Risk Warning

Risk Warning for Hardanalytics.com

Risk Warning and Disclaimer for Hardanalytics.com:

Please note that trading and investing in financial markets is speculative and may involve significant risk of loss. This page details some but not all of the risks involved and it is not meant to substitute for any kind of advice or to be used as a basis for making trading or investing decisions.

It is important that you seek the advice of an advisor to determine risk in financial markets for yourself. This page is not an elaboration of the experience of trading, it is an elaboration of potential risks.

The Site (www.hardanalytics.com) explores areas of interest to the author. The Site may express opinions, in a manner which may be speculative, conjectural and explorative.

If risk in markets is defined as the potential to lose money, there is intended to be no risk associated with this Site, as it does not make recommendations to invest or trade.

It does discuss markets and market behavior, expressed in part as experimental and explorative blog posts, strategies, analysis and discussions of markets and issues around markets. Hence this page, which elaborates on the risks in financial markets.

However the analysis and strategies pages are explorative and are expressly not provided for making trading or investing decisions. Further as a weblog, they describe the author's search for understanding of these markets.

The Site's subject matter includes forex, which is regarded as risky. There is risk across all financial markets, but forex is a major subject area of this Site.

One way to partly indicate why, is to consider how the equity market behaved in the run up to the crisis. It hit a high in 2007, fell then rose again, eventually falling sharply, then rising.

However, just as one did not know at the time whether the equity market was going to hit new highs, or fall, one does not know this in forex either. In these cases the ease at which you can go short or long can be extremely risky as well, as one may repeatedly take a wrong position in a volatile market.

One can use recurring patterns, market structure and other factors in various ways to try and determine what may happen, that is to try and prune a tree of possible outcomes. However one still does not know when that possible outcome may happen. Leverage and lack of directionality may make 'when' critical, in terms of risks of loss.

(A) Site Content

The content and opinions on this blog and webpages are not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any currency, stock, commodity, future or other financial instrument. All opinions and content contained in the Site are subject to change without notice.

This content has been presented without regard to specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any particular individual and is expressly not intended to be the basis for making trading or investing decisions.

The author does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness nor does the author assume any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss that may result from the reliance by any person upon this content, including content on trading methods and broker and other financial services provider choice.

The sources used on this Site are publicly available sources, including chart and company statement data, in tandem with technical analysis and financial analysis performed by the author and the author's own approaches to markets. This data may be used in speculative and exploratory ways which are not intended for making trading or investing decisions.

The content in the Site may thus contain speculative opinion and it has no guarantee or implication as to reliability, accuracy or completeness. In particular this site does not seek to give trading or investing recommendations and should not be construed as so giving.

The author and the Site will not be responsible for anything that may result from reliance on this material or the opinions expressed. Parts (C) through (M) details some but not all risks that may exist in different markets this Site may discuss.

Part (B) is a risk disclosure from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) which details risks in the forex market.

(B) CFTC RISK DISCLOSURE

CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS INVOLVE THE LEVERAGED TRADING OF CONTRACTS DENOMINATED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY CONDUCTED WITH A FUTURES COMMISSION MERCHANT OR A RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEALER AS YOUR COUNTERPARTY. BECAUSE OF THE LEVERAGE AND THE OTHER RISKS DISCLOSED HERE, YOU CAN RAPIDLY LOSE ALL OF THE FUNDS YOU DEPOSIT FOR SUCH TRADING AND YOU MAY LOSE MORE THAN YOU DEPOSIT.

YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF AND CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING POINTS BEFORE DETERMINING WHETHER SUCH TRADING IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOU.

(1) TRADING IS NOT ON A REGULATED MARKET OR EXCHANGE—YOUR DEALER IS YOUR TRADING PARTNER WHICH IS A DIRECT CONFLICT OF INTEREST. BEFORE YOU ENGAGE IN ANY RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING, YOU SHOULD CONFIRM THE REGISTRATION STATUS OF YOUR COUNTERPARTY.

The off-exchange foreign currency trading you are entering into is not conducted on an interbank market, nor is it conducted on a futures exchange subject to regulation as a designated contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The foreign currency trades you transact are trades with the futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer as your counterparty. WHEN YOU SELL, THE DEALER IS THE BUYER. WHEN YOU BUY, THE DEALER IS THE SELLER. As a result, when you lose money trading, your dealer is making money on such trades, in addition to any fees, commissions, or spreads the dealer may charge.

(2) AN ELECTRONIC TRADING PLATFORM FOR RETAIL FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS IS NOT AN EXCHANGE. IT IS AN ELECTRONIC CONNECTION FOR ACCESSING YOUR DEALER. THE TERMS OF AVAILABILITY OF SUCH A PLATFORM ARE GOVERNED ONLY BY YOUR CONTRACT WITH YOUR DEALER.

Any trading platform that you may use to enter off-exchange foreign currency transactions is only connected to your futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer. You are accessing that trading platform only to transact with your dealer. You are not trading with any other entities or customers of the dealer by accessing such platform. The availability and operation of any such platform, including the consequences of the unavailability of the trading platform for any reason, is governed only by the terms of your account agreement with the dealer.

(3) YOUR DEPOSITS WITH THE DEALER HAVE NO REGULATORY PROTECTIONS.

All of your rights associated with your retail forex trading, including the manner and denomination of any payments made to you, are governed by the contract terms established in your account agreement with the futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer. Funds deposited by you with a futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer for trading off-exchange foreign currency transactions are not subject to the customer funds protections provided to customers trading on a contract market that is designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Your dealer may commingle your funds with its own operating funds or use them for other purposes. In the event your dealer becomes bankrupt, any funds the dealer is holding for you in addition to any amounts owed to you resulting from trading, whether or not any assets are maintained in separate deposit accounts by the dealer, may be treated as an unsecured creditor’s claim.

(4) YOU ARE LIMITED TO YOUR DEALER TO OFFSET OR LIQUIDATE ANY TRADING POSITIONS SINCE THE TRANSACTIONS ARE NOT MADE ON AN EXCHANGE OR MARKET, AND YOUR DEALER MAY SET ITS OWN PRICES.

Your ability to close your transactions or offset positions is limited to what your dealer will offer to you, as there is no other market for these transactions. Your dealer may offer any prices it wishes, and it may offer prices derived from outside sources or not in its discretion. Your dealer may establish its prices by offering spreads from third party prices, but it is under no obligation to do so or to continue to do so. Your dealer may offer different prices to different customers at any point in time on its own terms. The terms of your account agreement alone govern the obligations your dealer has to you to offer prices and offer offset or liquidating transactions in your account and make any payments to you. The prices offered by your dealer may or may not reflect prices available elsewhere at any exchange, interbank, or other market for foreign currency.

(5) PAID SOLICITORS MAY HAVE UNDISCLOSED CONFLICTS

The futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer may compensate introducing brokers for introducing your account in ways which are not disclosed to you. Such paid solicitors are not required to have, and may not have, any special expertise in trading, and may have conflicts of interest based on the method by which they are compensated. Solicitors working on behalf of futures commission merchants and retail foreign exchange dealers are required to register. You should confirm that they are, in fact registered. You should thoroughly investigate the manner in which all such solicitors are compensated and be very cautious in granting any person or entity authority to trade on your behalf. You should always consider obtaining dated written confirmation of any information you are relying on from your dealer or a solicitor in making any trading or account decisions.

FINALLY, YOU SHOULD THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATE ANY STATEMENTS BY ANY DEALERS OR SALES REPRESENTATIVES WHICH MINIMIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF, OR CONTRADICT, ANY OF THE TERMS OF THIS RISK DISCLOSURE. SUCH STATEMENTS MAY INDICATE POTENTIAL SALES FRAUD.

(C) Forex Investing and Trading Risks

Please note that over the counter retail foreign currency (forex) trading and investing is speculative and may involve significant risk of loss. It may not be suitable for many members of the public. It is important that you seek the advice of an advisor to asses risk in financial markets for yourself.

An investment in forex involves a high degree of risk as it depends on trades being made in the highly risky forex trading market. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before investing and making trades, and seek independent advice if necessary.

Leveraged trading, a feature of forex, is risky. Increasing leverage increases risk. You should not make forex trades unless you are prepared to sustain the loss of the amount you put up or more. This may be limited to the amount you put up as margin, but it can be possible for losses to exceed deposits. The higher the leverage, the more you expose your capital. However trading to a margin call does not necessarily limit your losses.

It is possible to lose up to and beyond your margin deposited to support a position. If you deposit additional funds to maintain such positions, you may lose these funds as well. This in effect can create large potential losses, relative to the amount you originally deposited and if you keep on adding to a losing position, potentially even larger losses.

Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. Past performance is not necessarily and indication of future results. Any opinions, news, research, analyses, performance strategies, prices, charts or other information does not constitute investment advice.

(D) Commodities, Futures and Options Risks

The site discusses commodities and futures in speculative ways and thus gives this warning. Commodities, futures and options trading involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. The use of leverage carries the risk of large losses. All statements and information contained herein are for informational purposes only and are not intended to, expressly or impliedly, guarantee or promise profits, losses, or otherwise of any kind. In commodities, futures and options trading, losses may not be limited and clients could lose more than their initial investment.

(E) Mutual Fund Disclaimer

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and does not take into account sales, redemption distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any security holder that would have reduced returns. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

(F) Bond Disclaimer

Corporate bonds are subject to interest rate risk. Investors should be aware that bond values may decline, if interest rates rise. Municipal bonds, corporate bonds, US Treasury Securities, Government Agency Bonds, and CDs will fluctuate in value and if sold prior to maturity may be worth more or less than their original cost.

(G) Financial Market Risks

There is significant risk of loss trading stocks, forex, options, futures, commodities and all financial instruments and in all investments. Trading and investing may not be suitable for everyone and you should carefully consider the risks in light of your financial condition in deciding whether to trade futures, options, forex, stocks and invest in financial markets.

Further you assume the entire cost loss and or risk of any trading or investing you choose to undertake therefore only genuine risk funds should be used.

Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future performance. You may sustain a total loss of the initial margin funds and any additional funds that you deposit in your account to establish or maintain a position in the forex market.

No representation is being made that any person will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to any that may be shown here. The Site though does not make claims about profitability associated with any of its content. The Site does not make claims about profitability of any strategies discussed on this Site.

Any strategies or analysis are experimental and conjectural weblogs, with the aim of advancing the author's understanding of the market. They are expressly not designed or intended to be used as trading systems or as a basis for trading or investing.

There are frequently sharp differences between hypothetical or past performance results and the actual results then achieved by any particular trading method. Hypothetical or past performance results have many real limitations one of which is that limitations of hypothetical performance results are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight.

The Site is about conjectural analysis it does not give investing or trading or financial advice of any kind, please consult financial professionals for this kind of information. Make investment or trading decisions for yourself and assess whether you can sustain the risk involved in investing and trading.

(H) Securities Risks

This Site does not contain stock picks or trading or investing recommendations, but it does discuss the equity market and sometimes specific stocks in the course of its exploration. The information contained herein may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1993 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 including statements regarding expected continual growth of the company and the value of its securities.

In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 it is hereby noted that statements contained herein that look forward in time which include everything other than historical information, involve risk and uncertainties that may affect the company's actual results of operation.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth of the market for the company's products, the company's ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and in the long term, unforeseen and/or unexpected circumstances in happenings, pricing pressures and other factors.

Investing in securities is speculative and carries risk. Please note though that historical data involves risks as well, as one is interpreting it to make decisions about the future. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors are warned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment in any company profiled.

This Site is written by the author. Readers are advised that the Site is issued solely for expressive purposes. Neither the content presented nor any statement or expression of opinion, or any other matter herein, directly or indirectly constitutes a representation by the author or the Site of the purchase or sale of any securities.

The information contained herein is based on sources which the author believes to be reliable, to the extent this is possible in an exploratory weblog, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and does not purport to be a complete statement or summary of the available data. In addition the subject of this Site is itself highly speculative and thus the Site is not intended or designed to be used as a basis for making trading or investing decisions.

The author and the Site is not responsible for errors and omissions. The author may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice.

However, though there are no trading or investing recommendations on the Site, the author follows a policy of trying to disclose such positions, to the extent this is practical, if those securities are mentioned in the weblogs (in general, the author takes very short term positions in the forex market).

Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. The author encourages readers and investors to supplement the information in this Site with independent research and other professional advice.

(I) Securities Disclaimer

The author is not registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment advisor either with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or with any state securities regulatory authority. The author is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. This Site makes no recommendation that the purchase of securities of companies profiled in this Site is suitable or advisable for any person or that an investment such securities will be profitable.

The content contained in this Site should be viewed as opinion and is not intended to be investment advice. The Site is not provided to any particular individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. The content contained in this site is not an offer to buy or sell securities. This Site distributes opinions free of charge.

The Site has been prepared for expressive purposes only and is not intended to be used as a source of information on any particular company or as a basis for making decisions to invest or trade.

An individual should never invest in the securities of any companies which may be discussed on the Site based solely or in any way on this site. Further the Site is expressly not designed or intended to be used this way.

Any individual who chooses to invest in any securities should do so with care. Investing in securities is speculative and carries a high degree of risk, you may lose some or all of the money that is invested. Always research your own investments and consult with a registered investment advisor or licensed stock broker before investing.

Information contained in this site may contain “forward looking statements” as defined under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Visitors are not to place reliance upon these forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties outside of the control of this Site that could cause actual operations or results to differ materially from those anticipated. On this Site, such statements are not intended to be the basis for trading or investing decisions and are part of the speculative exploration of this Site.

Factors that could affect performance include, but are not limited to, those factors that are discussed in each profiled company's most recent reports or registration statements filed with the SEC. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward looking statements included in this site and not place reliance upon such statements and expressly not make trading or investing decisions on them.

Profiling of companies on this Site takes place in the context of the exploration aims of this Site and thus any such profiles are not intended to be other than highly speculative and conjectural exercises. Expressly, any such profiling is not intended to be used as the basis to make an investing, trading or any kind of decision or action.

This site does not provide any assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of the content provided, including content regarding a profiled company's plans or ability to effect any planned or proposed actions. This site has no first-hand knowledge of any profiled company's operations and therefore cannot comment on their capabilities, intent, resources, nor experience and this site makes no attempt to do so.

Statistical information, dollar amounts, and market size data was provided by the company being profiled and related public information sources which this site believes to be reliable but the Site cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information.

The Site takes its data from publicly available information. In general, the author relies on chart data, technical analysis performed by the author, company statements analyzed by the author and concepts developed by the author.

To the fullest extent of the law, the author and the Site will not be liable to any person or entity for the quality, accuracy, completeness, reliability, or timeliness of the content in the Site, or for any direct, indirect, consequential, incidental, special or punitive damages that may arise out of the use of this Site by any person or entity (including, but not limited to, lost profits, loss of opportunities, trading losses, and damages that may result from any inaccuracy or incompleteness of this content).

This Site asks that you invest with care and read investment information available at the websites of the SEC at http://www.sec.gov and FINRA at http://www.finra.org. The Site particularly encourages you to read carefully the financial statements of any company you may be interested in and seek the advice of an advisor before making decisions to invest or trade.

(J) U.S. Government Required Disclaimer - Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Futures and Options trading has large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures and options markets. Don't trade with money you can't afford to lose. This is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell futures or options.

No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this Site. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.

The Site does not make claims about profitability of any strategies discussed on this Site. Any strategies are experimental and conjectural weblogs, with the aim of advancing the author's understanding of the market. They are expressly not designed or intended to be used as trading systems or as a basis for trading or investing.

CFTC RULE 4.41 - HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER-OR-OVER COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFIT OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.

Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, or other information contained on this website are provided as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. The author and the Site is not liable for any loss or damage, including without limitation, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.

The Site is opinion of a highly conjectural nature and cannot be and is not intended to be the basis for trading or investment or other decisions. The content on this Site is subject to change at any time without notice.

(K) Binary Options Risk Warning

Binary options trading carries a very high degree of risk. It is possible to lose the total amount invested and repeated losses will mount up. The trader should only trade with funds they can afford to lose and seek independent advice if they do not understand the risks involved.

(L) ZuluTrade Risk Warning

Trading spot currencies involves substantial risk and there is always the potential for loss. Your trading results may vary. Because the risk factor is high in the foreign exchange market trading, only genuine "risk" funds should be used in such trading. If you do not have the extra capital that you can afford to lose, you should not trade in the foreign exchange market. Forex Brokers and ZuluTrade are compensated for their services through the spread between the bid/ask prices or there may be a cost to initiate a trade through the bid/ask spread.

Trading and investment in Binary Options is highly speculative, involves an extreme degree of risk and is generally appropriate only for persons who can assume risk of loss of their entire investment. When trading Binary Options as with any financial assets, there is a possibility that you may sustain a partial or total loss of your investment funds when trading. As a result, you are expressly cautioned that you should never invest or trade with money that you cannot afford to lose. Binary options trading with ZuluTrade is not available in the U.S. or to any U.S. residents.

Forex and Binary Options trading involve a real risk of loss. No "safe" trading system has ever been devised, and no one can guarantee profits or freedom from loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

(M) Cryptocurrencies Warning

Cryptocurrecies are extremely volatile. The trader should only trade with funds they can afford to lose and seek independent advice if they do not understand the risks involved.