THE ART OF MAKING MONEY

With interests on deposits hitting an all-time low and no change in sight in the near future, trading is a way to make a good profit. The waters of international markets, however, can be rough for both beginners and advanced traders who suffer from more than the healthy amount of enthusiasm. To make the best of the markets, such enthusiasts need the help of Admiral Markets UK, a regulated FCA broker. The company offers a modern platform for trading CFDs on currencies, commodities, stocks and indices. In addition, Admiral Markets UK offers excellent trading conditions, fast execution and flexible accounts.

If someone is dedicated enough to learn and dedicate his time to trading the international markets, success is highly possible, believes Dimitre Tzonev, CEO of Admiral Markets' Bulgarian branch. He knows this from his own experience. He has been fascinated with trading since 1999 when he, as a teenager freshly grounded in the US, bought his first shares (in a gold mining company). It took him more than three years to return his investment, but he was hooked forever. After working for Ameritrade, Merrill Lynch, and HSBC in the US, Dimitre Tzonev returned to Bulgaria in 2009. Four years ago, he became part of the Admiral Markets team, and did his best to establish the brand's name on the local market.

What does Admiral Markets offer to someone searching for a way to invest their money?

Admiral Markets BG is a part of an international team with 13 branches in Europe, offering some of the best products in the brokerage industry. To anybody who comes to trading, we offer specialised education that takes them step by step through the whole process and gets them familiarised with the markets' risks and products. We have excellent programmes and staff of professionals with significant experience in the financial markets. As a STP (Straight Through Processing) company, we don't advise our clients on what to buy and what to sell; we don't take the risk for them. Instead, we provide them with a unique view on how we think about the markets and what we see. Admiral Marekts provides a user friendly platform MetaTrader 4. The company has invested substantial amount of capital and has developed the Supreme Edition of MetaTrader4 that has been voted for 2 consecutive years as one of the best brokers in the UK and Germany. The process is straightforward: the client comes, we provide education if he or she is new to trading, and then they open an account and trade on their own. We offer the best options for both beginners and experienced traders. Thanks to this, anybody in Bulgaria can be a part of the international markets.

Does Bulgaria have any advantages for traders?

A lot of people in the West are into trading. In trading, the sky is the limit. You can do it from all over the world. Bulgaria's advantages are low taxation, excellent trading time zones, access to fast Internet connection. From Bulgaria, you can easily trade the Asian, European and American markets. There are not that many places in the world from where you can do this.

How do you see the markets in 2017?

First let's go back and see what happened after the world financial crisis of 2008-2009. We bottomed out in 2009, and ever since the trend has been up all over the world. We've had unprecedented intervention from the monetary policy bodies in the US, Japan, and the EU, pumping a staggering amount of liquidity in the markets. As interest rates were kept low, investors saw an opportunity on the markets.

However, the markets also demonstrated how swiftly sentiment can change. A couple of years ago oil used to be one of the hottest topics, with expectations for prices reaching $150 and even $200 per barrel. And all of a sudden, due to new technology, oil collapsed from $120 to $30.

History has also demonstrated that markets move in cycles of about four to eight years, like the booms of 1992-2000 and 2000-2008. The current boom began in 2009, meaning that we are already overextending. We have also geopolitical factors, like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump for president. The French presidential election will have significant impact on the markets.

Knowing this, we can project a possible correction on the markets of 5 to 10 percent down in the near future. But the truth is that the markets' behaviour is totally unpredictable. Nobody knows.

What should a trader do, then?

People have to look carefully at the investment environment when they are about to make a decision. They should stay on the markets, but they have to be very careful, buying protection with a healthy mixture of shorts and longs. Interest in investing in Gold has been raising. Many investors are not that opportunistic right now and are pulling money out from the equity markets and reallocating into safe investments like 10-Year Note Futures.

Why is it still better to trade than to keep money in the bank?

How much money can you earn from a bank? One percent? The European Central Bank's policy for the past few years is designed to encourage you to take some risks. If you invest in individual stocks and you are a good trader, you can make a double-digit profits, as we have seen in our company.

How Admiral Markets' educational programme helps beginners to get fluent in trading?

How far a beginner would go is entirely up to his motivation to deepen his knowledge. We have different educational programmes, including online videos, mentors taking the customers through trading, putting orders, using our platform. We publish books and we organise seminars all over Bulgaria, where we introduce traders who have been consistently successful throughout the years. We also regularly publish interesting information, new ideas and methods, strategy articles, how gold, silver and the USD behave, what financial instruments are available right now, etc. It is open for everyone, on www.admiralmarkets.bg.

Is your clients' information secure with Admiral Markets?

It is 99.99 percent secure. We have been in the business for a long time, and with MetaTrade 4 we haven't had any security incidents. The platform allows you to trade freely from any device and anywhere in the world, so long as you have internet connection.

Is trading taking up in Bulgaria?

We have seen significant pick up in interest in trading in the past 5-10 years. The problem is that a lot of people don't pay attention to how to risk manage their portfolio when they start trading. They prefer easy to navigate platforms where you only need to click "Buy" or "Sell" buttons. It is easy, but if you don't know much about the markets and you believe that fast profit is here for you, you are bound to lose money. In general, if it looks too easy or if someone is promising you huge returns, then most probably there is something wrong.

MetaTrader 4, however, is both very user friendly and with integrated protection mechanisms. I don't want to lure anybody. But no matter what your budget is, trading remains an opportunity to make money. If you want to get involved and spend the time needed to learn how to manage your funds, now is the best moment for this. It is only up to you. No one will do it better than you.