A host of saving and investment efforts fail to achieve their ends because of the use of wrong technique. There are simple steps that can be followed to enhance saving and investment. A fervent dedication to the principles discussed below can provide better returns whilst guaranteeing the investor’s peace of mind.
It is crucial to embrace the idea that investment is a long-term saving process. Every investment involves some amount of risk taking, and money can be lost irrespective of how perfect an investment strategy is. Hence one golden rule 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 black hole’ - refuse to return. These basics are home and mortgage, emergency funds, pension, life insurance and your dependants.
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 retirement or towards higher education for your children. Your objectives have to suit your personal circumstances - e.g health, family, and how long you want to invest. It is also necessary to understand your attitude towards risk and know just how much risk you are prepared to take. Having identified your objective and ascertained your risk tolerance, you can then put an investment strategy in place.
A research in 1999 uncovered about 30,000 financial products on the market, a figure which is bound to increase with the passage of time. The number of products that exist is not as important as the quality of choice the investor 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 personal circumstances. 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 life insurance policies.
As aforementioned, risk forms part and parcel of investment and should not put off any investor. 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. Personal circumstances change at different stages in one’s life, and call for related alterations in the investor’s objectives, and hence investment strategy. 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 investor 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 investor 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
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Monday 26 January 2009
Raising capital to start a new business may seem like a daunting task, but it need not be overwhelming if you follow a few basic business practices. If you have a viable idea that will net a return for your investors and prepare a compelling business plan the chances are good that you can find investors to join you.
Your first task is to create a business plan, sometimes known as a “business proposal” or “prospectus.” Your business plan needs to be very detailed and concise. You should include information about your educational background, experience and training in the area of business you are contemplating. Just like a resume for a job, include references and any other favorable personal qualities that you feel reinforce the reasons why an investor should trust in your ideas.
It can’t hurt to include any information you feel comfortable sharing with regard to your positive credit history. If you have records of various satisfied loans along with the payment history, that information could be helpful to prove your stability with regard to financial obligations.
If you are requesting financing for an existing business the rules are a bit different than a new business startup. The current owner should be able to provide you with profit and loss statements. If you are purchasing an online business, statistical information pertaining to traffic, number of units sold and paid advertising are definitely necessary. The purchase price of the business needs to be included along with detailed information about how you intend to service the debt as well as how the potential investor will benefit from your request.
If you are seeking investors for a new business, the information required increases. In addition to the information outlined above, you will need to include market research, projected costs and a detailed summary of how you intend to generate income. This information needs to be projected for a period of three to five years. It’s a good idea to project your expenses on the high side.
Have some idea of what you expect to pay your investor. The only reason someone is going to lend you money is if they can see decent profits in exchange for lending it to you. Your market research had best substantiate that your plan is viable and will provide them with sufficient return on investment to justify their involvement.
Before you begin your search for investors, it’s a good idea to have an attorney and/or accountant take a look at your plan. A good professional may suggest specific points that you may have overlooked.
Once your paperwork is in order, it’s time to start looking for investors. One place to begin your search might be friends or family. You might approach them singularly or in a group. Whatever method, you need to have a complete copy of your proposal carefully outlining your research and what they can expect in return for their assistance.
Read the classified pages of your local newspaper. Venture capitalists often advertise this way. Their rates are usually pretty high because they have a tendency to take on “risky” investments. A twist on this method might be to run your own ad either locally or nationally. If you select this method, explain the particulars and emphasize how much they can expect to receive for the load of their funds.
Use local business directories to find companies that specialize in “investment services.” You can approach a local bank, but try and find a bank that specializes in industrial or business type loans.
You might consider incorporating and selling stock in the company.
Another option might be a “money broker.” This can be risky. There are some legitimate brokers and others who operate on the shady side.
Be creative. If you believe in your idea, don’t be afraid to do what ever it takes to launch. There are plenty of ways to come up with the capital you need. Think outside the box. Whether you are looking for $300 or $300,000 the money is there you just need to dig for it.
Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical communication. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs. http://www.americanfreetraffic.com/home.html
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Monday 15 December 2008
Getting involved in the Forex market can be a very exciting time in an investor’s life. Even if you have never taken part in this type of trading before, it is a relatively easy thing for you to learn the basics, although there is always going to be something that you will be able to improve on. The Forex market is available five days a week on a 24 hour a day schedule so it makes it one of the most accessible forms of trading that is available. Even with all of this, however, many people don’t realize that the Forex market is not open to the public. In order for you to begin trading, you must go through one of the regulated Forex brokers that are available.
Choosing a broker is a very important part of making sure that the trades that you are going to make will be successful. Although many of the regulated Forex brokers are able to give you advice as far as the trades that you make, many times they are just there in order to help you to place the trades on the market. That is because there are a lot of software programs that are available which help individuals to be able to recognize trends and indicators within the Forex market that will identify successful trading patterns. Even so, it is still possible for you to talk to your broker in order to get advice, especially if you’re just starting out.
Even if you use one of the online Forex trading systems, there is still going to be regulated Forex brokers who are behind it all. These are the people that actually make the trades and have the authority to set up the systems which will allow you to buy and sell within the Forex market. Most people don’t give much thought to this entire process and they just use whatever system is available. Going with one of the regulated Forex brokers that is going to be around for the long term, however, can help you to avoid some sticky situations that may happen to you in the future. After all, the last thing that you would want to have happen is for your broker to decide to disappear on you or perhaps claim bankruptcy in the middle of making one of these trades for you.
Get my FREE Guide to Forex Trading E-book.
Discover more articles, resources, and product reviews at my personal blog. –> FreeDailyForecastForex.Com
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Saturday 29 November 2008
The popularity of futures trading has increased with the introduction of the smaller emini futures contracts the past few years since the smaller contract allows for smaller margin requirements, with $5000 or less in trading capital often being the only requirement. Popular contracts like the S & P 500 and the NASDAQ emini futures contracts have been around for sometime and with the introduction of the DOW emini futures contract, futures trading popularity has grown even more.
Trading the emini contract does require knowledge in chart interpretation, support and resistance levels and knowledge of pivot points. However, Japanese candlestick charts are by far one of the most important tools that can be utilized by an emini futures trader. Tracing their history back to the 18th century, candlestick charts have been used by traders and investors to predict pricing in everything from rice commodities to equities. Patterns that form on a candlestick charts can often foretell which way prices will move, giving the savvy emini trader an opportunity to capitalize on the move before it happens.
Powerful reversal formations can tell a trader when a strong up or down move is nearing exhaustion, offering them the opportunity to make profitable trades on the previous strong move as well as profiting on the reversal in the other direction. Japanese candlestick charts also make it easy to determine where support and resistance areas may be located. Emini futures often hesitate in these areas and take a breather after a strong move, either retreating or pushing further in the same direction. Areas of support and resistance are often excellent entry points for emini traders to either execute a new trade or exit a trade.
Emini charting utilizing Japanese candlestick charts in conjunction with other indicators such as Bollinger bands, help to increase the possibilities of determining price direction. Many emini traders use differing time periods in their emini charting, some often using a one minute chart while others may only use a fifteen minute time period for each candlestick. Specific time periods are chosen on the preference of the individual emini trader and how it applies to their preferred trading system.
Emini charting with Japanese candlesticks is probably the most popular since they are easy to read and they reveal with each candlestick four different elements within each candlestick: Opening, high, low and closing. These four elements in each candle combined with two or more previous candles can reveal information that can help an emini trader determine whether to hold an existing position, exit a trade or enter a trade.
Learning to recognize candlestick patterns is not difficult and can be learned with some study at memorizing the formation and what each formation possibly indicates. Incorporating candlesticks into a emini charting and trading system can help enhance the possibility of realizing more winning trades.
Japanese candlestick charting when combined with other indicators can be a powerful tool for emini traders if the time is set aside to learn the different formations and what they indicate. Please visit http://www.candlestickcharting.info to learn more about Japanese candlestick and emini charting.
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Friday 21 November 2008
Options are contracts on an underlying trading instrument such as shares of stock, bonds, a commodity, a mortgage loan and many others. However, there are common features among all options. It does not matter if it is a share of stock or a mortgage loan; they all have certain things in common. One such commonality is the contract feature that specifies what the option owner has actually contracted.
Options traders have two situations that may influence their buying and selling: calls and puts. There terms are used to indicate specific behaviors of options at various points of the option’s life.
CALLs
A call bestows on the contract holder the right to purchase an asset at a particular price on or before the option’s expiration date. This is only a right to buy, it is not an obligation. The call owner always has the choice to allow the option to expire. This does mean that all the initial money that was invested in purchasing the contract is lost, but the choice still stands.
Call buyers are gambling on the underlying asset’s behavior; that it will increase in price before it reaches its expiration date. Also that it will not only rise, but will rise significantly enough to show a profit.
In order to show a profit, the price must rise enough to cover the difference between the market price and the strike price. The strike price is that price at which the stock must be bought. But, because the option has a cost attached to it, the price must exceed that amount enough to cover the additional amount. This cost is referred to as the premium.
The premium of an option, whether call or put, is determined by a variety of elements. These include, but are not limited to, the price of the underlying asset, the strike price and the time remaining on the option.
The time remaining on an option is vital. The shorter the time remaining, the greater the risk and vice versa. For example, if there are 90 days left to exercise an option, the risk is somewhat lower than if there was only 1 day left. This is because within that 90 day period the price could rise enough to show a profit. With just 1 day remaining, however, the odds are considerably lower.
For example, on April 1, MSFT (Microsoft) has a market price of $27. Call options for June 30 are selling for $3 with a strike price of $30. One contract for 100 shares is purchased.
If the contract is held until the expiration date, the trader either loses $300 ($3 X 100, the initial price of the contract not including commission) or the trader can purchase the underlying stock at $30. If the current market price was $35, then the trader has profited by $200 ($35 - ($30 + $3) = $2 per share X 100 shares, sans commission).
When the market price of a share rises above the strike price, the option holder is “in the money.” If the market price drops, then the holder is “out of the money.”
PUTs
A put gives the option buyer the right to sell an asset at a particular price by a specified date. Again, like a call, this is a right, not an obligation.
Put buyers are anticipating the stock prices to fall before the option’s expiration date. Therefore, in such cases, the market price must drop below the strike price in order to show a profit from exercising the option. For simplicity purposes, the cost of the put is ignored. Under those circumstances the option holder is in the money.
Still using the previous example, maintain the same situation, but this time the option is a put. If the market price falls to $25, the profit would be as follows:
First, $3 x 100 = $300 = Cost of put, excluding commissions.
Purchase 100 shares at $25 per share = $2,500 this is to repay the broker ‘loan’ (this broker loan is a part of shorting stock which is borrowing shares you don’t own, then repaying later).
Sell 100 shares at Strike price = $30, 100 x $30 = $3,000
Profit = ($3000 - $2500) - ($300) = $200.
It is the broker who handles the underlying mechanics. All the investor has to do is order the trades at a given time and date.
Wise investors do their homework and research their strategies, no matter if they are investing in calls or puts. Options trading does present risks and is rather complicated when compared to simple stock trading, although all trading contains an element of complication and risk. But investors in this line should study the history, volatility and other vital factors of both the option contract and the underlying asset.
A trader should never enter the market blindly and trade without doing the proper research first. The failure to do adequate research and go into the trade informed puts the trader at a must greater risk of losing money and not showing a profit.
Visit 123OnlineTrading.com - Options, Stocks, Forex to find books, tips and advice about online options trading. Besides a large selection of free educational articles you can also find powerful books about online trading in general.
Other Resources: 123OnlineStockTrading.com - Stock Trading Links
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Monday 17 November 2008
While one goes through forex training, there are a few concepts that are critical for his performance in the forex trading market. The foreign exchange rates are traded for speculation and hedging intentions. throughout an ordinary business day, investors, finance people, bankers and so on are exposed to currencies and if one has purchased euros and predicts that the change rates will decrease, he can evade the currency exposure by selling his euros for US dollars.
The foreign exchange market is ideal for tentative trading. You need to know that the sum the investor accumulates when acquiring a position is called the spread. Basically, the spread is the difference between the foreign exchange rates in a pair. The capriciousness of the forex trading market is a gauge of the highest return that you may acquire with flawless predictions. The ratio is approximately 500 and this implies that you may make a large profit from exchanging currencies. The forex trading market enables your earning to be five times higher than the average stock market profits.
Another significant difference between the forex trading market and the stock market is the volume, which is 50 times greater in the forex arena. the forex trading market has by far the most liquid asset circulation, more than any other financial arena on earth. the market price does not usually possess any slippage in terms of buying and selling big amounts. Another great difference is that there are no restrictions in the trading regulations (as opposed to the stock market which has it’s limitations). The greatest advantage is the fact that there is always a potential for profit, even if the currency depreciates.
Now that you know about foreign exchange rates, regulations, terminology and so on you are ready to start trading currencies and enter the forex currency trading arena. You may require a little more training or tips, but you are basically ready. There are also online brokers and consultants, or even just plain information pages that may assist you on your exciting new journey to wealth!
This article is brought to you by “AvaFx” - Offering various Forex Trading articles on topics such as Forex Day Trading Info
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Monday 10 November 2008
There are some sources that give forex trading advice and they shouldn’t be trusted and here we will look at what may seem good advice but is not, here are 4 examples…
Here they are in no particular order of importance - there all important!
1. Advice in A Forex Forum
The only people who hang around forums giving advice are, losing traders who just want to make themselves feel better, or vendors hoping to sell there products. If you want bad advice, a forum is a great place to go - steer clear.
2. Product Reviews
How can you independently review a forex product when you’re selling it and have a vested interest in making it look good to make money?
Click most of the reviews and you see and you will normally go a site, where the writer gets a commission on the sale. There are loads of them on the net and the most popular ones involve the following:
- Day trading scalping courses or systems
Day trading and forex scalping doesn’t work by its very nature and you should steer clear of them. You get presented with a track record (simulated in hindsight on paper not real money) but you wont win, ask for a real track record and see if you get one.
- Forex Robots
Again you get a simulated track record and the person normally tells you have to get used to the system, practice it and make it work. Strange that - if it’s a robot, shouldn’t you just plug it in and make money? Huge amount of these on the net and most will wipe you out.
3. News Stories From Experts
Don’t those CNBC and CNN reports sound convincing?
They are and there well put together - but they won’t make you any money.
Markets don’t move on fundamental news (which is instantly discounted) they move on investor sentiment and future perception. Will Rogers once said:
“I only believe what I read in the papers”
He was joking - but there are huge amount of people, who believe what they hear from so called experts. Don’t be drawn in by tempting stories, you will lose.
4. Brokers
Sure they do a good job placing orders etc but if they were any good at trading they wouldn’t be brokers. A broker assisted account or broker news and tips, is unlikely to make you any money
So What is Good Advice?
Get down to your local bookstore or Amazon and stock up on some books from traders who have walked the walk, rather than talk the talk. You wnat people who have traded you can learn from, not just follow blindly.
Use the above and free resources online, to build your own forex trading system, based on forex charting.
Get a forex trading strategy you are confident in and this means building it yourself and it’s a lot easier than many forex traders think.
At the end of the day, the best advice is your own from your trading signals generated from your system. In fact, it’s the only forex advice that can lead you to long term currency trading success.
NEW! 2 X FREE ESSENTIAL TRADER PDFS
ESSENTIAL FOREX TRADING COURSE
For free 2 x trading Pdf’s, with 50 of pages of essential info and a Currency Trading Basics visit our website at: http://www.learncurrencytradingonline.com.
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Saturday 8 November 2008
Investment newsletters are now featuring headlines like “How You Can Profit from the Global Food Crisis.” The recommended investments include agribusiness stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that speculate in agricultural commodities. These investments will no doubt do very well in the global food crisis; but before you put your money down, you may want to explore whether you will be helping to alleviate the problem or actually contributing to it. Do you really want to “invest” in starvation? In an April 23 article in the German news source Spiegel Online called “Deadly Greed: The Role of Speculators in the Global Food Crisis,” Balzli and Horning note, “Many investors . . . are simply oblivious to the fact that by investing in the global casino, they could be gambling away the daily food supply of the world’s poorest people.”
Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has called the exploding food crisis “a silent mass murder.” In an interview in the French daily Liberation on April 14, he said, “We are heading for a very long period of rioting, conflicts [and] waves of uncontrollable regional instability marked by the despair of the most vulnerable populations.” He blamed globalization and multinationals for “monopolizing the riches of the earth,” and said that a mass uprising of starving people against their persecutors is “just as possible as the French Revolution was.”
In some places, in fact, this is already happening. In Haiti, where the cost of rice has nearly doubled since December, the prime minister was fired this month by opposition senators after more than a week of riots over the cost of staple foods. Violent protests over food prices have been set off in Bangladesh, where rice has also doubled; in the Ivory Coast, where food prices have soared by 30 to 60 percent from one week to the next; and in Egypt, Uzbekistan, Yemen, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Italy. In an April 21 Wall Street Journal article titled “Load Up the Pantry,” Brett Arends observed that the food riots now seen in the developing world could soon be affecting Americans as well. Rocketing food prices are not a passing phase but are actually accelerating. He recommends hoarding food - not because he is actually expecting a shortage, but as an investment, because “food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund.” Arends goes on:
“The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food. A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That’s soaking up some of the corn supply.”
That’s the rationale published in the Journal of Wall Street, the financial community that brought us the housing bubble, the derivatives bubble, and now the commodities bubble, producing the subprime crisis, the credit crisis, and the oil crisis. The main reason for the food crisis, says this author, is that the Chinese and Indian middle classes are eating better. Really? Rice has been the staple food of half the world for centuries, and it is hardly rich man’s fare. Moreover, according to an April 2008 analysis from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, food consumption of grains has gone up by only one percent since 2006.
That hardly explains the fact that the price of rice has spiked by 75 percent in just two months. The price of Thai 100 per cent B grade white rice, considered the world’s benchmark, has tripled since early 2007; and it jumped 10 percent in just one week. The fact that corn is being diverted to fuel, while no doubt a contributing factor, is also insufficient to explain these sudden jumps in price. World population growth rates have dropped dramatically since the 1980s, and according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, grain availability has continued to outpace population. Biofuels have drained off some of this grain, but biofuels did not suddenly happen, and neither did the rise of the Asian middle class. If those were the chief factors, the rise in food prices would have been gradual and predictable to match.
Another explanation for the sudden jump in grain prices, not mentioned by this Wall Street Journal writer, is suggested by William Pfaff in the April 16 International Herald Tribune:
“More fundamental is the effect of speculation in food as a commodity - like oil and precious metals. It has become a haven for financial investors fleeing from paper assets tainted by subprime mortgages and other toxic credit products. The influx of buyers drives prices and makes food unaffordable for the world’s poor. ‘Fund money flowing into agriculture has boosted prices,’ Standard Chartered Bank food commodities analyst Abah Ofon told the media. ‘It’s fashionable. This is the year of agricultural commodities.’”
The “hot money” that has fled the collapsed real estate bubble is now moving into the commodities bubble, and that includes food. “Hot money” is an influx of speculative capital in search of high rates of return, quickly moving from one market to another. It moves, however, not because the products are better (the traditional justification for price-setting according to “free market forces”) but because the speculative “spread” is better. Money is invested not in making real goods and services but simply in making more money. Food prices are being driven by speculators, and today that includes ordinary investors like you and me, who can now gamble in agricultural futures through ETFs that have opened up a lucrative market formerly available only to big investment players.
Conventional economic theory says that prices are driven up when “demand” exceeds “supply.” But in this case “demand” does not mean the number of hands reaching out for food. It means the amount of money competing for existing supplies. The global food crisis has resulted from an increase, not in the number of mouths to be fed, but simply in the price. It is the money supply that has gone up, and it is investment money in search of quick profits that is largely driving food prices up. Much of this seems to be happening in the futures market, where fund managers seek to maximize their profits by using futures contracts. Balzli and Horning explain:
“The futures market is a traditional tool for farmers to sell their harvests ahead of time. In a futures contract, quantities, prices and delivery dates are fixed, sometimes even before crops have been planted. Futures contracts allow farmers and grain wholesalers a measure of protection against adverse weather conditions and excessive price fluctuations. . . . But now speculators are taking advantage of this mechanism. They can buy futures contracts for wheat, for example, at a low price, betting that the price will go up. If the price of the grain rises by the agreed delivery date, they profit. Some experts now believe these investors have taken over the market, buying futures at unprecedented levels and driving up short-term prices. Since last August, this mechanism has led to a doubling in the price of rice.”
The authors quote grain wholesaler Greg Warner, who says what is happening now in the grain futures market is unprecedented. “What we normally have is a predictable group of sellers and buyers — mainly farmers and silo operators.” But the landscape has changed since the influx of large index funds into the futures market. “Prices keep climbing up and up.” Warner calculates that financial investors now hold the rights to two complete annual harvests of a type of grain traded in Chicago called “soft red winter wheat.” He calls these developments “stunning” and points to them as “evidence that capitalism is literally consuming itself.”
What about investing in agribusinesses such as Monsanto, which have promoted the “Green Revolution” through the bioengineering of foods and the production of GMO (genetically modified) seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and herbicide and pesticide sprays? Won’t these corporations, at least, help to alleviate the global food crisis? To the contrary, critics say these businesses too are just driving food prices up. Monsanto’s patented GMO seeds have been genetically engineered so that they cannot reproduce but must be purchased every year from the company. Small farmers who have fallen for the hype of greater productivity and subjected their land to these seeds and chemicals have found that not only have their yields been reduced but that the land will no longer bear anything except GMO seeds. Farmers who can no longer afford the seeds are priced out of the market, handing monopoly control over to the agribusiness giants that can then raise prices to whatever the market will bear; and in the case of food, it will bear a lot, right up to the point of slavery. As Henry Kissinger once famously said, “Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.”
What can you invest in, then, that actually would help relieve the global food crisis? One possibility is local organic farming. “Community-supported agriculture” (CSA) is a model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at increasing the quality of food and the care given to land, plants and animals, while reducing losses and risks for producers. A variety of CSA systems are now in use worldwide, allowing small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful, small-scale closed market while providing their customer-members with a regular delivery or pick-up of healthy local produce. The USDA provides a list of CSA addresses and websites.
That still leaves the problem of speculation in food futures. How can parasitic profits to non-producing middlemen be eliminated while still protecting farmers? The futures market was first created for farmers, who needed to be able to lock in a price today that would cover their costs and return a reasonable profit later. One interesting proposal is to return to the policy of “farm parity pricing” enacted during the 1930s. It ensured that the prices received by farmers covered the prices they paid for input plus a reasonable profit. If the farmers could not get the parity price, the government would buy their output, put it into storage, and sell it later. The government actually made a small profit on these transactions; food prices were kept stable; and the family farm system was preserved as the safeguard of the national food supply. With the push for “globalization” in later decades, farm parity was replaced with farm “subsidies” that favored foods for export over local markets. They also favored large corporate farms engaged in chemical farming over sustainable farming, forcing thousands of family farmers out of business. Farm parity pricing could help, but a complete solution to the problem of global inflation would require an overhaul of the private central banking system that has created one bubble after another for the last century. (See E. Brown, “Market Meltdown: The End of a 300 Year Ponzi Scheme,” webofdebt.com/articles, September 3, 2007.)
If you want to invest in the commodities boom without driving up the global prices of food or fuel, buy gold.
Ellen Brown, J.D., developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In “Web of Debt,” her latest book, she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust.” She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Her websites are http://www.webofdebt.com and http://www.ellenbrown.com Her eleven books include the bestselling “Nature’s Pharmacy,” co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker, which has sold 285,000 copies.
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Saturday 1 November 2008
Foreign Exchange market, abbreviated FX or FOREX, is by far the largest market in the world with trading of over 2 trillion dollars a day! The forex market largely consists of players such as large multi-national corporations or extremely large financial institutions. These are key players in where the 2 trillion dollars is coming from a day, the other players slowly entering this highly profitable and liquefiable market are single investors or single consumers. Single investors are finally getting the opportunity to grow and succeed in this market. You do not need a fancy and expensive broker like the stock market, if you study the global and local market as a whole and read some forex ebook strategies you will greatly succeed in this market.
Even though this market is market is highly profitable and your money is 100% liquefiable and not tied up in currencies in which you have to wait or pay a penalty for withdrawing, you still need to have a great understanding and education on forex trading in order to succeed. Currency forex online trading “mock” courses on the internet are a great way to learn hands on experience with forex trading. All you have to do is sign up for a free account and you will be given pretend money to use and invest in foreign exchange currencies and see how much profit you gain or lose quickly. You will surprise yourself because if you follow the proper strategy guide you will be on your way to earning millions quickly. This is by far the best education forex trading material you could ever possess.
Forex trading is 100% extremely liquid. What that means is there are a large number of traders in the forex market hungry to make a fortune. You have one of the largest margins of profit and highest trading volumes with maximize your profit. The hours of the forex market is extremely unique and open longer than any other market. 24 hours a day 5 days a week to be exact. A foreign currency trader can choose when or when not to trade when it is convenient to them, not when it’s convenient to the market! They even have many forex trading price auction.
Another great advantage to be in the forex market is that it does not have a central regulated agency that regulates the business of forex trading. Some countries may enforce their own regulations but as a whole the forex market has no regulations. Your earning potential is unrestricted and there is absolutely no telling how much money you can earn in this untapped market.
In the forex market you can also start with 30 bucks or less. For 30 bucks for a chance to earn millions? I think its worth a shot don’t you think? Forex demo accounts are also available 24 hours a day for you to practice on. You honestly can’t go wrong and how devastating would it be to lose 30 bucks? The more education you have in this forex stock trading market, the better you have in succeeding.
Forex Simple Trading is an award winning Forex course that teaches forex trading and how to correctly predict forex
Learn more about John’s course for FREE at ForexReviewInsider.com
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Saturday 1 November 2008
Everyone has heard of, and most have indulged in some form of stock trading or the other. However, there is a new kid on the block and its name is Forex Trading.
Online currency trading is a fast growing market. The Forex Market never sleeps. A currency trader may take advantage of all market conditions at any time. There is no waiting for an opening bell as in the case of trading stocks. It is a 24-hour, continuous currency exchange that never closes (normal hours of operation are Sunday 1pm through Friday 2pm Pacific standard time). This is very desirable for those who want to trade on a part-time basis, because you can choose when you want to trade: morning, noon or night.
Trading Forex
The first currency in the pair is referred to as the base currency, and the second currency is the counter or quote currency. The U.S Dollar, as the world’s dominant currency, is usually considered the base currency for quotes, and includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF, and USD/CAD. This means that quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the other currency quoted in the pair. The exceptions are the Euro, Great Britain pound, and Australian dollar. These currencies are quoted as dollars per foreign currency.
As with all financial products, FX quotes include a “bid” and “ask”. The bid is the price at which a market maker is willing to buy (and clients can sell) the base currency in exchange for the counter currency. The ask is the price at which a market maker will sell (and clients can buy) the base currency in exchange for the counter currency. The difference between the bid and the ask price is referred to as the spread.
The most important Forex market is the spot market as it has the largest volume. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled immediately, or “on the spot”. In practice this means two banking days.
Why Trade Forex?
- 24 hour trading
One of the major advantages of trading Forex is the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day from Sunday evening to Friday evening. This gives you a unique opportunity to react instantly to breaking news that is affecting the markets.
- Superior liquidity
With $2.1 trillion changing hands daily, the FX market is extremely liquid. This means you can rapidly buy and sell currencies at any offered market price. You can even set the online trading platform to quickly close your position at your desired profit level (limit order), and/or close a trade if a trade is going against you (stop order).
- No commissions
The fact that Forex is often traded without commissions makes it very attractive as an investment opportunity for investors who want to deal on a frequent basis. Trading the “majors” is also cheaper than trading other cross because of the high level of liquidity.
- 100:1 Leverage
Forex investors are permitted to trade foreign currencies on a highly leveraged basis which could be up to 100 times their investment. An investment of US $1,000 controls US $100,000 of any particular currency. A small margin deposit can control a much larger total contract value. Of course, as with all leverage one must be very careful with it since it can lead to large losses as well as gains.
- Profit potential in falling markets
Since the market is constantly moving, there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. When you trade currencies, they literally work against each other. If the EURUSD declines, for example, it is because the US dollar gets stronger against the euro and vice versa. So, if you think the EURUSD will decline (that is, that the euro will weaken versus the dollar), you would sell EUR now and then later you buy euro back at a lower price and take your profits. The opposite trading scenario would occur if the EURUSD appreciates.
Forex trading for newbies!
Forex trading, like most forms of trading is highly competitive and most people would end up losing money by going in uninformed and unaided. However, thanks to the power of the internet and leverage offered by independent brokers the ability to trade forex has become much easier and is fast becoming the number 1 home based business opportunity.
Forex software allows even the most technically challenged among us trade forex successfully for a living. Pretty much all that is required is a computer and a connection to the Internet. Once installed the ‘forex tracer’ meticulously scans the market for trading opportunities and automatically picks off the trades with good precision. Now you may be a bit sceptical, I know I was, so why not put the system to the test on a demo account first? Once purchased you can download a demo account here http://www.forexmeta.com/freedemo.php which allows you to trade with play money. If it all goes well, then you could set up a real account and do some real trading!
http://www.frxtracer.info
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Saturday 1 November 2008