Before I started trading bitcoin, I had no idea what an orderbook was. When I was buying and selling stocks, I simply just set a limit order of around a figure I was comfortable paying and just let it do its job and fill. Well, in order to maximize your profits, you really do want to get the best prices and it's by looking at the orderbook that you'll be able to know the cheapest prices you'll be able to get filled.
Yes, I agree. The order book is a very useful tool for trading. It's the only true leading indicator. It shows you what is likely to happen instead of what has already happened like all other technical indicators. For stocks, futures etc. the order book can give you an edge. This is not the case for Forex trading though because there is no central order book. Learn to read the order book ( "the tape") and you'll improve your trading results.
To start the process of mining, all you need is a GUI Miner. You can install one from here (https://github.com/downloads/Kiv/poclbm/guiminer-20121203.exe). You can run the miner either on your RAM or on the dedicated graphics card or both. However, before you contemplate starting the mining process, it is important that you calculate the estimates. Using a normal laptop or a desktop for mining will be of no use considering that there are high power processors attached to the network to do this job. The share that you may get will not be of any significance. In fact, it is more likely that you will end up spending more for electricity and hardware components that you may gain in terms of Bitcoins. There are a number of online calculators for this purpose. This is an ideal one which, more or less, shows the right figures. (http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/). Make sure you take all the factors into account before you start https://github.com/downloads/Kiv/poclbm/guiminer-20121203.exe github.com
The order book information helps traders make better-informed trading decisions, since they can see which are which and what to consider.
Yes, but it is more complicated than that. With HFT's, Algo's, hidden orders, ghost orders, iceberg orders, dark pools and more than one exchange offering a price in the same stock; it can be tricky to read the order book. It takes a lot of experience, but can be extremely profitable if you get good at it.
I'm also interested in the answer to this one. I heard that mining bitcoin was no longer profitable. Is that still the case?
Bitcoin is often included in a scandalous story involving the Silk Road or money laundering, which makes me incredibly nervous about even beginning to research about the value-add or benefit of mining Bitcoin. I came across this relatively simple article while reading up on the idea of mining Bitcoin: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/04/03/four-reason-you-shouldnt-buy-bitcoins/ This article, written by Timothy Lee - a contributor for Forbes - provides 4 clear cut reasons for why I will not be getting involved with BitCoin: 1. Losses 2. Regulation (or lack of it) 3. Scaling 4. Lack of applications Has anyone out there had a positive experience (finacially positive) with Bitcoin? I'd be interested to hear your story!
Yes I too have been nervous about mining Bitcoins for money. It is just tough to say that whether or not to use Bitcoin since the value fluctuates every moment. Not to mention there are not enough success stories for me to wanna use Bitcoin.