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One of the core pieces of Online Trading Academy’s Core Strategy is to help traders succeed by trading in the same manner and direction as the large trading institutions. Many people have questioned the ability of being able to know where these buying or selling points lie; that is until they learn the strategy and see it working for themselves.

Many people even doubt that these large trading institutions exist. We commonly think that the large banks solely engage in businesses like managing client accounts and thrive on commissions. The truth is that trading activity constitutes either a large portion or even the majority of their profits. Need proof? Well, these large institutions are publicly traded companies so one only needs to view their annual reports to see where their profits really come from.

Bank of America, for instance, made 13 billion dollars from their investment and brokerage services but over six billion from their trading activities.

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Morgan Stanley’s largest income producer was in fact their trading at over $9 billion. This easily dwarfed their moneys received from investment banking or commissions.

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JP Morgan Chase is known as a banking center and a brokerage, but they also made over $284 million from their trading activities.

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If you have ever been involved in trading the US equity markets, you should be aware of market making activity. If you do not know what this is, you definitely need to educate yourself before risking any more money in the markets themselves. Market makers create liquidity in the equity markets by buying and selling securities for themselves and their clients. But they are also able to manipulate prices in the markets. This leads to losses from the uneducated traders who still commit money to the markets.

One of these big market makers is Goldman Sachs. We know them as an investment banking company, but as you can see from their financial information, they made over $9.5 billion last year in market making activity. This is trading!

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If you think that I am just trying to promulgate an “us against them argument”, let’s check out the facts. There are scores of data points that show that the big institutions are more interested in profits for themselves than helping you secure your financial future. In fact, trading activity for these institutions has become much more profitable.

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Neither Freedom Management Partners nor any of its personnel are registered broker-dealers or investment advisers. I will mention that I consider certain securities or positions to be good candidates for the types of strategies we are discussing or illustrating. Because I consider the securities or positions appropriate to the discussion or for illustration purposes does not mean that I am telling you to trade the strategies or securities. Keep in mind that we are not providing you with recommendations or personalized advice about your trading activities. The information we are providing is not tailored to any individual. Any mention of a particular security is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold that or any other security or a suggestion that it is suitable for any specific person. Keep in mind that all trading involves a risk of loss, and this will always be the situation, regardless of whether we are discussing strategies that are intended to limit risk. Also, Freedom Management Partners’ personnel are not subject to trading restrictions. I and others at Freedom Management Partners could have a position in a security or initiate a position in a security at any time.

Editors’ Picks

EUR/USD now refocuses on the 200-day SMA

EUR/USD now refocuses on the 200-day SMA

EUR/USD extended its positive momentum and rose above the 1.0700 yardstick, driven by the intense PMI-led retracement in the US Dollar as well as a prevailing risk-friendly environment in the FX universe.

EUR/USD News

GBP/USD extends recovery beyond 1.2400 on broad USD weakness

GBP/USD extends recovery beyond 1.2400 on broad USD weakness

GBP/USD gathered bullish momentum and extended its daily rebound toward 1.2450 in the second half of the day. The US Dollar came under heavy selling pressure after weaker-than-forecast PMI data and fueled the pair's rally. 

GBP/USD News

USD/JPY marks up a 34-year high as USD returns to favor

USD/JPY marks up a 34-year high as USD returns to favor

USD/JPY rises to another multi-decade high amidst enthusiasm for the US Dollar. US economic exceptionalism and a massive US Treasury bond sale are fueling USD buying. Japanese Finmin verbal intervention warning is ignored by USD/JPY. 

USD/JPY News

Editors’ Picks

AUD/USD could extend the recovery to 0.6500 and above

AUD/USD could extend the recovery to 0.6500 and above

The enhanced risk appetite and the weakening of the Greenback enabled AUD/USD to build on the promising start to the week and trade closer to the key barrier at 0.6500 the figure ahead of key inflation figures in Australia.

AUD/USD News

EUR/USD now refocuses on the 200-day SMA

EUR/USD now refocuses on the 200-day SMA

EUR/USD extended its positive momentum and rose above the 1.0700 yardstick, driven by the intense PMI-led retracement in the US Dollar as well as a prevailing risk-friendly environment in the FX universe.

EUR/USD News

Gold struggles around $2,325 despite broad US Dollar’s weakness

Gold struggles around $2,325 despite broad US Dollar’s weakness

Gold reversed its direction and rose to the $2,320 area, erasing a large portion of its daily losses in the process. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield stays in the red below 4.6% following the weak US PMI data and supports XAU/USD.

Gold News

Bitcoin price makes run for previous cycle highs as Morgan Stanley pushes BTC ETF exposure

Bitcoin price makes run for previous cycle highs as Morgan Stanley pushes BTC ETF exposure

Bitcoin (BTC) price strength continues to grow, three days after the fourth halving. Optimism continues to abound in the market as Bitcoiners envision a reclamation of previous cycle highs.

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US versus the Eurozone: Inflation divergence causes monetary desynchronization

US versus the Eurozone: Inflation divergence causes monetary desynchronization

Historically there is a very close correlation between changes in US Treasury yields and German Bund yields. This is relevant at the current juncture, considering that the recent hawkish twist in the tone of the Federal Reserve might continue to push US long-term interest rates higher and put upward pressure on bond yields in the Eurozone. 

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