Gratia
HD7
7 Pro
7 Surround
7 Mozart
Trophy
7 Pro CDMA
Desire HD
Desire Z
Aria
Wildfire
Desire
HD mini
Legend
Google Nexus One
Smart
HD2
Evo 4G
Droid Incredible
DROID ERIS
Pure
Tattoo
Touch2
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Hero
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Touch Pro2 CDMA
Touch Pro2
Touch Diamond2 CDMA
Touch Diamond2
Dream
Touch Cruise 09
MAX 4G
HTC Evo 4G
For Sprint
This is not a GSM phone, it will not work on any GSM network worldwide.
This is not a GSM phone, it will not work on any GSM network worldwide.
| General | 2G Network | CDMA 800 / 1900 |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Network | CDMA2000 1xEV-DO | |
| Announced | 2010, March | |
| Status | Available. Released 2010, June |
| Size | Dimensions | 122 x 66 x 13 mm |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 170 g |
| Display | Type | TFT capacitive touchscreen, 65K colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches | |
| - Multi-touch input method - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - HTC Sense UI |
| Sound | Alert types | Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Speakerphone | Yes | |
| - 3.5 mm audio jack |
| Memory | Phonebook | Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall |
|---|---|---|
| Call records | Practically unlimited | |
| Internal | 512 MB RAM; 1 GB ROM | |
| Card slot | microSD, up to 32GB, 8GB included, buy memory |
| Data | GPRS | No |
|---|---|---|
| EDGE | No | |
| 3G | Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, WiMAX 802.16 e (Wi-Fi router) | |
| Bluetooth | Yes v2.1 with A2DP | |
| Infrared port | No | |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0 |
| Camera | Primary | 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging | |
| Video | Yes, 720p | |
| Secondary | Yes, 1.3 MP |
| Features | OS | Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 1 GHz processor | |
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | HTML | |
| Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS | |
| Games | Yes | |
| Colors | Black | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support | |
| Java | Via third party application | |
| - Digital compass - HDMI port - Dedicated search key - Google Search, Maps, Gmail - YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration - MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA9 player - MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV9 player - Facebook, Flickr, Twitter applications - Voice memo |
| Battery | Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | ||
| Talk time |
Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. Read more
| General | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 | |
| Announced | 2010, October | |
| Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2010, Q4 |
| Size | Dimensions | 119.7 x 61.5 x 13 mm |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 165 g |
| Display | Type | Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 480 x 800 pixels, 3.8 inches | |
| - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off |
| Sound | Alert types | Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Speakerphone | Yes, with stereo speakers | |
| - 3.5 mm audio jack - Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement |
| Memory | Phonebook | Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall |
|---|---|---|
| Call records | Practically unlimited | |
| Internal | 16 GB storage, 448 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM | |
| Card slot | No |
| Data | GPRS | Class 32 |
|---|---|---|
| EDGE | Class 32 | |
| 3G | HSDPA 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA 2 Mbps | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n | |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v2.1 with A2DP | |
| Infrared port | No | |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0 |
| Camera | Primary | 5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging | |
| Video | Yes, 720p | |
| Secondary | No |
| Features | OS | Microsoft Windows Phone 7 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor | |
| Messaging | SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email | |
| Browser | WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML | |
| Radio | ||
| Games | Yes | |
| Colors | Black | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support; Bing Maps | |
| Java | Yes, MIDP 2.0 | |
| - Digital compass - MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player - MP4/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - Facebook and Twitter integration - YouTube client - Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, PDF viewer) - Voice memo - Predictive text input |
| Battery | Standard battery, Li-Ion 1230 mAh | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | Up to 275 h (2G) / Up to 255 h (3G) | |
| Talk time | Up to 4 h (2G) / Up to 4 h 10 min (3G) |
| Misc | Price group |  |
|---|
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A one-off charge has left Bank of America - the US's biggest bank - with a loss of $7.3bn (£4.8bn) for the third quarter of the year.
The charge - of more than $10bn - is designed to reflect the lower value of its credit and debit card business whose profits will be affected by new regulations curbing charges.
The bank had warned it would make the charge in its last earnings report.
Meanwhile profits at Goldman Sachs fell 43% but still beat analysts' forecasts.
Goldman reported net earnings of $1.74bn for the third quarter, down from the $3.03bn it reported a year ago.
Revenue fell 28% to $8.9bn, but still came in well ahead of the $7.9bn analysts had expected.
The market had been expecting Goldman's earnings to fall because of slower trading, and the bank's results statement showed revenue from trading was down 36% on a year ago.
But revenue at its investment banking unit rose 24% to $1.12bn, as low interest rates benefited the division.
Goldman, which has often been criticised for its pay practices, set aside $3.83bn for compensation in the third quarter, bringing its total pay pot to $13.12 billion for the first nine months of the year, down 21% from a year ago.
Customer incentives
Bank of America also said it planned to change its consumer banking strategy.
It said it would focus on giving customers incentives to do more business with the bank, rather than generating revenue through penalty fees, like overdraft charges.
Excluding the one-time charge, Bank of America's earnings report showed it made $3.1bn in the three months ending in September, far better than analysts were expecting.
That was largely because of a sharp drop in losses tied to defaulting loans.
In the third quarter of last year, the bank reported a loss of $2.2bn.
Its results mirror those of JP Morgan and Citigroup, which were also better than expected.
Foreclosure crisis
Bank of America and other banks have been stung in recent weeks by accusations that they failed to review properly documents used in repossessions - so-called robo-signings.
Bank of America had stopped its foreclosure process in all 50 states, but said on Monday that it would resume proceedings in 23 states after reviewing its cases there.
On Tuesday, the White House warned banks that it would hold them accountable for any illegal mortgage practices, with US regulators set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Meanwhile, a Bloomberg report said a group of investors have accused Bank of America of inappropriately bundling some mortgages into $16.5bn of bonds.
The report said that money management firm BlackRock, bond investment fund Pimco and the New York Federal Reserve were among the investors, who want to force the bank to repurchase $47bn in mortgage bonds.
The report spooked investors, with Bank of America shares shedding 4.4%.
Thousands of high-tech companies descend on Las Vegas each year for the Comdex convention, gambling that their idea will make them the next internet millionaires.
For one week each year, the glitter and glamour of Las Vegas gives way thoughts of websites and widgets.
Comdex is the biggest week on the high-tech calendar when more than 2,000 companies show an estimated 200,000 visitors a glimpse of the future.
The future, sans PC?
At a preview session on Sunday, convention goes made an unseemly scramble to see the latest electronic devices, which promise simple, hassle-free access to the internet.
The BBC's Philippa Thomas
As each new appliance was ceremonially unveiled, delegates jumped on chairs for a better view; brought out their digital cameras; and shouted excited questions about memory, capacity and function.
These so-called internet appliances are getting the biggest buzz at Comdex this year, products that some industry watchers say spells the beginning of the Post-PC era.
The personal computer and the hardware and software to support it have dominated Comdex for most of its 20 year history.
But Phil Terry of the research group Creative Good told delegates here that technology companies in Europe and Asia should strive to avoid the mistakes being made in the US.
The biggest mistake of all, he says, is ignoring the mass-market customer - the average computer user who wants to use the web, without the bother of doing any technical homework.
Post-PC, post-Microsoft?
Much of the buzz was of course about the future of Microsoft.
The big question: is this 20th Century corporate giant sliding past its peak? Will the Post-PC era mean the end of the Microsoft Empire?
We may be in the "post-PC era" with the consumer demanding quicker, easier, cheaper access to the web, but Microsoft is making it clear they are determined to hang on in there.
Working with the consumer electronics company Vestel, Microsoft this week is promoting a new machine which offers instant access to the internet.
It will be sold as "plug and play", allowing the user one-button access to e-mail, chat, and shopping on the web. Of course, it takes you directly to a Microsoft site, but that is to be expected. Bill Gates has come a long way since he dismissed the internet as a passing fad.
Corporate America plays catch-up
Some of those already dealing in internet-based technologies can afford to gloat. Wall Street is obsessed with internet stocks, and the traditional corporations are frantically playing catch-up.
As one internet guru, Howard Anderson of The Yankee Group, puts it, the big companies are simultaneously threatened and offered great opportunities by the World Wide Web.
The first stage is denial - why should this matter to me?
The second stage is anger - why am I so unprepared to deal with this?
Then comes grudging acceptance
Finally wholesale adoption
Well, that is the progression if they are going to survive.
The message from the technology leaders is bullish: Either join our revolution or prepare to join the scrap heap.
KISS - Keep it simple stupid
But internet pioneers, who saw the light early and embraced the global network, cannot rest on their laurels, according to another leading analyst of industry trends.
Phil Terry of the research group Creative Good said that it is not only computers that are too complex and confusing but websites as well.
Look at the billions of dollars expected to be spent online on Christmas presents, he said, and then look at how many people are browsing the sites without dipping into their wallets.
Potential customers find it just too complicated. The so-called "conversion rate" of visitors to buyers is, on average, less than 1%.
In his words, most websites are simply flushing money down the toilet.
The message was that the industry can afford to congratulate itself, but it could do very much better
Unemployment in the UK fell again in October, while the number of people in work rose to a new record.
Official figures show that the number of people claiming benefit fell by 8,400 to 1,204,000 - the lowest figure since April 1980.
The unemployment rate remained at 4.2%, also the lowest for almost 20 years.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) quarterly total for July to September, which includes people looking for work but not eligible for benefit, fell by 39,000 to 1,721,000 - a rate of 5.9%.
Record employment
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures also show that the number of people in work has risen to a new record of 27.5m - an increase of 329,000 in the year.
The rise means the employment rate now stands at 74.2% - the highest since spring 1990.
The Employment Minister, Tessa Jowell, said: "This record number of people in jobs clearly shows that the government's policies of moving people from welfare into work and of making work pay are taking effect.
"We have low interest rates and low inflation. The key challenge now is to continue to steer a course of stability and steady growth and ensure there is no return to boom and bust."
Manufacturing hit
Despite the healthy employment figures, the ONS reported a continuing decline in manufacturing jobs, down by 156,000 to 3,971,000 in the three months to September.
The largest fall has been in textiles and leather firms, while nuclear fuels and coke reported increases.
Manufacturing productivity in the same quarter was 4.3% higher than a year ago, while unit wage costs in the sector were 0.3% lower.
The number of new vacancies notified to job centres last month increased by 7,800 to a near-record 240,600, while the stock of unfilled jobs was up by 24,400 in October to 340,800.
The claimant count fell in every region of the UK in October.
The figures also revealed a big increase in the number of people in part-time jobs - up by 28,000 in the three months to September to 6.83m.
India is replacing a controversial foreign exchange law with a more liberal act so as to encourage outside investment.
The old Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera), which has now been revoked, was disliked by traders and businessmen who frequently criticised what they termed its harsh provisions.
Fera came into existence in 1973, and since then many top industrialists and businessmen fell foul of its provisions.
Suspects accused of violating the law were often detained for questioning, and faced the prospect of a prison sentence if they were found guilty.
Deregulation
But under the new Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), which comes into force on Thursday, suspected foreign exchange violations are treated as civil rather than criminal offences.
India is attracting more foreign investment
Financial experts say Fera was devised and implemented when India had a highly regulated economy, and when foreign investment was either not allowed or regarded with much suspicion.
All that changed in 1993, when India liberalised its economy and started to attract a lot more overseas investment.
Since then there has been a substantial increase in India's foreign exchange reserves.
Foreign trade has increased, tariffs have been curtailed and foreign institutions are allowed far greater access to its stock markets.
The new law, experts say, reflects the ongoing desire of the financial authorities to attract more foreign investment and promote exports.
However the authorities have made clear that although Fera is repealed, it still applies to offences committed before its abolition.
There are nearly 7,000 cases pending, some of which are in an advanced stage of investigation.
One of those being investigated for foreign exchange violations is the son of a former Prime Minister, P V Narasimha Rao.
Average turnover on the world's foreign exchange (forex) markets reached almost $1,500bn a day in April this year, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The volume of forex trading is far greater than the size of foreign currency reserves held by any country.
The size of forex trade has played its part in the currency crises of emerging nations over the past year.
The exact figure, $1,490bn, or $1.49 trillion, is 26% higher than when the BIS, which represents central banks, last measured flows in 43 different countries three years ago.
Centred in London
Almost a third of all forex trading occurs in London, by far the world's largest centre, with New York and Tokyo second and third.
US dollar and yen most traded
At current values, transactions involving US dollars on side of the trade accounted for 87% of forex business. The Japanese Yen was the second-most traded currency.
However, less than half the transactions were simple 'spot' deals, the immediate purchase of currency for commercial transactions.
Most forex trading is on the futures market where currency buyers undertake to buy at a set price at a specified date in the future.
Futures gambling
Foreign exchange futures allow companies to plan their import, export and foreign investment operations with the certainty of knowing what will be the value of the currencies they trade in.
George Soros: forex speculator
However, increasingly the forex futures market is home to rich individuals and 'hedge funds' who speculate against currency movements attempting reap windfall gains.
George Soros is the most high-profile example of such currency speculators.
The advent of the euro next year is expected start to stem the sharp increases in forex dealings as eleven European currencies consolidate into one over the next three years.
Global crises
The figures shed some light on how financial crises began in emerging economies over the last year.
The ability for massive daily foreign currency flows to take place made possible the almost overnight collapses of the currencies of countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Russia.
As confidence in the economies of these countries fell away, demand for their currencies fell as investors took their capital out or stopped bringing it in.
Governments had tried to buy their own currencies to underpin their value but couldn't keep up with the sellers.
When they stopped their own forex activity, the forces of demand and supply saw the baht, rupiah and rouble in turn crash in value deepening the crisis of confidence and economic slowdown.
Speculators constantly watching for these market developments hastened the process
Google has no plans to resume using its Street View cars to collect information about the location of Wi-Fi networks, a practice that led to a flurry of privacy probes after the company said it unintentionally captured fragments of unencrypted data.
The disclosure appeared in a report on Street View released today by Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, who said that "collection is discontinued and Google has no plans to resume it." Assembling an extensive list of the location of Wi-Fi access points can aid in geolocation, especially in areas where connections to cell towers are unreliable.
Instead, Stoddart said that, based on her conversations with headquarters in Mountain View, Ca., "Google intends to obtain the information needed to populate its location-based services database" from "users' handsets."
That, at least, should come as no surprise. As CNET reported in June, mobile phone and laptop users who run certain Google applications already share their location information with the company, which then uses this crowdsourced data to refine its mapping capabilities.
When Google Maps Navigation users requests a location fix with the "use wireless networks" option checked in their settings, their device sends over a list of all nearby addresses associated with wireless hot spots, which can in turn be checked against Google's existing database of those addresses gathered through the Street View project. Google has said it doesn't collect information about laptops or other mobile devices--both for privacy reasons and because the locations are typically transitory.
Google's PC software takes a similar approach. A note in the source code of Google's open-source Chromium browser, which shares code with Google Chrome, says "currently we get only MAC address, signal strength, channel signal-to-noise and SSID" for each Wi-Fi network surveyed. (The MAC address is unique for each wireless access point, and the SSID is the user-given name for the wireless network.)
Google discloses this behavior to its customers. Its privacy policy for mobile devices says: "If you use location-enabled products and services, such as Google Maps for mobile, you may be sending us location information." On the other hand, if you opt out of data-sharing, don't count on being able to use Wi-Fi hot spots for triangulation.
"With Android, location-sharing is opt-in," Google spokeswoman Christine Chen said today. "Whether we're talking about location provider services or individual apps that use location, Android provides users with notice and control over collection of location, sharing of location and use of location to help provide a better mobile experience...We don't share individual location collected from user devices with any applications or services."
Google had said in a blog post in July that it had halted Wi-Fi data collection through its Street View cars, but had not said whether it would be resumed or not.
Here are instructions for mobile users on how to disable this feature.
Microsoft software head Ray Ozzie resigns
Mr Ozzie championed "cloud computing", which can provide resources to multiple computers via the web
Ray Ozzie, chief software architect of Microsoft and proponent of cloud computing, has resigned unexpectedly.
Mr Ozzie was a top member of the company's management, having taken over the software role from Bill Gates.
Chief executive Steve Ballmer announced his colleague's departure in an email to company staff.
He said Mr Ozzie would remain with Microsoft during a transitional period, and that the company was not looking for anyone to replace him.
Microsoft shares dropped 2.2% in after-hours trading on the news.
Unknown direction
"With our progress in services and the cloud now full speed ahead in all aspects of our business, Ray and I are announcing today Ray's intention to step down from his role as chief software architect," said Mr Ballmer in his email.
He added that Mr Ozzie would focus on "the broader area of entertainment, where Microsoft has many ongoing investments".
Nonetheless, his resignation may cast some doubt over the technological direction Microsoft will take next.
Mr Ozzie's decision to step down also follows a number of other senior departures at the company.
Business head Stephen Elop left in September to head up Nokia, while entertainment and devices head Robbie Bach is also planning to leave.
Cloud computing
Mr Ozzie joined the firm in 2005 as chief technology officer after his own company was bought out by Microsoft.
A year after his arrival, he successfully pushed the software leviathan towards tackling the challenge of the internet, by adopting "cloud computing" technology.
Microsoft traditionally focused on desktop computers, but Mr Ozzie convinced management that in the future, processing power and functionality would be provided remotely via the web.
Previously, he also designed the Lotus Notes system, which allows groups to share documents and emails.
13 October 2010 – The Wall Street 
A recent IDC market survey indicates that the Indian
Dollar falls further against Japanese yen
Continue reading the main storyUS DOLLAR V JAPANESE YEN
Last Updated at 15 Oct 2010, 03:40 GMT *Chart shows local time| $1 buys | change | % |
|---|---|---|
| 81.3950 | - -0.09 | - -0.10 |
The US dollar has reached another fresh 15-year low against the Japanese yen at the end of trading in Tokyo.
The dollar was worth as little as 81.12 yen at one stage, just above the post World War II low of 79.75 yen.
The dollar's continued fall reflects speculation that the US Federal Reserve will expand its quantitative easing programme.
But Japan's central bankers have also repeatedly threatened further action to curb the recent rises in the yen.
A strong yen is hurting Japanese export companies, which are relied upon to spearhead a recovery in Japan's struggling economyUS trade gap widens on increased Chinese imports
A slight increase in US exports was outstripped by a rise in imports The US trade deficit was wider than expected in August, figures have shown, in the wake of record imports from China.
US Commerce Department figures showed the gap between imported and exported goods grew by 8.8% to $46.4bn (£29bn).
Imports from China grew 6.1% in August to a record $35.3bn. The US trade deficit with China also set a new record of $28.0bn.
US exports to China remained essentially unchanged at $7.3bn.
The previous record trade deficit with China was $27.9bn in October 2008.
The US has been pressing China to let the value of the yuan rise against other currencies.
The American government says that Beijing's current policy, which limits the movement of the yuan against the dollar, gives Chinese exporters an unfair competitive advantage.
Overall, US exports edged up a slightly, by 0.2%, but this was overshadowed by a 2.1% increase in imports.
Meanwhile another report said prices at the wholesale level, apart from a sharp rise in food and energy costs, remained largely unchanged.
The Labor Department said that excluding those two categories, core wholesale prices rose by 0.1%.
Range of Methodologies for Risk and Performance Alignment of Remuneration - consultative paper
October 2010
Ensuring that remuneration is effectively aligned with risk and performance is an essential element for reducing incentives that may arise from the design of remuneration schemes and that can lead to excessive risk taking. In practice, the idea that an employee's compensation should take account of the risks that employees take on behalf of their organisation has proven to be challenging to implement. As of October 2010, effective implementation of these principles by banks has not been achieved.
The Basel Committee's report on the Range of Methodologies for Risk and Performance Alignment of Remuneration issued for consultation analyses the methods used by banks for incorporating risk into bonus pools and individual compensation schemes. Banks use various methods to adjust remuneration to take account of risk and performance. Depending on the remuneration scheme's design and detailed features, the effectiveness of such methods in creating incentives for prudent risk taking varies significantly.
The report focuses on the practical and technical issues that might reduce the effectiveness of these methods. It also covers more general questions, including proportionality in the application of rules. The report, which contains a number of examples of banks' practices reflecting the supervisory experience to date, helps provide a representative, though perhaps still incomplete, picture of current remuneration practices in the industry. By providing clarification on the design of risk-adjusted remuneration schemes and by highlighting issues that may affect the effectiveness of the risk adjustment methodologies, the Committee expects the report will help support and facilitate the broader adoption of sound compensation practices in the banking sector.
The Committee welcomes comments on all aspects of this document by 31 December 2010. Comments should be submitted by post (Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Bank for International Settlements, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland) or email (baselcommittee@bis.org). All comments will be published on the Bank for International Settlements' website unless a commenter specifically requests anonymity or confidential treatment.
Business: The Economy
Trillions in currency trading
Currency traders doing $1.5 trillion in daily business
Average turnover on the world's foreign exchange (forex) markets reached almost $1,500bn a day in April this year, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The volume of forex trading is far greater than the size of foreign currency reserves held by any country.
The size of forex trade has played its part in the currency crises of emerging nations over the past year.
The exact figure, $1,490bn, or $1.49 trillion, is 26% higher than when the BIS, which represents central banks, last measured flows in 43 different countries three years ago.
Centred in London
Almost a third of all forex trading occurs in London, by far the world's largest centre, with New York and Tokyo second and third.
At current values, transactions involving US dollars on side of the trade accounted for 87% of forex business. The Japanese Yen was the second-most traded currency. ![[ image: US dollar and yen most traded]](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/195000/images/_196670_dollar_and_yen150.jpg)
US dollar and yen most traded
However, less than half the transactions were simple 'spot' deals, the immediate purchase of currency for commercial transactions.
Most forex trading is on the futures market where currency buyers undertake to buy at a set price at a specified date in the future.
Futures gambling
Foreign exchange futures allow companies to plan their import, export and foreign investment operations with the certainty of knowing what will be the value of the currencies they trade in.
However, increasingly the forex futures market is home to rich individuals and 'hedge funds' who speculate against currency movements attempting reap windfall gains. George Soros: forex speculator
George Soros is the most high-profile example of such currency speculators.
The advent of the euro next year is expected start to stem the sharp increases in forex dealings as eleven European currencies consolidate into one over the next three years.
Global crises
The figures shed some light on how financial crises began in emerging economies over the last year.
The ability for massive daily foreign currency flows to take place made possible the almost overnight collapses of the currencies of countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Russia.
As confidence in the economies of these countries fell away, demand for their currencies fell as investors took their capital out or stopped bringing it in.
Governments had tried to buy their own currencies to underpin their value but couldn't keep up with the sellers.
When they stopped their own forex activity, the forces of demand and supply saw the baht, rupiah and rouble in turn crash in value deepening the crisis of confidence and economic slowdown.
Speculators constantly watching for these market developments hastened the process.
XForex, also known as Ultimass Global, Inc. offers an easy-to-use entry point for newcomers to the Forex market, while providing experienced traders with the full range of basic Forex transactions and extensive personalized services to help investors get the most from their money. While XForex may be a little basic for advanced traders, it offers a unique package of educational and support services for newer investors, including a personal account manager and a comprehensive range of daily financial reports.
About XForex
XForex is a web-based Forex trading platform that offers unique advantages to traders in the gold, silver, and currency markets. Founded in Cyprus in 2003 as Trouvia Investments, the company expanded its operations into Canada and today offers services to its clients during all regular market hours. The website was re-launched in August of 2009, and offers many more services than it did previously; these services include video tutorials and a new demo account feature. Since the Forex market is open 24 hours a day for five and a half days per week, XForex is available during the same time period for trades and to assist its customers. XForex offers real-time market updates to its clients, ensuring that they obtain the most current information available at all times. Because XForex is a dealing desk broker, it covers the opposing side of all client trades.
Regulatory Oversight
XForex is governed by European Union regulations; this requires that it abide by the laws of each country in which it does business. It is funded by Deutsche Bank, Saxo Bank, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Contact Information at a Glance
A full list of telephone numbers for countries served by XForex is available at http://www.xforex.com/about-us/contact-us.
Their support email is support@xforex.com, and XForex can be reached by mail at:
Ultimass Global Holding Inc.
P.O. Box 71
Road Town
Tortola
British Virgin Islands
Vital Trading Information About XForex
XForex is web-based and works with all major browsers, including Firefox and Internet Explorer. It requires no downloading or installation and can be used anywhere with an internet connection; this ensures the highest level of accessibility and convenience for XForex customers. The XForex platform is optimized to work well on most mobile applications as well. The interface itself is easy to use and provides an online guide to help new users acclimate themselves to the various commands and functions of the platform. Traders new to Forex transactions will also appreciate the short market tutorial designed to help them understand the various aspects of Forex trading.
Commissions
XForex does not charge commissions to its clients on trades, deposits or withdrawals; it derives its income from the difference between the bids and asks prices. This is a significant advantage for beginning Forex traders, who can more quickly achieve their financial goals without the burden of additional charges. Despite the lack of commission fees, XForex provides a full range of client services including personalized investment advice and multi-lingual online support; since XForex caters to the international investing community, its support staff offers assistance in English, Spanish, French, Turkish, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic.
Minimum Deposits
XForex offers three levels of Forex accounts for their customers. The Mini requires a minimum deposit of $100 and offers a 10% bonus for the first deposit. Standard accounts require a $1000 minimum deposit and provide a 30% bonus on the initial deposit, while V.I.P. accounts can be customized to meet advanced trading needs and require a $10,000 minimum deposit, with a 30% bonus added to the first deposit. XForex accepts bank transfers and a number of major credit cards for deposits.
Leverage
XForex offers its clients up to 200:1 leverage, allowing them to take a much larger position in the Forex market. While this allows experienced traders to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, it can also lead to much greater losses. XForex offers safeguards that ensure that investors cannot lose more than they have invested with the company; this limits leveraged positions for low-end investors, but provides a security net in the case of significant loss on an investment.
Demo Account
Prospective customers can practice their trading skills with a user-friendly demo account. It offers all the same options as regular XForex accounts, and gives new clients a risk-free arena in which to hone their trading acumen before putting actual money on the line. Demo accounts function exactly as the regular accounts with the same minimums and bonuses applied to give new traders a real taste of Forex trading without the real risk.
Trading Functions
The XForex platform offers most of the trading options Forex investors expect, including 21 currency pairs and gold and silver trading. Trading functions include stop loss orders, trailing stops, take profit orders, market, and limit; XForex trading spreads are fixed and typically range between 3 and 30 pips. XForex does not allow hedged trading where buys are offset by simultaneous sells in the same currency. The XForex platform does not allow the use of Forex Robot or Meta Trader through its website. One unique feature of the XForex platform is the ability to track the current activities of the top ten traders; this can prove invaluable for inexperienced traders, who can learn from observing the experts in action.
Market Information
XForex offers its clients real time capital market information, along with daily market updates, charts, financial calendars, and other commentaries and reviews designed to help the beginning Forex trader and the experienced professional in the Forex market. In-depth Forex analysis helps traders identify trends and get in front of the market, helping them to achieve profitability in this highly volatile financial marketplace. The Overnight Express bulletins focus on bullet-point summaries of the Asian, North American and European markets, keeping XForex clients apprised of all developments in the Forex markets. Because XForex is strategically partnered with Reuters, clients are assured of the most current market information possible.
Security of Information
Data security is of the utmost importance to Forex traders, and XForex adheres to the highest industry encryption standards for online security, using SSL-secured servers and ensuring that client information remains confidential. Financial information is closely guarded and deleted once it is no longer relevant.
The Bottom Line
Most beginning traders will find XForex an excellent resource for learning the ropes of Forex trading. Most investors will appreciate the easy-to-use interface and the portability of the system; for advanced traders, however, the limited options for trade may make this less appealing than other Forex platforms on the market.
Gain Capital Group LLC was founded in 1999 by a group of experienced Wall Street professionals. Since then, it has built up an impeccable reputation for offering some of the very best forex services in the world. Forex.com’s clients come from over 140 different countries, and include individual traders, Commodity Trading Advisors, fund managers and many other investment professionals. With a corporate headquarters in Bedminster, New Jersey and an additional location on Wall Street, Forex.com/Gain Capital is a topnotch forex broker.
Beyond its far reach, Forex.com/Gain Capital Group has received many important awards through the years – something that further emphasizes its exceptional level of service. This company offers a broad suite of services, with accounts geared toward amateur traders and experienced traders alike.
There are many popular online foreign exchange market brokers doing business these days. If you’re like many people, then you’d probably prefer to stick with a well established and reputable broker. Some brokers offer exceptional trading spreads; others boast easy-to-use trading platforms that make getting into the forex game a breeze. Forex.com – a division of Gain Capital Group LLC – manages to combine both of those attributes, and many more. Whether you’re just starting out in the foreign exchange market or are a very experienced trader, Forex.com/Gain Capital is bound to have a product and an account type that will work for you.
“Risk-On, Risk-Off”
It sounds like a play on words, based on the Karate Kid refrain, Wax-On Wax Off, and for all I know it was. Still, I rather like this characterization – coined by a research team at HSBC – of the markets‘ current performance. Moreover, you’ll notice from the placement of that apostrophe that I’m not just talking about forex markets, but about the financial markets in general.
What we mean is that when risk appetite is high, credit markets and equities and high-yielding currencies tend to rally together. When risk appetite fades, “those assets fall and government bonds and safe-haven currencies, including the U.S. dollar, the Swiss franc and, in particular, the Japanese yen rally.” Data from Bloomberg News confirms this phenomenon: “The 120-day negative correlation between Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s Dollar Index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was at 42.4 percent today, and has been mostly above 40 percent since June 2009.”
Skeptics counter that this correlation is tautological. Anyone can point to a stock market rally and declare that “Risk is Back On.” In addition, it’s not wholly unsurprising that there are strong correlations between low-risk currencies and low-risk assets, and between high-risk currencies and high-risk assets. According to HSBC, however, this time is differentFor example, models suggest that the recent decline in volatility should have caused these relationships to break down. That they defied predictions and remained strong suggests that we have witnessed a significant paradigm shift. In the past, “Rising correlations are also tied to weak macroeconomic conditions.” At the moment, this could hardly be more true, with global economic growth flagging.
Statisticians love to teach the dictum, Correlation does not imply causation. Nonetheless, I think that in this case, I’d wager to say that the equity and credit/bond markets are driving forex, rather than the other way around. Consider as evidence that, “[Retail] Investors withdrew a staggering $33.12 billion from domestic stock market mutual funds in the first seven months of this year,” and shifted this capital into bonds. While this wouldn’t in itself be enough to drive the Dollar higher, it epitomizes the steady shifts that have been taking place in capital markets for nearly a year, broken only by the S&P/Euro rally in the spring (which now appears to have been an aberration).In fact, these shifts are once again creating shortages of Dollars: “This week, two banks bid at the European Central Bank’s weekly dollar liquidity providing auction – the first time there have been any bids since May – suggesting that they could not raise dollars in the market.” This suggests that demand for the Dollar could continue to grow.
Some analysts have suggested that the low-yielding US Dollar is already on its way to becoming a funding currency for carry traders, but I think this is wishful thinking. The HSBC report supports this conclusion, “A weakening of the ‘risk on-risk off’ paradigm is likely only once macro conditions are improved in a sustainable way…Currency performance will likely be tied to the ebb and flow of the perception of risk for some months to come.” In short, until there is solid proof that the global economy has emerged from recession (even if ironically it is the US which is leading the pack downward), the Dollar will probably remain strong.
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