Binary scheme one fund

Binary IO and applications. Binary parsing and unparsing are transformations between primitive or composite Scheme values and their external binary representations. Examples include reading and writing JPEG, TIFF, ELF file formats, communicating with DNS, Kerberos, LDAP, SLP internet services, participating in Sun RPC and CORBAIIOP distributed systems, storing and retrieving (arrays of) floating-point numbers in a portable and efficient way. This short position talk proposes a set of low - and intermediate - level procedures that make binary parsing possible. The slides and the transcript of a micro presentation at a Workshop on Scheme and Functional Programming 2000. Montreal, 17 September 2000. Reading variable number of bits from a sequential input stream. The bit reader is the first part of a binary parsing framework. The bit reader code was intended to be as general and optimal as possible. The timing study given in the article referenced below shows the extent both goals have been met. The bit reader lets us read one bit from an arbitrary stream. We can then read one more bit -- or two more bits, or 3, 7, 8, 23, 30, or 32 more bits. And then 33 bits, 65535, 81920.

bits. Following the tradition of Scheme, the bit reader does not impose any artificial upper limit whatsoever on the number of bits we can attempt to read from a stream. We are naturally bounded by the size of the stream and the amount of the virtual space on the system. The validation tests included with the source code really read all the bits from a file in one swoop -- as well as one bit at a time, and many cases in-between. The bit reader intentionally does not read ahead: no byte is read until the very moment we really need (some of) its bits. Therefore, the reader can be used to handle a concatenation of different bitbyte streams strictly sequentially, without 'backing up a char', 'unreading-char' etc. tricks. For example, make-bit-reader has been used to read GRIB files of meteorological data, which are made of several bitstreams with headers and tags. Careful attention to byte-buffering and optimization are the features of this bit reader. The code is tested on Gambit-C 3.0 and MIT Scheme 5d2. The code has R5RS versions of needed logical primitives, so it should work for any R5RS Scheme system. Despite the bit reader being so general, it is nevertheless optimized for common uses. The optimized cases stand out in the timing benchmarks discussed in the article. Insightful discussions with Daniel Ortmann are gratefully acknowledged.

Version The current version is 1.1, Oct 20, 2000. References. A commented source code, validation tests, and a timing benchmark. kindly ported by Martin Gasbichler. that describes the code and presents the results of several performance benchmarks. The timings also give an insight into the performance of a Scheme system. The article was posted as _wide-range_ optimized bit reader and its performance on a newsgroup comp. lang. scheme on Sun, 22 Oct 2000 20:20:56 GMT. An Endian IO port lets us read or write integers of various sizes taking a byte order into account. The TIFF library, for example, assumes the existence of a data structure EPORT with the following operations: The endian port can be implemented in a R5RS Scheme system if we assume that the composition of char->integer and read-char yields a byte and if we read the whole file into a string or a u8vector (SRFI-4). Obviously, there are times when such a solution is not satisfactory. Therefore, tiff-prober and the validation code vtiff. scm rely on a Gambit-specific code. All major Scheme systems can implement endian ports in a similar vein -- alas, each in its own particular way.

Version The current version is 2.0, Oct 2003. References. This TIFF prober code provides an implementation of the input Endian port specifically tuned for Gambit. Our goal is to reproduce all the functionality of that C++ library in Scheme. Handling a TIFF file. TIFF library is a Scheme library to read and analyze TIFF image files. We can use the library to obtain the dimensions of a TIFF image the image name and description the resolution and other meta-data. We can then load a pixel matrix or a colormap table. An accompanying tiff-prober program prints out the TIFF dictionary in a raw and polished formats. Features: The library handles TIFF files written in both endian formats. A TIFF directory is treated somewhat as a SRFI-44 immutable dictionary collection. Only the most basic SRFI-44 methods are implemented, including the left fold iterator and the get method. An extensible tag dictionary translates between symbolic tag names and numeric ones. Ditto for tag values.

A tag dictionary for all TIFF 6 standard tags and values comes with the library. A user can add the definitions of his private tags. The library handles TIFF directory values of types: (signed unsigned) byte, short, long, rational ASCII strings. A particular care is taken to properly handle values whose total size does not exceed 4 bytes. Array values (including the image matrix) are returned as uniform vectors (SRFI-4). Values are read lazily. If you are only interested in the dimensions of an image, the image matrix itself will not be loaded. TAGDICT A data structure: a tag dictionary, which helps translate between tag-symbols and their numerical values. tagdict-get-by-name TAGDICT TAG-NAME -> INT tagdict-get-by-num TAGDICT INT -> TAG-NAME or #f tagdict-tagval-get-by-name TAGDICT TAG-NAME VAL-NAME -> INT tagdict-tagval-get-by-num TAGDICT TAG-NAME INT -> VAL-NAME or #f make-tagdict ((TAG-NAME INT (VAL-NAME . INT) . ) . ) -> TAGDICT tagdict? TAGDICT -> BOOL tagdict-add-all DEST-DICT SRC-DICT -> DEST-DICT Here TAG-NAME and VAL-NAME are symbols. tiff-standard-tagdict The dictionary of standard TIFF tags.

TIFF-DIR-ENTRY A data structure that describes the tag, the type, the item count of the entry, the offset or an immediate value of the entry, and a promise for entry's value. The value may be an integer, a rational, a floating-point number, a string, or a uniform vector (u8vector, u16vector or u32vector). TIFF-DIRECTORY TIFF Image File Directory, a data structure. TIFF directory is a collection of TIFF directory entries. The entries are stored in an ascending order of their tags. read-tiff-file EPORT PRIVATE-TAGDICT -> TIFF-DIR print-tiff-directory TIFF-DIR OPORT -> UNSPECIFIED tiff-directory? SCHEME-VALUE -> BOOL tiff-directory-size TIFF-DIR -> INT tiff-directory-empty? TIFF-DIR -> BOOL tiff-directory-fold-left TIFF-DIR FN SEED . -> SEED . tiff-directory-get TIFF-DIR KEY ABSENCE-THUNK -> VALUE KEY may be either a symbol or an integer tiff-directory-get-as-symbol TIFF-DIR KEY ABSENCE-THUNK -> VALUE Here KEY must be a symbol. If it is possible, the VALUE is returned as a symbol, as translated by the tagdict. The library accesses the input TIFF image file solely through the methods defined for the endian port. Version The current version is 2.0, Sep 2003. References.

The article was posted as ANN Reading TIFF files on a newsgroup comp. lang. scheme on Tue, 7 Oct 2003 18:24:12 -0700. The commented source code. It explains the interface above in far more detail. Dependencies: util. scm, char-encoding. scm, myenv. scm. The validation code.

The validation code includes a function test-reading-pixel-matrix that demonstrates loading a pixel matrix of an image in an u8vector. The code can handle a single or multiple strips. A sample TIFF file for the validation code. It is the image of the GNU head ( gnu. org) converted from JPEG to TIFF by xv. Copyleft by GNU. A TIFF prober program: a sample application of the TIFF library. The prober prints out the contents of a TIFF dictionary of input TIFF files. Reading IEEE binary floats in R5RS Scheme. We show how to read IEEE binary floating-point numbers using only procedures defined in R5RS. No special language extensions, foreign function interfaces, or libraries are required. The only assumption is that char->integer returns an integer with the same bit pattern as the function's argument, a single 8-bit ASCII character. The assumption holds for many Scheme systems.

The code can read 4-byte single-precision IEEE floating-point numbers from minfloat to maxfloat inclusively. The code does not handle +Inf , - Inf and NaN s, although this is trivial to add, as explained in the comments to the code. One can twiddle bits in Scheme after all: it is just arithmetics. The article was posted as Reading IEEE binary floats in R5RS Scheme on a newsgroup comp. lang. scheme on Wed, 08 Mar 2000 03:24:25 GMT. Last updated December 5, 2008. Your comments, problem reports, questions are very welcome! Scheme assignment 2: Binary Search Tree. Write scheme code to implement a binary search tree and the functions to operate on one as follows. A binary tree is a list with the following recursive structure. where val is the value at the root and left and right are the binary trees for the left and right childeren or. for the empty tree.

For example, the tree resulting from inserting the nodes 4 2 5 1 6 3 in that order would be represented by the list. In this tree, the root has value 4 with left subtree. and right subtree. To get more comfortable with the form, you might want to try to construct the list representations of some simple binary trees by hand. Try to generate trees for the following short insertion sequences: Solutions are at the end of this page. The tree is manipulated by the following functions. (insert key tree) to insert a new node with the specified key in the tree and returns the resulting tree. (search key tree) returns #t or #f depending on whether key is in the tree. (emptytree? tree) returns #t or #f depending on whether the tree is empty or not.

(height tree) returns the height of the tree. (tree2list tree) returns a list of the nodes of the tree in sorted order. The functions may not use set or define procedures, but obviously you must use define to bind the function definitions to their names. In coding some of the functions, once you know you are working with a non null tree you may find it useful to use a let statement like the following. ( . the rest of the code where you can use val, left, and right )) Note that cadr is an abbreviation for (car (cdr . )) , the second element in the list, and caddr is similarly the third element. 1: (1 () ()) one node, empty left and right subtrees. a single node always has this form. 3, 2, 1: (3 (2 (1 () ()) ()) ()) nodes are added on the left. Binary Options Follow-Up Schemes: Don’t Lose Money Twice. Recovery Scams and IRS Impersonation Scams Are Common Cons. WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today issued an Investor Alert warning anyone involved in binary options trading through unregistered non-U. S. companies to be on guard for a one-two punch: losses followed up by potentially fraudulent pitches to help recoup those losses.

Ploys include recovery scams and IRS impersonation scams. Binary options are inherently risky all-or-nothing propositions. When a binary option expires, it either makes a pre-specified amount of money, or nothing at all, in which case the investor loses his or her entire investment. Consumers using unregistered non-U. S. trading platforms or services may be particularly vulnerable to follow-up scams. “Following a significant loss, investors may be anxious to get back at least some of their money,” said Gerri Walsh, FINRA’s Senior Vice President of Investor Education. “This can leave them vulnerable to follow-up frauds that add to existing losses with devastating financial consequences.” In most cases, customers of binary options platforms hear from individuals who appear to know about their accounts and claim to be able to help them get back lost funds, provided the customers pay an advance fee. Be wary of tactics such as: urgent correspondence and high-pressure calls that specifically refer to your binary options accounts claims that the caller is with, or acting at the behest of, U. S. government agencies and subsequent correspondence with official-looking documents that make it look as if money is available, and can be recovered for a fee. “While there are many variations of these tactics, beware of any person or organization that claims to know about your binary options accounts and offers to help return money to you,” Walsh said. Another scam involves phone calls purportedly from an IRS representative. In its most basic form, the IRS imposter claims that you owe money in taxes because of your binary options trading, and may threaten to bring in police or other government agencies if you do not pay up immediately. The IRS imposter asks for your debit or credit card number, or may pressure you to pay with a prepaid debit card.

As the IRS makes clear, it never calls taxpayers and demands that they wire or send money — instead the IRS sends a written notification of any tax due through the U. S. mail. There can be twists to the standard IRS impersonator scam. In one instance, an investor who called FINRA described speaking with a man who identified himself as “a representative from the IRS" and told her she must pay a fee for an “indemnity letter.” He claimed the indemnity letter was required because the financial institution she was dealing with in conjunction with her binary options account was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While it was true the financial institution was not registered with the SEC, the caller completely fabricated the need for such a letter. He further threatened that if the investor didn’t pay for the indemnity letter, the IRS would levy a heavy fine. Follow-up scams tend to result from investors who may be unwittingly involved in “shady” binary options businesses. Before getting involved in binary options trading — and before sending any money, consumers should do the following. the logic grimoire. Just for fun, I’ve begun translating some of the algorithms from Mastering Algorithms with Perl into Scheme. My hope is that I’ll get two things out of this: a better knowledge of algorithms, and of Scheme hacking. Binary search is one of the first algorithms listed in the book it’s tricky to write a correct binary search, but I had the Perl code to work from.

Let’s see how I did. Binary search is a method for finding a specific item in a sorted list. Here’s how it works: Take a guess that the item you want is in the middle of the current search “window” (when you start, the search window is the entire list). If the item is where you guessed it would be, return the index (the location of your guess). If your guess is “less than” the item you want (based on a comparison function you choose), recur, this time raising the “bottom” of the search window to the midway point. If your guess is “greater than” the item you want (based on your comparison function), recur, this time lowering the “top” of the search window to the midway point. In other words, you cut the size of the search window in half every time through the loop. This gives you a worst-case running time of about ( (log n) (log 2)) steps. This means you can find an item in a sorted list of 20,000,000,000 (twenty billion) items in about 34 steps. Reading lines from a file. Before I could start writing a binary search, I needed a sorted list of items. I decided to work with a sorted list of words from usrsharedictwords , so I wrote a couple of little procedures to make a list of words from a subset of that file. (I didn’t want to read the entire large file into a list in memory.) Note : Both format and the Lisp-inspired #!

optional keyword are available in MIT Scheme they made writing the re-matches? procedure more convenient. re-matches? checks if a regular expression matches a string (in this case, a line from a file). make-list-of-words-matching is used to loop over the lines of the words file and return a list of lines matching the provided regular expression. Now I have the tools I need to make my word list. Since I am not one of the 10% of programmers who can implement a correct binary search on paper, I started out by writing a test procedure. The test procedure grew over time as I found bugs and read an interesting discussion about the various edge cases a binary search procedure should handle. These include: Empty list List has one word List has two word Word is not there and “less than” anything in the list Word is not there and “greater than” anything in the list Word is first item Word is last item List is all one word If multiple copies of word are in list, return the first word found (this could be implemented to return the first or last duplicated word) Furthermore, I added a few “sanity checks” that check the return values against known outputs. Here are the relevant procedures: assert= checks two numbers for equality and prints a result assert-equal checks two Scheme objects against each other with equal? and prints a result run-binary-search-tests reads in words from a file and runs all of our tests.

The binary search procedure. Finally, here’s the binary search procedure it uses a couple of helper procedures for clarity. ->int is a helper procedure that does a quick and dirty integer conversion on its argument split-difference takes a low and high number and returns the floor of the halfway point between the two binary-search takes an optional debug-print argument that I used a lot while debugging. The format statements and the optional argument tests add a lot of bulk &ndash now that the procedure is debugged, they can probably be removed. ( Aside : I wonder how much “elegant” code started out like this and was revised after sufficient initial testing and debugging?) This exercise has taught me a lot. Writing correct code is hard. (I’m confident that this code is not correct.) You need to figure out your invariants and edge cases first. I didn’t, and it made things a lot harder. It’s been said a million times, but tests are code.

The tests required some debugging of their own. Once they worked, the tests were extremely helpful. Especially now that I’m at the point where (if this were “for real”) additional features would need to be added, the format calls removed, the procedure speeded up, and so on. I hope this has been useful to some other aspiring Scheme wizards out there. Happy Hacking! Binary scheme one fund Get via App Store Read this post in our app! Binary Trees in Scheme. Consider the following BNF defining trees of numbers. Notice that a tree can either be a leaf, a node-1 with one subtrees, or a node-2 with two subtrees. a. Write a template for recursive procedures on these trees. b. Define the procedure (leaf-count t) that returns the number of leaves in t. Here's what I have so far: It looks like it should run just fine, but when I try to run it using a simple test case like. I get the following error message: car: expects argument of type pair given leaf. What does this error message mean? I am defining a leaf as a list.

But for some reason, it's not seeing that and gives me that error message. Solving other people's assignments is fun, indeed. You've quoted leaf, (leaf-count '(leaf 5)) so it's a symbol, not a variable you've defined earlier. That's the cause of the error, but not the thing you should fix. Your three defines have no much sense and your procedures to detect leaf or node do not match the BNF specification. Here is a tree from your own example: ’(node-1 (node-2 (leaf 4) (node-2 (leaf 2) (leaf 3)))) . It's quoted so node-1 , node-2 and leaf are just symbols and need not to be defined. Now write leaf? and node? functions that could detect what the various elements of above tree are. Here is a test case for you where all the function calls should return true: Once this works, counting should be no problem either (altough your current method wouldn't work, I propose writing left-subtree and right-subtree functions to help you with that). Here's what I have so far: I got it to work with a minor adjustment: change the conditionals to check the cadr of the list as that is what contains the info. The car of the list in this case is just the label of what the data is (leaf, node, etc.). Not quite. I got it to work for the most basic of test cases, but not for more complex ones like.

CFTC Fraud Advisories. The Commodity Futures Trading CommissionЂ™s (CFTC) Office of Consumer Outreach and the Securities & Exchange CommissionЂ™s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy are issuing this Investor Alert to warn about fraudulent schemes involving binary options and their trading platforms. These schemes allegedly include refusing to credit customer accounts, denying fund reimbursement, identity theft, and manipulation of software to generate losing trades. Binary options differ from more conventional options in significant ways. A binary option is a type of options contract in which the payout will depend entirely on the outcome of a yesno proposition. The yesno proposition typically relates to whether the price of a particular asset that underlies the binary option will rise above or fall below a specified amount. For example, the yesno proposition connected to the binary option might be something as straightforward as whether the stock price of XYZ company will be above $9.36 per share at 2:30 pm on a particular day, or whether the price of silver will be above $33.40 per ounce at 11:17 am on a particular day. Once the option holder acquires a binary option, there is no further decision for the holder to make as to whether or not to exercise the binary option because binary options exercise automatically. Unlike other types of options, a binary option does not give the holder the right to purchase or sell the underlying asset. When the binary option expires, the option holder will receive either a pre-determined amount of cash or nothing at all. Given the all-or-nothing payout structure, binary options are sometimes referred to as Ђњall-or-nothing optionsЂќ or Ђњfixed-return options. Ђќ. Binary Options Trading Platforms. Some binary options are listed on registered exchanges or traded on a designated contract market that are subject to oversight by United States regulators such as the CFTC or SEC, respectively, but this is only a portion of the binary options market.

Much of the binary options market operates through Internet - based trading platforms that are not necessarily complying with applicable U. S. regulatory requirements. The number of Internet-based trading platforms that offer the opportunity to purchase and trade binary options has surged in recent years. The increase in the number of these platforms has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints about fraudulent promotion schemes involving binary options trading platforms. Typically, a binary options Internet-based trading platform will ask a customer to deposit a sum of money to buy a binary option call or put contract. For example, a customer may be asked to pay $50 for a binary option contract that promises a 50% return if the stock price of XYZ Company is above $5 per share when the option expires. If the outcome of the yesno proposition (in this case, that the share price of XYZ Company will be above $5 per share at the specified time) is satisfied and the customer is entitled to receive the promised return, the binary option is said to expire Ђњin the money. Ђќ If, however, the outcome of the yesno proposition is not satisfied, the binary option is said to expire Ђњout of the money, Ђќ and the customer may lose the entire deposited sum. There are variations of binary option contracts in which a binary option that expires out of the money may entitle the customer to receive a refund of some small portion of the depositЂ”for example, 5%Ђ”but that is not typically the case. In fact, some binary options Internet-based trading platforms may overstate the average return on investment by advertising a higher average return on investment than a customer should expect given the payout structure. For instance, in the example above, assuming a 5050 chance of winning, the payout structure has been designed in such a way that the expected return on investment is actually negative , resulting in a net loss to the customer. This is because the consequence if the option expires out of the money (approximately a 100% loss) significantly outweighs the payout if the option expires in the money (approximately a 50% gain). In other words, in the example above, an investor could expect, on average, to lose money. Investor Complaints Relating to Fraudulent Binary Options Trading Platforms.

The CFTC and SEC have received numerous complaints of fraud associated with websites that offer an opportunity to buy or trade binary options through Internet-based trading platforms. The complaints fall into at least three categories: refusal to credit customer accounts or reimburse funds to customers identity theft and manipulation of software to generate losing trades. The first category of alleged fraud involves the refusal of certain Internet-based binary options trading platforms to credit customer accounts or reimburse funds after accepting customer money. These complaints typically involve customers who have deposited money into their binary options trading account and who are then encouraged by ЂњbrokersЂќ over the telephone to deposit additional funds into the customer account. When customers later attempt to withdraw their original deposit or the return they have been promised, the trading platforms allegedly cancel customersЂ™ withdrawal requests, refuse to credit their accounts, or ignore their telephone calls and emails. The second category of alleged fraud involves identity theft. For example, some complaints allege that certain Internet-based binary options trading platforms may be collecting customer information such as credit card and driverЂ™s license data for unspecified uses. If a binary options Internet-based trading platform requests photocopies of your credit card, driverЂ™s license, or other personal data, do not provide the information. The third category of alleged fraud involves the manipulation of the binary options trading software to generate losing trades. These complaints allege that the Internet-based binary options trading platforms manipulate the trading software to distort binary options prices and payouts.

For example, when a customerЂ™s trade is Ђњwinning, Ђќ the countdown to expiration is extended arbitrarily until the trade becomes a loss. Unregistered Transactions, Operations, Broker-Dealers, or Trading Exchanges Illegal Options Transactions. In addition to ongoing fraudulent activity, many binary options trading platforms may be operating in violation of other applicable laws and regulations, including certain registration and regulatory requirements of the CFTC and SEC, as described below. Certain Registration and Regulatory Requirements of the SEC. For example, some binary options may be securities. Under the federal securities laws, a company may not lawfully offer or sell securities unless the offer and sale have been registered with the SEC or an exemption from such registration applies. For example, if the terms of a binary option contract provide for a specified return based on the price of a companyЂ™s securities, the binary option contract is a security and may not be offered or sold without registration, unless an exemption from registration is available. If there is no registration or exemption, then the offer or sale of the binary option to you would be illegal. If any of the products offered by binary options trading platforms are security-based swaps, additional requirements will apply. In addition, some binary options trading platforms may be operating as unregistered broker-dealers . A person who engages in the business of effecting securities transactions for the accounts of others in the U. S. generally must register with the SEC as a broker-dealer. If a binary options trading platform is offering to buy or sell securities, effecting transactions in securities, andor receiving transaction-based compensation (such as commissions), it likely should be registered with the SEC. to determine whether a particular trading platform is registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer, visit FINRAЂ™s BrokerCheck . Some binary options trading platforms may also be operating as unregistered securities exchanges .

This would be the case if they matched orders in securities of multiple buyers and sellers using established non - discretionary methods. However, there are cases where a registered broker-dealer with a trading system or platform may legitimately have no obligation to register as an exchange. Certain Registration and Regulatory Requirements of the CFTC. It is illegal for entities to solicit, accept offers, offer to or enter into commodity options transactions (for example, foreign currencies, metals such as gold and silver, and agricultural products such as wheat or corn) with U. S. citizens, unless those options transactions are conducted on a designated contract market, an exempt board of trade, or a bona fide foreign board of trade, or are conducted with U. S. customers who have a net worth that exceeds $5 million. To see the most recent list of exchanges that are designated as contract markets, check the CFTC website . There currently are only three designated contract markets offering binary options in the U. S.: Cantor Exchange LP Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc. and the North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. All other entities offering binary options that are commodity options transactions are doing so illegally. Further entities that solicit or accept orders for commodity options transactions and accept, among other things, money to margin, guarantee, or secure the commodity options transactions must register as a Futures Commission Merchant. Entities that act as the counterparty (that is, they take the other side of the transaction from the customer as opposed to matching orders) for foreign currency options transactions for customers with a net worth of less than $5 million must register as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer. Because of their lack of compliance with applicable laws, if you purchase binary options offered by persons or entities that are not registered with or subject to the oversight of a U. S. regulator, you may not have the full benefit of the safeguards of the federal securities and commodities laws that have been put in place to protect investors, as some safeguards and remedies are available only in the context of registered offerings. In addition, individual investors may not be able to pursue, on their own, some remedies that are available for unregistered offerings. Ђў RememberЂ”much of the binary options market operates through Internet-based trading platforms that are not necessarily complying with applicable U. S. regulatory requirements and may be engaging in illegal activity.

Ђў Do not invest in something that you do not understand. If you cannot explain the investment opportunity in a few words and in an understandable way, you may need to reconsider the potential investment. Ђў Before investing in binary options, you should take the following precautions : 1. Check to see if the binary options trading platform has registered the offer and sale of the product with the SEC. Registration provides investors access to key information about the terms of the product being offered. You can use EDGAR to determine whether an issuer has registered the offer and sale of a particular product with the SEC. 2. Check to see if the binary options trading platform itself is registered as an exchange. To determine whether the platform is registered as an exchange, you can check the SECЂ™s website regarding Exchanges . 3. Check to see if the binary options trading platform is a designated contract market. To determine whether an entity is a designated contract market, you can check the CFTCЂ™s website . Ђў Finally, before investing, use FINRAЂ™s BrokerCheck and the National Futures AssociationЂ™s Background Affiliation Status Information Center (BASIC) to check the registration status and background of any firm or financial professional that you are considering. If you cannot verify that they are registered, donЂ™t trade with them, donЂ™t give them any money, and donЂ™t share your personal information with them. Investor Alerts and Bulletins.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to warn investors that fraudsters may conduct investment schemes through purported online binary options trading platforms. While some binary options are listed on registered exchanges or traded on a designated contract market that are subject to oversight by U. S. regulators such as the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, respectively, this is only a portion of the binary options market. Much of the binary options market operates through Internet-based trading platforms that are not necessarily complying with applicable U. S. regulatory requirements. For a comprehensive overview of binary options, including information about investing in binary options that are subject to U. S. regulatory oversight, read our Investor Alert: Binary Options and Fraud . A binary option is a type of options contract in which the payout will depend entirely on the outcome of a yesno (binary) proposition. When the binary option expires, the option holder will receive either a pre-determined amount of cash or nothing at all. Given the all-or-nothing payout structure, binary options are sometimes referred to as “all-or-nothing options” or “fixed-return options.” Typically, a representative of a binary options website will ask a customer to deposit money into an account where the customer can purchase binary options contracts. A customer may be asked to, for example, pay $50 for a binary option contract that promises a 50% return if the stock price of XYZ company is above $5 per share when the binary option expires. Be Wary of Sales Pitches. Representatives of binary options websites may use fictitious names and tout fake credentials, qualifications, and experience.

They may misrepresent where they are calling from (for example, pretending that they are in the U. S.). Supposedly “unbiased” sources reviewing or ranking binary options websites may have been paid to promote or criticize particular websites. Fraudsters may “warn” you that the binary options website you are using is a scam in order to gain your trust and get you to deposit even more money in another website that they also run. If you are considering investing money with a binary options website, look out for these red flags: Unsolicited Offers. Unsolicited offers (you didn’t ask for it and don’t know the sender) to earn investment returns that seem too good to be true may be part of a fraudulent investment scheme. High Pressure Sales Tactics or Threats. Representatives of binary options websites may use high pressure sales tactics or even threats (for example, threatening to file a lien against your property) to swindle you. Identity Theft. Representatives of binary options websites may falsely claim that the government requires photocopies of your credit card, passport, driver’s license, utility bills, or other personal data. Protect yourself and safeguard your personal information. Constant Turnover of Representatives. Be skeptical if the names of the persons you are dealing with at a binary options website seem to change frequently or if you are told your former “broker” has been fired. Issues with Withdrawals. Representatives of binary options websites may use delay tactics to hold up your withdrawal request until it is too late for you to dispute the charge(s) with your credit card company.

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) provides consumer protections if you are charged for goods and services you didn’t accept or that weren’t delivered as agreed, but you must send a letter disputing the charges that reaches the creditor within 60 days after the first bill with the error was mailed to you. Also, be skeptical if someone tries to convince you to pay more money for a “premium” account with fewer restrictions on withdrawals. Credit Card Abuse. If you used a credit card to fund your account, keep an eye out for unauthorized charges on your credit card statements. Even if you signed a form purportedly waiving your right to dispute any credit card charges, report all unauthorized charges to your credit card company immediately. Government Impersonators. If someone claiming to be affiliated with the SEC contacts you and asks you to pay money to help you recover binary options investment-related losses, submit a Complaint Form to the SEC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) or call the OIG’s toll-free hotline at (877) 442-0854. It’s important for all investors to know that the SEC never makes people pay to get their money back. Violations of the Federal Securities Laws Involving Binary Options. In addition to perpetrating fraudulent investment schemes, the operators of binary options websites may be violating the federal securities laws through other illegal conduct, including: Offering or selling securities that have not been registered with the SEC (and no exemption to registration is available) Operating as unregistered broker-dealers Operating as unregistered securities exchanges and Making material misrepresentations to investors (for example, overstating the average return on investment, overstating the long-term profitability of investing in binary options over the course of multiple trades, or understating the risk of binary options trading). Furthermore, if any of the products offered by binary options trading websites are security-based swaps, additional requirements will apply.

SEC Enforcement Actions Involving Binary Options . The SEC’s Division of Enforcement has brought charges against companies for failure to register the securities and failure to register with the SEC as a broker before offering and selling binary options to U. S. investors, as required. In SEC v. Banc de Binary , the binary options seller allegedly solicited U. S. investors through methods including YouTube videos, spam emails, and advertising on the Internet, and also communicated with U. S. investors by phone, email, and instant messenger. In In the Matter of EZTD Inc. , another binary options seller allegedly misrepresented the risk of investing in binary options sold on its trading platforms, including by stating on its websites that investing in the binary options that it offered and sold is profitable when, in fact, less than 3% of its customers in the U. S. earned a profit trading binary options sold by the respondent. If you purchase binary options from a firm that is not registered with or subject to the oversight of the SEC, you may not have the full benefit of the safeguards of the federal securities laws that have been put in place to protect investors. Some safeguards and remedies are available only to purchasers of securities in registered offerings . In addition, individual investors may not be able to pursue, on their own, some remedies that are available for unregistered offerings. Before investing, check out the background, including registration or license status, of any firm or financial professional you are considering dealing with through the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database, available on Investor. gov, and the National Futures Association Background Affiliation Status Information Center’s BASIC Search. If you cannot verify that they are registered, don’t trade with them, don’t give them any money, and don’t share your personal information with them. Report possible securities fraud to the SEC. Ask a question or report a problem concerning your investments, your investment account or a financial professional. Binary Options - a pure and simple way to trade or simply a SCAM?

An unbiased guide to binary options - revealing scams and facts you need to now. What are Binary Options? Binary Options For Dummies: A Binary Option is an option whose payoff is either a fixed amount or zero. For example, there could be a binary option that pays $200 if a hurricane hits Miami before a specified date and zero otherwise. Also called a digital option. Binary options differ from more conventional options in significant ways. A binary option is a type of options contract in which the payout will depend entirely on the outcome of a yesno proposition. The yesno proposition typically relates to whether the price of a particular asset that underlies the binary option will rise above or fall below a specified amount. For example, the yesno proposition connected to the binary option might be something as straightforward as whether the stock price of XYZ company will be above $9.36 per share at 2:30 pm on a particular day, or whether the price of silver will be above $33.40 per ounce at 11:17 am on a particular day. Once the option holder acquires a binary option, there is no further decision for the holder to make as to whether or not to exercise the binary option because binary options exercise automatically.

Unlike other types of options, a binary option does not give the holder the right to purchase or sell the underlying asset. When the binary option expires, the option holder will receive either a pre-determined amount of cash or nothing at all. Given the all-or-nothing payout structure, binary options are sometimes referred to as &ldquoall-or-nothing options&rdquo or &ldquofixed-return options.&rdquo 1 Binary Options Simulator. The Simulator has been specifically designed to assist new traders to understand binary options trading basics . The simulator is easy and fun to use: STEP 2: Read the news and decide: Will APPLE go Up or Down? Apple has just announced: new. revolutionary product is coming soon. Binary Options Trading Made Simple - With "instructions" including major news - 100% Winning Trades. Benefits Of Binary Options Trading. Binary Options are designed to provide trading opportunities, even in flat market conditions where the market hardly moves at all. Binary Options allow you to trade with strictly limited risk. Binary Options Risk and Reward. This video introduces you to the important concept of a risk and reward ratio when trading binary options.

In finance , a binary option is a type of option where the payoff is either some fixed amount of some ass et or nothing at all. The two main types of binary options are the cash-or-nothing binary option and the asset-or-nothing binary option. The cash-or-nothing binary option pays some fixed amount of cash if the option expires in-the-money while the asset-or-nothing pays the value of the underlying security. Thus, the options are binary in nature because there are only two possible outcomes. They are also called all-or-nothing options, digital options (more common in forexinterest rate markets), and fixed return options (FROs) (on the American Stock Exchange). 2 When buying a binary option the potential return it offers is certain and known before the purchase is made. Binary options can be bought on virtually any financial product and can be bought in both directions of trade either by buying a "Call" option or a "Put" option. This means that an investor can go long or short on any financial product simply by buying a binary option. Binary options are offered against a fixed expiry time which may be e. g. 60 seconds and up to 30 minutes, an hour ahead or to the close of the trading day. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have recently issued an Investor Alert to warn investors about fraudulent promotion schemes involving binary options and binary options trading platforms. Non Exchange Traded Binary Options.

Binary options contracts have long been available over-the-counter (OTC), i. e. sold directly by the issuer to the buyer. They were generally considered "exotic" instruments and there was no liquid market for trading these instruments between their issuance and expiration. They were often seen embedded in more complex option contracts. Since mid-2008 binary options websites called binary option trading platforms have been offering a simplified version of exchange-traded binary options. 2 Exchange Traded Binary Options. In 2007 , the Options Clearing Corporation proposed a rule change to allow binary options, and the Securities and Exchange Commission approved listing cash-or-nothing binary options in 2008. In May 2008, the American Stock Exchange (Amex) launched exchange-traded European cash-or-nothing binary options, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) followed in June 2008. The standardization of binary options allows them to be exchange-traded with continuous quotations. 2 Binary Options On The Chicago Board Options Exchange. CBOE Binary Options are a pure and simple way to trade based on your opinion of where a market is headed over a certain period of time. They are contracts that, at expiration, pay out a pre-determined, fixed amount or nothing at all. The payout amount for CBOE Binary options is $100. Like traditional options, Binary Options are based on an underlying security, have various strike prices to choose from as well as various expirations.

CBOE lists both call and put Binary Options. If, at expiration, the price of the underlying security closes at or above the selected strike price, the buyer of a call Binary Option receives $100 per contract. If the underlying security closes at a price that is below the strike price on the expiration date, the buyer receives nothing. In the case of put Binary Options, the put buyer receives $100 per contract if the underlying security closes below the strike price at expiration, and nothing if the underlying security closes at or above the strike price at expiration. Is Binary Options Trading Legal In The US? In the United States, it is legal to trade binary options, as long as they are exchange based , as in the case of the North American Derivatives Exchange (NADEX), which provides a trading environment in which trades are executed via an exchange rather than clients &lsquobetting&rsquo against the binary options firm itself. CAN OFFSHORE "BROKERS" TRADE WITH US RESIDENTS? According to NADEX: In the case of off-shore platforms offering binary options to retail customers in the United States, the answer to this question is a resounding "No". As the Director of Enforcement for the CFTC stated in connection with a recently filed lawsuit: "It is against the law to solicit U. S. persons to buy and sell commodity options, even if they are called &lsquoprediction&rsquo contracts, unless they are listed for trading and traded on a CFTC-registered exchange or unless legally exempt." Binary Options Brokers. If your search the web looking for a binary broker you will see that most binary options brokers (platforms) are located offshore . Many of them do offer accounts to US clients, even though this seems to be illegal and there were already civil complaints filed. Usually these "brokers" are simply Internet based trading platforms offering binary options. Most sites that recommend brokers get paid (often $200 or more) for each each visitor that opens an account with one of their "recommended" brokers. They are completely biased .

There's thousands of sites that will show you the best best binary options brokers . Below is an example (please note that since I am unbiased you will not find any affiliate links here) USA Binary Options Brokers. Looking for binary options brokers that serve US customers? You may already have discovered that many brokers refuse to accept customers from the USA. This may lead you to believe that binary options trading is illegal in the US, but this is not correct. Best Binary Options Brokers Accepting USA Customers. HOW DO BINARY OPTIONS WORK? A Binary Option asks a simple yesno question. The price at which you buysell is not the actual price of gold, but rather a value between zero and 100. The bidoffer price fluctuates throughout the day, but always settles at either 100 (if the answer is yes) or zero (if the answer is no). Your profitloss is calculated using the difference between the settlement price (zero or 100) and your opening price (the price you bought or sold at). Binary Options Reviews.

Binary Options Software Reviews: Binary Options Broker Reviews: BINARY OPTIONS HOW TO LOSE A FORTUNE. JUST MAKE A DEPOSIT! How to make money online with 60 second binary options. 60 second binary profit system. Binary options are a simple and rewarding financial trading product. Binary options deliver a fixed return on every trade which is made, depending on whether the trade was "In The Money", "Out Of The Money" or a "Tie". If the EURUSD has an even 5050 popularity DO NOT TRADE there must be a bias one way, even if it's 49% -- 51%. That 2% gap means a lot in the world of binary options and currency trading. Trading binary options with this system is fast paced. In order to catch the winning trade in the 5 point decimal base with your 5 trades you have to be quick. This is especially important in Step 4 below. If you're using a laptop, you might want to use a mouse rather than the trackpad for speed, or if you have a slow mouse INVEST IN A BETTER ONE! This is of vital importance, if you go and make a cup of tea between trades using this binary options system, then you may miss the necessary entry point to win and your odds will drop from up to 100% to 50% so BE QUICK! Do not change the direction you are trading on midway between Step 2 and Step 5. If your starting trade at $5 is a PUT then continue through to Step 5 on PUT do not switch to CALL as your odds will drop from up to 100% to 50%. Also, if a trade comes out as a TIE, you should put on the same trade again as soon as possible.

Profit in 60 seconds again. After each winning trade, ALWAYS check to see if the Popularity has changed from PUT to CALL, as shown in Step 1. Binary Option Signals. Important things to look for before choosing a Binary Option Signals Service : 1) Historically Probable Trades that have a profitable forward trading history and a reason behind the trades versus just simple subjective trades. 2) A Trade Log showing every binary option signal trade and not just highlights of winning trades. 3) Vital Stats: Profitable Days and Draw Days, Losing Days , Consecutive Profitable Days, Consecutive Losing Days, Maximum Drawdown. 5) Easy Access To Signals (Text Message, Desktop Visual and Sound Notifications, Twitter, Trading Chat Room) 6) Longevity (Avoid startups and fly by nights) 7) A Trading Chat Room to help you with questions and to help provide even more trades in the trading chat room. 8) Webinars for Continuing Binary Options Education. 9) Education on everything from basics to advanced Trading. 10) Binary Option Trading Tools like a spread scanner, basic indicators etc. Highest Signals Win Rate Ever: updownsignals. com (they say they offer tools and support) - verified track records. would doubt it. Binary Options Scams and Fraud. Here's What The Authorities Say about Binary Options: Investor Alert: Binary Options and Fraud issued on: 06062013. Please note that the text below is not the complete joined alert - you can read the complete alert here.

The SEC&rsquos Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission&rsquos Office of Consumer Outreach (CFTC) are issuing this Investor Alert to warn investors about fraudulent promotion schemes involving binary options and binary options trading platforms. Binary Options Trading Platforms. . Some binary options are listed on registered exchanges or traded on a designated contract market that are subject to oversight by United States regulators such as the SEC or CFTC, respectively, but this is only a portion of the binary options market. Much of the binary options market operates through Internet-based trading platforms that are not necessarily complying with applicable U. S. regulatory requirements and may be engaging in illegal activity. The number of Internet-based trading platforms that offer the opportunity to purchase and trade binary options has surged in recent years. The increase in the number of these platforms has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints about fraudulent promotion schemes involving binary options trading platforms. Typically, a binary options Internet-based trading platform will ask a customer to deposit a sum of money to buy a binary option call or put contract. For example, a customer may be asked to pay $50 for a binary option contract that promises a 50% return if the stock price of XYZ company is above $5 per share when the option expires. If the outcome of the yesno proposition (in this case, that the share price of XYZ company will be above $5 per share at the specified time) is satisfied and the customer is entitled to receive the promised return, the binary option is said to expire &ldquo in the money. &rdquo If, however, the outcome of the yesno proposition is not satisfied, the binary option is said to expire &ldquo out of the money, &rdquo and the customer may lose the entire deposited sum. There are variations of binary option contracts in which a binary option that expires out of the money may entitle the customer to receive a refund of some small portion of the deposit-for example, 5%-but that is not typically the case. In fact, some binary options Internet based trading platforms may overstate the average return on investment by advertising a higher average return on investment than a customer should expect, given the payout structure. For instance, in the example above, assuming a 5050 chance of winning, the payout structure has been designed in such a way that the expected return on investment is actually negative , resulting in a net loss to the customer. This is because the consequence if the option expires out of the money ( approximately a 100% loss ) significantly outweighs the payout if the option expires in the money ( approximately a 50% gain ).

In other words, in the example above, an investor could expect, on average, to lose money. Complaints Relating to Fraudulent Binary Options Trading Platforms. The SEC and CFTC have received numerous complaints of fraud associated with websites that offer an opportunity to buy or trade binary options through Internet-based trading platforms . The complaints fall into at least three categories: refusal to credit customer accounts or reimburse funds to customers, identity theft, and manipulation of software to generate losing trades. The first category of alleged fraud involves the refusal of certain Internet-based binary options trading platforms to credit customer accounts or reimburse funds after accepting customer money. These complaints typically involve customers who have deposited money into their binary options trading account and who are then encouraged by &ldquobrokers&rdquo over the telephone to deposit additional funds into the customer account. When customers later attempt to withdraw their original deposit or the return they have been promised, the trading platforms allegedly cancel customers&rsquo withdrawal requests, refuse to credit their accounts, or ignore their telephone calls and emails. The second category of alleged fraud involves identity theft. For example, some complaints allege that certain Internet-based binary options trading platforms may be collecting customer information such as credit card and driver&rsquos license data for unspecified uses. If a binary options Internet-based trading platform requests photocopies of your credit card, driver&rsquos license, or other personal data, do not provide the information. The third category of alleged fraud involves the manipulation of the binary options trading software to generate losing trades. These complaints allege that the Internet-based binary options trading platforms manipulate the trading software to distort binary options prices and payouts. For example, when a customer&rsquos trade is &ldquowinning,&rdquo the countdown to expiration is extended arbitrarily until the trade becomes a loss.

Certain Registration and Regulatory Requirements of the SEC. For example, some binary options may be securities . Under the federal securities laws, a company may not lawfully offer or sell securities unless the offer and sale have been registered with the SEC or an exemption from such registration applies. For example, if the terms of a binary option contract provide for a specified return based on the price of a company&rsquos securities, the binary option contract is a security and may not be offered or sold without registration, unless an exemption from registration is available. If there is no registration or exemption, then the offer or sale of the binary option to you would be illegal. If any of the products offered by binary options trading platforms are security-based swaps, additional requirements will apply. In addition, some binary options trading platforms may be operating as unregistered broker-dealers. A person who engages in the business of effecting securities transactions for the accounts of others in the U. S. generally must register with the SEC as a broker-dealer. If a binary options trading platform is offering to buy or sell securities, effecting transactions in securities, andor receiving transaction-based compensation (such as commissions), it likely should be registered with the SEC. To determine whether a particular trading platform is registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer , visit the FINRA BrokerCheck website. Some binary options trading platforms may also be operating as unregistered securities exchanges.

This would be the case if they matched orders in securities of multiple buyers and sellers using established non-discretionary methods. However, there are cases where a registered broker-dealer with a trading system or platform may legitimately have no obligation to register as an exchange. Certain Registration and Regulatory Requirements of the CFTC. It is illegal for entities to solicit, accept offers, offer to or enter into commodity options transactions (for example, foreign currencies, metals such as gold and silver, and agricultural products such as wheat or corn) with U. S. citizens , unless those options transactions are conducted on a designated contract market, an exempt board of trade, or a bona fide foreign board of trade, or are conducted with U. S. customers who have a net worth that exceeds $5 million. To see the most recent list of exchanges that are designated as contract markets, check the CFTC website. There currently are only three designated contract markets offering binary options in the U. S.: Cantor Exchange LP Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc. and the North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. All other entities offering binary options that are commodity options transactions are doing so illegally. Further, entities that solicit or accept orders for commodity options transactions and accept, among other things, money to margin, guarantee, or secure the commodity options transactions must register as a Futures Commission Merchant. Entities that act as the counterparty (that is, they take the other side of the transaction from the customer as opposed to matching orders) for foreign currency options transactions for customers with a net worth of less than $5 million must register as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer. Washington, DC - The U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed on June 5, 2013 a civil complaint in federal district court in Nevada charging Banc de Binary, Ltd. (Banc de Binary), a foreign company that held itself out as being headquartered on Wall Street, with violating the CFTC's ban on off-exchange options trading by offering commodity option contracts to U. S. customers for trading, as well as soliciting, accepting, and confirming the execution of orders from U. S. customers. The CFTC's complaint also charges Banc de Binary with operating as an unregistered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).

According to the CFTC's complaint, Banc de Binary operates an online trading website through which customers can buy or sell binary (&ldquocall&rdquo or &ldquoput&rdquo) options, predicting whether the price of a certain commodity will increase or decrease in a given time period. Specifically, from May 2011 through March 2013, Banc de Binary operated an online trading website which allowed U. S. customers to trade options products prohibited by the CFTC's ban on off-exchange options trading. Through its website, Banc de Binary allegedly unlawfully solicited and permitted U. S. customers to buy and sell options betting on the prices of wheat, oil, platinum, sugar, coffee, corn, foreign currency pairs, and stock indices. The CFTC's complaint also charges Banc de Binary with operating as an unregistered FCM from July 2011 through March 2013. Finally, the complaint alleges the company did not limit its options offerings to eligible contract participants, allowing U. S. customers to trade without requiring any information about their trading history or net worth. David Meister, the Director of the CFTC's Division of Enforcement, stated: &ldquoIf a company wants to offer U. S. persons the opportunity to buy and sell predictions on the direction of commodity prices, the company must play by the rules or suffer the consequences. The applicable rules are on the books for good reason - to protect market participants and promote market integrity - and we will serve the public by enforcing them.&rdquo The CFTC seeks civil monetary penalties, an injunction preventing Banc de Binary from engaging in certain commodity options activity with U. S. customers, and other remedial ancillary relief, including restitution, disgorgement, and rescission. The CFTC acknowledges the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission for their assistance in the investigation of Banc de Binary. U. S. Government Required Disclaimer - Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Trading financial instruments of any kind including options, futures and securities have large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the options, futures and stock markets. Don't trade with money you can't afford to lose. This training website is neither a solicitation nor an offer to BuySell options, futures or securities. No representation is being made that any information you receive will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this website. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results. Please use common sense. This site and all contents are for educational and research purposes only. Please get the advice of a competent financial advisor before investing your money in any financial instrument. 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 THAN ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFIT OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.