New Stock Market

How To Appraise Gold And Silver In A Changing Market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 11:22:00 +0000

With the aim of cashing in on the rising prices of gold and silver, people are bagging up virtually every scrap of precious metal that they own and flocking to shops that are willing to buy them. Knowing how to appraise, or get the value, of your gold and silver is vital if you are to get a good deal.

The simplest way in which you can appraise the value of a gold or silver item is by considering its bullion value. This is the value of the raw if it were to be melted and recycled, based on its weight and purity. There are a few basic determinants, however, that can tip the scales. Consider the following points on how to appraise gold and silver.

Gold Appraisal Tips

First, check the weight of your gold item, preferably with a pair of digital scales. The heavier the item, the more valuable it is.

Second, use a jeweler's lops to examine the gold for a hall-mark. This is usually found on the reverse of jewellery, and in some cases on the inside of trinket boxes. Most often, gold is mixed with another metal such as copper, depending on its purpose. Purity markings that determine the carat will help you appraise the value of your gold. It is generally expressed either in parts of 24 or in parts per 1000. In either case, the higher the marking, the higher the value of your item.

Third, consider the item itself - if it is a collectible or a coin, it might have more value than a piece of jewelry. For example, a gold watch by a renowned watchmaker will be appraised above its bullion value.

Silver Appraisal Tips

Start off by weight your silver items using a digital scale. The current market value of silver is multiplied by its weight to give you its current spot value.

Silver, too, has a purity marking and most silver items will be clearly marked. For example, Sterling silver is said to be of 92.5% purity, and will be hall-marked as.925. The general appraisal of silver is in parts of 1000. The higher the number, the purer the item, and greater its value. If your silver is not clearly hall-marked, test it with an acid tester. This involves rubbing the silver on a stone rubbing slab and then wiping the stone with nitric acid. The colour of the stone changes based on the purity of your silver.

Finally, do a lot of research on the silver item in question. The rarity of the object determines its final price, which could turn out to be much more than the melt value of silver. In the case of old coins, their age can give you a price much higher than the silver they are made from.

In summary, the above points provide a basic outline on how to appraise gold and silver. Keeping these points in mind will help you get the right appraisal and get the best value for these precious metals, irrespective of whether you are buying or selling. It is important to keep in mind that the current market values are constantly changing. Therefore, keep up to date with these changes so that you will be able to get the correct appraisal

Choosing the Benefits of Binary Options Trading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 08:48:00 +0000

When people are thinking about trading any type of options, they want to find what is going to give them the best return. Binary options trading is not going to cost them anymore than what they originally invest. There are other types of options that could cost them more.

Most companies that allow people to trade binary options will have the best software for it. It will be set up for their particular situation and let their customers see what their options are doing. It is important to understand that what someone invests in this trading may be lost, but it could also grow a profit for them.

Whatever they invest is going to be all that they may lose. They will not get a bill for another amount that is over and above what they had originally invested though. This is something that is very important for many investors.

Choosing the best affiliate marketing company will be very important. It is also important to choose a company that is able to give them the best return on their investments. This is often difficult to figure out until someone tries out their services though.

Binary options trading is something that is a great option for some people. For others, it may not be the best option. Some people are good at knowing where to invest their money and will do amazing at this type of investment opportunity.

Other people will hire other people to invest their money for them. They may have to pay these people to do this for them though. This can cut into what their profit would be.

It is important for people to know how much their potential gain could be. While each situation will be different, most of them will have a limit on how much their return will be. Most people want to invest in the ones that could give them the best return and the ones that have the best chance of gaining them a profit.

There are a lot of differences in each type of option though. It depends on which contract they are investing in. Someone who does this type of thing on a regular basis is going to have a good idea of where to put their money, but there is always a chance of losing money even with the options that have consistently gained over time.

Choosing something that is simple to trade will also be an advantage. This is going to offer a lot to the investor. There are a lot of reasons why certain companies will offer them an easier way to trade.

One of these things will be the platform on which they are trading. They need something that is easy to understand and gives them enough details so that they know what they are doing. They also need to be able to track what they have traded and what the outcome of each trade was.

Finding something that interests the person that is trading can also help them. They will know what companies are growing and which ones are losing ground. Potentially, investing in a company that has lost some ground, could be a good investment if they are expected to increase sales and grow profit margins in the future.

Binary options trading can be tricky. It is nothing different than investing in anything else though. There is a risk in any type of investment, but choosing the investments that are the least risky is going to help people who are wanting to gain on their investments. There are certain things that are watched when doing this.

Affiliate marketing is something that is growing in popularity. Choosing the best company to help with the success will be vital. The binary options should be available through online trading and more. VIP Affiliates is able to offer a high CPA. They can increase the CPA and Rev share deals through any broker. This is something that is important. Knowing that investing in the firm is going to give people a profit, they are more willing to do this. For more information and to find out what VIP Affiliates can offer, check out their website at http://vipaffiliates.com. They have the necessary experience.

Stock Market 2015 2016: Best Investment Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:46:00 +0000

A lot of big money managers have an eye on stock market 2015-2016 looking for the best investment opportunities because that's their job - to make money in the stock market. The problem is that after six straight years of rising prices investment opportunities in the market are hard to find. Where might money managers, and you, find them?

Believe it or not, it's probably easier for you to take advantage of the best investment opportunities in 2015 and 2016 and make money in the stock market than it is for a money manager with billion of dollars to deal with. All you need is money in a brokerage account with a discount broker and you're in business at a cost of about $10 per trade. Your trading activity does little to affect the market price; your trades are executed swiftly and are merely a blip on a screen. Big trades (for millions) can affect the market price, can be cumbersome, and can be traced like footprints in sand.

You are not at a disadvantage, and you have a lot more potential investment opportunities and ways to make money in the stock market in 2015 and 2016 than you may be aware of. The question is: are you going to keep buying mainstream stocks that move with the market and hope that prices will continue to rise indefinitely into the future? Or, are you going to look elsewhere for opportunities in preparation of a change in market trends? Let's look elsewhere.

By early 2015, two sectors or industries were moving contrary to the market in general and both hint that a change could be in the wind: oil and precious metals (gold and silver). Stocks in both of these industries are a popular and simple way for the average investor to make money in the stock market IF the timing is right. Keep your eyes open as the markets unfold. Oil and precious metals stocks have been falling in price while the market in general was hitting new all-time highs going into 2015. If trends change they could be some of the best investment opportunities around in 2015 or 2016.

Now, let's get a bit more creative. The future could see rising interest rates and slower economic growth. Both could hurt future corporate earnings. Since good growth in corporate earnings has been the cornerstone of this 6-year rising market, what would happen if interest rates rise significantly and/or earnings fall? You guessed it. The major market indexes like the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ could become volatile and tumble. If this happens, where are the best investment opportunities and how do you make money in the stock market?

Can you, as a small investor, make a bet in the stock market that interest rates will go up? Yes, you can by simply buying the appropriate ETF (exchange traded fund) in your brokerage account. Can you bet that the market will become more volatile? Same answer as above. Can you bet against the market in general or against specific sectors in the market and make money in the stock market if you are correct? Yep, all with ETFs.

The vast majority of investors will lose money when things change, because they don't really understand the dynamics. Markets change, and you must keep this in mind. The best investment opportunities often occur with a change of trend. The past six years have been unusual to say the least. It is not normal for interest rates to be this low. Nor is it normal for the stock market to go up for six straight years.

The difference between the average investor and the big money guys is that the latter know that the years leading up to 2015 were unusual, and they understand market dynamics. That's why they're racking their brains in search of the best investment opportunities for 2015 and 2016 - just in case trends change.

It's true that it's always possible to make money in the stock market, but it's certainly not easy to do when the market indexes are tumbling. Be prepared, because change could be in the wind. The best investment opportunities are always out there. Now you have some ideas as to where to look to find them in 2015 and 2016.

Binary Options Trading As an Investment Vehicle

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 17:11:00 +0000

It is human nature to try to make the most of our assets, including our financial assets. Apart from those people who have no ambition and throw away their money, the majority look for ways to increase the amount they have. They look to the future, and try to build enough resources to let them see out their retirement in a financially stable way.

One of the most common ways to try to build up cash reserves is to use existing cash to put into some kind of investment scheme. There are many different investment vehicles available, and one of the most popular ones in recent times has been binary options.

Like all investment schemes, there is an element of risk involved, but one of the reasons binary trading has become so popular is it provides an opportunity to make substantial profits over a relatively short time period.

Bad investments

There was a time when people were quite happy to leave their spare cash in a bank. They felt it was secure there, and that gave them such confidence that they did not worry too much about the poor rates of interest they were receiving.

Today, unless you have a very large sum of money to invest, putting your money in a savings account is like throwing it away, albeit over a long time period. Interest rates on standard savings accounts are now almost always lower than the rate of inflation.

That means that even though the dollar amount in your savings account may be growing year on year, its real value is actually falling. In other words, you can buy less with the amount in your savings account now than you could with the amount you originally invested. In the present financial situation, putting your money in a bank savings account has to be regarded as a bad investment. This is especially the case for long term goals, such as a comfortable retirement.

Why binary options trading is a viable alternative?

As already stated, binary trading provides a way to make decent profits over relatively short time spans. One of the key aspects of this type of trading is that results are known quickly, giving investors the option to take corrective action before large losses are incurred.

Later, we will look at how this type of trading compares to other forms of investment. First, it is important for the potential trader to understand what this type of trading involves, and how it is different from other more standard types of investing. The best way to do this is to compare this type of trading with stock market investments.

To make our explanation clearer, we are going to create a fictitious company called Ace Products Inc. whose stocks are traded on the NASDAQ. The company is doing well, and its share price has risen by more than a dollar in the last year to $7.95 today.

Stocks

Stocks or shares are issued by companies that have floated on one or more of the world's stock exchanges, such as the NASDAQ or the London Stock Exchange. Companies issue shares at a given price, and anybody can then buy some of these shares. Shares are bought and sold through the stock exchanges. The price of shares is dictated by supply and demand. The more demand for a given the share, the higher the price will be.

When you buy shares in a company, you become a part owner in that company, no matter how small your share allocation is. That means you have a say, albeit a tiny one, in how the business is run.

Shareholders are entitled to vote at the company's AGM, where they can take part in votes to appoint people to the board, and to approve the company's annual accounts. Most people who have small shareholdings do not bother to attend the AGM to do this. They can appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf. If they do not attend and do not appoint a proxy, they assign the right to vote on their behalf to one of the board members.

If the company they have invested in makes a profit, the board may decide to issue a dividend. The company decides it has a surplus of cash that will be divided amongst the shareholders. Each share will have some monetary value, and the total payable to a shareholder is the share dividend value multiplied by the total number of shares he or she owns. When the dividend is paid out, most companies permit shareholders to reinvest the money by purchasing new shares, or they can opt to receive a cash amount.

For the purposes of our illustration, we will assume you own 1,000 shares in Ace Products Inc., which you bought 6 months ago at $7.25 each. The company has announced that it will pay a dividend of 2c per share. That means you are entitled to a $20 payout from the company. For simplicity's sake, we will ignore brokerage fees and bid/offer spread (of which more later), but if you decide to sell the shares, you can now make a profit in your investment. Here's how:

Sale price: 1,000 x 7.95 = 7,950

Dividend: 20

Gross worth: 7,970

Amount invested: 1,000 x 7.25 = 7,250

Gross profit: 720

The key factors here are:

1. As a part owner of the company you got a dividend of $20 from profit distribution.

2. When the company is doing well, the price of shares tends to rise.

3. If the company did not do well, there almost certainly would have been no dividend, and the price of shares is likely to have fallen.

4. If the price of shares falls below the price at which you bought, your holding will be worth less than what you paid for it. You will have just two choices. You either sell at a loss, or hold on to your shares in the hope that the share price will go up again.

5. When you bought your shares, you did so because you expected the share price to rise.

6. You own your shares, and you can hold on to them for as long as you like.

Binary options trading

The term "binary options" harks back to the early days of this type of trading, when there were only two possible outcomes. You either made a profit or make a loss - there was no other scenario. Today, there are many more complex ways in which you can take part in this type of trading, but beginners should stick to the most basic.

Binary trades always have an underlying asset. This could be a stock, a currency, a commodity, a stock market index, and so on. We will use Ace Products Inc. as our underlying asset.

A key element of this type of trading is that you must specify an expiry time in the future. This could be just a few minutes, an hour, a month etc. Another key element is the strike price. When you make a trade, you take a position that says the strike price will be at or above a certain level at some time in the future.

If you think that Ace Products Inc.'s share price will have risen to $8 in 30 days' time, you can make a call option. You back your belief with an investment amount. On the trading platform, another trader will have the opinion that your prediction is wrong. He or she will make an offer that will be a percentage of your investment amount.

You both enter into an irrevocable options contract. When the contract expires or closes, the Ace Products Inc. will either be at or above the $8 you predicted. Is so, you get your investment amount back, plus the additional percentage you were offered. If the share price is below $8, you lose your entire investment amount.

When you make a call option in a binary options trade, you are not buying anything physical. If you take a call option on the share price of Ace Products Inc., you do not own any shares in the company. Taking a call option means you think the price of the share is going to increase to at least the specified price at the specified time.

For the sake of completeness, it is worth pointing out that even if the share price of Ace Products Inc. had exceeded $8 during the lifetime of the contract, which is irrelevant. It is the price at the exact expiry time that counts.

With this type of trading, you are not restricted to making contracts based on rising prices. You could also make contracts based on the value of the underlying asset falling. This is termed a "put" option. This works in exactly the same way. For example, you can take a put option that Ace Products Inc. price will have fallen to $7.90 in 30 days' time. You will be shown an offer amount that you will get if you are right. If you are wrong, you lose your investment.

Why is binary options trading better than investing in the stock market?

Hopefully, it should be fairly clear from the example above that this type of trading provides you with a vehicle for making quick profits. This is almost impossible with share investments.

If you buy or sell stocks, there are other factors you must take into account. We mentioned the bid/offer spread above. This is often referred to as the bid/ask price. When you see a quoted price for Ace Products Inc. share price, which is an average of the selling price and the buying price, because these two prices are different. The amount that you can buy a given share for is always higher than the amount you could sell it for at that particular time. The difference between the two is the bid/offer spread.

The bid/offer spread can be quite substantial, and it is not unusual to see spreads of 1 - 2%. That means if you buy some shares in Ace Products Inc., the share price has to rise by at least the bid/offer spread percentage before you could possibly make a profit on selling the shares. In addition, you will almost always have to pay brokerage fees on both your purchase and on your sale.

This means your investment is going to be tied up for some time before there is any chance of making a profit on it. Another vital aspect of investing in stocks is that there is no way to make a profit or even break even if the stock price goes down.

If the stock price starts falling, you are faced with the agonizing decision of whether you should sell at a loss, or wait in the hope that the price will rise again. There is nothing you can do to improve your position. Another important factor is that you will have to make quite large investments in stocks to gain a reasonable profit.

With binary options trading, you can make a good profit from a series of small investments. You will know the results very soon, and you have the opportunity to offset negative results relatively quickly. In other words, you have much more control over your investments.

Is binary options trading better than investing in property?

As with stocks, when you invest in property you own the asset. You will have to make a large investment in buying property, and that can be tied up for quite some time. The costs of buying property are high and there are many associated fees for owning/buying a property. You can expect to pay about 10% above the purchase price in fees, duties and taxes. You will also have to pay legal fees when you sell property.

All this means that you cannot possibly make a profit from property investments until the price of your asset has risen by at least 10%. That means your investment has to be considered a long term one, and your capital is completely tied up. As with stocks, if property prices go down instead of up, there is no way for you to regain your investment.

So in conclusion, there are always risks involved in all kinds of investments. When you invest in stocks, property or other standard investment vehicles, you have no way to offset falling prices. Investments in these vehicles tend to be long term.

Investing in binary options trading gives you much more control over your capital. You are dealing in a short-term marketplace, so you get the opportunity to take corrective action if trades go against you. You can invest small amounts of money and still have the chance to make good profits. Binary options trading is certainly something to which the savvy investor should give some thought.

Learn more at http://topbinaryoptionreviews.com/

Several Valuable Online Stock Trading Tips For Inexperienced Traders

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 18:49:00 +0000

If you want to make a ton of money as an investor, it is important to learn all that you can about working in this market. This means that you have to know how to balance the allocation of your assets, diversify and limit risk among other things. The online stock trading tips that follow will give you some of the guidance you need when just getting started.

Choose a good broker and trading platform. The brokerage you work with will have a significant impact on your bottom line. The best companies offer great support and an array of learning resources. They also have platforms that are intuitive and easy to use. Some of the top companies even have mobile trading apps.

Licensing and regulation are also important considerations to make. Regulated brokers maintain transparent operations and they keep your money separate from their own. This is a very important consideration if using stock pairs through binary options companies.

Make sure to read through the conditions and terms of account bonuses before accepting them. A lot of brokers will give you extra funds to trade with as an incentive to working with them. These come with both benefits and drawbacks. There are times when bonuses might lock your own funds up until you fulfill all required conditions.

Stick with platforms that will allow you to take advantage of a demo account before facing actual risk. These are accounts that mimic actual market conditions. You can make a variety of investments and see how these might pan out in the real world. This is great practice for short-term investors. Demo accounts are actually some of the most important learning resources that you can have access to.

Focus on trading with companies that you have a keen understanding of. You will be better able to predict the direction of a company's value if you understand the market that it services and the goods it produces. People who experiment with companies that they know little about have a higher likelihood of loss. It is also important to determine your level of risk tolerance. This is your ability to tolerate financial loss, both in a financial and emotional sense. Understanding your level of risk tolerance will help you to avoid making decisions that cut your profits short or create loss.

Think about working with binary options brokers so that you can trade stock pairs. There is a lot of money in these financial instruments and you can learn how to trade them in almost no time at all. Your goal is to see which of two stocks is going to perform the best. If you put your money on the underdog, the profit potential of a transaction could be 400%.

Make sure that you are reviewing the allocation of your assets on a regular basis and that your portfolio is balanced accordingly. There should not be too much risk in any area of your portfolio. This way, if you do implement a losing transaction, you will still have enough investment capital to bounce back. Planning is essential for succeeding in these endeavors.

How To Profitably Sell Gold Jewellery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 11:18:00 +0000

So you wish to sell some of your gold? Luckily, there are numerous companies and outlets out there, even online, that would be more than glad to pay you for that old jewellery. However be very careful when doing it. You require to be extremely market savvy and alert whenever you try to sell! Yes, it is possible to receive plenty of good cash for your gold, but it requires that you go in with both your eyes wide open.

How Can I Do It?

When dealing with online companies, first you request for their free pre-paid wrapper or envelope that you will utilize in sending your gold to them. A majority of these company envelopes or wrappers come pre-insured in the event of loss or theft during transit. You may opt to secure extra insurance should your gold amount be worth more their cover or alternatively just split it into a number of smaller pre-insured packs.

Most of these online gold companies will subsequently email or call you with their valuation, which you either could reject or accept. Some others will simply automatically dispatch to you a cheque worth what they valued the gold. You should return this cheque within a specified time normally ranging from 10 to 12 days if not pleased with their appraisal. Ensure that you verify their policy on returns prior to selling or sending your gold to them, because policies do vary.

Are These Companies Trustworthy?

A number of these companies have been trading for years and as such you may be confident that being established jewellers they are bound to be trustworthy when dealing with you. However, it is possible to have a handful of companies out for that quick profit and unsurprisingly; such are unlikely to give much heed to fairness. Neither are they concerned with their company's reputation or customer service. They are just out for a quick buck and then run.

It therefore pays to make use of your common sense as you sell gold. Do they have positive media coverage and dependable testimonials? For how long have they engaged in the business? Do a Google search on them and check various online forums and chat rooms to see what about them turns up.

The Jewellers Association of Australia Limited (JAA) came into being to represent and protect the combined interests of jewellery consumers and the jewellery industry. The JAA website contains a full list of all members. This website also has information that could assist you in selecting a jeweller and other such useful information.

Are They Offering You a Decent Option?

If your gold jewellery is still in fair condition, it is worthy to get assessments from several local jewellers. This is because they are likely to take into consideration the craftsmanship that went into the jewellery itself and not merely the amount of gold contained. You then could contrast the quotes from the jewellers with the online listed gold prices, which had not taken the jewellery retail value into account

Be particularly cautious of online companies which are not revealing their gold price list. It pays to compare the prices and if they are displaying their prices lists, probably they are not even worth your effort and time. The members of the Jewellers Association of Australia Limited have nationally voluntarily adopted the Jewellery Industry Code of Conduct with the objective of putting in place principles for jewellery industry fair trading. The Code additionally aims to promote ethical competition among gold retailers.

How to Quickly and Confidently Spot a Fake 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:10:00 +0000

1893-S Morgan silver dollars are so renowned, that more exist today than were originally minted. Most Counterfeit 1893-S Morgans consist of altered versions of existing genuine Morgan dollars.

The majority of 1893-S Morgan silver dollars are certified, so why would I need to know how to tell a fake one when I see it? Hasn't NGC and PCGS already done that for me?

I've seen fake 1893-S Morgans both graded and raw. I have to assume PCGS and NGC graders both know how to spot a fake 1893-S Morgan, so when I see an example of a counterfeit slabbed in a legitimate looking holder, I have to figure the holder is as fake as the coin.

I also run across fake coin denial. Owners of these coins don't want to admit they were fooled into buying a counterfeit coin. That's a hard pill to swallow, especially when the owner paid top dollar for a graded coin with the confidence of it being blessed from a major third party grader.

The 1893-S date/mintmark is the most valuable of the Morgan designed dollars. Because of this, most counterfeit versions have been made by altering either the date, or the mintmark.

Learning to tell a fake 1893-S Morgan is simple, because ALL 100,000 coins were made from the same obverse die and two reverse dies. That makes the diagnostic really easy.

They all have the same obverse characteristics and not terribly different reverse characteristics. Any coin that doesn't possess the telltale diagnostic characteristics is a fake. Learn what to look for, and you can spot a fake raw coin AND a fake graded coin.

The date is probably the easiest thing to pick out. Unlike other dies from the S, O, or P mints, the date has a flaw and a certain characteristic the altered coins won't possess.

First, look closely at the 1. Does it line up exactly with the dentil directly under it? Can you draw a line right through the center of both?

Next, study the last numeral. As the date progresses, it slopes upward to the right, in relation to the edge. The 3 is noticeably higher than the 1 at the beginning. This is the easiest way to quickly spot a fake.

There are things to check in the "T" and "R" on LIBERTY, but they would need a microscope to detect. There's a tiny die scratch in the "T" and a detail that resembles "rabbit ears" in the base of the "R". ALL genuine 1893-S Morgans have this detail, if you happen to have a microscope check out this diagnostic detail.

You don't really need to turn the coin over to make any more diagnostics on it.

Further diagnostics will only tell you how the alteration was made. The genuine "S" mintmark is clear and rounded. It isn't a mushy blob. The top serif on the "S" is a vertical line, while the bottom serif is more like a triangle.

The next mintmark giveaway is the alignment of the "S". It should be perfectly aligned. I've seen the "S" mintmark noticeably slanted, and it shouldn't be. Also, the "S" is slightly filled in between the upper curve and the slant of the "S" as well as the lower curve and the slant.

Since most counterfeit 1893-S dollars are altered, continue to study the coin with a 10X glass. Rotate the coin and look for tooling marks around the 9 or 3 for signs of a date alteration on the obverse. Altered coins are usually the 1898-S, 1883-S, or 1893-P.

As collector values continue to increase with the 1893-S, the fakes will get even better. With emerging technologies, counterfeits will become almost perfect replicas of the original. My hope is that as technologies to accurately copy a coin advance, technologies to detect such copies will also keep up.

Option Trading and Record Keeping

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 14:58:00 +0000

I often think about other people who trade options as much as I do all day. I wonder if they use the best discount brokers that area available and most importantly, how do they keep records of all their trade?

The point of record keeping in the complex profession of option trading in my opinion is just about the most important thing there is. How can you know if you're successful in trading options if you don't know your profits and losses per stock, per trade type, per day, per month for a whole year? For me the answer has always been a combination of 3 methods. The first method of course would be to use a spreadsheet to keep a current total of all stocks I own. I keep another spreadsheet to record all my expenses for every month, and this is vital to know the grand total of all income sources and expenses including trading fees.

The most important tool I use for all my stock and option trading is Microsoft Access. Using the Access database is the perfect tool for recording each stock or option trade. For options I have a column that represents the number of contracts for each option trade and for options one contract represents 100 shares of stock. If I buy and option contract then the contract number would be negative and if I sell then the contract number would be positive. The other columns in the table would be for the price of the option and the trade fee, so to calculate the total for any option trade would be (100*Price*Contract) - Trade fee. Using SQL (Structured Query Language) has allowed me over the years to display very important statistics and reports to let me know how I am doing for any stock or option trade type or strategy and summarizing performance by stock, option, month, day or year has been very easy to accomplish.

The most important point is how can you really know how you are doing if you don't keep records? You might get a stock put to you and then sell it at loss, but then know that overall because of the option premium you received for selling the PUT that actually you made a profit on that trade overall. Without keeping records, you would never know how you really did for any specific complex option trade.

With any profession record keeping is vital to know how you are really doing, but with the difficult profession of option trading, keeping records is just about the most important thing you can do.

Option Trader, Biographer, Screenwriter, Retired IT professional.

The New Investor Vs Stock Market 2015-2016

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 14:55:00 +0000

I write this as a "heads up" to the new investor, especially those who intend to start investing money in the stock market in 2015 or 2016. We're all a new investor sometime and all subject to the same misconceptions, illusions and mistakes when we start investing money in the stock market. Here's a simple guide to investing money as the market unfolds in 2015 and 2016.

If you start investing money in the stock market before you have a handle on such things as P-E ratios, dividend yields and past market cycles consider yourself a new investor. Ditto, if you don't feel that you really understand the big picture - even if you have been an investor for several years (like millions of other folks). I write this as a former financial planner who worked with many uninformed (new) investors... because most people who start investing money in the stock market do it uninformed.

Many new investors get excited when the market makes new highs. If you were excited by the new highs in the market in 2014, take a deep breath and push your emotions (like greed) aside before investing money in the stock market in 2015 and beyond. Don't be afraid of "missing out" because stocks are NOT cheap (P-E ratios are not low) while dividend yields ARE low. There are few bargains around. After more than five consecutive good years the "herd instinct" has taken over on Wall Street. If you became a new investor since the financial crisis ended in early 2009, you have probably been misled by what you've seen.

You may now be a member of the herd and overly optimistic about the future. That's what often happens to new investors who start investing money in the stock market at or near a market low. Those who "luck out" with timing their first time out are vulnerable to future market shock. "It's better to be lucky than good" is likely to work for the new investor only once. Don't push your luck in 2015 and beyond.

Market cycles have always been a major part of the game, and few new investors really have a perspective on market trends. The newbie who gets lucky often credits his or her success to stock picking. The simple truth is that it's easy pickings if you start investing money in the stock market when a new uptrend sweeps prices higher. On the other hand, if you start investing money when a major downward trend takes hold, your odds of taking big losses are about 99%.

To succeed over the long term you need to take emotion out of the picture and keep an eye on the horizon in search of EXTREMES. For 2015 and beyond, there are a couple of extremes that could signal a change in trend from up to down. How long can interest rates be stuck at record lows while the stock market rallies to new highs? Lower interest rates have traditionally been the key to stimulating the economy and sending corporate sales, profits and stock prices higher. Presently at near record lows, rates can't go much lower. This might not be a good time to start investing money in the stock market.

Forget about optimism and pessimism. Rising interest rates hurt corporate sales and profits; and lower profits can make P-E ratios skyrocket overnight. In other words, stock PRICES vs. EARNINGS (P-E ratios) can rise quickly when profits fall, making stocks expensive. If you are a new investor beware: now is probably not a good time to start investing money in the stock market. It is a good time to learn.

Today's extremes: extremely low interest rates, and almost six straight years of rising prices without a major change in trend. A significant uptrend in interest rates will make new investors out of all but the old heads (like myself). That's what makes 2015 and 2016 scary. That's why you might want to think twice before you start investing money in the stock market in 2015 and beyond. Learn now. Later, when prices are low and the uninformed herd is selling, is when you want to start investing money in the stock market.

Have You the Nerves for Stock Trading?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 14:46:00 +0000

Stock Trading, can be a great home based business. Many try but most give up quickly as it is not usually an overnight successful business. To succeed you need to devote some time and effort to master the right skills. It is advisable to gain knowledge from experienced traders as this type of home based business is rarely one you can learn yourself.

• It is preferable you learn from a reputable broker and has proven to be consistently successful. Check that they offer a trading platform that you can understand, is a lot to master. This is not a business you can hurry results. Many beginner traders get impatient because they want instant results, so will change to another trader platform. This not to be recommended because you will receive conflicting information, get frustrated and worst of all lose money.

• Once you put money into your online trading account, the most important thing to remember is that this money is at risk. So use money that is definitely not required for your daily living expenses, such as bills, groceries etc. Consider your trading money as if it were holiday money. Have the same attitude toward trading. That way you will be able to accept small losses. The ideal is to focus on your trades and accept any small losses you make, then you will be much more successful in the long run.

• Choose a trader program which gives a full money back guarantee and contact email for support so you can get answers quickly.

It really is a case of success breeds success and your confidence will grow. Stock trading can be great way to make money online, as a home based business. You will become a profitable trader only though if you take your time and accept that there will be a steep learning curve.

Wendy Heyworth lives in Tauranga New Zealand
Wendy has had a successful varied business background from sole operator business to directorship in multi-national businesses. She now has her business working from her home.
She inspires and empowers others to seek out opportunities to work from home.

The New Investor Vs Stock Market 2015 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:29:00 +0000

Market cycles have always been a major part of the game, and few new investors really have a perspective on market trends. The newbie who gets lucky often credits his or her success to stock picking. The simple truth is that it's easy pickings if you start investing money in the stock market when a new uptrend sweeps prices higher. On the other hand, if you start investing money when a major downward trend takes hold, your odds of taking big losses are about 99%.

To succeed over the long term you need to take emotion out of the picture and keep an eye on the horizon in search of EXTREMES. For 2015 and beyond, there are a couple of extremes that could signal a change in trend from up to down. How long can interest rates be stuck at record lows while the stock market rallies to new highs? Lower interest rates have traditionally been the key to stimulating the economy and sending corporate sales, profits and stock prices higher. Presently at near record lows, rates can't go much lower. This might not be a good time to start investing money in the stock market.

Forget about optimism and pessimism. Rising interest rates hurt corporate sales and profits; and lower profits can make P-E ratios skyrocket overnight. In other words, stock PRICES vs. EARNINGS (P-E ratios) can rise quickly when profits fall, making stocks expensive. If you are a new investor beware: now is probably not a good time to start investing money in the stock market. It is a good time to learn.

Today's extremes: extremely low interest rates, and almost six straight years of rising prices without a major change in trend. A significant uptrend in interest rates will make new investors out of all but the old heads (like myself). That's what makes 2015 and 2016 scary. That's why you might want to think twice before you start investing money in the stock market in 2015 and beyond. Learn now. Later, when prices are low and the uninformed herd is selling, is when you want to start investing money in the stock market.

Simple Tips for Making a Killing in the Stock Market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:22:00 +0000

Trading on the stock market is a great way to achieve financial independence but the road is littered with obstacles and hurdles that will most certainly see you lose your investments. Yes you can make money on the stock market but without the right advice as I say will make you a stock market loser no doubt. We don't want you to be a loser, so here are some simple tips to becoming a winner.

First of all, it's best to employ a broker to handle all your trades. A broker can execute all your trades for you, and nowadays you can find a broker online. Some people still prefer to have a broker via telephone and that's fine. The problem with online trading is that it can be too easy to make a bad trading decision. Worth mentioning it is best that you never take stock tips from a broker. You are the trader and your decisions are your own and not the brokers.

Although you can employ a broker to do all your analytical work for you, that is perform some technical analysis, I find it is best to use charting software. Such programs have databases that can analyse historical data at the click of a mouse and it will save you countless hours of having to trawl through newspapers every day to find the information you need. I won't recommend and particular software here although the one I use is called Sharescope. With it I can filter new market highs and lows as well as draw trend lines.

It's all good having the right software on your computer and sound fundamental and technical analysis but without an exit strategy you are sure to close trades just before they become profitable. Far too often the trader will base the closing of his trades on pure emotion. It's emotion that causes the market changes but when it comes to making an exit, you must have a strategy set in stone before you make the trade. This way you can cancel out any bad decisions based on your emotions. And even stories on the news can see you make bad decisions and therefore losing trades.

Trading isn't easy, and the road to success with it can be long and sometimes you can feel like you are going to lose your entire investment because of one or two losing trades. Stay strong, stay focussed on the long term and you will eventually find your way in the world of stock market investing.

Have You the Nerves for Stock Trading ?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:18:00 +0000

tock Trading, can be a great home based business. Many try but most give up quickly as it is not usually an overnight successful business. To succeed you need to devote some time and effort to master the right skills. It is advisable to gain knowledge from experienced traders as this type of home based business is rarely one you can learn yourself.

The top traders are successful because they have learnt to hone in on their skills with dedication and apply good old-fashioned practice. They have learnt what works and what does not.

So how do you start to master this online home business?

• This type of industry requires steady nerves. If you are the type of person who can stay calm when others around you are fearful, then you will do well. Successful traders know that like playing poker it is imperative not to panic when things start going wrong, but to remain in control.

• It is preferable you learn from a reputable broker and has proven to be consistently successful. Check that they offer a trading platform that you can understand, is a lot to master. This is not a business you can hurry results. Many beginner traders get impatient because they want instant results, so will change to another trader platform. This not to be recommended because you will receive conflicting information, get frustrated and worst of all lose money.

• Once you put money into your online trading account, the most important thing to remember is that this money is at risk. So use money that is definitely not required for your daily living expenses, such as bills, groceries etc. Consider your trading money as if it were holiday money. Have the same attitude toward trading. That way you will be able to accept small losses. The ideal is to focus on your trades and accept any small losses you make, then you will be much more successful in the long run.

• Choose a trader program which gives a full money back guarantee and contact email for support so you can get answers quickly.

It really is a case of success breeds success and your confidence will grow. Stock trading can be great way to make money online, as a home based business. You will become a profitable trader only though if you take your time and accept that there will be a steep learning curve.

A Managed Forex Account

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:29:00 +0000

These are forex accounts that are not traded by you, but by a money manager on your behalf. This is a similar situation to employing an investment advisor to trade equities and bonds on your behalf. It is suitable for use if you do not have sufficient knowledge or time to trade yourself. Many traders do not want to learn the often complex and intricate mechanisms of this large financial market. Individuals who prefer having a professional manage their funds would prefer this type of account.

The Advantages of a Managed Forex Account

One of the most important advantages of a managed forex account is that your money is held by your broker and not by your manager. This gives the money manager the responsibility to do the trades for you, but he or she will not have the authority to withdraw money from your account.

The other advantages linked to this type of account are:

Large brokerages offer you extensive experience in this market which you have access to. Your money manager will inspect your portfolio on a regular basis and diversify your investments if necessary.

You do not need to have experience in the forex market as your manager will be doing your trades. This provides you with a knowledge base based on practical experience which is to your advantage.

You will normally receive a daily report on all the positions you currently hold.

The possibility of showing profits irrespective of the state of the market is increased by using this type of account.

Through your money manager, you will have access to the market 24 hours of every day. If you choose to trade personally, there is always the possibility that you may miss out on a profitable trade because you were not online at the time.

Disadvantages of a Managed Forex Account

Since you are not personally managing your account, you may face several risks. The risk of being scammed is high as you may have chosen to use an untrustworthy broker. You may be assigned a money manager who is incompetent and this could cause you to lose funds.

Scammers should be quite easy to recognize as they will constantly request deposits from you. Their main aim is to get as much money out of you as possible. To avoid this risk, obtain details from your broker as to the manner in which your account will be managed.

Check if you have been assigned a normal account as the account will then be a personal one and in your name. This means that all the funding you put in will go to the broker. If you are assigned to a pooled account, your funds are normally sent directly to the money manager who is responsible for pooling funds received from various clients into an account that he or she controls.

One of the scariest aspects of a managed forex account is that you could lose all your money through incompetence. To avoid this, you should ensure that you read and understand your contract before you sign on the bottom line. You must be aware of who will be handling your account and the methods they intend using.

A Beginners Guide To Trade Currencies Like A Professional

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:25:00 +0000

With many people over the last few years having money just sitting in the bank earning next to nothing due to the very lower interest rates that the banks now offer, some have taken up trading on the currency markets. Once only the home of the big investors and governments, people can now get involved themselves for as little as $50 with some brokers. Now that amount is not something that is going to make you rich, but you need to start low and work your way up. Making money from trading the Forex markets can be as difficult as you make it.

When you do some research into trading on the Forex markets you have probably come across numerous pictures that show the currency pair moving up and down, and then it is probably covered in lines, and underneath is a number of graphs. Well unless you understand all of them and how they work, switch them off. Do not fill your trading screen up with all kinds just to try and make it look good. The best advice a professional trader will give a beginner is to setup the screen to show one currency pair that is trending, shown in candlestick mode, with nothing else on the trading screen.

This means that you are setup to just watch the way the currency pair behaves, and this will give you a feel for the way the markets move. If you are a beginner, then you should not be looking to be doing any scalping (very short term trades), so your timeline should be at least 1 hour, but preferably 4. This is to teach you to be patient, if you are watching shorter timelines and a market looks like it is going against you, then you are likely to bail out at a loss. Whereas people who have patience will have no interest when the market turns against them, as when they look at the screen after an hour it has recovered in their favor.

You may have to spend a long time staring at the market, but once you have entered a trade, walk away and do something else. You have either set a stop loss as a value, or you may time your trades, and bail out after a set time. It is recommend you use a set value though.

Some people prefer to set a trade and leave it for a day before they decide to take action on it, and if you really want to go for the long term then you would be looking at being in the marker for weeks. If you do that and get it right then it can really pay off big time. Whatever timeline you decide to start with though, stick with it, if you keep changing it then you will not get the feel for any of them. When you see a professional trader on TV, you will not see them flicking through various screens and constantly changing settings.

Why Forex Is The Best Market For New Traders

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:22:00 +0000

It is my belief that Forex is hands down the best market for new traders. When everyone thinks about trading, they automatically think about the Stock exchange. What they don't understand is that it cost a lot of money to actively day trade the stock market. By law, the SEC, requires a large minimum balance for day traders. In this article, I will give you several examples why new traders will find it easier to trade the Forex market as day traders and as other short time frame based currency traders in this market.

There are some inherent advantage to Forex. The first benefit is that you can fund an account with a broker with as little as $5 and as much as a million. Forex makes it so that any trader, no matter their account size has an opportunity to trade. Another advantage of Forex is the fact that you have a lot of leverage you can use, you can use up to 1:400 leverage with some Forex brokers. Leverage is the same as buying with margin. Stock brokerage accounts do not provide this amount of leverage. All short term traders need high leverage to make the most out of their small incremental wins.

More opportunities to trade equals more money that can be made. The stock market opens at around 8 in the morning and closes before 5 pm, that is a short window to trade and makes it so that anyone with a day job can't trade. Forex doesn't have this problems. Forex is a 24 hours market that you can trade anytime of day. It is a global market with participants from all around the globe trading at every hour of the day, it never closes. You can trade before work and after work.

Open crossover is another reason why Forex is so great. Although, the Forex market is open 24 hours, it does have several opens. An open is when a countries banks start trading. For example, London's open is at 3 am EST and the US open is at 9 am EST. There are also opens for the Asian countries too. What this means that their is a ton of liquidity being pumped into the market through out the day. When these trading periods cross over you have a ton of people moving the market. For day traders and scalpers this is a goldmine.

As you can see, Forex is the best market for a new trader to trade. They will find greater success in Forex than in any market. It is also easier to open an account and get high leverage in Forex. One of the great benefits of Forex is that it is a 24 hour market that you can trade day or night. A new trader can go to work in the day and come home and trade during his or her leisure time. It is a market that gives the trader the advantage.

Why Use A Foreign Exchange Calendar?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:45:00 +0000

Foreign exchange trading is more often than not based on assumptions determined by a volume of data. It is possible to predict the future by the use of historical forex information, however, care should be taken when this is done. The volatility of this financial market makes it difficult to predict the future. You should consider using a foreign exchange calendar to provide you with an edge when you predict trends.

Events

One of the economic events that is currently affecting forex rates is the rate of unemployment. News releases on this and other economic factors that affect financial markets are constantly being made available. Some of the other events that you should be aware of for effective trading are non-farm payrolls, interest rates and consumer price indices.

Be Aware When Trading

Your trading method is an important factor, but it is also important that you keep up to date with current events and future events that will have an effect on your trading options. If you are not aware of the latest economic trends, you may be unaware of adjustments that may be necessary to improve your strategy. The use of technical analysis methods is highly dependent upon the current trends and global events.

Although you may be making consistent profits with your current strategy, if you ignore potential risky events, you could be putting your money at risk. The use of a calendar will allow you the opportunity to access readily available information which you can prepare for. This will help you avoid any sudden changes that could potentially turn the tide against you.

The calendar is used to keep up to date about major announcements released by different countries across the globe. If you are aware that an announcement is pending, it is best not to trade. The best method is to abstain from trading for at least two or three hours before you expect an economic data release for your trading currency pairs. For example, if you are trading GBP/USD and you are aware of an impending event such as interest rate announcements, you should refrain from trading before it is released. This will aid you in avoiding the major slides that often take place when the announcement is finally released.

Currencies generally experience a huge swing just before these major announcements. Once the market settles down, the trend will be reversed. You do not want to get caught up in these fake signals as it might cause panic. It is advisable to check the signals once the market has had time to settle which should be about half an hour after the event.

When you use a foreign exchange calendar, you will be able to mark the events that you feel are relevant to your trading pattern. You will have the opportunity to highlight the main announcements linked to your trading pairs. Many of the websites where you are able to access the calendar have tutorials on how to effectively use the calendar. They also indicate when you should make your trades and explain how the economic announcements may affect your trades.

Best Online Forex Trading Practices for Beginners

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:25:00 +0000

Becoming a professional in any field requires dedication, experience and understanding of the field. After all, no one is expected to become a seasoned doctor within six months. In the same way, traders too cannot become experts at Forex trading within a few months. One also should not overlook the fact that the market competition is cut throat and there are seasoned traders that newbies are competing against. These traders have invested many years of their lives in this field to earn the amount that they do.

Therefore, newbies in the Forex market trading should learn and explore to the maximum their education and gains from the market. There are a few aspects which beginners in Forex trading should keep in mind. One of the foremost things to do is be vigilant as the market changes regularly. They should be well aware of the currency they are dealing in along with the market to be able to make money without any hassle. Traders can also make use of the different applications and software in order to monitor the markets and learn about:

a) Transaction tracking
b) Real time Forex quotes
c) Charts

Another important thing to do is opening a demo account. This account will help traders learn more about trading currency without putting at risk their own investments. The simulated view will allow new traders to make efficient use of their resources and teach them the much required traits like patience, etc. When dealing in the Forex markets, new traders have to make sure that they do not make decisions or get carried away due to sheer excitement. This is important in order to curb the risks of substantial losses.

They should also learn to evaluate trading and draw out the investment at the earliest in case they make a wrong decision which will have a positive impact in saving their investment in the long run. When it comes to learning they should make sure to go through the various online tutorials often uploaded by the broker agencies which will provide them with useful and up to date information about the trade and the market. In fact, by using online tools they can also communicate with the experts in the field. They can make the most of the tools by learning about topics like:

Risk management
Basic account functions
Trading using bots and much more.

The main aim of beginners in the Forex trading should be to maximize their knowledge about the industry and minimize their losses.

How to Make Money With Forex

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:20:00 +0000

In order to make money in the Forex markets understanding its workings and operations is important. Traders make profit when the value of the currencies goes up and incur a loss if it comes down. Most traders exchange their investment portion into different currencies which they hope will increase in value. However, in order to do this, traders must have a complete understanding about how to analyze price movements. They should be well aware of the tried and tested trading policies, which are simple and flexible and can be implemented in a hassle free manner under various market conditions.

This may require traders to learn with the help of comprehensive courses. When opting for such courses traders must ensure that they offer appropriate features and cover aspects like on-going assistance or customer service. These will help traders in identifying and studying the defined and trusted strategies that will help them trade and make a profit. When learning the industry, it is always recommended that traders invest time in finding an actual Forex trader to learn from rather than depending on the computer generated software and tools.

New traders who are still in the learning phase must make sure that they do not diversify their trade much in the initial phase so as to reduce the risks of substantial losses. The Forex market has a very high volume which is equally liquid. If traders diversify or invest in more than one trade in the same session they will run a risk of losing concentration. This increases the chances of incurring a loss in the Forex markets.

The traders of the Forex markets can also make money through short selling. These individuals can short sell as soon as they detect an opportunity irrespective of the fact that they might not have the required volume in hand. However, in order to be able to learn and implement all this, traders must make sure to open a demo account and first make a profit using this account in the first few months. This way they will be exposed to real market scenarios but will not be putting at risk their own assets.

This will help them identify the various opportunities and threats that are prevalent in the Forex markets and teach them how to manipulate their trading strategies in order to gain profits. Making money in the Forex markets is not difficult for those traders who invest time and discipline themselves according to the tricks of this trade.

Best Stock Investment Strategy for 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Samory Borry) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:12:00 +0000

In putting together the best stock investment strategy for 2014 you can concentrate on finding the best stock investment or you can try to come up with the best strategy to deal with a market hitting all-time highs. Unless you have a real flare for stock picking, I suggest you focus on investment strategy.

There are two traditional ways to view the stock market: the fundamental approach and the technical school. The first approach tries to come up with the best stock investment or strategy by analyzing all kinds of economic and financial data like economic growth, unemployment and trends in corporate sales and profits. The technical school focuses only on the action in the stock market itself, like volume of shares traded and price trends.

I've followed this stuff for 40 years, sometimes in search of the best stock investment and sometimes (in my later years) paying more attention to investment strategy. Here's what I see in 2014 and beyond, combining both schools of thought.

The fundamental data is luke-warm at best. We've recovered from an economic crisis and a deep recession, they say. But economic growth is weak and unemployment is still in the 7% range. Corporate profits have grown, while sales growth has been lackluster. The stock market has been hitting all-time highs, as our government has gone deeper in debt while keeping interest rates artificially low to stimulate the economy. This looks nothing like the best stock investment environment compared to past recoveries. Things just don't look right from a fundamental viewpoint.

Technically, the stock market has been in an upward trend for about 5 years, showing gains of over 150%. This has happened before. But there's something to consider when trying to put together the best stock investment strategy for 2014 and beyond. If the fundamental data does not really improve to support these gains by 2015, stock investors who jump in now might be showing up at the party late. The upside action could be coming to an end.

Here's what else has happened before. Many investors missed this market and have just recently jumped on the band wagon in search of the best stock investment to make up for lost time. This is not new, nor has it normally worked out well for the average investor. If you missed out, I have a suggestion for you.

Don't play "catch up". Sometimes it's best to stay safe and liquid - waiting for a future opportunity. In other word, your best stock investment strategy for 2014 and beyond could be a passive strategy. As I once heard Warren Buffet say, "every 5 years or so the stock market runs into trouble". This could be one of those times.

Trading and Investing As a Process

noreply@blogger.com (Samory Borry) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:03:00 +0000

All too often traders and investors get caught up in popular strategies such as "red light/green light," "buy on the dip," or "stop and reverse SAR." They start trading and investing as soon as they have learned the new strategy taught at a seminar, trade show, or webinar. If they are lucky they may make modest profit during the first few trades, then suddenly they have a series of losses. They struggle and work harder, trying to force the strategy they learned to work. They become frustrated or angry at the market, market makers, Wall Street and anyone else they bump into.

Their losses go from a string of losses to chronic loss syndrome. This syndrome is a series of losses with an occasional profitable trade which continues to encourage them to keep trying. They go to more free weekend seminars, watch more free webinars, and wander around more trade show searching for answers. They are sure that it is some magical trick, or something they are missing that is causing the losses.

However the problem is much deeper than that, and it starts with the notion that a strategy is all that is needed to trade and invest successfully. Strategies are taught first because they are all in public domain, meaning they are free for anyone to learn. Also they are an easy subject to present at a free seminar. They are short, to the point, and make it seem as if the retail vendor, broker, or speaker is has the answer to their trading and investing problems.

The real culprit is the lack of a trading and investing process. A trading and investing process is not difficult to learn and in fact, makes trading much easier and simpler than struggling to use several strategies and guessing all the time, or waiting for some news event to try and jump into a stock to scrape perhaps a dime of profit from all that work.

What is a trading and investing process?

It is a set of rules with parameters and a complete process that you follow every time you trade and invest. This begins with how you find stocks, analyze stocks, select the best stock to trade, risk analysis, point gain potential, and risk to reward ratio. It includes using the proper order, the proper stop loss, the proper trailing profit stop, to exiting the trade with the most profit possible. It is about having a trading style first with a complete process, and an understanding of the 6 market conditions. Then it is applying the appropriate strategy for the particular market condition that is currently underway, and the strategy most suitable for the stock selected.

A trading and investing process is not just watching the major indexes, but also determining market conditions. The indexes only include a small number of the thousands of listed stocks. What happens beyond the index component stocks is far more important because index stocks are bought for charters, mutual funds, and by smaller investors, whereas the underlying stocks that are best for short term retail trading tend to lead the big blue chip stocks.

Indexes are a part of the overall analysis but they do not provide a complete analysis of what is going on in the markets. Using news, indexes, and guru opinions is what causes most of the losses for retail traders. Using a trading and investing process eliminates the problems that result from insufficient trading preparation and inadequate analysis.

The Most Important Stock Indicator

noreply@blogger.com (Samory Borry) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 19:54:00 +0000

Overall the most important stock indicator is Volume. Candlesticks are an important price indicator, however candlesticks do not complete the chart analysis which is a crucial aspect of successful trading. There are three data that come from the market which are Price, Time, and Quantity. Price is represented on the chart by the candlesticks, Time is represented by the chart timeframe, and Quantity is represented by volume bars.

Quantity the data stream, has two primary types. The total number of shares traded at that time whether it is a millisecond or a year, and this is the total number of shares represented by volume bars. Quantity can also refer to the number of shares per transaction, but that is not discussed in this article.

Volume bars should be represented on your charting software with green bars for up days and red bars for down days, because this provides exceptional analysis easily and quickly. If you use a solid color such as blue and do not differentiate up or down days, your analysis will be impaired and will take much longer. Each volume bar on a daily chart represents the total number of shares that traded hands that day, therefore one side of the trade and not both are represented in the volume bar.

Use daily charts and analyze end of day volume, because then you are analyzing the "consolidated" tape volume. This volume differs from intraday because it includes all volume from every trading platform and venue, not just the exchange volumes. ATS Dark Pools, Electronic Communication Networks for Electronic Trading aka Day Trading, and Regional exchanges all must report their data. All of this data is called the consolidated tape, which includes the total volume from all sources.

The total consolidated volume is an important part of making sure your stock chart analysis for selecting stocks is correct. With the consolidated volume provided at the end of the day from your charting software, you can quickly go through stocks using the basic criteria of at least 100,000 shares traded per day average. Always make sure that you check the volume for any stock you trade.

Avoid trading stocks that are illiquid. This means is there are so few shares traded per day that buying the stock can be very risky. Without sufficient volume, there is a lack of interest by the market participants and this can lead to weak picks, poor trading profits, or even losses. Illiquidity also skews any indicator you might apply to the stock, and lack of volume makes price action extremely volatile and unreliable. To determine if the stock has sufficient liquidity always study volume bars first before checking any other indicators.

How To Trade A Penny Stock

noreply@blogger.com (Samory Borry) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 19:49:00 +0000

Do you know how to buy and sell a penny stock? Chances are, you do. If you know how to buy MSFT or GOOG then you're set - because the actual process is the same. You fire up your broker's website, like E*Trade or Scottrade, look up the symbol and execute the trade. Selling is the same too. Open the broker's site, find the stock in your portfolio and execute a trade to sell the stock.

So, if it really is that easy, what's this article all about?

There are a few differences between buying and selling a penny stock compared to a traditional stock.

First, not all penny stocks are listed, or supported, by your online broker. Because there is significantly more risk carrying penny stocks, some online brokers do not list them all. You might find a good penny stock you want to invest in, only to find it isn't listed by your broker.

To compensate for the risk, some online brokers charge more fees on top of the trading fee. This is typically a percentage of the trade's worth, or fixed amount per share. For example, to trade the micro stock ABCD, which is valued at $0.01, a broker may charge you 0.5% of the total trade value in addition to the $9.99 trading fee. If you bought 10,000 shares, it would cost you $110.49 ($100 for the stock, $9.99 for the trading fee, and $0.50 as a surcharge). These costs can add up as you add to your portfolio - especially if you trade in larger volumes.

Each broker has their own rules, but many surcharge on stocks valued at less than a dollar.

Also, you have to understand that sometimes selling (and even buying) a position in a penny stock can be much more difficult than a traditional stock. To buy a stock, there must be outstanding shares available. To sell the stock, someone must be willing to buy. Sometimes, depending on the stock, it may be hard for either condition to be true.

To protect themselves (and presumably you) most online brokers require you to put penny stock orders in as limit orders instead of a traditional market order. In a limit order, you specify a price (a cap) you want the stock to be at before the order executes. Because prices can fluctuate rapidly, chances are the price you see isn't necessarily the price the stock is at currently. For example, let's say ABCD is at $0.01 and you want to buy it but spend no more than $0.03 per share. You would enter a limit order of $0.03 and the trade would execute as long as the price was equal to or less than three cents.

A limit order to sell works the same way. When the price reaches let's say $.10, if you enter a limit order to sell at $.10, the trade would execute. Some brokers also allow you to specify the "low" point to sell at (limit loss or stop loss). For example, if ABCD falls below $0.02, sell the stock to cut your losses.

These are different from market orders which execute at the current market price. Again since prices rise and fall rather dramatically, these measures are in place to protect you.

I hope you have learned more about trading penny stocks - happy investing and good luck.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a licensed financial advisor, investment broker or analyst. I am just an amateur trader giving his amateur unbiased opinion and sharing with the community what works for me. Always use prudent investing, and never invest more than you can afford to lose - in other words, be prepared to potentially lose whatever you invest.

Growth And Value What S The Difference

noreply@blogger.com (Samory Borry) — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 23:15:00 +0000

While the majority of American investors understand the importance of diversifying across growth and value investments, few are able to achieve a passing grade on a test of their knowledge of the differences between the two, according to a new American Century Investments survey.

Test your knowledge with the Growth & Value IQ quiz below:

1. Which best describes a growth stock?

a) Stock that offers guaranteed rate of growth tied to consumer price index.

b) Stock in a company specializing in agriculture, lumber, landscaping, and other organic products.

c) A stock in a company demonstrating better than average profit and earnings gains.

d) All of the above.

2. Which best describes a value stock?

a) Stock in fast-growing company specializing in high-value, low-cost products, like a discount retailer.

b) Stock in a company specializing in valuable goods, like precious metals and jewelry.

c) Stock that has a low price-to-book ratio.

d) All of the above.

3. Which statement is true?

a) Value stocks outperformed growth stocks between 1927 and 2001.

b) Smaller company value stocks outperformed larger company value stocks between 1927 and 2001.

c) Maintaining a portfolio with a combination of growth and value stocks generally is considered a prudent investment approach.

d) All of the above.

4. During periods of strong economic expansion, which fund generally performs better?

a) Growth.

b) Value.

c) Neither.

d) Both.

5. Generally speaking, value funds outpaced growth funds in 2000 and 2001.

a) True.

b) False.

6. Generally speaking, growth funds outpaced value funds during the 1990s.

a) True.

b) False.

7. Which type of fund is more likely to invest in stocks paying a significant dividend?

a) Growth.

b) Value.

c) Neither.

d) Both.

8. Higher price-to-earnings ratios normally would be associated with stocks in which type of mutual fund?

a) Growth.

b) Value.

c) Neither.

d) Both.

9. What kind of stock is described in this example: “Established baked-goods company with strong balance sheet and good cash flow experiencing temporary drop in reaction to changes in senior management.”

a) Growth.

b) Value.

c) Neither.

10. What kind of stock is described in this example: “Software company, enjoying steady sales increases, is in the process of rolling out an eagerly anticipated update to a popular software application.”

a) Growth.

b) Value.

Key: 1(c); 2(c); 3(d); 4(a); 5(a); 6(a); 7(b); 8(a); 9(b); 10(a). – NU

Stock Market Window Dressing The Art Of Looking Smart

noreply@blogger.com (Samory Borry) — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 23:13:00 +0000

As investors, and we all are investors these days, it is important that we understand the idiosyncrasies of the Stock Market pricing data we use to help us in our decision making efforts. On Wall Street, investing can be a minefield for those who don’t take the time to appreciate why securities prices are at the levels that appear on quarterly account statements. At least four times per year, security prices are more a function of institutional marketing practices than they are a reflection of the economic forces that we would like to think are their primary determining factors. Not even close… Around the end of every calendar quarter, we hear the financial media matter-of-factly report that Institutional Window Dressing Activities” are in full swing. But that is as far, and as deep, as it ever goes. What are they talking about, and just what does it mean to you as an investor?

There are at least three forms of Window Dressing, none of which should make you particularly happy and all of which should make you question the integrity of organizations that either authorize, implement, or condone their use. The better-known variety involves the culling from portfolios of stocks with significant losses and replacing them with shares of companies whose shares have been the most popular during recent months. Not only does this practice make the managers look smarter on reports sent to major clients, it also makes Mutual Fund performance numbers appear significantly more attractive to prospective “fund switchers”. On the sell side of the ledger, prices of the weakest performing stocks are pushed down even further. Obviously, all fund managements will take part in the ritual if they choose to survive. This form of window dressing is, by most definitions, neither investing nor speculating. But no one seems to care about the ethics, the legality, or the fact that this “Buy High, Sell Low” picture is being painted with your Mutual Fund palette.

A more subtle form of Window Dressing takes place throughout the calendar quarter, but is “unwound” before the portfolio’s Quarterly Reports reach the glossies. In this less prevalent (but even more fraudulent) variety, the managers invest in securities that are clearly out of sync with the fund’s published investment policy during a period when their particular specialty has fallen from grace with the gurus. For example, adding commodity ETFs, or popular emerging country issues to a Large Cap Value Fund, etc. Profits are taken before the Quarter Ends so that the fund’s holdings report remains uncompromised, but with enhanced quarterly results. A third form of Window Dressing is referred to as “survivorship”, but it impacts Mutual Fund investors alone while the others undermine the information used by (and the market performance of) individual security investors. You may want to research it.

I cannot understand why the media reports so superficially on these “business as usual” practices. Perhaps ninety percent of the price movement in the equity markets is the result of institutional trading, and institutional money managers seem to be more concerned with politics and marketing than they are with investing. They are trying to impress their major clients with their brilliance by reporting ownership of all the hot tickets and none of the major losers. At the same time, they are manipulating the performance statistics contained in their promotional materials. They have made “Buy High, Sell Low” the accepted investment strategy of the Mutual Fund industry. Meanwhile, individual security investors receive inaccurate signals and incur collateral losses by moving in the wrong direction.

From an analytical point of view, this quarterly market value reality (artificially created demand for some stocks and unwarranted weakness in others) throws almost any individual security or market sector statistic totally out of wack with the underlying company fundamentals. But it gets even more fuzzy, and not in the lovable sense. Just for the fun of it, think about the “demand pull” impact of an ever-growing list of ETFs. I don’t think that I’m alone in thinking that the real meaning of security prices has less and less to do with corporate economics than it does with the morning betting line on ETF ponies… the dot-coms of the new millennium. [Do you remember the "Circle of Gold" from the seventies? Isn't GLD, or IAU, about the same thing?]

As if all of these institutional forces weren’t enough, you need also consider the impact of tax code motivated transactions during the always-entertaining final quarter of the year. One would never suspect (after watching millions of CPA directed taxpayers gleefully lose billions of dollars) that the purpose of investing is to make money! The net impact of these (euphemistically labeled) “year end tax saving strategies” is pretty much the same as that of the Type One Window Dressing described above. But here’s an off-quarter buying opportunity that you really shouldn’t pass up. Simply put, get out there and buy the November 52-week lows, wait for the periodic and mysterious “January Effect” to be reported by the media with eyes wide shut amazement, and pocket some easy profits.

There just may not be a method to actually decipher the true value of a share of common stock. Is market price a function of company fundamentals, artificial demand for “derivative” securities, or various forms of Institutional Window Dressing? But this is a condition that can be used to great financial advantage. With security prices less closely related to those old fashioned fundamental issues such as dividends, projected profits, and unfunded pension liabilities and perhaps more closely related to artificial demand factors, the only operational alternative appears to be trading! Buy the downtrodden (but still fundamentally investment grade) issues and take your profits on those that have risen to inappropriately high levels based on basic measures of quality… and try to get it done before the big players do. To over simplify, a recipe for success would involve shopping for investment grade stocks at bargain prices, allowing them to simmer until a reasonable, pre-defined, profit target is reached, and seasoning the portfolio brew with the discipline to actually implement the profit taking plan.

Yeah, I do miss the days when there were just stocks and bonds, but maybe I’m just a bit too old fashioned. Interesting place Wall Street…