies looking to broaden the investor base via listings in London, but also to China's links with global markets," one source, who has worked on one of the GDR deals, told Reuters.

Trouble with the scheme comes at a bad time for Britain, which is keen to build ties with non-European Union countries as it prepares to leave the bloc, and the LSE.

The London exchange was set for its worst year in terms of new listings in a decade as of Dec. 4, Refinitiv data showed, with political volatility and concerns over Britain's EU divorce crimping stock market fund raising.

World Economy - Top 5 news to read before 2020

Before the start of 2020, the world economy is not stable. Concerns about risks and expert's predictions about the same economic scenario in 2008.

In today's article we presented the 5 news you must know at the economic calendar by investing.com:

Trading volumes are expected to remain light due to the New Year’s break in the week ahead, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility.

Global financial markets will focus on Friday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting for further hints on the future path of monetary policy.

On the data front, the U.S. will release reports on manufacturing activity and consumer confidence, as traders look for more clues on the strength of the economy.

Meanwhile, in China, market players will be looking out for data on the country's manufacturing sector, amid lingering concerns over the health of the world's second biggest economy.

Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of the five biggest events on the economic calendar that are most likely to affect the markets.

1. Global Markets Celebrate New Year’s Day

Stock markets in the U.S., Europe, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan will remain closed on Wednesday in observance of New Year’s Day.

This time of year tends to be beneficial for investors as the so-called Santa Claus rally has historically given stocks on Wall Street a short-term boost.

During the final five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year, the S&P 500 has posted a 1.3% gain on average since 1950, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

2. Federal FOMC Meeting Minutes

The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its December policy meeting on Friday at 2:00PM ET (19:00GMT).

The U.S. central bank held interest rates steady following its meeting on December 11, in a widely expected decision, and signaled that borrowing costs are likely to remain unchanged for some time.

New economic projections showed 13 of 17 Fed policymakers foresee no change in interest rates until at least 2021, hosing down expectations for a rate hike any time soon.

3. U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will publish its manufacturing survey for December on Friday at 10:00AM ET (15:00GMT), as investors look for more clues on the strength of the sector which has been hit hard by the U.S.-China trade dispute.

The data is forecast to show a slight improvement to a reading of 49.0, up from 48.1 in October.

Anything above 50.0 signals expansion, while readings below 50.0 indicate industry contraction.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) is seen as a good indicator of economic conditions and it is even preferred by some analysts to gross domestic product, which might be affected by poor seasonal adjustment and is prone to revisions.

4. U.S. CB Consumer Confidence

In addition to the manufacturing data, the Conference Board will release its December update on U.S. consumer confidence at 10:00AM ET (15:00 GMT) Tuesday.

The consensus forecast is for a reading of 128.2, improving from 125.5 in October.

If confirmed it would be the best reading in three months.

5. Chinese Manufacturing Surveys

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing is to release data on December manufacturing sector activity at 01:00GMT on Tuesday, amid expectations for a modest downtick to 50.1 from a reading of 50.2 in October.

The Caixin manufacturing index, which focuses more on small and mid-sized firms, is due at 01:45GMT Thursday. The survey is expected to dip by 0.1 points to 51.7.

Under pressure from faltering domestic demand and bruising U.S. tariffs, China's economy cooled to a near three-decade low in the third quarter, pressuring Beijing to roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown.

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Forex Platforms and New Forex Trading Techniques (fxpro)

Trade Forex with "fxpro mt4"

Trading Forex is not that easy as we know it's the most risky and on the other side it's the most profitable.

Trading strategies and plans are deployed to compute and avoid the risks. 

Our Forex topic today is different as we will discuss a new approach of Forex trading.

Today's topic is about FxPro.

FxPro is the best meta trader in 2019. With the full Meta-Trader suite, including both MT4 and MT5 for both desktop and browser, and multiple account pricing options. Drawbacks to FxPro include a small range of trade-able products and limited market research.

One of the advantages of trading with FxPro, is the variety of platforms and account types that we offer. Not only do we provide a range of top-grade trading platforms, like cTrader, Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5.

How FxPro works?

Step 1: Register. Open your live trading account via FxPro Direct.

Step 2: Verify. Upload your documents to verify your account. Verify your profile.

Step 3: Fund. Login to FxPro Direct and fund your account.

Step 4: Trade. Start trading 

FxPro Commissions & Fees

Execution method: On FxPro MT4, you can choose variable or fixed spreads. For the variable spread pricing, there are two types of execution-based pricing: instant and market.

Commissions: FxPro offers its most competitive spreads on its cTrader platform. Comparing commission-based pricing, FxPro's all-in spreads (total cost of trade) are roughly 1.27 pips (0.37 spread + 0.9 commission) using August 2019 data from FxPro on the EUR/USD as an example.

Spreads: FxPro's floating rate model (variable spread) is available on MT4 and MT5, with EUR/USD spreads of 1.58 for accounts on market execution (1.51pips on MT5) and 1.71 for accounts with instant execution, as per August 2019 data from FxPro.

Fixed pricing: On FxPro MT5, there is no fix spread offering, and only market execution is available. Market execution at FxPro means that orders are executed at the volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

FxPro Mobile Trading

FxPro Direct: While the FxPro Direct app does not support trading, the broker's proprietary app enables account management (e.g., deposits) and access to news and market rates.

cTrader: FxPro's white-labeled version of cTrader is consistent with the web-based platform, offering traders a seamless trading experience with a variety of trading tools. As far as third-party mobile apps go, cTrader is quite versatile.

MetaTrader: The mobile versions of the MT4 and MT5 platforms are also standard from the developer with default features.

What is the minimum deposit for FxPro?

The cTrader has a minimum deposit of $1,000, with a leverage of 1:500. The minimum deposit for FxPro Markets is $500 and leverage of 1:500.

For comparison and information, visit: FXPRO

What's Forex Arbitrage and How it works?

Definition of Forex Arbitrage?

Forex arbitrage is the strategy of exploiting price disparity in the Forex markets. It may be effected in various ways but however it is carried out, the arbitrage seeks to buy currency prices and sell currency prices that are currently divergent but extremely likely to rapidly converge. The expectation is that as prices move back towards a mean, the arbitrage becomes more profitable and can be closed, sometimes even in milliseconds.

How does Forex Arbitrage Work?

Because the Forex markets are decentralized, even in this era of automated algorithmic trading, there can exist moments where a currency traded in one place is somehow being quoted differently from the same currency in another trading location. An arbitrageur able to spot the discrepancy can buy the lower of the two prices and sell the higher of the two prices and likely lock in a profit on the divergence.

Suppose that the EUR/JPY Forex pair was quoted at 122.500 by a bank in London, but was quoted at 122.540 by a bank in Tokyo. A trader with access to both quotes would be able to buy the London price and sell the Tokyo price. When the prices had later converged at say, 122.550, the trader would close both trades. The Tokyo position would lose 1 pip, while the London position would gain 5, so the the trader would have gained 4 pips less transaction costs.

Such an example may appear to imply that a profit so small would hardly be worth the effort, but many arbitrage opportunities in the Forex market are exactly this minute or even more so. Because such discrepancies could be discover-able across many markets many times a day, it was worthwhile for specialized firms spending the time and money to build the necessary systems to capture these inefficiencies. This is a big part of the reason the Forex markets are so heavily computerized and automated nowadays.

Automated algorithmic trading has shortened the time frame for Forex arbitrage trades. Price discrepancies that could last several seconds or even minutes now may remain for only a sub-second time frame before reaching equilibrium. In this way arbitrage strategies have make the Forex markets more efficient than ever. However, volatile markets and price quote errors or staleness can and do still provide arbitrage opportunities.

Other Forex arbitrage includes:

Currency arbitrage involves the exploitation of the differences in quotes rather than movements in the exchange rates of the currencies in the currency pair.

A cross-currency transaction is one that consists of a pair of currencies traded in Forex that does not include the U.S. dollar. Ordinary cross currency rates involve the Japanese yen.

Arbitrage seeks to exploit pricing between the currency pairs, or the cross rates of different currency pairs. 

In covered interest rate arbitrages the practice of using favorable interest rate differentials to invest in a higher-yielding currency, and hedging the exchange risk through a forward currency contract.

An uncovered interest rate arbitrage involves changing a domestic currency which carries a lower interest rate to a foreign currency that offers a higher rate of interest on deposits.

Spot-future arbitrage involves taking positions in the same currency in the spot and futures markets. 

For example, a trader would buy currency on the spot market and sell the same currency in the futures market if there is a beneficial pricing discrepancy.

Forex Arbitrage Challenges

Some circumstances can hinder or prevent arbitrage. A discount or premium may result from currency market liquidity differences, which is not a price anomaly or arbitrage opportunity, making it more challenging to execute trades to close a position. 

Arbitrage demands rapid execution, so a slow trading platform or trade entry delays can limit opportunity. Time sensitivity and complex trading calculations require real-time management solutions to control operations and performance. 

This need has resulted in the use of automated trading software to scan the markets for price differences to execute Forex arbitrage.

Forex arbitrage often requires lending or borrowing at near to risk-free rates, which generally are available only at large financial institutions. 

The cost of funds may limit traders at smaller banks or brokerages. Spreads, as well as trading and margin cost overhead, are additional risk factors.

Stock "NMC Health's Bluster" Fails to Convince

Report of Investing.com 

Wednesday's bounce in NMC Health (LON:NMC) looks to have been of the 'dead cat' variety.

Shares in the UAE-focused FTSE 100 member fell 9.6% in early trading in London on Thursday, back to the three-year low that they hit on Tuesday in response to an explosive new report by short-seller Muddy Waters Research.

The movement illustrates the limitations of NMC’s first response to the report, which seemed guided by the principle that enough long words taken from a quick look at a thesaurus will make the problem go away.

NMC had said on Wednesday it “will review the assertions, insinuations and accusations made in the report, which appear principally unfounded, baseless and misleading, containing many errors of fact, and will respond in detail in due course.”

It said it "understands its regulatory disclosure obligations and has nothing to add to disclosures already made. It has already responded to many of the allegations made in the report over the past 12 months."

The shares had fallen over 32% on Tuesday as Muddy Waters, owned by Carson Block, said it had “serious doubts about the company’s financial statements, including its asset values, cash balance, reported profits, and reported debt levels.”

Block drew attention to – among other things - what he considered to be serious over-payment for contractors ultimately controlled by parties related to NMC, and to a financing facility arranged by another related party, details of which the company has now removed from its website.

“We are unsure how deep the rot at NMC goes, but we do not believe that its insiders or financials can be trusted,” Block said.

NMC had had a terrific run from 2015 to 2018, capitalizing on booming demand for healthcare in a region where pockets of affluence are expanding. However, its shares had already peaked in the middle of last year, like many emerging-market stocks that ultimately depend on a benign global backdrop.

Already in August there had been suggestions that all was not as it seemed. When it was rumored that Muddy Waters would soon announce a new short position, many guessed it would be NMC, only for the blow to fall on litigation funder Burford Capital (LON:BURF). Burford is still down 50% from its previous levels, suggesting that when Block hits you, you stay hit.

Nor was Block the first to raise questions about NMC. Jefferies analyst James Vane-Tempest has had an underweight recommendation for months. A Reuters report citing unnamed sources in August about potential Chinese interest in buying a stake held by two long-term shareholders has come to nothing, also prompting doubts as to the reliability of information coming out of the company.

As noted above, NMC’s position is that it has already answered these questions once. However, the market reaction shows that those answers clearly haven’t convinced everyone. NMC has a hard slog ahead of it.

European stocks went higher in pre-holiday trading

    (Reuters - London)

European shares edged higher on Thursday, with a pre-holiday lull making for a quiet trading session aside from a handful of corporate updates.

The pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX) rose 0.2% by 0821 GMT, with media, healthcare and utilities sectors leading gains.

All eyes will turn to the Bank of England's monetary policy decision, due at 1200 GMT, one of the last big central bank meetings this year.

While the BoE policymakers are not expected to move the needle on rates, Swedish central bank is seen coming out with a 25 basis point rate hike, making it the first in Europe to pull borrowing costs from sub-zero territory.

Investors have largely shrugged off a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump as a Republican-controlled Senate is widely expected not to vote to remove Trump from office.

Swiss specialty chemicals Clariant (S:CLN) rose 2.9% after saying it was selling a unit to U.S.-based PolyOne Corp (N:POL) for $1.6 billion.

European chipmakers Infineon Technologies (DE:IFXGn) and STMicroelectronics (BN:STM) rose about 0.3% after U.S. rival Micron Technology (O:MU) said it expected a recovery in 2020 after a "cyclical bottom" in the second quarter.

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What are the Forex Mechanical Systems?

We have four mechanical Forex strategies that must be learned as they are important to build a good Forex strategy plan.

The four Forex Mechanical Systems are:

1-HLHB Trend-Catcher System

2-SMA Crossover Pullback

3-Short-Term Bollinger Reversion Strategy 2.0

4-Inside Bar Momentum Strategy 2.0

We’ve got a table for their performance report, but keep in mind that the time periods, trading assumptions and type may result in a variation of performance.

Now we are going to illustrate each system strategy.

HLHB Trend-Catcher System

The Huck Loves Her Bucks mechanical system uses a simple EMA cross method, combined with the RSI and ADX indicators, to catch short-term trends on the 1-hour charts of EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY.

In this week’s update, Huck is celebrating a 268-pip win (+0.89%) even as she’s closely monitoring fresh trades that could very well be fakeouts for next week’s trends.

SMA Crossover Pullback

Robopip’s newbie-friendly SMA Crossover Pullback trading system is as simple as its name suggests. This strategy features an SMA crossover method to gauge the trend and a stochastic pullback entry signal on the 1-hour charts of EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and EUR/JPY.

For the past week, this trend-following system had another rough run with early exits on new crossovers. All in all, it wound up with a 93-pip or 0.62% loss.

Short-Term Bollinger Reversion Strategy 2.0

This Short-Term Bollinger Reversion Strategy 2.0 is one of Robopip’s newest creations and is currently being tested on range-bound pairs like CAD/CHF and USD/CAD.

Only CAD/CHF was able to catch valid signals for the week, even though USD/CAD did make a few bounces off the bands. Still, the system was able to chalk up a gain of 16 pips or 0.32% for the week.

Inside Bar Momentum Strategy 2.0

Another tried-and-tested system is Robopip’s Inside Bar Momentum Strategy 2.0 which monitors purely candlestick price action, free of any technical indicators, on the 4-hour charts of GBP/JPY and USD/JPY.

Both USD/JPY and GBP/JPY caught two losses and one win each, ending up with a loss of 46 pips for the week.

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