sexta-feira, 29 de fevereiro de 2008

Retire With a Little Help From the Stock Market

When designing a stock-based retirement investment plan, you can count on two things- risk and uncertainty. However, the risks and uncertainties involved in stock trading certainly have benefits. The return on investment in stock based investment plans far out paces the returns on investment of certificates of deposit, Passbook Savings Accounts and savings bonds. By taking advantage of the risks and benefits of the stock market, you can achieve maximum return on your investment.

The main goal for your retirement investment plan should be complete financial freedom. A solid plan that takes inflation in account can provide you with a steady income that will allow such financial freedom throughout the length of your retirement. A well designed plan will also allow you to do this without disturbing your principle investment.

It takes discipline to achieve your retirement financial goals, but it having financial goals that are specific and clear can help maintain that discipline. Even with discipline, your retirement investment plan should not become a financial burden on you. Your ideal plan will require as little as $100 to start and only $10 a quarter to keep the plan working toward your goal. With a little discipline and forethought, the retirement invest plan can increase in value at the end of each fiscal year until you reach retirement. With proper planning, your investment plan can withstand the natural price stock price fluctuations.

Your retirement investment plan shouldn't be an untested plan. Your retirement investment is too important to be risked for an untried scheme. It should have a past history of documented success. With past successes, you can have the confidence to maintain the plan and achieve your goal. By maintaining the investment plan yourself, you avoid the high fees that can cut into your return. You can reinvest the savings and watch your plan grow.

If you work for a company that has its own retirement investment plan, be sure that the plan has a solid record of rising yearly dividends. A retirement investment plan with dividend increases for a number of consecutive years can be reasonably expected to continue its strong performance.

Another consideration when thinking about a company sponsored retirement investment plan is the rate of commission. Ideally, the plan will be commission-free. With a commission-free plan all profits from quarterly cash dividends can be reinvested and can make the value of your retirement plan grow.

quinta-feira, 28 de fevereiro de 2008

A Guide To Global Forex Trading

No matter how hard it is to believe, but the fact is that the global forex trading market is far more lucrative than the equity market. The foreign exchange market is a place where currencies of different countries are bought and sold. The market is operational from 1970 when the concept of floating currencies and free exchange rates were introduced.

If you head to the website, http://www.globalforextrading.org/ you will see more about the global forex trading market. While it is not as well known as the equity market, it's still a high value market with it's daily trading over $2 trillion dollars.

There are many reasons for this kind of success in forex trading. First and foremost, the market remains open 24/7 due to the fluctuating nature of currencies. You can trade any time you want to. This is a major difference from the equities market where trading can happen only during the market hours.

Secondly, in stock trading, you can trade with either the money you have or at best with double leverage if you open a margin account. But in forex trading, you can obtain a leverage of twenty to fifty times, and sometimes even up to a hundred times!

As you know, leverage can be a great trading tool, and if you train yourself properly to use this tool on the forex trading market you can gain a major edge in the market. While the concept of getting that edge is tempting, you should also be careful and proceed only after you know what you're doing.

Anything that brings in heavy profits also stands the risk of heavy losses. Unless you are extremely careful about how you use the leverage, you can land up being totally bankrupt too. On the other hand, you can use this tool to become a millionaire, also. You must try to learn more about it. You will find the details at http://www.globalforextrading.org/forextrading.html.

Before jumping into trading on the global forex market, you need to have a plan. Analyze the market, know what is happening and know how you will work your trading. This market is very speculative and you need to be ready to stick with brainpower to run your trades, not experimentation.

If you need a strategy to play the global forex trading market with, go with ones that are tried and true. There are a number of Forex charts and graphs out there that can give you a good grasp on what the market does and how it reacts to various influences. There are also a lot of tutorials or training sessions that may give you additional information.

You need to keep educating and updating yourself. The more knowledge you soak in, the better position you are in to profit from the market. You can also set up a system of your own and stick to it. Try not to venture into margin trading in the initial stage. Beginners lose maximum money in the margin-trading scenario. You must keep in mind the volatile nature of the market before plunging in.

quarta-feira, 27 de fevereiro de 2008

E-Currency Exchange: Success for Home Business Beginners

The idea of setting up a profitable and successful home business has become an increasingly attractive prospect for many people over that last two years, and why wouldn't it be? The promises that many home business packages offer, drive many people down this road, assuring you that if you just invest in their system, they will give you the key to unlock all the wealth you could have hoped for.

Unfortunately this rarely happens, people become frustrated with the multifaceted and complex system they have just devoted their hard earned cash to, and sadly give up.

Regrettably, these people, just like me had fallen into the trap of becoming overawed by the amounts of money pledged by the creators of these schemes. 'Make $23,450 every day', 'Set up this system and begin generating your 7 figure income with no work required'. In the chaos of searching for a genuine, straightforward business opportunity, the glare of these promises often distracts from the subtle adverts offering you an authentic and honest shot at creating a profitable income stream.

I have personally spent a grand total of $7,895 trying to find a system that will do for me exactly what it guarantees and stick by me when I'm lost and need help. These diamonds in the rough are in short supply and are not easy to spot when you're starting out.

The qualities that each system had accessible eventually became far more important than any assurance of overnight wealth. The program I managed to finally get my teeth into and make work in my favour, offered live phone and email support, video tutorials and free updates to all the training. They even offered to implement the system for you if you were really struggling! I would never recommend or advise on any system if they didn't contain all of these essential features.

The industry I ultimately settled on was e-currency exchange. This is a business sector that has experienced a massive growth over the past couple of years. The money making element of this system, relies on transactions taking place online. With more and more people using the internet every day to conduct their purchases, this niche in the market will continue to go from strength to strength.

This money making scheme works by temporarily lending a sum of money to companies such as Paypal, E-Bullion and E-Gold, allowing them to trade. When the customers of these businesses make their purchases online, they are charged a commission fee. As a reward for your investment, you gain a proportionate amount of the daily profits. This can be anywhere from 0.5% to 5% of your initial investment every day.

The amount of money you can initially make does depend on the size of your investment, however if you are able to reinvest all the profits you make from this system then your assets will grow much faster.

The proportion of risk involved in any system you put your money into, should be carefully analysed by everyone who is serious about a genuine home based business, and it subsequently forms the basis of one of the most frequently asked questions. I can tell you that the process of achieving life's dreams and luxuries does not pass by without risk. However when you research and enquire of the systems used, it should become obvious that there are very sophisticated methods employed to reduce any risk to an absolute minimum. Like every sensible investor, I would advise to only to invest what you can afford to lose.

Starting out in this ruthless industry can be quite daunting and, failure can result in either a broken bank balance or crushed self-confidence. My aim is to try and reduce the number of people out there who have to go through what I did to get where I am today. I don't want the immoral money making schemes out there to defeat the self belief you have in yourself to really make a go of any home business you choose, because success really is a possibility.

segunda-feira, 25 de fevereiro de 2008

The Importance of Forex Trading Signals

Why are Forex trading signals important? After you are happy with your 'demo' account, you will want to start trading. However, the truth is that you would not have trained yourself properly in Forex trading. These services are offered by either brokers or professional traders or some market analysts through desktop or pager alerts, emails and SMS. They may provide additional automated alerts also, it is important to look at any extra features provided. You have to pay either a quarterly or monthly fee depending on the broker you choose. These fee may vary from one Forex signal service provider to another, however, they would range anywhere between $50 and $250.

It is always better to subscribe to these Forex trading signals as you need not spend time in monitoring the market for entry and exit points. However, it is also essential to analyze the track record of the Forex trading signal provider before subscribing, to ensure that the majority of the time, they were right, and the track record is reliable.

One of the main advantages of using Forex trading signals is that you need not worry about analyzing the market. This is taken care of the Forex trading signal providers. They also tell you the entry and exit point by monitoring and analyzing the market.

As I said, this is a paid service and in general, they offer Forex signal services to leading currency pairs like EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY. For some providers, you may have to pay an additional fee to get signal services for other currencies or pairs that are not used often or in other words, rare. Few providers will also provide you with the charts that they use for taking these market decisions.

Even though, Forex trading signals help you in minimizing risks or losses in Forex trading, it is vital that you have self-confidence that you can do good trading and can gain profits. Never do trading when you feel insecure.

I would recommend subscribing to these Forex trading signal services at least till you have gained confidence in trading or if you do not have the time to monitor and analyze the market. It can help you develop your trading strategy as you observe how another, successful trader operates.

Happy trading!


Why Do Even The Best Forex Trading Systems So Frequently Fail?

So why do some Forex Traders fail? I've been thinking long and hard about that.

On the day I started forex trading (years ago), I thought that I would quite soon be in the money. I was entering a multi-million dollar online business where a smart lad like me just couldn't fail to make loads of easy money. Yes, I had read that more than 90% of forex traders fail, but hey - I'm different - I'm a college graduate! If I took time to learn the best forex trading techniques and carefully avoided the obvious pitfalls, I'd be a top forex trader in no time at all!

To start off I had invested a lot of money in the very best forex training course I could find, it was a complete set of 13 dvd's, and cost me in excess of $4500. I recall that there were over 13 hours of best-quality forex tuition, several useful software applications and some free forex signal software, and everything was already set up and ready to go with my passwords etc I also received an established spread-betting account. Now that was very handy indeed, I could now take advantage of tax free trading!

I also got access to the author's private web site and could review his daily progress. Every evening I would review his trades and listen to his comments, and learn how many pips he had made (or lost). Most days he made around 20 - 35 pips - mostly in the GBP/Dollar market. So I thought, if he can do it, I can do it! This would be very easy!

The forex course covered every facet of trading, including preparation to trade, keeping records, no-money paper-trading, as well as the psychology of the forex trader. I carefully watched the entire dvd set which took me about two days. After that, I watched some of the dvds again, mostly those covering actual forex trades and particular forex techniques. I was ready to begin.

I opened and funded my spread-betting account (another $4,000 but hey, what the hell.). Oh, and I began to dream about the latest Mercedes and Ferrari cars - not long now.

That was a few years ago. So do I now have even one of the cars or the boats I dreamed about? Well actually - no! Have I made pots of money? Again, and very sadly, not so far! To be honest I've lost quite a lot of money! I do still retain the confidence I originally had in forex as a great way to make a really serious online income, because I've met and talked with such a lot of wealthy forex traders. I still believe that I can do it because I've seen it happen repeatedly. I decided it must be my trading system, what else could it be?

I put my hand deep into my pocket and spent more money, I purchased the top web-based systems - but only after I'd painstakingly checked out their testimonials from other users and satisfied myself that other traders were really making good money using them. I bought forex trading books, I bought forex training books, I even bought books listing and comparing forex systems. I then bought another forex training course. I studied several day-trading systems comparing them to longer-term systems. I was absolutely determined to succeed in making money by forex trading.

I must be making money by now then? No, not yet! But I think I am beginning to understand where the problem is and why I've failed so pathetically. It pains me to admit it, but I think the problem may be ME? Little old me? Naah, impossible!

I had begun to realize that my own trading methodology was letting me down. Even when I used a tried and tested trading system, I still managed to lose money. And for a very long time, I hadn't even recognised it. So I did yet more research.

I now appreciated that it is quite possible to obtain successful forex-trading systems for not much money by going online, and that even the best forex training courses aren't expensive compared to the potential rewards for doing it right. There are many inexpensive forex resources and plenty of training available on the web and it is entirely possible for anyone to set up to trade forex online, and then to make some steady money. This massive resource is working for many other people, but not for me.

Almost? Almost? What's missing then? What's the difference between a winner and a loser in the forex world? Who else could I consult about becoming the total and complete trader? I didn't take long to work that one out!

Once I took the blinkers off I realized that it had to be me. I had to admit to myself that I am not nearly as clever as I thought - I soon identified a whole boat-load of personal deficiencies that prevented my success. Words like resolution, concentration, dedication, honesty, self-discipline, all came into my mind. I had not used sufficient of any of them!

So I bought another booklet. It was a free bonus included when I bought some trading software from my favorite forex site. This booklet didn't even attempt to tell me how to win with forex trading systems, it dealt only with the magic ingredient that was missing from the cerebral toolbox of quite a few forex traders, and is probably why the majority of them go on losing money. (Come to think of it, it's missing from the cerebral toolbox of traders in almost every other market too).

What did I learn? Well - it was obvious that the problem is inside of my head! Like the majority of forex traders I am just unable to stick to the systems I have learned. That's why I (and most forex traders) continue to fail. But luckily my new booklet not only pointed out my problems, it also showed me some quick (and obvious) solutions. I'm trading a lot more profitably right now.

I owed a favor to the site owners, so I've re-written their little booklet and expanded it. They're still giving it away freely to purchasers of anything on their site. It's now called The Missing Link, and it's still free and it's still worth every cent.

domingo, 24 de fevereiro de 2008

Are You An Investor or Trader?

Securities investment falls under the broader umbrella of bond and stock market investing. Apportionment of investments depends on the level of risk you are comfortable with. Investment in bonds has less risk of loss than stocks, but also less potential for gain, particularly during periods of inflation. On the flip side of the coin, stock market investing has more potential for high yields, but with no guarantee against loss, since stock prices are more volatile.

You should invest partly in bonds and the balance in stocks. If you are older, invest less amount of money in stocks and more in bonds. However,if you are young,you should invest more in shares of companies. Choose those companies for stock market investing that have growth potential and proven track potential.

Shares come in different sizes and categories. There are large, mid and small caps and there are penny stocks. As a beginner, you can invest in large and mid cap companies and only after you gain experience, you can consider investing a small portion in small caps and hot penny stocks. These are the riskiest but if handled adroitly, give the largest returns. However, it needs expertise and nerves of steel.

Stock market investing is not something you jump right in; you have to start spending time to learn the basics of stock market investing and its various aspects. As you gain knowledge, start investing small amounts of your money over a period of time rather than investing all the money at one go.

If you're looking for a simpler investment strategy than stock trading, consider investing in bonds. Top-rated government and corporate bonds are easily available from your local banker or broker. Keep in mind, though, that bond investing yields gain over a longer time span. The nature of the stock market makes share investing appropriate for not only short-term investors, but also those who have an extended time frame.

Do not consider the tips from others on which share to buy especially in the case of riskiest investments such as hot penny stocks. You can consider these risky investment options only after thorough research on the company concerned and all other related factors has been done. Have a good time investing!

sábado, 23 de fevereiro de 2008

Online Currency Trading Requires Patience

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This adage often brings back the memories of my past days when I was trading initially in the currency exchange market. Indeed, there’s nothing more hurtful than losing your invested money in the FX market. But, online currency trading is like life where you’ve got to learn from your wrong moves and keep moving on. Learning the basic skills of online forex trading could be easy but, practically, one needs to acquire the advanced skills to play safe through thick and thin of FX trading.

I have traded in forex for many years and, if you count on me, I must tell you that the secret of successful trading lies largely on the hunch and intuition of a trader. Technically expressed, you should have the accurate forex alerts and forex signals to be able to make the right moves in the currency market. However, this is easier said than done as the skills of the online currency trading takes a long time to master. This is why while a few people are able to boost their forex pips in a short span of time, the others take a long time to achieve the same or maybe, some of them get frustrated and just give it up! The reality is that not many people are ready to be entirely devoted to the perilous process of online forex trading.

Having said this, I still wonder why some people choose to be a dare-devil and risk their money instead of simply following an established and renowned online forex trading broker system. I began trading in 1997 and there is one important thing I have learnt in my trading career so far, i.e., you have to got to be patient to learn the tricks of making right moves at the right times and profit from your trading.

Since I have led quite a successful career in forex trading, I have been sharing the tips and tricks of online currency trading with many traders around the world through my G7 Forex Trading System which as you know has remained pretty successful for many traders so far. My G7 Forex Trading System is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step trading manual offering in-depth online forex trading review.

sexta-feira, 22 de fevereiro de 2008

5 Simple Steps to Turn You Into an Elite Forex Trader

These 5 simple steps will help turn you into a confident, disciplined Forex trader. By using the steps outlined below you can be in the top 10% of all Forex traders. That would be the few that actually make money.

There are going to be two things you notice about these steps:.

They are obvious.
They are simple.

All aspects of Forex trading should fall into those two categories. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes I see Forex traders make is trying to learn and use too much.

However, that is for a different discussion. Back to the 5 simple steps.

Step 1 - Get Yourself Ready To Trade

In my experience with hundreds of traders I have been amazed with how few of them know how to get their game faces on.

They forget trading is a job. The greatest one in the world, but a job nonetheless. It's difficult for them to be self motivated. Like the majority of the world they need someone over their shoulder telling them what to do.

So, find anything in or around you that can be used to prepare to trade.

Take a shower
Drink coffee
Stretch
Read a book
Do Yoga
Anything to clear your mind

Once your mind is clear, move on to Step 2.

Step 2 - Look over your last few trades

Your trading success, just like the Forex itself, will have momentum and patterns. As you gain experience you will learn to see YOUR patterns. You might catch yourself making the same mistakes time and time again.

As you will learn later, you should be keeping a journal of all your trades. I don't mean the records that come with your trading software. Your journal should be as specific as it can be.

Why did I enter a trade? Why did I exit a trade? Was I near support? Was I near resistance?

Just to mention a few of the questions that your journal should answer for every trade. Take note of any repeated mistakes you have made over the last few trades.

Once you have recognized any trading trends, move on to Step 3.

Step 3 - Fundamental and Technical Analysis

Fundamental analysis refers to anything other then price action. In our case it means news.

Technical analysis refers to anything that is related to price action. Price itself, formulas, patterns, etc....

There is a reason why I mention both of those in one step. I wouldn't waste an entire step on fundamental analysis. It doesn't take me 3 minutes. I look to see what piece(s) of news are being released today in order to determine what kind of volatility to expect in the upcoming session.

This helps me when determining which support and resistance levels I expect to come into play.

As far as technical analysis goes. I don't care what tools, indicators, charts you look at. However, be consistent. Don't use MACD and CCI one night, and RSI and Stochastics another. Don't keep changing the length of your moving averages, or switch from simple to weighted to exponential.

The fact is, find what makes the most sense to you. I think it's great to understand what these indicators mean, but there is no need to over analyze.

I would like to add one thought here...use Fibonacci Lines.

Once you have finished your analysis, both fundamental and technical, move on to Step 4.

Step 4 - Money Management (Determine your trade size)

You should have a very well defined money management system. For example, never risk more then 4% / 5% / 10% of your account on one trade. Increase your trade size by one mini for every $400 / $800 / $1,200 in profit.

It has always astonished me how randomly some traders make these decisions. They change their approach day after day. This is a sure fire path to failure.

Determine what makes the most sense to you and stick with it.

Again, I'd like to add in a thought here. You shouldn't be trading a live account until you can consistently make money in a demo account. At least 2 straight weeks of profit, and not because you made $10,000 one day while losing money in 9 out of 10 days.
So, assuming you are trading a live account, adjust your position size to meet your predetermined formula.

Once you have determined your trade size, move on to Step 5

Step 5 - Make the Trade!!!

You have done all your homework. You have used all your skills and knowledge. The only thing left is to make the trade.

By now, you know exactly what you expect to happen with the currency pair you are watching. You just have to stay patient until your opportunity arises.

However, once it does, pounce on it like a lion on its prey. Do not hesitate when you see exactly what you expected to see.

Be sure, of course, to place a stop order either with your entry order or immediately after. Also, if you have one, be sure to place your profit target.

Once you enter or exit your trade, start writing. Record your trade in a journal, with all reasons for entry and exit. Be as specific as possible. You will be amazed how much valuable information you will gather over time.

Using these 5 steps you should be able to make drastic strides in your Forex trading. If, however, you are not comfortable with any part of your trading it is imperative that you consider a Forex trading course.

Remember, you are only as good as your knowledge and your knowledge is only as good as your education.

quinta-feira, 21 de fevereiro de 2008

What is Forex Trading and is it for me?

Forex trading is the leading economic marketplace on the planet exceeding $2 Trillion daily and can be an exceptionally rewarding, yet unpredictable and perilous marketplace. Trading is not only accessible to major investors but less significant dealings, called mini lots are offered to let smaller traders have a go at trading. The word Forex comes from joining the words, foreign and exchange.

Forex trading is trading actual currencies at today's exchange rate with banks and is speculative, just like investing in other assets like stocks, unit trusts, real estate and so on. It is expressed in currency pairs, where one currency is the base and one is the counter or quote currency, for example: US dollars and Euro or US dollars and UK sterling. The major currency pairs are Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) and US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), British Pound/US Dollar (GBP/USD) and US Dollar/Swiss Franc (USD/CHF). It is all about putting your money into other currencies, so you can gain the interest for the night, for time period or the difference in trading money all around.

Forex trading allows you to leverage more funds than you actually have by letting you put effectively a deposit on the purchase of a lot (Usually, a standard Forex lot is worth $100 USD) or a mini lot (Usually a Forex mini lot is worth $100 USD). This all depends on the margin you are trading at. For example if you purchased a lot of $100 USD by using the power of leverage you would pay $1 if you had a margin of 100 to 1.

It is a very interesting method of trading simply because it allows people from all over the world the chance to trade and strike it rich in a market that has untold liquidity. However it is a serious business and it is vitally important that you are properly educated and informed before committing your hard-earned money to the markets. Forex trading is a difficult concept to grasp, but it has a lot of going for it once you have grasped the concept.

Although very nerve wracking at times, Forex trading can be great fun to do. Also, when done correctly, it can also be very profitable in a short period of time. In part, this is because the Forex market operates throughout the world 24 hours a day for 6 days a week so there is nearly always trading opportunities to be taken. As well as this, regardless of whether a currency exchange rate is going up or going down, you can either buy or sell (even if you do not own that currency) and make a profit if the change continues in the right direction.

Trading on the Forex markets does take a lot of practice but this can easily be picked up by anyone with enough training. Although it may take some longer than others to learn, it can be very profitable once you know how to do it right.

Before embarking on trying to trade on the Forex marketplace, you will need to take several months researching how to trade. During this time you will need to watch the market and make sure you understand fully what is happening any why. Once you feel comfortable that you can understand what is going on, and then you should go ahead and do some practice trading with one of the many demonstration systems out there, using practice accounts so you will not have to risk any real money until you are ready. A major pointer here is to remember that Forex trading is high risk as well as high gain so you should only use money that you can afford to lose once you try trading for real. If you can only risk a small amount of money to start, then mini Forex trading would be the suggested route.

As already mentioned, Forex trading is a high risk, high gain business. When you first start to trade you will undoubtedly make mistakes the same as everyone else starting out. The key is to have nerves of steel and carry on trading by learning from your mistakes. Eventually you will be able to recognise the signals being fed back from the Forex marketplace and be able to act upon these to minimise the number of mistakes you make and also then minimise any possible risk.

quarta-feira, 20 de fevereiro de 2008

Increase Your Forex Pips When The Market is Down

The 14 week ATR (Average True Rate) for the Euro has hit an all time low in the last 21 years. This clearly indicates that the trading ranges between currencies especially Euro and USD have shrunk considerably and this does not augur well for the forex trading market at all. However, the investors should not lose heart as this current situation is just temporary and, I’m pretty sure that things will look up after some time. After all, this is just a part and parcel of online forex trading and the investors have to be a bit patient till the currency trading market sees through this period.

I’d like to advice the investors to be a bit more watchful and defensive in their approach this time around because of such low daily movements. However, they should remember that this volatility is somewhat cyclical and this could also go up in the near future. In the same breath, I would say that the possibility of a U-turn in the existing forex trading signals can not be ruled out either. In fact, if there were no movements in the FX trading market, then it would be quite difficult for the investors to make profits, right?

However, now the major question that could be playing in your mind is whether and for how long the weakness of the USD against the Euro will linger. The dollar once again has registered a record low and this has set off a lot of questions in the minds of the currency trading investors. This has largely been the reasons why the volatility has gone down drastically in the currency market this time around.
Though this quite sounds like blowing my own trumpet, I would say that the investors using my online forex trading broker system are in the safe zone even during this bleak phase. The forex trading system developed by me offers precise, clear and accurate forex day trading signals to the investors enabling them to make right moves.

Let me tell you why it has been so successful in the currency trading market. My forex trading system has been developed after exhaustive technical research, rigorous testing and years of live trading for major currencies in the market. Many subscribers of my system were quite novice about forex trading when they started off trading, but most of them have already improved their forex pips ever since they began using my system.

terça-feira, 19 de fevereiro de 2008

How To Make A Well-Balanced Investment Portfolio

Getting a good investment portfolio is something that everyone needs who does any kind of investing. Having a good spread of investments is also a good idea, in the event that one area of investments takes a loss. Here are some tips about how to get an investment portfolio that is well balanced and should enable you to weather most storms.

By investing in only one area of the market, you are more apt to run into a larger loss if that part of the market does poorly during a given time period. On the other hand, if you diversify enough, other profitable areas can make up for poor growth in one area. This allows you to continue doing at least reasonably well in some areas - in other words - all is not lost.

Diversify Into More Than Type of Market

A balanced portfolio will not resort only to trading in various types of stocks, but should also include some items that are more financially sound, even though they may not yield such a high increase. To your stock trading, you need to include bonds, trust funds, and possibly even property. The principal, simply stated, is that you do not want to risk losing everything. Though the interest rates are not as good on the bonds, yet they are stable and will provide a good hedge against loss - even in a rather economically strapped time. Trust funds do even better with interest than bonds, they are much more stable than stock in general, but they also can have their bad days, too.

A general rule in investing in stock is that you should never invest more than you want or can afford to lose. The reason is obvious - you could lose it all. But by taking a percentage of your investments and dividing them up between these various investment instruments, you should be able to gain a much more stable portfolio, and still end up with some for retirement.

Market Transactions By Sectors

The market is generally made up of a number of sectors - each one consisting of several groups of industries, and each one with their own share of stability and instability. While one sector, such as telecommunications, may not be doing as well as it once was, other areas may really be thriving. Only by a constant watching of the market will you be able to discern these developments, and know which one is worth investing in. A safer way to pick stocks is to be careful what advice you receive (the best being those who have successfully traded for years), as well as the means used to determine which ones are "good investments."

Instead of just going out and buying the stock of a particular company, it is a real good idea to use stock options. These "tickets" (my word for a call option, or a put option) allow you to be ready to make stock purchases or sales, depending on what you want to do. They can save you a considerable amount of money and give you a window to see what may transpire with the company you are looking at. For instance, if you buy a "ticket," and it costs you $400, you have a window of opportunity that will give you a little time to make your transaction. It is not an actual commitment to do so - just a readiness. Instead of just going and buying that $5,000 worth of stock, and possibly losing thousands, by using this ticket method, you may only lose the cost of the ticket.

Learn the Options Available To You

When you want to create a really stable portfolio, it is a real good idea to make a strong effort to learn all you can about the various techniques of investing, understanding the stock market and mutual funds, as well as products that you can successfully invest in. You may even want to invest in foreign properties, such as in Costa Rica, or consider the FOREX (foreign exchange) market.

segunda-feira, 18 de fevereiro de 2008

Get Investment Money For Your Dreams

Finding and securing investment money for an Internet business can be tough. Just ask many of the dotcoms out there today. The entire process of building your business plan, coming up with potential investors and sealing the deal can be overwhelming, especially since many Internet businesses these days are one person companies operating out of one's home.

In order to get through the financing process relatively unscathed and with additional capital for your business, you must accept first and foremost that it will take time. While we may live in the computerized age, where information is transmitted in a matter of seconds and the other side of the world is just a point and click away, it may seem equally likely that securing investment money should be just as simple and speedy. But that is simply not the case.

According to Dave Lavinsky, President of Growthink.com, it can take between 500-1000 hours to prepare, seek out and secure financing for a business. Knowing this ahead of time can save you a lot of grief, and allow you to budget your time accordingly.

What is Financing?

According to Dictionary.com, financing is "the act or process or an instance of raising or providing funds." Investorwords.com defines it as meaning "providing necessary capital." Regardless of definition, financing is a necessity for most businesses. The old adage, "it takes money to make money" still rings true, making it quite a necessary to seek out investment money whether from a SBA loan, a venture firm, or other sources.

Why Financing is Vital for Your Internet Business

You may get away with starting your business without investment money. You may fly by on a shoestring budget and stay in the black. But what about if you want to expand your business, serve more customers and offer more products? In order to grow you will need capital and the best way of obtaining said capital is by means of investment and loan money.

Regular brick and mortar businesses face these same sorts of challenges when looking to expand, but Internet businesses must be even more careful. Before reading on and going down the business expansion road, ask yourself the following questions:

Are you dedicated?

Just because your business is online does not mean it is any easier to run or you can take special shortcuts. In fact, obtaining capital for your online business can be more difficult at times. Be sure that that you truly want to expand your business and have a plan before beginning a search for investors.

Do you have a plan?

Many people jump into the world of starting an online business without thinking it through. Where will your office be? Will you work from home? How much will it cost to start your business? Who is your target consumer? Or, if you've already started your business and merely wish to expand, why do you want to expand? Will it truly be beneficial to your business? Have you studied the marketplace? It may sound like a lot to consider, but you'll be thankful that you did. There's nothing worse than starting a business and then realizing there's no way it can be profitable after you've thrown your savings into the business capital.

Are you aware of the risks?

Starting or growing a business is a risk. It requires money to start and flourish-most of which will likely come out of your pocket or go on your credit record. While owning your own business can be exciting and extremely fulfilling, be sure to understand much of your business success will directly affect your personal success. If you have a family to support and your business fails, what will you do? Always be conscious of the worst that could happen so you can be prepared and avoid such unfortunate roadblocks as much as possible.

Still with us? Good. Now you can venture into the world of gaining capital for your Internet business. Learn how to write an effective business plan, find where to look for investors and what to look for in investors.

Good luck and happy financing!

domingo, 17 de fevereiro de 2008

Foreign currency trading

Foreign currency trading is done in a foreign exchange market where one type of currency is exchanged or traded for another type of currency. Currency trading is regarded as the largest financial market in the world. Players participating in currency trading within a FOREX market are the large banks like Citibank and Deutsche bank, nationalized and government banks, multinational firms, financial institutions and investment companies. The daily volume of the present global forex market is around US $3 trillion. Given the huge size and high liquidity of the markets worldwide, small players cannot easily do trading in a FOREX market.

Trading within a market is done in levels, where a player in a level doesn’t have access to other levels. The top level is the inter-bank market comprised of large banks like Deutsche bank, Citibank, Union bank of Switzerland and other banks across the world. The top ten players sweep off 70% of the total business done in the FOREX trading. In the top level, the difference between the bid and ask price known as Spread is very minute and is not available to other circles outside. As the levels descend, the difference increases mainly due to the volumes traded. Level of access for a player is determined by the ‘line’, the money with which one is trading. Currency trading has almost doubled today since 2001 mainly because of the recongnition of FOREX trading as an investment and asset class and also an increase in the fund management assets of pension funds and hedge funds.

Commercial companies do currency trading mainly to pay their customers for their good or services and trade in small amounts compared to large banks. Investment management companies do trading to manage the pension or endowment or investment portfolio of their customers and are usually in large amounts, because they have to invest in foreign equities for which they need to exchange currency to buy those equities.

Let us see the typical characteristics of a FOREX currency trading. Due to the over-the-counter nature, the currency markets doesn’t trade in a single dollar or a euro rate, but rather a different number of rate applicable only to that particular market. There is no central house or hub or exchange or clearing house as traders deal directly with each due to this OTC nature. Usually these rates are close to each other; otherwise special traders called arbitrageurs take advantage of the difference in the rates and make huge profits out of it. Main trading centers across the world are in London, New york, Tokyo and Singapore. As the time zones differ, trading is done almost 24 hours a day. Fluctuations in the rate occur due to changes in the inflation, interest rates of banks, GDP growth, trade deficits and surpluses, cross-border M&A deals, economic situations, financial health and some other macro economic conditions.

Currencies are traded for each other and each pair of currencies is a separate and unique product and usually denoted by XXX/YYY. During creation, the XXX is known as base currency is the strongest and YYY the weakest. Today the US dollar is in almost 88% of the transactions followed by Euro (37%) and yen. The most traded pairs are Euro/US dollar, US dollar/Yen and GB pound/US dollar.

Trading is done through different kinds of instruments like derivatives, spot transactions, forward transactions, options and futures, swaps and exchange-traded funds. Currency speculation is done by speculators who do an important job of transferring the risk from those who can’t bear to those who can bear it. Speculators always face controversies due to the risk they take up. Currency trading is affected by some factors like economic and financial situations, political scenarios, and other psychological issues related to the markets.

quarta-feira, 13 de fevereiro de 2008

Payday Loan Guide

To find your-self in need of urgent money is common amongst many of us. This can due to different reasons namely unexpected traveling, medical bills, car repairs, house repairing and many other expenses. It is known that a bank or a company doesn’t offer lending of small amount of money and even if a company does it usually requires long procedures. Well there is no need to worry about that anymore. A payday loan is a solution to your short financial needs. Payday loan is offered by many companies these days and you can easily find one, both in a nearby town as well as online. Payday loan is a convenient way to get loan for a short period of time. A payday loan lends you money instantly within 24 hours of filling an application.

Now the question is what the procedure is and where to apply. As mentioned above payday loan is nowadays a common service and can easily be availed with one phone call. You can find a payday company over the internet or in a nearby market. You can find thousand of different reputable companies online or listed in directories that allow you to lend the payday loan service. Remember to contact at least three to four reputable payday loans services before deciding on one. Understand their terms and conditions and ask any related question such as the amount that can be loaned, interest rate, payback time etc. The usual lending amount is between $100 and $500 and in some cases $1000. The interest rate is between $10 and $100. The payback time is a period till your next paycheck plus a further of over two weeks, which can be extended to 18 days with negotiations.

When applying for a payday loan you need to have few documents. First is bank statement. Secondly, a proof that you are permanently employed is required. No credit check hassle is involved. The process of applying for payday loan usually takes about 20 minutes and is upfront without involvement of a third party. After you apply, you just need to wait for a call from the company regarding whether your payday loan is approved or not; in most cases the call is positive. After this within 24 hours the money is deposited in your account and is ready for use but if applied over the weekend that you can expect the money to be deposited by Monday.

When considering a lender you should make sure that it is certified as well as reliable. Once lend you should make sure that it is paid back on time to avoid late fee. You can extend the pay back time as well, known as roll over, incase you cannot pay back the loan in stated time period; though this should be avoided since it means that the loaned amount is increased with charges due to interest rate. Always remember that when you apply for a loan you should understand their lending terms and condition to avoid any problem later.

Forex Guide

The Forex market is a massive market involving over $1trilion dollars traded every day, offering outstanding opportunities for the intrepid private investor.

By timing investments correctly, and by using the leveraged nature of Forex investments to one’s advantage, the private investor can enjoy substantial gains on the back of a relatively modest cash outlay. While Forex is huge, easily dwarfing other global markets such as equities and commodities, private investors make up a tiny proportion of this market.

This is because central bankers, commercial and investment banks, and hedge funds such as the Quantum fund, which is managed by George Soros, all speculate with billions of dollars on a regular basis.

The private investor, therefore, faces formidable competition and just as there are opportunities for substantial profits, losses can be equally dramatic.

Since all currencies are priced relative to each other, an increase in the value of one currency means that, by definition, another currency must have fallen in value. This makes the Forex market inherently more risky than other markets, which are expected to produce long term growth in value.The Forex market is also relatively new, only emerging after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in 1971.

According to the trade association, International Financial Services London, average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totalled $2.7 trillion in April 2006. This ranks the Forex market at several times the size of the combined daily turnover of the world's equity markets.

sexta-feira, 8 de fevereiro de 2008

Forex, The Best Brokers

When looking at the available forex brokerages, there are several obvious categories of companies that should be looked at the best in their class.

The brokers were chosen in my opinion, without mathematical yardsticks to compare the brokerages with.

However, these companies have proved themselves with their performance and forex trading execution over the years, making them tried and trusted sources of quality forex brokerage services.

The best forex brokerages are:

Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is a good choice. They have the top ranked bankers and traders across the board and one of the cleanest reputations in the business.

Over the years, they've gained awards and nominations for providing the best forex service to their clients, including the being named in the 2003 Global Investor's Annual Poll the Best Overall FX Service.

Their forex trading execution is top notch, the research is outstanding, and they are the leaders in electronic trading platform design.

As for the latter, the electronic trading platform is called WebETSM, and was voted number one by Global Investor survey for best single bank e-dealing platform, 2002, and it won the euromoney.com Internet award 2001 for best site for FX cash execution.

CMC
CMC is another good choice. Established in 1989, CMC Group has evolved into one of the world leaders in real-time Internet trading.

They have also been pioneers in commission free forex trading (in small account size markets), where they make profits on spread, even when their trading size is of the mini forex account type.

What distinguishes the company from the many other similar forex trading brokerages is their trading platform, the award-winning Market Maker trading platform, which provides a really easy, but professional-grade access to live trading quotes, live charts, and market news.

quinta-feira, 7 de fevereiro de 2008

Stocks: A good investment ?

When thinking about investment trends, it is best to look into the long term returns and risk for each investment category.

Luckily for investors, there are many studies that have looked at long term trends in stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles.

In terms of investing in stocks, the best of these is made by the Social Security administration, which has a PDF study available at

ssab.gov/Publications/Financing/estimated%20rate%20of%20return.pdf

According to the research, for the period from 1802-1997, the arithmetic average yearly return for stocks has been 8.5%, which the researchers suggest is the best estimate for the average return for the stock market on a yearly basis based on historical data.

The compounded annual return, which the researchers use as a base for comparison later in the study, is 7% for the same period.

Also, the researchers note that there is a lot of volatility the closer you look at the returns, with an annual standard deviation of real return of 18%.

Another interesting point is that the underlying valuation models seem to change over time, with different periods on how earnings and expected earnings have affected the market price of stocks.

Also, thinking about stock investing in perspective to treasury bonds, over the past two centuries, the realized premium (realized historical return on stock indexes vs return on treasury bonds) was 3.5 percent on average, but 5.2 percent for 1926 to 1998.

Finally, the study concludes by stating that there are a lot of things that can make the stocks future premium over treasury bonds less or more than what the it has been in the past.

Investment in stock market can be profitable!

Market Index Target-term Securities (MITTS)

Are also known in the market as equity-linked notes, and are essentially bonds that are linked to an index or a series of stocks.

MITTS were originally created by Merrill Lynch, and are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

MITTS investments have been designed for two things:

1) limit downside risk
2) producing a return that's tied to the performance of a group of stocks.

The real kicker with the MITTS is that under the terms of the investment, investors are guaranteed to get their money back come maturity time.

The balance of the funds, go into a long-term index option that locks in the increase in the index over the life of the security.

The net result is guaranteed principal capital with unlimited profit potential on the upside.

This makes these funds great investments from options strategy perspective. Thus, in order to price these opportunities accordingly, you should use options pricing models to factor in the potential in the fund.

These models derive much of their pricing information from the underlying variability of the asset in question, such as a stock market index or a sub-index.

The risk to the principal in these assets comes from the probability of a default by the issuer, in this case Merrill Lynch

quarta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2008

Forex Avenue: The Road to Riches

In my continuing quest to provide visitors of my site with a large amount of options to chose from when considering working from home I have done some research on Forex trading. I first learned of Forex trading while pursuing my MBA program. For those of you who have never heard of this, Forex trading is the exchange of foreign currency.

I know I would have never even know this was an option for making money had I not found out in class. Most of the really big corporations have departments of people that do this for a living because it can be very lucrative if done correctly. The best news I have learned about this process of exchanging currencies is that many of the websites that you can sign up with to do this offer free trial accounts to help you learn before you invest your money into trying it. You won't make any money in the trial accounts if you do well, it is just pretend money essentially but with the real market conditions. If you do well in the trial account you will know if this is something you want to try on your own.

Benefits to Forex trading are that is can be done 24/7 whereas the stock market is a business hours only exchange. It is 24/7 because it is done with countries around the world so clearly there are countries that are awake and working while we sleep. Another benefit is you are in control of the trading on your account. You do not need to hire a licensed broker to make your trades and charge you fees. Along those same lines, anyone who does any investing most likely knows that some funds require you to own then for a certain period of time or pay early withdrawal fees. You do not need to concern yourself with this either. One last benefit that I would like to point out is the fact that Forex is not really subject to the same kinds of swings in the market that stocks are subject to. Of course if you always buy and sell the same currencies then there will be market swings. But, because there are hundreds of currencies out there, there is always going to be something for you to make money on because while one currency is up in value another one is down and vice versa.

There are many resources available to someone interested in becoming involved in this type of training. The Federal Reserve Bank's website is just one example of the information available, http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/foreignex.html. Here is another article that you will find helpful in starting out in this field. http://www.forex.com/pdf/pro2.pdf . I have also included one of the sites that does offer a free lesson. http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=44910&u=155496&m=8912 .

While there are many benefits to this type of training, as I mentioned above, there are certainly risks involved as well. There are risks with exchange rates, central banks in foreign countries, and risks involving interest rates and credit. Forex is quickly becoming a popular way to help diversify your investment portfolio. If you are good with understanding investing concepts and enjoy doing it this may be the home business opportunity for you. Just do your research and try to find one of the sites offering the free trial account to practice with and you are well on your way down the Road to Riches.

Exiting positions at a right time

The presented article covers one of the most important (in author’s opinion) aspects of trading in general and FOREX trading in particular – managing of orders and positions. This includes choosing entry points, making decisions about exit points, stop-loss and take-profit of the trader. I hope this article will help new traders, who just began to work with FOREX, and also to experienced traders who trade regularly and regularly make or loose their money to the market.

When I started to trade FOREX and made my first big losses and profits I began to notice when very important thing about the whole trading process. While the right time to enter a position was rarely a problem for myself (nearly 80% of all my open positions had gone into the “green” profit zone), the problem was hidden in the determining the right exit point for that position. Not only was it important to cut my risk on the potential losses with stop-loss orders, but to limit my greediness and take profit when I can take it and make it as high as I can. There are many known guidelines and ways to enter a right position at a right time – like major economic news releases, global world events, technical indicators combinations, etc. But while the entering into a position is optional and trade can decide to miss as many good/bad entry point moments as they wish, this is untrue if we talk about exiting a position. Margin trading makes it impossible to wait too long with an open position. More than that, every open position in a certain way limits trader’s ability to trade.

Choosing the good exit points for positions could be an easy task if only the FOREX market wasn’t so chaotic and volatile. In my opinion (backed by my trading experience) exit orders for every position should be toggled constantly with time and as the new market data (technical and fundamental) appear.

Let’s say, you took a short position on EUR/USD at 1.2563, at the time you are taking this position the support/resistance level is 1.2500/1.2620. You set your stop-loss order to 1.2625 and your take-profit order to 1.2505. So now, this position can be considered as an intraday or 2-3 days term position. This means that you must close it before it’s “term” is over, or it will become a very unpredictable position (because market will differ greatly from what it was at the time you have entered this position). After the position is taken and initial exit orders are set, you need to follow the market events and technical indicators to adjust your exit orders. The most important rule is to tighten the loss/profit limit as time goes by. Usually if I take a middle term position (2-4 days) I try to lower the stop and target order by 10-25 pips every day. I also monitor global events, trying to lower my stop-losses when very important news can hurt my position. If the profit is already quite high, I try to move my stop-loss the entry point, making a sure-win position. The main idea here is to find an equilibrium point between greed and caution. But as your position gets older the profit should be more limited and losses cut. Also, trader should always remember that if the market began to act unexpectedly, they need to be even more cautious with exit order, even if the position is still showing profits.

Every trader has their own trading strategy and habits. I hope this article will make its readers think about such an important aspect of trading as the exit orders and this will only improve their trading results.

Internet Marketing VS Forex Currency Trading

Have you noticed that when someone's trying to sell you something - such as a system for making money - they always make it look far easier than it is?

Let's look at two Internet businesses, almost as diametrically opposed as it's possible to be - Internet Marketing and Forex Currency Trading.

You've probably heard the old Internet adage - build a better website and they will come. Well it ain't true!

You could put up a site advertising dollars for a dime and they still wouldn't come - because they wouldn't know where to look!

Let's look at what you need to have in place in order to build a successful Internet marketing business.

First of all, you need a product. If you've been reading the recent Internet marketing blurb you'll know you need a niche product.

Actually, the new thing is sub-niche but whatever they call it, you need a product for which there is high demand but low supply.

Finding a suitable niche is the hardest part of the whole process but let's say you have a killer product, what else do you need?

The List.

Ask any Internet marketeer and they will say that the most important part of your business is your opt-in list.

For people to join your list you usually have to give them something of value such as a free eBook or report on a subject related to your main product line.

To keep them interested, you need to keep in touch with them offering them additional information, advice and tips.

Website.

To promote your opt-in list you need a website (although there are other ways of promoting your list, too) with features that will encourage people to sign up to your list.

You also need a killer website with killer copy to describe - and sell - your killer product. This may or may not be the same as the one you use for your opt-in list.

Killer copy.

Maybe you're not a good copywriter. There are many eBooks on the subject that can help you or you can pay someone to write copy for you.

You need a domain name, preferably one with some relation to the product but good domain names are becoming increasing difficult to find.

Ads.

To get people to visit your website in the first place you need to register it with the search engines.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an art in itself. You can mug up on the subject or pay someone to do the job for you (but be aware that not all experts are!).

You might also want to place ads for your list in newsletters and ezines. The better ones will charge you although you might get a free ad in return for an article.

Autoresponder.

To automate your business you need an autoresponder. These clever devices automatically send emails to everyone on your opt-in list at predetermined intervals, and contain predetermined copy.

For example, you could create a series of emails containing, say, five parts of a free course to be sent one a day over the first five days.

Then emails would be sent once a week advertising a different product each time.

Whenever anyone signs up to your list they automatically start at the beginning so everyone gets the full cycle of marketing material.

We haven't even looked at affiliate sales and marketing but I'm sure you get the picture.

The basic idea of selling over the Internet sounds good but there's a lot more to it than most people realise.

Forex Currency Trading

Someone said that trading is the last frontier, the last place where men and women can stand up and pit themselves against the world.

It sounds very Wild Westish but most of it is true! You win or lose entirely by your own efforts and if you win, it's like having your very own bank.

However, even owning a bank is a business and you still have to work hard to put the money there - and to keep it!

Unlike Internet marketing where all your efforts, in one form or another, are geared towards making people join your list and then selling them stuff,

Currency Trading has no customers. That's worth repeating - with currency trading, you don't need customers.

No customers means you don't need any of the associated accoutrements that go with Internet marketing such as:

Products
Web site
Domain name
Opt-in list
Ads
eBooks and reports
Autoresponder
Any other marketing aids

So far so good, but what do you have to do and what do you need? Well, you need to know what currency prices are doing.

You can get a list of prices at the close of each trading day free from many web sites. If you want to trade during the day - intraday trading, you can get real-time prices for a nominal fee from several data suppliers.

In the foreign exchange currency market, commonly called forex, you can get this data and charting software free from many web sites.

Okay, that's the easy bit. In order to trade currencies, you need to analyse the data and determine which way price is heading.

In other words you need a system and this will require study and dedication.

There's lots of other stuff you have to know, too - trading terminology, margin, leverage, money management, order types, trader psychology and more.

But all of this is available in eBooks and courses and on the Net.

You also need some money upfront to fund your trading account. With forex you can begin with as little as $300-500 although you would be advised to start with more.

So while you don't have the ongoing quest for new customers, new products and inventive sales techniques, you do need some sort of education or training before you begin and you need discipline while you're trading.

For more information on getting started with forex currency trading, go to: www.webkept.com

Making money takes work whether it's online or off. Make sure you know what's involved before you start and remember that the more you put into a business, the easier it gets.

Investment Myths And The Forex Markets

First what is Forex: The FOREX or Foreign Exchange market is the largest financial market in the world, with an volume of more than $1.5 trillion daily, dealing in currencies. Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location, no central exchange. It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another.

What is a myth: A myth is often thought to be a lesson in story form which has deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for preliterate cultures, who preserve and cherish the wisdom of their elders through oral traditions by the use of skilled story tellers.

Many new Forex market traders have misconceptions about the entire system. They see people making money trading with the Forex market and automatically assume they can easily do the same. What they tend to forget it that there is strategy and research done in order to make successful trades and profits from trading. If you are new to the Forex market system, don't get caught up in popular investment myths. Be sure that you know exactly what to expect and be realistic when trading.

When you are trading and investing in any market, including the Forex, you must have the discipline needed to be successful. Although the system is enormous and there is a lot going on that you won't be involved within, you must actively protect your investments. Your investments will not be protected just because they are in the market. A lot can change throughout a day, so you have to always be aware of what is going on in order to be fully protected to your best ability. You should always make logical and researched decisions when trading. It is not a system to use to "get rich quick". It is a serious financial system that can break your pocket if you are not careful.

One thing to remember when trading and trying to protect your investments however will be that you must take risks to gain. Along with taking a large risk, can come a large success or large loss. You have to be prepared for the worst. You can do this by educating yourself as much as possible on the trading system and your investments. The more you know, the better prepared you will be to make successful decisions. If you are unsure about a system of trading, like the Forex, be sure to take classes and read about the system before you begin trading. Only trade when you are certain you are ready to begin. Even after you learn what you need to know about the system and are a seasoned trader, there are times when you will have losses. The system is not one that protects your investments or your money in general. So, be prepared and aware of this issue. Being realistic can really help you gain more success.

Leverage is something that is both great when it comes to the Forex and possibly dangerous. Trading currencies offers a high level of leverage. Those who don't have a lot of money to begin with can use leverage to gain more money. When used correctly, you can often do this in short amounts of time. Most people think however that this is something that can be done easily. Those who use leverage to their potential are often those with years of experience in trading. Some people tend to follow the myth that anyone will be able to easily use leverage to get rich fast. This is simply not true. You must be a trader with an excellent knowledge of the system in order to make leverage work to your maximum advantage.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just because you are trading with a minimum marginal deposit does not mean you should trade at levels above your portfolio. The myth that you can get away with this every time is not true. You should not over leverage yourself. By trading in small amounts, you will be able to make safe investments that will not result in huge losses. You will win some and lose some, especially when you are first starting out.

When it comes to the Forex market, you should know that what you assume to be true may not be true at all. You may think that you can use the Forex market to protect your investments. You have learned from reading this however that the Forex may not protect your investments, and one should be diligent in watching their investments in order to avoid anything catastrophic. You may also think that you can get rich quickly using the Forex market. The truth is that short term trading, which is notorious for turning profits quickly, is not for the beginner. Those who have traded for years may try short term investing, but it is very risky indeed. Lastly, you may think that leverage will help you "play with the big boys" and still stay safe. This can be a horrible assumption and many people will over leverage themselves if they are not careful. So, do research, be smart, and think before you act when dealing with the Forex.

Forex Brokers - Helping to Maximize Your Success

A Forex broker is a broker dealing in foreign exchange, just like real estate broker who deals in real estate and properties. Simply, a Forex broker is an advisor who advises you about the forex market. However, the Forex market is not the perfect place to play with as a novice and beginner as there are many criticalities involved along with much risk bearing capacities. Novices can very quickly get their fingers badly burnt. But inexperience is not the only reason to consider using a Forex broker to trade in the high-risk international currencies market.

So, the Forex broker is an advisor who advises you about the forex market and allows you to work for 24 hours a day with major currencies like EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF etc against the US dollar on the spot, i.e. according to the current prices on the forex international exchange market. But the level of profits depends only on your abilities as well as your timely decision.

Although the role of the Forex broker is relatively redundant as a result of technological advancement and increased awareness, we cannot completely underestimate his role. The new paradigm shift has had something of a democratizing effect on the financial markets, and in the years that have followed a plethora of banks and brokerages have extended the range of their services to a new market by packaging up their online trading systems for the retail market, enabling the more modest investor to trade from their own computer screen - even on the previously out-of-reach currency markets. This is where the real role of Forex broker starts.

PIP is nothing special but Price Interest Points. In the forex market, currencies are always priced in pairs. The quoted price is the level where we, acting as the market maker, are willing to buy/sell the currency pair. In the wholesale market, currencies are quoted out to four decimal places, with the last placeholder called a point or a pip. A pip in most currencies is one /10,000th of an exchange rate (in USD/JPY, it is one /100th, likewise you can find for others).

Let's see some more information about Spread. As with all financial products, forex quotes include terms like 'bid' and 'ask"'. The 'bid', in its simplest terms is the price at which a dealer is willing to buy (and clients can sell) the base currency in exchange for the counter currency. The 'ask' is the price at which dealer will sell (and clients can buy) the base currency in exchange for the counter currency. The difference between the bid and the ask price is referred to as the spread. The spread defines the trader's cost, which can be recovered with a favorable currency move in the market. The value of a pip is determined by the pair of currencies being traded, the rate at which the currency pair is trading and the size of the position being traded.

There are many great Forex brokers, like COESfx, who maintains tight, competitive spreads in the four major currencies against the Dollar, and a total of 17 currency pairs including USD/CAD and AUD/USD. Some of the major features of COESfx are:

Real-time streaming prices

Price certainty on market orders

Competitive pricing

Fixed 3-5 pip spreads

For details, about this forex broker as well as their offerings, please visit: http://www.coesfx.com.

Moving Averages Basics And How They Help FOREX Traders

With Forex trading becoming a more extended and desired occupation for lots of people around the world, living with the desire of working at home and still having the ability to gain a full time income, the need for accurate trading systems and techniques has become a major necessity for all these new forex traders.

Among one of the important concepts a new forex trader should know is what a Moving Average means, how it's calculated and what its use as a trading indicator is.

Moving Average is defined as a technical indicator that shows the average value of a particular currency pair over a previously determined amount of time. This means, for example, that prices are averaged over 20 or 50 days, or 10 and 50 min depending on the time frame you are using at the moment of your trading activity.

As an averaged quantity, MA's can bee seen as a smoothed representation of the current market activity and an indicator of the major trend influencing the market behavior.

This smoothing effect of the Moving Average is very helpful when the trader is looking for getting rid of the "noise" in the price fluctuations of the currency pair he is trading at the moment and a more precise emphasis in the trend direction is required.

The basic mechanics of how Moving Averages can tell you where the forex market is moving (up or down), at the moment of your analysis is by considering two different time frame Moving Averages and plotting them on the forex chart. It is very important that one of these MA is over a shorter time period than the other one; let's say one will be over a 15 days period and the other over a 50 days period. Most trading station software available by a number of brokers will let you do this plotting and much more.

Once you have plotted the two Moving Averages, you will notice points of crossover where the shorter time period MA will cross above the longer time period MA indicating an upward trend in the market, or if the crossing is below the longer period MA that will be an indication of a down trend in the forex market.

So from this simple concept you can commence to understand the basics of confirming trends when checking your forex charts during your trading hours.

Stock Investing Course

Many people are looking for ways to get the most out of their money. It does not matter whether you are saving for retirement or maybe you have a child that will be heading to college soon.

Whatever the reason a stock investing course maybe just what you need. This course will help the novice investor learn all the specific terminology that is used in stock investing.

This will give you the ability to talk with your broker and not feel like they are talking gibberish. When taking a stock investing course you may learn a few things that your broker may not even be aware of. Investing courses will also keep you up to date and current with all the market trends.

One thing you will learn is how to calculate how much of a return you will make on each of your investments. That way you will know actually how much money you will make even before you invest.

They will walk you through being able to value a stock and how to check out the company and its worth. The course also teaches you how to purchase a stock.

When looking for a course make sure that it includes a section on how to move your stocks by using the Federal funds rate so that you can avoid a 1% end of year fee on your stocks.

You will learn a variety of investing strategies like how to pick a stock that may seem high priced but can turn out to be very profitable in the short term.

The stock market is driven by earnings, and a good stock investing course will teach you to judge the emotional state of the stock market. That way you can see if it is a true trend or just an emotional reaction to some news or report.

The course should break down the ten stages of the market so you can get a good feel of where it is at and use the strategies to invest your money for high return rates.

Social networking has been intergraded into many stock investing courses. It is a unique way to learn not only from your professors but also from the input of other students; you will be able to bounce theories and ideas off of other like-minded people.

Most people love the idea of online courses, you get to study and learn at a time that is convenient for you and still have the ability to get support if you need it. This type of investing course has many advantaged like tools for investors.

They are very easy to use and they will teach you one of the hottest trends in investing right now, which is using the Internet to invest.

So if you are new to investing in the stock market take some time and learn how to by taking a stock investing course.

You will learn to make better investments and understand the natural fluctuations in the market. If properly invested your money will grow rapidly allowing you to do the things you are planning for.

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