Singin' the Market Research Blues

Good data is hard to find. It's so easy to get the other kind! If you feel like singin' the blues whenever you try to find reliable business information, you're not alone. A lot of other marketers are singing the same tune.

Solid information is critical, the basis for making any marketing plan or decision. Yet, finding that information is easier said than done. The Internet seemed like it would be a quick fix to the problem. While the Internet does serve as a bountiful source of business statistics and information, it has thus far proved both a blessing and a curse for business research. The information on the Net can be inaccurate and difficult to locate without spending a lot of time with fruitless searching.

Clifford Stoll says in his book, Silicon Snake Oil, "There is no easy, complete access to information. Never was. Never will be." Although there may be no quick and easy source for accurate business information, we offer in this article a few places to look for helpful data.

The Personal Touch
Unlike much Internet information, libraries are not only catalogued and organized, they offer the most user-friendly sources of business information available: librarians. These wizards of information provide the personal touch by expertly guiding us through the ever-increasing maze of available knowledge. Infinitely patient people, librarians spend most of their time gently guiding those of us who search for business information but don't know where to find it. Whether your questions concern finding dates of trade shows or defining prospect lists in a special database, the staff of a good business library is trained to help.

The Internet
You don't need to end up disappointed when you try to collect business facts on the Internet. To help lower your frustration level, we recommend the following addresses for free on-line research. Groups such as universities, governments or professional associations generally maintain these sites.

U.S. PATENT &TRADEMARK OFFICE
patents.uspto.gov
Completely devoted to patent information, including search engines for a variety of categories.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

www.lib.umich.edullibhomeIDocuments center/frames/statsfr.html
Well organized and maintained site with a variety of hyperlinks to useful information including Census Bureau data, Securities Exchange Commission (EDGAR) filings and U.S. Industrial Outlook statistics.

SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
www.sla.org/pubslitotp/
Another excellent site with hyperlinks to the Wall Street Journal Interactive edition and Hoovers On Line Research, among others.

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
www.census.gov/econ/wWW/ econ_cen.html
Economic census data including industrial products overview, annual survey of manufacturers and other good industry information.

WALL STREET JOURNAL
www.wsrn.com/
Stock market information, excellent research hyperlinks including one providing connections to local newspapers and periodicals throughout the country.

DEMOGRAPHICS JOURNAL

www.amcity.com/journals/demographics
Articles about demographics and trends throughout the country including a search engine.

INDUSTRYNET ASSOCIATION

www.industry.net
Great site for industry news/information including press releases and hyperlinks to companies.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
www.fedworld.gov
Hyperlinks to a wide variety of federal departments including WorldTech-Foreign Technology Alerts.

Just be careful, information alone can only take you so far. As Clifford Stoll says, No amount of data, bandwidth or processing power can substitute for inspired thought. We hope you use the research tools presented here with confidence, but always remember, it is up to you to process this data and convert it into good, profitable business decisions.

Deborah Henken served as VP of Marketing at several Silicon Valley start-ups, and in senior marketing and channel positions at Hewlett Packard, Informix and BEA Systems. She earned her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Deborah is Founder of the Highland Team.

Susan Henken has directed marketing at consumer and health care companies for more than 15 years. She provided marketing consulting to manufacturing companies at Minnesota Project Innovation through a grant from the SBA and Department of Commerce and ran her own consulting business. She is currently Director of Marketing for Consumer Products at Compex Technologies. She earned her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University

10 Ways to Avoid Printer Headaches

Even though technology is frequently changing, one thing remains constant - corporate offices will continue to print documents at a dizzying pace. Printing errors, poor print quality, and tired out-of-date equipment are the three main culprits of wasted money and time for an office. In todays workplace, dependable equipment is essential. Time is too valuable to have unreliable printers and long wait times for repair. Most business professionals agree that the efficiency of your office depends on the reliability of your printers.

Here are 10 ways to avoid those printer headaches:

Be Proactive - Dont wait for your printer to go down. Have routine cleanings performed and any worn parts replaced now before your printers experience critical errors that result in user down-time.

Select A Reliable Service Provider Your providers technicians should be fully trained and certified to work on your brand of printers. They should recognize how important your printing needs are and respond immediately to any printer issues you have. Your provider should also be able to give you detailed reports (or the tools to produce these reports) which will show your printer inventory as well as historical data on the services performed on each.

Service Programs You dont have the time to monitor your printers. Find a service provider that will automatically take care of the routine maintenance for you. Most providers will offer a variety of service programs to choose from. Select a program that will best suit your companys needs. Keep in mind that a good service program will include preventative maintenance in addition to same or next day emergency repairs. Having the right service program and provider could save you thousands of dollars a year.

Do Away With Multiple Machines With a multifunctional printer, you can fax, scan, print and copy all from one machine. By having an all-in-one printer, you can eliminate the need to have so many different machines and increase productivity.

Upgrade Your Equipment By upgrading your old tired printers, you can save money by having a lower cost per page as well as increasing your output speed. Many companies still use old outdated printers that can easily and inexpensively be upgraded to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of your office.

Refurbished Printers Consider a recertified printer for your office. Quality refurbished printers are often as reliable as new printers and allow you to upgrade while continuing to use the drivers already installed on your network as well as using the toners you already stock in your supply closet. A recertified printer from the right company will be completely refurbished inside and out and will perform flawlessly for years to come.

Having The Right Printer Before you purchase a new printer, think about what you need your printer to do and what your budget is. Knowing what size paper and what applications will be used will help your printer expert recommend the perfect printer for your needs. It is also suggested that you look at the cost of supplies along with their page yields to get an idea of how much it will cost you to use the printer.

Proper Training Your office staff should be educated on how to properly use the equipment. Knowing what printers they can use for a particular size paper, label or envelope can prevent costly service calls. Teaching all users how to correctly install the printer supplies will also reduce the need for emergency maintenance.

Proof Before Printing Printing a copy of your document to your monochrome printer to proof will not only save money on supplies and mileage on your valuable color printer, it will also save you from throwing away the more expensive paper if there is an issue with the print job.

Keep A Stock Of Supplies The #1 reason that a printer is unusable is because it has simply run out of toner. To avoid the cost of having a toner shipped to you overnight or wasting valuable time calling around hoping to find the cartridge at a local store, it is highly recommended that an adequate stock of toner is kept for each printer. Depending on how much a particular printer is used, it would be wise to have at least one cartridge on the shelf at all times. By keeping stock of toner you will also have a back up should you find that you have a defective toner. Unfortunately, no matter what brand toner you use or how much you paid for it, defective cartridges are inevitable.

Vicky Lee is the Marketing Coordinator for Manageflex Imaging Services (MIS) in Portsmouth, NH. MIS specializes in printers, supplies, service and support nationwide.
vlee@manageflex.com
http://www.manageflex.com

The Current Financial Market Situation

The last two days the stock market has recovered some lost ground. On Friday, it recovered because of the Fed action to reduce the discount rate. Much was said about this but what does it really mean? It means that banks can borrow money from the Fed at a reasonable market rate that hopefully allows them to invest and earn a profit. This helps with liquidity. It does not, however, address the most fundamental issues facing the market, unless it results in an overall reduction in interest rates along the yield curve.

Let me explain this. The basic problem with the "subprime" crisis is that liberal lending standards have resulted in large pools of assets that investors of all sorts have purchased at relatively low spreads over the market interest rates. This means that there is a low risk premium built into those investments. If in fact, the underlying mortgages have higher than expected default rates, higher foreclosure rates, and higher loss rates, the investors are not fairly compensated and the investments in those bonds are not worth what was paid for them. While we cannot predict the future, it appears that this will in fact be the case. Mortgage default rates are increasing, real estate values are decreasing, and the likely result is that more losses will accrue on those portfolios and the bonds will be worth less than full value.

Now let's say that you are a Hedge fund. If you purchased a lot of these bonds and in order to increase the return on the equity put into your Hedge fund, you leveraged those bonds by borrowing against them, then the value of your assets may be less relative to the debt you owe against them. Then the value of the equity investments in your fund can rapidly decline or become zero.

So what would a Hedge fund manager or any other holder of the bonds want to do? Sell them. The problem is that the market now perceives the risk to be a lot higher and so requires a higher return. That means they have to buy the bonds at a lower price. Consequently, the current holder of the bonds will have to write them off at a loss.

While the Fed has provided liquidity to the holders of these investments, allowing them to hold onto them longer rather than fire selling them, this does not affect the value of the actual investment in the long run.

So until the market establishes a new value for all these mortgage backed investments, we will not know the extent of losses that various players will incur. Only know this, there will be a steady stream of loss announcements coming out of the financial sector. We have not even begun to see these.

So how do you invest? Good question. The value of stocks have fallen appreciably. So it may be time to buy for the long term. On the other hand, the market might react negatively to these earnings announcements and stock values may suffer. The overall economy is strong. The folks losing money are the ones that should lose money. They provided funds to a mortgage market without adequate risk protection. Their losses will be someone else's gain.

My suggestion is that you expect more negative reactions in the stock market for certain firms. This will create some stock price volatility. Yet, in the long run, the economy will produce positive returns for most firms including financial firms. Virtually all firms have been punished in the declining market, yet some will not be that adversely affected. Pick your investments. Know if you can stay in for the long run or not. Evaluate the balance sheets of the companies you have invested in to see what their potential loss exposure is, and reallocate or not based on your findings.

Neither over nor under estimate what the Fed can do. If it can lower all interest rates, the value of bonds will increase and losses will be minimized. But the Fed can only control short term interest rates and the policies it pursues can have additional affects on the value of the dollar and future inflation, which can turn long term interest rates the opposite direction, reducing the value of long term bonds.

Author has 23 years on commercial banking and has served as president of a bank, loan approver for large commercial loans, and regional manager for commercial banking for a major US bank.

Taking Profits and Setting Exits

Most investors and many more market pundits continually talk about setting stops; they range from physical stops to mental stops to trailing stops to support stops to retracement stops or even moving average stops. It is easy to set a stop before you enter a position based off of your money management rules such as position sizing and expectancy. If you have a $25,000 account and want to risk 2% of the account on a $50 stock with an 8% stop; we know that the trade will allow you to buy 125 shares with a worst case scenario sell stop of $46.00 (assuming a 1-R risk of $4). This is wonderful but what should a trader do once the position gains 20%? Where should the stop be placed at that point to eliminate the chance of losing that quick 20% gain?

Several books attempt to explain how to take profits and many traders of the past have offered advice in books but most of it is fluff and subjective to opinion. I have heard people claim that they take a third of the position down after making a 20% or 30% gain while other traders take down half the position once a gain reaches 50%; but is this the correct way to manage money and positions? I thought so several years ago but have developed a more mechanical system that gives me precise exits at any time during an up-trend. It is a combination of a trailing stop and a retracement stop based upon the actual gain at any point in time. In a bull market, I will allow the system to loosen itself so I can handle a healthy pull-back without selling before a possible large move. For now, let me focus on my method for locking in profits without giving back too much.

For the sake of this article, I will continue to use the trade suggested above as the round numbers should be easy to follow.

Account Size: $25,000

Risk: 2%

Stop Loss: 8%

Share Price: $50

Shares to Purchase: 125 or $6,250

Sell Stop: $46.00

Worst case loss: $500 or 2%

If you are unsure how I came up with the numbers in this example, please go back and read my article on position sizing.

We buy the stock and it is up over 20% after the first three weeks of trading. What should I do to protect the profit I have already made?

Scenario #1: At $60, I will set a stop based on a 30% profit retracement.

To do this, you need to multiply the profit of 20% (or $10) by a 30% stop: $10*30% = $3

At this point in time, I will look to close the position and lock in gains if the stock drops more than $3 from the $20% threshold ($60 in this case). My trailing stop is now $57 which guarantees me a total gain of 14%.

Scenario #2: At $65, I will set a stop based on a 25% profit retracement. As my profit grows, my stop tightens so I dont give back too much. Again, this can loosen in bull markets and is also subject to longer term support and/or resistance lines. For the sake of this article, we will ignore all other variables.

To do this, you need to multiply the profit of 30% (or $15) by a 25% stop: $15*25% = $3.75

At this point in time, I will look to close the position and lock in gains if the stock drops more than $3.75 from the $30% threshold ($65 in this case). My trailing stop is now $61.25 which guarantees me a total gain of 23% if the trailing stop is violated.

Lets do this one more time with a 40% gain:

Scenario #3: At $70, I will set a stop based on a 20% profit retracement. As my profit grows, my stop tightens so I dont give back too much. As you can see from the three scenarios, my profit retracement has dropped by 5% as my profit has risen by 5%.

To do this, you need to multiply the profit of 40% (or $20) by a 20% stop: $20*20% = $4.00

At this point in time, I will look to close the position and lock in gains if the stock drops more than $4 from the $40% threshold ($70 in this case). My trailing stop is now $66 which guarantees me a total gain of 32% if the trailing stop is violated.

Please understand that I use these numbers since I like the separation of advances to be at least 10% from one retracement stop level to the next. Any investor or trader can substitute the numbers with something that makes more sense based on your own system and money management rules.

Outside of these selling rules, I also employ additional selling rules that use the long term 200-day moving average and long term support levels and trend lines. In a bull market, I will loosen the tight stops and look for longer term sell signals such as the moving average, a channel breakdown or even strong volatility movements that dont agree with the overall pattern (these may be obvious reversals on the daily and/or weekly charts). Other times, I have a specific price objective when placing the trade and will close the position if the objective is reached (even if the trend is still higher). A great example of this are the options I purchased in Tenaris (TS); I sold at $45 per call contact, yet they are now trading at $80 per contract. I bought above $10 per contract and had an objective to sell when the stock reached $145 which it did, so I sold my calls and moved on. Looking back, I got out much too early but didnt violate any of my rules which is more important than the additional gains. If I violated them on this trade and it worked out; what would stop me from violating them in the future and getting slammed with a heavy loss. I hope you get the point.

Chris Perruna - http://www.marketstockwatch.com

Chris is the founder and president of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We offer an extended no obligation monthly trial period starting immediately with two free weeks. We don't stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make you own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.

Stock Research - Hedge Funds - If Bear Stearns Doesn't Know - Who Knows?

As the hedge fund world becomes bigger and bigger as more and more hot money seeks the elusive alpha of maximum performance, it is becoming apparent that more and more newspaper space will be devoted to hedge funds, and private equity. Recent news has taken us into the inner sanctum of Bear Stearns, truly a dominant investment firm in the world today. It might be argued that Bear Stearns is the best managed Wall Street firm in existence. Some might say Goldman Sachs. In any event Bear Stearns would have to be on the short list.

Investment firms for almost a decade sat by and watched hedge funds form, and amass vast investment capital pools while successfully charging 2% management fees, and 20% of the profits. Some of these hedge funds in a few years, have grown to possess capital bases equal to that of investment banking firms that have been around for generations. Taking some of the risks that were involved to achieve this performance is now coming home to roost.

Bear Stearns is the latest firm to stub its toe in the hedge fund industry. The firm is FAMOUS for quantifying and judging RISK before making its bets. This time however it seems that Bear Stearns threw its usual caution to the wind in embracing the formation of two hedge funds over the last year or so.

The second hedge fund was considered a more highly-leveraged version of Bears High Grade structured Credit Strategies fund which was formed last year. Both funds were managed by Ralph Cioffi, who up until recent events took hold, had the reputation of being a MASTER at this game, and the game is the subprime mortgage bond business.

Most people are not aware of it but Bear Stearns is the finest fixed income trading firm on the planet bar none, and this has been true for several generations. This makes recent events even more perplexing to understand.

Jimmy Cayne who is Bears CEO is embarrassed at the very least, and certainly upset enough that there will be major changes in the leadership of the units responsible for the pain being inflected on the firms reputation. This should not have happened at Bear Stearns, thats the point.

Actions Taken and Implications

Mr. Cayne has made the decision to inject $3.2 billion of Bear Stearns capital into a bail-out of the older fund. Bear is also negotiating with the banks that put up the credit facility for the other fund, the highly leveraged High-Grade Enhanced Leveraged fund. What Bear is trying to prevent is the forced sale of the debt obligations underlying the funds investments. These issues trade by appointment as they say, which means they rarely trade at all. Bear knows the Street smells blood, and will take advantage of any weakness that Bear shows.

So what are the implications of this latest hedge fund debacle? It clearly shows that the most sophisticated investors on the planet who put their money into hedge funds may in fact have NO IDEA what they are investing in. Instead, they are betting on the institutional reputation of the firms standing in back of the hedge funds. In this case nobody knew more about this market segment than Bear Stearns, yet they caught in a terrible position.

This is not Caynes fault, but as CEO, it is always his responsibility. I believe him to be the finest Wall Street executive of his generation. Nevertheless, his underlings certainly let him down, and they are among the highest paid people in the world today. Some of these industry veterans are drawing $10 million dollar annual incomes. Let the investor beware is the rule of the day, especially when it comes to hedge funds.

Richard Stoyecks 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 StocksAtBottom.com/. for a fuller version of this article please visit our website. http://www.stocksatbottom.com/bear_stearns_hedge_funds.html

Surviving The Commodity Markets, PART 3 - Trading Guidelines For Different Account Sizes

Of all the important skills in trading, survival is number one. For unless we make it through the inevitable bad times, we won't be around to capitalize on the good. I've laid out some trading account guidelines that specify the account size required to conduct various commodity futures and option trading activities. Stick within these guidelines and you will have an edge on most of the commodity trading public.

Here are my general money management guidelines to improve your chances of commodity market survival and trading success:

$5,000 ACCOUNT
Risk no more than 10% max ($500)

A $5,000 account is really too small to follow these guidelines exactly, so your risk will be higher. You must really pick and choose your markets and entry points carefully - until the account grows to $10,000.

OPTIONS:

Buy one $500 option for each unrelated market. Buying one soybean, one soybean oil and one soybean meal is like buying three soybean options in the first place - unacceptable. Getting a good option for only $500 is not easy to do sometimes since we like to buy plenty of time and have the market reasonably close to the strike price for the best chance of profit.

With a $5,000 account we should not worried about making big percentage gains as much as participating in a reasonable move with an option delta of at least 0.6 or more. Buying multiple cheap commodity options far out-of-the-money is a suckers game over the long haul. Many times the futures contract market move will take place but we will still lose in the commodity option.

Stay as close to the money as possible (strike price close to the market price) to better simulate a futures contract and the real cash market. If the trade does not work out according to the Timeline forecast, it may be prudent to take a loss and preserve some of the option premium. Bear in mind we generally like to consider the total option premium as the stop loss order. Also, read the Thomas Swing Method lesson to give you an idea of how to trade the swings and do commodity option "granting.

FUTURES CONTRACTS

The challenge with a $5,000 account is that some futures contact margins can be $2,000 and more. This will mean that only two different positions can be put on at one time, which is plenty for a $5,000 account. But if the TimeLine has a signal in four different markets at once, we will have to decide which two markets are best. This is usually just a guess, since we try to take all high probability commodity trades and never really know which ones will work out in the end. No one really does. Out of twenty-two markets you go with the chosen two to four and let them unfold.

Mother Probability is what decides the outcome. In addition, if we risk only $500 for each futures trade, there is not much price fluctuation room for some commodity markets. It may be enough for low priced corn and a few other normally quiet markets, but not enough for the majority. For example, many of the currencies have $1,000 swings each day.

For an overnight trade, placing a stop just $500 away from entry is like giving money away. The only alternative is to risk more, like $1000, but then we are risking 20% a trade and need only five losers in a row to wipe out the account. See the problem here? Because of this, for longer-term moves, a $5,000 account may be better suited for option spreads or even writing far out-of-the-money options. In other words, try to fund the account to a starting value of $10,000, if possible.

WRITING OPTIONS:

I personally believe one of the better methods for success with a $5,000 account may be writing commodity options (selling options). When writing options we have to be satisfied with smaller gains as a result of selling them far out-of-the-money, taking in $200-$300 each time. It will depend greatly on the particular market. Three hundred dollars every two months equals $1800 a year. This is a 36% return on a $5,000 account. Be sure to set realistic goals.

Once the account is built up, the numbers can be increased. As they say, after a period of success, you can always add a zero" to the quantity. Each option that is sold should be treated as if it were a commodity futures contract for risk and margin requirements. As long as the premium does expand past a $500 loss, we can continue to hold the option and let it erode in our favor.

We'll talk about the flexibility of larger trading accounts next.

Part Four of Six Parts - Next!

There is substantial risk of loss trading futures and options and may not be suitable for all types of investors. Only risk capital should be used.

Thomas Cathey - 27-year trading veteran heads the managed futures division of Thomas Capital Management, LLC. View his TimeLine Trading market predictions and get his complete, free 44+ lesson, "Thomas Commodity Trading Course".
http://www.thomascapitalmanagement.com/commodity/welcome.htm

Main site: http://www.ThomasCapitalManagement.com

Basics of Forex Trading

Foreign Exchange Trading or simply FX or even forex describes the trading of different currencies of the world. The forex market is the largest in the world with trades amounting to more than USD 1.5trillion every day. Typically, most forex trading is speculative, with only a small part of the market activity representing governments' and companies' basic currency conversion needs.

The main centers for trading are Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt and New York. By virtues of it being a world market, it is a 24 hour market where online forex trading is conducted across the globe. This is a major advantage as it provides investors with a unique opportunity to react instantly to breaking news that is affecting the world markets. The forex market is known to have superior liquidity and thus there are buyers and sellers present perennially to trade in this market. The liquidity factor ensures price stability and narrow spreads and comes mainly from banks that provide liquidity to investors, companies, institutions and other currency market players.

Unlike the stock market foreign exchange trading is not conducted through a central exchange but something similar to the OTC (over the counter market). It uses sophisticated forex trading software recognized globally. The most commonly traded currencies are the EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF and GBPUSD. Trading in the forex market means the simultaneous buying/selling of a currency. The combination of two currencies being traded is called cross. Forex trading is done without commissions and thus proves to be a hugely attractive opportunity for investors dealing on a daily basis. Moreover, the forex market is dynamic, and there exists trading opportunities at all times no matter whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relations to another currency.

The spot market is the largest forex market as it has the largest volume of foreign exchange currency trading. The market is called the spot market because trades are settled immediately. In practice, however, it takes two banking days. There are virtually no restrictions in the forex trading and the forex market thereby allowing you to enjoy trading opportunities during any market condition. If you are a commercial investor, you may need to swap your trade forward to a later date. This is called forward trading and can be undertaken on a daily basis or for a longer period of time. Although the forward trade is for a future date, the position can be closed at any time and the closing part of the position is then swapped forward to the same future value date.

Trading on margin means that you can buy and sell assets that represent more value than the capital in your account. Forex trading is usually conducted with relatively small margin deposits. Leveraging allows you to hold a position worth up to 100 times more than your margin. This is useful since it permits investors to exploit currency exchange rate fluctuations. However, without appropriate risk management high leverage can lead to both large losses and gains.

Spreads and Pips - The spread is the difference between the price that you can sell currency at and the price you can buy currency at. A pip is the smallest unit by which a cross price quote changes. This is shown when you compare the bid and the ask price, for example EURUSD is quoted at a bid price of 0.9876 and an ask price of 0.9879. The difference is USD 0.0003, which is equal to 3 pips.

Up until recently, the forex market, given its large minimum transaction sizes and-stringent financial requirements, was dominated by big professional players like banks, hedge funds, major currency dealers and the occasional high net-worth individuals. However, now several global companies are now offering small companies, traders and investors small transaction trades with the same price movements and rates.

William Brister
http://www.FinanceProGuide.com - An answer to your financial questions.

FOREX Advice Should You Buy It? Read This First

Should you by FOREX advice from a guru or mentor?

Many novice traders think they should do this and it's easy to make money but you need to be very careful of the FOREX advice you buy as, 99% of advice sold on the net won't give you profits.

Here are some pointers on getting the RIGHT FOREX advice.

If the advice is so good why are they selling it?

Look around the net and you will see lots of FOREX advice that promises you instant riches, but consider this:

Most FOREX advice sold relies on sales copy that sounds convincing but the reality does not add up:

When you see FOREX advice sold, the first step is to make sure that the person selling it has a real time track record.

If they havent traded it and made money, why on earth would you want to buy it?

Look for a real time track record, which is audited over one or two years.

If they cant provide this:

Dont buy it.

There is a vast amount of FOREX advice sold ( mostly by sales people who have never traded in their lives or failed brokers and it won't make you money) they dont trade themselves, but what they will give you in the vast majority of cases is:

A hypothetical track record.

Keep in mind - A hypothetical track record is done in hindsight knowing the closing prices!

Of course we can all make money doing this and you will never see one that loses, until you come to trade it!

Also, dont trust testimonials.

These are normally friends, or someone who has had a lucky trade.

Its a real time track record you are after.

This may not give you profits in future, but will show you that the vendor at least has confidence in his FOREX advice and that the logic is soundly based.

If you find a system with a track record the next step is to make sure you understand and the methodology suits your trading personality.

You will never follow advice from someone else ( even if it has a great track record ) if you dont understand the logic it is based upon and can take the losses that occur on any system.

If you understand the logic of the FOREX advice you will be able to follow it with discipline.

Also, check the worst peak to valley drawdown, time to recovery and see if that fits in with your risk tolerance.

There is lots of FOREX Advice you can buy but only a small percentage of it makes money and an even smaller percentage of it will suit your trading personality.

Follow the above tips if you want to buy FOREX advice and make money.

A real time track record is your starting point.

Then, you need to know the logic the FOREX advice is based upon and finally, make sure you can follow it through the inevitable periods of drawdown.

MORE FREE BETTER TRADING INFO

On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including info about legendary trader W D Gann who made a $50 million fortune trading go to our website for an exclusive Gann Trading Course visit our website at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

Currency Trading: How To Get Rich And Powerful From Currency Trading Program

What is currency trading?

How can you get rich and powerful from currency trading?

Who can do currency trading?

Can you do currency trading from any country of the world?

Until six years ago, when the United States Congress passed a law and made it possible for the small investors and average citizen to participate in this currency day trading, only large banks, financial institutions, millionaires and billionaires were doing currency trading.

Currency day trading is the best kept Secret of the rich and powerful, international bankers, the money elite, who own and control all the banks, companies, corporations and foundations in the world.

Currency online trading is when you buy and sell the foreign currencies of different countries online.

Through currency trading, you can put your money to work for you like millionaires and billionaires do, instead of you working for your money.

There is no large investment, hard work, technical training or big risk.

Currency day trading investment enables you to use $1 to control an investment worth $200, and $500 to control $100,000 and $1000 to control $200,000 and $5000 to control $1,000,000 worth of investment.

Currency trading is the most profitable and attractive internet investing opportunity because you can do it from home or office and from any country in the world.

In currency online trading, you dont need to do any marketing or selling or internet promotion to succeed.

In currency trading, you dont need to spend thousands of dollars to do any internet promotion.

In currency trading, you dont need any stocks or warehousing.

In currency online trading, all that youve to do is open an account with one of the brokers with as little as $300 or $2000.

Then follow simple instructions to buy and sell the currencies.

When the price of the currency is low, you buy.

In a few seconds or minutes, the price may go up, and you may sell it and make a profit.

By doing so, in a day, you can easily make $500-$1000 by just buying, selling and trading these foreign currencies for about 3 or 4 hrs!

And get this:

You dont even have to be stuck sitting behind your computer buying and selling these foreign currencies.

You can enter all your buy trades and specify the sell prices you desire and then log off.

Whenever the values of these foreign currencies rise and your selling prices reach, the currencies will be automatically sold for you and you make money!

You can put it into an auto-pilot and forget it, and it will keep generating fast easy cash for you daily, 365 days in the year like an ATM machine.

You can do currency trading and at the same time keep your day job, because in currency trading, there is no work to do.

In the future when you have made hundreds of thousands of dollars, you may then quit your job and just keep doing currency trading forever and go on permanent vacation!

To understand the beauty of currency trading, picture this:

In the morning, you get up from sleep at 6 am.

You go to your bathroom and have your shower.

At 7am, you hurry and eat your breakfast.

At 7.20 am, you login into your currency trading account on the internet and spend 10 minutes to buy about 3 or 4 different currencies, [for example British Pound, Euro, CHF (Swiss Currency) and Yen (Japanese currency).]

You can specify the price that you wish to sell each currency.

Then you can log off.

By 9 am, youre at work in your office or business place.

You do your job as usual and by 5 pm, youre finished and heading home.

When you get back home around 6.30 pm, you login into your currency trading account to see how much money youve made.

Holy Molly, there in your account it says you have made $750!

Is this for real?, you wonder

Yes, it is. (Your eyes are not deceiving you)

$750 in a day for just clicking your mouse twice and doing no work?

(Whereas at your job, you work 8 hrs, but make only probably $150)

This is how easy it is to make money from currency trading.

But before you use real money to open a live currency trading account, you have to open a free trial (demo) account (currency simulating trading) and practice first, to understand how it works and to acquire the right skills.

This free demo (trial) currency trading account (currency simulation trading) will help you to reduce a lot of risks that can lead to a loss.

In currency trading, you can choose how much money to invest, how much money to make and when to make it.

You may make money daily, 365 days all year from currency trading.

Your computer can be transformed into an ATM machine that cranks out cash for you daily (without large investment or hassles) from currency trading.

In currency day trading, you can choose what type of risk you can manage, when to invest and when not to invest.

In currency trading, youre the boss. You may do as you please.

When currency trading is compared to other investment programs such as stock trading, bond trading, mutual funds, real estate and regular business, it is evident that currency trading is the fastest and greatest way to make money in the world.

Currency trading is a 2.5 trillion dollars daily business and it is larger than all the stock trading in the world combined.

These are some of the reasons why I believe that currency trading is the best online investing opportunity.

Perhaps from reading this article youll now come to know why currency trading is the secret behind the greatest wealth on earth and why it has been kept hidden from the average people of the world and therefore little known to the masses.

No matter who you are, be it a salesmen, doctors, office clerks, accountants, carpenters, actors, stockbrokers, small business owners, policemen, firemen, musicians, soldiers, housewives, technicians, attorneys, nurses, students, traders, cab drivers, engineers, you can get rich from currency trading.

No matter which country that you come from, such as USA, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Greece, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand... you can create true personal wealth and success from doing currency trading.

Creating personal wealth on the internet from your home or office has never been this sinfully easy. (http://www.mscsrrr.com)

May these currency trading insights open your eyes to the possibility of infinite wealth and success that can be yours from currency trading.

Please feel free to print or publish this article anywhere and read and also send to your friends and well wishers and please preserve the authors resource box below.

Warmly,

Ikey Benney

To discover a little known shortcut to internet riches, a currency trading program created by I-key Benney, CEO, that enables an average person to generate $1,500 weekly for life, please click on the link : currency trading (http://www.mscsrrr.com)

Putting A Little Away For A Rainy Day: Why Saving Your Money Is Essential

There are countless reasons why you might choose to save your money: if you have children, taking an early step by saving for their future is one of the wisest decisions you can make, especially if you plan to send them to university. But it's always a good idea to have some money saved up in case of a sudden emergency. For example, if you or someone in your family were to experience serious illness, injury or unemployment, wouldn't you want to have that piece of extra security standing by? And because saving is generally done over a long period of time, you won't 'miss' your funds from your current income - as long as you start the process early!

If you're thinking about opening a savings account, it's important to do some research first. There are various types of savings accounts available; all of which suit different financial situations, so approaching the process with patience and a bit of knowledge will help you make the right decisions. The internet is a great resource to help you sort through your options - browse through a handful of bank and financial institution sites to obtain a breakdown of various account and savings options, as well as to get an idea of what each one offers; not to mention the time saved!

Instant access accounts, for example, are among the most popular types of savings accounts. While such accounts do not require any notice prior to withdrawing funds, they do offer 'bonus' savings should account owners refrain from making any withdrawals for a given period of time. This type of account allows you to save and accumulate interest while having peace of mind that funds are available in case of emergencies.

You can also choose to place your money into bonds. Bonds keep your money 'locked' away in a savings account for a specified amount of time while they accumulate interest. While this is a sure way of building capital, it does not allow the withdrawal of any savings for the 'locked' term and is therefore more suitable for those who have other means of financial support in case of emergencies.

While it may not seem like it, insurance is another powerful means of investment and saving. Certain policies of life insurance, for example, allow you to cash in on the capital which builds throughout your life before you die. And rest assured that you can gain ample guidance through consumer comparison sites if you're considering insurance as a way to invest or save.

A number of banks and financial institutions offer excellent terms on saving accounts, bonds and insurance, as well as personal advice to help you make the right decisions. So don't put off saving any longer; after all, you never know when - or why - you might need that little bit of extra cash.

Martin McAllister is a freelance online journalist. He lives in Scotland.

Traits of a Successful Trader

Mastering fundamental and technical skills of trading appears to be quite easy to most people when compared with mastering the mindset of successful trading. Let us examine some of the traits that make a person a successful trader. They are in no particular order.

Have clear trading objectives. Do not just throw money at short-term trades and sit back expecting to make it rich. Map out exactly how much of your total investment capital you will risk in short-term strategies and spread that risk over many different trades instead of putting it all on red.

After setting your objectives, believe you can achieve them. If you dont believe in your plan, how can you possibly expect to have that plan succeed for you?

Prepare plan for each trade before the market is open. Always do you analysis and map out entry and exit points when the market is closed. If you try to jump on hot stocks during the trading day, you are not a short-term trader, you have become a day trader. Day traders must operate under much different rules, so it is best for most of us to stick to well planned short-term trades.

Regularly review your trades. Pick them apart, both good and bad. Look for what could have been done to make the trade better. Honest self- evaluation is the single best way to improve your performance.

Focus on the positive, but deal quickly and correctly with the negative. Do not dwell on your mistakes, but do not gloss them over either. Have a fair and balanced view of how you are performing and keep a positive attitude to keep yourself on track.

Please also visit http://options-diary.blogspot.com

Valuing Stocks Using Valuation Ratios

Valuation means assigning a ''proper'' value, or price, to a stock. The quote marks around ''proper'' remind us that while the word implies that there is a single ''correct'' price, in fact the concept is theoretical. Valuation is nevertheless an important guide to what price at which to buy or sell a stock. If you pay too much for a stockmore than it is ''worth''your returns will suffer forever after.

Many large-scale institutional investorsmutual funds, brokerages, hedge fundshave developed complex mathematical models for determining a stocks ''proper'' price. The individual investor needs to go a different route.

Fortunately, a second method exists which is just as good, easy to understand, and readily available. This second method uses what are called valuation ratios.

Valuation ratios divide the stocks current price (P) by quantifiable aspects of its business: its earnings, its revenue, its book value, and so on. Each ratio is then compared to historical norms to tell whether the stock is fairly priced at its current price P.

Here are some common valuation ratios that the Sensible Stock Investor uses:

--P/E, or price-to-earnings ratio. This compares the stocks price to the companys reported earnings. This is the famous ''multiple'' that one often hears about.

--P/S, or price-to-sales ratio, which compares the stocks price to the companys revenue.

--P/B, or price-to-book ratio, which compares the stocks price to the companys book value (as computed by accepted accounting principles).

--PEG, which is the P/E ratio divided by the earnings growth rate of the company.

--P/CF, or price-to-cashflow, which compares the stocks price to its annual flow of cash.

Happily, all of these valuation ratios, plus others, are available for free on virtually all financial Web sites. They are usually current to the very day. If you know the historical benchmarks, it is easy to interpret each ratio as indicating whether, like Goldilocks porridge, a stocks price is too hot, too cold, or just about right.

If you would like to learn about a comprehensive stock investment approach that that uses the same strategies reflected in this article, please consider purchasing Sensible Stock Investing: How to Pick, Value, and Manage Stocks. To learn more about this investment system designed for the individual investor, visit http://www.SensibleStocks.com for more information, or to purchase the book.

Invest or be Pink Slipped

Firing an employee seems to be easier and easier for corporations. Up until now you allowed them to set your clocks. Now its time to fight back! Beat them at their own game. They had your future pegged. Now your certainty is in your own hands.

Corporations attempt to make the best use of their resources so they claim. You must do the same! And when the corporation is no longer the best use of your resource give them their pink slip. You must begin to look for ways to capitalize on your time and increase your earning potential. Think like a corporation about how you can increase your earnings quarter by quarter.

This is exactly what I did and I am so grateful for it. I had started six years prior diversifying my income. I accomplished this by investing in commodities. I still remember the thrill of my first trade in commodities. I managed to turn $1,500 into $18,000 in about 4 months. That was almost equal to my $20,000/ yr salary at that time. Up to that point nothing I attempted to do to earn a real income, you know the type of income that would allow me to splurge and enjoy life, actually worked.

I immediately stopped buying all the other so-called moneymaking material. I began focusing all my efforts on investing in commodities. A funny thing happened to me. I noticed I actually performed my job better because I was happier knowing I had my investments working for me. I was able to handle stress much better. I started setting goals and taking vacations away from home instead of using my vacation time simply as time off from work.

I even started solving problems that were a challenge for others but the solutions seemed to come to me with ease. I gradually moved up in the company through promotions. I started viewing the company as an investment for me. This view allowed me to start taking full advantage of their tuition reimbursement program and their interest free loans for computer purchases.

My experience of investing in commodities allowed me to change my perspective on life. When I was given the news that I would be out of a job due to reorganization, I felt no pressure. I had planned for this moment six years in advance. Of course, everyone was quite shocked when I kept my composure and said the company was the best company I had ever worked for.

I continued to work diligently and happily right up to the very last day. You see the company had paid for my college education, gave me two interest free loans for my computers and gave me a lifetime of experience. Well, the truth is I knew I had my investments in commodities and the company had allowed me to earn the money to invest.

Diversify your income now!

Copyright David Wells. This Newsletter and all contents are proprietary products. All rights reserved. You are welcome to forward the entire Newsletter to anyone interested.

Often referred to as The Money Motivator, David Wells is passionate about helping people crack the wealth code to become money magnets. Let him teach you the techniques Hillary Clinton used to turn $1,000 into $100,000 in the course of a year.

To put The Money Motivator to work for you, visit his website at http://www.themoneymotivator.com and sign up for his FREE newsletter, Money Moments. In it youll receive creative ways for getting the money you need and how to invest like a millionaire.

Fibonacci Trading, Your Compass To High Probability Trades

When you start trading the currency markets, or any other market, you usually think that every trade is worth the risk and that a good trading system will teach you how to win in every trade you make. But thats far from the truth.

One of the first things you must realize as you enter the world of trading is that not every trade is worth the risk and every professional trader aims only for those high probability trades that will surely make them money. These are always trades that are highly predictable with the particular trading system you are using.

For example, by the combination of trend and Fibonacci techniques you can obtain very powerful signals for high probability trading. By using these indicators, trend-lines and Fibonacci levels in conjunction you will greatly improve your chances to pinpoint a highly profitable trade.

You may be asking by now what Fibonacci is?

Fibonacci trading is directly related to the existence of specific mathematical proportions that appear in many places and structures in nature. Fibonacci was the last name of an Italian mathematician who is remembered by his famous Fibonacci sequence. The definition of this sequence is that its formed by a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers; 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. In the case of currency trading what is more important for the forex trader is the Fibonacci ratios derived from this sequence of numbers, i.e. .236, .50, .382, .618, etc. These ratios are what determine the famous Fibonacci Levels.

Learning the correct use of these levels can positively impact your trading success. Fibonacci levels can perform as a compass guiding you to high probability trades.

=>> http://FibonacciNumbersTrading.googlepages.com

How To Buy Stock Online

When it comes to the stock market, anything can happen. An ever-changing and sometimes volatile world of finance, the stock market offers several choices when it comes to investing within its walls - conservative, long term investing in government or financially consistent companies - or aggressive, taking a calculated risk on an investment that if it plays out will yield you great financial reward.

How you invest your money is up to you; especially when you buy stock online. With a traditional brokerage house you pay sometimes high brokerage fees and commissions for the expertise of the brokers; whose job it is to guide you in a decision that makes the most sense for your financial situation. When you buy stock online, you opt out of that traditional relationship and instead take charge of your portfolio from the comfort of your home.

There are reputable companies who offer legitimate opportunities to buy stock online. But as with anything else on the Internet, consumers must enter into relationships of any kind armed with information. A savvy consumer will partner with one of these dependable companies in order to proceed. It is often wise to be with the big guys - there are industry names of which we have all heard.

With the popularity of advertising, we will have most likely seen their commercials on television. The upside, of course, is that you don't have to pay the hefty commissions required to retain a traditional broker. Many online companies offer low or zero commission in order to trade through them.

A reputable company will walk you through the process of how to buy stock and will offer you tools with which to make a decision. Membership to their website will generally afford you constant updates on stock prices through streaming quotes, links to in-depth research on stocks in which you are interested, and the tools with which to buy stock online. You need only create an online account to begin investing; you can then log on to check the status of your particular stock and make desired trades.

The level of independence when you buy stock online is completely up to you; the degree to which you involve your online account specialists should depend on your level of comfort operating independently. Do not for any reason feel that because you are trading online, you will be left to your own devices. Research, tutorials, planning, and step-by-step instruction are all available to you through online brokerage services.

For more active traders, there is software available that can chart your progress, keep tabs on stocks in which you are interested, and help you plan your next move to buy stock online. The software will link up with online resources that will track your trades and give you immediate access to the most up-to-date numbers reflected in your portfolio.

Operating in the world of investments can be tricky no matter how you go about doing it. But if you're someone for who operating independently is a strong desire, then you may consider working within online resources. Buy stock online to build your portfolio in a way that makes sense for you.

For more online stocks information please visit http://www.aboutonlinestocks.com - a popular online stocks website that provides tips and online stock resources. Don't forget to check out our page on buying stocks online.

Currency Trading Strategy - The Doji On The Daily

Even though day traders are more interested in a currency trading strategy that focuses on intra-day movements, consulting the daily time frame chart is still very important.

Why?

Because this is the time frame often consulted by professional traders and fund managers, some representing large institutions. Key levels of support and resistance on the daily chart can be significant and should be taken note of when considering charts on lower time frames.

The Doji On The Daily

The currency trading strategy described here takes advantage of a setup that occurs frequently through the month on a variety of currency pairs.

After each day is complete, preferably using GMT as the guide no matter where you live in the world, examine the previous day's candle on the daily chart and see whether it is the doji formation.

A doji candle typically has a very small body. Look for a doji candle with 50 pips or less between the high and low for the day.

You can now focus in on this day's price action on the lower time frames. Is the doji candle around a strategic support or resistance level? Does it also match up with a Fibonacci retracement level such as the 50 or 62% mark on a 4 hour or 1 hour chart?

Then this could be a reversal point and the current day's action could offer some nice opportunities for trading.

How To Trade The Doji On The Daily

The currency trading strategy you choose to trade this setup will depend on your personal trading style. Here are 3 possibilities

1. The Breakout

If you believe price is going to reverse at this point then set an entry order 5 pips the other side of the high or low of the doji candle and get taken in when price moves.

Of course, there may be a false breakout and your stop could be taken out. That's trading!

2. The Re-Test

If you want a more cautious currency trading strategy then wait for price to break the high or low of the doji candle (you can mark the high and low on the 1 hour chart or 15 minute chart to get a closer view of the action) and see if the candle on the 15 minute chart closes above or below that level.

Price could then continue on for 20 pips or so. However, often, not always, but often, price will come back to retest the previous level of support or resistance before continuing on. Take advantage of this characteristic by putting your entry order in at that level or one or two pips near it just in case price doesn't quite reach the previous day's high or low.

Price will now take you in on the trade when it retraces. This method gives you an optimum entry point and you can take your first profit early when price reaches the new high it recently formed before re-tracing. You might want to leave another one or two lots in the trade to take advantage of a price run if price decides to continue on after that.

3. The Straddle

This currency trading strategy is for those who only want to examine the charts briefly at the start of a new day, set their orders, walk away and let it run.

The straddle technique involves setting an entry order 4 or 5 pips above the previous day's high and setting another entry order 4 or 5 pips below the previous day's low.

No stop needs to be set as one trade will cancel the other in the event price moves in one direction and then reverses and goes in the other.

As the doji candle on the daily is 50 pips or less, that would be the maximum risk in this case. Obviously you would need to have the equity to be able to support a larger risk like this.

Now whichever way price moves, you will get taken in. The risk of being whipsawed out is there but the higher probability is that price will continue on once it has broken the previous day's high or low.

Check Daily

So if you want to develop a variety of methods and techniques in your overall currency trading strategy, look for the "Doji On The Daily". It frequently offers fine trading opportunities no matter which style you use to trade.

For a free pivot point calculator, Fibonacci calculator and the best free economic calendars click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html

For a free candle & chart pattern recognition reference tool click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Candle-Chart-Patterns

The powerful 200 EMA strategy - easy for developing traders:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/200EMA-forex-strategy.htm

Investing - Enjoy the Precious Metals Commodities Ride

Our rather pessimistic articles of late on the housing bubble, the ominous warnings from a long list of financial experts and their suggestions on how to best weather the impending financial hurricane have been refuted by none other than the well read author of our "Crazy Man" articles (see "A Crazy Man's Rant or Right On? You be the Judge" and "Crazy Man's Rant - He's Crazy Like a Fox!") who sees things completely differently. Who is right - the eternal optimist with a different take on the economic environment or the big bad bears? Below are his comments.

"I have been beset, of late, by a number of anomalies in what I read and know about the economy and how they translate into an imminent housing collapse and how those linkages to other major segments of the economy would cause general economic bedlam.

Be that as it may, I am convinced that we are in the early stages of a multi-year secular commodities bull market.

I am equally convinced of "peak oil" and the merits of energy investments whether they be for reasons of supply, geopolitical or for environmental reasons.

I am also convinced of the large and continuing incremental demand for base metals and other commodities by the growing economies of Asia centered around China and India.

And, finally, I am totally convinced that this demand for base metals and other commodities will continue to escalate even if recession becomes the order of the day in the United States and other developed western economies because of the explosion of savings and demand by the growing middle class of Asia.

I am puzzled, however, as to why you are so convinced that housing demand and prices are on the brink of tanking.

As I see it the recent increase in short term interest rates are not that unsettling (John Mauldin, in his most recent article entitled 'When Will the Fed Stop?' supports my contention making the point that from an historical basis the Fed funds rate is not that high given the fact that from 1946 through 2000 the median fed fund rate was over 6% and yet the U.S. economy grew rapidly during that period) and the almost permanently static longer term interest rates continue to make housing a tremendously affordable proposition. In addition, institutional lenders continue to bend over backwards to accommodate buyers.

Your "Our Worst Nightmare" articles on the housing market (see "Our Worst Nightmare - The Puncture of the Current US Housing Bubble" and "Our Worst Nightmare - The Bubble Has Burst") are sensationalist and misleading. Housing is a hard commodity. It is real, concrete, can be seen and used. Compared to paper representing bonds and equity shares, it is tangible just as all other commodities are. So if we are really in a commodity secular bull cycle, why should we despair over the suggested imminent collapse of the housing market? Where is the nightmare? Moreover, if the FED continues to be accommodative in terms of money supply, interest rates and credit generally, why should the buoyant housing market fall apart prompting all the other elements of the economy dependent upon it to do the same? Again I ask: where is the nightmare?

As I see it, official employment figures indicate a strong economy and the CPI index is not in the least inflationary. Also, surveys of consumer and producer confidence stand almost at multi-year highs. Knowing that Robert Prechter preaches that public attitudes and social mood lead to behavior and activity - not the other way around as we almost all believe - this public optimism bodes well for a continuation of the current economic reality. With an always accommodating FED policy of M3 annual growth in the money supply of almost ten percent, all should be sweetness and light for continuing consumer led demand and economic growth. As I see it, all your 'ominous warnings and dire predictions' are also way off base and are alarmist at best.

You go on and on in your "Ominous Warnings and Dire Predictions" articles (see "Ominous Warnings and Dire Predictions of the World's Financial Experts Part 1 and 2 of a 6 part series) about all kinds of things but:

a) fail to address why so many people are so optimistic given the obvious inflationary consequences of growth in the money supply, bubble-like housing prices and a loss of affordability because of rising house prices.

b) fail to express concern that official numbers relating to the Consumer Price Index, unemployment, GDP and other measures of economic reality are largely bogus and

c) fail, most importantly, to mention the unfunded liabilities of Social Security IOU's, Medicaid, Medicare and its new drug plan, Freddie and Fannie Mae and the Pension Guaranty Corporation which purportedly backstops underfunded private and public sector defined benefit pension plans.

Now I may be talking out of both sides of my mouth here but I also feel strongly that this lengthening list of economic fundamentals are, indeed, alarming and can not continue indefinitely without a blow up. Politicians and central bankers along with their cheerleaders in the brokerage, banking and mutual fund industries, assisted by a largely ignorant and culpable popular news media, will, however, do their best to leave the toiling masses largely ignorant of economic realities for as long as possible.

Inevitably though, when the 'dam breaks' or the 'deck of cards' collapses, it will be quick and calamitous in its magnitude and impact. That is why I am well positioned in precious metals (gold and silver bullion, mining company shares and some well placed long term precious metals warrants to reap the major benefits of leverage these assets continue to give my portfolio) but somewhat less so in base metals and energy. That is my comfort zone which allows me to sleep soundly because it is the best way to protect my hard earned equity and prosper from the fallout of the coming financial collapse. The only thing I do not know is the extent of this future financial dislocation or its timing. What the heck, life wouldn't be very interesting if we could predict the future with absolute certainty, now would it?

For what it is worth, and I have been laughing all the way to the bank of late, I believe we are in a genuine commodities bull market and, as such, see no need to spend much time paying attention to the daily ebbs and flows of the market for these investments. I have done my research and analysis and taken a position. I periodically review the performance of my investments, fine tune them on occasion and then get on with my life confident that the markets will develop as we know they are destined to with our assets safe and growing. If there is a fiscal hurricane approaching as you suggest I am confident my portfolio is secure. (See "Warning! Fiscal Hurricane Approaching! Is Your Portfolio Secure?").

Call this the standard 'buy and hold' approach if you will, but it isn't. Traditional buy and hold investing makes a fetish out of percentage asset allocation between market sectors, stocks and bonds, picking individual stock winners and pruning losers all in the name of 'balance and diversification.' Lighten up and enjoy the commodities ride."

The bottom line conclusion appears to be for investors to strategically position themselves in a wide variety of assets including precious metals, mining shares and long-term warrants.

Dudley Baker is the owner/editor of Precious Metals Warrants http://www.preciousmetalswarrants.com a market data service which provides you with the details on all mining & energy companies with warrants trading on the U. S. and Canadian Exchanges. As new warrants are listed for trading we alert you via an e-mail blast. You are provided with links to the companies' websites, links to quotes and charts, tips for placing orders.

Forex - Widening The Broker's Spread

Brokers in the foreign exchange (FOREX) market are paid with the "spread". The spread is the difference between the ask and the bid price of the currency pair. Sometimes this spread widens, causing the brokers to receive more as compensation and the trader to receive less from their trading profits. Why does this happen and, furthermore, is it legal?

Can The Broker Increase The Spread At Will?
Instead of getting commissions such as stock brokers receive, retail brokers in the FOREX market receive the spread. Obviously, the wider the spread between the price at which the traders buy (ask) and the price at which they sell (bid), the more money the broker gets paid. Can a broker open the spread at will? The answer is simply yes. However, competition in the market places an important constraint on the brokers willingness to do so. A knowledgeable trader is naturally drawn to brokers with the lowest spreads, all other things being equal. After all, who wants to give up profits unnecessarily? Why pay one broker more then necessary when you can get the same services from a different broker with lower spreads?

Why Does The Spread Increase?
Certain periods more than others experience wider spreads in the FOREX. Wider spreads are especially prevalent when there is a release of a major economic news report. Some of these reports are released on a regular basis, such as the Non-farm Payroll Report (NFP). The NFP is typically released on the first Friday of every month. On occasion, it may be released on the second Friday instead. Followed by traders worldwide, this report is quite significant as it deals with the employment figures for the United States in various industrial sectors. The demand for trading certain currencies during this time is huge.

The currencies impacted most by the NFP are the three major currencies of the worldEuro, Dollar and Pound. As a general rule of economics, when the demand increases, the price also increases for the commodity being traded. Currencies are no exception. In addition to reasons of increased demand, the brokers also may be motivated to increase the spread to take advantage of a great opportunity to gain additional revenue on a regularly recurring basis. Then too, the brokers have a vested interest in minimizing their own exposure to loss in the marketplace based on positions they take from time to time.

Is It Legal To Widen Spreads?
Generally speaking, it is legal for a broker to widen its spreads at will. However, it also depends on what the broker has advertised to the trading public. In other words, if the broker has advertised that its spreads are always the same, even during major news releases, then the broker may be committing a deceptive trade practice by doing something other than what was advertised. If this is the case, then the trader may have recourse if he or she detrimentally relied on the misleading advertisement and suffered damages therefrom.

Before one jumps through this seemingly open door of justice, however, it is quite advisable to read the fine print. Pertinent provisions are usually contained in the user agreement accompanying the application for a trading account. If the broker states in its user agreement that spreads can be changed without notice in the sole discretion of the broker, then your path to the courthouse may have been short-circuited. Since the FOREX market is still generally unregulated, so much of what may seem otherwise illegal has not been fully addressed by legislation or the courts, and may not be for some time to come. Trader beware!

If you are ready to change your future by stepping into the exciting world of trading FOREX, go to http://www.winningtradersassociation.com for more information. Author Sandy Robinson, J.D. is part of the Winning Traders Association, an educational organization founded by John Beiler, President. The organization consists of a network of committed trainers and motivated traders willing to provide support to those interested in trading foreign exchange. Many of the members work from home.

Sandy Robinson, J.D., Copyright 2007

Make Money Fast In FOREX Trading

Here we are going to look at making money fast in currency trading and some tips to do it.

Much of this advice is not conventional but most currency traders dont make money fast!

Here are your tips

We are going to assume you trade already, and you have a method you are confident in, and can apply with discipline.

With simple changes in trades taken and money management we will show you how to increase your capital gains.

The trading tips below will work well for traders who want to catch the big profits from the big currency trends that last months or years and will help you make money fast in forex trading.

1. Accept Volatility and Risk

All good FOREX traders understand that volatility and risk mean big money making potential.

You can't have a profitable FOREX trading method without taking risk, you need to risk more to gain more. .

Risk though is misunderstood by most currency traders and they try and limit risk so much that they actually have no chance of making any profits.

They always get stopped out.

The perfect example is the day, or intra day trader, trading in one session with a tight stop.

If you are after a big gain give the trade room to breathe and place a stop that takes into account market volatility.

Also dont trail your stop to quickly leave it far enough behind not to get stopped out by volatile reactions within the long term trend.

You cant predict volatility in the day so dont try.

Look longer term take bigger calculated risks and go for bigger profits and trade less.

2. Trade Infrequently

Many traders trade frequently and always like to be in the market, they fear they will miss a move, or that by trading more frequently, they will make money.

There is no correlation between how often you trade and how much money you make, so learn to be patient.

The big moves in FOREX trading, with the best risk to reward, come a few times a year, and you should trade infrequently.

Focus on the trades that make the really big gains and be patient while you wait for them.

3. Dont Diversify

Diversification is a great way to make money slowly not fast you simply are diluting your gains, if you are trading a small forex account.

Focus only on trades that you are confident can make big money in and dont hedge or take other trades. If you think the trade is going to be big back your judgment.

4. Money Management

We are looking at the BIG opportunities that allow us to make big gains, and this is actually, where money management becomes important.

Where taking calculated risks here not just taking risk for the sake of it.

The tips below are a great way of controlling risk

1. Buying options at in or close to the money, they will give you staying power and stop you getting taken out by volatility.

Be careful not to buy out the money options and make sure that you get plenty of time on your side if using this method.

Many traders lose, not because they were wrong about the trend, they simply got stopped out.

Options overcome this problem and will give you staying power.

2. Many traders start trailing their stops to close as we said earlier to lock in a profit, more often than not they get stopped out.

The trade runs on to make thousands more in profit and there not in it!.

Keep your stop in its original position and let the move develop without the temptation to move your stop up.

Youre looking to make money fast, and youre trading selectively so have the courage of your conviction .

Consider this

The fact is in currency trading or any other venture in life that involves making big gains you have to take a calculated risk at the right time and have the courage to go for it.

I read all the time about risk management in trading and some traders become so obsessed with not losing they will actually never win and lose their equity over time.

Dont make the same mistake.

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Timing is Everything With Forex Trading

The most challenging part of getting started with Forex trading is to learn this innovative way of trading. Many potential investors that try to navigate the Forex system unaided end up being frustrated and financially intimidated. There are very simple strategies to becoming successful using the foreign exchange trading system but the first step is gathering all of the necessary information surrounding this type of trading specialty. Securing a reliable Forex trading broker is likely the first and most pivotal step after learning the initial principles.

Unlike many types of trading and futures, foreign exchange trading is not designed to make the client rich quickly. Many people are frightened off by the word that Forex trading is a get rich quick scheme that in large part, doesn't work. This is a financial myth despite all the hype surrounding the foreign exchange trading system. There are steps and gains to be taken in order to secure a future in successful trading. Expect to dedicate a large portion of time to researching and understanding the market in general before setting out with your pocket book ready to invest. Learn all you can about the Forex market in the beginning in order to make the Forex trading path a smooth and triumphant one.

There is no doubt that there are numerous types of orders that can be utilized in order to open and close trades and becoming familiar with them is a must. In the foreign exchange trading business there are charts, graphs and other visuals to help you effectively analyze trends in currency trading. These charts and graphs will assist in making well-informed decisions on what currency to sell. Timing is everything and it goes without saying that when experiencing with the Forex trading system, knowing when to trade can be the pivotal difference between success and failure. Understanding the analysis tools and how to use them efficiently will put any investor on the right track.

As well as proficient trading tools, it is an absolute necessity when using the foreign exchange trading system to understand how to use the software to perform actual trades. The only way to become comfortable with using Forex trading software is to use it and learn how to plot a course through the process. Selecting a good trader is the most imperative tip at this stage because an established trader can help you with the services required as well as giving you in depth tutorials using the foreign exchange trading system.

The most critical tool that will be utilized in the Forex trading system is patience and discipline. As mentioned earlier, foreign exchange trading is not a get rich quick proposal so learning patience and discipline can help you to become profitable in a timely fashion without losing money. Most brokers offer a demo account that can be used to practice and learn the foreign exchange trading system that mimics the real account with the exception of real money being traded. This gives a client insight into the market and its behaviors before actual money is invested. Learn how to make a profit using paper trading on a regular basis before risking your capital with Forex trading.

Troy Degarnham is the author and webmaster of http://www.forex-trading-brokers.info an informative website about Forex Trading Brokers.

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