Trading FX is ethical, trading commodities isn't

B

Black Swan

a flippant throwaway remark or a judgement that (on closer inspection) has merit?
 
both markets are really liquid though...does any one average retail trader erally have much impact?
 
how can anyone doing this job be concerned with ethics ?

Thanks for staying on thread. Yes we/they can be concerned with ethics. Is it less moral/ethical to trade oil, gas, wheat, corn when we know the poorest 25% of the global population suffer devestation from price hikes and spikes in these basic resources, or does participation increase the possibility of price discovery? In your opinion Is speculation in currencies more or less damaging than speculation in commodities?

The harmful price rises in basic *stuff* has led to agitation in Tunisia and Algiers, riots have recently been quelled in Boliva, as the govt took away price subsidies for petrol, riots are a constant threat in other parts of Africa. Do FX speculators cause that degree of harm (given that liquidity = price discovery) or are *we* deluding ourselves that our game is nuetral?

No-one (with the exception of the Chinese possibly) could corner the market on the US dollar (and Bernanke can mess the fiscal policy single handedly anyhow), but the cornering of markets in commods. is causing/will cause devestation...
 
Thanks for staying on thread. Yes we/they can be concerned with ethics. Is it less moral/ethical to trade oil, gas, wheat, corn when we know the poorest 25% of the global population suffer devestation from price hikes and spikes in these basic resources, or does participation increase the possibility of price discovery? In your opinion Is speculation in currencies more or less damaging than speculation in commodities?

The harmful price rises in basic *stuff* has led to agitation in Tunisia and Algiers, riots have recently been quelled in Boliva, as the govt took away price subsidies for petrol, riots are a constant threat in other parts of Africa. Do FX speculators cause that degree of harm (given that liquidity = price discovery) or are *we* deluding ourselves that our game is nuetral?

No-one (with the exception of the Chinese possibly) could corner the market on the US dollar (and Bernanke can mess the fiscal policy single handedly anyhow), but the cornering of markets in commods. is causing/will cause devestation...

But for us retail traders we are not cornering the market when we trade commodities , especially that we go long and short as well which lowers the price like oil went from 140 to 40 , if there is no speculation on commodities we will c the big boys and govs rising prices every year " inflation " oops sorry oil 100 next year sorry 110 , life expensive 120 $ , i am sure we will not c a drop from 140 $ to 40$ , but i am with more regulations regarding position limits ... etc .
 
I can't see how it is immoral to trade any of the markets, as long as you're doing it above board.

Speculation can occasionally cause runs on prices yes, but I feel it's the lesser of evils. I can't figure out an alternative which is less harmful.
 
Is this a serious question?

"Trading FX is ethical, trading commodities isn't"

Do you think "the poorest 25%" would be better off if commodities were not freely traded? Are you proposing price controls (that ALWAYS works :LOL:), and if so, how would this function in practice?

How is the price to be set? Should people be forced to buy and sell at a price not of their choosing?

You think that the problems of the world's poorest are down to what goes on at the CME? Rather than, for example, the corrupt, murderous kleptocrats that run their countries?

Your ideas are not only mad, but dangerous. I can think of few better ways of ensuring famine and global shortages than the interruption of the free market.

If you're worried about price distortions in important foodstuffs, you could have a go at the practice of growing food in order to add it to diesel, making the fuel less efficient, all in the name of combating "catastrophic man-made climate change" - despite the fact that this is a made up non-problem and bio-diesel doesn't produce any carbon dioxide savings anyway.

cba tbh bud fly under the radar ffs grab some pips mate kin ell it's not rocket science trading on the smalls fookin imho bless...;)
 
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By definition we live in the system where decisions regarding supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments should be made by private participants in the free market. Can capitalism be ethical?
 
Isn't there research into non-exchange traded commodities (onions?) which shows they are just as volatile as those traded on an exchange.

Furthermore, for many of the poor countries which export commodities, I would have thought the recent rally in commodities is a bonanza.

Oh sorry, forgot, it all goes into the dictator's pocket anyway.
 
Errrr...2010 was the hottest year ever sunshine...you may want to check your facts!

I'll keep repeating that to myself as I dig out of the most snow we have had in decades. And the Australians drown because they failed to invest in flood control because climate models predicted drought. :confused:
 
"catastrophic man-made climate change" - despite the fact that this is a made up non-problemQUOTE]

Errrr...2010 was the hottest year ever sunshine...you may want to check your facts!

Errrr...No it wasn't sunshine...Errr...no-one has even claimed that it is sunshine...Errr...not even Al Gore or Jim Hansen sunshine...Errr is this "Errr sunshine" business really necessary sunshine?...Errr sunshine.

Errr...even if it was errr sunshine...which errrr it isn't sunshine...errr...the "man-made" element of my post is quite important...sunshine...the contribution of mankind's activities to climate change is...err sunshine...the subject of err sunshine...some debate to put it errr mildly sunshine.

You might want to check your facts!
 
Thanks for staying on thread. Yes we/they can be concerned with ethics. Is it less moral/ethical to trade oil, gas, wheat, corn when we know the poorest 25% of the global population suffer devestation from price hikes and spikes in these basic resources, or does participation increase the possibility of price discovery? In your opinion Is speculation in currencies more or less damaging than speculation in commodities?

the UK throws away one third of all food into the rubbish each year and i would take a guess that another third isn't neccesary and just goes straight onto people's fat a.r.s.e, while kids in other countries starve to death. people are fine with doing this so trading shouldn't be a problem.
 
On that note, I took my daughter to her swim class this morning and I noticed a lot of very fat kids around the pool. One boy, who looked around 7 or 8, had serious moobs hanging down towards his enormous belly. I thought for a minute I was in America!
 
On that note, I took my daughter to her swim class this morning and I noticed a lot of very fat kids around the pool. One boy, who looked around 7 or 8, had serious moobs hanging down towards his enormous belly. I thought for a minute I was in America!

I think that the obesity problem might actually be worse here, contrary to popular assumptions. If not, I think that the gap is definitely narrowing.
 
Back on topic. Is nobody going to support the notion that FX traders are all Mother Teresas, while commodities traders spend all their free time robbing the homeless and poisoning African wells?
 
I'll keep repeating that to myself as I dig out of the most snow we have had in decades. And the Australians drown because they failed to invest in flood control because climate models predicted drought. :confused:

Yeah, record levels of snow and rain doesn't sound like climate CHANGE at all.
 
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