اگر می خواهید نحوه تجارت را یاد بگیرید ، در وب سایت https://farsi.fibo-forex.org/ ثبت نام کنید.
پس از ثبت نام ، در سایت "من می خواهم آموزش بگیرم" به چت بنویسید.
هر ماه برای معامله گران جدید آموزش می دهیم.

اگر می خواهید نحوه تجارت را یاد بگیرید ، در سایت ثبت نام کنید
https://farsi.fibo-forex.org/#real
پس از ثبت نام ، در سایت "من می خواهم آموزش بگیرم" به چت بنویسید.
هر ماه برای معامله گران جدید آموزش می دهیم.
https://youtu.be/HSx_lKeHUMo

According to Lev Vershinin : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omfGc9SrriU she complied with Lavrov's request.
http://www.profi-forex.org/novosti-rossii/entry1008227255.html
http://yurasumy.livejournal.com/181937.html
"Time of international agreements and stable world order has passed . At the threshold of the acute phase of the crisis, the people making decisions must not have vulnerabilities. Lavrov act indicates that it is not just empty words."
"The importance of information about the return of the daughter of Sergei Lavrov in Russia can hardly be overestimated. Unfortunately - it's no secret - "Westernization" of many representatives of the Russian political elite is determined by the presence of property abroad. This is a very compelling motivation. But even more convincing - the children. They learn from the West, get used to it, acquire bonds, become "Westerners" - and with their fate, if necessary, it is very easy to blackmail their parents. ... So: one who is no longer a child, an adult young lady living on in the United States, wh began to make a successful career, which has its own circle of friends and is generally detached from the realities of the Russian life, by the decision of her father broke everything, including plans for the future, and returned to Moscow. While she - not a child, you know! - Might well have refused. This says something at least about the strength of the foundations of the family, where the word of the father means a lot and patriotism, if you really have to choose, is not an empty word. But most importantly, it is clear and conclusive evidence of the fact that - will not be naive, suggesting that Mr. Fedorov voiced his personal opinion - not only Sergey, but also all the higher elite of Russia has apparently made a decision, and the elites of lower rank were openly told to decide where their loyalties lie. In my opinion, in the current gloomy time this message is probably the sunniest news around"

EA PROS | Free Forex Robot | Free Forex EA
Go1dfish undelete link
unreddit undelete link
Author: DirectContract

source link: Russia has awarded medals for operation "Liberation of Crimea", dated 20.02.14 - 18.03.14. Started 2 days before Yanukovich fled!
poster: NsaAdvisor, original conspiracy link
Discourse level: 0%
Shills: 0%

Is anyone else concerned about this? They are migrating from UK to Hungary, Ireland or Luxembourg: https://ibkr.info/node/3515
Main reason I used IB was safety/regulation. After this migration we lose FSCS & SIPC protection, compensation will be the same as e.g. DeGiro or Trading 212 (20k EUR), for me there is no point to stay on IB any longer as I much prefer Trading 212's modern platform. What are your thoughts?

In 2018 IBKR established Interactive Brokers Luxembourg SARL (“IBLUX”) which received regulatory authorization in November 2019. In addition, we are in the process of creating two additional brokers based in the European Union: Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (“IBIE”) and Interactive Brokers Central Europe Befektetési ZRt (“IBCE”).
We expect the majority of the clients based in Western Europe will be migrated to IBIE, those in Central and Eastern Europe to IBCE and a select group of clients to IBLUX.
Currently, provided they meet eligibility requirements, IBUK clients may be protected in relation to investment services under the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“UK FSCS”) at an amount of up to £50,000. As IBUK clients are carried by our US broker, IBL, the securities segment of their account may be eligible for insurance by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) at an amount of up to USD 500,000.
Under the EU Brokers IBLUX, IBIE and IBCE eligible claimants may be entitled to claim compensation up to a maximum of EUR 20,000.

Later update - currently for IBUK, the protection amount depends on what you are trading with:

• If you trade with forex, CFDs, non-US stock index options or futures, you are protected by the FSCS, up to £85,000.
• If you trade with stocks, bonds, funds or US stock index options, you are protected by the US investor protection, i.e. $500,000, with a cash limit of $250,000.

As a side note, in their article they state £50,000 FSCS protection, but that's just outdated. It's been increased to £85,000 since April 2019 - fscs.org.uk/media/press/2019/aphigher-protection-limits.

Selamat pagi! Salam mahasiswa!
Terinspirasi dari komen-komen di thread gua sebelumnya, gua ingin compile beberapa must-have tools, stuff, and websites untuk kalian yang baru saja jadi mahasiswa atau sedang menjalani studi.
Gue akan memisahkan ke beberapa kategori, yaitu Wajib Punya, Wajib Punya Untuk Anak [Jurusan], Boleh Punya, Cukup Tau, dan Jangan Pernah Sentuh. Dalam kategori tersebut akan diisi dengan kombinasi apps, website, dan alat-alat fisik. Untuk yang bersifat bajakan, sorry to say gua gak akan link di sini, kecuali Sci Hub atau Gen Lib.
Bagi redditor yang bukan anak psikologi, tolong bantuin gua ya dengan comment berisi suggestion kalian.

WAJIB PUNYA

1. WhatsApp, LINE, dan sometimes Telegram. : Ya menurut lo aja deh, hari gini masih SMS?
2. Flash drive : Get an 8GB stick, walaupun sekarang udah serba digital, kadang dosen masih minta print-out tugas. Plus, tukang fotokopi pasti sibuk dan gak ada waktu buka e-mail (walaupun ada), akan lebih praktis kalau data yang mau lo print atau submit pindahin dulu ke sini. Side note : Untuk anak DKV, Arsitektur, Desain Produk, Musik, dan Film, sepertinya kalian wajib beli external hard-drive minimal 500GB. Kalau bisa SSD ya, biar file terus protected (tapi agak mahal).
3. Google Drive dan isinya (Sheets, Docs, Draw, Slides) : Lo akan mobile for most of your campus life, GDrive gunanya bukan hanya sebagai backup tapi sebagai base of operations dari perkuliahan lo. Separate folders into semesters, lalu di dalamnya bikin folder per matkul, dan di dalamnya pun ada folder buku, tugas, class notes, and etc.
4. Google Calendar : Start planning through this app. Its highly underrated and I suggest you take time and learn how GCal works. Most people only use this after they started working, getting a head start is always better.
5. Mendeley atau reference manager lain : Lu akan menghabiskan waktu 4 tahun baca artikel ilmiah, kadang mereka suka aneh formatting filenya kalo di-download dan mereka udah pasti gak appealing untuk di-save di laptop. Mendeley cuts off all of the problems and puts all of your references in one place. (Available on desktop and mobile)
6. Google Scholar : Berhubungan dengan sebelumnya, Google Scholar akan menjadi wikipedia elu di perguruan tinggi. You will access this site almost every day in uni.
7. Genesis Library : Adalah perpustakaan terlengkap di jagad internet. Gak usah beli textbook kalau lu gak mampu, download aja di sini.
   1. Side points : Perpusnas punya akses e-book gratis pula, mostly koleksi mereka ada di situ. Appnya bisa dicari di Google Play Store (iOS setau gua belom ada).
8. Sci-hub : This is the scalpel of academia, the tool of a true mahasiswa. Sometimes lo akan ketemu artikel yang BAGUS, tapi sayang lo harus bayar ke publishernya. Nah, this bypasses that and you can have the PDF for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Add extensionnya https://github.com/allanino/sci-hub-fy
9. E-book manager like Calibre (for PC and iOS) and Aldiko (for Android) : Pretty self-explanatory karena most of the time mahasiswa tingkat awal itu gak tau cara manage folder di laptop.
10. m-Banking app from your bank : Sekarang apa-apa sudah serba digital, belom lagi kalau lo butuh bayar-bayar atau patungan sama temen. Dengan adanya mbanking app, lo udah gak butuh ke ATM. Bahkan, sekarang mbanking bisa bayar ke OVO, Gopay, or Shoppee Pay lewat QRIS.
11. Go-Jek or Grab (and OVO) : Kemana-mana dan bayar apa-apa lebih gampang.
12. Kartu emoney, Flazz, Brizzi, dan sejenis : Silahkan beli salah satu dari kartu ini untuk kalian yang harus menggunakan moda transportasi seperti KRL atau Transjakarta. Plus, very handy untuk beli air putih di Indo/Alfamart. Kalau bisa yang satu jenis dengan bank kalian, agar top-up dapat dilakukan secara mudah di ATM atau app mbanking (bagi yang memiliki NFC hpnya)
13. Cheap OEM earphones : You will have some solace from annoying pieces of shit when you're reading or doing assignments. Browse through any ecommerce site and search for "headset samsung/iphone grosir" and buy 10.
14. Masker : Well, duh.
15. Zoom/Skype/Hangouts/Microsoft Teams : Please check on your faculty's specification, sekarang lagi pandemi and I don't think you guys are going back to school any soon.
16. Powerbank : Trust me, you will forget to charge your phone. One powerbank on the ready will be a life saver, especially during late nights.
17. OpenOffice or LibreOffice : I do not condone the piracy of a certain word processing software. Get open-source and just relax. Alternatively, you can go all-out with Google's existing apps inside Drive.
18. JASP : I also do not condone the piracy of a certain statistics software.
19. Canva : Untuk anak-anak non-design yang gak bisa design, ditambah gak punya duit untuk hire designer (ya menurut lo), please take time to learn Canva. I would recommend GIMP a few years ago, but Canva has been gold standard of designing for non-designers.
20. Sumatra Reader : Lighter and more superior version of Adobe Reader.
21. 7zip : Lighter and superior version of WinRAR.
22. CamScanner : For scanning documents. Available on iOS and Android
23. Condoms : Just, bring it.
24. Kartu Perpusnas
25. MSDN : Kadang Microsoft kerjasama dengan kampus, check on your faculty.
26. Tar tambah lagiiiii.......

WAJIB PUNYA UNTUK ANAK.....

Teknik

1. Kalkulator scientific : Bisa cari di toko buku atau e-commerce. Get Texas Instrument or Casio.
2. KOPI SACHET
3. Meteran
4. nanti kali ya

Arsitektur

1. Kopi sachet yang banyak
2. Kotak P3K
3. Penggaris segitiga atau meteran

MIPA

1. Graphic Calculator

Psikologi

1. APA Publication Manual : Sebagai S.Psi gua akan menekankan PENTINGNYA MEMILIKI PDF INI DI SEMUA DEVICE ELU. Pelajarin dan cross-check semua style tulis dengan editorial style APA. Dosen PASTI BAKAL PERIKSA GAYA TULISAN ELU DENGAN APA.
2. KBBI : Dosen Psikologi paling terkenal dengan penulisan dan artikulasi kata, tolong pelajari bentuk baku kata-kata bahasa kita.
3. 3D Brain : Untuk bantu Psiko Abnormal dan Faal.

Hukum

1. Buku KUHP dan KUHPER, e-book or printed.
2. Black Law
3. UU yang berkaitan dengan kelas, e-book or printed.
4. Printer dengan tinta isi ulang alias nyuntik

CompSci, Teknik Informatika, or Sistem Informatika

1. Git Student Pack

​

BOLEH PUNYA

1. Spotify Premium : Check if your school is eligible for student discount! I do not condone using modified APK for Spotify Premium.
2. Audacity : Boleh lah punya kalau mau coba-coba bikin podcast.
3. Da Vinci Resolve : Kalian akan sewaktu-waktu dapet tugas buat edit video, either untuk kelas atau organisasi. Ini software open source yang lumayan powerful untuk editing.
4. SSDs for laptops : This is me speaking from experience, you'll need this if your risk of being in an accident is high. Upgrading to an SSD is 0-1, not only you get great booting and transfer speeds, but your data is almost always protected if amit-amit ketabrak atau laptop kenapa-napa.
5. Powerstrip : Ini bisa wajib, bisa enggak. Kadang berguna kalau kalian nugas di cafe, tapi kalian gak mati juga kalau gak punya.
6. Write Monkey : Ini dapat meng-enhance pengalaman kalian menulis, gue menggunakan program ini saat skripsi. Fungsinya cuma satu : Biar nulis lebih enak. Cocok bagi yang jurusannya rajin ngetik. Again, lo gak akan mati kalo gak punya ini.
7. Eventbrite : Cocok buat yang pengen cari group activities atau seminar gratisan.
8. TIX.ID : For the time being, jangan ke bioskop dulu. Tapi TIX suka banyak promo buy1get1. Lumayan buat irit duit.
9. Trello or Asana : Nah, sebenarnya ini wajib untuk orang kantoran (depends industrinya), tapi menurut gua kalau kalian coba aja pelajarin agile project management, mungkin performance group akan lebih naik. Ditambah ini lagi pandemi, nugas akan lebih gampang menurut gua dengan ini. Kakak-kakak yang udah kerja di kantor agile pasti bisa jelasin.
10. Jobstreet, Kalibrr, JobsDB, Glints : For work opportunities.
11. Halodoc : Truth be told, this app have saved my life multiple times. I would suggest a healthy diet, but having this on your phone will not hurt one bit.
12. Pisau lipat Victorinox : Handy untuk yang berencana jadi anak alam atau bocah camping. But basically handy untuk segala situasi, sih.
13. Aplikasi sekuritas : Bisa mulai belajar, setau gua macem MNC Sekuritas bisa mulai trading dengan Rp100.000.
14. Discord : Lumayan handy untuk jadi basis chat angkatan. Tapi, mereka lebih cater ke gaming crowd, walaupun fiturnya sebagus Slack Enterprise, tapi entah kenapa susah banget penetrate mainstream user.
15. To be added later...........

CUKUP TAU

1. Netflix : Bisa patungan sama temen-temen. I don't suggest buy shady accounts.
2. Premier League app : Seru loh bikin liga fantasy sama temen-temen.
3. GrabKios : Lumayan bisa jual pulsa di kampus.
4. Saran minum oleh theblackmandarin
5. To be added later...........

JANGAN PERNAH SENTUH

1. Kredivo dan any P2P lending app : Tolong banget jangan kejebur sama trap ini. Kalian masih mahasiswa, belom punya penghasilan tetap.
2. PayTren or any other MLM apps : Idem
3. Judi bola : Idem.
4. Rokok : Idem
5. Forex/Crypto : Idem
6. Dota 2 : Udah gak usah sentuh.
7. Mobile Legend : Buang-buang waktu push rank, IP lo gak naek juga.
8. Amfetamin : Gak baek ngedrug muda-muda.
9. Red Bull : Gak baek, bisa gak tidur.
10. Kopi ABC/78C/botolan : Ini sama kayak Red Bull, udah pasti gak tidur.
11. ​
12. To be added later...........

Segitu dulu guys, tolong ya kakak-kakak yang sudah lulus mohon ditambah. Terima kasih!
EDIT 1 : Nambahin banyak BUANGET. Thanks mie-sedaap elonelon theblackmandarin debukosmik JanganLupaSkripsian didunianyata ysupr selemenesmilesuponme ichhassesommer ANJINGHARAM AnjingTerang lukuntul imamsupriadiBPK pm-me-your-nenen

As PTI comes onto two years, I felt like making this post on account of seeing multiple people supporting PML-N for having an allegedly better economy for Pakistan, particularly with allegations present that PTI has done nothing for the economy. So here's a short list of some major achievements done by PTI in contrast to PML-N.

• Stopping Pakistan from defaulting: The move to devalue the rupee was one done despite knowing the backlash that would be faced. Under Nawaz Sharif the rupee was artificially overvalued through loans and forex reserves, this meant Pakistan had no sustainable way for repaying those massive loans. Imran Khan on the other hand had to approach the IMF due to these overlaying maturing debts, lack of growth in exports under PMLN, decline in Foreign Direct Investment and an ever higher import bill. This was done at the cost of letting the rupee massively devalue against the dollar, however paved the path for economic stability as noted by the IMF.
• Renewed focus on taxation: Easily the most controversial facet of the economic policy by PTI, but one that has shown merit and results. Overall, there has been a 40% increase in returns filers and a 17% revenue increase. This coupled with a massive austerity scheme, meant that the government has started an incline towards increasing it's revenues. While this hasn't been met with open arms, it presents a solution to the everpresent crisis that the Pakistan government has faced, in it's inability to increase it's revenues. Not only that, but the general taxation system was streamlined, making it easier for individuals to file taxes. Introductions of new apps and consolidating activities for the FBR were among the efforts as well. Moreover, businesses that were entitled to tax refunds are finally being granted them, under PMLN they were held onto so as to inflate collection numbers, however under PTI that has changed and it's not inflated. It is worth noting, that because of the covid-19 pandemic, the effect of the austerity schemes and feasibility have seriously dampened, and it's created a bigger problem for increasing revenue collection.
  • However it is one that can be solved. The government succeeded, quite commendably, in revising the tax collection revenue which had been set unrealistically high by the IMF. What can also be recognised, were the 60% cuts in the Presidential house. Alongside a 58% decrease in Presidential secretariat for allowances for officers and staff, not to forget the decision to not increase government salaries for this fiscal year nor introduce new taxes. A bold but needed decision.
• The account deficit: Arguably one of the biggest examples of progress has been in the reduction of the account deficit. Under PML-N the account deficit had carried forward, and increased to nearly $5 billion, but shrunk massively once PTI came into power. A total decrease of nearly 78% from the previous fiscal year. The lowest recorded from the previous 5 years. Even when looked at from the perspective of the account deficit in percentage of GDP; the general trend has been improving under PTI. Under PMLN the total account deficit as a % of GDP had grown to -5.4%, however under PTI it has shrunk to -1.1% of GDP in FY2020 and was -3.4% in 2019.
  • It is worth noting, that some may criticise the overall decrease in the account deficit to be a result of the decrease in imports, and the increase in worker remittances, however this was indeed a result of the overall economic impact from the covid-19 pandemic. And that general trends support the notion of exports increasing and the account deficit decreasing in the second quarter of 2019.
• Revitalisation of exports & balance of trade: The shift in policies towards increasing exports has been among the most vital, the growing negative balance of trade under PML-N finally stabilised under PTI. Although the recent spikes can be attributed to the global drop in imports because of covid-19, and the overall curtailing of imported goods. The export rates in Pakistan have shown a massive growth as well; going from negative growth to spontaneous positive growth. Nearly doubling in total export value, going from -5% growth in 2015 to +10% growth in 2019. Which are massive, and much-needed improvements. World bank data shows the rapid decline of Pakistani exports which occurred, as a % of GDP, which went from 13% in 2013 when PML-N came into power, to 8% in 2017 — a near 40% decrease in total exports from 2013-2017. To which we now once again notice the growth where the exports as % of GDP have increased to 10% in 2019 from 8% in 2017; recording an overall positive growth of 10%. These things all in all prove the export based benefits PTI has managed to bring in it's tenure, which sadly have seen a halt due to the effects of covid-19, yet the situation remains hopeful in the recovery. Especially given Pakistan is recording a trade surplus with Italy and other such examples.
• Ease of Business: One thing that cannot be sidelined is the massive improval in the ease of business. While under PMLN, Pakistan massively decreased in it's EoB Iease of business) ranking, going from 110 to 136 to so on. Once Imran Khan came into power, Pakistan climbed the Ease of Business ranking, with a massive improvement of upto 28 spots. A huge increase over PMLN, where it had fallen by a total of 36 positions. For perspective. Currently Pakistan stands at 108th, as a result of easing tax collection, reducing corporate tax, introducing online one-stop shops which made the process of starting businesses considerably easier, and the overall ease in paying taxes through online processes.
• Tourism: The reforms and measures taken to facilitate tourism in Pakistan were evidently among the most successful — Pakistan went from being sidelined to being amongst the worlds top destinations to visit. There were multiple reasons for this, the removal of the mandatory NOC, the initiative for online visas for upto 175 countries alongside visa-on-arrival for 50 countries were among the facilitating measures taken for tourism.
• Foreign Direct Investment: What can be appreciated is the general reception of Pakistan's economic outlook, where FDI climbed by upto 137% within this fiscal year, gathering upto nearly $2.1 billion. Yet, once again — the pandemic will undoubtedly cause most countries to rethink their economic policies for now, and the overall FDI might see a downward trend with regards to global decrease in FDI. Despite, the increases in FDI are welcomed, especially considering total foreign investment rose 380 percent to $2.375 billion in July-March FY2020. Yet the sustainability of this remains to be seen.
• Dealing with covid: Despite all odds, Pakistan has somehow managed to deal well with the pandemic. Coming out relatively alright, in perspective of countries such as India, Mexico, Italy, Brazil etc. The factor that plays out, is that despite being incredibly vulnerable, the country managed to pull through and has markedly reduced the impact of the virus. With regards to the economy, taking a bold risk of abating a complete lockdown, whilst met with criticism was once again a factor that showed competency. Keeping in mind that 51 million Pakistanis lived below the poverty line, and the adverse effect it would have on the economy. Pakistan managed to come through the economic contraction with only a -0.38% growth. Although the full effects are still not abated or understood, what's commendable is the fact that Pakistan under PTI has kept itself from an even worse situation. Whilst managing to keep covid under relative control. Especially given increases in exports despite the pandemic in countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Italy.

This is by no means a highly comprehensive list, just my opinion on some of the bigger achievements; saving the economy from defaulting, adopting tax reforms, tourism reforms, export reforms among them whilst managing covid and economic stability with relative success.
There are of course a multitude of other factors, successfully avoiding a blacklist from the FATF, macroeconomic reforms, attempts to strengthen the working class; ehsaas programs, Naya Pakistan housing schemes alongside other relief efforts. These are measures in accordance with curtailing the effect of increasing taxation and attempts to abate the economic slowdown that came as a result of forcing an increase in government revenue. Alongside the focus on multiple new hydroelectric dams, industrial cities, reduction of the PM office staff from 552 to 298, 10 billion tree project and an overall renewed interest in renewable energy and green Pakistan. The list is comprehensive.
Pakistan remains on a rocky path, it is not out of the woods yet. Covid-19 has seriously hampered the overall projections, and caused a worldwide economic contraction. Not only that, but there are criticisms that can be attributed to the government as well, as they are not without fault. However, the overall achievements of the government with regards to the economy do present hope for the long-term fiscal policy and development of Pakistan.

I assume those of you on this sub are investing, not gambling. I also assume that y'all care about risk. If so, please read on.
I feel like several times a day I see a "portfolio" advice post for "portfolios" that is 100% tech. IMO, these portfolios will perform poorly and have extreme amounts of risk. In a loose sense, portfolios seek to balance many different equities to achieve an optimal risk/reward. This is done through diversification. If you're 100% tech (especially if it's only US tech) you have little to no diversification. If you want extreme risk, you're better off trading individual stock, options or even FOREX.
Why: There is a reasonable chance of a tech correction

• Tech has all the hallmarks of another bubble tech
  • Many people are buying now only because yesterday's price was lower
  • Fundamentals are making less and less sense
  • It's happened before

​

• The tech boom makes sense (I've pointed this out many times on this sub)
  • COVID propelled personal savings to all-time highs and money needed a home. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT
  • High Yield Savings and Bonds are unattractive at current rates
  • Equities are the best option, but tech is better. It's the sector least impacted by COVID.
  • QE is propelling equities (it's also scaring people that inflation will be high)

​

• The eventual bust also makes sense
  • The world comes back to normal
  • Beaten down sectors will return to pre-COVID levels, at the expense of tech
  • Savings will reduce
  • Rates will eventually increase; Bonds, Savings Acct and Fin Sector will look more favorable.
  • All this puts pressure on tech and the FED will not intervene. They only care about credit markets.

Import case study (thanks investing)

• Cisco system was the highest valued company in 2000, today's it barely in the top 30. For example, if you bought 100 shares of Cisco in July 2000 it would have cost you ~$7000, by July 2001 100 shares was worth ~$2000. Even scarier, if you held for 20 years, 100 shares are worth ~$4000 today. You're still in the hole, big time!
  • This is a great example, as many over-valued tech companies, Tesla, Apple, etc... Will not go bankrupt, but they might be smaller.

Will all this actually happen?: Maybe, maybe not. I just wanted to show y'all that it's not unreasonable. Hence you must diversify to minimize downside risk.
What to do :

• Take a profit on some of the tech and diversify!
• You can do this simply with some VTI and VXUS.
• You can do this more complexly with non-tech cyclicals, fin sector, some REITs, internal funds.
• Don't stop tech buying. If you believe in tech, keep buying! Just do so in a sensible way. Don't put all your money on black and cross your fingers. That's gambling and you're smart; you're buying ETFs cause you don't wanna gamble!

Even the pros love tech, but they're not 100% tech: https://wallethub.com/edu/hedge-fund-stocks/38113/
I'm long tech, buy it frequently and it makes up ~15-20% of my portfolio.
Edit: Nice example, I looked at what happened right before the last tech crash:

• A 50-50 portfolio of Tech and SPY dominates Tech or Spy on it's own
• This backtest assumes that tech will bust soon and decrease dramatically; probably not realistic.
• Play with the dates as you wish. However, even if you bought tech at the exact right time, i.e. Mid-1999, you'll see returns of the 50-50 mix is still good (though less than tech only), but with significant less variance. Also, don't forget tech ETFs can have hefty expense ratios which eat at CAGR.

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=2&startYear=2000&firstMonth=8&endYear=2020&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&includeYTD=false&initialAmount=10000&annualOperation=0&annualAdjustment=0&inflationAdjusted=true&annualPercentage=0.0&frequency=4&rebalanceType=1&absoluteDeviation=5.0&relativeDeviation=25.0&showYield=false&reinvestDividends=true&portfolioNames=true&portfolioName1=Tech+Mutual+Fund&portfolioName2=SP+500&portfolioName3=Mix&symbol1=FSPTX&allocation1_1=100&allocation1_3=50&symbol2=SPY&allocation2_2=100&allocation2_3=50
​

I've been doing some research into the foreign exchange market. Anyone have success with Forex?

For a quick, easier search - http://www.isthisanmlm.com/ has compiled this whole thread. Special thanks to u/SHIFTnSPACE. - This is now a part of the sidebar as a button widget!

What is an MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called pyramid selling, network marketing, and referral marketing, is a marketing strategy for the sale of products or services where the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products/services, while the earnings of the participants are derived from a pyramid-shaped or binary compensation commission system. ​
THIS LIST MAY CONTAIN COMPANIES THAT HAVE PREVIOUSLY HAD MLM BRANCH BUT MAY NO LONGER HAVE ONE.
If you see a company and are not sure that it belongs on this list, please reach out. I have compiled this list from the sources listed at the bottom along with input from community members. This list may not be 100% accurate but the goal is to get it as close as possible.
31 - Bags
5Linx - Home & Business Services
Abby & Anna - Clothing
ACAN Pacific - Utilities
ACN - Utilities
ActiLabs - Skincare/Health
Adornable.U - Accessories
Advocare - Dietary Supplements
AeroGrow - Garden Tools
Agnes & Dora - Clothing
AIM Global - Nutritional Supplements
Akasuka (Japan) -
Alcone - Beauty
Alice's Table - Flower Arrangement Classes
All'asta - Home Goods
Allysian Sciences -
Aloe Vera of America (Young Living) - Nutritional Supplements
Aloette - Beauty
Alphay Int - Nutritional Supplements
AlureVe - Skincare/Health
Amare Global - Nutritional Supplements
Ambit - Utilities
Amelia James -
Ameo - Essential Oils
American Income Life - Financial
Amsoil - Motor Oil
Amway - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Ann Summers - Product
Ann Summers (UK) - Adult Novelties
Anorak (UK) - Home Goods
Anran (China) -
Apollo (India) - Juice
Apriori - Skincare/Health
AquaSource UK - Nutritional Supplements
Arbonne - Skincare/Health
ARIIX - Water Purification
Arsoa Honsha (Japan) - Fitness/Weight Loss
Asea Global - Nutritional Supplements
Asirvia (shut down) - Marketing
Aspire/Digital Altitude - Marketing
ATC Coin - Crypto Currency
Athena's - Adult Novelties
Atomy - Skincare/Health
Ava Anderson -
Ava Rose - Clot
Avisae - Weight Loss
Avon - Beauty
b:hip Global - Health
Bachar Nutrition - Nutritional Supplements
Bamboo Pink - Jewelry
Barefoot Books - Books
Bath.Ologie - Bath Bombs
Beach Body - Fitness/Weight Loss Videos
BearCereju (Japan) - Cosmetics
BeautiControl -
Beauty Counter - Cosmetics
Beauty Society - Beauty
beCAUSE Cosmetics - Cosmetics
Become International (US & AUS) - Cosmetics
Bedroom Kandi - Adult Novelties
Beever (UK) - Hair Care
BelCorp (Latin America) - Cosmetics
Bellame - Skincare/Health
Bemer - Appliances
Better Way Design/Imports - Clothing
Biogreen Argentina -
BioPerformance - Automotive (Fuel Pills)
Bod-e Pro - Nutritional Supplements
Body by Vi/Visalus - Health
Body Shop at Home - Beauty
Boisset Collection - Wine
Boston Finney (shut down) -
Bounce Life/Network - Insurance
Bud Star (Canada) - CBD/THC Products
BurnLounge (shut down as pyramid scheme by FTC in 2012) -
Buskins - Clothing
Butterfly Beauty - Cosmetics
Cabi - Clothing
Cambridge Weight Plan/Diet - Dietary Supplements
CAN - Utilities
Captain Tortue - Clothing
Carico Int - Home Goods
Celebrating Home - Home Goods
Cellements - Skincare/Health
CEO Movement (Not MLM but scammy) -
Chalk Couture - Chalkboard Signs
Chalky & Co - Home Goods
Chandeal (Japan) - Clothing
Charle (Japan) - Clothing
Charlie's Project - Clothing
Chef's Toolbox (AUS) (Insolvency) - Kitchen Accessories
Cherish Natural Products -
Chloe & Isabel - Jewelry
Clever Container - Home Goods
Close to My Heart - Scrapbooking
Cloud 9 Parties - Adult Novelties
Cobra Group/Appco -
Cocoa Exchange - Food
Color by Amber - Jewelry
Color Happy -
Color Street - Nail Wraps
Colour Me Beautiful (UK) - Clothing
Compelling Creations - Jewelry
Conklin - Roofing
Cookie Lee (shut down) -
Cosway (Malaysia) - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Country Scents - Product/Candles
Create Your Life - Health
Creative Memories - Scrapbooking
Credit Repair USA - Financial
Crunchi - Cosmetics
Cutco - Knives
CVSL - Multiple Companies
Daisy Blue Naturals - Personal Care
Damsel in Defense - Product/Self Defense
Darceys - Candles
David Lerner Associates, INC - Financial
Dazzle and Daze - Clothing
Deutsche vermögensberatung/Dvag (Germany) - Financial
Diana (Japan) -
Dione Cosmetics - Cosmetics
Direct Cellars/DC Nation - Wine
Discovery Toys - Educational Toys
Divvee/Nui -
Dot Dot Smile - Clothing
DoTERRA - Health/Oils
Du Northing Designs - Clothing
Dubli Network - Financial
Dudley Beauty - Cosmetics
DXN - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Dynamic Essentials -
EcoWarehouse - Home Goods
Elepreneuer -
Elk River Soaps - Personal Care
Ella Tina - Clothing
Elli Kai - Clothing
Elvacity - Nutritional Supplements
EmGoldEx/Global Intergold -
Enagic/Kangen Water - Ionized Water
Endless Xpressions - Clothing/Accessories
Enersource Int - Nutritional Supplements
Enjo (AUS) - Cleaning Producs
Envy Jewelry - Jewelry
Epicure (Canada) - Food
Equinox International (dissolved in 2001) -
Ergo (Germany) - Insurance
Essante Organics -
Essential Bodywear - Clothing
European Grouping of Marketing Professionals/CEDIPAC SA (dissolved 1995) -
European Home Retail (dissolved 2007) -
Evanescence Network - Health
EVER Skincare - Skincare/Health
Evolution Travel - Product
EvolvHealth - Health
Faberlic (Russia) - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Family First Life - Insurance
Family Heritage Insurance - Insurance
Fantasia - Adult Novelties
Fantasia (Canada) - Adult Novelties
Farmasi -
FES Connect - Financial
Fibi & Clo - Footwear
Fifth Ave Collection - Jewelry
First Fitness Nutrition - Dietary Supplements
Fit4Mom - Clothing
FITTEAM Global - Dietary Supplements
Flamingo Paperie - Art
Fleuresse -
FM World (UK) -
For Tails Only - Pet Supplies
Forever Living - Health/Oils
Forex Education (iMarkets Live branch) - Crypto
Forex Entourage - Financial
Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing (dissolved 2013) -
Four Oceans - Health
Fragant Jewels - Bathbombs
FreeLife - Nutritional Supplements
Frontrow -
Fuel Freedom Int - Automotive
Fund America (Bankrupt 1990) -
Gano Excel - Nutritional Supplements
GelMoment - Beauty
Gemstra - Jewelry
Genesis Pure - Nutritional Supplements
Global Legacy Initiative -
GoDesana - Pet
Gold Canyon - Product/Candles
Golden Days (China) - Health
Grace & Heart - Jewelry
Green HoriZen - CBD
Greeting Cake Company - Cake Kits
H2O At Home - Personal Care
Hale - CBD Oil
Hanky Panky Parties (Canada) - Adult Novelties
Happy Coffee - Coffee
Harvard Risk Management (Legal Shield) -
Hayward's Gourmet Popcorn - Food
HB Naturals - Health
He(L)o - Health
Healthy Peach - Dietary Supplements
Heavenly Chia - Food
Heka Corp - Fitness
Helo Wristbands - Health
HempWorx - Health
Herbalife - Health
Heritage Makers - Scrapbooking
Hinode - Cosmetics
Holiday Magic (shut down) -
Home Interiors - Home Goods
Honey - Beauty
Honey & Lace - Clothing
Hualin Biotech (China) - Health
iCoinPro - Crypto Currency
ID Life - Health
Igniting Passion (Canada) - Adult Novelties
iMarketsLive - Financial Trading Software
Immunotec - Health
Imperial Candles (UK) - Candles
In a Pikle - Bags
Income Advantage -
India Hicks - Product/Accessories
Infinitus - Health
Initials, Inc - Bags
Inkd Up Nails - Beauty
innov8tive nutrition - Nutritional Supplements
InteleTravel - Travel
Intimo (AUS/NZ) - Adult Novelties
Isagenix - Dietary Supplements
ItWorks! - Health
J. Elizabeth - Clothing
J. Hilburn - Clothing
J.R Watkins -
Jafra - Beauty
Jamberry - Beauty
Jamby - Clothing
Jamie at Home (shut down) -
Janice Collection - Home Goods
Java Momma - Coffee
Javita - Coffee
Jbloom - Jewelry
Jequiti - Cosmetics
Jerky Direct -
Jeunesse - Beauty
Jewel Kade (31) - Jewelry
Jewelscent - Product/Candles
JK Apparel (Canada) - Clothing
Jordan Essentials - Beauty
JoyMain (China) - Health
Joyome (Plexus) - Beauty
JuicePlus - Nutritional Supplements
Jump Natural - Health
Kaesar & Blair -
Kalaia - Skincare/Health
Kalo & Co - Pearl/Jewelry
Kangen Water -
Kannaway - CBD Oil
Karat Bars - Gold
Kaszazz - Scrapbooking
Keep Collective - Jewelry
Keep Me Safe - Cos
KETO (Pruvit) -
Keto Coffee - Coffee
Ketones - Health
Kirby - Vacuums
Kleeneze - Home Goods
Kobold (Vorwerk) -
Kyani - Health
Labella Baskets - Home Goods
Lady Godiva Beauty - Cosmetics
Lavylites - Beauty
L'BRI - Beauty
LeadUp Consulting -
Legal Shield - Legal Services
LegArt (Canada) - Leggings
Legend Age (China) -
Legging Army - Clothing
Legging Girl - Clothing
Lemongrass Spa - Beauty
LeReve (Canada) - Cosmetics
Le-Vel (Thrive) - Health
Lia Sophia (dissolved) - Jewelry
Life Abundance - Pet
LIFE Leadership - Financial
Life Tree World - Food
LifeBrook -
LifePlus (US/Germany) - Dietary Supplements
Life's Abundance - Pet Supplies
LifeVantage - Dietary Supplements
Lilla Rose - Jewelry
Limelife - Skincare/Health
Limu - Health
Limu - Nutritional Supplements
Linen World - Home Goods
Lion Crown -
Lipsense - Beauty
Liv International - Travel
Live Sore - Clothing
Longabeger Company - Baskets
Longrich (China) - Beauty
Lorraine Lee Linen - Home Goods
Love Winx - Adult Novelties
LR Beauty & Health - Beauty
LuLaRoe - Clothing
Lulu Ave - Jewelry
Luminess - Cosmetics
Lyconet/Lyoness -
Lyoness - Financial
M. Global (Jamberry) - Jewelry
M. Network - Nutritional Supplements
Maelle Beauty - Beauty
Magnabilities - Jewelry
Magnolia & Vine - Jewelry
Makeup Eraser - Cosmetics
Man Cave - Kitchen Accessories
Mannatech - Dietary Supplements
Mark. - Financial
Market America - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Marly Ray - Pearl/Jewelry
Marvelous Mouse Travels - Travel
Mary & Martha - Home Goods
MaryKay - Beauty
Maskara - Beauty
Matilda Jane - Clothing
Max & Madeleine - Skincare/Health
Maxwell Clothing - Clothing
MCA - Financial
Medifast - Nutritional Supplements
Melaleuca - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Metabolife (dissolved in 2005) -
MiA Bath and Body (Closed) -
mialisia - Jewelry
Miche EU - Accessories
Miki (Asia) - Nutritional Supplements
MOA Nutrition - Nutritional Supplements
Modere -
MojiLife - Essential Oils
Monat - Hair Care
MonaVie (went into foreclosure 2015) -
Morinda Bioactives - Personal Care/Dietary Supplements
Motives Cosmetics - Cosmetics
Multpure - Water
My Club 8 - CBD Oil
My Daily Choice - Nutritional Supplements
My LALA Leggings - Clothing
myEcon - Financial
National Safety Associates - Dietary Supplements
National Wealth Center - Education
Natura (Brazil) - Cosmetics
Nature Direct (AUS) - Essential Oils
Nature's Sunshine Products - Dietary Supplements
Neal's Yard Remedies Organic - Beauty
NeoLife - Dietary Supplements
Neora (Nerium) -
Nerium - Skincare/Health
NeVetica - Pet Supplies
New Era (China) - Nutritional Supplements
New U Life - Health
Neways - Personal Care
Nikken -
Noevir - Beauty
Nomades - Jewelry
Noonday Collection - Jewelry
Norwex - Cleaning Producs
Nouveau Riche (real estate investment college) (dissolved 2010 -
Nspire Network - Feminine Products
NuCerity - Skincare/Health
NuSkin - Tooth Paste/Personal Care
Nutriboom -
NXIVM - Financial
Nygard - Clothing
Omnilife - Dietary Supplements
One Hope Wine - Wine
Optavia - Health
Opulenza - Jewelry
Organo Gold - Coffee
Oriflame - Personal Care
Origami Owl - Jewelry
Our Hearts Desire - Jewelry
Paid 2 Save - Travel
Pampered Chef - Kitchen Accessories
Paparazzi - Jewelry
Paperly - Paper
Park Lane Jewelry - Jewelry
Party Girl - Candles
Party Lite - Candles
Party Time Mixes - Food
PartyLite - Candles
Passion Parties - Adult Novelties
Pawtree - Pet
Paycation - Travel
Peach - Clothing
Pearl Chic - Pearl/Jewelry
Peekaboo Beans - Clothing
Perfect (China) - Cosmetics
Perfectly Polished - Beauty
Perfectly Posh - Beauty
Personally Poetic - Jewelry
PHP - Insurance
Pierre Lang - Jewelry
Pink Zebra - Candles
Piphany - Clothing
PixieLane - Clothing
Plexus - Health
Plumeria Bath - Beauty
Plunder - Jewelry
PM International - Health
Pola (Japan) - Skincare/Health
Poofy Organics - Beauty
Powur - Solar Panels
Premier Designs - Jewelry
Premier Financial - Financial
PrimeMyBody - Health
Primerica - Financial
Princess House - Kitchen Accessories
ProDoula -
ProYoung - Health
Pruvit - Health
Pulse Cosmetics - Cosmetics
Pure Haven - Cosmetics
Pure Romance - Product
PureHaven - Home Goods
PUREly - Essential Oils
Purium - Health
Qnet - Nutritional Supplements
Quanjian Natural (China) - Food
RadiantlyYou -
Rain International - Health
Rainbow Vacuum - Vacuums
Real Time Pain Relief - Health
Red Aspen - Beauty
RED Safety - Security
Regal Home and Gifts - Home Goods
Reliv - Health
Reliv - Nutritional Supplements
Renatus Real Estate - Education
RevitalU - Coffee/Health
Riway - Deer Placenta
Robert Kiyosaki -
Rodan+Fields - Beauty
Roland (Vorwerk) -
Rolmex (China) - Kitchen Accessories
Royal Tongan Limu (dissolved in 2003) -
Royaltie Gens - Marketing
Ruby Ribbon - Clothing
Saba - Health/Beauty
Sabika Jewelry - Jewelry
SafeGirl Security - Self Defense
Salad Master - Home Goods
SARSO (India) -
Scentsy - Health/Oils
Schneider's Gourmet World - Food
Scout & Cellar - Wine
Seacret - Beauty
SendOutCards - Gift Cards
Senegence - Skincare/Health
Shakeology (BeachBody) - Dietary Supplements
Shaklee - Dietary Supplements
Shopping Sherlock -
Shrimp & Grits - Clothing
Signature Homestyles - Home Goods
Silpada - Jewelry
Silver Icing - Jewelry
Simple Man - Personal Care
Simply Success Elite -
SimplyFun Games - Education
Skinny Body at Home - Dietary Supplements
SkinSanity/Tomorrow's Leaf - Skincare/Health
Smart Circle -
Smartway -
Solavei (dissolved 2015)[ -
Solvei (bankrupt) -
Sophie Paris (France/Asia) - Clothing
South Hill Designs - Jewelry
Southern Living at Home - Home Goods
SouthWestern Advantage - Education
Sseko - Clothing
Stampin Up - Paper
Steam Energy - Utilities
Steeped Tea - Tea
Stella & Dot - Clothing
Stream Energy - Financial
Style Dots - Jewelry
Success University - Education
Sun Hope (China) -
Sunrider - Health/Beauty/Home Goods
Sunset Gourmet - Food
Sunshine Empire (dissolved 2009) -
Surge 365 - Travel
Sweet Legs - Clothing
Sweet Minerals - Beauty
Symmetry Financial Group - Insurance
Syntek Global - Automotive
T.O.P Marketing Group -
TAG Team Marketing -
Taisei/Green Planet/Kaikisui (Japan_ - Purifiers
Tara at Home - Home Goods
Tastefully Simple - Food
Tavala - Health
Tealightful - Tea
Team National - Financial
TeDivina - Tea
Telecom Plus (UK) - Utilities
Telexfree (bankrupt 2014) -
The Advert Platfrom - Crypto Currency
The Body Shop at Home - Beauty
The Landmark Forum - Health
The Super Affiliate Network - Marketing
Thermomix (Vorwerk) -
Thirty One - Bags
Thrive - Health
Thrive Life - Food
Tiber River Naturals - Beauty
TKO WorldWide -
Tocara (Canada) - Jewelry
Tom James - Clothing
Total Life Changes/TLC - Health
TouchStone Crystal - Jewelry
Touchstone Essentials - Dietary Supplements
Tracy Negoshian - Clothing
Trades of Hope - Jewelry
Tranont - Financial
Transformational Beauty - Cosmetics
Travel Evolution - Travel
Traveling Vineyard - Wine
TraVerus Global - Travel
TriVita - Nutritional Supplements
Tropic Skin Care - Skincare/Health
True Peak Revolution (Europe) -
Truvision Health - Health
TS-Life - Nutritional Supplements
Tupperware - Tupperware
Unicity - Health
United Sciences of America (dissolved in 1987) -
United Warehouse (UK) -
US Health Advisors -
Usana - Nutritional Supplements
Usborne - Books
Utility Warehouse (UK) - Utilities
Valentus - Dietary Supplements
Vantel - Product/Pearls
Vasayo - Health
VectoCutco - Knives
Vemma - Dietary Supplements
viaOneHope - Wine
ViBella - Jewelry
VIC Cosmetics -
Vida Divina - Tea
Vie at Home (closed) -
Virtuity Financial Group (World Financial Group) -
ViSalus (Body by VI) - Dietary Supplements
Vitality Extracts - Essential Oils
VivaMK - Cleaning Producs
Volo - Health
Vorwerk - Home Goods
Votre Belle Maison (UK) - Giftware
Voxxlife - Health
Wakaya Perfection - Health
WakeUpNow (dissolved 2015) -
Watkins Inc - Health/Home Goods
Wealthperx - Travel
Wikaniko - Home Goods
Wildtree - Food
Willing Beauty - Beauty
Winasun - Health
Wine Shop at Home - Wine
Wines for Humanity - Wine
Wink Naturals - Health
World Financial Group/Pinnacle Leadership Development - Financial
World Leadership Group (dissolved in 2008) -
World Ventures/Wealth Wave/TKO WorldWide - Travel
WoTaBu - Travel
XanGo/Ziji - Health
Xerveo - Dietary Supplements
Xoom Energy - Utilities
Xooma - Weight Loss
Xstream Travel - Travel
Xyngular - Health
Yanbal Int - Jewelry
Yandi (China) - Nutritional Supplements
Yelloow - Beauty
Yevo (closed) -
Yofoto (China) - Health
Yoli - Health
Yoonla -
YOR Health - Weight Loss
Young Living - Health
Youngevity -
Younique - Beauty
YTB International - Travel
Zepter -
Zija - Health
Zilis - Health
Zinzino (Scandanavia) -
Zrii - Skincare/Health
Zurvita - Health
Zyia - Clothing
Zyn - Travel
TOTAL COUNT = 594 ​ This list will be continually updated (5/19/2020).
2018 Archived MLM Mega Thread
​
Sources: https://mlmtruth.org/2018/02/08/the-mlm-master-list/ , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multi-level_marketing_companies Special thanks to u/Copacetic1515 (I could not stick your thread)
​
For income disclosure information: Updated 2019 Thread
​
Other Helpful Links: Discussion about World Financial Group

While overt operations will play a role in the retaliation, some more covert ones are needed. For these more... illegal... operations, we will have to take a different approach.
​
North Korea: Cyberwar, Inc.
North Korea has a well-established cyberwar capability and has recently begun selling its services to third parties. One of those third parties is about to become us, and we're going to buy out the entire shop, consisting of thousands of highly trained North Korean hackers. Are they the best, no, of course not--they are, after all, still North Korean. They certainly aren't as good as what we have in-house, even though they're surprisingly skilled all things considered. But they're extra talent, and talent with no official connections to China, and that's what counts here.
​
At whatever exorbitant price that North Korea charges [we've budgeted up to $500 million, and they will get to keep whatever they steal] we're siccing every trained hacker they have on what we view as the mastermind behind these plots, the United Arab Emirates [M: Even though we don't know the contents of the closed diplo, it's not hard to come to that conclusion given that Saudi Arabia is in a civil war, the UAE leads the GCC which is leading the embargo, and it has rejected our peace offerings and stated that we are an existential threat--also, assaulting the UAE is likely to spook the other participants who are in a much more frail situation].
​
Attacks will aim to be diverse and encompass the entire spectrum, with one exception, which we will do. Chinese experts will provide advice and limited intelligence and cyber-reconnaissance, but will not openly involve themselves in the operations, taking especial care to ensure that they don't touch the code the North Koreans are working on. We will maintain only a very high-level management, leaving precise means, targets, and so on to the North Koreans.
​
In addition, we'll ask the North Koreans to recruit criminal hacker groups across the globe to join on to this effort, with the North Koreans receiving additional payouts for every other criminal hacking group they bring onboard that has been verified by Chinese intelligence as actually existing [we don't trust the North Koreans that much, especially when money is on the line].
​
Targets are the following, in order of priority:
​
UAE Foreign Exchange Reserves and Sovereign Wealth Fund:
By far the most valuable target on the list for North Korea, the UAE's forex reserves are worth about $100 billion, and the sovereign wealth funds of the Emirates are valued at as much as $1 trillion. North Korean hackers will launch an all-out assault aiming to steal as much of this money as possible, destroying it if they must but, we imagine, preferably transferring it to North Korean accounts. Attacks via SWIFT like those conducted by North Korea in 2015-16 are possible--those attacks amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. We doubt that North Korea will be able to steal that much of this pile, especially given the fact that the UAE has an army of ex-Western cyberwarriors of its own, but even a relatively small quantity would be a significant psychological injury and would degrade global trust in the UAE.
​
Vital Infrastructure:
North Korea will target key pieces of infrastructure in the UAE. In particular, they will target the following facilities and attempt to force them offline. Even though the individual attacks won't do much damage, the cumulative impact will scare the public, damage investor confidence, and drive money out of the UAE.

• Dubai International Airport
• All 8 desalination plants, the only source of potable water in the UAE [top target]
• Dubai Metro
• UAE High-speed rail [as this system uses Chinese software the North Koreans will happen to find a copy of the source code to work this one over]
• Barakah Nuclear Power Plant [as this system uses South Korean software North Korea may have added experience with it]
• Ruwais Refinery, capacity 400,000 barrels of oil per day, the largest in the UAE

​
Influential Figures And Government Officials:
North Korean hackers will also target the personal devices of government officials and influential figures in the UAE, especially politicians, military commanders, and media types. They will then leak anything remotely incriminating to the global media, possibly via Wikileaks or another such site of ill repute.
​
In addition, for particularly important government officials, North Korea will be commissioned to produce deepfakes with which it will flood social media. These will mostly focus on baseless conspiracy theories and personal slanders, for instance, catching a top official on mike confessing to being a devil-worshiper, or portraying a popular imam as being with Western prostitutes.
​
​
It is hoped that these operations will cause enough domestic trouble in the UAE that they will concede on the point of the oil embargo. If nothing else, though, they should keep the UAE distracted while we move elsewhere.

Hello, dummies
It's your old pal, Fuzzy.
As I'm sure you've all noticed, a lot of the stuff that gets posted here is - to put it delicately - fucking ridiculous. More backwards-ass shit gets posted to wallstreetbets than you'd see on a Westboro Baptist community message board. I mean, I had a look at the daily thread yesterday and..... yeesh. I know, I know. We all make like the divine Laura Dern circa 1992 on the daily and stick our hands deep into this steaming heap of shit to find the nuggets of valuable and/or hilarious information within (thanks for reading, BTW). I agree. I love it just the way it is too. That's what makes WSB great.
What I'm getting at is that a lot of the stuff that gets posted here - notwithstanding it being funny or interesting - is just... wrong. Like, fucking your cousin wrong. And to be clear, I mean the fucking your *first* cousin kinda wrong, before my Southerners in the back get all het up (simmer down, Billy Ray - I know Mabel's twice removed on your grand-sister's side). Truly, I try to let it slide. I do my bit to try and put you on the right path. Most of the time, I sleep easy no matter how badly I've seen someone explain what a bank liquidity crisis is. But out of all of those tens of thousands of misguided, autistic attempts at understanding the world of high finance, one thing gets so consistently - so *emphatically* - fucked up and misunderstood by you retards that last night I felt obligated at the end of a long work day to pull together this edition of Finance with Fuzzy just for you. It's so serious I'm not even going to make a u/pokimane gag. Have you guessed what it is yet? Here's a clue. It's in the title of the post.
That's right, friends. Today in the neighborhood we're going to talk all about hedging in financial markets - spots, swaps, collars, forwards, CDS, synthetic CDOs, all that fun shit. Don't worry; I'm going to explain what all the scary words mean and how they impact your OTM RH positions along the way.
We're going to break it down like this. (1) "What's a hedge, Fuzzy?" (2) Common Hedging Strategies and (3) All About ISDAs and Credit Default Swaps.
Before we begin. For the nerds and JV traders in the back (and anyone else who needs to hear this up front) - I am simplifying these descriptions for the purposes of this post. I am also obviously not going to try and cover every exotic form of hedge under the sun or give a detailed summation of what caused the financial crisis. If you are interested in something specific ask a question, but don't try and impress me with your Investopedia skills or technical points I didn't cover; I will just be forced to flex my years of IRL experience on you in the comments and you'll look like a big dummy.
TL;DR? Fuck you. There is no TL;DR. You've come this far already. What's a few more paragraphs? Put down the Cheetos and try to concentrate for the next 5-7 minutes. You'll learn something, and I promise I'll be gentle.
Ready? Let's get started.
1. The Tao of Risk: Hedging as a Way of Life
The simplest way to characterize what a hedge 'is' is to imagine every action having a binary outcome. One is bad, one is good. Red lines, green lines; uppie, downie. With me so far? Good. A 'hedge' is simply the employment of a strategy to mitigate the effect of your action having the wrong binary outcome. You wanted X, but you got Z! Frowny face. A hedge strategy introduces a third outcome. If you hedged against the possibility of Z happening, then you can wind up with Y instead. Not as good as X, but not as bad as Z. The technical definition I like to give my idiot juniors is as follows:
Utilization of a defensive strategy to mitigate risk, at a fraction of the cost to capital of the risk itself.
Congratulations. You just finished Hedging 101. "But Fuzzy, that's easy! I just sold a naked call against my 95% OTM put! I'm adequately hedged!". Spoiler alert: you're not (although good work on executing a collar, which I describe below). What I'm talking about here is what would be referred to as a 'perfect hedge'; a binary outcome where downside is totally mitigated by a risk management strategy. That's not how it works IRL. Pay attention; this is the tricky part.
You can't take a single position and conclude that you're adequately hedged because risks are fluid, not static. So you need to constantly adjust your position in order to maximize the value of the hedge and insure your position. You also need to consider exposure to more than one category of risk. There are micro (specific exposure) risks, and macro (trend exposure) risks, and both need to factor into the hedge calculus.
That's why, in the real world, the value of hedging depends entirely on the design of the hedging strategy itself. Here, when we say "value" of the hedge, we're not talking about cash money - we're talking about the intrinsic value of the hedge relative to the the risk profile of your underlying exposure. To achieve this, people hedge dynamically. In wallstreetbets terms, this means that as the value of your position changes, you need to change your hedges too. The idea is to efficiently and continuously distribute and rebalance risk across different states and periods, taking value from states in which the marginal cost of the hedge is low and putting it back into states where marginal cost of the hedge is high, until the shadow value of your underlying exposure is equalized across your positions. The punchline, I guess, is that one static position is a hedge in the same way that the finger paintings you make for your wife's boyfriend are art - it's technically correct, but you're only playing yourself by believing it.
Anyway. Obviously doing this as a small potatoes trader is hard but it's worth taking into account. Enough basic shit. So how does this work in markets?
2. A Hedging Taxonomy
The best place to start here is a practical question. What does a business need to hedge against? Think about the specific risk that an individual business faces. These are legion, so I'm just going to list a few of the key ones that apply to most corporates. (1) You have commodity risk for the shit you buy or the shit you use. (2) You have currency risk for the money you borrow. (3) You have rate risk on the debt you carry. (4) You have offtake risk for the shit you sell. Complicated, right? To help address the many and varied ways that shit can go wrong in a sophisticated market, smart operators like yours truly have devised a whole bundle of different instruments which can help you manage the risk. I might write about some of the more complicated ones in a later post if people are interested (CDO/CLOs, strip/stack hedges and bond swaps with option toggles come to mind) but let's stick to the basics for now.
(i) Swaps
A swap is one of the most common forms of hedge instrument, and they're used by pretty much everyone that can afford them. The language is complicated but the concept isn't, so pay attention and you'll be fine. This is the most important part of this section so it'll be the longest one.
Swaps are derivative contracts with two counterparties (before you ask, you can't trade 'em on an exchange - they're OTC instruments only). They're used to exchange one cash flow for another cash flow of equal expected value; doing this allows you to take speculative positions on certain financial prices or to alter the cash flows of existing assets or liabilities within a business. "Wait, Fuzz; slow down! What do you mean sets of cash flows?". Fear not, little autist. Ol' Fuzz has you covered.
The cash flows I'm talking about are referred to in swap-land as 'legs'. One leg is fixed - a set payment that's the same every time it gets paid - and the other is variable - it fluctuates (typically indexed off the price of the underlying risk that you are speculating on / protecting against). You set it up at the start so that they're notionally equal and the two legs net off; so at open, the swap is a zero NPV instrument. Here's where the fun starts. If the price that you based the variable leg of the swap on changes, the value of the swap will shift; the party on the wrong side of the move ponies up via the variable payment. It's a zero sum game.
I'll give you an example using the most vanilla swap around; an interest rate trade. Here's how it works. You borrow money from a bank, and they charge you a rate of interest. You lock the rate up front, because you're smart like that. But then - quelle surprise! - the rate gets better after you borrow. Now you're bagholding to the tune of, I don't know, 5 bps. Doesn't sound like much but on a billion dollar loan that's a lot of money (a classic example of the kind of 'small, deep hole' that's terrible for profits). Now, if you had a swap contract on the rate before you entered the trade, you're set; if the rate goes down, you get a payment under the swap. If it goes up, whatever payment you're making to the bank is netted off by the fact that you're borrowing at a sub-market rate. Win-win! Or, at least, Lose Less / Lose Less. That's the name of the game in hedging.
There are many different kinds of swaps, some of which are pretty exotic; but they're all different variations on the same theme. If your business has exposure to something which fluctuates in price, you trade swaps to hedge against the fluctuation. The valuation of swaps is also super interesting but I guarantee you that 99% of you won't understand it so I'm not going to try and explain it here although I encourage you to google it if you're interested.
Because they're OTC, none of them are filed publicly. Someeeeeetimes you see an ISDA (dsicussed below) but the confirms themselves (the individual swaps) are not filed. You can usually read about the hedging strategy in a 10-K, though. For what it's worth, most modern credit agreements ban speculative hedging. Top tip: This is occasionally something worth checking in credit agreements when you invest in businesses that are debt issuers - being able to do this increases the risk profile significantly and is particularly important in times of economic volatility (ctrl+f "non-speculative" in the credit agreement to be sure).
(ii) Forwards
A forward is a contract made today for the future delivery of an asset at a pre-agreed price. That's it. "But Fuzzy! That sounds just like a futures contract!". I know. Confusing, right? Just like a futures trade, forwards are generally used in commodity or forex land to protect against price fluctuations. The differences between forwards and futures are small but significant. I'm not going to go into super boring detail because I don't think many of you are commodities traders but it is still an important thing to understand even if you're just an RH jockey, so stick with me.
Just like swaps, forwards are OTC contracts - they're not publicly traded. This is distinct from futures, which are traded on exchanges (see The Ballad Of Big Dick Vick for some more color on this). In a forward, no money changes hands until the maturity date of the contract when delivery and receipt are carried out; price and quantity are locked in from day 1. As you now know having read about BDV, futures are marked to market daily, and normally people close them out with synthetic settlement using an inverse position. They're also liquid, and that makes them easier to unwind or close out in case shit goes sideways.
People use forwards when they absolutely have to get rid of the thing they made (or take delivery of the thing they need). If you're a miner, or a farmer, you use this shit to make sure that at the end of the production cycle, you can get rid of the shit you made (and you won't get fucked by someone taking cash settlement over delivery). If you're a buyer, you use them to guarantee that you'll get whatever the shit is that you'll need at a price agreed in advance. Because they're OTC, you can also exactly tailor them to the requirements of your particular circumstances.
These contracts are incredibly byzantine (and there are even crazier synthetic forwards you can see in money markets for the true degenerate fund managers). In my experience, only Texan oilfield magnates, commodities traders, and the weirdo forex crowd fuck with them. I (i) do not own a 10 gallon hat or a novelty size belt buckle (ii) do not wake up in the middle of the night freaking out about the price of pork fat and (iii) love greenbacks too much to care about other countries' monopoly money, so I don't fuck with them.
(iii) Collars
No, not the kind your wife is encouraging you to wear try out to 'spice things up' in the bedroom during quarantine. Collars are actually the hedging strategy most applicable to WSB. Collars deal with options! Hooray!
To execute a basic collar (also called a wrapper by tea-drinking Brits and people from the Antipodes), you buy an out of the money put while simultaneously writing a covered call on the same equity. The put protects your position against price drops and writing the call produces income that offsets the put premium. Doing this limits your tendies (you can only profit up to the strike price of the call) but also writes down your risk. If you screen large volume trades with a VOL/OI of more than 3 or 4x (and they're not bullshit biotech stocks), you can sometimes see these being constructed in real time as hedge funds protect themselves on their shorts.
(3) All About ISDAs, CDS and Synthetic CDOs
You may have heard about the mythical ISDA. Much like an indenture (discussed in my post on $F), it's a magic legal machine that lets you build swaps via trade confirms with a willing counterparty. They are very complicated legal documents and you need to be a true expert to fuck with them. Fortunately, I am, so I do. They're made of two parts; a Master (which is a form agreement that's always the same) and a Schedule (which amends the Master to include your specific terms). They are also the engine behind just about every major credit crunch of the last 10+ years.
First - a brief explainer. An ISDA is a not in and of itself a hedge - it's an umbrella contract that governs the terms of your swaps, which you use to construct your hedge position. You can trade commodities, forex, rates, whatever, all under the same ISDA.
Let me explain. Remember when we talked about swaps? Right. So. You can trade swaps on just about anything. In the late 90s and early 2000s, people had the smart idea of using other people's debt and or credit ratings as the variable leg of swap documentation. These are called credit default swaps. I was actually starting out at a bank during this time and, I gotta tell you, the only thing I can compare people's enthusiasm for this shit to was that moment in your early teens when you discover jerking off. Except, unlike your bathroom bound shame sessions to Mom's Sears catalogue, every single person you know felt that way too; and they're all doing it at once. It was a fiscal circlejerk of epic proportions, and the financial crisis was the inevitable bukkake finish. WSB autism is absolutely no comparison for the enthusiasm people had during this time for lighting each other's money on fire.
Here's how it works. You pick a company. Any company. Maybe even your own! And then you write a swap. In the swap, you define "Credit Event" with respect to that company's debt as the variable leg . And you write in... whatever you want. A ratings downgrade, default under the docs, failure to meet a leverage ratio or FCCR for a certain testing period... whatever. Now, this started out as a hedge position, just like we discussed above. The purest of intentions, of course. But then people realized - if bad shit happens, you make money. And banks... don't like calling in loans or forcing bankruptcies. Can you smell what the moral hazard is cooking?
Enter synthetic CDOs. CDOs are basically pools of asset backed securities that invest in debt (loans or bonds). They've been around for a minute but they got famous in the 2000s because a shitload of them containing subprime mortgage debt went belly up in 2008. This got a lot of publicity because a lot of sad looking rednecks got foreclosed on and were interviewed on CNBC. "OH!", the people cried. "Look at those big bad bankers buying up subprime loans! They caused this!". Wrong answer, America. The debt wasn't the problem. What a lot of people don't realize is that the real meat of the problem was not in regular way CDOs investing in bundles of shit mortgage debts in synthetic CDOs investing in CDS predicated on that debt. They're synthetic because they don't have a stake in the actual underlying debt; just the instruments riding on the coattails. The reason these are so popular (and remain so) is that smart structured attorneys and bankers like your faithful correspondent realized that an even more profitable and efficient way of building high yield products with limited downside was investing in instruments that profit from failure of debt and in instruments that rely on that debt and then hedging that exposure with other CDS instruments in paired trades, and on and on up the chain. The problem with doing this was that everyone wound up exposed to everybody else's books as a result, and when one went tits up, everybody did. Hence, recession, Basel III, etc. Thanks, Obama.
Heavy investment in CDS can also have a warping effect on the price of debt (something else that happened during the pre-financial crisis years and is starting to happen again now). This happens in three different ways. (1) Investors who previously were long on the debt hedge their position by selling CDS protection on the underlying, putting downward pressure on the debt price. (2) Investors who previously shorted the debt switch to buying CDS protection because the relatively illiquid debt (partic. when its a bond) trades at a discount below par compared to the CDS. The resulting reduction in short selling puts upward pressure on the bond price. (3) The delta in price and actual value of the debt tempts some investors to become NBTs (neg basis traders) who long the debt and purchase CDS protection. If traders can't take leverage, nothing happens to the price of the debt. If basis traders can take leverage (which is nearly always the case because they're holding a hedged position), they can push up or depress the debt price, goosing swap premiums etc. Anyway. Enough technical details.
I could keep going. This is a fascinating topic that is very poorly understood and explained, mainly because the people that caused it all still work on the street and use the same tactics today (it's also terribly taught at business schools because none of the teachers were actually around to see how this played out live). But it relates to the topic of today's lesson, so I thought I'd include it here.
Work depending, I'll be back next week with a covenant breakdown. Most upvoted ticker gets the post.
*EDIT 1\* In a total blowout, $PLAY won. So it's D&B time next week. Post will drop Monday at market open.

I missed a week there, sorry about that.
The percentage changes in the title are compared to the previous week.

Size of the Forex Reserves of Pakistan since July 30

Date	Foreign Exchange Reserves in the SBP	Week-on-Week Percentage Change (In SBP)	Month-on-Month Percentage Change(In SBP)**	Total Foreign Exchange Reserves	Week-on-Week Percentage Change (Total)	Month-on-Month Percentage Change (Total)**
July 30*, 2020	$12.5422 Billion	+4.73%	+4.16%	$19.5629 Billion	+3.44%	+4.11%
August 07, 2020	$12.4693 Billion	-0.58%	+3.44%	$19.5183 Billion	-0.23%	+2.98%
August 13*, 2020	$12.6084 Billion	+1.12%	+4.02%	$19.6555 Billion	+0.70%	+3.19%
August 21, 2020	$12.6408 Billion	+0.26%	+5.55%	$19.7224 Billion	+0.34%	+4.28%
August 28, 2020	$12.7127 Billion	+0.57%	+1.36%	$19.8428 Billion	+0.61%	+1.43%

*July 31, 2020 and August 14, 2020 were public holidays.
**A month refers to four weeks, as the data is released on a weekly basis.

USD/PKR Mid-Market Daily Average Exchange Rate since July 30

Date	USD to PKR Exchange Rate	Week-on-Week Percentage Change	Month-on-Month Percentage Change**
July 30, 2020*	167.57230	+0.0888%	+0.4328%
August 07, 2020	167.89815	+0.1945%	+0.9398%
August 13, 2020*	167.99815	+0.0596%	+0.4358%
August 21, 2020	168.21480	+0.1290%	+0.4726%
August 27, 2020*	167.35600	-0.5105%	-0.1291%
September 04, 2020	165.87335	-0.8859%	-1.2060%

*July 31, 2020 and August 14, 2020 were public holidays. Data for August 28, 2020 is not available.
**A month refers to four weeks to keep consistent with the last chart
Foreign Exchange Reserve Size Source
Forex Data archived on September 06, 2020
USD/PKR Exchange Rate Source
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