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Obtaining the Spanish Visa in Spain: The dream for many Indian investors

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Recently, there has been an increase in Indian citizens requesting the Golden Visa in Spain to obtain residency in our country. And for good reason – there are some great opportunities on offer for those foreigners with generous capital to invest.

This residency permit is obtained through the purchase of a building with a value of at least €500,000. The Visa Gold, as this visa is also known, is opening Spain up to a multitude of Indian citizens who have decided to invest in the real-estate sector in order to stay here, together with their families.

Why choose Spain?

Currently, many residency permits are being successfully processed for Indian investors and their closest families. It all started with the Support for Entrepreneurs and their Internationalisation Law which was approved in September 2013, seeking to revitalise the real-estate sector after the great crisis suffered in 2008. The result: the Visa Gold, also known as the Investor Visa.

This type of authorisation allows investors and their families to legally reside in Spain, and permits their entry to the European Union and the European Economic Area. This is one of the main reasons for which many Indian citizens have chosen Spain as their place of residency – although it’s not the only reason.

Our country has one of the best climates in Europe. Here, we have sun throughout the majority of the year, with pleasant temperatures – perfect for enjoying all sorts of leisure activities.

Our cuisine is varied, rich and very healthy. In fact, the Mediterranean diet is considered to be one of the best in the world. It is composed of high-quality ingredients, and its most famous dishes are particularly healthy and nutritional – such as paella or the Spanish omelette.

What’s more, in Spain, you can enjoy a great diversity of landscapes – from the exotic beaches of its islands to the spectacular natural landscapes of Galicia or Asturias. Not to mention its great cultural and artistic heritage, its thriving language, friendly people and low crime rates.  

What do you need to do to access the Spanish Golden Visa?

To obtain the Golden Visa in Spain, you’ll need to be of age and have no prior criminal record. Furthermore, the person in question must have taken out medical insurance with a private company that operates in Spain, and must not be prohibited entry from any of the countries with whom Spain has signed an agreement. 

To obtain the Golden Visa, you’ll need to make an investment of at least €500,000, free of any liens or encumbrances. This means that acquiring a building under the conditions of a mortgage will not be considered valid.

This way, the investor proves their liquidity by having sufficient money to acquire this type of building. However, to verify that this money has not come from money laundering or any other illegal activity, an investigation will be carried out – in which the investor must prove the origin of their funds. 

The initial period of this residency period is two years, and may be renewed for a further five years, with the option to request further authorisations. What’s more, during this time, there is no obligation to stay or live in Spain.

For more information about the requirements, benefits and documentation needed to request the Golden Visa in Spain, you’ll find everything you need to know at MySpainvisa.com.

The 5 Best Free Music Apps for Android in 2021

Who doesn’t love music? We can hardly find someone who is not interested in music. App developers all-round the globe keep bringing one or more music apps every month to keep the interest of their customers alive. For many of us, music is life. These developers make sure that the best service comes to us when we surf for music through their apps. Having a good music app that helps you browse for music and download or save them conveniently is a blessing in itself. Check out APKDyno for some amazing free music apps available in the market right now. 

We have listed down the 5 best free music apps for android in 2021 below. Check out the list and download your favourite app today.

  1. Music Player

Leopard V7 made ‘Music Player’ app is one of the most versatile android music app available in the market for free. It has a collection of a wide range of songs. You can get anything from romantic to devotional just searching through it. The app also allows the classification of songs as per genre, artist and a few more specifications. This way you get just the right song for your mood every time. Both audio and video modes are available at Music Player. 

Some of the features of Music Player include:

• More than 22 different types of pre-set music styles are available.

• 3 different style theme widgets.

• 22 custom backgrounds.

• Supports all kind of music file formats.

• Shake the phone once to change the song.

• Headset and Bluetooth control supported.

• Easy to search option.

  1. Pi Music Player

If your motive is to find a cross-platform free android music player, Pi Music Player is your answer. It has a great collection of both old as well as new songs. It keeps updating every new song that releases in its database. It has a clean layout that attracts most people. 

Some other features of Pi Music Player include:

• Audiobook and Podcasts support.

• 3D effect, band equalizers, and pre-sets available.

• 25 themed background with cool animations.

• Sleep timing available.

• Ringtone cutter is available.

  1. Deezer Music Player: Songs, Radio & Podcasts

Deezer Music Player is a free android app that most of us would have tried at least once. As the name suggests, it does almost everything related to music. It has songs, tunes to radio as well as supports podcasts. One of the best features of this music app is its availability of music downloading. Its clean interface makes the whole music surfing experience smooth every single time. It’s fast, so you don’t have to wait for hours to get access to the song of your choice. 

Some other features of Deezer Music Player include:

• Create your unique playlist and share them with friends.

• Beautiful layouts, band equalizers, and themes.

• Customizable theme background.

• Collection of 53 million songs to listen to.

• Song recommendations as per choice.

  1. Google Play Music

If you are an android phone lover, you already know what Google Play Music is, don’t you? Google Play Music is among the most popular music apps for android.  It has a huge collection of songs, old and new. It keeps on updating the interface for making your music surfing experience smoother than before. 

Some other features of Google Play Music include:

• Radio station networks and podcasts support.

• Collection of over 50k songs for personalised playlists.

• Collection of 35 million songs.

• Song recommendations as per your mood and taste.

• Rocket-fast search engine.

• Premium membership is also available.

  1. JetAudio HD Music Player

JetAudio is yet another android music app that has seen millions of downloads ever since it came to the market. It has a huge collection of amazing songs that attracts users all-round the world. Its simple and decent interface makes the app convenient for everyone to browse and listen to songs. JetAudio also allows you to share your playlist with your friends and family via WiFi. The whole interface is customizable, which makes it even more attractive. 

Some other features of JetAudio HD Music player include:

• Offers more than 20 band equalizers and about 32 equalizer presets.

• Awesome sound quality with many effects.

• Customizable

• 2 lock screens and 14 widgets provided.

• Notifications on updates and song suggestions.

Final Words

A Music app is a must-have for people of all ages. Music is a companion for all kind of moods and feelings. Simply open your favourite music app, tug on your headphone and leave the world behind. May it be a break-up you are moving from, studying for an exam, seeking a moment of peace or anything else, music accompanies you through all thicks and thins. Go through our list of the 5 best free music apps for android in 2021 and let us know which among all these is your favourite. Also, feel free to add any other free android music app that you like the best if it is not on the list.  Also, Gaming Beasts has all the PC Games you require to have an entertaining quarantine during this pandemic.

Games with the Worst Odds

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Gambling is like the arcade for adults. There are so many fun machines, bright colours, and a lot of people enjoying themselves, so naturally it’s all very attractive. The difference is money. The money keeps people coming back for more.

The baseline objective of going to a casino is to come out with more money than with you went. Upon first glance, the games all look pretty similar therefore the odds of winning at different games seems similar, however this is not the case. Not all games have the same odds of you taking home some extra spending money. If you are new to online casinos, here are the ins and outs of which games you want to be playing and which games you should avoid.

Slots

Slots are machines that you put your money into, push a button or pull a lever, then wait to see if the wheel lands in your favour. Whilst slots are attractive as they are easy to play, they do not have good odds. The odds of winning are around 1 in 49,836,032. These numbers do not play in your favour at all.

Some slots do have better odds than others, and the odds are shown on the slot machine you are using. If you don’t mind not winning all the time, and are just playing for the experience and passing the time, you will need an online casino that offers great slot games. According to Manekineko Casino, one of those is Joy Casino, and has a collection of slot games that should keep you entertained for hours. Generally, the higher the price to pay, the better your odds are. So whilst there are ways to strategize and increase your chances of winning, slots are not your best bet.

Wheel of Fortune

The wheel of fortune is played by placing bets on what segment the wheel will land on. This could be a 1$, 5$, 10$, 20$ or a joker segment. This is a popular game as it requires no effort at all and is simple to understand. It’s fun because it is a game of chance, and people enjoy the thrill of the risk. The odds of winning here are not good, but not the worst.

The odds of winning are between 26% and 39% depending on how you place your bets. You’re more likely to win if you bet on 1$ however, they pay-out is minimal and if you bet on joker, your odds of winning decrease but the pay-out will increase. This game is only based on chance and does not hold particularly great odds bring bringing home the money.

Keno

Keno is comparable to the lottery. You choose a set of between 9 to 15 numbers from 80 potential numbers, and every few minutes, the casino will draw 20 balls and the more numbers you have that match the numbers called, the better your winnings. This game is convenient as it is constantly happening and you can play other games whilst playing Keno.

As aforementioned, it is similar to the lottery, meaning it has a similar house edge to the lottery. The house edge for Keno is slightly less than the lottery, but still leaves you with very unfavourable odds.

Poker

Poker odds can vary quite dramatically. Poker is a game of luck because you do not know who you are up against and how good they are at poker, and you are given random cards. There is a skill and practice to poker that when done with extreme precision and wisdom, that can earn you the big bucks, however it is highly unlikely if you are not already an incredibly highly skilled poker player. Playing poker online can be tough. If you join a game that caters to large amounts of players, your odds of winning become much lower, however the prize is more. If you choose to play at a smaller table, your winnings will be smaller, but it is more likely that you might win something.

Blackjack

Blackjack is your best bet at winning the most money. Blackjack is a simple card game that doesn’t require much skill, but is still an enjoyable game. There is about a 49% chance of winning per game for blackjack, which are very favourable odds. In this game, you are playing the dealer. The dealer relies on luck just as much as the player does which creates a more even platform to win.

The game is simple, the objective is to get to as close to 21 without going over. If you are the closest to 21, you win. Playing this game is definitely a smart choice when entering the world of gambling.

7 proven tips how Instagram reels can promote your brand

Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms in today’s world. Instagram not only helps in keeping in touch with people but it is used for various other purposes these days. Some of the other purposes of

Instagram include using Instagram for business promotions. 

There are different kinds of content that can be used via Instagram to promote business brands for example it can be in the form of posts stories or video content like reels. in the present day scenario with the advancements in technology and with the introduction of three dimension (3D) four dimension(4D) seven dimension(7D) etc., it is very clear that people have started shifting their preferences from dry normal content to video content. Having understood the importance of video content we can now come to a conclusion that Instagram reels are being given too much importance these days. 

Here are 7 proven tips on how Instagram reels can promote your brand.

  1. Trailer like content

Why are trailers and promos released before the actual movies are released? because one soul creates a sense of suspense and enthusiasm amongst the audience. The concept behind trailers teasers and promos can also be used in the promotion of brands. Instagram reels are 3 to 30 seconds long video clips, this is the best time duration that can be used to create trailer-like content. When a new product is going to be launched by your brand you can create a small video clip featuring the product but not showing it fully so that it creates a sense of suspense and enthusiasm amongst the consumers.

  1. Creating new challenges 

Challenges are of great interest to people. creating new challenges will definitely help you promote your brand. everybody is fond of challenges therefore if you create new challenges people do those challenges and share it with their friends, therefore increasing the number of people who get to know about your brand. Creating new challenges is a new way of having engagement with the audience. create new challengers with innovative hashtags to promote your brand my reels on Instagram.

  1. Collaborate with influencers

influencers are those people who have the power and capability to change what other people think which even includes the purchasing decision of other Individuals. After knowing what or who an influencer is it can be understood that these influences add a very big asset when it comes to promotion of your brand. Day by day social media influencers are increasing in number, making this increase in the number of influences help in the promotion of your brand. Instagram like social media are known partly for their influences, so promoting your brand via reels on Instagram collaborating with influencers of Instagram will help you gain your real good points. 

  1. Simple but attractive content

If you want to attract the common public towards your product and towards your brand you must keep in mind that these are just common people and make your content according to their mindset. the content you make should be attractive obviously, but at the same time it should be understandable and accessible, because we’re talking about the common public here. keeping in mind the interests of the public and working according to it will help you fetch a greater number of customers and eventually promote your brand.

  1. Increase engagement

People tend to give more attention towards those pages, channels, posts and Instagram stories that show more engagement towards the audience. The Instagram pages that tend to show high levels of engagement towards their audience are more likely to be preferred than those pages who have comparatively low engagements. Increasing audience engagement is one of the main tricks that will help you promote your brand especially via social media platforms like Instagram which consists of pages that show lots of engagement and are audience oriented. You can increase your audience base by buying instagram followers from some of the best sites available. 

  1. Purchase Instagram views

In this contemporary world everybody is highly competitive. in such a place of high competition it is very difficult to get everybody’s attention, one smart way of getting people’s attention on Instagram would be to purchase Instagram views. when you buy Instagram views this will not only result in increasing the number of viewers on your post but also attract other viewers. Buying Instagram views, is one of the best expenditures you can do to promote your brand.

  1. Feature behind the scenes

People are always curious to know what’s going on. When people are shown the behind the scenes of how your product is made or anything related to the product and your brand it will attract more number of viewers and consumers because as mentioned earlier everybody is curious and wants to know what is going on. When you feature behind the scenes on Instagram reels people will find it fascinating and eventually you end up promoting your brand.

Instagram reels can be of great help to people. especially business people who wish to promote their brands. Instagram has millions of active users, in such a platform where these many people are active it is very easy to promote your business especially when it has features like Instagram reels which are very addicting and attractive.

5 Ways to Promote Your Business on YouTube Shorts

YouTube has always been one of the best video streaming platforms and is known for constantly updating its algorithms and introducing new features to keep up with the times. Be it funny stand-ups, inspirational short movies, DIYs or informative talk shows, YouTube has it all! Staying true to its fame, it has now introduced YouTube Shorts, which allows creators to upload 15-second, high-quality clips from their smartphones and entertain their viewers even more! 

This short-form video format is still in beta and has been released in the USA and India for testing purposes! If you are hoping to provide more exposure to your brand on this social media streaming platform, then Shorts can be a blessing in disguise for you! Read on to know about a list of ways you can use YouTube Shorts to expand your business!

  1. Make a mark 

You should always remember the fact that when it comes to marketing and building your brand, you need to build a great first impression to lure customers as well as subscribers. Whether you are an influencer looking to grow your personal brand online or a major corporate player, the best way to do it through Shorts is by creating content that has the potential to go viral overnight. Be it a quick overview of your business or channel, solution or expert advice on trending issues relevant to your industry or some good old hacks to save the day, make sure people realise the worth of your content in those 15 seconds and subscribe without any second thoughts. You can also make eye-catching Shorts on product overviews, your vision or goals and tips for new creators or entrepreneurs as people tend to share and save such content more often.

  1. Announce future events 

You can use Youtube Shorts to announce future product launches, Q&A sessions, upcoming talk shows, interviews, or videos and can ask the viewers to leave their questions, views, feedback or queries in the comment section so you can easily interact with them and gauge their response. This will not only help you inform your audience in advance but also give them an opportunity to share this information with their friends and family. You can also get better analytics via the views and comments on Shorts and predict how many views your upcoming video will get. You can even buy youtube views for your videos . This will not only help you plan your campaigns effectively but also help in hyping your next video or event on various social media platforms. Make sure you give brief yet self-explaining titles to your YouTube Shorts so that people know what to expect from them.

  1. Host giveaways, give shoutouts and go behind the scenes.

You can also grow your reach by hosting giveaways and contests in collaboration with other creators or brands using YouTube shorts. Use appropriate audio and text along with a brief video to share the information regarding the giveaways or contests. You can also use YouTube Shorts to announce winners, give shoutouts to the best comments on your latest videos or provide a quick update about ongoing contests, quizzes or giveaways so people don’t have to wait for your videos for a long period of time to know the results or other details. You can also upload key moments from your projects, bloopers, fun scenes from the sets and much more to form a deeper connection with your audience and build trust.

  1. Promote user-generated content 

One of the best ways to promote your business is by word of mouth and you can do so by sharing customer feedback on YouTube Shorts.  You can also share content created by your subscribers, followers or customers as part of your feedback surveys, Q&A sessions, contests or giveaways.  Hosting challenges or giveaways provide you with the perfect opportunity to use Shorts in the best possible manner (announcing winners and sharing the content created by your audience). This will not only speak volumes about your brand but also help you expand your business without actually promoting it repeatedly in every other video. Moreover, sharing YouTube shorts featuring subscribers or clients will not only help increase engagement but also build credibility among potential clients and gain new subscribers for your channel.

  1. Be consistent and authentic 

Last but not the least, the most important thing that you need to keep in mind while promoting your brand or business on YouTube is that you need to be authentic and consistent. Social media is all about finding your niche and building a community around it. YouTube Shorts can make this task a lot easier if you manage to create brief yet informative content that will help people realise the importance of your business to gain insight into your field. Adding a witty one-liner in the introduction or towards the end in every Short can also help your content stand out among the countless videos being uploaded every minute! Make sure you regularly post high-quality YouTube Shorts that contain information, catchy music, appropriate audio or text so that people can share it with others.

Now that you have a list of ways to use Shorts for promoting your business, make sure you put them to good use and do let us know which one worked the best for you! Feel free to share any other tips you found useful in the comment section below so that others can also benefit from them.

Take This Car Insurance Quiz to See How Well You Know the Ins and Outs of Car Insurance

Car insurance is often confusing and the rules are ever-changing. If you think you’ve got a good handle on the ins and outs of vehicle insurance, we’ve put together a Car Insurance Quiz to help test your knowledge!

What Does Comprehensive Coverage Not Actually Cover?

  1. Collision damage
  2. Flood damage
  3. Animal striking
  4. Car Theft

Answer: A

Explanation: Interestingly, the term comprehensive coverage is not as all-inclusive as it sounds. Comprehensive coverage is there to supplement your main collision insurance coverage and pays for any damage to your car not caused specifically by a collision. If your car is damaged by a natural disaster, stolen by a thief, or damaged by an animal, comprehensive coverage is the policy that will be paying for your damages.

What Does Bodily Injury Liability Cover?

  1. It pays for damages inflicted on another person only if they go to the hospital as a result of a crash.
  2. It pays for damages inflicted on yourself and others if either of you go to the hospital as a result of a crash.
  3. It pays for damages caused by your body or the bodies of those in your car during the accident.
  4. It pays for any bodily injuries sustained in a crash that you are responsible for.

Answer: D

Explanation: Bodily Injury Insurance is enacted when you are determined to be the one legally responsible for an accident. It covers all injuries to those involved in your crash including yourself, passengers, and the driver and passengers of other cars. The other scenarios on our list are covered by other policies but do not fall under BI Liability Coverage.

Which Factor is Not Referenced When Determining Your Insurance Rates?

  1. Driver Age
  2. Driving experience and record
  3. Vehicle color
  4. Vehicle safety features

Answer: C

Explanation: The color of your car being important in determining insurance premiums is a widespread myth. While police officers may be more likely to notice or pull over certain car colors, insurance companies do not take this into account when setting a premium. The other factors on the list all make much more of a difference in the rates you will be paying and have a large impact on your yearly insurance cost.

Do you need car insurance to own a car?

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Depends on the state

Answer: A

Explanation: Technically, you can purchase a vehicle from a dealer without having insurance for that car. A dealer will not let you leave their lot however without you first providing proof of insurance to operate the vehicle. The only caveat to this answer is that yes, you could technically buy a second-hand car from someone and drive it home without insurance, but this would be illegal and land you in legal trouble.

Can You Buy Car Insurance After A Car Accident?

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Depends on the state
  4. Only if you lie to the insurer

Answer: B

Explanation: Unfortunately, as nice as it would be, there are no car insurance companies that offer retroactive car insurance. When you purchase insurance, it can be set up to start on a specified day and time, but never in the past. Even if you were able to purchase car insurance after an accident, you’d still be in legal trouble for not having insurance at the time of the accident.

Small business owner? 4 ways to reduce your environmental footprint

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1.  Reduce your emissions from travel

An obvious way to reduce carbon emissions is to make fuel efficiency a priority or choose electric vehicles.  If you need an incentive subsidies are available to help offset the cost of new low-emissions vehicles. There is even additional help which you can access if you install a charging point at your home or place of business.

Organizations such as the Energy Saving Trust can provide a wealth of information on grants and the latest developments in carbon-neutral transportation options.

If you’re using diesel vehicles (once touted as the greenest solution), you could still cut emissions by switching to HVO fuel. HVO is a synthetic diesel fuel that can be used as a drop-in replacement for regular diesel. As it’s made from renewables, it can reduce your vehicle’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%.

2.  Increase the efficiency of your office lighting

Whether you’re working from an office or home, taking a fresh look at your lighting can make a substantial difference, not only to your carbon footprint but also to your energy bills.

Organize your space so that you’re making maximum use of natural light whenever possible: it’s been shown to improve sleep and also reduce stress. . When it’s not possible, use LED as an alternative.

Also consider use technological solutions to optimize the light in your space. Motion sensors can switch off or dim lights in unused rooms and will pay back their investment costs within a few months

3.  Reduce, reuse, recycle

The paperless office has been a dream for over twenty years, but it’s been far harder to translate into reality for many organizations.  However, in recent years, with the rise of productivity apps that allow work to be shared online, it is perhaps becoming an achievable aim.

Every stakeholder involved in your business should be aware of the priority you place on your environmental commitment. When it’s part of your values, it can also become an integral part of your branding. Every employee should become fully engaged with efforts to reduce waste, reuse whatever is possible, and make the efforts required to recycle wherever they can.  Engage them in coming up with ways to reduce the consumption of items such as water, paper, food, and packaging. Incentivize and reward creative thinking and commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of your business.

4.     Eliminate single-use plastic 

Plastic waste is increasingly recognized as a modern-day plague, responsible for polluting the oceans and sitting in landfill sites, only degrading over decades.  Therefore it makes sense to work towards removing all single-use plastic from your business. This could involve finding alternatives for packaging your products, ensuring those within your supply chain are also moving in the same direction.  Within the office, this could perhaps start with the banning of plastic cutlery, disposable plates, etc. There are easily available alternatives that can be used, so you can maintain a consistent approach to your green commitment.

To summarize, reducing your environmental footprint is a matter of choosing the areas you want to target, and addressing these with simple solutions. Small actions will soon add up.

How to Protect Your Information While Making Online Payments

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Online gambling is an industry that just keeps on giving — whether it’s the newest online slots or jaw-dropping casino bonuses, surprises are always around the corner. However, if we want to play casino games, we need to make payments online, and that’s where things can become complicated.

Unfortunately, even though online casinos use the most advanced technologies, some hackers still find ways to get a hold of your payment information. We all shudder at the thought of our personal or financial data being stolen. So, how can you protect yourself from possible cyberattacks, but still enjoy the benefits of online gambling platforms?

The answer is simple — always choose a secure and reliable payment method you’re comfortable using. Below, you can find some pointers to help you pick the right one.

Most Popular Payment Options Are Usually Safest Ones

PayPal is dominating the online gambling sector as the most popular payment method. This payment provider stands out for multiple reasons — ease of use, reduced transaction fees, speedy payments. But, above all, it’s considered to be one of the safest payment options thanks to cutting-edge technologies, powerful firewalls and top-notch data encryption. It’s no wonder why millions of online casino players name PayPal as their top choice.

They are directly connected to your bank, which means they offer secure payment transactions. If you are not comfortable depositing a large amount of money you can opt for $/€ 5 deposit casinos. Low deposit casinos are opening up a world of gaming for players that enjoy online casinos but don’t enjoy high-stakes gaming. However, if you’re not comfortable with leaving your personal information online, there are other banking options to choose from.

Other Acceptable Banking Methods

Prepaid cards, such as Paysafecard or ecoPayz, have become quite widespread among online casino players. You can safely make deposits, claim bonuses, and enjoy a vast selection of games. Compared to debit cards, they don’t disclose your personal information, meaning you can keep your anonymity while playing in an online casino.

E-wallets have gained more attention in recent years, but unfortunately, in some EU countries, the authorities recommend avoiding them because they pose a high risk for money laundering. Nevertheless, online casinos offer a decent range of e-wallets, with Skrill and Neteller being the most well-known choices.

Another option that caught our eye is a mobile payment app. These apps have become quite popular, especially with mobile gaming becoming more diffused. Mobile payment apps, such as Boku, Revolt, Apple Pay, and Payforit, provide efficient payment transactions.

Finally, bank transfers have always been a safe option for players who lean towards more standard payment methods.

Carefully Read Details of Every Payment Method

When you’re deciding which payment option to choose, there are some factors to take into consideration. As you probably know, every choice has its terms of use. So naturally, the first thing to look into is its security. Then, you should check its convenience. For instance, you can use a specific payment method for both deposits and withdrawals. Some payment providers don’t have that option.

Furthermore,  transaction speed is something you should always look into. You don’t want to waste precious time waiting for a payment to be processed. Finally, you should always compare the transaction fees between different payment methods — some of them can come with relatively high additional costs, and you want to avoid that.

In Conclusion

The bottom line is that choosing the right payment method depends on an individual. You’ll notice that some people prefer security over speed, others look for the low transaction fees, while some of them love the anonymity provided by some payment options.

In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll go for debit cards, e-wallets, or bank transfers. The most important thing is that you’re comfortable with using the chosen payment provider.

How to Find Historical Stock and Option Prices for Algorithmic Trading Strategies

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When we talk about stock and option prices, the focus is often on real-time low-latency data feeds. High-frequency trading algorithms depend on up-to-date information, and even subsecond delays disrupt trades, preventing algorithmic trading strategies from fulfilling their potential. That’s why so much time and energy is invested to ensure trading systems have the data they need, the millisecond they need it. 

But algorithmic traders aren’t interested only in the now. Historical stock and option prices, alongside a host of other data, also play a critical role.  Traders need to know what happened last week, last month, and even last decade, but it’s not as easy as you might think to get good quality data about the history of the stock, options, and futures markets. 

Why Do Algorithmic Traders Need High-Quality Historical Data?

As an algorithmic trader, you have developed a new strategy and coded an algorithm to implement it. How do you know it works? You could set it loose on the markets to see if it sinks or swims, but that’s risky. 

If you let your algorithm off the leash and there’s a coding or logic error, it might not perform as expected. But if you put too many constraints on its activity, a real-time test won’t provide the feedback you need to be confident of the new strategy. 

The solution is backtesting, which tests trading algorithms on historical stock and options data. Historical data allows traders to run their algorithms over a dataset when they already know what will happen. They observe how the algorithm would have performed in the past and use that information as a guide to how it will perform in the future. 

If the data is inaccurate or incomplete, backtesting is ineffective. Traders need a high-quality source of accurate historical data that includes all the asset classes, trading activity, and pricing information their algorithm uses. 

Four Attributes of Useful Historical Stock and Option Data

It’s easy to find services that promise to provide historical data on a whole range of markets, but it’s not quite so straightforward to locate data of sufficient quality to support backtesting results you can be confident of. 

Ideally, historical data should be:

  • Accurate: Inaccurate data leads to misleading backtesting, and because it’s often challenging to verify whether data is accurate, it’s essential to get historical data from a reputable source.
  • Normalized: If your data source provides messy, improperly structured data, you will have to invest significant time and effort to normalize and cleanse it before you can begin back-testing. 
  • Comprehensive: It’s convenient to get your historical data from a source that provides everything you need to know about a particular security. For example, if you’re interested in options, check that your historical data includes underlying prices, volume, implied volatility, greeks, surfaces, and risk slides. 
  • Compatible with your technology:  It’s far easier to backtest your algorithms with a data source that’s compatible with your current technology stack. That might be via an industry-standard database or file format, or via an SDK that makes it easy to integrate the data source with your code and testing infrastructure. 

The most accurate and consistent historical data is derived from the live market data feeds, with analytics calculated by a respected provider of high-quality market information. When you’re assessing data sources for backtesting, ensure that they conform to at least these four minimal standards. 

Finding Historical Equity and Options Pricing Data

Getting quality data is critical for testing algorithmic trading strategies. Historical data allows you to determine if the strategy would have worked over a known period of time. The more accurate that data is, the more confidence you will have in the trading strategy. The less you have to do to make the data usable, the quicker you can get to the testing. 

Do the research ahead of time to make sure you are getting the data you need to be confident in your algorithmic trading strategy.About the Author: Craig Iseli is the Chief Operating Officer of SpiderRock, a SaaS solution for institutional portfolio managers to implement the trading and risk management of systematic, multi-asset strategies. Their data products are used by many institutional portfolio managers to enhance trading strategies

Yerkin Tatishev: “Employee Satisfaction is Key to a Successful Business”

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According to Yerkin Tatishev, founder of Kusto Group, companies must prioritize the well-being of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic to emerge as winners.

After two decades as the founder and chairman of the multi-national Kusto Group, Yerkin Tatishev shared his insights on developing a successful business in a recently published op-ed.

Tatishev views a healthy company culture as well as employee satisfaction and freedom as the cornerstone of building a fruitful firm.

“Our top management does not control the work of other employees but determines the vector of the development. We completely trust the specialists that we have hired. We employ people who know how to take responsibility and deal with consequences,” Yerkin Tatishev says.

“They constantly generate new tasks and, in a good way, change the company. All employees know that they can come and offer improvement in any process – even in the setting of tasks and budgeting. We will listen and most likely agree to try and implement this change,” he elaborates.

Companies will benefit from employee freedom

Good leadership and having the right leader also plays a significant role, according to Tatishev.

He remembers when his company bought the leading Israeli manufacturer of paints and drywall, Tambour, during a time when the company was facing serious financial troubles.

“But we saw potential in it, we just decided that the right leader was missing, so a person was sent to improve the performance. In just 24 months, we saved it from dozens of debts and tripled its profits,” says Tatishev.

He acknowledges that Kusto’s gamble on Tambour could have failed, but he considered the risk and accepted the challenge.

“It seems to me that now the ability to accept challenges is especially important. Kusto Group is constantly developing and testing hypotheses. This allows us to find non-standard solutions,” Tatishev adds.

He believes that in the new reality brought by COVID-19, companies cannot remain static. Increasing the amount of freedom for employees will result in more adaptive planning and diverse hypotheses.

In that way, the company has a higher chance of surviving.

“The task of top management is literally every day and every hour to track changes and try to figure out how to use them for the good of the business,” he stresses.

Yerkin Tatishev: “Companies’ true faces come out during crises”

While Yerkin Tatishev thinks that employee satisfaction is always essential for the success of a company, he especially thinks it is important during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Those companies which have taken decisions that put their employees, rather than the bottom line first, are in the strongest position to recover now that multiple vaccines are starting to come,” Tatishev says.

For Kusto Group’s leadership, the way the company treats its employees during times of adversity is the true measure of its culture and potential for long-term growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a moment for employees around the world to review and consider what they want and value in their work lives.

“This will be of critical importance in the competition for talent and lasting competitive advantage,” he says.

Having your employees’ backs

Yerkin Tatishev stresses that reacting to a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic can reveal the best and worst aspects of a company.

“Companies with brittle cultures will see their skilled workers move elsewhere, and they will see lasting damage to their reputations,” he explains.

Kusto Group strives to always support its employees.

“And we believe that the best way to have a high-impact workforce is to give all our team members a sense of community,” Yerkin Tatishev adds.

That sense of community and support has been vital through the COVID-19 pandemic, he says.

“By not taking shortcuts that result in temporary job losses and maintaining constant communication,” says Tatishev, “our team members around the world know that Kusto Group has made them the priority.”

One of the methods that Tatishev uses to make his employees feel valued is to foster a sense of entrepreneurship among the workers.

“This boosts our creative output, helps prevent stale and unimaginative thinking, and provides employees with a sense of ownership over their areas of work,” he explains.

“This has been essential to the establishment of a culture where employees feel a sense of belonging to not just a company that pays them a wage,” he continues, “but develops their skills and values their input, especially in times of hardship and turmoil.”

Despite this, he understands that some companies want to save money, increase efficiency and scale back investments during and after times of crises, but he emphasizes that transparency is key to employee satisfaction.

“Sharing insights into the nature of the challenges and therein treating your employees as stakeholders in the company, with their own concerns and anxieties, is what sets apart the good from the bad,” Yerkin Tatishev says.

He is sure that companies that have failed to focus on the well-being of their employees during the world health crisis will not emerge as winners after the pandemic has passed.

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