The Pros and Cons of Forex Demo Trading

Despite its position as the world’s largest financial market, the forex market has only become readily accessible to retail traders in recent years due to the advent of Internet based trading via online forex brokers.To get more news about forex demo and real accounts, you can visit wikifx.com official website.

Aspiring forex traders can now use electronic trading platforms — like the very popular MetaTrader software offered as a free download by MetaQuotes Software Corporation — to access the huge forex market even if they are only able to trade in small amounts.Most online brokers will support MetaTrader and may also offer their own proprietary electronic dealing platforms or web based dealing interfaces.

These platforms typically permit traders to do a quick review of the currency market and perhaps perform some technical analysis, in addition to allowing them access to trading essentials like order entry and deal execution for a wide selection of currency pairs.As a common way of encouraging forex traders to use their deal execution services and deposit funds with them to use as trading account margin, most online forex brokers will offer a free forex practice account to potential or existing clients.

Generally known as a forex demo account, such accounts allow a trader to experience a hands-on demonstration of what it feels like to trade currency pairs in the forex market with that broker without putting any real money at risk.

Forex demo accounts are generally offered free of charge by online forex demo brokers and are often funded with generous amounts of virtual money.

Although using a FX trading demo account has numerous benefits for traders, some caveats are worth mentioning since the mechanics of entering a demo trade and the resulting emotional responses a trader can have while managing it can differ significantly from the experience of live forex trading using their own hard earned money.

Other common demo account conditions that make them differ significantly from a real money funded account include broker-imposed time limits and fixed deposits of virtual currency.

The following sections of this article will discuss opening up an online trading demo account, in addition to some of the most notable pros and cons of using a demo forex account compared to using a live forex account for trading currencies.
Opening Up a Free Forex Demo Account
Just about any reputable forex broker will allow prospective and current clients to open up a demo account with them free of charge to allow traders to practice forex trading using virtual money.

Demo account traders often also get access to at least some of the broker’s client services and customer support staff so that they can get a better sense for what dealing with the broker will be like when they decide to fund a trading account with real money.

Traders wishing to open up a demo trading account can typically navigate to the website of one or more forex demo brokers and follow instructions displayed there for opening up a demo or practice account with the brokers they select.

Choosing the best forex demo account for your needs might involve reviewing those offered by several online brokers with differing features in order to make an informed determination of which broker is the most suitable host for your particular trading style and preferences.

When opening a demo account, you may also need to select an amount of virtual money to fund the demo account with and enter some personal data to identify yourself with.

If you feel concerned about providing your real personal data to a broker you do not have an established business relationship with in order to open up a demo forex trading account, you can often use a fictitious name, address and contact information.

You can also open up a new e-mail account to receive messages regarding the demo forex account if you are worried about having your personal e-mail address sold to third parties like electronic mail marketers.

FOREX VS STOCKS

It’s never been easier to start trading in the financial markets. Advances in online brokerage accounts and charting software mean that you can earn money trading from the comfort of your home or office — it’s no longer confined to denizens of Wall Street or the Chicago trading pits.To get more news about forex vs. stock, you can visit wikifx.com official website.

When most people hear the word “trading”, they immediately envision people trading the stock market. However, forex trading has become increasingly attractive as the once-exclusive currency market has recently opened up to retail traders. But which is right for you? Stock trading or forex trading? We’ll take a closer look at the similarities and differences between stock trading and forex trading. We’ll also show you the pros and cons of each trading type to help you get started trading your asset of choice.
What is Forex Trading?
The word “forex” is short for “foreign exchange” and refers to a decentralized global marketplace for national currencies. You also might sometimes hear people refer to forex trading as “FX trading.” A transaction in the forex market involves an exchange of one currency for another.

Currencies trade in pairs in the forex market, and forex trading involves buying and selling currency pairs. In general, the goal of forex trading is to buy a currency pair when it’s undervalued and sell it when it rises in value, or sell when overvalued and buy back when the pair drops in value.

Most countries issue their own national currency. The value of each currency varies in relation to other currencies. The rate at which currencies are exchanged in the forex market is known as an “exchange rate”. Furthermore, the “dealing spread” for a currency pair is the difference between a market maker’s bid and offer exchange rates.

According to the concept of purchasing power parity or PPP, two currencies find their equilibrium exchange rate, which is known as the currencies being at par, when a basket of goods costs the same in both countries given their currencies’ exchange rate.

If you’ve ever traveled abroad, you might have converted a small amount of the cash you brought with you into the country’s local currency and found that your money went further or was spent faster than at home.

For example, if a U.S. resident travels to England, they might find that the UK’s pound sterling currency is worth 1.4000 U.S. dollars. They might pay $2 for a bottle of water in London that would only cost them $1 if it was bought somewhere in the United States. If this relationship was observed for a wider basket of goods, it would suggest that the U.S. dollar is undervalued versus the British pound.

Some long-term forex traders aim to take advantage of this difference in purchasing power among currencies by strategically exchanging an overvalued currency for an undervalued currency and then waiting for the market to shift toward equilibrium.
What is Stock Trading?
Stock trading involves buying and selling individual shares of a company, called “stock.” A share of stock is a small piece of ownership in a company.

While currency pairs have an exchange rate that moves frequently, shares of stock instead have a price that fluctuates in price throughout the day, week and month. Factors like a company’s management team, the overall state of the economy and the business decisions the company makes can all influence what each individual share of stock is worth.

Stock traders aim to buy a stock when it’s undervalued and sell it when it rises in value, or they might sell when a stock is overvalued and buy back when the price falls. There are 2 main types of stock traders who operate in the stock market for profit:
Similarities Between Stock Trading and Forex Trading
Stock and forex trading are similar in some ways, although in forex trading you speculate on movements in a currency pair’s exchange, while in the stock market, you buy or sell a share of a company in the hope that its price will shift in your favor. Let’s examine some additional similarities and differences between these financial markets.

Brokers
A stockbroker takes orders to buy or sell corporate shares on your behalf on a centralized stock exchange at a transparent price for a small fee or commission. Stockbrokers traditionally charged a commission for this execution service, although many major U.S. stockbrokers have recently eliminated such commissions.

A forex broker also executes orders on your behalf but in the decentralized forex market where currencies are exchanged. Also, the tradeable asset in a forex transaction is a currency pair that involves you buying one currency and selling the other. A forex broker usually does not charge commission but instead widens the dealing spread to make their money.

Both stock traders and retail forex traders use brokers to facilitate their transactions. You can quickly create a stock or forex trading account online and begin trading as soon as you fund your account.

While U.S. stockbrokers will generally offer access to the stock market, not every broker provides access to the forex market, so you might need to open a separate account with an online forex broker to trade currency pairs. To learn more about online brokers that offer forex trading, check out our list of the top forex brokers.

Short-Term Trading
Both forex traders and stock traders rely on relatively short-term trading strategies. A stock trader who’s trading with the intent to make a quick profit usually won’t be interested in holding onto his or her stock for years to come. Similarly, a forex trader only wants to hold a currency position until they can trade out of it for a profit.

Technical Analysis
Technical analysis is a type of financial analysis that uses patterns and indicators to inform a trader when he or she should buy or sell an asset. Traders who use technical analysis to inform their trading strategy typically don’t spend a lot of time reading the news or researching a company’s business plan. Instead, they may look at candlestick charts for indicators that a stock or currency will drop or rise in price soon.

Both forex traders and stock traders primarily rely on technical analysis when they decide what they should buy or sell. Because the price of a stock or currency may change on a minute-to-minute basis, it’s important that you have a reliable technical analysis program to inform your trading.

Are Free FOREX Signals Useful?

If you spend any amount of time in the FOREX market, you are bound to come across an offer for free FOREX signals at some point. Using FOREX signals in general can be a profitable strategy for you to use. However, we have learned along the way in life that you get what you pay for. Therefore, you might be a little confused by an offer of free FOREX signals at some point. Here are a few things that you should consider with free FOREX signals.To get more news about free forex signals, you can visit wikifx.com official website.

The Foreign Exchange Market

The foreign exchange market or the FOREX market is the biggest financial market in the world. It has a daily volume of over $2 trillion and trades 24 hours a day. Traders in this market are hoping to profit from the small movements in the exchange rate of currencies. You can use much higher amounts of leverage with this market, therefore increasing your risk.

Trading Signals

FOREX signals aim to make the experience of FOREX trading a little easier on you. Those that provide FOREX signals are usually very experienced traders that want to profit from their expertise. They have developed a winning trading strategy and they are willing to share it with those that subscribe to their feeds.

Whenever a potential trading opportunity that meets their criteria comes up, they will alert you. The alert could come via text message or email. The message will tell you the conditions of the trade and when to place it.

It may tell you the stop-loss and take profit level to enter in your trading platform. Therefore, with the help of FOREX signals, you can let someone else do the difficult part and still benefit from the power of the market.

Why Free Signals?

When you are presented with an offer for free FOREX signals, it could be for a number of different reasons. Just because the offer is free does not necessarily make it bad. Someone could be giving out their signals for free for a number of different circumstances.

Sometimes you will see an offer for free signals for a limited time. You might be able to get the signals for a few weeks for free, and use them at your discretion. This is usually done to generate interest in their service. From the signal service's perspective, if they have a good product, they might as well give it away for free for a certain period of time. When they get some people using the signals successfully for a while, they will then be hooked. Once they start charging for the signals, many of the subscribers will pay the fee and keep getting the signals.

Other free signal services might be doing it just to capture your information so that they can sell you another FOREX product. When you are presented with an offer for free signals, you will want to test the signals on a demo account first. This way, you can judge whether the signals are actually worth the trouble or not without risking your own money.

What are Bollinger bands?
Bollinger bands are a popular form of technical price indicator. They are made up of an upper and lower band, set either side of a simple moving average (SMA). Each band is plotted two standard deviations away from the SMA of the market, and they are capable of highlighting areas of support and resistance.To get more news about bollinger band, you can visit wikifx.com official website.
How to calculate Bollinger bands
Bollinger bands are calculated using three lines drawn onto a price chart. The first line is the SMA of an asset's price, usually within a 20-day period. The upper band is the SMA plus two standard deviations, while the lower band is the SMA minus two standard deviations.

To calculate the SMA, you would take the closing prices for the number of days that you were looking at – normally 20 days – and divide the total sum of all the closing prices by the total number of days.Most trading platforms will calculate Bollinger bands for you automatically, but it is still useful for a trader to know what the different bands mean and what can be learnt from them.

What do Bollinger bands tell traders?
Many traders believe that Bollinger bands are an accurate indicator of market volatility. If the bands are wider, it means that a market is more volatile; while narrower bands mean that a market is more stable.

Traders also look for Bollinger ‘squeezes’ and Bollinger ‘bounces’, which are used as indicators for levels of support and resistance. Squeezes – when the upper and lower band contract toward the moving average – could show that there is about to be a breakout of the asset’s price. Conversely, bounces – which occur when the price movement hits the upper band and bounces back down – might be indicative of an upcoming retracement.

However, just like other indicators, Bollinger bands are not always 100% accurate. The information they provide should be used in conjunction with other forms of analysis.
Pros of Bollinger bands
Bollinger bands can be useful indicators of a trend in a market – strong trends cause volatility, which is easy to see as the Bollinger bands widen and narrow.

When plotted automatically by a trading platform, Bollinger bands are very user-friendly and can add another dimension to chart analysis for a trader.

Cons of Bollinger bands
As a lagging indicator, Bollinger bands can’t predict price patterns but instead, they follow current market movements. This means that traders might not receive signals until the price movement is already underway.

It is also worth noting that John Bollinger – the man who invented Bollinger bands – has said that they should be used in conjunction with other forms of technical analysis and that they are not fool-proof or fail-safe indicators of market trends.

How much do I need to start trading with a forex robot?

Typically, automated trading algorithms (or Expert Advisors) mimic what an expert human trader would do. The problem is that forex robots and their pre-wired thinking do not compensate for ever-changing market conditions.To get more news about forex robots trading, you can visit wikifx.com official website.

Genuine forex robots always require a great deal of user input. Typically, these systems maintain an edge and manage risk successfully. In the algorithm of his work is included the trading strategy we invented and special forex indicators ! They use their expertise to research and review every Forex autopilot trading robot available presenting the information in a concise and comprehensive format.
While the forex trading robot is free, the binary options investment brokers you chose to work with require an initial deposit amount of $250 to activate the robot. A forex trading robot is a computer program based on a set of forex trading signals that helps determine whether to buy or sell a currency pair at a given point in time.

Automated Forex trading makes use of a tool known as a Forex robot. Most Forex automated trading robots use technical indicators to help find profitable Forex trading opportunities, although different robots will use different trading strategies.

For this reason, automated forex trading is also known as algorithmic trading. Many companies create and sell forex robots, but be careful who you deal with if you're in the market to buy one. Some of the most sophisticated forex robots currently available will assume total control of the entire trading process, right from market analysis to exiting a position ensuring that you profit from the currency price actions 24/7.

A Forex automated trading robot can watch movements far more efficiently than a human and they aren't burdened with human emotion when it comes to making trading decisions. Expert advisor (robot) is written in a special programming language that is compatible with the Metatrader 4 platform and installed in the terminal for self-trading. You can read my forex robot reviews to see if the forex robot has back tests which will give you a good idea how it performed historically, some forex robots even back test as for as 15+ years! Using a fully automated system takes much of the work out of trading, leaving you free to do other things If you do not have much time to devote to forex trading, or if you find it difficult to stick to a trading strategy, then a fully automated system may be a good option.

It then sends the user trading signals with entry prices, stop-loss orders and profit targets, and it's up to the trader to decide whether to act on these and then enter the trade manually. With a Forex automated trading system, orders will be executed automatically provided a number of requirements have been met.

It offers 3 premium signals per day with an 89% success rate, live messaging service, clear SL and TL. FX traders want to use robots because they hope to make easy money from the Forex market, without having to devote a lot of personal time to it, or do anything manually.

The companies are not legitimate systems for assessing risk and opportunity. Big Breakout EA Using a fully automated system takes much of the work out of trading, leaving you free to do other things If you do not have much time to devote to forex trading, or if you find it difficult to stick to a trading strategy, then a fully automated system may be a good option.

It's not uncommon for a company to spring up overnight and start selling an "instant riches" forex robot, including a money back guarantee, only to disappear in about 45 days or so. Every expert advisor is fully automatic and loaded with features to dominate any chart.

That said, the actual efficiency of a working forex robot is quite unimpressive. The past has little effect on the future in a changing market. Your best bet to find a working forex robot is therefore to pore through feedback provided by actual users. With a push of a button, the forex robot runs continuously, making trades signaled by mathematical algorithms applied to past price history. The products offered by the companies listed on this website carry a high level of risk and can result in the loss of all your funds. The robot's algorithm can be based on pre-set parameters or trading strategies and the robot can either be instructed to trade automatically on a trader's behalf or give traders the option to enter the trade manually. Today, the robot trader is already helping binary options investors achieve commendable accuracy and generate a continuous stream of profit, as much as 125%+ on invested amounts depending on the preferred individual bot trader.

You will need enough funding in your forex account to have at least three forex trades open with enough room for drawdown . While some forex robots are customisable to a certain extent, traders may struggle to find a commercial system that exactly fits their own strategy and goals. ON Myfxbook is the professional automatic verification system that tracks RoFx trading performance, demonstrating real-time trading and verified results. However, in the forex market, there is no such thing as a consistent market.

You can click this table heading to rank the table of forex robots by the amount of days trading which will help you to see what are the best forex robots that have been performing for a good amount of time. With markets across the world active around the clock and in different time zones, you can't be online 24 hours a day, 5/6 days a week.

I will give you a step-by-step guide to getting the MAXIMUM returns from your Algorithmic Trading system. A fully automated trading system scans the market for trading opportunities and carries out trades electronically on behalf of its user, based on a set of predetermined rules. Forex auto trading robots are a piece of software that you can use to automate your trades along-side the main trading platform. Overall, GPS Forex Robots are user friendly and provide easy access to good customer support - contact details are clear and they answer almost immediately, which technically serves a user well - which is one more reason why they are in the list of top Forex robots providers.

How to trade forex

Once you learn how to trade forex, you’ll understand why it’s such a popular market. You’ll discover that you can choose between many different currency pairs – from majors to exotics – and trade 24 hours a day. Use this guide to learn how to trade currency with our FX trading steps and examples.To get more news about forex education, you can visit wikifx.com official website.

Choose a currency pair to trade
We offer more than 80 currency pairs – from majors like GBP/USD, to exotics like HUF/EUR. When you trade with us, you’ll be speculating on these forex pairs rising or falling in value with spread bets and CFDs. These make use of leverage, which enables you to open a larger forex trade with a small upfront deposit (called margin). However, this means your losses as well as profits can far outweigh your margin amount as they are calculated based on the full position size, not just your margin.

Before choosing an FX pair to trade, you should carry out fundamental analysis and technical analysis on the two currencies in the pair. This means you should assess how the ‘base’ (the currency on the left) and the ‘quote’ (the currency on the right) move in relation to each other.
Decide whether to ‘buy’ or ‘sell’
Once you’ve chosen a currency pair to trade, you need to decide whether you want to ‘buy’ or ‘sell’, based on your analysis.

You would buy the pair if you expected the base currency to rise in value against the quote currency. Or, you would sell if you expected it to do the opposite. That’s because a currency pair’s price represents how many of the quote currency you’d have to spend to buy a single unit of the base currency.

For example if the price quoted for GBP/USD is 1.28000, it means you’d have to spend $1.28 to buy £1 – so the pound is stronger than the US dollar.
Set your stops and limits
The forex market is particularly volatile, which is why it’s important to have a plan to guide the entry and exit points of your trades. There are various stops and limits you can set to manage your risk when trading forex:
Open your first trade
If you want to trade on the value of forex pairs rising or falling with spread bets or CFDs, why not open an account with us? Once you’ve done that, simply go to our award-winning trading platform,1 search for the forex pair you want to trade, enter your position size and choose ‘buy’ or ‘sell’.
Monitor your position
Once you’ve opened your position, you can monitor your FX trade in the ‘open positions’ section of the dealing platform. You can also set price alerts to receive email, SMS or push notifications when a specified buy or sell percentage or point is reached.
Close your trade and take your profit or loss
Once you’ve decided it’s time to close your position, simply navigate to the ‘positions’ tab, select your position and click on ‘close’. Alternatively, just make the opposite trade to the one you opened. In other words, if you went long on GBP/USD, go short by an equivalent amount to close the position – assuming you’ve selected the ‘net-off’ option on our platform, rather than ‘force open’.
Forex spread bet
Forex spread betting lets you make a prediction on the direction in which a forex pair’s price is heading. You’ll bet an amount of money per point of movement, and if the price moves in the same direction that you predicted, the greater your profit. But, the further it moves in the opposite direction, the greater your loss.

Forex spread bets are also leveraged. This means that you’ll pay a small margin when opening a trade but gain exposure to the total position size. However, it also means your losses and profits can far outweigh your deposit amount.

Spread bet prices are displayed in points – for example, if GBP/USD is trading at $1.31425, its price would be displayed as 13142.5. This makes no difference to the price you deal at or your potential profit or loss: it simply makes it easier to track per-point movements. When you trade forex with spread bets, all of your profits are completely tax-free.2

An IFAK You Can Count On!
Ensuring that you have all the gear you need while on duty, training or in any other environment is a critical part of getting the job done. Still, nothing comes with a higher priority than personal safety. No matter the circumstance, any particular medical emergency must be dealt with immediately. Compact and lightweight, check out the features below explaining what makes this IFAK so useful.To get more news about quick clot combat gauze, you can visit rusuntacmed.com official website.
Choose between "Vertical" or "Horizontal" MOLLE compatible mounting configurations that best suit your equipment setup. Shown below are a couple of examples of different mounting capabilities.

Made to fit the (C-A-T?) - GEN 7 tourniquet. We have designed the AMP, so you can deploy your tourniquet in seconds without having to remove the main medical pouch from its secure platform or open it to expose the inner contents unless needed.

Quick and easy, the AMP gives you the ability to remove the main pouch body from the platform that is secured to your kit. You can store this pouch almost anywhere on your body and still allow you easy access to your essential medical supplies. To better organize the contents inside your IFAK, we have added two removable supply placards that are secured via hook and loop. Measuring at 6.0" x 4.0" use them if you need them, remove them or replace them with ones you already own. The options are endless.

The AMP also features a large six-inch reinforced grab handle made from Mil-Spec webbing for fast and easy access. With gloves in mind, we made the handle large and rigid enough that you can confidently locate it with ease.

Easily add medical identification patches to your kit. We have provided a total of two locations (2.0" x 3.5" loop Velcro is located on the lid of the releasable platform and 1.5" x 1.5" loop is located on the tourniquet pouch. Check out our customizable patches for unlimited identification options.

Government’s urea curbs may impact plywood industry

Government’s stringent effort to restrict the use of agricultural grade urea (subsidised urea for farmers) for other purposes may affect some of the manufacturers of commercial grade plywood. It may be noted that the urea meant for agriculture is being illegally used in manufacturing of resins for commercial grade plywood, a low end plywood with higher share of unorganised players.To get more news about commercial plywood, you can visit boosterplywood.com official website.

However, the government of late, is taking several steps to curb the use of subsidised urea for non-agricultural purposes. The fertilisers department has initiated a multi-pronged strategy to stop the diversion and black marketing of agriculture-grade urea after it received various complaints. The diversions are happening despite the urea being coated with neem. States have also been directed to cancel the manufacturing licences of 25 defrauding units and de-authorise them from purchasing subsidised fertiliser from the government portal.

The government’s actions have led to significant rise in the cost of manufacturing of plywood as the technical grade urea costs 6 times of agricultural grade urea. This has led to lower supply of commercial grade plywood. This in turn may help BWP (boiling water proof) plywood, whose market took a hit due to significant price difference with commercial grade plywood and may witness strong improvement in demand in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the market participants complain about the moderation in demand in general in May-June months which is due to slowdown in pace of construction activity given the inflation across building products.

The Right Off-Road Tires for Your Crossover

There I was, departing the bucolic 19th century wild west mountain town of Silverton, Colorado, itself already almost 10,000 feet up in the mighty San Juans, on my way even higher. The mountain passes we were aiming for topped out at over 13,000 feet, and the roads were strewn with rocks, many of them sharp. With every little bump of a possibly pointy piece of pumice, I whimpered like a sniveling rodent.To get more news about off road tire, you can visit gofortunetire.com official website.

Because the SUV I was driving was a borrowed vehicle and not something I owned, I was riding on OEM tires which, like all OEM tires, were not designed to meet the needs of rugged off-road explorers, rather the million different parameters that buyers of all vehicles, almost none of which ever go off road, demand: low price, great gas mileage, quiet running, excellent longevity, good grip in both wet and dry conditions, yada, yada, and, finally, yada.

So when the first tire inevitably popped and went flat only about 10 or 15 miles outside of town, and with many long miles still to go (we had all week, after all), I made the correct call to turn around back to Silverton and buy me a new spare.

I hate these tires,” said the young tire specialist at the Silverton Conoco station, eyeing the flat-treaded OE rubber he had just pulled off my borrowed rig. “I get these in here all the time.”

He didn’t so much hate the tires as he hated that they didn’t meet his needs of rugged trail-running. He lived in the mighty San Juans, after all, and up there people went off-road all the time and they liked it. The major OE that had designed, engineered, and built this vehicle—and chose the tires for it—knew that no one would ever take the thing off-road, despite what their own advertisements suggested. So the major OE picked a tire that would be quiet on the highway, would last forever (on the highway), and cost next nothing. The fact that they were not worth much at all out in the high country was something most buyers would never find out.
Of course, having purchased the new spare, from a set of four the Conoco guy had stacked up in the shop, I was therefore guaranteed that I would never have another flat the whole rest of the trip. (And I didn’t.)

I only bring up this whole subject because just about every crossover made today is marketed with beautiful people driving them into the wilderness and having wild adventures with other beautiful people amidst spectacular scenery, all thanks to the capabilities of their crossover utility vehicle. This is true of every manufacturer. But when you check out the tires on those adventure-ready CUVs, they’re almost always made for smooth pavement. Is this dishonest? No, it’s advertising. But you should be aware of what tires you’re rolling on if you ever do set a wheel in the dirt.

“I’ll give the engineering answer here: It depends,” said Brandon Sturgis, product manager for BFGoodrich CUV/SUV/LT/Off-Road Tires. “If you only plan to take your CUV (RAV4, CR-V, or Forester) on a flat, graded, dry, dirt road at slow speeds with no need for extra traction, then the on-road-oriented tires that are very popular for these types of vehicles will suit you just fine. If those roads happen to get a little muddy (which could happen any time), or if they have gravel on them, or if there are elevation changes that require extra traction, or if you happen to climb high enough where you run into snow on the road, you’re going to want a specific tire for your CUV.”

Zero-Covid at what price? Chinese researchers are treading on sensitive ground

Authorities in Shanghai have denied a report by a leading Chinese real estate research firm that claimed more than a third of shops in a major mall had been shuttered because of strict Covid curbs.To get more news about coronavirus update china, you can visit shine news official website.

The report by China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC), published late last month, quickly went viral. It claimed that vacancy rates in the city’s malls were surging to an alarming level because of the restrictions and said 34% of shops were closed in a landmark mall in Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial district.

On average, 9% of shops in Shanghai’s 20 major malls have been closed since the Covid situation worsened in the second quarter, significantly higher than the 5% level at which the malls’ overall operations would be affected, according to the research firm.The Shanghai Observer, a website run by the Shanghai government’s official newspaper, on Friday said the methodology used by CRIC was at odds with industry practice.

According to statistics it attributed to CBRE Group — a global commercial real estate service firm — the average vacancy rate in Shanghai’s malls was between 6.7% and 8.2% over the past three years. The Shanghai Observer also attacked some media outlets who picked up the report for “exaggerating the truth” and “taking the numbers out of context.”

Shanghai was under a strict lockdown for two months earlier this year, and continues to face restrictions in parts of the city where new cases have flared up.In recent weeks, the Chinese government has significantly tightened Covid restrictions to contain the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Analysts say that the country is unlikely to relax its Covid rules before the Communist Party congress beginning on October 16.

President Xi Jinping, who is expected to seek an unprecedented third term, will not want to see any uncontrollable rise in Covid cases until his political future is secured, according to experts.

But the restrictions are hurting the economy — analysts are forecasting growth of just 3% this year — and leading to rising public discontent on the internet. In recent days, many social media users have complained about the havoc caused by frequent lockdowns and endless testing, from food shortages to poor job and income prospects.The CRIC report isn’t the only piece of economic research on Covid to come under scrutiny recently in China.

A Chinese investment bank’s report about Covid was deleted shortly after it was published last week, generating a flurry of speculation online that it might have been censored.

Nanjing-based Huatai Securities pointed out in its report on Wednesday that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant has caused fewer deaths than flu in several countries and regions, such as Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Huatai Securities did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

And last month, Anbound Consulting, a Beijing-based economic research firm, published a report on its Weibo and WeChat accounts that was entitled “it’s time for China to change its Covid policy.” That report was removed from both platforms a day later.