Archive: September 2026· page 3
What does the MT5 Strategy Tester actually do when you hit Start?
Outside real-ticks mode, the MT5 simulator rebuilds ticks from each bar, takes the spread from history and can fill orders in "ideal" conditions. What does each report assume? The five questions to ask before you believe it.
Fed hikes to 4% and signals another; dollar index tops 100, gold slides
The Fed raised rates to 3.75-4.00% and signalled one more hike this year. The dollar index broke above 100 and gold fell to a one-month low near $4,250.
The trading course does not live on trading
Whoever teaches is paid from three places and only one requires being right. The least visible is the broker rebate on every lot you trade, win or lose. What the market abuse regulation requires, what Spain's CNMV measured in April 2026, and our own position declared.
The prop firm evaluates you in a simulation, and it says so itself
"All accounts are demo with fictitious funds and any trading is in a simulated environment": the firms publish it themselves. What does that change, where does their revenue come from, and why did the CFTC case everyone cites end dismissed with costs against the regulator?
The signal group is paid for your volume, not for being right
A free channel does not mean nobody is paid: an introducing broker programme rebates part of the spread on every trade you execute, win or lose. What separates it from copy trading, and why has the record you see been selected? And what the FCA is prosecuting.
The robot is not sold for what it earns, but for what it shows
The product page carries a flawless curve and a "modelling quality 90%". MetaTrader's own help says that even in its most precise mode the ticks are generated by interpolation. What does that 90% measure? The two costs the simulation never saw, and the five things to ask for before paying.
The welcome bonus is charged back to you in spread
A 100% bonus cannot be withdrawn until you trade a set volume, and that volume is paid in spread. Break-even sits at 62.5 EUR/USD lots. What did ESMA write when it banned them in 2018, and why is the real cost the condition rather than the balance?
Your CFD broker is the counterparty, and that is not the problem
A CFD is a bilateral contract: no exchange, no third party on the other side. What decides whether their interests clash with yours is not that, but whether they hedge the exposure. What ESMA wrote, and the number the broker publishes on its own front page.
Dollar strength dominates as oil jumps past $100
The dollar extended gains to a two-week high ahead of the anticipated Federal Reserve rate hike, while crude oil jumped past $100 on supply concerns.
What was the Volcker shock?
Rates went from 10.94% to 19.10% and inflation fell from 14.6% to 2.5%. What was the Volcker shock, and why is it the benchmark for every hiking cycle?
What was the Asian financial crisis?
A dollar bought 24.52 baht one day and 30.18 the next. What was the Asian financial crisis, and why did it not stop at Thailand?
What was the Nixon shock?
For five days the dollar bought 357 yen to the second decimal. What was the Nixon shock, and why does every floating exchange rate start there?
What was Long-Term Capital Management?
A fund with two Nobel laureates lost almost everything in four months. What was Long-Term Capital Management, and who really paid for the rescue?
What was the Plaza Accord?
Five governments published a short statement on a Sunday in 1985. What was the Plaza Accord, and why did the dollar lose half its value in two years?
What was the Frankenshock?
For six weeks EUR/CHF barely moved. What was the Frankenshock, and why did stop-losses fail to protect anyone on 15 January 2015?
Brent jumps to $107 as Fed hike odds reach 87%
Brent jumped to $107 a barrel and market pricing put the odds of a Fed hike at 87%, pushing EUR/USD to a one-month low.
Fed week opens with the dollar unable to lead; yen speculators turn bullish
Markets have priced a September Fed rate hike and the dollar still cannot lead our basket, while speculators turn bullish on the yen and Canada's CPI data looms.
Oil went from a shipping story to a rate hike in five sessions
Tankers on Monday, a ten-year yield touching 5% on Friday, a European Central Bank hike in between and a core inflation print above forecast - and the dollar never once topped our basket. What actually drove the week, and what is the tell for the next one?
