World Markets

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) is the largest stock exchange in Eastern Europe and is located in Warsaw, Poland.  The WSE has grown from a valuation of a few million Euros in 1991 to over 221 billion in 2008.  The WSE is a joint stock company that is backed by the State Treasury of Poland.  The exchange is broken into 60,000 registered shares, where the Treasury holds 99% of those shares.  The remaining 1% are distributed amongst brokers, bankers, and other financial institutions.

History of Warsaw Stock Exchange

The Warsaw Stock Exchange was first founded in 1817 and the majority of the trading was done with bills and bonds and the trading session only lasted from 1pm to 2pm.  The exchange began to flourish between the period of 1918 to 1939, but due to World War II the exchange was closed until 1989.  After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the WSE with aid from the French was able to commence trading once again in 1991.

Warsaw Stock Exchange Trading Holidays 2008

New Year's Day:  Tuesday, January 1st

Overview

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is the largest stock exchange in China. The exchange is a non-profit organization with a market capitalization of nearly $2.38 trillion making it the fifth largest exchange in the world.

History

The Shanghai Stock Exchange began trading in 1866. In 1891 foreign businessman founded the "Shanghai Share brokers' Association, which was China's first stock exchange. The exchange went through a number of changes as China removed the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and the two World Wars. Through all this the exchange was able to thrive and the current Shanghai Stock Exchange we know today, began its trading operations in 1990.

What is LIBOR?

The London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, is the European version of the federal funds rate in the United States and represents the interest rate at which London banks charge each other on funds borrowed.  This is not to be confused with the BBA LIBOR rate, which is a filtered average of inter-bank loans maturing within 1 year.  BBA LIBOR is published once per day by the British Bankers Association at around 11 AM London standard time.  The BBA is advised by a group of senior banking experts from at least 8 contributor banks and uses their lending activity to derive the BBA LIBOR rate. 

How is it used?

LIBOR represents a benchmark for short term borrowing worldwide and is used to settle interest rate contracts in many of the world's futures and options exchange

Monetary Indicators - Definition

Monetary indicators provide insight into the health of the market based on economic data. This data helps gauge how businesses will be affected by the economic environment, thus providing investors and edge when selecting the company they chose to invest. A good example of a monetary indicator is interest rates. When the interest rates are lowered, the market generally responds positively to this information, which leads to bounces in businesses that rely heavily on lending rates, such as the banks and homebuilders. Traders that focus on monetary indicators when making investment decisions are more suited for long-term investment strategies.

Introduction

The term money supply is just what it sounds like; the total amount of money in our economic system. More specifically, money supply includes all electronically held deposit balances within any banking institutions account plus all coins and bills that are in circulation. To get more detailed, the federal reserve has created different classes of money to measure outstanding money. There are four classes; M0, M1, M2, and M3 and they are primarily segregated by levels of liquidity.

M0 represents all of the physical cash and coins in public circulation plus any accounts held at central banks which can be exchanged for cash.

M1 includes M0 plus any balances that are in checking accounts or any other demand accounts (accounts that allow you to exchange for cash

M2 includes M1 plus small CD's, many savings accounts, and money market accounts

M3 includes M2 plus all CD's not included in M2, eurodollar deposits and Repos.

Dalal Street - Financial Capital of India

Overview

Dalal Street is equivalent to Wall Street in the West. Dalal street is located in downtown Mumbai, India and is the resting place of the Bombay Stock Exchange and a number of other Indian financial institutions. Dalal Street was originally named Hammam Street, but was renamed when the Bombay Stock Exchange moved to its current location. Mumbai is one of the top 10 centers in commerce in the world in terms of the financial flow volumes in a survey compiled by Mastercard Worldwide. As this trend continues upward over the coming decades, it bodes well for the economy of India and Dalal street.

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US Dollar

The US Dollar is the unit of currency for the United States of America. It is the most popular currency in the world and is composed of 100 cents. Former President George Washington's portrait appears on the front of the US Dollar. The dollar has been printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing since 1914.

Bombay Stock Exchange History

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is the largest and oldest stock exchange in Asia. The BSE was originally formed in 1875 and was the first exchange to receive approval from the Indian government under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act of 1956. There are currently close to 5,000 stocks which trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The BSE is tracked with the BSE Sensex, an index of 30 large cap stocks. The BSE is the first exchange in India to list derivatives, such as futures, options, etc. Trading on the BSE takes place between 9:30 and 15:30 Bombay Standard Time.

BSE Sensex

The BSE Sensex is the most widely tracked index in the Indian stock market.  It is comprised of 30 stocks and is a value-weighetd index.  The index is reviewed regularly by the Bombay Stock Exchange authorities to ensure the components reflect the dominant industries in India.  The BSE Sensex had a starting value of 100 in 1979 and has increased in value over ten times.