Introduction to Financial Risk and Financial Risk Management.

Financial risk is a term that can apply to businesses, government units, the financial marketplace as a whole, and the individual. This risk is the risk or likelihood that shareholders, stakeholders, or other fiscal stakeholders will lose money.

There are numerous specific risk factors that can be considered as a fiscal risk. Any risk is a threat that produces damaging or unwanted results. Some more shared and diverse financial risks include credit risk, liquidity risk, and operational risk.

The Basics of Financial Risk

Financial risk is a type of risk that can affect the loss of capital to interested parties.

For governments, this can mean they are incapable to regulate economic policy and default on bonds or additional debt issues.
Corporations also face the likelihood of default on debt they undertake but may also experience failure in an undertaking the causes a financial weight on the business.
Individuals face financial risk when they make conclusions that may endanger their income or capacity to pay a debt they have assumed.
Financial markets face financial risk due to numerous macroeconomic forces, changes to the market interest rate, and the possibility of default by sectors or large corporations.

Financial risks are ubiquitous and come in many different sizes, affecting everyone. You should be aware of all financial risks. Knowing the risks and how to guard yourself will not remove the risk, but it will mitigate their harm.

Financial Risks for the Market

Several types of financial risk are tied to financial markets. As mentioned earlier, many circumstances can impact the financial market. As demonstrated during the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, when a critical sector of the market struggles it can impact the monetary wellbeing of the entire marketplace. During this time, businesses closed, investors lost fortunes, and governments were forced to rethink their monetary policy. However, many other events also impact the market.

Volatility brings uncertainty about the fair value of market assets. Seen as a statistical measure, volatility reflects the confidence of the stakeholders that market returns match the actual valuation of individual assets and the marketplace as a whole. Measured as implied volatility (IV) and represented by a percentage, this statistical value indicates the bullish or bearish — market on the rise versus the market in decline — view of investments. Volatility or equity risk can cause abrupt price swings in shares of stock.

Default and changes in the market interest rate can also pose a financial risk. Defaults happen mainly in the debt or bond market as companies or other issuers fail to pay their debt obligations, harming investors. Changes in the market interest rate can push individual securities into being unprofitable for investors, forcing them into lower paying debt securities or facing negative returns.

Asset-backed risk is the chance that asset-backed securities — pools of various types of loans — may become volatile if the underlying securities also change in value. Sub-categories of asset-backed risk involve prepayment — the borrower paying off a debt early, thus ending the income stream from repayments — and significant changes in interest rates.

Financial Risks for Individuals

Individuals can face financial risk when they make poor decisions. This hazard can have wide-ranging causes from taking an unnecessary day off of work to invest in highly speculative investments. Every undertaking has exposure to pure risk — dangers that cannot be controlled, but some are done without fully realizing the consequences.

Liquidity risk comes in two flavours for investors to fear. The first involves securities and assets that cannot be purchased or sold quickly enough to cut losses in a volatile market. Known as market liquidity risk this is a situation where there are few buyers but many sellers. The second risk is funding or cash flow liquidity risk. Funding liquidity risk is the possibility that a corporation will not have the capital to pay its debt, forcing it to default, and harming stakeholders.

Speculative risk is one where a profit or gain has an uncertain chance of success. Perhaps the investor did not conduct proper research before investing, reached too far for gains, or invested too large of a portion of their net worth into a single investment.

Investors holding foreign currencies are exposed to currency risk because different factors, such as interest rate changes and monetary policy changes, can alter the calculated worth or the value of their money. Meanwhile, changes in prices because of market differences, political changes, natural calamities, diplomatic changes, or economic conflicts may cause volatile foreign investment conditions that may expose businesses and individuals to foreign investment risk.

What is Risk Management?

Risk management occurs everywhere in the realm of finance. It occurs when an investor buys U.S. Treasury bonds over corporate bonds, when a fund manager hedges his currency exposure with currency derivatives, and when a bank performs a credit check on an individual before issuing a personal line of credit. Stockbrokers use financial instruments like options and futures, and money managers use strategies like portfolio and investment diversification to mitigate or effectively manage risk.

Inadequate risk management can result in severe consequences for companies, individuals, and the economy. For example, the subprime mortgage meltdown in 2007 that helped trigger the Great Recession stemmed from bad risk-management decisions, such as lenders who extended mortgages to individuals with poor credit; investment firms who bought, packaged, and resold these mortgages; and funds that invested excessively in the repackaged, but still risky, mortgage-backed securities (MBS).

Risk management is the process of identification, analysis and acceptance or mitigation of uncertainty in investment decisions.
Risk is inseparable from return in the investment world.
A variety of tactics exist to ascertain risk; one of the most common is standard deviation, a statistical measure of dispersion around a central tendency.
Beta, also known as market risk, is a measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of an individual stock in comparison to the entire market.
Alpha is a measure of excess return; money managers who employ active strategies to beat the market are subject to alpha risk.

Risk Management and Psychology

While that information may be helpful, it does not fully address an investor’s risk concerns. The field of behavioural finance has contributed an important element to the risk equation, demonstrating asymmetry between how people view gains and losses. In the language of prospect theory, an area of behavioural finance introduced by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1979, investors exhibit loss aversion: They put more weight on the pain associated with a loss than the good feeling associated with a profit.

Often, what investors really want to know is not just how much an asset deviates from its expected outcome, but how bad things look way down on the left-hand tail of the distribution curve. Value at risk (VAR) attempts to provide an answer to this question. The idea behind VAR is to quantify how large a loss on investment could be with a given level of confidence over a defined period. For example, the following statement would be an example of VAR: “With about a 95% level of confidence, the most you stand to lose on this $1,000 investment over a two-year time horizon is $200.” The confidence level is a probability statement based on the statistical characteristics of the investment and the shape of its distribution curve.

Of course, even a measure like VAR doesn’t guarantee that 5% of the time will be much worse. Spectacular debacles like the one that hit the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998 remind us that so-called “outlier events” may occur. In the case of LTCM, the outlier event was the Russian government’s default on its outstanding sovereign debt obligations, an event that threatened to bankrupt the hedge fund, which had highly leveraged positions worth over $1 trillion; if it had gone under, it could have collapsed the global financial system. The U.S. government created a $3.65-billion loan fund to cover LTCM’s losses, which enabled the firm to survive the market volatility and liquidate in an orderly manner in early 2000.

Risk Management In The Cryptocurrency Space

Risk Management, as with all organisations, plays a vital role in meeting and exceeding objectives whilst providing resilience and stakeholder confidence. Exchanges and companies that are raising/have raised ICO’s should ensure that Risk Management is part of their business. Identifying risks and opportunities, assessing them and implementing response plans should be standard. Cyber risks, reputational risks, operational risks, system risks and strategic risks should all be considered and prepared for, which would minimise market disruption and reduce the likelihood of financial ruin. At the very least they owe it to the investors who have funded them.

For investors, with volatility so high, the rewards are great but so are the risks. Investors should ensure that they only invest what they can afford to lose, do their due diligence on their investments which includes understanding the technology, the team and look for a prototype rather than a wild concept. Additionally, investors should always be on the lookout for phishing scams and suspicious emails.

Finally, even the most optimistic investor should at least consider that cryptocurrencies are a speculative bubble that could burst.

PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK EXPLAINED

Peer-to-peer, or P2P in its abbreviated form, refers to computer networks using a distributed architecture. In P2P networks, all the computers and devices that are part of them are referred to as peers, and they share and exchange workloads. Each peer in a peer-to-peer network is equal to the other peers. There are no privileged peers, and there is no primary administrator device in the centre of the network.

In a way, peer-to-peer networks are the most egalitarian networks in the computer world. Each peer is equal to the others, and each peer has the same rights and duties as the others. Peers are both clients and servers at the same time.

In fact, every resource and each asset that’s available in a peer-to-peer network is shared among peers, without any central server being involved. The shared resources in a P2P network can be things such as processor usage, disk storage capacity, or network bandwidth.

History of P2P (peer-to-peer) networks

The precursor of peer-to-peer networks appears to be USENET, which was developed in 1979. It was a system that allowed users to read and post messages/news. It was a network system similar to the online forums today, but with the difference that USENET did not rely on a central server or administrator. USENET copied the same message/news to all the servers found in the network. Similarly, peer-to-peer networks distribute and use all the resources available to them.

The next big thing in the history of P2P was the year 1999 when Napster came to life. Napster was file-sharing software that was used by people to distribute and download music. The music shared on Napster was usually copyrighted and thus illegal to distribute. However, that did not stop people from getting it. Although Napster was the one that got P2P into the mainstream, Napster ultimately failed and was shut down by authorities because of all the content that was shared illegally on it. Nowadays, P2P remains one of the most popular technologies for sharing files over the internet, both lawfully and unlawfully.

What is P2P used for?

The primary goal of peer-to-peer networks is to share resources and help computers and devices work collaboratively, provide specific services, or execute specific tasks. As mentioned earlier, P2P is used to share all kinds of computing resources such as processing power, network bandwidth, or disk storage space. However, the most common use case for peer-to-peer networks is the sharing of files on the internet. Peer-to-peer networks are ideal for file sharing because they allow the computers connected to them to receive files and send files simultaneously.

Example: you open your web browser and visit a website where you download a file. In this case, the website works as a server, and your computer acts as a client receiving the file. You can compare it to a one-way road: the file that you download is a car that goes from point A (the website) to point B (your computer).

When you download the same file from a peer-to-peer network, using a BitTorrent platform as a starting point, the download is performed differently. The file is downloaded to your computer in bits and parts that come from many other computers that also connected to the same P2P network and already have that file or at least parts of it. At the same time, the file is also sent (uploaded) from your computer to other devices that are asking for it. This situation is similar to a two-way road: the file is like multiple small cars coming to your PC, while also leaving to others when it is requested.

Why are peer-to-peer networks useful?

P2P networks have some characteristics that make them useful:

It’s hard to take them down. Even if one of the peers is shut down, the others are still operating and communicating. For a P2P (peer-to-peer) network to stop working, you have to close down all its peers.

Peer-to-peer networks are incredibly scalable. Adding new peers is easy as you don’t need to do any central configuration on a central server.

When it comes to file-sharing, the larger a peer-to-peer network is, the faster it is. Having the same file stored on many of the peers in a P2P network means that when someone needs to download it, the file is downloaded from multiple locations simultaneously.

Introduction To Cryptoeconomcs

We often see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like the Wild West: no rules, no social norms, only greed, selfishness and mining. This professed lack of law and order makes the crypto world scary to many people. Nevertheless, in reality, there are rules that govern decentralized peer-to-peer (p2p) networks such as Bitcoin. These rules are coded into procedures and deliver the framework for how contributors of a network interact with each other. They help us create a secure, trustworthy and valuable system, just like laws deliver a framework for a better society. Cryptoeconomics asks the question of how we can design these rules and incentives, so that the networks stay secure and create value for everyone. Cryptoeconomics uses cryptographic tools, game theory and economic incentives to achieve this goal.

The Two Pillars of Cryptoeconomics

Cryptography: techniques that keep messages secure

Economic incentives: rules and rewards that encourage you to add value to the network

In this blog we will specifically be talking about the economic tools of Cryptoeconomics.

Economic tools are incentives that encourage and discourage certain behaviour amongst network participants.

The most basic economic tool is the use of tokens and consensus mechanisms.

Tokens

Tokens are exchangeable goods within the decentralized p2p network. The most famous token in the crypto world is Bitcoin.

Beyond Bitcoin, tokens can be exchanged for a variety of goods and services. For example, you can rent out your excess CPU/GPU cycles via the Golem Network and get paid by the GNT (Golem Network Token) as a reward for your service. The presence of tokens creates a shared value amongst network participants, which makes decentralized p2p networks more like separate economies or ecosystems.

Now let’s see how tokens are used to incentivize desirable behaviour in the Bitcoin network.

Block rewards

Let’s say you are a node that creates a new block to be included in the Bitcoin blockchain. You are rewarded for your work by being allowed to include a special transaction (coinbase transaction). This transaction allows you to send a block reward to your own address. Currently (June 2018) miners receive a block reward of 12.5 bitcoins.

You will only be able to reap the reward if the new block is accepted by the rest of the network. Other nodes express their acceptance by including your new block’s hash in the next block they create. This incentivizes them to only include blocks with valid transactions. Because you believe they won’t accept your new block if you include faulty transactions, you are incentivized to include only valid transactions if you want the block reward.

Transaction fees

As I mentioned above, the block reward for creating new blocks decreases at a set rate, which means that there is a finite amount of bitcoins. But what incentivizes participants to continue building the Bitcoin blockchain and to execute transactions if they don’t get rewarded by being able to mine new bitcoin? Simple: they receive transaction fees for each transaction they include in their block.

Transaction fees also disincentivize participants from slowing down the network by sending transactions from and to their own accounts.

Consensus Mechanisms

Participants in a decentralized p2p network need to agree — they need to reach consensus — about the state of the network and about what blocks and transactions to include on the blockchain. We need a mechanism that helps eliminate issues that arise from decentralization and the possible presence of adversaries.

A consensus mechanism is a protocol on top of the blockchain that takes each node’s proposed block as an input and selects a valid block as an output.

Let’s take a look at Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism. Simply put, miners must expend a great amount of computational power to prove they have “skin in the game” and then they are allowed to propose a new block. They expend this computational power by solving hash puzzles that are based on the properties of hash functions I’ve mentioned earlier. I’m not going to dive into the technical details of these hash puzzles but you can read more on pages 64–67 of the Princeton Bitcoin book. From a cryptoeconomics perspective, it is important to note that miners must expense fiat currency to buy computing power (nowadays in the form of highly specialized and high-performance ASIC chips). With that, they have expensed significant resources that they would lose if their block wouldn’t be included on the blockchain.

Another popular consensus mechanism is Proof-of-stake. Generally, this consensus mechanism works by having a set of validators take turns proposing and voting on the next block, and the weight of each validator’s vote depends on the size of their staked deposit. They lose their stake if the block is not included in the blockchain and are therefore incentivized to vote on blocks that include only valid transactions. If you want to read more about Proof-of-Stake, I suggest perusing the writings of Vlad Zamfir and Vitalik Buterin, who are championing PoS for Ethereum (which currently runs on PoW).

Blockchain Use-Case: Gaming

Blockchain technology arrived with numerous blessings and promises for almost every industry on the surface of the earth. In this blogpost, we’ll be looking at its application in the gaming industry and how ambitious players like DAO.Casino are making a mark in the emerging industry.

New decentralized technologies, game developers have found themselves a thriving ecosystem to build upon. Blockchain enables a protocol that allows developers to create decentralized games for users across all industries, particularly in the underserved gambling industry.

Blockchain gaming promises many benefits for the gaming industry, but most of all it benefits the players themselves.

True ownership, decentralized games, provably fair gameplay, acquiring crypto through gameplay (play-to-earn), global leaderboards, censorship resistance, and no infrastructure to manage for the developers, are just a few of the touted advantages.

While all of that is great, the evolution of blockchain gaming hasn’t been so pretty. Several issues that weren’t anticipated have affected the growth of blockchain games, and they threaten to stifle the evolution of this important aspect of the blockchain space as a whole. In short Blockchain Games have just not lived up to their mainstream cousins so far, but there is hope.

Speed

When it comes to blockchain for gaming, perhaps one of the most significant problems so far has been speed. These days, everyone wants a quality, state of the art gaming experience that doesn’t lag or provide any issues with speed and pacing. However, blockchain games that we have today are usually restricted to activities such as trading and creating assets.

Take Crypto Kitties, the most popular blockchain game, for example. The game makes it possible for players to grow and trade virtual cats on the Ethereum blockchain. While it shows a great deal of minimalism, the issue of speed still exists. The Ethereum blockchain is quite fast, but with a block time of 17 seconds, games built on the blockchain are essentially restricted to progressing at least three times per minute and that is assuming the blocks are not full causing even more delay.

User experience (UX)

Onboarding mainstream gamers into a blockchain game and then actually playing the games is certainly not a smooth process.

In the majority of cases players must download the Metamask Chrome extension wallet, generate an address, sign up with an exchange, buy ETH, send ETH to their wallet, and then they are about ready to play, after they have backed up their wallet.

Computational scalability

The advent of smart contracts was revolutionary. Code could be run on the blockchain. This has massive implications for many industries, not the least of which is finance.

However, code complexity is a bigger issue for games. Where financial smart contracts can be relatively small, video games are far more complex. As it turns out, calculating checkmate in a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain is too complex and impractical. The gas fees would be astronomical just for a simple game of chess, much less MMORPGs.

6 Reasons To Visit Cyprus

From hosting some of the world’s most historic sites to the vibrant Mediterranean culture, the many charms of Cyprus make it an irresistible destination. Here are 6 reasons why you need to include this warm island on your travel bucket list.

Seaside activities

Cyprus is known for its beautiful sandy beaches with clean waters — the European Environment Agency recognises Cyprus’s beaches as the cleanest in Europe. For swimming and other water sports, the island boasts over 40 official blue flag beaches. From each city, you can enjoy a part of the Mediterranean Sea, with the most expansive coastlines being Larnarca, Famagusta, Aiya Napa, Kyrenia, Limassol and Paphos.

Weather

Cyprus enjoys mild winters, longer summers and short autumn and spring periods. This typical Mediterranean climate is attractive, especially to Europeans wishing to escape bad weather in their home countries. There are generally at least six hours of bright sunshine every day, even in the middle of winter, giving visitors a truly pleasant climate all year round.

The Food

Food in Cyprus is situated at the crossroads of three continents — as a result, its cuisine is a mixture and refinement of a variety of Southern European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian influences. Locals are known to love vegetables, and this is reflected in the number of vegetable dishes served — whether fried or eaten raw, served cold in cream or with yogurt, or first dried and then cooked, the choice is yours. For a truly local experience, try the much-loved traditional meat or vegetable wraps fillings such as dürüm (Turkish wrap). A holiday in Cyprus wouldn’t be complete without the traditional sweets. Both the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots delight in making desserts by dipping a string of walnuts or almonds into fruit juice — mostly grape — with honey, before then being left to dry in the sun. These and other easy-to-make syrupy sweets are often served with coffee or tea.

Laidback Lifestyle

With the world becoming increasingly impatient, stress-filled and anxious, we all need to take a moment to relax and enjoy life. Cyprus offers you once in-a-lifetime carefree and slow-paced days to enjoy long walks by the beach, or to take a ride through the mountains or forests surrounded by flowers and plants.

Great for Nature lovers

If you care about Mother Nature, you can enjoy agro-tourism holidays in the heart of Cyprus. Agro-tourism holiday options offer visitors a chance to enjoy the Cypriot culture and rural life like a local. You are free to try your hand at bread making, olive picking or milking the sheep among numerous other activities. If you wish, you can also learn a craft or observe locals as they create artefacts from scratch.

You Can Cover The Island Within A Short Time

Cyprus is relatively a small island — most distances from one city to another can be covered by car, giving visitors the chance to see the island in a short time. How would you like waking up to a traditional Turkish Cypriot breakfast in North Cyprus, devouring lunch at one of the border towns after a visit to theWalls of Nicosia, then later on, enjoying the evening sea-breeze from your beach hammock overlooking the extensive Mediterranean Sea in South Cyprus as you wait for your fresh fish to bake? It’s all possible here. Cyprus, also known as the playground of the gods in mythology, is a land of plenty. Her people are warm, and their friendliness rubs off on visitors. The sun shines almost every day of the year, and the beautiful sandy beaches with clean waters makes it a perfect destination. Moreover, there is a variety of unique and healthy cuisines to pick from.

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Qawra: A Travel Guide

Qawra is a Maltese resort town popular for its coastal scenery and great value cafes, bars and restaurants. Many of its eateries are within close walking distance of a wide variety of accommodation choices. Accommodation options range from 2 star apartments to 4 star hotels and resorts, so there’s something for every budget.

Qawra is one of three adjoining villages located in the Northern region of Malta along the shores of St Paul’s Bay. Bugibba and St Pauls comprise the other two. The capital of Malta, Valetta, is only 17.6km (10.9 miles) away, making it easily accessible by public transport or the City Sightseeing Malta bus tour.

**Qawra Watch Tower (Source: google.com)**

In spite of its modern, tourist-centric image, Qawra boasts its fair share of beautiful old buildings. Qawra Watch Tower was built back in 1638 by the Order of St John. The battery was added in 1715. The tower is now home to a restaurant (Ta’ Fra Ben Bar & Restaurant), and the battery a swimming pool. Many visitors find it relaxing to take an evening stroll along the waterfront. Along the seafront you can choose from a wide variety of restaurants for an evening meal or a few drinks.

**Malta National Aquarium (Source: google.com)**

With its Mediterranean themed exhibitions, Malta National Aquarium is another must-see attraction. A major highlight is the underwater ocean tunnel, where you can walk beneath the waves without ever getting wet! Its on-site restaurant serves a selection of dishes to entice you in after a busy few hours exploring the enclosures.

The shop is well stocked with marine themed souvenirs. There is also a fenced playground for children, a cafe and public toilets in the square outside the aquarium. If you have children aged 6 to 14 years they can even sleep over at the aquarium as part of the ‘Night at the Aquarium’ tour.

**Classic Car Museum (Source: google.com)**

Whether you’re a motoring enthusiast or are simply looking to escape Malta’s summer sun, the Classic Car Museum is popular with all kinds of visitors. Discover a remarkable collection of vintage automobiles including many rare models. The whole museum is expertly laid out with vintage clothing displayed alongside the vehicles.

While wandering the streets of Qawra you may be lucky enough to time your visit with one of the many festivals of the Patron Saints. Festivals often feature magnificent firework displays, decorated streets, food stalls and entertainment.

EATING OUT IN QAWRA:

In Qawra there are a number of options for eating out. To dine somewhere with a bit of history you could try the restaurant in the 350-year-old watch tower. Local restaurants tend to have a strong Italian influence yet can cater to most tastes. For example, pizza and pasta dishes feature prominently alongside mixed grills, salads and all-day breakfasts.

There are just as many opportunities to sample local cuisine as many restaurants have local options with Bragioli (beef olives), rabbit stew and Lampuki pie (fish pie) being popular choices. Fresh seafood is a common inclusion on most restaurant menus.

Many restaurants located along the promenade offer spectacular seaside views. The Luzzu complex is one such place that’s popular among tourists both international and local. It features a cafe, restaurant and pool (lido) with stunning coastal scenery. Depending on the facilities in your accommodation you may also choose to prepare some meals using supplies from the local supermarkets.

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Celebrate Christmas In Malta

Christmas is very important to the people of Malta and its sister Island of Gozo. Most people on Malta are Catholics and go to Midnight Mass Service. Usually the churches are full with people.

In Maltese Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Il-Milied it-Tajjeb’. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.

The Churches are decorated with lights and nativity cribs, ‘Presepju’, built by the church go-ers. The cribs are decorated with figurines, called ‘pasutri’ (representing figures like the shepherds and angels). Today some of the cribs are mechanical and the figures in them move! The figure of the baby Jesus is put on the main altar at midnight on Christmas night. At Epiphany it is traditional to put the three figures of the Magi (Wise Men) in the crib. There is a group on Malta called ‘Friends of the Crib’ who help to keep the Maltese crib tradition alive.

Cribs were first introduced into Malta from Italy by rich noblemen. They were not popular at first and most were burnt. The first true Maltese crib is believed to have been made in Malta in 1617 and was displayed in the Domenican Friars Church in Rabat. In St Peter’s Monastery in Mdina, there is a crib dating back to 1670. This is treasured and looked after by the Benedictine Nuns who live in the monastery. At about the same time, another Maltese man made a crib with moving parts powered by water! As cribs became more popular they also became more ‘Maltese’ with people replacing the Italian looking buildings and trades people with local ones. (Flour windmills were and are still popular buildings to feature in a crib scene.) The first imported Italian ‘pasturi’ were very expensive and most people couldn’t afford them. So people started making their own ‘pasturi’ from rough clay and plaster. Some of these figures still exist today. (Modern pasturi are now often made of plastic.)

By the early to mid 20th century, cribs were thought of as old fashioned and not very popular anymore. To stop the decline of Christmas, in 1907, a priest called George Preca founded a children’s charity and society called ‘MUSEUM’. In 1921 he started a tradition of having a Christmas Eve procession with a life size figure of the Baby Jesus being carried at the head of the procession.

At sunset on Christmas Eve in 1921, Fra Diegu Street in the town of Hamrun was crowded with children and adults ready to take part in the first procession. In those days, street lighting was very poor in Malta and so many people brought lanterns with them to help them see their way during the procession and to shed light on the statue of Baby Jesus carried shoulder-high by four boys. The different types of lamps included, gas powered bicycle headlamps, oil lamps used on farmers carts, colored paper lanterns, Venetian lights, palm fronds and olive branches. The idea became very popular with people of all ages and so the very special Maltese traditional started. These processions are still popular today and form part of the Christmas Eve celebrations.

In 1986 the ‘Friends of the Crib’ society was formed and now they have over 500 members. Every year, in the weeks running up to Christmas, the Friends put on a exhibition of about 100 cribs of all shapes and sizes.

Maltese houses are often also decorated with cribs with ‘pasturi’ (which are small plastic or clay figures representing figures like the shepherds and angels). Large figures of the baby Jesus are sometimes put behind windows or in balconies and lit at night. Houses are also decorated with Christmas wreaths, candles and all sorts of other decorations. Every household also has a Christmas Tree decorated with light bulbs, tinsel and Christmas decorations.

It is traditional to sow wheat, grain and canary seed, ‘gulbiena’, on cotton buds in flat pans five weeks before Christmas. These are left in dark corners in the house until the seeds produce white grass-like shoots. The pans with the fully-grown shoots are then used to decorate the crib or the statue of Baby Jesus.

One Maltese Christmas tradition is the ‘Priedka tat-Tifel’ which means ‘the preaching of the child’. A boy or a girl, normally aged 7 to 10, does the preaching of the sermon at the midnight mass instead of the priest! The children learn the sermon by heart and start learning it four or five weeks before they preach on Christmas Eve. The parents are also very excited and nervous about the performance, as they would have helped the children to learn the sermon. The boy or girl tells the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and is encouraged to give their sermon a personal delivery which will touch the hearts of the church-goers.

George Sapiano delivered the first known Christmas Eve sermon by an altar boy in 1883, in the parish church of Luqa. It has also become common for local churches to organise a mini-pageant with children dressed up as shepherds, Joseph and Mary carrying a baby doll (representing Jesus) acting out the story of the Nativity. This re-enactment starts at 11pm and is followed by High Mass at midnight.

A popular Maltese carol is ‘ninni la tibkix izjed’. It means ‘sleep and cry no more’ and was written by the Jesuit Priest, Fr. Andrew Schembri (1774–1862) from Luqa for Maltese migrants in Tunis.

There is a village on Malta called ‘Siggiewi’ dedicated to St. Nicholas, who is also known as San Niklaw, of Bari in Italy and its feast is celebrated on the last Sunday of June.

Children on Malta get their presents from Santa Claus on Christmas night. Sometimes, Father Christmas comes knocking at doors early on Christmas night delivering presents!

Schools in Malta often hold a Christmas concert. Most of the children take part. It consists of Christmas Carols, plays with a Christmas theme, mimes and poetry recitals, etc. It is enjoyed by the children and teachers alike. Christmas parties are also often held in each class. Sometimes the children bring food which their parents prepare at home and it is shared with every one in their class. Gifts are exchanged and sometimes money is collected which is given to charity.

A concert and Christmas party is held every year at the Residential Home for the Disabled in Siggiewi. The residents take part in Christmas plays and carol singing helped by the people who work who work in the Home including Nuns. The Home is decorated and the atmosphere is great. The chapel is decorated with a beautiful crib with Baby Jesus. On Christmas Eve, a procession with the Baby Jesus is held and then Midnight Mass. Relatives of the residents also participate in the Christmas celebrations. Special food is prepared and the atmosphere is very happy!

Voluntary organisations also organise Carol Singing evenings in old people’s homes and hospitals, helping to cheer up the elderly and sick with the spirit of Christmas.

Under the patronage of the President of Malta, the Community Chest Fund sets up a tent in Freedom Square in the town of Valletta, where volunteers help to raise donations of cash. The donations are then distributed to charity organisations such as orphanages and other charities, which often rely on donations to continue their work in the community.

Maltese people have a wide range of food at Christmas. Traditionally, the Maltese house-wife kept the fattest capon/rooster, ‘hasi’, especially for Christmas Lunch, which was roasted at the local bakery in a casserole full of potatoes and vegetables. The traditional desert served at Christmas was the Treacle Ring, ‘Qaghqa tal-Ghasel’, and to finish it off, a hot Chestnut and Cocoa Soup, ‘Imbuljuta tal-Qastan’, which was and is served as a cosy night cap during the cold December days in Malta.

Today the traditional Maltese menu has made way for Christmas Turkey, Christmas Cakes, Christmas Puddings and Mince Pies, all inherited during 164 years of British rule (1800–1964) in Malta. Italian Panettone has also become a Christmas favorite.

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5 Foods You Must Try in Malta

Local, fresh, simple and seasonal; four important words that capture the essence of Maltese and Gozitan cuisine. Maltese food is influenced by its close proximity to Silicly and North Africayet it still contains its individuality with its own unique twist.

You’ll find an array of Mediterranean flavours with an emphasis on seafood, vegetables, pasta, meats, bread, cheese and olive oils — a lot of it! Every ‘Maltese’ dish we tried felt like it had come straight from Nanna’s kitchen. Home cooked & hearty. For the most authentic Maltese cuisine, look out for the family-run restaurants in the smaller towns.

Fenek

Rabbit stew, or as the locals call it, Stuffat Tal-Fenek, is Malta’s national dish. The rabbit is often served in one of two ways, stewed or fried. When stewed, it is a slow cooking process (over 2 hours) which allows the meat to become incredibly tender & typically fall off the bone. The stew is a rich gravy tomato based sauce and can include a variety of vegetables such as onion, garlic, carrots & potatoes. It is also commonly served with spaghetti or some form of pasta. You can find this dish at almost any Maltese restaurant. To us, it tasted and looked extremely similar to chicken but the sauce is what made it.

Gbejniet

The Maltese love their cheese, especially Gbejniet! Gbejniet is a typical, extremely versatile Maltese cheese made from goats or sheep’s milk, salt and rennet. It can be found in 3 forms; fresh, dried or cured and can be flavoured with pepper (our preference) or plain. Aside from eating this cheese as is, it is also commonly served deep fried, on salads, inside of ravioli (instead of ricotta), and occasionally, even in pies.

Hobza biz zejt or Ftira

A pretty basic, yet very typical type of crusty sourdough bread which is often found in the shape of a semi-circle. Almost like a donut! You can eat this plain with olive oil or more commonly found, it is smothered with kunserva (sweet tomato paste) and then drizzled with olive oil and topped with a choice or mix of tuna, anchovies, olives, capers, beans onion and bigilla. Personal preference on toppings with this dish!

Timpana

Carbs on carbs on carbs. The ultimate pasta pie. This baked pasta dish is made using very simple ingredients — macaroni and pastry. The macaroni is cooked in a bolognese based sauce with minced meat, bacon, tomatoes, garlic, onions and cheese and then baked in a puff pastry. It’s very heavy so make sure you’re hungry before trying to indulge in this meal!

Imqaret

Imqaret’s are a diamond-shaped deep-fried Maltese sweet treat that can be found at many corner stores and on the dessert menu at restaurants. The pastry is filled with dates then deep fried and dusted with icing sugar and served alongside ice cream. If you’re grabbing one on the go, you’ll miss the ice cream so make sure to give one a try when it’s fresh out of the fryer.

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The Parabolic SAR

The parabolic SAR attempts to give traders an edge by highlighting the direction an asset is moving, as well as providing entry and exit points. In this article, we’ll look at the basics of this indicator and show you how you can incorporate it into your trading strategy. We’ll also look at some of the drawbacks of the indicator.

The Indicator

The parabolic SAR is a technical indicator used to determine the price direction of an asset, as well as draw attention to when the price direction is changing. Sometimes known as the “stop and reversal system,” the parabolic SAR was developed by J. Welles Wilder Jr., creator of the relative strength index (RSI).

On a chart, the indicator appears as a series of dots placed either above or below the price bars. A dot below the price is deemed to be a bullish signal. Conversely, a dot above the price is used to illustrate that the bears are in control and that the momentum is likely to remain downward. When the dots flip, it indicates that a potential change in price direction is under way. For example, if the dots are above the price, when they flip below the price, it could signal a further rise in price.

As the price of a stock rises, the dots will rise as well, first slowly and then picking up speed and accelerating with the trend. The SAR starts to move a little faster as the trend develops, and the dots soon catch up to the price.

Understanding the Parabolic SAR

One of the most interesting aspects of this indicator is that it assumes a trader is fully invested in a position at any point in time. For this reason, it is of specific interest to those who develop trading systems and traders who wish to always have money at work in the market.

The parabolic SAR indicator is graphically shown on the chart of an asset as a series of dots placed either above or below the price (depending on the asset’s momentum). A small dot is placed below the price when the trend of the asset is upward, while a dot is placed above the price when the trend is downward. As you can see from the chart below, transaction signals are generated when the position of the dots reverses direction and is placed on the opposite side of the price.

As you can see from the right side of the chart, using this indicator by itself can often lead to entering/exiting a position prematurely. So, many traders will choose to place their trailing stop loss orders at the SAR value, because a move beyond this will signal a reversal, causing the trader to anticipate a move in the opposite direction. In a sustained trend, the parabolic SAR is usually far enough removed from price to prevent a trader from being stopped out of a position on temporary retracements that occur during a long-term trend, enabling the trader to ride the trend for a long time and capture substantial profits.

Markets and the Parabolic SAR

The parabolic SAR performs best in markets with a steady trend. In ranging markets, the parabolic SAR tends to whipsaw back and forth, generating false trading signals. Wilder recommended augmenting the parabolic SAR with use of the average directional index (ADX) momentum indicator to obtain a more accurate assessment of the strength of the existing trend. Traders may also factor in candlestick patterns or moving averages. For example, price falling below a major moving average can be taken as a separate confirmation of a sell signal given by the parabolic SAR.

The parabolic SARis used to gauge a stock’s direction and for placing stop-loss orders. The indicator tends to produce good results in a trending environment, but it produces many false signals and losing trades when the price starts moving sideways. To help filter out some of the poor trade signals, only trade in the direction of the dominant trend. Some other technical tools, such as the moving average, can aid in this regard.

5 Things You Must Know About Croatian Culture

Culture is everything in the Balkans. Croatian culture gets drummed into young people from an early age, an obvious hangover of centuries of occupation and having to fight for national existence. There is plenty to love in the culture, however, especially if you’re into red-and-white checkerboards. What makes the Croats stand out from the pack? In a part of the world where languages intertwine, and much of history is shared, it is culture that separates the Croats from their Slavic brethren. Here are the 5 things you must know about Croatian Culture before vacationing there:

Red-and-white checkered everything

If there is one thing that is synonymous with Croatia, it is the distinct red-and-white checkerboard design that is ubiquitous here. Whether it is adorning the jerseys of national sports teams, the faces of supporters or practically every flag in the country, there is nothing more Croatian than what the local people call the šahovnica (chessboard). The šahovnica has been the symbol of Croatia since the 10th century, although its use by the violently fascist Ustaše organisation in World War II means it is viewed with fear and suspicion by others in the region.

Soccer is life

Many fans were surprised by the Croatian national team’s run to the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but not the Croats. The beautiful game is king in Croatia and has long been a source of inspiration to ordinary people from Osijek all the way down to Dubrovnik. The love and passion are shown in how vociferously the fans protest against the ruling body and the corruption that holds back this already overachieving team.

Eat, eat, eat

Croatians are very proud of their food, and so they should be. The regional influences are embraced instead of being resisted, with little dabs of Croatian class added to great effect. The traditions of Central Europe and the Mediterranean are very much alive in the kitchens of Croatia. It might also seem like there is a never-ending supply of the stuff, and don’t be surprised to come home from Croatia with a bit of extra padding around the waistline.

Family comes first

Family is everything in Croatia. An extremely high value is placed on family relations, and they can often act as the social centre of life in the country. Children often live with their parents until they are themselves married, something that many Western visitors might find a little confusing. This isn’t quite as much about being a ‘mummy’s boy’ or ‘daddy’s girl’ as you might at first think — it is just how things have always been here. Blood is most definitely thicker than water in Croatia, whether they like it or not.

Don’t mention the war

This one isn’t particularly unique to Croatia but bears repeating nonetheless. Do not mention the war. This is little more than common courtesy, and digging up old wounds is a surefire way to create tension and anguish in what may have been a joyful room to that point. If a Croat wants to talk about their experiences, then by all means listen, but do not barge in with opinions based on hearsay from far away.

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