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Weekly Outlook: Gold, Silver, Gas

Dear clients,

Gas prices in Europe are settling down, but warnings of a cold snap are keeping market on edge. Meanwhile, anticipation of new rate hikes by the Fed is holding gold down. This time, we'll be looking at gold, silver and gas, current and future movements.

Join us on February 22 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.

The Shaky Market of Stablecoin

Dear clients,

The $137 billion market could see shifts after New York-based Paxos Trust Company, which issues the Binance stablecoin, said it would stop issuing new BUSD tokens after US regulators designated the asset as a non-registered security.

However, the immediate effect was not negative for the stablecoin market as a whole; in fact, its total value has risen by $2 billion since February 13.

Instead, competitors are trying to capitalize on the woes of BUSD, the world's third-largest stablecoin, whose market value has shrunk from $16.1 billion to $12.9 billion and its market share has fallen from 12.1% to 9.4%, according to CoinGecko.com.

Market leader Tether (USDT) has won the most, increasing its market capitalization by $1.9 billion to reach $70.3 billion since the announcement. Now it controls 52.6% of the stablecoin market from just over 51%.

USD Coin, the second largest stablecoin, rose over $700 million to $42 billion, boosting its market share to 31.3%.

Stablecoins are a key part of the cryptosphere, and their more stable value allows them to be used to facilitate transfers between cryptocurrencies or fiat money. Traders also use these tokens to hedge their positions and hence the decline in market value is due to the drop in liquidity and leverage in the broader crypto market.

Staying Negative: the Future of the Bank of Japan' policy

Dear clients,

While bond investors are betting that the BOJ will change its much-discussed yield curve control policy, they still see new governor Kazuo Ueda sticking to negative rates for now.

Benchmark 2-year government bond yields have fallen since mid-January, while 10-year yields remained at the 0.5% target set by the Bank of Japan.

The central bank has set an interest rate of minus 0.1% on the portion of deposits that commercial banks hold at the Bank of Japan since January 2016. This policy tool has helped keep two- and five-year yields flat, but the BOJ's 10-year yield cap forces it to make unprecedented debt purchases and risks exacerbating market distortions, an issue that the monetary authority says prompted it to take decision to double the yield ceiling in December.

Ueda's previous actions also confirm rumors that he may be in no hurry to reverse his negative rate policy. He voted against abandoning the zero rate policy when he was a board member of the Bank of Japan in August 2000.

Strong demand for Japan's five-year bonds at Thursday's auction also suggests that investors are not particularly worried about the end of the policy of negative interest rates. On sale, the cut-off price was higher than expected, and the demand-to-coverage ratio rose sharply, which is an indication of investor interest.

In the currency market, traders see a peak in perceived volatility around the time of current Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's last political meeting in March, and then a decline until Ueda's first meeting in April.

Get ready for NFP

Dear clients,

Non-farm Payroll is borderline most important trading point of a month. And you really want to be prepared for it. This time, we'll be looking at a simple, but fruitful strategy to use in NFP trading.

Join us on March 1 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.

The First Day of Spring Profit: 202% drawdown bonus

Spring is just around the corner and with it comes new trading opportunities. Whether you decide to go uncharted paths or stay on the old beaten road, the main thing is confidence. And to give you double the calm, we double the drawdown bonus!

If you want to support your account or boost it, make a deposit from $202 and get 202% of the drawdown amount.

Meet spring with profit!

A New Challenger. Meta enters the AI race

Meta Platforms Inc has announced last Friday it is releasing a large language model, the core software of a new AI system, to researchers, fueling the AI race as big tech companies rush to integrate the technology into their products and impress investors.

The battle for AI dominance began late last year with the launch of Microsoft-backed OpenAI ChatGPT and prompted tech heavyweights from Alphabet Inc to China's Baidu Inc to pitch in with their solutions.

LLaMA, short for Large Language Model Meta AI, will be made available under a non-commercial license to researchers and organizations associated with government, civil society and academia, according to a promo blog.

The model, which Meta says requires "much less" processing power than other alternatives, is trained in 20 languages, with a focus on Latin and Cyrillic languages.

AI has reinvigorated investments into the tech industry, whose slowdown has led to mass layoffs and cuts to experimental bets.

Meta claims that LLaMA outperforms competitors who explore more parameters or variables taken into account by the algorithm. In particular, the LLaMA version with 13 billion parameters could outperform GPT-3, the recent predecessor to the model on which ChatGPT is built.

Trading Signals: NFP of February


Dear clients,

March 10 is expected to publish data on the Nonfarm Payroll, an indicator of US employment in the industrial sector. The report significantly affects the movement of the US dollar and related instruments.

What values are expected this time, our expert tells:

Leading indicators of employment from ISM for the industry and services indicate the release of positive data on Non-Farm Employment, which is favorable for the growth of the US stock market. On Friday consider buying #SP500, #NQ100, #Exxon, #JPMorgan.

Month of indexes without swaps

The spring thaw is approaching the market. Good news from China, oil volatility and prospects for new realities spur the growth of world indices, which favors market players.

We want to do our part aswell, trade the #DAX30, #DJI30, #NIKKEI and #FTSE100 indices from March 7 to April 2 without swaps!

Indices from different regions participate in the promotion, reflecting the value of the stock market in their zone.

DJI30 — one of the oldest indicators of the state of the US economy, includes stocks of 30 companies.
DAX30 is Germany's most important stock index and tracks the performance of the 40 largest German companies based on market capitalization on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
NIKKEI — Includes shares of 225 of the most actively traded companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
FTSE100 is an English stock index that reflects the state and development of the UK economy. Includes 100 shares of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

"For the Alliance!": The Merging of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard

Microsoft Corp is expected to win EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by offering licensing deals to rivals, sources close to the matter said.

Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard last January, its biggest deal ever, to take on industry leaders Tencent and Sony for the booming video game market. Sony, in turn, voiced concerns about Microsoft's expanding monopoly.

The main stumbling block has become the popular multi-platform Call of Duty series of games, which, once acquired by Microsoft, will cause an imbalance in the market, according to Sony.

The European Commission, which is due to decide on the deal by April 25, will not require Microsoft to sell assets to get approval, sources said.

Microsoft stated that it is "committed to offering effective and easily implemented solutions in order to remove the doubts of the European Commission." Last month, Microsoft announced it had signed 10-year licensing deals with Nintendo and Nvidia that would bring Call of Duty to their gaming platforms, subject to the agreement with Activision Blizzard being approved.

The deal is facing hurdles from regulators in Britain, where the UK competition agency has asked Microsoft to drop Call of Duty to alleviate the issue, while the US Federal Trade Commission has asked a judge to block the deal altogether.

Up to Day: Intraday strategy for beginners


Dear clients,

Simple is the best, as people tend to say. Indeed, you don't need to play 5D chess with the market to make a profit. This time, we'll be looking at another solid stategy, useful for beginners.

Join us on March 22 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.

ETFs, the new instruments for profitable trading


Good news, we have added a new group of instruments — ETF contracts!

Every investor knows the principle of asset diversification. Spreading your capital across different instruments is a direct way to reduce investment risk. Even if the yield on one instrument falls, this does not lead to a complete collapse. However, building a large portfolio and even more so controlling it is a rather difficult task. This is where ETFs come to the rescue.

An Exchange Traded Fund, or ETF, is an exchange-traded investment fund, which can include stocks, bonds of many companies at once, as well as gold, oil, real estate and other valuable property. The fund buys a large, diversified portfolio of assets and then sells it piecemeal. To do this, the fund issues its own shares. That is, by purchasing one ETF share, a trader invests money in several attractive instruments at once. This option is well suited for novice investors who are not yet familiar with the market and\or do not have the funds to make their own portfolio:

#GLD, SPDR Gold Trust is part of the SPDR family of exchange-traded funds managed and marketed by State Street Global Advisors. For several years, the fund was the second largest exchange-traded fund in the world, and for a short time, the largest. Aims to match the return of the fund to the dynamics of the LBMA Gold Price PM index, minus expenses and fees.

#VOO, Vanguard S&P500 is part of the Vanguard Group, the largest provider of mutual funds and the second largest provider of exchange-traded funds. The fund's investment strategy is to follow the S&P 500 index, which includes the top 500 US companies. Therefore, this fund has a high degree of diversification within the US economy.

#IWM, iShares Russell 2000 is a set of exchange-traded funds managed by BlackRock, which acquired the brand and business from Barclays in 2009. iShares Russell 2000 aims to track the investment performance of an index comprised of small-cap US stocks. Most of the fund's assets are invested in shares of financial services, energy and healthcare companies.

#QQQ, Invesco QQQ (Power Shares Trust, Series) is an American boutique investment management firm that manages a family of exchange-traded funds. The company is part of Invesco, which has been selling the PowerShares product since 2006. PowerShares covers and simulates many market indices; for example, PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ) is designed to reproduce the NASDAQ-100 index. ETF is popular among stock players and is one of the most liquid stock market instruments.

#VEA, Vanguard FTSE DM is another Vanguard Group product aimed at tracking the investment performance of the FTSE Developed All Cap ex US index. This index includes about 1385 ordinary shares of companies from the developed markets of Europe, Australia, Asia, the Far East, with the exception of companies from the USA.

#SCHD, Schwab US Dividend equity — Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the largest US banking companies and one of the largest brokerage companies in the United States. The goal of the fund is to track as closely as possible, before commissions and expenses, the overall return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100. This index includes common stocks of the 100 largest US companies, with consistently high dividend yields and fundamentally strong financial performance. The fund invests at least 90% of its assets in stocks and companies included in the index.

The #USO, United States Oil Fund aims to match share price performance with USO's Benchmark Oil Futures Contract index net of costs and fees.

Detailed trading conditions can be found in the CFD Specifications.

We'd also like to remind you about newcomers in the current line of metals; our traders have already tested their strength, XAUGBP is especially popular — the most profitable deal on it was $1698. Why not update the record?

Discover brand new ways to make a profit!
Ahead of the plan: Gold passes the $2,000 threshold


In volatile trading on Monday, gold prices initially fell 1% but reversed course and jumped to their highest level since March 2022 at $2009,59 as investors pondered the impact of measures taken by several central banks to contain the banking crisis and stabilize global markets. financial markets.

Gold prices slipped on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting as expectations rise that the US central bank will slow down its monetary tightening given the turmoil in the banking sector.

A pause in rate hikes could bring gold back above $2000, experts say, but it will need a lower dot chart and a dovish press conference for it to hold those gains. Despite the fact that banking regulators are rushing to strengthen market confidence, the uncertain macroeconomic environment continues to encourage purchases in gold.

Gold is considered a safe asset in times of financial uncertainty, and lower interest rates make unprofitable bars more attractive by lowering the opportunity cost of holding them.

In December last year, Bank of America analysts already predicted a rise in gold prices above $2,000, but the calculation was made for the second half of 2023.

Slow and Steady: A Profitable Strategy for Long Term Traders

Dear clients,

We talk a lot about intraday, but what about those who play the long game? This time we'll be looking at some strategies for a long-term trading.

Join us on March 29 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.

Trading Signals: U.S. Crude Oil Stocks

Dear clients,

March 29 will be announced data on crude oil reserves from the US Department of Energy. Crude oil reserves of Energy Information Agency (EIA) are estimated by the weekly increase in barrels of commercial oil held by US firms. Reserve levels affect the price of petroleum products, which in turn affect inflation and other economic forces.

What data is expected this time, we will find out from our expert:

The American Petroleum Institute reported a reduction in black gold reserves in US storage facilities by 6 million barrels, which is favorable for rising oil prices. The oil market enters the "high season", when the consumption of petroleum products increases every week. Today consider buying #WTI, #BRENT, #Exxon.

Slippin' Crypto Market

Bullish Bitcoin has been the surprise winner of the banking crisis. However, investors seeking to increase their rates are faced with a hurdle: lack of liquidity, which can cause prices to fluctuate wildly.

The price of the #1 cryptocurrency has jumped 40% to around $27,700 since March 10, when the Silicon Valley Bank bankruptcy spread to major markets. However, on the other hand, its liquidity is dwindling.

According to data provider Kaiko, Bitcoin's market depth indicates the asset is at its lowest liquidity level in 10 months, even lower than after the FTX crash in November.

Slippage, a measure of liquidity that describes how much prices move between placing and executing a trade, has also increased. Slippage when buying bitcoins for US dollars on the Coinbase exchange is 2.5 times higher than it was at the beginning of March. Slippage for a $100,000 simulated sell order has doubled in the last month, meaning the average price received per bitcoin is worse than it was a month ago.

Market makers say there is a big network effect and liquidity will remain a problem at least in the short term. The network effect was the collapse of Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank, whose networks have long been used by market makers who increase liquidity through the rapid purchase and sale of tokens for transactions on exchanges.

Further restricting liquidity, Binance — the world’s most liquid crypto exchange — last week ended zero-fee trading for almost all of its bitcoin trading pairs, hitting the ability of market makers to charge higher fees for executing trades on the platform.

The disappearing liquidity can be traced back to the collapse of the FTX exchange and the Alameda Research hedge fund. Alameda was one of the largest liquidity providers in the crypto industry and its bankruptcy left a void that was exacerbated by the 2023 banking sector turmoil.

Although most market participants expect the gradual arrival of new contenders to take over Silvergate and Signature' spot, no one expects a complete replacement to appear overnight.

Weekly Outlook: Gold, Silver, Natural Gas

Dear clients,

With banks falling, fuel prices soaring and inflation roaring, the markets are going full Pinball. The only safe haven so far would be precious metals. This time, we'll be looking at gold, silver and gas, current and future movements.

Join us on April 5 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.

Again with the Charts: FreshForex Forecast Contest

Dear clients,

The contest is back!

Do you have specific data, are confident in your numbers, or just want to test yourself?

From April 5 to 30, join traders on FB and test your trading instincts. The reward will be a prize of $50 to the account.

Forecasts of the first stage are accepted until April 7, 12:00 GMT.

Follow the details of the stages on our official page.

Oil Shock and Awe

Dear clients,

The unexpected OPEC+ production cut on Sunday changed the oil price outlook, bringing $100 a barrel back into view.

Saudi Arabia has taken the first step by pledging to cut its supplies by 500,000 barrels a day. Other members, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria, followed suit, while Russia said the production cuts it implemented from March to June would last until the end of 2023.

This is a significant decline for a market where, despite recent price fluctuations, supply was limited in the second half of the year. Oil futures rose 8% in New York on Monday, while gasoline also ramped up, adding to inflationary pressures that could force central banks around the world to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Traders were taken by surprise by the move, given that just weeks ago, senior Saudi oil official Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman insisted that OPEC+'s 2022 production quotas "are in place until the end of the year, period."

Previously, the cartel's own data suggested that the group would have to produce more oil in the second half of the year, not less. With the International Energy Agency expecting a surge in demand later this year, the risk of a new inflationary momentum for the global economy has now re-emerged.

After the decision was made, leading oil analysts started talking about oil at $100, some expect that the global balance of supply and demand will be in deficit earlier than expected. This view is reflected in Brent's increasing backwardation, with the premium for on-time deliveries rising over later deliveries, signaling tension. This view is reflected in Brent's increased backwardation, with the premium for on-time deliveries rising over later deliveries, signaling tension.

Options markets are now showing a bullish shift in sentiment. According to ICE Futures Europe, the most popular option on Brent crude over the next 12 months allows the holder to buy futures at $100, equivalent to nearly 140 million barrels of open interest.

Weekly Outlook: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple


Dear clients,

Bitcoin is surely taking ground, while Ethereum is preparing for a huge update. This time we'll be looking the cryptomarket and what to expect of it in the coming weeks.

Join us on April 12 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.
Trading Signals: US March Inflation

Dear clients,

A closely watched US inflation report could help address one of the most pressing questions among traders: whether the market has set the short-term path for interest rates correctly. Belief in rate cuts has driven bond yields down, supporting giant tech stocks and growth stocks that have an impact on broad stock indices.

What you can expect this month, our expert says:

Leading indicators point to declining inflation, which is negative for the dollar and positive for equity markets as the US Federal Reserve may stop raising interest rates. On Wednesday, consider buying AUDUSD, #NQ100, #SP500 and selling USDCAD, USDZAR.
"Shanghai" Noon. Major upgrade of Ethereum

Dear clients,

On April 12, the Ethereum network will undergo a technical upgrade that will allow users to withdraw tens of billions of dollars of their own Ether token. Referred to as “Shanghai”, this is a necessary step after the world’s most important crypto platform moved to a less energy-intensive process of ordering transactions. Investors affected by the recent turmoil in the crypto markets are wondering if some Ethereum holders will run when presented with the first opportunity to get their tokens out of the way.

The value of Ethereum fell during the “crypto winter” of 2022, when investors abandoned many digital assets. But the appeal of the underlying Ethereum technology has remained unchanged.

Until September 2022, Ethereum relied on a costly and energy-intensive process known as proof-of-work to order transactions. The situation changed when the technical overhaul known as the "Merge" took an alternative approach - proof-of-stake. People who put up or stake Ethereum can become “validators” of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain and receive income in return, just like deposits in a bank. As of 2020, users can stake their Ether but cannot withdraw it. "Shanghai" will allow them to take out these coins. About 16% of the total supply of Ethereum, worth about $37 billion, was stuck in the staking protocol as of early April.

It is not clear how many users will want to cash out once their Ether is unlocked. The value of the token has fluctuated wildly in the years since staking was first enabled – rising sharply as it grew in popularity among institutional and retail investors, then falling in 2022. At least initially, withdrawal demand is expected to outweigh new Ethereum staking deposits. It could take months for Ethereum holders to withdraw their coins as Ethereum has set limits to ensure that too many people do not withdraw at the same time, leaving it vulnerable to attack.

After the Merge, Ethereum attracted the attention of regulators, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which pointed out that some services offering income from the placement of cryptocurrencies amounted to illegal offerings of securities. An upgrade to unlock staked Ethereum may result in increased checks.

News Flash! Advantages of Incorporating News Into your Trading Strategy


Dear clients,

Unless you are insider, investor or a corporate spy, news are the primary source of information on the market. However, that's only one way to use them. This time, we'll be looking at news strategy and why you should incorporate news into your strategy.

Join us on April 26 at 12:00 GMT.

During webinars, FreshForex analyst will answer your questions regarding the market situation and comment on the latest news.

Soft Shell. Bank of Japan policy

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Tuesday stressed the need to maintain a super-loose monetary policy for the time being, but pointed to the possibility of raising interest rates if inflation and wage growth exceed expectations.

“In light of the current economic, price and financial developments, it is appropriate to maintain monetary easing, which is currently being implemented through yield curve control,” Ueda told parliament.

The shape of the Japanese bond yield curve has normalized in part due to falling global yields, Ueda said in response to an opposition lawmaker's question about the drawbacks of prolonged monetary easing.

Ueda reiterated the need to maintain Japan's monetary easing in order to achieve the Bank of Japan's 2% inflation target in a sustainable and stable manner, accompanied by wage increases.

“But if wage growth and inflation accelerate faster than expected and require monetary tightening, the Bank of Japan is ready to respond, for example by raising interest rates,” the governor said.

Ueda's comments come ahead of a two-day BOJ policy meeting starting Thursday, the first meeting he has chaired since he took over the bank earlier this month.

Markets are full of speculation that Ueda will direct the Bank of Japan to phase out his predecessor Haruhiko Kuroda's massive stimulus that has drawn criticism for distorting market prices and hurting financial institutions' profits.

In a sign that he's in no rush to raise rates, Ueda said tightening monetary policy now could push down future inflation, which is already slowing amid peak import costs.
Written by code. Google's Bard Chatbot Update


Google said Friday it will update Bard, its generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, to help people write code for software development as the tech giant seeks to catch up in the fast-paced AI technology race.

Last month, the company began publicly releasing Bard to win back ground from Microsoft Corp.

The release of ChatGPT, a chatbot from the Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, sparked a leap in the tech sector last year to put AI in the hands of more users.

Google describes Bard as an experiment to collaborate with generative AI, a technology that relies on past data to create rather than identify content.

Bard will be able to code in 20 programming languages, including Java, C++ and Python, as well as help debug and explain code to users, Google said on Friday.

Bard can currently be accessed by a small set of users who can chat with the bot and ask questions instead of using the traditional Google search tool.

The initial launch of the product was rather unsuccessful due to mistakes and poor impression. Last week, it was reported that Samsung and Apple may be phasing out Google Search in favor of Microsoft's AI-powered Bing. This has become an additional incentive for the introduction of AI technologies in Google products.

YELLOW SIGNAL

Why does gold continue to gain popularity?Dear clients,

Now is the best time to invest in gold, at least according to Bank of America. The dollar kept rising after the data on inflation, but is moving towards a monthly decline. Precious metals consolidated last month on "growth fears that led to higher expectations for a U.S. rate cut, lower bond yields and continued banking sector concerns," analysts said.

A weaker dollar makes bullion cheaper for foreign buyers. Due to the banking crisis and the threat of a recession, the precious metal is regarded as a reliable defensive asset.

Interest in gold is also actively shown by central banks, only last year demand grew by 20%. In fact, they account for a record 33% of monthly global demand and are buying more gold than at any time since data collection began in 1950.

The buying spree helped lift the price of gold to near-record levels and more than 50% higher than models based on real interest rates suggest. Experts see this as an attempt to get away from the dollar as the dominant currency.

The difficult macroeconomic environment makes gold one of the most reliable investments, and with a drawdown bonus 101%, it is also the most profitable.

BEHIND THE WALLS: WALL STREET ON THE DECISION OF THE FED

Dear clients,

Wall Street was stumped by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

In a statement accompanying a quarter-point rate hike, the central bank ditched previous language that said "some additional policy tightening" might be warranted. Chairman Jerome Powell then said banking sector conditions had “generally improved” since early March.

But investors still had many questions. Despite Fed officials' forecasts of a mild recession, Powell expects the US economy to grow at a modest pace this year. And while he said rates are "maybe at" a fairly restrictive level, getting back to the 2% inflation target won't be a "smooth process."

As Powell spoke, the S&P 500 went up and down, then closing down 0.7%. Treasury revenues fell.

The fact that the stock market is having a hard time figuring out where to go next is evidence that this has already been priced in, experts say. Looking ahead, investors want to know what value the Fed will place on tightening lending conditions caused by stress in regional banks.

Powell's speech failed to reassure the market, investors heard what they expected, but not exactly what they wanted; the lack of clear guidance from the Fed is also worrisome. The general mood is quite calm, no revelations from Powell have been made and the situation is still developing according to market forecasts. A number of analysts note that the Fed is still set to tighten: they will need confirmation from the data that the monetary policy stance is quite restrictive.

The prospects for a pause or rate cut are viewed very cautiously, with particular attention to the possibility of a recession. At the same time, few people believe in further increases, according to analysts, this will require catastrophic inflation.

Fed futures showed that the likelihood of a rate hike in June had dropped to around 2%.

TRADING SIGNALS: US FEDERAL RESERVE MEETING

Dear clients,

On May 3, a meeting of the US Federal Reserve System, the body that performs the functions of the Central Bank of America, will take place. The decision on the interest rate will determine the further movement of the market, which draw attention of traders.

How the situation with rates will develop now, our expert tells:

The Fed may raise the rate by 0.25% and signal to the market that it will not raise the rate at the next meetings, as inflation is declining, which is favorable for economic growth. On Wednesday consider buying AUDUSD, GBPUSD, #NQ100, #SP500.

A reversal can quite shake up the market — be ready with a 300% deposit bonus!