CFD Trading and Spread Betting: FTSE perks up, but struggles to find momentum
Giles Watts, Head of Equities at spread betting provider City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/), takes a look at the financial activity shaping the markets on 15th April 2011. Headlines include investors remaining cautious as equity markets traded marginally better and hedge fund manager Man Group posting 3 percent gains. Investors remained cautious in early trading as equity markets traded marginally better. Strength in retailers and real estate helped keep the FTSE in the blue, whilst miners and banks weighed on the index. By mid-morning the FTSE was trading 12 points better at 5975, but was struggling to find momentum. Top of the leader-board was hedge fund manager Man Group; posting 3% gains after Merrill Lynch moved them onto their Europe One List. Real Estate giant British Land posted 2.5% gains as the sector was lifted by a positive note from JPMorgan. Investors were also buyers of retailers, as John Lewis's Waitrose reported strong weekly sales numbers. Solid updates from a bell weather of the high street proved enough to drive listed retailers better, Next and M&S both featured on the winners list. Trader optimism didn't extend however to the heavyweight Banks and Miners, crucially weighing on any FTSE advance. Banks continue to come under pressure as sovereign debt issues remain, particular in the light of Moody's recent downgrade in Ireland. Barclays and RBS all traded to new monthly lows. The mining sector conspired to taint the FTSE as strong first-quarter GDP growth and high inflation from China continue to fuel concern that further fiscal tightening will be required. Traders remain nervous as US reporting season takes hold, signs of improving profit are encouraging, but with stuttering growth a likely prospect, it remains likely that Investors will take a cautious approach to investment as we head towards Easter. Start spread betting with City Index at http://www.cityindex.co.uk/spread-betting/ Spread betting and CFDs are leveraged products which can result in losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the risks. About City Index: Today more and more individual traders are discovering the benefits of derivatives, and many of them are discovering them through a City Index trading platform. As a group, we transact in excess of 1.5 million trades every month for individuals in over 50 countries worldwide. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, CFDs and, in the UK, financial spread betting. We constantly look to widen the range of assets we offer, improve the performance of our platforms and expand the range of services we provide. The result is that our customers benefit from innovative trading tools with transparent pricing, competitive spreads, and a high standard of customer service and support. Visit http://www.cityindex.co.uk/ for more information.
Design the Future: Become a Solar Engineer
Design the Future: Become a Solar Engineer
Like any industry, solar power does not rest on static technology. Solar technology is constantly growing, evolving, adapting, and changing. As the technology improves and diversifies, and as solar power becomes more widespread in our everyday life, new uses and applications for solar power will need to be invented, designed, and produced. The technological pioneers in this field, the Solar Engineers, will be leading the way. Anyone attending solar school to become a Solar Engineer will be in high demand by solar power companies for years to come.
What Does a solar Engineer Do?
Solar Engineers are essentially the architects of new solar power products and plants. They invent new solar technology systems or adapt existing solar technology to new situation. Depending on their specialty, they design and implement the production of everything from small portable solar power generators to large scale solar farms with dozens of solar collectors.
Some solar power companies may also employ Solar Engineers to run a solar farm. In this case, they would oversee the construction and testing of new solar facilities. Once the solar farms are up and running, Solar Engineers monitor the operation, solar power products and equipment, and weather to ensure to smooth running and pear power production of the solar farm.