Get a grasp of the financial markets. Learn about stocks, currencies, commodities, and more. Understand the basics of markets and how they’re influenced.
Financial markets are so large and so ubiquitous that it is easy to forget how remarkable they are. Attempts to visualise or put a number on their scale do not do justice to the sheer scale of the various flows of money and assets that make up global financial markets.
Bitcoin was one of the biggest stories of the 2010s and has provided some of the most dramatic price action ever seen in any market. In fact, no asset has ever undergone price rises as significant as Bitcoin and other digital assets.
Bonds are one the most important categories of financial asset, yet they are sometimes neglected by traders. In 2020, the total outstanding value of all current bonds was over $120 trillion, considerably more than global GDP.
What is the difference between trading and investing?
CFD trading involves entering and exiting positions quickly, normally on an intraday basis, a characteristic that differentiates it from long-term investing.
The forex market is the world’s most globally active marketplace, where trillions of dollars are exchanged daily between different national currencies. Forex transactions are essential to the daily functioning of international trade and the financing of government and corporate expenditure, so moves in forex prices are closely followed around the world.