Archive for January, 2009

A host of saving and investment efforts fail to achieve their ends because of the use of wrong technique. There are that can be followed to enhance saving and investment. A fervent to the principles discussed below can provide better returns whilst guaranteeing the ’s .

It is crucial to embrace the idea that investment is a long-term saving process. Every investment involves some amount of , and money can be lost irrespective of how perfect an is. Hence one to bear in mind is: invest only and only what you can really afford to lose. I hope you can infer from this concept that before you start investing (putting money that might not come back to you somewhere), you have to deal with certain basics. I am talking about things that will make you go through life comfortably in the short, medium and long-term, should the money you invest end up in a ‘dingy ’ - refuse to return. These basics are home and mortgage, , pension, and your .

Once they are in place, the ground is prepared for further saving or investment.

The next step is to clarify and specify your objectives for investment. You should decide whether, for example, you want to save to provide for income now or for future growth. Perhaps you opt to invest towards income during or towards for your children. Your objectives have to suit your - e.g health, family, and how long you want to invest. It is also necessary to understand your towards risk and know just how much risk you are prepared to take. Having identified your and ascertained your , you can then put an in place.

A research in 1999 uncovered about 30,000 financial products on the market, a figure which is bound to increase with the . The number of products that exist is not as important as the quality of choice the will make. In choosing a financial product, you should make the most of your hard- earned money. You should try to get a good deal, but not at the expense of grabbing a product that does not agree with your . Some seemingly cheap products don’t always end up cheap in the end! Just make sure your money works hard enough for you. Avoid high charges as they eat into long-term returns and do keep your eyes open for hidden charges. Also be on the look out for withdrawal charges and the magnitudes of regular payments, and ensure they are satisfactory. Note that there are normally high penalty charges for early withdrawal especially in investment-based policies.

As aforementioned, risk forms part and parcel of investment and should not put off any . It should, however, be appropriately managed and contained as much as possible. It is essential to understand the risk attached to any product you choose and ensure it is within the comfort zone of the risk you can stomach.

With financial products chosen, and the strategy in progress, it is necessary to stand back from your investment, from time to time, and review it to establish how well the plan is functioning. change at different stages in one’s life, and call for related alterations in the ’s objectives, and hence . Regular reviews will increase the chances of identifying malfunctioning securities and making timely and necessary adjustments. It will be rewarding to keep your eyes wide open on current market rates and move your instant savings around to earn as much returns as possible.

Every should protect himself as much as possible through all the stages in the investment process discussed above, in order to ensure success. It is true that that financial services in the UK have been very much reformed in recent times, and that the Consumers’ Association and the Financial Services Authority are doing the best they can to ward of scandals. The onus is, nonetheless, on the to be on his guard against fraudsters and unscrupulous investment companies. The way to protect oneself is not to be blindfold before taking a plunge, and always remembering this: “if it is too good to be true, then it probably is!”

David Opoku
BA Hons. Accounting and Finance. (Currently specialising in Financial Advising/Stockbroking).

E-mail: davido312@aol.com
Web: http://www.investmentyouneed.com

category Story admin Monday 26 January 2009 Comment (0)

Most that you will use online have developed their so that they calculate your / for you. So why am I writing this article?

Well, it’s pretty simple really.

If you are serious about being a successful you need to understand the behind your . Plus it makes sure that you can keep on your , so you can make sure they are not ‘cooking the ’.

As a , I’d expect you to be numerate, so it should be pretty easy for you to calculate your and . But I can understand if you are new to it might not be initially self-explanatory.

The 2 you need to commit to .

(In this calculation I’m assuming you are trading in USD.)

When the US Dollar is the second currency (the currency), the formula to use is:

1 - Profit is equal to: the price change in multiplied by the units traded. (e.g. profit = price change x traded units)

Secondly if the US Dollar is the first currency in the pair (), the formula to use is:

2 - Profit is equal to: the change in price in multiplied by the units traded divided by the exit price. e.g. profit = price change in x units traded / exit price

So to ‘hammer this home’ and make sure you really understand this process I want to give you a few examples.

To start with we’ll use an example where the US dollar is the second currency, the currency, and to make things easy we’re going to use a 1% broker margin. So you can trade up to 100,000 USD with only 1000 USD.

OK?

Great. We’ll take the EUR/USD which for example is trading at 1.5618/9. Your analysis has you to predict that the Euro is going to rise in value against the dollar so you start a trade to buy more Euros and sell US Dollars.

So you end up buying $100,000 worth of units at a price of 1.5619 - remembering that you are buying so you have to buy at the ask price - this is the last/second number in the (so you buy at the ask price of 1.5619 not 1.5618).

Your predictions turn out to be correct. Congratulations, the price rise to 1.5635/6. So you start another trade to sell the Euros and buy USDs. For this trade you use the bid price as you are selling, which is 1.5635.

So here’s where your maths comes in.

As you purchased the Euros at 1.5619 and then sold at 1.5635 your profit is 16 , or 0.0016. So before that makes any sense we need to convert that into proper money. So this is where we use our .

= 0.0016 (price change in ) x 100,000 (units traded) = $160.00

If you are trading standard sized lots of a currency pair as we did above of 100,000, in which you use the USD as the currency, a quick rule to remember is that a pip is equal to c.$10. Hence 16 = $160.

So let’s take another quick example, but this time we’ll use the USD as the .

You place a buy order for 100,000 units of USD/JPY at 103.20. The price increases and you sell at 103.33. You just made a quick 13 . So to calculate your profit in your second formula:

Profit = .13 () x 100,000 (units traded) / 103.33 (exit price) = $110.78

Easy huh?

Do you make these mistakes? Don’t lose your shirt. Discover how to trade forex for big . Visit: http://realforexsecrets.com

category Story admin Saturday 24 January 2009 Comment (0)

With oil prices seemingly reaching new highs daily, a lot of participants have been trying to use this fact as a proxy for . General consensus is that some are correlated, to some degree, to major commodities and can be taken advantage of. Most experts, however, have never been able to agree on which currency would be the best crude play. Until now.

Number of oil rich countries are located around the . Outside of , their economies are not large, in line with small populations. This countries formed a , both economic and, to a lesser degree, . Saudi Arabia is the largest member state, with Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman making the list. Yemen is a pending member.

Since oil is priced in US dollars, respective currencies of the member states have been pegged to dollar. Over last few years this arrangement created certain problems for the : very high and caused huge . In spite of that, had to lower rates in line with FED, due to dollar pegs, furthering inflationary threats. For example, Qatar’s inflation exceeded 13% in 2007. Not a .

After years of discussions and planning, of ,
have approved a draft of a charter for a central . This agreement moved the group closer toward a goal of establishing a for the member states. The launch of the new currency is set for 2010, but most experts expect it to be delayed. In project of this complexity and scope working out all the issues almost always takes longer than expected. We all remember Euro.

For example, Kuwait severed its dollar link last year and started tracking its dinar against a basket of currencies to help ease inflation that was driven in part by higher - a decision that could be a major obstacle to reaching the 2010 target date for monetary union. Kuwait has not disclosed composition of the currency basket used for the new peg. Every member would also have to cap inflation within certain range, before the the union can proceed.

Despite set backs like this, at a recent meeting in Qatar, central bank governors reaffirmed the aim of monetary union in 2010 as Gulf states sought to avert additional unilateral decisions on currency policy that could jeopardize the project. countries would “push ahead with the implementation of on time”, stated one official.

Once the new currency is introduced, it would likely become available for trading very quickly. Most brokers would like to capitalize on the initial interest as soon as possible. Cost of trading would be another story, however, with rich spread and some illiquid time periods throughout the trading day. Nonetheless, it is certain there are scores of traders eagerly awaiting this yet unnamed currency.

members believe that new monetary union will help curb inflation. Among many other stated benefits are increased economic cooperation in the region, easy in money and goods flow. should also place States in better position in increasingly border less world economy. And perhaps help them to prepare them for the next big step - life after oil.

Mike P. Kulej is a Chief Forex Strategist for Spectrum Forex LLC. He specializes in mechanical trading systems as explained on http://www.spectrumforex.com Spectrum Forex LLC offers numerous services to individual traders. With questions and comments e-mail him at kulej@spectrumforex.com

category Story admin Friday 23 January 2009 Comment (0)

All are inevitably changing. The Euro-USD goes up and down constantly, usually in small rise and fall. The daily of 1% often takes place. However this 1% change can be exploited for profit. This is one of the many that needs to be monitored by . This will help you get strategies by having your own account online.

Say when you invest a 1:100 , and there are changes of 1.2% that would turn to 120% in a day or even in minutes. You will earn unlimited however, you might have negative profit when the moves against your favor. It is therefore important to get the right service for your account online.

There are lots of that offer . You can make your own account any minute of the day. Upon making your account, you will also get daily recommendations from for the of your business. Also, registering will let you fund your own account by credit card, moneybookers, , and bank transfer.

Before making an account, assess the site that you are registering in. Be warned about forex that will take away from your account. Always remember that you are going to have a long- so you must make sure that your account will last for the longest possible period. To know the best about , you can continuously learn from online schools, if not, you can enroll in a reliable academy that offers courses.

Many insider strategies include using software to predict future changes in the market, this allows you to have a on the competition. With so many on the market we have decided to create an unbiased review of the top 6 best forex trading software packages available. Check them out at http://www.forexrevealed.net

category Story admin Thursday 22 January 2009 Comment (0)

offers a great opportunity for you to earn a part-time or full-. If you are thinking of becoming a , you’ll be happy to know there are automated Forex that can do the trading and monitoring for you.

Automated Forex will save you because the software will make wise trading decisions for you based on certain that are pre-programmed into the software. The software will receive from trading systems that will determine when should be made. Automated Forex works while you’re away and while you’re sleeping so you never have to worry about what is happening with your Forex investment. Choosing automated Forex software can be a difficult task because there are so many choices. Here are some things to look for in a .

Two Types of Automated Systems There are two types of automated Forex systems to choose from - Internet-based or desktop-. With , you can check your Forex account from any computer in any location. Also, you won’t have to worry about . And, there’s no software to download to your computer. The main disadvantage to -based systems is you’re at the mercy of your . If you have a slow connection, the system will not work well.

The other type of automated system is desktop-, which must be downloaded to your computer. Coverage and Multicurrency Check to be sure your software will cover the and trading activities you need. This ensures you’ll be able to do all the trading you need through only one system. Also, be sure the system covers multiple currencies so that any currency can serve as the general currency. Safe and Reliable Your automated system should have ample and be reliable in operation. You should be able to depend on the system to be up and running without event each day and to make 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Safety is another major issue. An Internet-based system should be encrypted to protect your data during each transaction and it should also guard your trading data and personal information within the software’s at all times. Also check to be sure your software and PC are properly guarded against viruses. Customization for Personal Strategy The automated Forex system should be customizable so you can set it up to fit your Forex strategy. The purpose of an automated system is to customize the way you want it so the software will trade for you using your own strategy, even when you’re not around.

Other features to look for include multilingual support, integration with your existing Web applications, and subadministration, which enables many brokers on one server. With easy day trade signals, 24/7 monitoring and trading, and a built-in strategy, your automated Forex software will greatly increase your chances for success. You’ll have an expert advisor system on your own computer at all times! Go online to find the system that’s right for you.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Choosing Automated Forex Software or Majon’s FinancingInvesting directory.

category Story admin Monday 19 January 2009 Comment (0)

A lot of people have very negative views about due to the current mood of depressed feeling about the economy.

In today’s unstable , the serious downturn in the economy and predictions by top-ranking economists of a serious recession, is it still possible to make money on
and ?

Is at the , when there is so much financial uncertainly, nothing more than a speculative gamble?
These are questions bothering a great many investors.

One regularly sees attractive, appealing and seriously tempting advertisements in the financial section of newspapers and on the internet, promising exceptional gains by investing either in stocks or shares, or on the forex .

Most of these advertisements focus on that make use of - or what are known as “robots” - able to identify .

These , some websites claim, will make it possible for you to make exceptional gains in a short period. In many instances there are promises of even doubling your money.

In order to validate the claims, examples are given of shares that have doubled and even tripled in value.

Many of these examples referred to, where shares have soared in value, are what are commonly known as “”. These are very low priced, stocks, with a history of great . They are very with an erratic history of earnings that often sell for less than $5.00 or $10.

If one examines the history of certain “” over a period, one will find that many “” have in fact doubled and tripled. Certainly some lucky investors have earned huge through investing judiciously and shrewdly in certain very .

The secret in investing on the has always been timing and the ability to predict which stocks are likely to rise.

With low-value “”, because of their extremely low selling price, the increases in value could be quite spectacular.

Predicting which “penny stock” is not a matter of guesswork, a “gut-feeling” or a hunch. It involves a scientific, mathematical analysis of a vast range of factors and facts.

This analysis involves an examination of such factors as the detailed study about the company itself, what it produces and markets, the structure of management, past sales figure and future potential for the product or service it offers.

Far more important, however, is the analysis of a variety of factors such as recurrent trends in price movements. This is a more complicated field and is the essence of what is known as chartist theory.

Factors like these can be analyzed best by sophisticated computers.

Examining the chart pattern of a particular share, for example, reveals important factors such as recurrent volumes, drops in price, then rebounds, then further drops to the same low price. This is an important indicator that the share has support at this low price.

Few investors have the expertise to be full conversant with the intricacies of chart analysis

To answer the question: “Is it still possible to make money on the even in today’s difficult economic conditions?” Yes, it definitely is. It can be done by investing shrewdly in the , where some companies, particularly new companies with innovative, foresight and vision, are able to identify gaps in the market.

Money can certainly also be made in the , where currencies at the moment are particularly volatile.

investment, which involves assessing which currency is likely to rise or fall and is dependent on a huge variety of factors, requires a similar chartists approach to achieve success

To achieve success and make money it is of enormous help to make use of the services of skilled specialists, who have access to powerful, sophisticated computers and excellent , able to analyze an enormous range of factors in seconds.

There is definitely money to be made in the and also the Forex , even in today’s economic conditions. There are a number of excellent share advisory services that can assist you making the correct investment decisions.

A very good source of investment advice can be found on the following site:

http://www.expertfreeadvice.com/investmentadvice.htm

Dennis Fisher is managing director of financial and investment Companies and is involved in many areas of business. His hobby of breeding, showing and training top quality German Shepherd Dogs - in which he has been involved ever since childhood, and is still actively involved - allows him complete diversion from the pressures of business.

http://www.creativemindpowers.com

category Story admin Sunday 18 January 2009 Comment (0)

If anyone tells you that is easy - run a mile. Its hard work, it requires emotional and physical and importantly requires flexibility of both .

I started straight after university in the early 80’s when it was a ‘more primitive’ market - by that I mean we didn’t have all the sophisticated available to todays dealers but what we did have to do was learn the ‘basics’. This involved watching price movements on and and doing our own charts. This gave us a greater ‘feel’ for the market which was invaluable for creating a for .

What I am basically saying is that you must look at as either a business or a profession and that you need to do some learning and training.

You need to learn first and then act!

Control Your First!

However there is a concept that you must grasp first - all know this instinctively - you must control your ‘’ and ‘hone’ your .

Let me explain the above concept. Research shows that most purchases (up to 80%)are made on impulse and then the ‘justifies’ the purchase. You can’t do this on the - it’s the reverse YOU have to ‘justify’ the purchase/sale first. Therefore logic, reasoning and action are the first of a outcome i.e. profit.

Never confuse ‘’ with and don’t confuse with gut feel. in the forex sense is developed from experience, you get to understand subconsciously why you made and when faced with similar situations you take the same action instinctively. Trading on ‘gut feel’ is more akin to ‘gambling’ especially with . I prefer to think that many traders refer to ‘’ as gut feel. The reason I believe this is through experience. I have rarely seen an inexperienced trader make money from day 1 on gut feel - it’s as I said a learning process.

Practice Makes Perfect - Open a Practice Trading Account!

If you decide to enter into the you need to practice ‘real life’ trading as much as possible.

I can certainly vouch for the fact that trading on personal account adds a completely different set of challenges than trading interbank - Why? Because it’s your own money - you are completely accountable for your own decisions and every action or non-action has a direct bearing on your wealth.

I would strongly recommend using demo software that allows you to practice trade but I would go one step further I would actually put the money (hopefully you have it) aside as though you were really trading and measure your performance ‘under pressure’. This will simulate real trading more accurately.

You need to take action!

It’s like doing the lottery - you can’t win if you don’t do it. You need to learn how to trade forex or you wont make !

To find out more how you can become a profitable trader on a consistent basis sign up to my Free Weekly Newsletter. Here you will learn valuable tips to help you make money. Join Forex4Traders.com here to receive all the benefits.

Peter Burke MBA has been writing Journals and Articles for academic publications for over 7 years and is Managing Director of a Consulting Company in the United Kingdom.

category Story admin Saturday 17 January 2009 Comment (0)

Trading the is a job. It may not be a job in a sense of getting stuck in traffic and drinking coffee in under , but anyone who wants to profit from trading the must treat it as a job. As a result, some are extremely successful, getting bigger and bigger “” every month, while others try to extract something out of their savings money. There are some special characteristics that make the top differ from the rest.

First, the top know how to follow a system. Many think the system is useless, so they ignore it and trade by their feelings. There is nothing worse than trading like that, at random. systems are developed by people with many years of experience, and if the experts trade with them and make money, then everyone can. All a beginner has to do is follow simple orders, like buy and sell.

know where and when to place a . Those orders cut of a trade at a specific . This is a protection used by all great who know how much they are willing to risk in a given trade, but nothing more than that. People who do not use it usually get hit with very bad and lose thousands in minutes.

Also, top are never tempted to end a position against the system’s orders, even if it is on a big loss. The best traders know that even if a position starts at a loss, it is limited by their which will terminate the trade if it does not go well. often close a position when it loses and miss the big that comes afterwards. The are the best because they can stand even hard situations.

In order to become a , must practice and forex knowledge. Ignoring a system and working without a are two that explain the big - over 90% of traders fail within for their .

You can start becoming a right now. All you need is to get yourself the best forex broker out there. In order to succeed, you also need the best forex trading system. With both of these, you are set for success.

About the author:

Nadav Snir is a stock market trader and . You can find more information about and at his site at http://Great-Info-Products.com/Forex/index.html.

category Story admin Friday 16 January 2009 Comment (0)

The within the here in France are warming up for battle ahead of an election to choose a new leader even though that’s still over six months away.

Segolene Royal officially announced her intention to stand . And now the man many consider will be her main opponent, Delanoë, has released a book “De l’” in which he sets out his vision for the future of the party and also takes aim at Royal.

When she announced her intention to stand, the party’s old guard or so-called “” - many of whom have been at the for a very long time and openly support Delanoë - were quick to criticise, saying Royal’s move would only further serve to split an already divided party and that she had declared herself too early.

They also accused her of ignoring party rules - even though she was by no means the first or the only one to have announced her - and prematurely sparking a likely (media) with Delanoë. In reality her choice of timing was probably made to help take the sting out of the publication of Delanoë’s the book.

And in a sense the release of “De l’” is a rather disingenuous move by Delanoë, who in March won re-election for a as .

He still hasn’t officially declared himself as a candidate to head the party, even though everyone expects him to stand. Instead up until now he has allowed many of the “” to do his bidding, and especially his mentor and main , the , .

While that the has been in something of a for several years, Delanoë insists (in his book) that the ’t do itself any in choosing Royal as its candidate in last year’s .

In levelling such criticism Delanoë is firmly aligning himself with those that many (including Royal) say were responsible for the decline in the of the .

Delanoë accuses her of having run a directionless campaign and he firmly rejects any sort of alliance with MoDem, the centre party. Anyone even slightly familiar with French politics will recognise the words as ones echoing those of Jospin in his book, which attacked Royal last year.

In terms of policy perhaps the most surprising element of Delanoë’s book is his call for the to embrace economic liberalism and to accept the principle of competition - long a taboo to many on the Left. Indeed Delanoë proudly claims to be a “liberal” himself in the true humanitarian sense of the word of course, and insists that it has long been a principle abused and misused by the centre-right.

The release of the book then is in effect just the latest offensive in a campaign, which gives Delanoë national exposure without requiring him to take the plunge and officially declaring himself to be in the running for either November’s battle for leadership of the party or more importantly nomination as its candidate in the 2012 presidential race.

For her part, Royal has admitted to mistakes made in last year’s and said she wasn’t helped by the lack of real support she received from the party’s “”. She believes in realigning the party with the centre and in the more populist “listening and hearing” approach to politics. In addition she has already made clear that for her, the leader of the party should also be the 2012 presidential candidate.

Other major differences between the two pretenders to the Socialist “throne” will become clearer once they have both officially declared.

For the moment though the knives are out and all the current incumbent, Royal’s former partner, François Hollande, can do is look on from the sidelines and keep his fingers crossed that the two don’t go for each other’s jugulars over the coming months.

A very public display of infighting is the very last thing the party can afford, especially after it has been weakened by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who successfully poached a number of its high-profile members and supporters for his government of “unity” last year.

Johnny Summerton is a Paris-based broadcaster, writer and journalist. For more on what’s making the headlines here in France, log on to his site at http://www.persiflagefrance.com

category Story admin Thursday 15 January 2009 Comment (0)

Many traders believe that to be successful you need mountains of indicators that give you some kind of “edge” over the market. I am here to say that trading as a means of does not have to be painful or difficult. That less is certainly more when it comes to trading. I’ve met traders with every indicator under the sun on their charts, with years of training under their belts having spent thousands of $$$’s and STILL not making a ….

Why? Because Indicators are ! Sure sometimes you might pull of a trade or 2 but in the end you always get spanked….Why? Because not everyone uses a with your settings, not everyone uses the Stochastic or the . I believe to be an effective trader you have to look at what the majority of traders look at…So what do most traders look at? Support and Resistance! Almost every system out there uses Support and Resistance to some extent. Support and Resistance is our number 1 indicator. So why not make Support and Resistance your system?! Mark up some levels on a chart using from 1hr and above (this is what the who move the , so no lower please) and see what happens! Use other info that the majority of traders watch ONLY as , Market , Pivots and Fibs.

Support and are considered high probability areas for market “reversal”, offering retracements of 0.75 points to in some cases 50+ points. In many instances historically referenced Support and can help traders catch markets tops/ bottoms to the very tick! Why? Because Support and are the most widely used ! Everyone from and banks to the small at home use Support and

For many it may be difficult to leave the system you are using now so why not use Support and as a guide alongside set defined by the system/strategy that you are implementing. Using Support and obtained from the 1hr, 4hr and daily timeframes offers the highest odds Support and . All levels should have historical significance and thus will be considered high probability trading areas. Throughout the trading day these numbers can become areas of Support AND Resistance.

We believe that using Support and Resistance as your CORE trading methodology can reap great rewards for traders.

To find a methodology that really works and receive FREE Support and please visit us at http://www.supportandresistancetrading.com/

category Story admin Tuesday 13 January 2009 Comment (0)