Are Online Casinos Going to Completely Replace Brick-and-Mortar Casinos? 15 May 2019 5:07 AM (5 years ago)
Since the inception on online gambling and the apparent growth that is being experienced, one question that has loomed over the minds of stakeholders is whether online casinos will ultimately replace brick and mortar casinos otherwise known as land-based casinos. This is a very legitimate question, mainly because gambling is an important industry and a backbone of the economy of major cities like Las Vegas and Atlantic City in the United States. Such cities have been built the casino business entirely, and if internet-based casinos are going to take over and replace the land-based model, there are very dire implications.
A lot of players are gravitating towards online gambling. This being so, it is essential to look at the issues that the online casinos have brought that would render the brick-and-mortar obsolete.
Convenience
Online casinos are much more convenient than land-based casinos in many ways. You don’t have to travel to a given location to play your favourite games. All you need is a smartphone, a tablet or a computer and a proper internet connection and voila! You are in the games. This means that you can play from anywhere in the world.
Game Variety
There is a much more comprehensive game range in an online casino than there can be in a land-based casino. By the mere fact that online casinos are housed in buildings, it means that they have limited space; not all games can be hosted in a given structure. Online casinos can host an unlimited number of games and therefore, can offer a more significant variety in one site. Most players would abandon land-based casinos for this very reason.
With the many varieties come exciting bonuses and promotions, including sign-up bonuses and loyalty programs. This means that customers have much more to benefit from an online casino that they have in a land-based casino.
Digital Currency
Bitcoin currencies have brought a shift in the whole online casino industry. With faster payouts, account anonymity and such other benefits, online gambling has dramatically improved. Cryptocurrency is becoming more widely accepted as a currency. You can use it to shop and pay bills. This makes online gambling even more attractive since you can readily use your winnings for whatever cause you to want.
Every player would want to get their funds in the shortest time possible. The bureaucracy that is prevalent in the brick and mortar casinos is something that exists to their undoing. With faster processing times, digital currency casinos are much more attractive than regular currency casinos.
Anonymity
We all know that society isn’t so welcoming to gambling. Gambling is widely seen as a vice. Some employers will even deny you a job if you are a gambler in the view that you may be irresponsible. Land-based casinos require that you pay using your credit cards and that you also disclose some information about yourself. Such information is what potential employers, hackers, and fraudsters use against players. Cryptocurrency offers players the opportunity to go completely anonymous. You don’t have to disclose any information to have a casino account or to make transactions.
In any primary industry, change is inevitable. With the insertion of new sets of variables into the status quo comes disruptions that yield entirely different results. The current environment in the gambling fraternity is more or less what is happening in the transport industry, where the internet of things has brought a shift in the cab experience with car share platforms like Uber and Lyft. Whenever there is a disruption in the market, change may render an existing business model obsolete and irrelevant. Disruptions ensure that new entrants can offer services faster, cheaper and better. This means that the stakeholders that existed before the interruption have either to adapt to the new ways of doing business or be wiped out entirely.
Though it may be impossible to wipe out land-based casinos entirely, time will have it that very few of them will remain operational and relevant. Of course, you have to factor in the die-hard fanatics and conservative players that will prefer land-based casinos over the online platforms anytime.
Stakeholders in the land-based casinos have so much to lose if there will be a mass exodus from their business into the online platforms. Of course, they will not stand aside and look at cities like Las Vegas remain ghost towns. They will use every trick in the book to ensure that their online peers do not cannibalize them.
In conclusion
Whether online casinos will annihilate land-based casinos is neither here nor there; the whole idea is dependent on so many factors that are still at a developmental level, but as it is with such matters, speculation is rife.
Dhaka Stock Exchange 26 Jan 2014 9:31 AM (11 years ago)
There are financial markets located throughout the world. Some are larger than others and represent more of the global economy. However, many countries that have lagged behind the rest of the world economically have their own emerging markets. In Bangladesh, this is the case with their primary securities market being the Dhaka stock exchange. This market has recently seen a bubble collapse similar to the one experienced by US markets in 2009 and 2010. This has left many people wondering what went wrong with the Dhaka stock exchange.
The History
This market actually traces its origins back to the incorporation of the East Pakistan Stock Exchange Association Ltd in 1954. Actual trading did not begin until 1956. The name was changed by removing the word “Association” in June of 1962. In May of 1964, the name Dhaka Stock Exchange was adopted. Trade was halted in 1971 and resumed in Bangladesh 5 years later.
The market experienced a crash in 1996 when bullish investors forced stock prices to rise well beyond their actual value and created a bubble that burst. The same thing has happened again in 2010.
The Growth in Last Few Years
From 2003 to March 2010, this market has experienced steady growth in market capitalisation and share prices. On the surface, this looks like a positive factor. To a certain extent, this is true. The market fundamentals have remained solid with steady growth until February of 2010. Then, the market began to experience a sudden surge in stock prices and market capitalisation that was not supported by the fundamentals.
A portion of this can be blamed on an exaggerated increase in the market index that resulted from the addition of Grameen Phone IPO. However, this only explains a small portion of the surge.
Putting this growth into perspective is important to realising what happened to the market. At the end of 2003, the total market capitalisation was a mere 1.7 billion US dollars. Then a bull run began in the market that has resulted in total market capitalisation of 34.2 Billion US Dollars.
Turnover, total stock sales per day has also seen an incredible increase. In 2003, total turnover was only Tk 140 million. In February of 2010, this figure had increased ten thousand percent to Tk 13.2 billion.
The Crash of Dhaka Stock Exchange
What caused the crash in this market? A sharp increase on the demand side unsupported by fundamental analysis of the stocks being traded lead to incredibly exaggerated prices being paid for stocks that had an actual value of less than half the price per share.
Traders allowing emotions to guide them rather than study of fundamental market indicators created a market in which investors could not see anything but gains in value in the near future.
A large number of foreign investors entering the market for the purpose of taking as much profit as possible contributed a great deal to this problem. It was magnified when these foreign investors began selling off shares to take their profits and pull their money out of the market.
In the end, domestic mutual fund managers and foreign investors began to fear a market correction looming in the future and sold off as many shares as possible in order to hold their assets as cash until this correction took place.
All of the stocks showed extremely high P/E ratios. While a high ratio can be an indicator of healthy economic growth, Ratios reaching extremely high levels should have been a warning sign that stock prices were becoming exaggerated beyond reason.
A Lesson for Investors in Other Emerging Markets
There are several emerging markets scattered around the world. Most of these are experiencing positive growth, indicating that the economies of these countries are improving.
The primary lesson investors in these markets should learn from the Dhaka example is that allowing emotions to rule one’s decisions can create a falsely inflated market price for shares that are unsupported by the value of the companies they represent.
Investors must step back and examine the fundamentals behind the stock values and assure themselves that they are getting an actual value for their money. The P/E ratio is an excellent example of a method of calculating actual value of stocks. Ratios of 1 or more can indicate a company experiencing positive economic growth. However, if these ratios rise beyond a certain amount, this can be a warning sign that demand has become exaggerated and that share prices are being pushed unrealistically high.
As with all major financial markets, the Dhaka stock exchange will recover from the recent crash. This may not help the vast number of investors who lost huge amounts of money when the market corrected itself. However, it serves as an example to traders in other emerging markets of what can happen when emotions rule the day rather than fundamental study and wise investment choices.
A Comparison of the Colombo Stock Market (CSE) and Other World Markets 26 Jan 2014 9:23 AM (11 years ago)
Around the world, there are a number of regional stock markets that deal in trading stocks in companies based or operating in their regions. Some of the major markets include the United States’ New York Stock Exchange, the Japan Stock Exchange, and markets in Hong Kong and India. One relatively small market that is making huge gains for investors that trade on it is the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Here, we will attempt to establish a comparison between the CSE based in Sri Lanka and other major world markets.
An analysis of market trends in graphic form shows that the CSE has not been subject to as many major drops in prices as the larger markets. In fact, the leading index used to measure the performance of stocks on this market, the All Shares Price Index, shows that this market has enjoyed an almost steady climb over the past year.
The CSE is currently at an all time high with the graph trend showing that it has more climbing to do before it tops out and drops off slightly. The current increase over last year is approximately 126 percent. This is growth that is unparalleled in any of the other world stock markets. Investors who are looking for rapid growth of their portfolios would be more than happy to see growth potential like this in any market.
While all of the markets are somewhat higher than they were at this time last year, growth has been considerably slower. There have also been many more instances of the market making gains one day and losing them the next, usually with the release of financial data from large corporations or the federal governments of the countries these markets are located in.
For example, on the Japanese market, the key index is identified as the Nikkei. Over the course of the last 12 months, this index has amassed a total gain of only 15.45 percent over the same time last year. The US market has not grown much more than that at 26.40 percent.
Hong Kong and India also host stock markets that have featured growth in the last 12 months at 28.34 percent and 54.99 percent respectively. To most financial analysts, these represent huge gains that are not normally seen in such a short time. Yet, the CSE is outperforming them all in terms of growth.
It is true that there are nowhere near as many shares traded on the CSE each day as there are on the other markets. However, it is also true that those who invest in this market are enjoying much higher returns on their investments than those trading in the world’s larger markets.
Investing in the Sri Lanka based Colombo Stock Market is a strategy that definitely bears some study and consideration. All forecasts indicate that the current growth trends will continue for the foreseeable future. Most stocks traded on this exchange are immune, or protected from the types of conditions that can cause stock prices to plummet on larger markets. This makes the Colombo Stock Market a safer investment market as well as one with much higher growth.
eToro Open Book 26 Jan 2014 9:20 AM (11 years ago)
Do you like to earn money online by trading in Forex markets? Do you worry that you might lack critical knowledge that can affect the outcome of your trades? You do not have to worry any longer. If you can use social networks, such as FaceBook, you can trade Forex. EToro Open Book gives you real time trading feeds from top professional traders and allows you to copy their original trades instantly.
This platform provides an ideal environment for traders of all experience levels. Experienced traders can recruit their own followers and gain recognition for their skills in choosing successful trades. They can also follow the trades of others like themselves and, possibly, spot positions they might have overlooked as they open up.
Novice traders can benefit from the experience of seasoned professionals while they learn the ropes. They can follow the trades of their chosen gurus and copy any of these trades they choose on a one-to-one basis.
Benefits of the eToro Open Book Trading Community
It is possible to chat with top traders in real time and ask them questions about trading strategies and market trends or indicators. Their answers are posted on a board for you to see, as well as other traders using this platform. This can lead to conversations as those who agree or disagree with the advice post their responses.
At any given time, you can view the open positions of some of the leading traders in the world. You can see what direction currency pairs are moving and how these traders react to such movements. You can use this information to help you formulate your own trading strategies.
One added feature with the eToro Open Book platform is the ability to copy active trades being carried out by others. This means that you can see the trade being made by someone you have been watching come out ahead in trade after trade and duplicate their trades. Your copied trade will mirror theirs right up to the moment when they close out of the position. Your trade will automatically close at the same time.
Of course, it is only fair to warn you that a trade may look favorable at the time of copying, but turn the other direction before the person you are copying closes out. Therefore, it is important to reiterate the warning, “Do not invest money you can not afford to lose.” You will also have the ability to close out of the position manually at any time if you do not like the way it is moving.
How to Use eToro Open Book for Maximum Profit
By selecting a button on the page, you can pull up the trades of the top 100 traders in the market at that time and see what positions they have open, as well as how their trades are faring in the profit or loss category. This information can be used to help you decide which currency pairs are most profitable at that time and formulate strategies to get you started.
You may also follow other successful traders and add them to your watch list. You will be able to see how their trades fare, much like the top 100. The difference is that you can choose to follow whomever you want. You may find individuals who are in a very similar financial situation to yours so that it will not be difficult to copy their trades. Some may have much more money to risk than you.
You should always evaluate the risk factors of each individual trade for yourself before copying traders. All traders will enter into a losing position from time to time, and all it would take is one major loss to wipe out any profit you had made from previous trades. It is one thing to copy trades and something completely different to just copy a trader.
Even the trading gurus who show high profit margins consistently run the risk of choosing a bad position and losing money. For this reason, it is essential that you follow the market indicators and look at everything from your own standpoint before investing.
Copied trades will automatically close when the original trader closes it. However, it will be safer for you if you monitor your copied trade until it closes because even seasoned professional traders can make a mistake. Remember, you can always close your trade manually if you think the profit you have earned is enough or to reduce the amount of loss if the trade goes against your position.
The eToro Open Book blends the technology of social networking with the financial market in a unique way. It gives new traders a power they never had before while helping experienced traders improve their skills and chat about the current factors affecting the market.
Price Earning Ratio 26 Jan 2014 9:14 AM (11 years ago)
The most common method of valuating stocks is based on corporate earnings. Most people look at how much a company earns per outstanding share of stock as a net profit, the amount earned after all bills are paid. To make this easier to understand, we are going to show a highly simplified example.
The earnings per share is a simple calculation that is arrived at by dividing the earnings of a company in rupees by the number of outstanding shares of stock. For example, ABC Corporation reports earnings of 1 million rupees for the year. There are a million shares of stock outstanding. 1 million rupees divided by 1 million shares equals an EPS of 1 rupee per share. This is called a trailing EPS because the calculation is based on reported numbers for the previous year. To make a more pertinent evaluation of a company’s worth, it is important to look at stock valuation – price earning ratio.
What is Price Earning Ratio?
The typical investor uses the price earning ratio (P/E ratio) to determine if a stock is worth its price. This ratio is calculated using the current stock price and looking at its earnings for the last year. An example would be ABC corporation stock price selling at 15 rupees per share. The calculation would be as follows:
15 rupees (share price) divided by the EPS of 1 rupee equals 15 P/E.
In general, it is considered that a higher P/E ratio is a good indicator of the investor’s positive attitude on a given company. However, there are other considerations that must be taken into account.
Are Low P/E Stocks Really Worth it to Buy?
In general, stocks with a low P/E ratio are not a always good buy. People may think stocks with low P/E Ratio are undervalued but there are some exceptions, based on changes taking place in the company, but the fact of the matter is that companies with low P/E ratios are generally in some sort of trouble. This could include a gloomy outlook for the future of the company or industry, a bad reputation, or a history of poor management. Because the P/E ratio is based on numbers already reported, it is possible that changes within the company can improve the value of the stock over time, but the present conditions tend to make this a poor value.
P/E and Growth Ratio and the Year-Ahead P/E and Growth Ratio (PEG and YPEG)
The P/E ratio is often used in an additional calculation to determine if a stock is a good buy. The PEG is a calculation that considers the expected growth of a company along with the P/E ratio. Because a growing company is reasonably expected to grow in value, the P/E and Growth ratio is a valuable consideration. This calculation is achieved by looking at the P/E and projected growth of the company. For example, ABC Corporation has a P/E of 10 and is expected to grow at a rate of 10 percent over the next two years. This calculation would be 10 (trailing P/E) divided by 10 percent growth in EPS equals PEG of 1.
Companies are valued low if they have a lower PEG ratio or high if their PEG is higher. The YPEG is calculated in the same manner, but it looks at expected earnings for the year ahead rather than the trailing P/E. These numbers can be attained from a number of sources online, including the corporations on financial reports and projections.
Understanding stock valuation – price earning ratio is an important first step in making wise investment decisions. Past performance can be a valuable asset in determining the value of a stock, but projected growth is at least as important, if not more so in the long run.
Revenue Based stock Valuation 26 Jan 2014 9:11 AM (11 years ago)
Understanding Revenue Based Stock Valuation
There are many different ways to look at a company to determine if it will be a good investment. While price per share earnings are one of the most common types of revenue based stock valuation, there are times when a company may not report positive earnings due to high tax burdens, expansion costs, and other expenses. Even when this is the case, the company still produces revenue during day to day operations. Understanding some of the methods used for valuation will help you to identify the best investments.
In order to assess a real revenue based valuation, one must take a look at the price/sales ratio. This is calculated using the company’s market capitalization, a figure that is equal to the current market price of stock in the company multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. In other words, if the current share price of the company’s stock is 100 rupees and there are 1 million outstanding shares, the market capitalization would be 100 times 1 million equals 100 million rupees.
Conservative investors would then add the company’s long term indebtedness total to the current market value of the company to arrive at a more accurate figure for market capitalization. If the company mentioned above has just taken on a long term debt of 50 million rupees, this figure would be added to the 100 million rupees in share value to get a total market capitalization of 150 million rupees. This approach makes it possible to avoid getting false comparisons between two different companies when one has a huge debt and the other is debt free, even if sales are lower.
The next figure needed would be the company’s trailing revenue for the past year. This can be arrived at by looking at quarterly reports and adding the revenue reported for each of the last four quarters together.
Calculating the price/sales ratio is then a simple matter of performing the maths. Let’s assume that the company we are using as an example had revenue of 300 million rupees over the last four quarters. If we take the current market capitalization of 150 million rupees and divide it by the revenue of 300 million rupees, we arrive at a P/S ratio of 0.5. As with the P/E ratio, the lower this ratio is, the better the odds that this will prove to be a good investment.
Making use of the P/S ratio and P/E ratio to evaluate the same corporation can confirm whether it is a sound investment. A company with a low P/E and a high P/S can mean that one time gains during the last year have pumped up the earnings per share with no guarantee that such will occur again.
Forex Exchange Market Vs Stock Market 26 Jan 2014 9:07 AM (11 years ago)
The FX market is also known as the international foreign exchange market. Dealing can take place between any two countries with unique monetary systems is the foundation for the fx market and the background of the trading in this marketplace. The FX market is over 30 years old, established in the 1970′s where you are not speculating or dealing in business concerns instead it is based on the buying and selling of currencies.
The main difference between the fx market and the stock market that difference is the amount of trading that goes on here an amazing two trillion dollars or more can be traded each day A much higher amount than the money that is traded on the daily stock market of any country. The forex market is one that involves multiple financial institutions within a country and another countries counterparts to those institutions.
The items that are bought and sold on the fx market are easily liquidated this means that they can be turned into cash quickly if it is not already cash From one countries currency to another the availability of funds is readily available to any investor worldwide
The biggest difference the foreign exchange market and the stock market the fx market is global. The stock market is something that takes place only within a country and involves the products and businesses of that country the fx market goes further to involves any country.
There are set business hours for the stock market which typically follow the traditional business day this means that it is closed on holidays and weekends The forex market however, is one that is open generally twenty four hours a day due to the variety of countries that take part in trading selling and buying in a variety of time zones. Markets open in one country another countries market is closing so this is a nonstop method of how the fx market occurs.
A stock market in a country is based on that country’s currency say for example the Japanese yen, and the Japanese stock market, or the United States stock market and the dollar. However, in the forex market, because you are involved with different countries and multiple currencies. You will find references to a variety of currencies, and this is a big difference between the stock market and the fx market.
Internet Stock Trading 26 Jan 2014 9:05 AM (11 years ago)
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Internet Stock Trading
Many people are becoming more interested in Internet stock trading because there are so many websites promising to make them rich quick. However, while there are benefits to trading online, there are also disadvantages that you should be aware of before you begin investing or changing your current financial portfolio. The Stock market is a very complex machine with a language and actions that can easily overwhelm a person who does not have a knowledgeable support system in place when they begin.
If you are thinking about trading online through broker that does not provide advisory services, you will need a solid understanding of how the market works, the terminology, and the strategies for trading in order to make money. A stock broker must be registered to buy and sell shares in the stock market, so when you are trading online, you still are working through a broker to buy and sell shares.
Making decisions about buying and selling require a strategy and a thoughtful approach to the market. Besides terminology, you must also become effective at understanding and analyzing trends and be able to make decisions without having an emotional investment in the stocks you purchase. When you are comparing online brokerages, it will be important that they have a simulated trading platform for you to learn the intricacies of trading.
There are three types of broker services offered to individuals who want to expand their portfolio. The “Execution Dealing” brokers, which many online brokerages offer, responds to your instructions for trades. These brokers do not offer advice or information about trading and often are found in the discount brokerages. Brokers who offer “Advisory Dealing”, provide their clients with a complete education on stocks.
They will advise you about stocks and offer a number of services to help you earn the best return on your investments. “Discretionary Dealing” brokers collect information and, based on your goals and objectives, manage your portfolio. These brokers conduct trades on your behalf and usually will send a monthly or quarterly report on how your portfolio is doing.
Many successful traders find that using a combination of effective trading methods is extremely helpful. A broker that is available to meet with you and is knowledgeable about your portfolio and goals will be able to provide important information about the most effective trading strategies for your investment. When an individual has a broker that is focused on their needs and is able to do the analysis and research needed to identify stocks that will provide the highest return, it will not be necessary for you to spend time losing money while you learn the processes and strategies of successful trading.
Is EToro Forex A Scam? 23 Jan 2014 1:34 PM (11 years ago)
One financial market that was kept a secret by banks and big business until relatively recently is the forex market. Changes in the law forced this market to open up to private investors, as well as large corporations and banks. Because this market is relatively new as far as private investors are concerned, it is not easily understood. One online platform that has attempted to simplify it so that anyone can invest and profit in forex is eToro. Still many people who have used this platform have lost money and have raised the question, “Is eToro forex a scam?”
Contrary to what some disgruntled investors might say, eToro is completely legitimate and offers an online trading platform designed to make investing in the forex market easier to understand. In order to do this, they offer graphic interfaces that are similar to games or CGI animations that depict what the market is doing in terms of the currencies involved in a given trade. Because these animations do not resemble the technical graphs and trends that many investors expect, they believe this platform to be a scam.
The plain truth is that many investors around the world are using eToro on a daily basis and making money. Even people in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are generating profitable trades using the eToro platform.
One reviewer claimed that eToro is a scam because he used it to make trades which lost money and made the exact same trades on another platform and made money. This begs the question, was the trades carried out simultaneously or was there a delay on one platform or the other? The forex market is highly fluid and changes can occur so rapidly that a difference in timing of just a few seconds can mean the difference between a profit and a loss.
One thing that eToro does do is offer a practice account that one can use to familiarize himself/herself with trading on the forex market. Some complain that all their trades in the practice account made money while all trades dealing in real money lost money. Again, this comes down to a matter of timing.
It is also possible that there is a disconnect between the practice account and the actual market. After all, the purpose of the practice account is to teach one how to trade, not necessarily to parallel the actual market.
While most platforms require minimum balances in trades of 25 USD or more, eToro introduced accounts that allow one to enter a trade for as little as 2.50 USD in January 2010. This move was made in an effort to help its customers limit their exposure, thus limiting losses on bad trades.
What eToro forex is is an online trading platform in the forex market that is designed to make trading in foreign currencies easy, even for those who have no investing experience whatsoever. The fact is that the forex market represents an opportunity to make huge profits. However, for every trader that makes a profit, someone takes a loss. This is why investors are warned repeatedly not to risk money they cannot afford to lose.
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