Corrency-Exchange Trading,OR Forex Trading

Here are basically two types of Forex trading systems, mechanical and discretionary systems. The trading signals that come out of mechanical systems are mainly based off technical analysis applied in a systematic way. On the other hand, discretionary systems use experience, intuition or judgment on entries and exits. But which one produces better results? Or more importantly, which one fits better your trading style? We will first analyze the pros and cons about each system approach.

Mechanical systems

Advantages
This kind of trading system can be automated and backtested efficiently. It has very rigid rules. Mechanical traders are less susceptible to emotions than discretionary traders.

Disadvantages
Most traders backtest Forex trading systems incorrectly. In order to produce accurate results you need tick data. The Forex market is always changing. The Forex market (and all markets) has a random component. The market conditions may look similar, but they are never the same. A trading system that worked successfully the past year doesn’t necessary mean it will work this year.

Discretionary systems

Advantages
Discretionary systems are easily adaptable to new market conditions. Trading decisions are based on experience. Traders learn to see which trading signals have higher probability of success.

DisadvantagesThey cannot be backtested or automated, since there is always a thought decision to be made. It takes time to develop the experience required to trade successfully and track trades in a discretionary way. At early stages this can be dangerous.




Now, which approach is better for Forex traders? The one that fits better your personality. For instance, if you are a trader that finds it hard to follow your trading signals, then you are better off using a mechanical system, where your judgment won’t play an important role in your system. You only take the trades that your system signals.

If the psychological barriers that affect every trader (fear, greed, anger, etc.) puts you in unwanted scenarios, you are also better off trading mechanical systems, because you only need to follow what your system is telling you, go short, go long, close a trade. No other decision has to be made.

On the other hand, if you are a disciplined trader, then you are better off using a discretionary system, because discretionary systems adapt to the market conditions and you are able to change your trading conditions as the market changes. For instance, you have a target of 60 pips on a long trade. But the market suddenly starts trending up pretty strongly, then you could move your target to say 100 pips.

Does it mean that trading a discretionary system has no rules? This is absolutely incorrect. Trading discretionary systems means that once a trader finds his/her setup, the trader then decides what to do. But every trader still needs certain rules that need to be followed, such as the size of the position, conditions that have to be met before thinking to get in the market, and so on.

Whether you choose to be a discretionary or a mechanical trader there are some important points you should take in consideration:

1. You need to make sure the Forex trading system you are using totally fits your personality. Otherwise you will find yourself outguessing your system.
2. You also need to have some rules and most importantly have the discipline to follow them.
3. Take your time to build the perfect system for you. It’s not easy and requires time and hard work, but at the end, if done correctly, it will give you consistent profitable results.
4. Before going live, try it on a demo account or even on a small account (I will go for the second option, since psychological barriers will be present.

about call centers

Call Centers in India

Call centers are a phenomenon that has taken over the young crowd of metros in India by a storm. Its implications are social, cultural and economic. It is a new society of the young, rich and free, selling the new dream of an independent life to the regular desi.

With a bang in telecommunications and the boundaries of countries fast disappearing because of the Internet, the world is shrinking into smaller and smaller dimensions. It is getting slighter by the day and faster by the hour. Whether it is culture, arts or economy, you are no more in your own national space. The world has telescoped into one big melting pot of ideas. In this shrinking economy, India has made its presence felt in many fields. And the Call Center industry is one of them.
India shining!






What started as a niche service provision has evolved into a whole new industry in itself. Call centers are organizations in countries where an offshore company services American customers for American clients. Although the business did start off with America, it is no more restricted to the United States only. Countries like Australia, Canada and The United kingdom have also started outsourcing their work to India. The work that is outsourced is from various industries like credit cards, healthcare products, personal care products and education.

Because of its vast English speaking population, India has become an ideal candidate for outsourcing US workload through business process outsourcing. English is a popular and well spoken language here. Indians learn English as their second language and are familiar with it. But speaking the global language is not the sole reason for this choice.
The fact that Indian labor is relatively cheaper than American, was also a valid argument for those in favor of outsourcing. Indian labor cost is almost one tenth as compared to American when it comes to the call center industry in particular. That stems from the facts that Indian standards of living are lower than Americans and that Indian pay structures vary greatly from their American counterparts. So America saves costs and benefits from the same by outsourcing its work to India.

BPO and Outsourcing Jobs - A win-win situation
Reiterating the economists and the sociologists, the cheap labor in India owes its origin to the high rate of unemployment here. Hundreds of thousands of graduates are jobless and desperate for work in India. With higher studies only an option for the affluent, professionals too are facing increasing difficulties in recruitment. And as far as skilled labor is concerned, it is limited to few technical branches of work. Here is where the call center industry fills the gaps.

Call center units are not very demanding as far as qualifications and prerequisites are concerned. Most call center jobs require a basic understanding of computers and a good grasp over English. And the urban youth of India are computer literate graduates with a command over English language. This is the ideal unskilled labor that the call center industry is looking for.
Call center executives only need to be trained in soft skills that include voice neutralization and accent training. This helps to give them an accent more familiar with the people they are going to be talking to. For Indians, this is a smooth transition. Ours is not a country that has evaded the influence of the West and Americanism has seeped into our daily lives like ink on blotting paper.

How does a Call Center Function?
A typical call center functions as follows - A caller uses a toll free number that is connected to a customer support center. When the call reaches the call center, a trained consultant with access to a wide database of information, answers the call. The dedicated telecommunication links connect a remote call center to the parent organisation through voice links and online database access. Therefor a caller maybe calling a local number in USA, but the call maybe answered in India without any time delay and the caller is oblivious of where the call is being answered. These services are very popular in countries such as USA, Europe, Japan and Australia.

Types of a Call Centers.

There are two types of a Call Center, an Outbound Call Center and an Inbound Call center.

Key Responsibilities of an Outbound Call Center Personnel

· Make outgoing calls to follow up on overdue account holders worldwide, offer solutions

· Update the relevant information in the database

· Adhere to highest standard of quality and compliance

· Be customer friendly and extremely courteous

Key Responsibilities of an Inbound Call Center Personnel

· Handle inbound calls relating to customer queries on a product or service

· Update databases

· Adhere to highest standard of quality and compliance

· Be customer friendly and extremely courteous

Application Areas of a Call Center.
Sales Support

Complaint Handling

Technical queries





Relationship and Accounts Management

Lead generation and follow up

Telemarketing

Credit and Billing problems

Market Research

Database Development

Call centers are operated by large airlines, banks, mutual funds, telecom services, IT product companies among others

Data Processing and Back Office Operations

What is data processing?

Data Processing is a category of IT Enabled Services that pertains to collecting, digitising and processing data that come from various sources. Most organisations like banks, financial institutions , airlines need large scale data entry and accounting work. The raw data is sent to remote locations where the data is processed and reconciliation's are done. The data processing services comprise of data entry from various forms or publications, documents, images, sound and video, preparing databases and integrating them.

The range of services would include the following:

· Document Preparation

· Data Entry

· Image capturing

· Image keying

· OCR and ICR Processing

· Image store and retrieval

· Data entry front end edits

Statistical Analysis

Which industries would require data processing and back office operation?

· Insurance

· Banking

· Public utilities

· Telecom

· Legal

· Transportation

· Manufacturing

· Publishing

Insurance Claims Processing

Large insurance companies get a number of claims every day. These claims need to be processed based on set rules and regulations and can be done remotely. To save costs a large number of insurance companies are outsourcing the work. This is another service that is provided by the IT Enabled Sector

Legal databases

Lawyers need a steady flow of information on rulings, relevant laws and precedents to build up their case. A lot of legal firms have started outsourcing the work of creating a ready database/source of well managed and intelligent information.

The job comprises of:

· Create database of existing records

· Keeping track of new documents

· Creating an index of the records

· Incorporate the changes in the database as per established parameters

Lawyers can then use their computers to gather any information they need.

Employment Opportunities.
According to a survey there are more than 100,000 call centers worldwide and is expected to grow to 300,000 by 2002, employing around 18 million people. As per a survey, Customer Interaction Services including call centers in India employed about 8,600 people as on July 30, 2000. This segment will create employment for 2,70,000 people by year 2008.

Estimated Manpower figure by year 2008

The estimated manpower figures in the IT Enabled Services Industry by 2005 are as follows:
Back office operations-accounting, data entry, data conversion 150,000
Medical Transcriptions and Insurance Claims Processing 100,000
Call Centers 125,000
Database services 50,000
Web Based Help Desks 200,000
The above estimates are based on industry surveys conducted by leading Consultants.

What are the Generic skill sets required.

· Fluency in written and spoken English

· PC Skills

· Ability to work in teams

· Listening skills

· Analytical skills

· Customer focus

· Be a graduate

Anit-spam legislation in New Zealand

Anit-spam legislation in New Zealand

The anti-spam legislation, or the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, promotes awareness of spam and will enable international agencies to work together to share information. The legislation covers email spam as well as all electronic messaging such as SMS/text messaging.

However, the new law only helps combat a small amount of spam, as 99%-99.9% of all spam received in New Zealand comes from other countries.

The new Act will affect legitimate marketers in New Zealand by making sure they have expressed or inferred consent to continue sending marketing messages to people on their database. Inferred consent is where the marketers have the email address and send messages to those on their database, but didn't get expressed consent to send messages.

However, many marketers are already fulfilling these requirements because they are standard good e-marketing practice. Businesses will have to provide details about the company sending the item, and provide a free way to unsubscribe from future mailings.

Those found breaking these requirements deliberately could find themselves facing a personal fine of up to NZ$200,000. Organisations could face a fine of up to $500,000.