Let's take a look at the other country I visited "down under" -- Australia. I spent a week in Sydney, nearly a week in Hobart (Tasmania), and another four days in Melbourne, so I got to see a good part of the country.

Generally, Australia strikes me as a hedonistic, fun-loving country. It's also going through a fantastic bull market, both in commodities and the stock market. For example, we had large numbers in attendance at my workshops in Sydney, which usually only happens during bull markets. I also learned about CFDs (contract for difference) which allow you do buy equities at a huge leverage -- and you pay interest on what you borrow. I heard lots of stories about people with $15,000 buying $15,000 worth of CFDs, fully leveraged with the idea of making a fortune, only to find that they lost their $15,000 very quickly. People just don't understand the risk in leveraged instruments. However, if you understand R-multiples and position sizing principles that I've already mentioned in other posts, you'll learn that 1% risk means 1% and it doesn't matter whether you are trading equities, futures, forex, options, or CFDs.

Hopefully, must Australian friends will all read those posts and make sure you understand that. My understanding is that CFDs are an export (to Australia) from England. They were developed by the gambling establishment because gambling profits are not taxed in England (and many other countries) so when it was possible to invest in something that was developed by the gambling community (instead of the brokers), everyone went for it.