Saturday, November 14, 2009

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Is gold a good investment option during recession?

There is a huge demand for gold worldwide and gold prices are seeing a correction. Gold as an investment option is being considered by most stock experts and analysts. The recession has seen a slump in the stock markets, companies are under financial crises, banks have declared bankruptcy, so the investor is quite scared of his hard earned savings and is considering gold as a safe and sound investment. Gold acts as a good hedge against inflation, it can give you instant cash and even if the economy is bad you will still have reason to smile, as you will have gold which will not lose its shine quite fast.

When people invest, they either have a long term goal playing on in their mind or a short term period where they will get sufficient returns. You can use gold as a short term or a long term investment. Research and analysis suggests that gold has grown by at least 2% in the last 50 years and the present decade has seen the gold market grow at 4% annually. The gold market has seen fluctuations and in the year December 2005 itself it was sold at roughly $500 per ounce.

But at present gold is being traded at about $900 per ounce and that is definitely a great increase compared to the year 2005. if you have gold right now then you stand to gain if you sell off at this very moment and you can nearly double your cash. People are wondering if it is the right time to buy this yellow metal, but you never know. Gold prices could hit rock bottom and you may end up a loser. But it is surely the right time to sell off of you are holding gold stocks and options.

This precious yellow metal has never shone so bright. But it is certainly not a short term option, because gold has seen to fluctuate quite a bit and you may burn your hands in this process. Gold prices may climb up but that is not sure because the market is quite volatile. It is better to stay away from gold in this recession time. you can invest a little of your investments in gold to diversify your portfolio but it certainly is not a good option to put all your hard earned earnings into gold.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

What women should know while investing in the stock market?

Women are gaining strongholds in all fields and it is not long when the stock market will be dominated by women. Women have rational thinking and they are known to be masters in multitasking. So do not be surprised if all the successful investors inthe stock market are women. Women need to save money for retirement and the stock market can help you achieve this saving. You should not be too conservative, as stock markets require you to take some risks. Learn to practice asset allocation and diversify your portfolio to get maximum returns.

Here are some facts that women should know while they consider trading options. Women can be great investors, and ignore the saying that women are not suited for this business. It is easier for women to followthe stock market , and trade quickly because you just need an internet connection and everything is there online. There are many sites that will help you get the required information. Women can surely outsmart men by justinvesting wisely and following the market properly.

Women are generally cautious by nature and so fit perfectly into the stock market trading conditions. You should be up to date with the latest social, political, domestic and international news so that you can take the right financial decision at the right time. if women startinvesting at the earliest they will observe that they can amass a fortune if the trends in the stock market are their favor. Start with small investments and if all goes well, widen your horizon.

If you invest in too many conservative stocks then tax and inflation can gobble up all your money. Take risks and you will see opportunities that can be converted into profits. Buy and hold on to good companies for long term and try and make short term profits depending upon the market sentiments.

Asset allocation is one of the terms that you have to study and increase your knowledge. Spread your money so that you are not at risk.. One bad day and one bad stock trade can leave you devastated if you put all your money on a certain stock. Don’t be scared to invest,the stock market is not only for men, women too can earn a fortune with the right kind of investments.

Take expert opinions in case of doubt and you can get information about all the companies on the internet with a click of a button.

Stock Market Trading Tips and Suggestions

You might be aware of the fact that great leaders are not born, but created in this very earth, and the same implies to investors and traders too. If you have self-confidence, the right motivation, perseverance, discipline and self confidence you can battle out all odds in the online share market. But those who lack basic confidence and persistence will be losers in the long run.

Great trade masters like Gerald Appel, Robert Prechter and even Elliot Waves have stressed the importance of discipline while trading in the stock market. A disciplined trading will reach rich benefits, and experience coupled with the right discipline will take you to great heights inthe stock market sector.

Some ground rules to be followed while trading

The first all important quality that an individual should posses is acceptance of losses. People falter when there is a loss and they do not posses the ability to accept losses when the need arises. Although losses may hinder your sleep, learn to live with the fact that every cloud does have a silver lining and tomorrow things may change. Law of nature states that everything that goes up will come down and this applies tothe stock market too. Be grounded and accept realities. Losses will turn into gains if you stay cool

Persistent is another word that should be accepted by all traders. Continue trading and be persistent even if the results are not too good. Bad times are followed by good times and vice versa.. You have to trade cautiously and persistently in bad and good times to taste the sweet fruit of success.

Try and specialize in a particular market. You can choose stocks, equity shares, dividend payouts or any other area that interests you.. Take one market at a time, become a specialist in that particular field and tone your skills. As time passes you will eventually become a master in all fields.

Do not overtrade and overburden yourself. Do not get addicted to trading. There are days when the market does not offer you anything and these days preserve your capital and try to avoid losses. Trading is not necessarily an everyday event. There are certain days where the market is very bearish and you do not have good options. Play safe on these days.

The above tips will help you stay grounded and keep your cool whiles trading in the stock market. You should hold your nerve, be disciplined and persistent to really stay ahead of everyone during trading sessions.

The size of the company matters while purchasing stocks

The stock marketis certainly not a gamble place and certainly not you are like your superstore where you get the exact price of each commodity. The stock market is a vast ocean of stocks and you should learn about stocks, funds, buying and selling of stocks thoroughly before taking a plunge into this vast ocean. You can succeed only if you do proper research and learn the tricks of the trade in the stock market. This will come through experience and learning.

While investing in stocks, you should make a not of the company size, as size does matter. Some investors are very choosy and stick to companies of a particular size while some risk takers spread their stock portfolio among companies of various sizes. Small as well as large companies react differently to the stock market so while picking up a stock you should bear this in mind.

But the question is how will you determine the size of the company? Simple, there are two ways, revenue and market capitalization which will help you gauge the size of a particular company. Market capitalization is a better way to determine the size of a company than revenue method because differences in company policies make it very difficult to compare revenues.

Market capitalization is the standard method or standard procedure used to measure the size of a company. Market capitalization is determined by multiplying the outstanding shares with the current stock price. If you compute the market capitalization of two firms then it is very easy to make a comparison of two companies.

The simplest and easiest way to determine the market cap without having to struggle with calculations is to get into sites like yahoo finance or Google finance and just request the market cap quote for any company stock. You will get it in seconds. Investors then categorize the stock based on its size.

Investors place companies in the following segments according to their market capitalization
Mega cap- $ 100 billion and above
Large cap- $(8-100) billion
Mid cap-$( 1-8) billion
Small cap-$ 1 billion and under
Micro cap-$300 million and lower

Although this is not the standard prescribed size, it is accepted worldwide by most investors and analysts. The stock market usually uses the small, mid and large rankings to size a company. The survival of a company does not depend upon its size but you will get a fair idea of the company’s market capitalization and can judge the company better.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Cashflow Strategies in the Stockmarket





Perhaps you have now decided to begin investing your savings in the stock market, (or share market)but are not sure of the best strategy to use to make the best use of your funds. The stock market is a volatile market and is often in the news for losing peoples money, but less often is it reported for making people money. By using the correct strategies and having the right knowledge it is possible to make very good returns, and not put all your savings at risk. There is a lot more to investing in the stock market than simply buying stocks and waiting for them to go up in value.In this article we will look at various strategies for wealth creation and income generation in the stock market.

Income can be created in the stock market using many different methods, and there are many different courses and seminars in the market to teach you these methods. However you need to be cautious, there is lots of great information available, but also lots of not so great information. There are many expensive courses out there, but you need to be sure that the people teaching have learned how to do it for themselves. So if you are looking in the market to choose an education program, do some research before purchasing. Find out if other people have had success using the strategies being taught.The number of alternative ways to make money in the stockmarket is growing all the time due to the new products and derivatives which seem to regularly appear. This can make things very confusing for the new investor, but there are some very good books and free infometion available to get an overview of the basics so that your initial research needn't cost very much. Choosing the correct strategy to use also means assessing your time available to watch the market, some strategies require hours every day, where as others only require a quick monitor daily and maybe an hour once a month.There are also differences in the type of account you will need, either online where you do everything yourself, and these are very low cost, or the total opposite which is a full service broker who you will speak to on the phone before placing orders.

Here are a couple of examples of different methods that I like to use to generate cash flow. The first is using options using a "spread" where the cost of taking the position is quite low in relation to the potential reward. as an example, it could cost $500 to put on the position, with a profit potential of $2000. I can monitor this daily, and if I feel it is going against me, can exit without losing all my initial outlay.If it goes my way, I can close once it reaches my target and take my profit and any risk off the table.This may happen fairly quickly, sometimes within a few days.

The next example is a strategy I refer to as share renting, or covered calls. This requires more capital to make a decent dollar return, as the percentage return is lower. However the risk is also lower, and less stressful. This involves buying shares and then writing a call option against them, which then puts money in your account as soon as you sell the option.By the end of the month you may be exercised on your shares for a possible return of around 5 to 10%.

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

How to make money in the bull and bear market conditions

If you are an avid investor in the stock market then you will be quite familiar with the bull and the bear market conditions and will not be perturbed when the conditions in the stock market change. If is possible to trade and make money no matter what the conditions in the stock market. The market will see ups and downs depending upon the domestic as well as international economic situations. You can trade safely and minimize losses if you invest in quality stocks that are not affected greatly by general market conditions. If you invest in quality stocks you are destined to make profits no matter if it is a bull or bear market. In a bear market the general trend of the stocks is downwards, while in the bull market the stocks show an upward trend. During the start of a bear market, you should take a good look at your portfolio and determine the risks and profits of each stock. Growth stocks take a beating in bear market conditions so you can replace growth stocks with value stocks in case you feel that the bear market conditions will not improve. Value stocks are low risk stocks and are more stable during the bear market conditions. Value stocks give dividends and this is an added advantage. You should be skilled and experienced and have techniques and strategies to minimize risks in any conditions in the stock market. If you have stocks of sound companies do not worry if the price lowers as your investments are in safe hands, and your stock value will increase as soon as the market rises. In the bull market investors buy early and sell at peak so that you can attain profits. Getting the right stocks and picking it up at the right time requires great skill and you should master this skill to make profits. As prices fall in bear market conditions it is necessary to trade carefully with great rational thinking. The risks of loss are higher because the market drops further and so does the price in stocks. It is not possible to gauge the changes and so you should be ready to face risks. Do seek expert opinions but do your research as well. People have make money and some people have lost money in the stock market but with the right motivation and determination you can certainly survive and make profits in the stock market.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rules for Online stockmarket trading

Traders in shares, indices, forex or commodities should always have a backdrop of basic rules, which revolve around going with the trend, limiting losses and good money management. In other papers, we have covered these items extensively, together with how to avoid mistakes and other important factors to watch when trading CFDs. There are, however, some commonsense rules that do not have to be applied to rigorously, but add another level of comfort within what can be a very stressful process.

A simple first rule – watch the cost

Market makers and other brokers are not stupid, and the setting of prices and spreads (or slippage) depends on several factors including time of the day, volatility and before and after news items. If you have a system that is not tailored to quick, intra-day moves, and your chosen timeframe is to look for results within anything up to a month, then minute by minute timing is less important than getting the overall picture correct.

On that basis you need to reduce your slippage costs as much as possible, so the time to place trades should be when the spreads are narrowest. After a while you should be used to the normal minimum spreads on most shares, and unless there is a pressing need to immediately deal (maybe on a profits warning or takeover news), then it pays to always ensure the spread is at the minimum before dealing.

This means not trading in the first few minutes of the trading day as buyers and sellers position themselves for the session. Sometimes the whole market may not only be marked down, for instance on a heavy fall in Far Eastern stocks overnight, but spreads might be wider because of the frenetic nature of early dealing. After a while though the spreads should usually return to normal, and you can deal more comfortably.

Example: You have a system that uses 3% targets and 2% stops, and say you normally buy and sell Royal Bank of Scotland shares with a minimum 1p spread, which represents a 0.05% or 5 basis point spread. From time to time the spread widens and can be as much as 5p after an outside event or early in the morning. This means that if applied to both sides of the trade, dealing on this wider spread would cost an additional 0.4% or 40 more basis points and effectively negates almost half of the edge of your system, which is fairly serious.

Moving on from this, it pays to stick to the biggest and most liquid stocks for the majority of your trading and this is a quick list of the leaders in the UK and which have the narrowest spreads:

Banks: Barclays, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered
Beverages: Diageo, SAB Miller
Food producers: Unilever
Food retailing: Tesco
Household Goods: Reckitt Benckiser
Insurance: Aviva, Prudential
Mining: Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata
Oils: BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group

Pharmaceuticals: Astra Zeneca, Glaxo Smithkline
Telecoms: BT, Vodafone
Tobacco: BAT Industries
Utilities: National Grid

Rule 2: Get to know a few stocks very closely and increase your knowledge

Many market professionals focus on one area of the market, and some simply trade a handful or even just one issue, be it a particular commodity, Treasury bond or stockmarket index. You will probably find that you become accustomed to the ebbs and flows of certain shares, and if you feel you are on the boil with these companies, then you have an edge.

If you decide to focus on say ten UK shares, you should get to know their trading ranges, average daily volume, sentiment to their particular sector, previous support and resistance levels, the tone of previous management comments and when news is due.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that when trading commodity stocks including miners and oil companies, you need to be aware of movements in the price and direction of principal metals and crude oil. Because there are other factors in play when institutions buy or sell in the market, such as dividend payments, overall market action or takeover hopes, share price movements can sometimes lag a rise or fall in the underlying commodity, but this is very important to each company’s overall profitability. Likewise, overall retail sales figures are important to the retail sector, which is obvious, and the health of the housing market and interest rates affect financial stocks.

A couple of extra rules

The ‘trend is your friend’ is a valid theme throughout swing trading, but it pays to only go long when the price offers further upside potential, or there is another volume and/or candlestick signal, otherwise you risk buying at the top. The aim is to ride an established trend, so while it is OK to miss the first part of a move, you should not buy when a trend may be about to reverse.

Broker upgrades and newspaper tips are a waste of time, because they are usually already factored into the market by the time it is your turn to place a trade. Whilst some analysis can be excellent and thought provoking, the persons giving the advice may sometimes have a different agenda. Price and volume action is the key when trading, but of course for longer term decision making the fundamentals must be examined as well.



How to trade stockmarket successfully

I had some spare time, so I thought I might as well post an article on the way the stock market can affect you when you first begin trading. This is on your way to making your first million.

In a “Bull Market” the prevalent conditions of rising share prices, resources boom and general market hype actually encourages novice traders to begin trading. The mind set they have is, “that making money is easy.” And any losses they do have are quickly recuperated and therefore no lessons are learnt from the mistakes they have made.

When their first “Bear Market” or a downturn comes along and share prices drop, this is when the novice pays dearly for any mistakes they make.

Trading in the market is not a game for the novice. For being poorly armed and ill prepared the novice quickly finds that the honeymoon period is over. To their dismay the original capital they started with has been quickly whittled away.

The novice who thinks that profit is the only thing to worry about is in for a very rude awakening.

The first emotions that the beginner will experience are “Fear and Greed.”(See past article.)

Fear will paralyse while greed will galvanise you into action. In other words
Fear makes you hold on onto a downward turning stock while geed encourages you to chase upward rising share prices.

The way the share price has moved in the past and also in the future can often be seen as fear and greed in action.

When any share transaction has taken place two things have happened. Firstly the “Seller” has sold to minimise any future losses. This is because He believes that the share price is not going any higher.

The buyer on the other hand believes that this stock is at a bargain price and that the stock will go higher still.







Helpful Hints For Beginners

A Basic Trading Plan in a Nutshell.

For those who are interested here is my “trading plan”. Here it is in a nutshell:-

1. Do your homework/research.

2. Know the amount you are investing in the stock. No more than 10% of your portfolio’s value.

3. Work out your profit margin. So you know how much you are going to make plus know your exit price. (The price you are selling at.)

4. Put your stop loss on so you will not lose more than 10% ($2,000 = $200 this includes brokerage).

5. Don’t get greedy, panic or fearful. (You can’t afford these emotions in trading.)

6.Have an up to date list of around 15 to 20 future prospects ready at all times.(If in doubt leave it out) and keep them up to date.

7. Dont become impatient; don’t go chasing share prices/ stocks. And make sure you are using “real time data” 20 minutes delayed price is for the birds.

Finding the Right Stocks Using Basic Criteria.

1. What is the outlook for pricing of the company’s products?

2. Can the company sell more? What is the outlook for unit sales?

3. Can the company increase profits on existing sales?

4. Can the company control expenses?

5. If it does raise sales, how much will fall to the bottom line?

6. Can the company be as profitable as it used to be, or at
least as profitable as its competitors?

7. Does the company have one-time expenses that will have to be paid in the future?

8. Does the company have unprofitable operations it can shed?

9. Is the company comfortable with analysts’ earnings estimates?

10. How much can the company grow over the next five years?

11. What will the company do with any excess cash generated?

12. What does the company expect its competitors to do?

13. How does the company compare financially with other
Companies also in the same business?

14. What would the company be worth if it were sold?

15. Does the company plan to buy back stock?

16. What are the insiders doing?

The Basic Things For Happy Trading

The first thing to do is to check last nights closing share price. [presuming you have started buying already]

If you were going to sell, has the share price reached or dropped at your pre selected exit point?

If the share price went down, was your stop loss activated? (If you are not familiar with stop losses, please see a previous article on this to clarify.)

If you were buying stock .A TIP for you here do not leave open overnight AT MARKET orders. You will most definitely end up paying more than you bargained for.

Always LIMIT your order to the price you want to pay. Once this is done and you are up to date with your share portfolio then you can progress to you next task.

After the buying and selling of stocks is under control I then start to identify my next trading opportunities.

I select a stock from a list that I have compiled earlier. I scan the stock’s data base; check the bar charts and the trendlines. If everything looks good , and presuming I have capital available to purchase the stock ,I proceed to step three.

Firstly I recheck to see what the stock price is. Then how many of them do I want i.e. 5,000. Ascertain is it enough to make a worthwhile profit?

If your funds are limited to $ 500. (MINIMUM ASX PURCHASE) Then depending on your brokerage which on average will be $50.00 (that is for buying and selling) there is 10% you have to make just to break even. With such low capital, 20% profit nets you only $ 50.00 per sale transaction.

After you have purchased your new stock, [at the best price possible of course] set your exit target price goal so you know how much profit you want to make when the stock has been sold. Do not be greedy. Then set your stop loss into place.

Depending on the volatility of the stock keep a watchful eye on them .Try not to have too many irons in the fire when you first start off. One or two stocks are ample when you first start off.

This is only a very rough outline to get you started you will soon work out what suits you best depending on your time commitments etc. Happy Trading!





why invest in stock

Have you ever wondered why investors behave the way they do? For example, why do people invest in bonds or stocks or not at all? Since I am an advocate of stock investing, let me make the case for stock investing.

So, why invest in stocks? No, I won't just invest in any kind of stocks. There are goals associated with investing in stocks. For starter, stock investors would want to be compensated more than if they put their money in the bank. Anything else? Yes. Stock investors would want to be compensated more than the risk free interest rate which currently yield around 4.7%. For your information, risk free interest rate here is the 10 year Treasury bond which is backed by the United States Government. These bonds are deemed to be free from the risk of default.

Therefore, when we invest in stocks, we would want a return in excess of 4.7%. How much more? That varies within individuals. Some wants a 5% return. Others are satisfied with 6% return. Personally, I would want at least 7% return for my stock investment. There are reasons for this. Stock investing is relatively volatile and full of uncertainty. Interest rate goes up and down which will hamper our return as stock investors. For example if interest rate rises to 8%, would aiming a 7% return for your stock investment worth the risk? Probably not. In this case, most people prefer to put their money in the bank and enjoy the higher return.

Having said that, we need to know how much stocks have given investors historically. For the US stock market, the return for the last century has been in the neighborhood of 10%. That, my friend, is the sole reason to invest in stocks. Not because you want to own a piece of corporate America. You invest in stocks because historically it gives you a better return that other investing alternatives. No other investments boast that high of a return over the last century, not even real estate.