Sunday, October 25, 2009

information about online trading

About Online Trading






The invention of the Internet has brought about many changes in the way that we conduct our lives and our personal business. We can pay our bills online, shop online, bank online, and even date online!



We can even buy and sell stocks online. Traders love having the ability to look at their accounts whenever they want to, and brokers like having the ability to take orders over the Internet, as opposed to the telephone.



Most brokers and brokerage houses now offer online trading to their clients. Another great thing about trading online is that fees and commissions are often lower. While online trading is great, there are some drawbacks.



If you are new to investing, having the ability to actually speak with a broker can be quite beneficial. If you aren’t stock market savvy, online trading may be a dangerous thing for you. If this is the case, make sure that you learn as much as you can about trading stocks before you start trading online.



You should also be aware that you don’t have a computer with Internet access attached to you. You won’t always have the ability to get online to make a trade. You need to be sure that you can call and speak with a broker if this is the case, using the online broker. This is true whether you are an advanced trader or a beginner.



It is also a good idea to go with an online brokerage company that has been around for a while. You won’t find one that has been in business for fifty years of course, but you can find a company that has been in business that long and now offers online trading.



Again, online trading is a beautiful thing – but it isn’t for everyone. Think carefully before you decide to do your trading online, and make sure that you really know what you are doing!

Friday, October 23, 2009

“Gold, a Hedge Against the Perils of Interesting Times”

While paper-based investments and real estate are vulnerable to effects of changing times, gold soars. A precious metals investment may save a portfolio when all else fails.

The old Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”, has particular relevance to the current epoch of U.S. history. There’s a lot going on right now, much of it scary. Major investors around the world are responding to the events of our perilous age by sinking their dollars, deutschmarks and yen into gold, silver and palladium; Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and billionaire speculator George Soros to name but a few. Big financial institutions like the Central Banks of Russia and China are also leaping onto the metals bandwagon driving the price of these precious commodities ever higher.

This is spurring a gold rush not witnessed since the Misery Index years of the 1970s. Many financial experts now view gold in particular as an island of stability in a paper-based investment market growing stormier all the time, a development that bodes well for everyday folks who want to shore up their retirement accounts with a precious metals hedge.

“People the world over are losing faith in politicians, and currencies,” says Marc Lubaszka, President/CEO, World Financial, a highly successful investment firm specializing in precious metals based in Studio City, Calif. “This has resulted in a flight to gold and other precious metals, a storehouse of value for more than five thousand years. Investors are taking their money out of paper assets, and putting it where it is likely to earn a better return in uncertain times.”

Old Reliables Unreliable
Investments once considered as stable as granite are rapidly losing ground, Lubaszka explains. Real estate is but one example. Long praised as a slam-dunk by money gurus, home-buying is no longer viewed as a hurdle-free path to profit. Stratospheric pricing and higher interest rates are putting intolerable pressure on the current housing bubble, factors bound to bust the suds sooner or later and drive the overheated real estate market into deepfreeze.

“The housing bubble will burst rather than gradually deflate, following the rapid and violent pattern of decline of nearly every financial bubble throughout history,” Lubaszka says. “Higher interest rates negatively impact not only the health of the housing market but other economic segments as well. The stock market takes a hit because higher rates make it more costly for companies to pay for debt. Higher rates hurt corporate profit margins and reduce stock value, bad news given the deep debt situation so many companies are in today.”

Paper is Passé
According to Lubaszka, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 80% of its original value since the early 70’s when we went to a floating currency, a situation not helped very much by the debut of the Euro in the late 1990s. Unlike American dollars, a portion of the Euro is gold-backed, a stability feature that has helped it outperform the dollar over the long haul. It is for this reason that many foreign investors have been taking money out of U.S. dollars and putting it into gold and oil instead, one explanation for why the price of both has continued to rise in recent months.

“Gold prices are climbing right now because the Federal Reserve is printing dollars in flood proportions to keep the real estate market afloat,” adds Richard Russell, editor Dow Theory Letters, a stock market trends and securities report published since 1946. “This is creating inflation, which erodes purchasing power. All the world’s central banks are inflating right now, reducing confidence in paper globally and encouraging gold-buying. India and China are spurring gold prices as well. India is the world’s largest gold-consumer, and the Chinese government is actively encouraging its citizens to buy gold.”

All are extremely encouraging signs for gold investors. Over the course of the past 35 years, gold has climbed in value from a modest $35 an ounce to nearly $600. Contrast that with the battered U.S. dollar, a currency currently worth only 20% of its value in 1970.

“When gold peaked-out in the 1970s, interest rates were at an all-time high,” Lubaszka says. “Right now we’re waiting to feel the effects of the last 9 interest rate increases which generally take 6-9 months to begin impacting the economy. Now’s the time to buy gold because when rates go up, downward pressure is exerted on real estate, stocks and bonds and commodities like gold tend to increase. The opposite occurs when rates travel from a high to a low. That’s the time to reduce gold assets and increase the paper part of a portfolio.”

Buy Without Getting Burned
Michelle Henderson, a talent agency owner in Los Angeles, Calif. understands the stakes when it comes to investing. “As an agent I work in a commission-based world, and have to invest in both people and ideas all the time,” she says. “Though I’d had bad experiences with stock investments in the past, I knew I would eventually find something that would work for me. I invested in a diversified metals portfolio made up of palladium, silver and gold, and earned a profit of 38% with the palladium alone. Staying focused on making money, and following World Financials advice, I was able to earn an above-average return and greatly increase the overall value of my assets safely.”

Lubaszka explain, “It’s probably best for the first time investor to begin conservatively by purchasing physical metals instead of gold stocks, which can be very volatile”. According to Clearwater, Fla.-based talk show host and gold analyst, Tom O’Brien, when metals gain 20%, gold equities jump by fifty or sixty per cent. That’s great when it happens but the reverse can occur as well.

Buy gold bars or coins, and put them in a safety deposit box. If you chose to purchase coins from a coin shop, make certain you pay the lowest price possible and that they have a buy back policy. If you elect to go with a broker, fees will be inevitable because you are purchasing a tangible commodity.

There are brokers, and then there are brokers. The best of the breed will answer all questions, and make the process of first-time gold buying less nerve-wracking. Great brokers are also accessible when needed, and quick to call with any new information that affects the value of the investment.

Work with established companies, five years in business is good, ten even better. Don’t bother with firms that badger you with telemarketing offers or apply high-pressure sales tactics. Avoid paying high commissions too. Some brokers have layers of fees, through which they earn more money then they do investing on behalf of customers. There are also companies out there that will not buy metal back. Stay away from them as well.

“Check references and Better Business Bureau ratings”, Lubaszka adds. “Deal with a company that takes an active interest in doing business with you. World Financial, for example, offers a five-star customer satisfaction guarantee. If questions are not answered or we fail to respond to a prospect’s call or email within 24 hours, that person receives a one ounce silver American Eagle coin free of charge. A financial advisor’s job is to ease the investment process, and to insure that customers get the most for their money. Good advisers are merely good, but the best are worth their weight in gold.”

To contact World Financial directly call 818.264.4085. World Financial is the premiere provider of precious metals to investors nationwide. Aside from offering numerous incentive programs, World Financial offers clients the right type of precious metal strategy for every investor’s needs. They are located at 12198 Ventura Blvd Ste 200, Studio City CA, 91604.

"Forex has the Advantage"

Greetings Fellow Forex Traders,


When it comes to trading in any market, Forex currency trading has a huge advantage over other players in trading business. Firstly, the Forex market has the advantage of time freedom. You see in the 4x market one can trade around the clock from Monday through Friday. In the stock market that is simply not possible since the market closes at 4:00. This advantage of time freedom allows those who have not yet earned enough money trading in the 4x market to maintain their day jobs while trading at night. It is also quite plausible to trade in the morning before a person goes to work. Trading the Forex can become an excellent second job for you.

Unlike the stock market, the currency trading market does not require a trader to pay a commission to place a trade. This will come as a welcome sign of relief to those who have grown accustomed to the vast amount of money they must fork over to their brokers which go towards clearing, exchange and government fees. In the 4x market you also do not have to worry about having a large sum of money in your account to sell your currency pairs. This concept of selling as you may already know is commonly called shorting in the equities world. You can buy or sell at will in the currency trading arena.

It is so amazing to be able to participate in this market right now. You can do so from the comfort of your very own home. As long as you have a computer that is connected to the Internet you are in business. You can begin trading with as little as 300 dollars. I will show you how to turn this 300 dollars into some serious money in no time at all. This should be a lot easier to do given the advantages that you know the 4x market has over its competitors.

The Forex market is traded by some of the world's richest individuals including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. You now have access to the same opportunities as they do. What is stopping you from getting on the road to financial freedom. You can start now. You do not have to wait. You have already begun the journey by choosing to educate yourself on the pros of the Forex market.

I personally love the fact that you can trade whenever you want to with the Forex. You see, in the stock trading world you are flagged if you are deemed to be a daytrader. In other words if a trader of stocks chooses to trade every day, he or she must have an account balance of 50,000 dollars to do so. There are no such restrictions when it comes to trading the 4x. If you work at night, you may trade in the daytime. If you work during the day, you may trade at night. You simply trade according to the schedule that works best for you.

I want you to think about money for a moment. Who uses it? The whole world does in some form or another. Another advantage that the Forex market has is that there will always be a need for money. You are simply trading one currency for another in the currency market as the 4x is commonly reffered to. The Forex market is not going anywhere. It is here to stay. The only question is then who will be a part of it. We need money to buy the things we use everyday and so do those who live in the other parts of this world.

Another advantage that 4x has over stocks is the advantage of trading focus. Instead of having to choose between over 4,000 stocks you can deal with 4 main currency pairs. Any good business person knows that focusing on too many things is a recipe for financial disaster and this can hold equally true in the stock market. A stock trader also must grapple with the time issue doing research on all those potential stocks presents. It is also much easier to become familiar with 4 things as opposed to 4,000 things. Focus is the name of the game and 4x trading makes it much easier to do so.

The ball is now in your court. Will you take it and make the decision to win with currency trading? 4x is indeed the winner's game and those who win consistently know how to play it well.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Forex: No psychological limitations

Back when I first started learning about investing, I decided to start from the beginning and read basic books on personal finance as well as “guides” for understanding all of the investment world in a nut shell. Most of these authors were very knowledgeable and informative, but their investment advice was far too conservative for my taste. They would literally write chapter after chapter talking about the differences between conservative investing, which according to them generally yields somewhere around 5% PA, as opposed to “risky” investing which usually meant a diversified stock/mutual fund portfolio yielding (in my mind) only slightly higher averages. What kind of returns can you expect in the stock market? Well they say the market has gone up an average of 10% a year since Adam and Eve. Popular indexes like the DOW and the now more popular S&P500 have always, like real estate, “gone up over time.”

Now, these market averages are almost worshiped like golden calves. Repeatedly drilled into my brain was the concept that there were hundreds (if not thousands) of fund managers and other “professionals” out there with Harvard degrees, decades of experience, millions of dollars under management, and they were all spending 15 hours a day consuming every single bit of market information in the hopes of beating these golden calves by a few points.

What chance did I have? If Dr. Fund Guru Jr. who eats, sleeps, breathes the markets and has more credentials than I have individual hairs on my body can’t consistently make 20% a year...well...forget it kid...your chances are slim to none. I guess I’ll buy some shares of XYZ fund and accept the scraps off the table from the stock gurus.

NOT!

The foreign exchange market offers many benefits that the stock market does not have. Most of these have been beaten to death on various forums, blogs, articles, e-books, etc. However, it’s always good to reiterate the positive (my own personal reason is last):
- Forex offers unprecedented liquidity. With over two trillion dollars transacted per day on the market, it makes filling any buy/sell order virtually instant. That equates to less slippage and more profitability. “Paper trading” stocks vs actually trading stocks is very different, because orders may not be filled in a timely manner. The difference between trading a forex demo accout and an actual account is virtually nill.
- Forex is available 24 hours a day 5.5 days a week, as opposed to the daylight trading hours of the stock exchanges.
- Forex is uncontrollable by large entities. Large net worth individuals, banks and fund managers who throw their weight around in the stock market can often have huge effects on price action. Because of the immense volume of foreign currency traded per day, the market is unmoved by “heavy hitters.” Not even central banks can control the Forex market.
- Forex offers up to 200:1 leverage as opposed to 2:1 stock leverage.
- Forex has no restrictions for selling short, as opposed to the stock market’s “uptick” rule
- Forex can actually be traded INSIDE of an IRA or Roth IRA account.
- Forex gains are taxed at the preferred 60/40 rate, no matter what trading style you use (intra-day, swing, position) as opposed to the tax penalties for holding stocks for short periods of time.

The list does go on, but for me the biggest advantage is a psychological one. I know it probably sounds silly, but fear and intimidation can sometimes subconsciously defeat us before we even begin. I don’t like the idea of having to live up to, and in a way, compete with “professional managers” who have more knowledge of the fundamentals of the markets than I ever will. It’s almost as if Forex, in some way, levels the playing field. I don’t have to psychologically compete against anyone’s idea of what kind of returns are “acceptable and realistic” and what kind of returns are “pure fantasy.” I only have to trade until I can find an acceptable reward to risk ratio, and consistent profitability thereof. The only one I compete against is myself.

-Joshua White
http://www.consistentforextrading.com

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Should i really make a budget??

Most of us claim we know where and how we spend our money, and asuch why should we bother to go through the discipline writting down how we spend it in other to keep track of it? Will you be willing to take this little challenge for a month and keep track of every dime you spend? Yes every penny you spend.
I bet you will be shocked at what those tiny ,semingly insignificant bit will add up to.Well. Look closely at just one of those expense you had never paid attention to, whatever the total is in a month,multiply it by 12 representing the 12 calender months in a year, then multipy the result by 3 representing 3 years. What did you get?
The answer you got is how much you could have saved AND drawn interest on in just threeyears. That, my dear, is the very incentive all of us need a budget.

If we can get control of the small expenses that really don�t matter to the overall scheme of our lives, we can enjoy financial victory.

Truth is,the little expenses really do count reducing what you pay out on lunch from six dollars a day to four dollars a day on every work day in a five day work week saves $10 a week� $40 a month� $480 a year� $2400 in five years�.Plus interest.

Did you get the message?�those little expenses do really counts for much in the long run. Did you observe we only focus on one area we need to cut down on our spending? There are a lot of places to cut expenses if you look for them.  

This may not be the easiest thing to do. But we really do need to set specific long term and short term goals. There are no wrong answers here. If it�s important to you, then it�s important period.

If you want to be able to make a down payment on a house, start a college fund for your kids, buy a sports car, take a vacation to bahamas anything� then that is your goal and your reason to get a handle on your financial situation now.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

consume prudently to conserve cash

A careful observation will reveal that the things you buy every week at the grocery and hardware stores go up  little cents between shopping trips. Indeed, not by much but  by a little each week yet they continue to creep up and up.



What it requires for the price to rise up by a lot is a slight hitch in the world wide market, you must be  aware of the cost of gasoline as it relates to global affairs.



There is a way that we can keep these cost increases from impacting our individual finances too badly and that is by buying in quantity and searching for the best possible cost for the things we use and will continue to use everyday… things that we just must use on a daily basis.


certain other things, we would need to take full advantage of the discounts offered on therm.
For illustration, dog food and cat food costs about 10% less amount when bought by the case than it does when bought at the single can price and if you wait for close out prices you save a lot more than that.



Put aside some outer space in your domicile and get a catalog of things that you use recurrently which will not spoil. Any grain or grain items will need to be stored in sound containers that rats can’t get into. its so vital we keep this in mind to avoid waste and unnecessary spending.



Subsequently set out to find the finest prices you can get on quantity purchases of such things as bathroom items and dry and canned food.



You will be shocked at how much you can conserve by buying a twenty pound bag of rice in contrast to a one pound bag but don’t forget that it must be kept in a rat resilient container.



You can buy various clothing items such as men’s socks and underwear since those styles don’t switch, steer clear of buying children’s  and women’s  clothing, those styles change and sizes change too drastically.



Try to make a purchase of and keep a two year supply of these items and you can save hundreds of bucks.

Monday, October 5, 2009

What do you think rebates are? Reward or rip off?

Its quite obvious in the last few years years that rebates on a lot of items such as electronics and computers, have became increasingly popular. Rebates of $20, $50 or $100 are not uncommon.



I believe you must have seen lots o f stuffs advertised as "free afrer rebates".Do you see these rebates as something thats "too good to be true"?A few of them do and there are “catches” to look out for but if you are cautious, rebates can help you get some really good bargains.



The way a rebate works is that you pay the listed price for an item then mail in a form and the bar code to the manufacturer and they send you a refund thus reducing the price of what you paid for the item except with a time delay of several weeks.





Rule #1. Rebates from highly regarded corporations are by and large just fine.



You can be pretty certain you will get the promised rebate from Best Buy, Amazon or Dell but you ought to probably not count on getting one from a organisation you’ve never heard of. If you really want the item and are OK with paying the price listed then buy it but don’t put your mind on actually getting the refund.





Rule #2. Check rebate expiration dates.



Many times items will stay on the shelf of a retailer after the date for sending in the rebate offer has expired so check that date carefully.





Rule #3. Be clear in your mind you have all the forms vital to file for the discount before you leave the store.



Rebates will almost always require a form to be filled out, a receipt for the purchase and a bar code.



Rule #4. Back up your discount claim.



Do copies of everything you mail in to get your rebate with the bar code. Stuff gets lost in the mail all the time and if the rebate is for $50 it’s worth the care to back up your claim.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

what do you think

hi everyone. nice of you to have stop by my blog. just being thinking on how to make the most out of my blog. sometimes i feel like i should not bother about blogging but something inside of me wants to continue.

truth is , i do need to learn much more than i know right now. i do read as much as can but am know am not hitting it yet.

if there are folks llike me who have gone through same stuff and gotten better over time, please do share your experience and how you overcame. your help in anyway would welcomed.

this is all about help a brother stand on his feet. hope you guys leave a comment or two thanks

vincent