Investing In Foreign Currencies - The FOREX

Building a diversified portfolio gives you a lot more stability with your investments and enables you to keep on the profit side of things more easily. But if you already have a rather diversified portfolio and think you are now rather knowledgeable of the stock market, then you may be ready to expand your investments into FOREX - the foreign exchange. When currencies in the United States may take a plunge, or a lack of growth, markets in other countries are doing quite well and this is something that you can draw a profit from.

The FOREX market, listed simply as "FX," is the biggest market of all. A lot of money can be gained from it - and rather quickly, too. This market deals entirely with the exchange rates between two currencies on 5 days of the week. Two currencies are always in every exchange and they are exchanged the one for the other with a buy rate and a sell rate - at the same time. For instance, if you believe that the Japanese yen is about to increase in value, then you may offer to buy it at $1.10 and sell it at $1.25 - making a possible $.15 per yen purchased. Here are a few things you need to know about how to get started in the FOREX market.

Learn The System

Trading on the FOREX is generally more difficult than the regular stock exchange. It is easier to lose money if you do not know what you are doing. In order to prepare people to learn to deal with the FOREX, though, most online brokerages have specialized software that provides training - up to about 30 days, with "free money" to use to practice until you start being able to regularly see a profit. Only then is it wise to start doing some real trading. You also need to know how to determine the state of national economies and be able to predict their fluctuations. Other online companies provide many free booklets that they will mail to you only for the asking.

Potentially Safer Investing

Since all deals with the FOREX require a broker, your money is potentially safer. Every contract made with a broker will have a clause in it that allows the broker to actually stop the transaction if they feel it is a poor investment. The primary reason for this is because you are actually using the broker's money to make the deal. When you use FOREX, you create a sort of "loan" that gives you an operating ratio of up to 100:1. This means that, for $3,000, you are actually controlling $300,000.

The FOREX is also a better investment because there cannot be any insider trading. Dealing with currencies means that the things that effect it would make national news. This kind of event would be known almost instantly around the world - and everyone has access to the same news.

Easy Liquidity

Trading in currencies occurs every single day - many trillions of dollars worth of it. Because of this feature, there is always someone who will buy or sell dollars, enabling you to have a very quick liquidity when needed.

No Fees

Brokers do not charge you a fee when you make a FOREX transaction. This enables you to be able to control even better the amount of money that you invest and it allows you to chart it a little better. Brokers make their money through the spread of what is sold, the difference between what is bid and the actual selling price.

Joe Kenny writes for CardGuide.co.uk, offering the latest information on UK credit cards, visit them today for more best buy credit cards.

Visit today:

Stock and Options Millionaire Principles

INTRODUCTION

Having been trading stocks and options in the capital markets professionally over the years, I have seen many ups and downs.

I have seen paupers become millionaires overnight…

And

I have seen millionaires become paupers overnight.

One story told to me by my mentor is still etched in my mind:

“Once, there were two Wall Street stock market multi-millionaires. Both were extremely successful and decided to share their insights with others by selling their stock market forecasts in newsletters. Each charged US$10,000 for their opinions. One trader was so curious to know their views that he spent all of his $20,000 savings to buy both their opinions. His friends were naturally excited about what the two masters had to say about the stock market’s direction. When they asked their friend, he was fuming mad. Confused, they asked their friend about his anger. He said, ‘One said BULLISH and the other said BEARISH!’”

The point of this illustration is that it was the trader who was wrong. In today’s stock and option market, people can have different opinions of future market direction and still profit. The differences lay in the stock picking or options strategy and in the mental attitude and discipline one uses in implementing that strategy.

I share here the basic stock and option trading principles I follow. By holding these principles firmly in your mind, they will guide you consistently to profitability. These principles will help you decrease your risk and allow you to assess both what you are doing right and what you may be doing wrong.

You may have read ideas similar to these before. I and others use them because they work. And if you memorize and reflect on these principles, your mind can use them to guide you in your stock and options trading.

PRINCIPLE 1

SIMPLICITY IS MASTERY

When you feel that the stock and options trading method that you are following is too complex even for simple understanding, it is probably not the best.

In all aspects of successful stock and options trading, the simplest approaches often emerge victorious. In the heat of a trade, it is easy for our brains to become emotionally overloaded. If we have a complex strategy, we cannot keep up with the action. Simpler is better.

PRINCIPLE 2

NOBODY IS OBJECTIVE ENOUGH

If you feel that you have absolute control over your emotions and can be objective in the heat of a stock or options trade, you are either a dangerous species or you are an inexperienced trader.

No trader can be absolutely objective, especially when market action is unusual or wildly erratic. Just like the perfect storm can still shake the nerves of the most seasoned sailors, the perfect stock market storm can still unnerve and sink a trader very quickly. Therefore, one must endeavor to automate as many critical aspects of your strategy as possible, especially your profit-taking and stop-loss points.

PRINCIPLE 3

HOLD ON TO YOUR GAINS AND CUT YOUR LOSSES

This is the most important principle.

Most stock and options traders do the opposite…

They hold on to their losses way too long and watch their equity sink and sink and sink, or they get out of their gains too soon only to see the price go up and up and up. Over time, their gains never cover their losses.

This principle takes time to master properly. Reflect upon this principle and review your past stock and options trades. If you have been undisciplined, you will see its truth.

PRINCIPLE 4

BE AFRAID TO LOSE MONEY

Are you like most beginners who can’t wait to jump right into the stock and options market with your money hoping to trade as soon as possible?

On this point, I have found that most unprincipled traders are more afraid of missing out on “the next big trade” than they are afraid of losing money! The key here is STICK TO YOUR STRATEGY! Take stock and options trades when your strategy signals to do so and avoid taking trades when the conditions are not met. Exit trades when your strategy says to do so and leave them alone when the exit conditions are not in place.

The point here is to be afraid to throw away your money because you traded needlessly and without following your stock and options strategy.

(For a disciplined and proven approach to stock and options trading, please visit http://www.mastersoequity.com/)

PRINCIPLE 5

YOUR NEXT TRADE COULD BE A LOSING TRADE

Do you absolutely believe that your next stock or options trade is going to be such a big winner that you break your own money management rules and put in everything you have? Do you remember what usually happens after that? It isn’t pretty, is it?

No matter how confident you may be when entering a trade, the stock and options market has a way of doing the unexpected. Therefore, always stick to your portfolio management system. Do not compound your anticipated wins because you may end up compounding your very real losses.

PRINCIPLE 6

GAUGE YOUR EMOTIONAL CAPACITY BEFORE INCREASING CAPITAL OUTLAY

You know by now how different paper trading and real stock and options trading are, don’t you?

In the very same way, after you get used to trading real money consistently, you find it extremely different when you increase your capital by ten fold, don’t you?

What, then, is the difference? The difference is in the emotional burden that comes with the possibility of losing more and more real money. This happens when you cross from paper trading to real trading and also when you increase your capital after some successes.

After a while, most traders realize their maximum capacity in both dollars and emotion. Are you comfortable trading up to a few thousand or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands? Know your capacity before committing the funds.

PRINCIPLE 7

YOU ARE A NOVICE AT EVERY TRADE

Ever felt like an expert after a few wins and then lose a lot on the next stock or options trade?

Overconfidence and the false sense of invincibility based on past wins is a recipe for disaster. All professionals respect their next trade and go through all the proper steps of their stock or options strategy before entry. Treat every trade as the first trade you have ever made in your life. Never deviate from your stock or options strategy. Never.

PRINCIPLE 8

YOU ARE YOUR FORMULA TO SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Ever followed a successful stock or options strategy only to fail badly?

You are the one who determines whether a strategy succeeds or fails. Your personality and your discipline make or break the strategy that you use not vice versa. Like Robert Kiyosaki says, “The investor is the asset or the liability, not the investment.”

Understanding yourself first will lead to eventual success.

(To understand what kind of trader you are, there is a fun and easy to use psychometric test you can take at http://www.mastersoequity.com/MOE_FREE_REPORT.htm)

PRINCIPLE 9

CONSISTENCY

Have you ever changed your mind about how to implement a strategy? When you make changes day after day, you end up catching nothing but the wind.

Stock market fluctuations have more variables than can be mathematically formulated. By following a proven strategy, we are assured that someone successful has stacked the odds in our favor. When you review both winning and losing trades, determine whether the entry, management, and exit met every criteria in the strategy and whether you have followed it precisely before changing anything.

In conclusion…

I hope these simple guidelines that have led my ship out of the harshest of seas and into the best harvests of my life will guide you too. Good Luck.

(I have stacked the winning odds in your favor and removed all possible amateur pitfalls for you in the Star Trading System! Join us now at http://www.mastersoequity.com/MOE_sartradingsystem.htm)

Jason Ng is the Founder of Masters 'O' Equity Asset Management. He is a fund manager specialising in options trading and his Star Trading System has helped thousands. Please visit http://www.mastersoequity.com/MOE_FREE_REPORT.

Dowsing For Prosperity

I get many e-mails and letters regarding using dowsing for wealth and prosperity. They range from dowsing winning lottery numbers, stock market dowsing to getting a job or a contract. I think we all have a birth-right to be prosperous as long as we do it in a conscious manner without hurting others or the environment and use the wealth for overall growth, not just selfish reasons.

When it comes to using dowsing for getting the winning lottery numbers - well, I haven't met or heard of anybody who has been successful at that. (if there are any - they probably keep it to themselves :o)

The way I see it - there are so many people involved in the process that it's virtually impossible to get an agreement on a higher level - all of them (or rather their Higher Selves) would have to agree to loose in order for you to win - probability of that is rather very slim, regardless if you want to win just "to get rich" or have a noble idea of creating or supporting some charitable cause. If you prove me wrong – let me know!

Dowsing Stock Market - I don't have much personal experience with that, but from what I've seen and tried with others - it's much easier to dowse a long term trend then it is to dowse tomorrow's stock.

The best place to apply dowsing for prosperity is on personal level. First - in finding all the blocks - both: conscious and subconscious, that you or the society you grow up in places on you, the next step is to remove those blocks and allow yourself to be prosperous. There are many techniques that you can apply here - check my website to find out more.

That's all for now, live healthy and prosper!

Chris Gozdzik

Chris Gozdzik has been studying dowsing and related phenomena for

over 30 years and you can find a lot of hidden gems at his website:

Divining Mind

Image Spam And How To Fight It

Spam attacks where the text is replaced with images aimed at lightly protected email systems are growing in popularity. With the variety of anti-spam filters that analyze the message content to weed out unsolicited emails, spammers continue to increasingly adopt image spam. Businesses, organizations and everyday computer users might have noted an increase of image-based spam, text e-mails that arrive in your in-box as image files. Image spam can contain a picture of words, a screenshot, a photographic image, or a combination of these. By sending emails that contain no text, only pictures, spammers found that they can fool even the most advanced anti-spam software like SpamAssassin, G-Lock SpamCombat.

Most anti-spam programs detect text-based spam very well, but they totally fail when a spam message has no text to analyze. Thus, the rapid rise of the image spams. These spam messages often include image files that have a screen shot offering the same types of information advertised in more traditional text spam. Image spam can also include unique trackers which work when a recipient opens the message and let the sender know it's a valid email address, ripe for future mailings. Image spam is probably the best technique that spammers have today to get past the anti-spam filters. Together with the image spam that uses one attached image to deliver its message, the spammers are known to send spam that contains multiple images that act like pieces in a puzzle. The recipient's email client then reassembles the pieces in the right order and displays them as one image again. In addition to the usual annoyance, image-based spam eats up more bandwidth than regular spam because each image spam message is more than seven times larger than regular spam email - what's costing users, especially business, money.

The majority of image spam is used in stock scam messages, in which the senders encourage the victims to buy a certain stock to raise its value, then quickly turn around and sell the stock themselves to make a profit.

Nevertheless, anti-spam software and service providers are able to cut down image spam, as well as HTML-based and text spam. The organizations and individual computer users having sophisticated anti-spam filters -- those that focus on both the content and origin of the messages -- have little to worry about, other than to make sure they're on the latest version of their vendor's products and receiving regular updates. They can then analyze and create rules in their software to block it. Many anti-spam software use combinations of techniques, including keywords, blacklists (of offending spam mailers), and something called "honey pots," in which they have traps set up on the Internet to collect spam messages. There are a number of approaches to protect against image spam. In current versions of Outlook, for example, images are not automatically downloaded into messages unless the user has specified that messages from the source can be trusted. G-Lock SpamCombat allows preview all the messages in a safe mode – no pictures or tracking codes are downloaded nor executed.

Author is a technical expert associated with development of computer software like AATools, G-Lock EasyMail,AntiSpam stops image spam. More information can be found at Anti Spam Filter Resources

How To Get Rid Of Spam Stock Market Tips

Junk email, spam, is getting worse than ever. Even with an anti-spam filter, some junk emails that show up in the inbox are disgusting, deceptive, and aimed to con you out of your money. In addition to traditional spam emails promoting medication, mortgage, pornography, new ones such as stock scams are growing. The deceptive and unsolicited nature of these e-mails qualifies them as spam.

Stock scams, combined with traditional spam techniques, can cause a significant financial loss to victims of these swindles.

You might have noticed that many spams are touting a particular stock. These touts are sometimes made as part of a Pump and Dump scheme. Pump-and-dump scams are email campaigns which encourage people to invest in a particular company's stock, in order to quickly inflate its value and enable the spammers to make a fast profit. It is thought that these scams take place unbeknown to the company involved. The purpose of the pump-and-dump stock spam is to quickly and cheaply disperse false information about a company's stock, along with information obtained from recent press releases, to potential investors. Usually this is a slimly traded stock on a small exchange for only pennies a share.

By implying that recipients of spam emails are in possession of privileged information - such as news of an acquisition before a general announcement - spammers seek to persuade the gullible into purchasing particular stocks. If a significant enough number of easily-led individuals invest in the touted stock, a spammer can ramp up the share price so that existing shareholders can sell their shares at a profit. But when the fraudsters dump their shares, and then stop advertising the stock, the price often falls, and investors ultimately lose their cash.

What to do if you get spammed? How not to become a victim of stock scams?

The first thing you can to protect yourself against stock scams on the Internet and against spam on the whole is to setup an anti-spam filter, which will filter your messages before you receive them into your inbox. Most pump-and-dump spam emails contain the words like "stock", "invest", "investor reports". But to bypass spam filters, spammers can use the variations of the word "stock" such as "st0ck" or "stox". So, if your inbox is flooded with penny stock tip, ignore it. Delete it. Do not believe anyone who tells you, "Invest quickly or you will miss out on a once-in-a lifetime opportunity." Just don't go thinking this is your big chance to hit pay-dirt. It is sounds too good to be true. The only ones profiting from these "spam e-mail tips" are the senders themselves - in this case spammers.

The history of the stock market has shown that the best and most trusted way to build wealth is to invest in high-quality businesses with excellent growth opportunites.

Investigate before you invest. Find out who sent the message to you. Ask whether the claims can be documented. Verify whether the claims are true before you send a nickel of your money.

But if you yielded to temptation and became a victim pf a stock scam, you can hire a lawyer to try to get your money back, but you need to know that recovery is rare. Just remember that the best protection is to take no action and stay away from bad deals in the first place.

Author is a technical expert associated with development of computer software like AATools, G-Lock EasyMail, Anti-Spam Software. More information can be found at Anti Spam Filter Resources

Online Sports Stock Market

So I am sure you know a little about stock markets…but what about an online sports market? With many sports books having to shut their doors to United States customers, an idea which has been around for years is beginning to get more and more publicity. A program in which users are able to trade shares of certain sports teams. The concept is simple – buy low and sell high. There are also several other methods in which people can make money using this new system. One of these methods is to simply own shares of a winning sports team. When a team wins a game they collect a percentage of the losing team's current dividend reserve. Then the winning team pays a dividend to all share holders from a portion of their dividend reserve. It may sound complicated, however it is really an easy concept to grasp.

Just like researching real stock, users are able to use tools to track the performance of the various sports ticker symbols. Users can look at previous dividend payouts, 52 week highs and lows, and 30 day average prices just to name a few. With more and more people joining programs like this across the internet, it may just be the best method to currently make money using sports betting knowledge, but without actually sports betting! In some ways it may be easier to profit using a system like this rather than using a traditional sports betting bookie.

One such system that is available online offers great incentives to join as they have setup their system so that anyone can start with as little as $25.00. There are multiple funding methods available making it easy for anyone to fund their account. Some of the deposit methods include Neteller, PrePaidATM, Credit Card, MoneyBookers, Western Union, and E-Gold. Members are able to withdraw the funds at any time which is another great feature of this program. Commission must be paid on each trade that is made on the site. This fee varies between 2.5 and 5 percent of the total transaction amount. There is also an additional fee of $0.50 if you were to cancel an order before you specified it to expire. So anyone who is already big on sports betting should check out this new trend that is growing rapidly all over the internet!

Just to clarify a few things I would like to make sure that everyone understands this program is not really like a stock market in that the owners do not truly own part of the sports team like a shareholder of a company would in the real stock market. The way this system works is that people own sports derivatives which are perpetual instruments in the online sports market. Owners can hold on to them forever or decide to sell them at any time.

So if you are interested in learning more about these online sports stock markets please visit the website linked below.

R.D. Warren from Sports Stock Market Review

Real Estate IRA Notes - "Hot" Trend for "Cool" Times

The newest buzzword to hit the world of real estate investment is: Real Estate Notes. Now, real estate notes themselves aren't new, they've been around. But the awareness of them as viable investment vehicles is a new trend that is a direct result of recent drops happening in the real estate market. Real Estate notes are a dose of 'hot' in recent 'cool' times.

Smart real estate investors always keep a close eye out for any changes in the real estate market and act quickly to make the wise investment decisions necessary to avoid disastrous financial losses. You too can now benefit from what these; investment-gurus have come to know about real estate backed notes.

Real Estate Notes Provide Passive Cash Flow:

Real estate backed notes can have a high rate of return if structured properly, and are more secure than most other well-known investment strategies. A real estate note can be used to earn what has been coined as passive-income or passive cash flow by marketers and investors. Simply put, this means you will earn dividends on your investments in real estate notes without having to do much else other than writing a check for your note and voila the money starts flowing in month after month like clockwork. Not a bad, but it gets better. Since the money is earned passively through a real estate investment, you benefit again at tax time. Gains earned by real estate note investments are taxed at low 15% capital gains tax rates. Do you know of any other investment strategy that allows you to make money passively and at a flat 15% tax rate? Nothing like real estate notes has hit the real estate world yet, so until or unless it does, real estate notes are the way to go if you want to put real cash and profit into your pocket: month after month, year after year.

If you're not content with sitting idle and watching your investment grow without any help on your part, or you want to increase your dividend earnings even further, there are things you can do to achieve this. You can always make cosmetic and well as functional improvements to the real estate property listed on your real estate note and really pump the value of the property and your real estate notes to new heights. This will not only increase the dividend-earning potential of your real estate notes. This also works to your benefit should you want to sell off a portion of your real estate note, or sell the note off completely because its increased value will put more money in your pocket. You can use your windfall to re-invest in more real estate notes or use some of it to buy real estate notes and a portion of it to fund a college education for your child.

Real Estate Note Liquidity:

Unlike selling real property, real estate notes have built in liquidity. In most cases, you don't have worry that if you hold a real estate note and wanted to sell it quickly, that it would be hard to find buyers for it. Wise real estate investors are always looking to buy more real estate notes because they know what valuable, income-earning vehicles they are.

Self Directed 401k/IRA Notes:

Did you know you can use your 401K or self directed IRA retirement accounts that you either implemented through an employee-employer plan, or opened up yourself, to fund the purchasing of real estate notes? Many people are dipping into their retirement accounts because they have learned that real estate notes offers them the ability to increase the dividends usually earned through such retirement accounts, securely and reliably.

Will you be among the wisest of real estate investors and look into the viability of real estate notes as an investment strategy to best increase the dividend-earning power of your retirement money? The internet provides you with access to all of the information you need to learn how real estate notes can help you to retire-in-style without the risks unlike so many of the other investment opportunities out there today.

Let's recap the benefits of real estate backed notes:

1. Passive income

2. Secured by real estate

3. Taxed at low capital gains 15%

4. More liquidity than real property

5. They can purchase with 401k or IRA funds.

Real Estate Notes: maybe your 'hot' ticket to financial success in 'cool' times.

Joshua Geary is an avid writer for several blogs and websites. His article "What Your Financial Planner Has Not Told You About A Self Directed IRA" has been read by over 5,000 Internet readers. To learn more about his company and the benefits of setting up an IRA LLC so you can purchase real estate notes on the fly, visit My Real Estate IRA.

Playing Poker Like the Stock Market

As a professional no-limit holdem poker player prior to my trading career, I find that both professions share many similarities. Poker and trading are both a game of probabilities. Individual psychological makeup is also important to control emotions during times of tilt and euphoria.

In poker, a player can choose the stake he is willing to play. In the futures markets the stakes are chosen by the size of the trade. However, one of the biggest differences I found is as follows:

1. In poker, you are automatically offered the option to play a hand that you are dealt. For example, in no-limit holdem this can be a Q10, KK, 10J, 2-7, etc....

Each starting hand begins with a probability. For example, pocket 9's has a 52.4% favorite against an AK suited. The odds of getting dealt a pocket pair are 5.88%.

2. In trading, you are not automatically dealt starting hands. Starting hands in poker equals setups in trading. In order to hold a pocket pair, you must find a trading setup.

Each setup has its own set of probabilities. A setup that offers a 80% winning probability should be ranked higher than a setup that offers a 50% winning probability. The more setups a trader has the more ammunition or hands he has to play with. If a trader only trades moving average crosses, this is like playing only a KQ in poker. In poker, waiting for pocket AA's will slowly drain your capital with blinds and is definitely not the way to get rich. However, a poker player who is flexible to play a variety of hands with a variety of styles is the better player.

A trader needs to have different entry/exit and risk parameters for each setup. If one of your setups involves moving average crosses, make sure you apply different entry/exit and risk parameters from a scalping setup.

I like to consider my trading freestyle. I am very flexible with the different setups I have. Trading requires creativity. Novice traders apply too much science into trading and not enough art.

Trading should be compared to a game of limit holdem. No trade is worth all your chips so do not hold a no-limit mentality. When in doubt, stay flat. As long as you play the right hands and control your losses, a trader should come out ahead.

Good luck and best of trading.

For more poker strategy articles please visit and check out some of the great deals for online poker rooms like US Poker Rooms as well as many online poker bonuses for the most popular online poker sites.

Courtesy of:Benefit Links

Stock Investing Mistakes That Make A Difference

The process of investing is a great way for you to earn potential income. Hardly any people have the knowledge to be able to suceed, however, so many people rely upon brokerages to manage their portfolio for them. There are, however, some common investing mistakes that people make that can result in huge losses and missed opportunities. Here are a list of the absolute worst mistakes to avoid when investing in the stock market.

Mistake #1 - Invest When Youre Old

You are never too young to start investing in the stock market - in fact, it's recommended to get started sooner. The perception of investing is that it is reserved for older, financially established people who can invest large sums of money. This is a misconception that is limiting people from tapping into the power of investing. Waiting just ten years can make a huge difference in the total gains that one can make over their lifetime. For example, investing just $2000 a year (thats just $170 a month) starting at the age of 26 can yield $2,114,379 by the time you are 75. This is with an Annual Return Rate (ARR) of 10% per year steady through the life of the investment. The same investment, with the same ARR, made ten years later at the age of 36 will result in a return of only $802,895 at the age of 75. That is a 1. 3 million dollar difference. If you are not able to invest as much as $160 a month, set aside $25 per month. Even this small amount can have a large impact over time.

Mistake #2 - Not Understanding The Company

It is shocking that many people will put more time and research into choosing an MP3 player or home theater system than they will researching the stocks they will invest in. It is imperative that you take the time to understand the financial history of the companies you wish to have shares with. Make sure that you understand what you are buying and how it will benefit you in the long run. It is also important to keep in mind that you must remain objective when choosing stocks. Stocks that you have researched well and carefully selected are more likely to increase than ones you choose based on a œfeeling. Put your emotions aside and consider your options carefully. Taking time to research and investigate is also important when choosing your financial advisor. Consider meeting with a few candidates and evaluating their approach to investing. If you are meeting with someone on a recommendation, make sure that the person who recommended the advisor is someone who is qualified to do so.

Mistake #3 - Gambling On Stocks

Another common mistake is confusing gambling or speculating with investing. Investing in stocks is part of a long- range financial picture and not a get- rich- quick scheme. While there certainly are high yield quick return programs out there, it is wise to limit your participation in those programs. Day trading is one of these types of programs. When someone is involved in day trading they trade very rapidly in and out of stocks in order to profit daily from marginal changes in the market.

This practice may seem easy to profit from but it actually results in more losses for investors than gains. Similarly, some try investing over a short period of time in very risky stocks. A short- term investment of six months to a year in a œhot stock does not belong in a well- thought out financial plan. True investing should be done in quality companies over a period of several years. Finally, listening to someone who has a œhot tip is a quick way to lose a lot of your investment. Research any tips you get carefully and only invest if the numbers pan out, no matter how much others insist that this is the stock to have.

Mistake #4 - Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket

Don't underestimate this old addage. In any portfolio, you will want to diversify your holdings. Additionally, having too much stock in one specific industry can also be a recipe for disaster when the market changes. Spread your money over several different companies and different industries. That way there would have to be some catastropic disaster in order for you to lose all your money.

For more great stocks related articles and resources check out

Invest In China: Equity Markets

China's economy may be growing at the rate of almost 10% a year but its domestic capital markets are in a dismal state, forcing the private sector to disproportionate reliance on foreign investment for capital (particularly hard currency). Its domestic bond market is underdeveloped, its banks are saddled with bad debts, and both the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets have performed poorly in recent years.

China's stock exchanges (excluding Hong Kong's) were originally created with the idea of raising funds for inefficient, poorly performing state-owned entities (SOEs) that the government for political reasons did not wish to abandon. In this way the stock exchanges could shoulder the burden previously borne by domestic banks (who would extend SOE loans that were often never repaid). Because of this history, we now see listings dominated by inefficient SOEs that free float no more than one-third of issued shares, thus ensuring continued government control. It also ensures that private shareholders have no say in management, leaving SOEs with fewer incentives to reform. Foreign investors are hampered by the bifurcation of shares into two types (leaving about two-thirds of shares off-limits to foreign investment) and rigid investment quotas that China imposes on overseas capital.

China is caught between two unpalatable alternatives – if it offers up its stake in the SOEs, it cedes control of to private interests and faces the possibility that those who cannot market their shares will fail (since a government bail-out would defeat the purpose of listing in the first place). This would increase already high unemployment rates and lead to unpredictable political consequences. On the other hand, as long as it maintains control of the SOEs and uses the equity markets to fund them, share prices are likely to remain anemic, depriving China's private sector of the capital in needs to thrive at home and invest overseas. Foreign investors are hoping that China will soon take decisive action to resolve this dilemma.

Despite these difficulties, China's equity markets have recently attracted a surprising amount of interest from institutional investors abroad who see buying opportunities in low share prices and are persuaded by government promises of reform. China has raised some overseas investment quotas recently (they are specific to each investor), and there is talk in the air of unifying the share market to allow foreign investors greater access. Many analysts predict a brisker pace of reform as soon as China's banking sector is opened up to foreign competition in 2007 in response to China's WTO commitments.

David A. Carnes is a California attorney working for California Industrial City in Zhengzhou, China. His website, Start a Company in China, offers free, step-by-step information on how to establish a business presence in China.

DaVinci Code for the Wall Street Set

Yes, a real code that Business Week magazine said was the DaVinci Code for the Wall Street Set. What did overnight radio host of Coast to Coast AM, George Norey, have to say about this book: WOW! He was blown away as I listen to him interview Bob Taylor and since I have known Bob for years and followed his journey with the Code I asked Bob how many books were sold in that hour. Close to thousand books in one hour!

Yes, if you have been reading my previous articles, then you know that I'm a former investigative reporter for Post Newsweek TV. Bob is truly an amazing person who has done very well financially having owned one of the largest construction companies in the Southeast USA.

However Bob was more interested in pursuing what would eventually get him nominated for the Nobel Prize in Economics, the Code! He sold the construction business and then created a think tank to pursue the Code with five of the top theoretical physicists in the world. Well you would have thought they would break the Code but it actually was Bob who did it! One of the physicist, Robert Bass, said that this was the Code that all theoretical physicist had been trying to break for close to 300 years and here a former businessman and amateur scientist had done it!

Bob decided not to pursue the Nobel because when you do you are required to share all your findings for the world to see and he wanted to least make back the money he had spent hiring the team.

Well he shopped the Code to numerous financial institutions and they could not believe what they were seeing and just put on the blinders and used the old standby: not invented here!

So Bob came up with another idea after reading Dan Brown's book. Why not put the Code in a fictional suspense thriller and share it with the world? He did and the rest is history!

You can learn more and buy the book at

This is a GREAT Holiday gift for anyone on your list that likes Dan Brown, Robert Ludlum, John Grisham, etc.

Hugh Simpson is a former investigative reporter for Post Newsweek TV and the co-founder of US Prepared, an emergency preparedness consulting firm. You can get a FREE copy of his Emergency Preparedness Guide at

Investment Scandals & Scams: What's Next!

We humans are as creative on the "Dark Side" of commercial activity as we are in developing beneficial new products and services. In the face of huge financial benefits, however, some corporate executives can't resist taking an extra dessert even before their shareholders have finished dinner. Some scandals have more of an impact on investors than others, and most produce unwarranted layers of government regulation and control that stifle honest creativity.

Plain vanilla fraud and theft are less worrisome to me than situations where the general acceptance of misinformation or "business as usual" practices allows inherently bad product ideas and blatant mismanagement to become accepted by regulatory authorities, financial professionals, and myopically gullible consumers. Here are some candidates for future "Blockbuster Scandal Awards" (B S Awards, if you will): Variable Life Insurance & Annuities, Wrap Fee Managed Investment Accounts, Portfolio Window Dressing, Asset Allocation Mutual Funds, and Obscene Executive Compensation.

1) Variable Insurance and Annuities: Variable products are a relatively new thing in the insurance industry, circa 1980 or so. Before that, the conventional wisdom labeled the Shock Market much too risky for Life Insurance Policy and Annuity Contract guaranteed benefits. In fact, these benefits had been "guaranteed" for so long that it became a generic expectation of anyone in the market for either. So why did the State Insurance departments cave in to the Variable Product lobby? And what is not emphasized as these products are marketed to potential insureds and annuitants?

As if the 8% sales commission on Straight Life Annuities wasn't enough, the addition of Mutual Fund bonuses made the Variable Annuity irresistible... to financial professionals. Similarly, this product is so lucrative for the companies that they manipulate their rates to become more competitive. Since the introduction of variable benefits, there have been more insurance company failures and scandals, and not just a few disappointed recipients of reduced annuity payments. What's in your retirement plan?

2)Wrap Fee Investment Accounts: From the very beginnings of wealth, the very wealthy employed Investment Managers to protect and to grow their portfolios. Most Investment Managers had just a few huge clients that they tended to while the rest of the fledging financial industry focused on property protection and estate creation through life insurance. Most of today's (salaried) Investment Managers are employed by Financial Institutions to supervise thousands of Mutual Funds for millions of investors of all financial shapes and sizes. There are more Equity Mutual Funds than there are individual Equities on the New York Stock Exchange. Most investors today will employ many Investment Managers and never actually speak to any of them.

Enter the personally managed investment portfolio product offered by most major Financial Institutions. For a single fee, you receive the personal services of a professional Investment Manager, and a portfolio specifically designed for you. Except, of course, that you get neither. You get precisely the same portfolio as everybody else, and all at once regardless of price... a Mutual Fund with individual statements. But of course, you can speak to the manager any time you like, change your asset allocation, set aside a reserve for an upcoming expenditure, etc. Yeah, sure you can!

Note that "Flat Fee" managed accounts are quite different and may actually be separately and personally managed.

3)Portfolio Window Dressing: Every quarter, every year, we hear about the adjustments that portfolio managers are making as they attempt to look smart to their largest clients. Now in a discipline (Investing) that they all officially recognize as a long-term commitment to some specific strategy or plan, why do the Masters of the Universe spend so much time manipulating their short-term performance numbers? And why is this considered business as usual instead of common fraud?

4)Asset Allocation Mutual Funds: I look at Asset Allocation a bit differently than most professionals seem to and I regulate and monitor a portfolio's structure using the cost basis of securities rather than their Market Value. But how, logically, can a one-size-fits-all Mutual Fund be the right mix for all investors? Here's a definition found on the Internet: "A mutual fund that rotates among stocks, bonds, and money market securities to maximize return on investment and minimize risk". And a definition of Asset Allocation from a similar source: "The practice of distributing a certain percentage of a portfolio between different types of investment assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, cash, real estate, options, etc. By diversifying an individual's asset base, one hopes to create a favorable risk/reward ratio for a portfolio".

In reality, Asset Allocation is a structure-planning tool that determines what percentage of an Investment Portfolio is to be invested for Growth in Equity securities and what percentage is to be invested for income production. The proper allocation is a function of the investor's age, marital status, financial position, employment status, retirement plans, expenditure needs, risk tolerance, family responsibilities, etc. Diversification occurs within the two (just two) asset classes. One size fits all... who's kidding whom?

5) Corporate Executive Compensation: I strongly believe that everyone has the right to become filthy rich, legally of course. I respect anyone who gets there honestly because their success creates jobs, opportunities, wealth, and a higher standard of living for everyone. But, once they sell shares of their successful enterprises to the public, they have a responsibility to share future profits and growth. Obscene executive suite compensation (right down to the chauffeured limousines) is simply stealing from shareholders.

With every new Scandal, a voracious Media and a hypocritical Congress exacerbate the fear of shocked investors and call for more regulation of the very entities whose success, freedom, viability, and competitiveness they should be nurturing. Ironically, politicians are always the most outspoken critics... probably because of their familiarity with cover-ups and improprieties. But no one ever questions the integrity of the Financial Institutions that invent, produce, price, and promote products and services that do far more long-term harm than the few (albeit serious and sensational) incidents of corporate wrong doing.

Four of the five candidates for this year's Blockbuster Scandal (B S) Award were created on Wall Street. The fifth is ignored by it. Which one bothers you most?

Steve Selengut

Professional Portfolio Management since 1979

Author of: "The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read", and "A Millionaire's Secret Investment Strategy

Forex Versus Futures Market - What Is The Difference

Today's market takes root in the agriculture markets of the 19th century, when farmers began to sell contracts to deliver their crops at a later date. This was done to anticipate the needs of the market and stabilize supply and demand during poor crop seasons. Like goods and services, the contracts themselves soon became seen as valuable. A grocery store chain, for example, might want to bid on such a contract to ensure that they, and not their competitors, have fresh strawberries during the winter.

1. The Futures Market

The current futures market, of course, includes far more than just foods! It is a market for all sorts of commodities including manufactured goods, agricultural products, and financial instruments such as currencies and treasury bonds. A futures contract states what price will be paid for a product at a specified delivery date.

2. Playing The Futures Market

When an investor plays the futures market, the actual goods are not important and there is no expectation of a real delivery. After all, locusts or the elements of nature could destroy the crop. As such, the value of the contract itself changes daily according to the market value of the commodity.

3. How Transactions Work

A futures contract has a buyer and seller. The contract specifies the buying price, a quantity of goods, and a delivery date. You can never lose money on a futures trade - you will never pay more than the initial amount of the contract. By locking in prices at a fixed rate, you ensure that you will still get that price years from now, protecting against price raises. On the other side of the coin, if the value of the commodity drops, the producer will make money.

4. How Is Profit Made?

In the end, investors are hoping to profit from the daily fluctuations of the market. They buy long term contracts and hope the market will rise the value of the commodities. This way, they can buy low and sell high. Alternatively, those wishing to sell their goods can offer short term contracts if they expect the value of those items to go down.

5. The FOREX Market

FOREX is trading in currencies. It is therefore very liquid in nature - you will never get stuck with two hundred boxes of strawberries that have to be sold within 2 weeks or they will go bad and youll lose a lot of money. Far, far less slippage occurs in the FOREX market compared with the futures market. Slippage is a term that refers to you losing money.

6. Always Open

While most futures exchanges can happen 7 hours in any given day, FOREX is open 24 hours a day for trading. This makes futures far more liquid, able to take advantage of trading opportunities as they arise.

7. No Commission

Traders pay a fee for each transaction they enter into instead of having to pay commissions to brokers. There is a very high volume of trading FOREX transactions are almost instantly executed. This minimizes slippage and increases price certainty. Brokers in the futures market often quote prices reflecting the last trade - not necessarily the price of your trade.

For more great forex market related articles and resources check out

The New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange is also known as the "Big Board" or the "Wall Street" because it is located at 11 Wall Street, New York. The New York Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in the United States by dollar volume and total market capitalization of companies listed. The biggest stock exchange by share volume is the NASDAQ, a fully electronic stock exchange.

The New York Stock Exchange is operated by the NYSE Group. The NYSE Group also operates a second stock exchange, the NYSE Arca, formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange. The NYSE acquired Archipelago just recently in December 2005 and went public and began trading under the NYSE Group in March 2006. The symbol is NYX.

There are more than 2600 companies with a market value of about $21 trillion listed on the NYSE. Non-US companies play a major role with a value of over $7 trillion. The listing requirements are high to maintain listing quality. Companies must maintain minimum standards in number of shareholders, trading volume, market capitalization, earnings, cash flow and other criteria.

The New York Stock Exchange trades in the so-called open outcry system. Each stock is traded by a so called specialist on a specific location on the trading floor. A specialist is an employee of a NYSE member firm who works as an auctioneer to meet buyers and sellers in a particular stock. This is what makes the NYSE different to the other exchanges like the NASDAQ where the orders are matched fully electronically.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (symbol DJI) is the oldest, most important and best known index of the New York Stock Exchange. It was created by Charles Dow, founder of the Dow Jones & Company. It was first calculated in October 1, 1928. The index is also known as the "Dow Jones" or simply the "Dow". The index calculates the average value of thirty of the most important stocks like Microsoft, Pfizer, AT&T, IBM. Since the Down Jones is a price-weighted index of only 30 stocks, many recommend watching the S&P 500 index instead as a better indicator.

There have been several big Dow Jones index declines which became famous. In October 12, 1914 the Dow Jones had its biggest percentage drop in history with 24.39% in one single day. In October 19, 1987 the drop was 22.6% (Black Monday). The largest point drop was September 17, 2001 with 684.81 points or 7.1%. Today trading is halted at the New York Stock Exchange when the market declines 10, 20 or 30% to give investors time to rethink their decisions (circuit breaker rule).

David A. Sorenger is a stock market expert and provides detailed information on the New York Stock Exchange, stocks, options and online brokers at his web site

The Evaluation Of Stocks

In order to effectively invest your money into stocks of any kind, you must know all of your stock options so that you can efficiently earn money. Because stocks are simply small shares of a company, the more stocks you purchase to more you own of a certain company. For example, if you purchase 100,000 stocks in AutoZone, an automotive store, you would have more say in what takes place in the company that someone who only purchases 1,000 shares of AutoZones stock. There are two main types of stock in that, you, the investor should become familiar with so that you can properly purchase the stock that is right for you and your monetary situation.

Common Stock

Basically stated, a common stock is, well, common! When you hear people talking about stocks in general, it is these types of stocks in that they are referring. It is simply a piece of paper that represents some degree of ownership of a corporation as well as some form of profit from that particular company. Interestingly enough, investors in common stocks receive one vote per stock owned to elect board members, the people who oversee major decisions made for the company as a whole, for a particular company. In the long- term, this type of stock means capital growth for the investor, however, if the company is forced into bankruptcy, the investor will not get paid what they are owed until creditors, bondholders, and preferred stockholders receive their payments.

Preferred Stock

In general, preferred stock is stock that is owned by preferred stockholders in that all of the companys earnings and assets go directly to the preferred stockholders first. Because preferred stockholders are paid before common stockholders, preferred stockholders choose to give up their right to vote in the election of board members. For this reason, preferred stockholders have no right in the selection process of the company. Preferred stockholders purchase stock in a certain company for monetary gain only in that their main goal in investment is earning a return on investment. Of course, there are four variations on preferred stock investments.

Voting - Preferred stock members can opt for the right to vote in a company in that they own stock. By doing this, they ensure the power to make sure that they receive all monies owed to them because they are able to bribe people into places of management. For example, Bob is a preferred stockholder who wants to ensure that his profits are paid to him no matter what happens to the company. Bob tells Tom, a man up for board election, that he will make sure Tom wins the election as long as Tom agrees to pay Bob his profits, whether the company goes into bankruptcy or not.

Adjustable Rates - Preferred stockholders receive an agreed upon profit based on stipulations provided by the company.

Convertible Stock - Preferred stockholders have the right to convert their preferred stock into common stock, allowing the investor to lock in their profit while they potentially profit from a rise in common stock. Basically, preferred stockholders are protected no matter what types of investment decisions they make.

Participating Stock - With this type of stock, preferred stockholders not only receive a set profit, but they are eligible for a certain percentage of the companys earned profit over a set period of time.

For this reason, it may seem that a preferred stockholder position is the way to go, however, with increased power comes more headaches. If you are a beginning investor, it is better to work on common stocks for a number of years before trying to get involved with preferred stocks.

Because common stocks and preferred stocks are so different, companies are not allowed to customize either type of the stocks. The reason for this is that some companies may be corrupt and want the voting power to remain with certain investors. Companies are held under law to make sure that the voting power remains fair among both common stockholders and preferred stockholders.

It is your money and your choice, however, it is suggested that you become educated when playing with the stock market. It is important to know precisely what stocks are as well as the main characteristics of a common stock as well as a preferred stock. As with any investment, the ultimate goal is to gain a profit and this can only be done with stocks if you thoroughly understand them.

For more great stocks related articles and resources check out

The Benefits Of Using An Investing Club

If you are going to college or just sarting in your career, you might want to consider investing in the stork market for a little extra cash. It is important for young people to start investing wisely in order to secure their financial future. Investment clubs are a great way to learn the ropes until you can do everything on your own.

Not all investment clubs are created equal. The first is mainly concerned with teaching about investing and the concepts of the stock market. They use simulations rather than real money to illustrate the way that the stock market works. You can learn the principles before you put any of your hard earned money at risk.

Virtual investment clubs simulate actual trades and trading stocks. These virtual clubs are like an investing œschool. There are several websites available for testing out stock market principles such as MarketWatch (TM)s Virtual Stock Exchange. The Virtual Stock Exchange performs market simulations.

Many universities are establishing virtual investment clubs for the purpose of teaching stock market strategies. It provides students with a familiarity for financial terms and the financial institutions available to help them.

Virtual investment clubs can also learn many things beyond investing to learn about the way the stock market works. Many clubs host investment relations representatives to make presentations at their meetings. Brokers are also excellent guests at club meetings for speaking about how brokerage firms work and networking with club members.

The second type of investment club is the type that actually puts forth money into the market. Their purpose is to pool the money of the group so the members have more leverage in the market than they would if they had invested individually. The investment clubs that actually put forth money form a legal partnership between the members so that each member is protected.

To start a legal investment club, each member fills out partnership agreements. The documents are available from the National Association of Investors Corporation (or NAIC), that is a non- profit organization. Belonging to the NAIC is also recommended because the organization provides special services. The NAIC charges $40 for the establishment of the club plus $14 per member, per year. There is NAIC Club Accounting Software available to keep everything in order for $159.

The investment club will then open a brokerage account with a firm of their choice and appoint a treasurer for the club. The treasurer will maintain and report tax information to each individual member so all members are well informed of what is going on with the clubs investment. This also allows each member to report their share of the club (TM)s earnings and pay their portion of taxes.

Investing with a club has several advantages. When you are part of an investment club, you are able to get different perspectives on a variety of stocks. Each investment is a group decision and this allows for a broader input on the stocks that are invested in. The club benefits from the variety of experiences and knowledge of the group. Each member gains a broader understanding of the market by hearing that stocks appeal to certain people. The investment club also allows investors to spread their money out over a variety of stocks and therefore, own a portion of many companies.

Most investment clubs have a dozen or more members, one treasurer, and one president to plan and arrange everything. A secretary is also helpful in taking minutes for the meetings. The other members of the club are responsible for researching and bringing information regarding different stocks. Most clubs meet once a month to discuss the investments and hear new stock investing ideas. An investing club is a great way to go about learning the ins and outs of investing in the stock market.

For more great investing related articles and resources check out

Market Matrix - The GDP growth and the corporate profitability – 30 Sep 2006

Gentlemen,

The govt just announced that the growth in GDP for the five months ended Aug 2006 have exceeded 8% mark comfortably. In these five month the tax revenue is up by 39% and non tax revenue is up by over 15%.These numbers are really interesting and leave one wondering whether the stock market would be gaining strength on the back of these numbers, I am not so sure. No doubt, the increased tax collection would enable govt to contain fiscal and revenue deficit and this is something that gives comfort.

Since the quarter ending 30 Sept 06 will only be a quarter and the numbers it gives will be for the growth over the corresponding quarter last year. The gullible public is given or gets the impression that this growth is over the growth of 1st quarter in current year. What I mean to say is that even if the rate of growth shows slight improvement in this quarter against the growth numbers for the first quarter (both over corresponding quarters last year) it should not be taken as signal for the still better next year for the corporates.There always remains a possibility of slips between cup and the lip. I am not talking dejectedly; I am talking as the dream run has been going on for far too long. If you account for the returns by way of the nominal interest return of 8% on capital plus if you expect just two percent additionally for the element of risk involved in equity investment, the projected Nifty would have to be between 3950 to 4000 and the Sensex between 14000 to 14200. One year from now and it will have to be 4200/15000 after next financial year i.e. 31st March 07.

I call upon you to be optimistic and assess if these numbers seem possible to you. The ones who have doubt should keep the moneys in interest bearing instruments in the proportion of their doubt in this regard.

I am only trying to make matters simple for the uninitiated. I further state that the tax revenue growth cannot translate for the existing listed companies in to more than 25% net profit surge on an average for every incremental rupee of profit. The tax rates are at the highest hence would restrict the PAT .This reflects in higher PE ratio than otherwise would have been the case. Therefore, those who expect that next year would be bringing down the PE ratio for the indices are in the wrong, this year it rests at over 20 against 18 last year in spite of surge in profits. The PE ratio at over 20 is non-digestible for me personally; I cannot speak for others with authority.

The Nifty closed at 3588 after crossing 3600 mark for some time on 29 Sep 2006.

Hari Om

BIRDINFO Stock Rx - A Vedic Prescription for stock market

4 Reasons To Never Buy Stock Market Training Courses

I'm pretty sure you have seen ads for "How to Make A Fortune on the Stock Markets" books for before. These books, seminars, and training courses claim to teach you how to properly invest in stocks, bonds, penny stocks, commodities contracts, etc. Their advertisements focus on the pleasure of trading stocks from the privacy of your home. You can buy or sell stocks anywhere you can access a telephone or the internet. You don't have to sell any products. You barely have to exert yourself at all.

So what's the problem with "How to Make A Fortune on the Stock Markets" books, seminars, and training courses. Are they just hype or can you follow their directions and get rich as the ads claim? Read on for the truth you must know about "How to Make A Fortune on the Stock Markets" books, seminars, and training courses.

The first problem is stock market training courses and how-to books out there are much like real estate training courses and how-to books: The strategies you'll learn in these programs will be anything but satisfactory. They'll tell you to "buy low and sell high." Duh! Anybody with a competent brain already knows this. True successful investing takes experience. To expect to pick the correct stocks, at the correct time, and to sell them at the correct time, as an uneducated beginner, is absurd.

The second problem is it's almost impossible to stay current with the market. There is just too much ground to cover on a daily basis: Too many articles and newspapers to read, too much software to run…it will all become too much. To top it all off, no one truly knows what makes the stock market fluctuate. This is why entire corporations are dedicated to analyzing and dissecting the market before making recommendations.

The third problem is the risk and the resulting stress it will cause you: The day you discover you have lost a few thousand dollars in a single instance is the day the ulcer in your stomach will begin.

The fourth problem is you lack the funds. It is recommended that have at least a $20,000 portfolio. Forget investing in stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, etc. Get in the game if and when you can afford it, and proceed with caution. Buying a "How to Make A Fortune on the Stock Markets" book or training course won't help you get this money either. You need this money whether you are educated or uneducated.

Conclusion

There have been thousands of people who have fallen victim of "How to Make A Fortune on the Stock Markets" books, seminars, and training courses. People who simply want to earn an extra income from the comfort of their homes find themselves cheated by con artists who take advantage of their hopeful attitudes. No doubt there are legitimate companies out there offering real investment training opportunities. Unfortunately, home based business scams are at an all time high. It has become harder to find legitimate work from home operations. So, if you are planning on buying "How to Make A Fortune on the Stock Markets" books, seminars, and training courses, use common sense and the guidelines above to avoid falling victim to these infamous scams!

Joe Cooper has researched and experimented with over 275 home based business opportunities over 25 years. Discover more information about Stock Markets books, seminars, and training courses scams at Best Internet Home Based Business

Stock Picks-Is GM Chairman losing it?

A Directory Of A Business For A Business By A Business

Mumbai, India September 27, 2006. Here finally a business directory with a businessman's needs in mind. Businessmen can do with less clutter and a little more ease. Keeping this in mind, makes the tedious task of searching for appropriate results an absolutely easy task.

Make a demand on the search engine and be amply rewarded with the most satisfying results. Look for a supplier of a certain product or vice-versa and find a choice of the choicest to choose from. Here finally an easy to search and find Business to Business directory (B2B) with the needs of time management kept in mind.

Netlink Solutions (India) Limited, that's the business entity that requests your pleasure to be part of a co-venture. A Business's venture to search for information, and Netlink Solutions (India) Limited's venture to provide the information via with no occurrences by co-incidence. Compiled and put together over a period of years by a specialist team, with every search engine algorithm in place, and with the choicest associates registered, information acquired here speaks volumes for the venture.

Listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of over Rupees 100 million, Netlink Solutions (India) Limited has synergetic divisions. The divisions namely, Gifts & Accessories Magazine with and Aditya Infotech, and along with form an enviable combination of information providing entities.

The need of information in today's world spurs easy2source.com's energies. Armed with an arsenal of formidable techniques to make information available at the fingertips of an information seeker, makes an invitation that cannot be turned down to a systematic collection of information. Here finally with every click kept in mind, a directory of a business, for a business, by a business.

Satisfy your self-seeking ways!

Know more at or E-mail netlink@ or make a telephone call on telephone numbers 91-22-2633 5583, 91-22-2633 5584, 91-22-2637 1422, 91-22- 2637 1522.

Leslie Gregory Fernandes works at Netlink Solutions (India) Limited as a Web Content Writer.

To Trade or Invest

The stodgy old world of stock market investing used to take place in the hallowed halls of dusty investment houses where buying stocks was viewed as a long term deal. You bought company stocks and held onto them for decades slowly earning dividends and appreciating value.

Then came the 1980s and the exploding stock market and the introduction of traders. With the introduction of personal computers in the 1990s, anyone could suddenly become a trader and the numbers of people directly investing in the stock market blossomed. Now, with cable TV replacing the quiet expertise of patrician stoke brokers like Louis Rukeyser with manic hedge fund traders like Jim Cramer you could be forgiven for thinking that long term investment went out the window and short term money making was in.

So what is the difference between 'investing" and "trading"?

Essentially, time is the difference. The terms investing and trading are used almost interchangeably these days although there are subtle differences. Investing is where the shareholder intends to hold a stock for a long period of time; trading is where the buyer intends to flip the stock after a very short period of time.

While the goal is the same – maximizing profits from a stock buy — trading has received a bad rap from the mainstream media and some view trading as a form of immoral addiction.

In reality, all stock investing is trading. Unless the investor is buying a stock in an Initial Public Offering, nothing of a stock purchase goes into the company, so it is hard to call that investing. Therefore, not to get all semantic here, but all stock purchases are trades -- only with a longer time horizon for selling

The investor, as oppose to the trader is not supposed to be swayed by the micro fluctuations of the market. Many investors claim that it is very easy to lose everything in mindless speculative trading. On the other hand, plenty of investors lost large sums of money in the stock market when it went south in the 2000 tech bust.

There is another distinction between trading and investing, although this has to do with the way in which invested capital is expected to produce a return. In trading, the appreciation of capital is the objective. You buy a stock at 10 dollars and sell at 15 and produce a capital gain. If dividends or interest are paid out then that's an added bonus but that is not the objective.

Investing, by its nature, looks at consistent income as a major component of the strategy. Dividends and bond interest payments are a significant part of the investment return. Capital appreciation only arrives at the end of the investment time frame when the investment is sold.

The distinction between investing and trading may become irrelevant as savvy investors realize that a mix of long and short term investment is key to maximizing profits. Investors may hold onto a stock for either five days or five years. The bottom line is what matters now. At both extremes there are those that claim their way is the best way. We have all heard the stories of day traders making four and five hundred dollars a day for a couple hours of work. We also hear of people who lose their initial two thousand dollar investment in less than a week. Like anything there is a skill involved and an expensive learning curve. On the other end of the scale we can look at a Warren Buffet and see that sober and long term strategies can turn into millions. Yet there are others that stick with their investment for the long haul, through thick and thin, and can slowly ride a deflating market down to the bottom.

Following one strategy over the other because of a philosophical belief, bereft of evidence, and believing that one strategy is superior to another is one way to lose money and miss profits.

One way to avoid this is to follow this philosophy. Only own a stock when it is rising and sell it if it is going down. In a volatile market, that would look like day trading but in a bull market you'll look like Warren Buffet. It is a simple concept. You have to factor in costs of trading and capital gains taxes, but you should be doing that anyway.

People will say that this philosophy creates volatile markets, pumps up stocks and unnaturally inflates the market. So? It is what is happening anyway so why not get in on the action and maximize your investments and profits. The new gurus of Wall Street are suggesting this philosophy with the daily updates and 'lightening rounds" so why not accept that investing has moved on from the starched collars and pin stripped suits of yesteryear into a brave new world of invest and trade.

Jay Northco

Jay Northco is the editor of a website dedicated to examining the skills of Wall Street Guru Jim Cramer while pitting Cramer's skills against a stock picking internet monkey named Leonard.

Writing Covered Calls

Covered Calls

Options are most commonly used by investors for either leverage and / or insurance (hedging). As leverage, options allow the investor to control an equity position without paying 100% of the share price. For example, rather than going on the open market and purchasing 100 shares of IBM for $8,257 ($82.57 per share), an investor could control the same amount of shares at a given strike price for a fraction of the cost such as the Jan 07 $80 strike with a total cost of $1,050. As insurance / hedge, options can assist in protecting against price fluctuations. For example, the same IBM investor can sell a call against his shares which will reduce the basis in the equity position by the premium received. In other words, he has hedged his position against any short term fluctuations his equity position may experience.

Writing covered call options provide many benefits with the major reason being collecting premium from the sale of such an option. The premium collected goes into your account and can then be used to invest in other positions. The writer keeps the premium regardless of whether or not the option is exercised. Another important aspect with selling options is that of time value which now works for you rather than against you.

Covered Calls are not new and it isn't as complicated as many make it out to be. It is a viable means of generating consistent income from your portfolio. If you are not writing options against your positions you are losing out on money you could be putting in your pocket each and every month. Keep in mind writing covered calls are not get rich quick strategies. They are a means of generating income for the individual investor regardless of their trading expertise.

Covered Calls are not a get rich quick strategy and often misunderstood but when used correctly can assist investors in generating monthly income as well as providing downside protection. The site I mainly utilize for Covered Calls trading is Tony Lassito is a full time options trader with years of experience. You can learn more about the strategies he uses at the following Covered Calls site. How To Write Covered Calls

Investing in the Stock Market for the Individual Investor

Over the past few years the stock market has made substantial declines. Some short term investors have lost a good bit of money. Many new stock market investors look at this and become very skeptical about getting in now.

If you are considering investing in the stock market it is very important that you understand how the markets work. All of the financial and market data that the newcomer is bombarded with can leave them confused and overwhelmed.

The stock market is an everyday term used to describe a place where stock in companies is bought and sold. Companies issues stock to finance new equipment, buy other companies, expand their business, introduce new products and services, etc. The investors who buy this stock now own a share of the company. If the company does well the price of their stock increases. If the company does not do well the stock price decreases. If the price that you sell your stock for is more than you paid for it, you have made money.

When you buy stock in a company you share in the profits and losses of the company until you sell your stock or the company goes out of business. Studies have shown that long term stock ownership has been one of the best investment strategies for most people.

People buy stocks on a tip from a friend, a phone call from a broker, or a recommendation from a TV analyst. They buy during a strong market. When the market later begins to decline they panic and sell for a loss. This is the typical horror story we hear from people who have no investment strategy.

Before committing your hard earned money to the stock market it will behoove you to consider the risks and benefits of doing so. You must have an investment strategy. This strategy will define what and when to buy and when you will sell it.

History of the Stock Market

Over two hundred years ago private banks began to sell stock to raise money to expand. This was a new way to invest and a way for the rich to get richer. In 1792 twenty four large merchants agreed to form a market known as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). They agreed to meet daily on Wall Street and buy and sell stocks.

By the mid-1800s the United States was experiencing rapid growth. Companies began to sell stock to raise money for the expansion necessary to meet the growing demand for their products and services. The people who bought this stock became part owners of the company and shared in the profits or loss of the company.

A new form of investing began to emerge when investors realized that they could sell their stock to others. This is where speculation began to influence an investor's decision to buy or sell and led the way to large fluctuations in stock prices.

Originally investing in the stock market was confined to the very wealthy. Now stock ownership has found it's way to all sectors of our society.

What is a Stock?

A stock certificate is a piece of paper declaring that you own a piece of the company. Companies sell stock to finance expansion, hire people, advertise, etc. In general, the sale of stock help companies grow. The people who buy the stock share in the profits or losses of the company.

Trading of stock is generally driven by short term speculation about the company operations, products, services, etc. It is this speculation that influences an investor's decision to buy or sell and what prices are attractive.

The company raises money through the primary market. This is the Initial Public Offering (IPO). Thereafter the stock is traded in the secondary market (what we call the stock market) when individual investors or traders buy and sell the shares to each other. The company is not involved in any profit or loss from this secondary market.

Technology and the Internet have made the stock market available to the mainstream public. Computers have made investing in the stock market very easy. Market and company news is available almost anywhere in the world. The Internet has brought a vast new group of investors into the stock market and this group continues to grow each year.

Bull Market - Bear Market

Anyone who has been following the stock market or watching TV news is probably familiar with the terms Bull Market and Bear Market. What do they mean?

A bull market is defined by steadily rising prices. The economy is thriving and companies are generally making a profit. Most investors feel that this trend will continue for some time. By contrast a bear market is one where prices are dropping. The economy is probably in a decline and many companies are experiencing difficulties. Now the investors are pessimistic about the future profitability of the stock market. Since investors' attitudes tend to drive their willingness to buy or sell these trends normally perpetuate themselves until significant outside events intervene to cause a reversal of opinion.

In a bull market the investor hopes to buy early and hold the stock until it has reached it's high. Obviously predicting the low and high is impossible. Since most investors are "bullish" they make more money in the rising bull market. They are willing to invest more money as the stock is rising and realize more profit.

Investing in a bear market incurs the greatest possibility of losses because the trend in downward and there is no end in sight. An investment strategy in this case might be short selling. Short selling is selling a stock that you don't own. You can make arrangements with your broker to do this. You will in effect be borrowing shares from your broker to sell in the hope of buying them back later when the price has dropped. You will profit from the difference in the two prices. Another strategy for a bear market would be buying defensive stocks. These are stocks like utility companies that are not affected by the market downturn or companies that sell their products during all economic conditions.

Brokers

Traditionally investors bought and sold stock through large brokerage houses. They made a phone call to their broker who relayed their order to the exchange floor. These brokers also offered their services as stock advisors to people who knew very little about the market. These people relied on their broker to guide them and paid a hefty price in commissions and fees as a result. The advent of the Internet has led to a new class of brokerage houses. These firms provide on-line accounts where you may log in and buy and sell stocks from anywhere you can get an Internet connection. They usually don't offer any market advice and only provide order execution. The Internet investor can find some good deals as the members of this new breed of electronic brokerage houses compete for your business!

Blue Chip Stocks

Large well established firms who have demonstrated good profitability and growth, dividend payout, and quality products and services are called blue chip stocks. They are usually the leaders of their industry, have been around for a long time, and are considered to be among the safest investments. Blue chip stocks are included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index composed of thirty companies who are leaders in their industry groups. They are very popular among individual and institutional investors. Blue chip stocks attract investors who are interested in consistent dividends and growth as well as stability. They are rarely subject to the price volatility of other stocks and their share prices will normally be higher than other categories of stock. The downside of blue chips is that due to their stability they won't appreciate as rapidly as compared to smaller up-and-coming stocks.

Penny Stocks

Penny Stocks are very low priced stocks and are very risky. They are usually issued by companies without a long term record of stability or profitability.

The appeal of penny stock is their low price. Though the odds are against it, if the company can get into a growth trend the share price can jump very rapidly. They are usually favored by the speculative investor.

Income Stocks

Income Stocks are stock that normally pay higher than average dividends. They are well established companies like utilities or telephone companies. Income stocks are popular with the investor who wants to own the stock for a long time and collect the dividends and who is not so interested in a gain in share price.

Value Stocks

Sometimes a company's earnings and growth potential indicate that it's share price should be higher than it is currently trading at. These stock are said to be Value Stocks. For the most part, the market and investors have ignored them. The investor who buys a value stock hopes that the market will soon realize what a bargain it is and begin to buy. This would drive up the share price.

Defensive Stocks

Defensive Stocks are issued by companies in industries that have demonstrated good performance in bad markets. Food and utility companies are defensive stocks.

Market Timing

One of the most well known market quotes is: "Buy Low - Sell High". To be consistently successful in the stock market one needs strategy, discipline, knowledge, and tools. We need to understand our strategy and stick with it. This will prevent us from being distracted by emotion, panic, or greed.

One of the most prominent investing strategies used by "investment pros" is Market Timing. This is the attempt to predict future prices from past market performance. Forecasting stock prices has been a problem for as long as people have been trading stocks. The time to buy or sell a stock is based on a number of economic indicators derived from company analysis, stock charts, and various complex mathematical and computer based algorithms.

Risks

There are numerous risks involved in investing in the stock market. Knowing that these risks exist should be one of the things an investor is constantly aware of. The money you invest in the stock market is not guaranteed. For instance, you might buy a stock expecting a certain dividend or rate of share price increase. If the company experiences financial problems it may not live up to your dividend or price growth expectations. If the company goes out of business you will probably lose everything you invested in it. Due to the uncertainty of the outcome, you bear a certain amount of risk when you purchase a stock.

Stocks differ in the amount of risks they present. For instance, Internet stocks have demonstrated themselves to be much more risky than utility stocks.

One risk is the stocks reaction to news items about the company. Depending on how the investors interpret the new item, they may be influenced to buy or sell the stock. If enough of these investors begin to buy or sell at the same time it will cause the price to rise or fall.

One effective strategy to cope with risk is diversification. This means spreading out your investments over several stocks in different market sectors. Remember the saying: "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket".

As investors we need to find our "Risk Tolerance". Risk tolerance is our emotional and financial ability to ride out a decline in the market without panicking and selling at a loss. When we define that point we make sure not to extend our investments beyond it.

Benefits

The same forces that bring risk into investing in the stock market also make possible the large gains many investors enjoy. It's true that the fluctuations in the market make for losses as well as gains but if you have a proven strategy and stick with it over the long term you will be a winner!

The Internet has make investing in the stock market a possibility for almost everybody. The wealth of online information, articles, and stock quotes gives the average person the same abilities that were once available to only stock brokers. No longer does the investor need to contact a broker for this information or to place orders to buy or sell. We now have almost instant access to our accounts and the ability to place on-line orders in seconds. This new freedom has ushered in new masses of hopeful investors. Still this in not a random process of buying and selling stock. We need a strategy for selecting a suitable stock as well as timing to buy and sell in order to make a profit.

Day Trading

Day Trading is the attempt to buy and sell stock over a very short period of time. The day trader hopes to cash in on the short term fluctuations in a stock's price. It would not be unusual for the day trader to buy and sell the same stock in a matter of a few minutes or to buy and sell the same stock several times a day.

Day traders sit in front of computer monitors all day looking for short term movement in a stock. They then attempt to get in on the movement before it reverses. The real day trader does not hold a stock overnight due to the risk of some event or news item triggering the stock to reverse direction. It takes intense concentration to monitor the minute by minute movement of several stocks.

Day trading involves a great deal of risk because of the uncertainty of the market behavior over the short term. The slightest economic or political news can cause a stock to fluctuate wildly and result in unexpected losses.

There are a few people who make respectable gains day trading. The people who probably make the most are the self proclaimed "experts" who sell the books or operate the web sites that cater to the day trader. Because of the profits to be made from sales to people who want to get rich quick, they make it seem as attractive as possible. The truth is that in the long run more people lose than gain by day trading. This does not translate into a very good investment.

Harry Hooper has over 30 years experience in portfolio management. He is the senior stock tracker for

Ford has a better idea

Ford announced two milestones this week. The first is a new CEO coming from outside the company, in this case Boeing. The second is a restructuring plan that everybody knew was coming. We just didn't know how deep, or how far they would cut. This company is very quickly becoming a case study at Business School for how NOT to run a company.

The company has a management team that has been asleep at the switch for at least 25 years. You would think they woke up this morning for the first time, and said we have to cut everywhere.

Let's start with what's missing from the plan, the MASTER plan that Ford is now proposing. I have reviewed all publicly disseminated documents and this is what I conclude. I don't see a word anywhere talking about "LET'S MAKE CARS OF HIGH QUALITY THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BUY."

The only thing these guys talk about is financial engineering. They've blown it, they've blown it so bad, that the question is, are they so far down in the hole that they can't dig themselves out. They may be at that point. Let's deal with reality. America is NOW a high cost producer of just about anything that involves manufacturing. In 1900, half our population was involved in agriculture. Think, half of us were farmers, or farming related.

With the continued industrialization of this country, we moved from the farm to machines, to manufacturing. America was a manufacturing powerhouse for decades. The latest census shows that we are a 75% service society, and about 4% agriculture. The rest is manufacturing, and that sector will continue to decline.

Automobile manufacturing is the tip of the problem. We will come to a point perhaps, where there will be little to no car manufacturing in this country. It's sad, but it is what it is. We have to deal with it. Ford has not wanted to deal with it for decades. They wait till now to say, we have a problem, "Hello, anybody home, are you listening."

I was talking to an individual recently who has sold Lincoln cars (owned by Ford) for 25 years. He told me about a woman that bought a Ford Navigator, and drove immediately from the dealership on a trip to Florida. The horror show began in New Jersey. Windows started to open and close on their own. Internal lights went on and off. By the time she made it to Maryland, she had to leave the car at a Ford dealership.

Two weeks later, the company decided to give her a new car. Apparently while building the car, a worker put some kind of sharp tool through the wiring harness in the engine compartment. The shorts were everywhere, and affecting every major electronic component of the vehicle. This is not an isolated incident. Ford use to advertise, "Where quality is number 1." Had they put quality in their cars through the years, they wouldn't have a problem today.

What do the people who run Ford drink at night? What do they smoke? Do they think everyone else outside their company is functioning in the same manner that they are. The Japanese continue to set a high standard. The standard may be so high that we Americans may not be able to reach it anymore. Is that a reason for Ford not to try?

Ford has 75,000 hourly workers in the United States. The company has offered to buy out all of them. If you have a FULL year on the job, you get a $100,000 buyout, and healthcare benefits for 6 months. If you have either 30 years on the job, or you are age 55 with 15 years or more on the job, you get $140,000 to leave immediately. You also get to keep your pension, but you give up retirement health care coverage.

Workers are also being offered college benefits with 8 other options. These are people who in a good year are use to making a $100,000 with overtime. Where do we stand now? You have a 100% UNHAPPY workforce. You know how a car spins its wheels in the snow. You are going to have every worker at Ford spinning his wheels, do I take the deal, do I not take the deal. They will be flipping coins trying to figure it out. Meanwhile the executive ranks are going to be saying to themselves, "What am I doing here."

The whole game plan is about as disruptive to a corporation as disruptive can be. How is anything going to get done including manufacturing well designed cars that people are comfortable buying?

Wait, there's more?

This whole deal has been announced before the new CEO, Alan Mulally of Boeing takes over in the next couple of weeks. Is their any reason why this announcement couldn't wait two weeks for the new man to come in? Ford made a CONSCIENCE decision to announce immediately. They didn't want their new CEO to take the pubic hit for adverse public reactions that are going to come from the latest restructuring plan.

Can Ford come back?

It's really a good question. The answer is that it's going to be tough under all scenarios. The best bet they have going for them is bringing in an OUTSIDER. Einstein once said, "The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them." I believe this is a cardinal rule of management as well. The problems of a company cannot be solved by the same executives who were there when the problems were created.

The executives now in charge at Ford are part of the problem. They in fact are the problem. They have too much invested in an old way of thinking, an old management style that is no longer appropriate for the 21st century. In fact, it hasn't been appropriate for 25 years, which is why the Japanese are eating Ford for lunch. It may still be too little, too late, and what about QUALITY and DESIGN, still not a word from Ford.

Goodbye and good luck

Richard Stoyeck's background includes being a limited partner at Bear Stearns, Senior VP at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn Loeb, Arthur Andersen, and KPMG. Educated at Pace University, NYU, and Harvard University, today he runs Rockefeller Capital Partners and StocksAtB

A disaster waiting to happen!

Remember the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918? Like today's threat, it started in birds and migrated to humans. It hit every country on earth. Not one was spared. The epidemic sped around the globe in only five months.

When and if bird flu completes its last necessary mutation to jump from birds to humans, think how fast it will travel. Today a plane can circle the earth in less time than a train could cross the continent back then.

In 1918 and 1919 more than 21 million people died. A quarter of the world's population was infected. With more crowded cities, non-stop air travel, and poor hygiene still in many parts of the world, how fast would it travel today? Experts fear it will be only a matter of weeks before it spreads globally.

And don't think that antibiotics will help. Flu is a virus, and antibiotics don't work on viruses. If they did, we wouldn't have flu, and we wouldn't have AIDs anymore either. Viruses are as tough to kill as bacteria was before penicillin.

Human are about to see what could be the biggest human disaster in history, and there are only a handful of companies that may have the potential to prevent it.

Governments worldwide are preparing for a global disaster of untold magnitude. Containment relies on having billions of doses of vaccine stockpiled and ready. The problem: There is none.

And so authorities are anxiously awaiting a vaccine that works. A vaccine that is quickly produced and stable in storage. A vaccine like the one being developed by many drug company.

There are currently only four drugs on the market that can battle even the mildest flu. But the lethal strain known as bird flu, or H5N1, is resistant to even to our best weapon, oseltamivir, branded as Tamiflu.

Even if Tamiflu worked, it would be too little, too late. The product must be stored at below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. That is well beyond the capabilities of the world's third world countries where the disease would spread far and fast.

What's more, all of the flu vaccines are made by a broken down system that's a disaster waiting to happen. The vaccines are made by harvesting viruses in chicken eggs. But the bird flu virus is as deadly to the eggs as it is to the chickens. And so the virus must first be deactivated by altering its genetic code.

The whole process can take up to six months. And that's supposing that the bird flu hasn't already wiped out the billions of chickens necessary to produce the eggs to produce the virus.

Health agencies around the world are chomping at the bit for their vaccine product. The U.S. has earmarked $3.9 billion to buy vaccines. The figurative purchase orders are already written.

Bird flu is the biggest health danger of our time. More than half of everyone infected has died. Experts say we could be only months from a worldwide pandemic that could kill tens of millions.

It is estimated that if there is a pandemic soon. The death toll could be from 2 to 7.4 million fatalities. Unless an effective vaccine is found and produced.

So taking a look at the drug companys that R&D on bird flu drug. It could be the "new oil & gas" for investors.

Are you looking for a new way to make big dollars in the post oil-boom market? Here's a strategy that savvy short term traders use for big gains.

News drives up share prices. And big news equals big gains. Look at recent history: 9/11 drove up defense and security shares. Hurricane Katrina and other crisis events drove up oil and gas shares. But oil's played out. The avian flu index is up 43.69% so far this year, to oil's 14%.

Bird flu is one of the biggest crisis stories in years. And this is just the beginning. If you bought the right vaccine developer today and you could potentially be holding the best, most profitable buy you've made in years.

Looking back last winter, as news of the global bird flu scare picked up going into last winter's flu season, share prices of vaccine makers skyrocketed.

If you think that's impressive, wait till bird flu hits the U.S., as experts think it will sometime this winter. The story will dominate headlines, and vaccine makers' share prices could skyrocket to astronomical gains!

S periodically features smart investment strategies, tips and ideas.