Forex Trading - 10 Common Losing Mistakes That Wipe Out Equity

In forex trading over 90% of traders lose ALL Their money. If you dont want to join this group and enjoy currency trading success, you need to avoid them all.

Here are the 10 common mistakes forex traders make and how to avoid them:

1. Day Trading

The biggest error made by novice traders is to think that day trading works it doesnt.

Why?

Because all short term price movements are random.

It is impossible to calculate the odds of where prices will go in such short time frames and the result is a loss of the traders equity.

Ever seen a day trading record in real time? Neither have I and you wont because it doesnt work.

2. Buying Systems From Vendors

Leads on from the above point.

There are plenty of Vendors on the net prepared to sell you their secrets for $100 odd dollars dont fall for them!

They normally come with hypothetical track records done in hindsight and anyone can make money knowing the closing prices.

The problem is you have to trade not knowing them!

Its obvious most currency trading systems sold are junk and the vendor makes money appealing to greed of the buyer NOT trading the system themselves.

3. Trading off News Stories

There is more news than ever and its all so convincing, the problem is its impossible to trade it.

Why?

Because the currency markets discount news instantly and move on future perception so trading news stories is futile.

4. Predicting the market

Another great myth in currency trading is that markets can be predicted with scientific accuracy. Well, if this was true there would be no market, as we would all know the price in advance!

King of the theories is Elliot wave, which claims to be objective and scientific, yet leaves the user to make subjective judgments!

5. Being to subjective

Many traders like to be subjective when executing forex trading signals with their currency trading systems, but this simply allows their emotions to get involved.

They really should use indicators that are objective and have specific rules in their forex trading strategy, but they like to shoot from the hip and lose.

6. Making a system to complicated

Many traders think that the more complicated they make their forex trading system the better; after all 10 indicators must be better than 3 or 4.

Wrong!

In forex trading, its a fact that simple systems work best, as they are more robust in the brutal world of trading.

7. Poor Money Management

Most traders have no money management strategy at all.

You need to execute your trading signals, then the hard part begins - preserving your equity and making it grow.

Initial stop placement and how you move them are critical to your success and most traders dont have a clue about how to do this.

8. Chasing the tail

Many traders have perfectly good trading systems, but cant handle drawdowns, so they simply try a new system.

If of course they had stayed with the system they had in many cases they would have made money, but they lack patience.

9. Poor Discipline

Most traders have heard the word, but have no idea what it is and trade with their emotions involved and lose.

Discipline is based upon knowledge, understanding and confidence and as most traders fail to develop their own forex trading strategy properly (most try and buy success from a vendor) the result is failure.

10. Trading to much

Most traders simply lack patience and trade to much.

This of course goes for the losing day trading crowd, but also a lot of other traders they try and force the market to give them profits, trade when they shouldnt and lose.

Most people who trade forex shouldnt, as they have no chance of winning from the start and will make one, or more of the above 10 mistakes.

If you think you can win at forex trading, ask yourself this simple question.

What is my edge that will enable me to enter the winning minority of traders?

If you dont know what your edge is you dont have one, so get one or forget forex trading.

The good news is:

Everything about forex trading can be specifically learned for those traders willing to put in the time and effort to do so and the rewards are immense.

GRAB 3 X FREE TRADER & FREE TRADER PROFITS NEWSLETTER

On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including features, downloads and some critical FREE Trader PDF's and more FREE Forex Education visit our website at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

Ah Yes, The Old Where Is The Next

In my 28 years in the investment industry, whether advising professional portfolio managers , or serving as a financial coach to individual investors, the question always seems to come up-- where are and who are the next Microsoft's, Wal Mart's or General Electrics. Who has that better mousetrap that will captivate investors and take them on the 10-15 year ride?

Well, I think I have identified 2 such companies and they are outright buys. The first one I have written about in an earlier article titled "Bigger Than McDonald's? Yes, Bigger than McDonald's", and that company is Starbucks, ticker symbol SBUX. Since I wrote that article about a month ago, the stock has moved up about $4 per share and Starbucks has communicated their ambitious plans to have a worldwide store base of 40,000 units, up from earlier plans of 30,000-35,000 units. I could write a book on the Starbucks mystique and their relentless pursuit of perfection.

But, let's get to the second company. That company is Costco Wholesale Corp., ticker symbol is COST. They just reported their fiscal 4th quarter results ending August 31, 2006, and the quarter was $.75 per share versus expectations of $.72 per share. The 2006 fiscal year ended with earnings per share (EPS) of $2.30 with revenues at $58.9 billion. The expectations for August 31, 2007 are for revenues of $66 billion and EPS of $2.67-2.70, and fiscal year 2008, look for EPS at $3.10 and revenues of $74-75 billion. The market capitalization of Costco is just under $25 billion. Subscribers to www.georgesyared.com were advised to buy the stock earlier this week before the earnings were released. The stock has moved up $4 this week.

Great, but where do we go from here? COST has the opportunity to be one of the two great companies that re-defines the retail space (along with Starbucks) over the next decade. If you have not been to a Costco store, go to one. I am not your usual type shopper, i am- a -get- me- in and get- me -out type shopper, except when it comes to Costco. My wife thinks I am nuts, but I love that place, have bought lots of unnecessary things and cannot wait to go back. I have happily paid my $100 membership fee for 3 consecutive years now. The experience is very worthwhile.

COST has 480 no frills warehouses, mostly in the United States, where the selection and quality are superb. Whether its fresh produce, a huge choice of fresh meat and fish, furniture, books, electronics, groceries, clothes (nice clothes too) or vitamins, the prices are low and the quality is the best. Costco consistently beats Sam;s Club of Wal Mart month in and month out in same store sales comparisons.

I actually did a "man on the street" interview at Costco earlier this week, unscientific, but the answers were consistent: people enjoy shopping at Costco, while Sam's Club customers (all 8 that I spoke too!!) said they were there for the quick in and out. People linger at a Costco, and because of the free samples available everywhere you turn and the wide selections. You buy tons of great and unique foods that you did not plan on. It's awesome and some would say, even addicting!!

From the investment perspective, this $24.9 billion market capitalization company could become a $100-150 billion market cap company. They will add another 80+ warehouses in 2007-2008, and a total of 200-250 over the next 5 years. The average Costco does $130 million of volume, compared to Sam's Club average of $75 million. Costco has a loyal group of employees because they pay the best and offer proper benefits. Loyal employees is one reason for the incredible service-levels at Costco.

Costco has their own signature private label brand of Kirkland. Kirkland maintains very high standards whether it be dog food all the way to vitamins. Costco is offering deals to its members on auto insurance and actual specials on automobiles. The home furnishing division offers high quality blinds, curtains and furniture. Costco does not cut corners on quality. They are lean and very efficient, and their employees are extremely motivated and helpful.

Well, investors...you asked about the next.... Starbucks and Costco...

For more information, please go to www.stoplosingmoneytoday.com

Georges Yared has been in the investment industry for 28 years. The first 15 advising individual investors with Dean Witter Reynolds (now, Morgan Stanley), and the last 15 years with two research boutique firms, advising professional money managers and growth companies. Georges was in charge of international sales at Wessels, Arnold and Henderson from 1992-2002, and from 2002-2006, with researchand investment banking boutique ThinkEquity Partners. Georges has advised over 5,000 individual investors, over 100 professional portfolio managers, 200 publicly traded growth company managements, and has worked with over 150 world class research analaysts. His passion is financial coaching and intelligent, informed growth investing. Georges lives with his wife Cindy and their children in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Hedge Fund Advertising

Have you seen all those big full page ads for hedge funds in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Investors Business Daily? You havent. Maybe they are being drowned out by the regular mutual funds who continually tell you how great they are.

Shucks! I forgot. Hedge funds are not allowed to advertise. I wonder why. Maybe they think that their potential customers are too dumb to know that hedge funds are a poor investment. Could be. The Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to protect investors I think?

To be able to buy into a hedge fund the smallest investor must have a net worth of $1,000,000 and an income of more than $200,000 per year. Maybe the SEC doesnt think these folks are bright enough to know a good thing when they see it.

There are other groups that are major investors with the hedge funds. Literally billions of dollars are invested by university endowments, charitable trusts, state and corporate pension plans. Could it be that they have a better return than regular mutual funds? Naw! The media would tell you wouldnt they?

The media is there to report the facts. It is hard to believe that just because a large portion of their income is from advertising revenues of mutual funds that they would be lax about this.

If you were a fund manager and your fund was under performing and it was reported in the local paper, TV, or radio would you pay them to carry your advertising? You sure would not want to be compared with performance of a hedge fund.

What is it that makes the difference of a standard mutual fund with a hedge fund? Why does the smart money gravitate to them? One word. Performance. A regular hedge fund manager is paid on HOW MUCH money he has in his fund and not on how much he makes for the investor. The hedge fund manager is paid a percentage of the PROFITS he makes for the investors. No profit means no bonus so he better do the job or he will be out of a job. Smart money moves. It moves to where the profit is being made.

The SEC will not allow standard mutual fund managers to be compensated in this manner. Their claim is that it will be too dangerous for the small investor. Hog wash! If a fund is losing money the little guy should be selling his current funds like the smart money and finding a better performing fund. None of the media recommend this to the little guy.

My guess is there are enough intelligent fund managers who would like to be paid for performance and would set up no-load funds to attract investors. The SEC seems to think more of the funds than they do of the smaller investors.

It is a shame you cant check the advertising claims of standard mutual funds against the returns of hedge funds.

Copyright 2005

Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.

Copyright 2005

Add A Style To Your Dining Set - Be Different

People with good taste and preferences always prefer a dining set which is exclusive as well as functional. That explains the opening of so many showrooms and boutiques of dining furniture on every nook and corner. Are you also the one looking for some awesome pieces of art for your dream home? Well, there are options now which are just waiting to be explored.

Do the words dining set ring a bell somewhere? If not, do not worry, I will explain it for you. A dining set is a combination of all the things which form part of your dining room furniture. This includes a dining room table for having a cozy family meal, dining room chairs for relaxation, a dining hutch to place your crockery and table pads, corner chairs for adding value to your place and a relaxing sofa to go with the whole setting.

If you have so many things which form part of a dining set, you really are sometimes at your wits ends as to what to choose and from where. You have online stores as well as your local showrooms, all vying for your attention as well as your wallet. Even the variety of options does not make things any easier. You can choose from a glass top dining set or the one having an oval shape and carved completely in wood. What if you seek something different and ethnic? Do not worry, you can choose the retro style for your dining set. A rectangular dining set is most appropriate for dining rooms lavish in space and looking for a large number of people to sit and cherish the sumptuous meal. If you have a smaller pad available to you, try the round shape or a folding table set. These sets seem most appropriate for being space efficient and functional at the same time.

Dining sets come in a variety of design and style, and the choice is entirely yours. No design is better or worse than its counterpart is its how you perceive it. One major change seen in recent times is the increased use of glass while designing the furniture. Glass adds to the glamour quotient of your room and adds sophistication and class. Another advantage of glass furniture is ease of cleaning and almost spotless performance year after year. Wooden furniture, on the other hand, while tending to be more expensive and needing more maintenance, compensates in its traditional looks and long life.

While going for a glass top dining set, make sure that the glass is safely perched over the base with adequate protection. It should not have any sharp edges. You can have your dining chairs made with unpretentious style to go with your glass furniture. This will add the fusion element in your choice and will be appreciated. If you can get colored glass, that can add to the brightness and ambience of the room.

No dining furniture is complete without the right crockery going with the theme of your place. Thus if your style is chic and modern, do not go for the traditional old and simple crockery, which can destroy the whole ambience. Choose something flashy and upcoming to go with your furniture.

Spend a few minutes putting the knowledge you just gained into practice, and welcome to a happier, more satisfying world!

The author is a home improvement expert. Your dining room furniture should reflect your personal style. Buy Amish made furniture for that regal look. Buy a dining room hutch to go with the table and chairs.

How To Conduct Successful Fundamental Analysis

When an investor is scouting for potential bargain's in the markets, fundamental analysis will always take a top-down approach. Fundamental analysis will generally look at a number of different area's and these will be the national economy, at industry level, and at company level. Generally the term simply refers to the analysis of the economic well-being of a specific entity as opposed to only price movements.

By no means take this article as a be all and end all explanation of the process as it is a very broad discipline, but use it as a guideline on how to conduct the basics. Below I will briefly set out the basis for fundamental analysis for the three area's mentioned above earlier.

National Economy
Fundamental analysis in this instance is likely to focus on economic data principally produced by governments to assess the present and future growth of the economy. There are a wide variety of factors relating to fundamental's within the economy. Obvious economic indicators would include inflation, exchange rates, interest rates, debt and saving levels and consumer confidence. If you are already an investor you will know that publication's from the Fed or the Treasury with reference to any of these can have a profound affect on the stock market as a whole.

At the Industry Level
Fundamentals within this area are likely to focus on an examination of supply and demand forces for the products or services offered. Although this may seem vague in essence what the investor will be doing is trying to ascertain if it is viable to enter (invest his money) within a certain sector or industry. For example here in Britain the coal mining as well as ship building industries are both in major decline but there are still companies out there. Now if an investor was not made aware of this or did not conduct the appropriate research with reference to these sector's then they would have a higher risk of losing money.

At the Company Level
When a potential investor is conducting fundamental analysis this is the area that they will want to dedicate most of their time too. That is the individual company (the stock) they are looking to invest in. What an investor will be trying to do is determine if a stocks price is over or undervalued by focusing on underlying factors that affect a companies actual business and its future prospects. There are a variety of factors that a potential investor will be investigating. Examples of these will include business concept, management, competition and financial data. The majority of this information is readily available in the public domain through a variety of sources helping the investor to make a more informed decision.

So in this article we have gone over briefly the top down approach that an investor savvy in the process of fundamental analysis would use to pick a stock that the data would lead him too.

Oliver Gillies is a Trainee Sales Trader who has been working for a firm of stockbrokers in the City Of London for the last year. He also trades his own successful portfolio (11.5% in the last two months June-August). You can learn more by visiting his blog successful investors
http://successful-investors.blogspot.com

Software Application For Mollier's Diagram

Most extensively used thermodynamic fluid for heat power industry is water since it is cheap and easily available and has very good thermal and chemical properties. But thermodynamic properties of water in its different phases vary extensively with the variation in temperatures and pressures adding complexities. Important steam and water properties used in industry are pressure, temperature, enthalpy, entropy, quality, specific volume and also thermal conductivity, specific heat and viscosity.

Determination of those properties from basic formulae is cumbersome for regular engineering calculations due to computational complexities. For many years steam tables and charts have served industry and academics for finding out such properties. In steam tables, properties of steam and water are displayed in tables at certain intervals of temperature, pressure etc. Charts (graphs) or diagrams are of many types as in two-dimensional plane, only two major properties can be used as axes and others are shown as lines of constant values at different intervals. For example, in an enthalpy-entropy plane (generally called Mollier Diagram), constant pressure lines, constant temperature lines and constant specific volume lines are shown at different intervals. Charts like temperature-entropy, pressure-temperature, pressure-enthalpy, etc. are also available with different properties shown as constant lines. Both standard printed steam tables and charts give rationally accurate output but they usually require interpolation resulting in some inaccuracies, although small in nature. Software for steam and water properties has eliminated this accuracy problem and has minimized the use of steam tables and printed charts in the industry. However the use of charts (generally called Mollier diagrams) still continue to be important in academic world where understanding of the fundamentals and conception is of primary importance.

Software for steam and water properties and steam tables give property valuse at a particular point with input of at least two properties for that point and mostly helps in further calculations etc. but fall short of providing an insight regarding the relative position of the point in entire range. There comes the importance of the Mollier diagram. In Mollier diagram a point can be conveniently located in the desired plane and the consequence of change in input properties can clearly be understood giving a perfect insight rather than trading only with numbers. It also explains graphically how the phase of water changes with the change in their properties.

Handling big size Mollier diagram with proper resolution is burdensome and that indulges teachers, students and practicing engineers to restrict the diagrams use in day-to-day computations even though they provide more insight. Under such circumstances the software for Molliers diagram has come as an advantage. It may sound little unusual to use software for generating a Molliers diagram, but it is true and very handy as well. It is a perfect blend of both the power of computers computational skills and graphic facilities. In fact the same steam and water properties software is opportunely used to generate the Molliers diagrams using a package that can handle both graphics and commutations.

There are many benefits of using the software for generation of Molliers diagrams. This eliminates the necessity of possessing and use of the printed diagrams. The diagram can be viewed right on the computer screen and that can be saved in a file and printed as per requirement. With the help of the software, diagrams can be created in interactive way to suit any range with as many constant line properties as desired. Any constant property line for any value can be drawn on the diagram totally eliminating the requirement of interpolation as usually required in printed diagrams. A point with two input parameters can be easily located interactively on the diagram giving comprehensible picture of its position in the entire range. The clarity of the diagram can be highly enhanced by using available many colors of the computer display. In the academic world the software can be extremely useful as it may greatly help academicians to explore, investigate and explain the nature of variation of the properties with respect to one another just by few commands. An example can divulge the supremacy of such software. We are aware that by using the software for steam/water properties or steam tables or printed Mollier diagrams, the properties of steam can be determined by providing two input parameters say like pressure and temperature. By using the software for Mollier diagram, the point can also be located on the diagram and all the properties may be obtained. But additional advantage can be taken by using the software to demonstrate that constant lines generated on the diagram using the input value of any property, say specific volume, passes through the point already located on the diagram. This decisively proves the correctness of the software and comprehensive understanding of the subject. Such methods assume vast importance in the teaching and academic field.

The Molliers diagram software is not widely available like steam and water properties software. Searching over the Internet reveals that only few of them make available all the options as described earlier. Some of them are linked with the steam and water properties software and display sketchy diagrams with only the saturation line and the facility to locate the specific point without the provision of printing. Some of them display pre-laded standard diagrams and only with the ability of locating the specific point. Only few of them provide total freedom of generating the fully tailor made diagrams as per users specific requirement using any value of users choice.

It can be summarized that there is high potential of using Molliers diagram software especially in institutions and academic world provided a proper one is chosen. It can be a substitute of printed diagrams and can be very helpful in conceptualization and regular use by professionals, students, teachers and academicians.

To know more on Mollier's diagram software please visit www.steam-water-properties.com

The author is a mechanical engineer from Calcutta University and has more than 30 years experience in power plant engineering. He has been developing engineering software for regular use for the last 15 years. Read his article Software For Steam And Water Properties and visit http://www.steam-water-properties.com

Why Managed Funds are Bad for Your Wealth

We are bombarded with advertisements for managed fund (mutual fund) investments. They implore us to entrust our hard earned cash to them with the promise that their expert managers will reward us with above average returns.

On the face of it managed funds do appear to offer benefits. They allow the smaller investor to diversify (and thus reduce risk) to a much greater degree than if they invested in individual stocks. A managed fund can spread an investment across 30 or more stocks whereas the small investor might be limited to just 2 or 3 by direct investment. And they should ensure that the stocks are being chosen by intelligent individuals with access to the latest and best information.

But all of this comes at a cost, ie the managers commission.

And theres the rub. By the time the managers fees are taken out the average returns dont beat the the market average.

An example of this is reported by the U.K. Daily Mail (Oct 25, 2006) - Research from independent advisers Bestinvest shows that over the past three years 73pc of actively managed funds investing in UK companies to increase your capital have failed to beat the FTSE All Share Index.

As a further example, Clive Briault of The United Kingdom Financial Services Authority says: Our research shows there is no evidence, on average, over time, that actively managed funds outperform tracker funds if you take into account the difference in charges between the two. (The Mail on Sunday, Financial Mail, January 28, 2007)

Burton Malkiels classic A Random Walk Down Wall Street describes academic analysis that says the same.

Of course there are star performers, but these may be explained by chance. Of all the gamblers playing the casino slots, some will (by chance) emerge as winners. It doesnt mean they can repeat their success. Thats why funds carry the wealth warning that past performance is no guarantee of future results!

Best way to achieve the benefits of diversification is through low-cost tracker funds or Exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Johnny Finnis is editor of personalmoneymanagement101.com, a simple and unbiased introduction to finance and investment for ordinary people to make the most of their money. Have your say on our blog

Managed Forex Account Verses Inline Trader Trading Pools

In the information that follows I will introduce you to a unique Managed Forex Trading Account alternative and some of the benefits you may realize by investigating it further. Unless you have been living under a rock over the past few years you have seen countless numbers of programs, seminars, courses, ebooks and television commercials touting the benefits of learning how to trade the Foreign Exchange Currency Market a.k.a "Forex". In the midst of the propaganda there seems to be a realistic ability for those who invest the time to learn sound strategies and techniques to generate consistent profits through this vehicle. Where a problem arises is through the abundance of ads, promotions and marketing messages that attempt to convince consumers that there is some secret Forex Trading Software or little known Forex Trading System that will make profiting rom the Forex Market a simple task.

The reality is that prior to April 26th 2007 the only viable option for "easy Forex Profits" was through a Managed Forex Trading account. This is where a person who has no interest in learning how to become a prolific trader simply deposits funds into a Forex Trading Account and signs a Limited Power Of Attorney giving the rights to make decisions on what trades will be placed on his account to a seasoned Forex Trader. The benefits of this type of arrangement seem very obvious, the investor can simply spend their time as they choose, the trader gets access to more funds to trade with and the trader receives a management fee of somewhere between 20-35% of the profits in most cases. Here are a few of the drawbacks.

A) The trader, although only being compensated when he makes a profit, does not lose anything when he loses the investors money on a trade or series of trades. He can actually "experiment" with new trading strategies etc. if he chose to with no repercussions because he is not using his own money to trade with!

B) Generally the minimum amount it costs to get involved with a Maged Forex Trading Account is $50,000.00. This alone prohibits access to this option from smaller investors.

C) You generally never know what your returns may be, you could make x amount of profit one month, lose money the next month or more and have great months sprinkled in.

Now lets look at what happened on April 26th 2007 that changed the rules and now offers what I feel is a more viable option to a Managed Forex trading Account. On April 26th 2007 an innovative company launched it's brand and consumer awareness campaign worldwide! This pioneer is Inline Trader led by President and co-founder Kenneth Nielsen. The company's vision is, according to Nielsen, to become the largest Forex Education & Training Community in the world! Here is what makes them unique. A member has two options with Inline Trader the first is to learn the proven techniques and strategies as outlined in the Inline Trader Resource Guide to become a seasoned Forex Trader where you keep 100% of the profits you make from your own efforts. The second option is to benefit from the expertise of seasoned Forex Traders by simply depositing funds in one of three company trading pools. These trading pools are a viable alternative to Managed Forex Trading Accounts for the following reasons.

A) You can invest as little as $500 into a pool as opposed to the general minimum of $50k with a Managed Forex Trading Account.

B) There is NO management fee charged to your account by the traders so you keep 100 % of the profits they make you!

C) Unlike Managed Forex where your profits can fluctuate or actually be on existent since your account can be subject to losses with the Inline Trader Pools you get a fixed return on investment even if the traders happen to take a loss for that month! You will always know what to expect from your investments with the Inline Trader program.

D) And this is my favorite. If you choose to share Inline Trader with others you can actually receive a bonus commission a share in the profits made on behalf of those you refer every time they generate a profit from the trading pools forever!

I think the choice is clear. The Inline Trader Trading Pool is most certainly a viable alternative to a Managed Forex Trading Account. To find out more information about Inline Trader please visit

http://www.automaticforextrading.com

Owen Brown All rights reserved. You may freely distribute this article provided that the copyright and this resource box must be included.

Owen Brown is a Residual Income Specialist, leader of the fastest growing team of Inline Trader Members and the Managing Director of Elements To Wealth Dot Com He has trained a number of entrepreneurs on Forex Trading Strategies and is an avid researcher of Passive Residual Income Opportunities. Owen has the rare ability to present complex information at a level that is easy to understand.

The 3 R's of Bond Investments - Risk, Returns and Regret?

Its a conundrum. This is what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said of the current state of long-term interest rates. The situation that exists with short- term rates getting measured increases, while long-term rates havent moved much is a topic that has been confusing many people, not just Chairman Greenspan. This conundrum is what we spoke of in our first column because it was perplexing us too. Within a day of Greenspans testimony, long-term bond prices started dropping substantially, just as we had predicted in the column.

But, theres another conundrum happening out there that we see a lot of which is concerning us: The issue of principal guarantees within bond investments. A new client of ours, Bob, relies heavily on fixed-income as an important part of his retirement plan. Recently, while rebalancing his investment portfolio, he expressed to us that he was confused about the status of the bond funds he has had for years. Bob said that he heard his principal isnt guaranteed and wanted to know if that is true, even though they are government bond funds. We were put in a tough position where we had to explain a very important fact to Bob that commonly gets overlooked. The fact is that government bond mutual funds have no principal guarantees, as well as inconsistent and non-predictable income distributions!

Although government bonds and government bond trusts are principal guaranteed, investing in bond funds is not done on the same terms. In fact, while an individual bond pays the owner of the bond a consistent amount on each coupon date, a bond fund is not consistent by any stretch of the imagination. The distribution received from the fund depends entirely on how well the bonds fare within the bond fund. At any given distribution date, the amount of money received can vary greatly. Therefore, its not even appropriate to label a bond mutual fund as a fixed-income product! This matter means a lot to Bob, especially because him and his wife depend on a certain amount of fixed-income coming in consistently in predictable amounts. If that income doesnt come in as anticipated, his lifestyle could be dramatically affected.

Bond investors are often under the impression that government bond mutual funds are principal guaranteed. When this is the case, its usually because either the investment hasnt been explained correctly or the investor has not understood correctly, or possibly even both. Weve seen this misunderstanding of bond fund investments perpetuate itself for many years. As late as last week, we were running a seminar in Mineola, NY on the effects of rising rates on bond portfolios. Most of the people who were in attendance, and currently invested in government bond funds, were not clear on this important point.

The reasoning behind why there is no principal guarantee is that mutual funds are open-ended. Said differently, shares are offered on a continuous basis and have no maturity date. If theres no maturity, theres no date for principal repayment. Hence, no principal guarantee! Conversely, government treasury bonds, bills and notes, and government bond trusts do have a finite life. In other words, they have a fixed maturity date. Therefore, when the bonds mature, principal is repaid. Hence, there is a guarantee of principal!

Lets take a specific example. When Bob spends $10,000 to buy 10-year government treasury bonds at 5% yield, he will receive $500 dollars of fixed income annually, and is guaranteed every dime of his initial principal at maturity, which is 10 years from the date of issue. These bond investments are backed by the full faith and taxing power of the United States federal government. In the case of Bob buying into a mutual bond fund, even though the bonds in the fund are government treasury bonds, the fund itself has no maturity date, which boils down to not having a principal guarantee. By the way folks, there is no exception to this!

Even with corporate, municipal, and junk bonds, the same system applies in regard to principal. The issuing institution backs those bonds and the rating is determined by the institutions ability to pay. If youre looking for a perfect example of how some bad news can greatly affect the credit worthiness of even a premier blue chip companys corporate bonds, take a look at or ask your advisor about the current market situation with General Motors GMAC bonds. Like government bond funds, corporate and municipal bond funds have no principal guarantees either.

Heres the bottom line: Were not trying to turn people off completely from bond mutual funds! There are some appropriate uses, and we stress the word some, for bond mutual fund investments, but the key is to understand what youre doing. The potential risk and reward need to be weighed, so no matter what the outcome of the investment, hopefully feeling regret wont be felt for not properly being informed. Just like Bob needs his predictable and continuous stream of income from his bonds through his retirement years, we know that there are many more retirees that are dependent on their bond portfolio income as well. We want to stress that it is to your advantage to not just fly solo on this one, but to get advice from a financial professional.

Again, probably the most important thing is dont be afraid to ask questions. We dont think that any question is stupid or trivial. If theres something that isnt clear, then its worth asking about! People always want to talk about risk and guarantees, which is extremely important to be aware of so feelings of regret dont set in at a later date if an investment underperformed and you unknowingly lost money that you had thought was supposed to be safe.

Don is President of Conrad Capital Management, an independent registered investment advisor in Melville, New York. Before launching his own firm in 1997, Don held a combined seventeen-year tenure at E.F. Hutton and PaineWebber, where he served as Senior Vice-President at both firms.

Don can be reached by phone: (631) 439-7878 or email: don@conradcapital.com Also, to learn more about Conrad Capital Management, visit the website at: http://www.conradcapital.com

Don started his career in the late 1970s at a nationally recognized mutual fund company and was recruited after three years by E.F. Hutton Company to work in the consumer retail division. During his thirteen-year tenure there, he spent two years specializing in and trading the 30-year treasury bond. For the last five years, he served as a senior vice president focusing his efforts in the Consulting Services division, maintaining offices in both Long Island and Manhattan.

In 1993, he was recruited by PaineWebber as a Senior Vice President in the consumer retail division. In addition to managing his clients assets, he was asked by senior management to conduct a nationwide tour to train financial consultants in the Consulting Services division. Don also made a video on the use of advanced technology in the financial services industry. This video was distributed to PaineWebber offices internationally.

After almost five years at PaineWebber, Don decided to pursue his dream by starting Conrad Capital Management in order to offer his clients more choices and flexibility.

Trading Futures: The Wise Are Wary

No doubt youve seen the late night commercials extolling the virtues of trading commodity futures. People have made millions with small investments almost overnight. Read the fine print: Results are not typical. Trading commodity futures can result in enormous profits but it is a tricky business. Only those with money they can afford to lose should consider dallying in this market. That said, trading futures is a fascinating and high profit endeavor which those with a high risk tolerance may find to their liking.

The term futures actually refers to a futures contract. Buying a future means entering into a contract to buy or sell a commodity for a specific price at a specified time in the future.

Futures emanated from the 1800s when farmers began selling their crops before they had actually been brought to market. A future was essentially just an agreement between the farmer and the buyer as to the price that would be paid when the crop came in. Obviously, depending upon weather conditions while the crop was in the field the value of the crop might go up or down. If a hail storm destroyed most of a certain crop then the value of the future might go up because there would be less of the commodity to go around. On the other hand, a bumper crop might cause the value of the future to fall. Over time people who owned these agreements or contracts began to sell them prior to the harvesting of the crop. Thus, a market in futures was born.

The modern futures market has become much more complex and deals not just in crops but in all sorts of sorts of precious metals as well as crude oil, gasoline and even electricity. Futures are sold throughout the day on a variety of exchanges including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Trading commodity futures would be complicated even if only actual farmers and those interested in using their crops were involved. Todays commodity markets, however, encompass an enormous variety of traders.

Many large institutions trade options and speculators are also rampant. Speculators are in the commodities market only to make money and often buy and hold positions for just hours or even minutes. They trade on scraps of information and hints gleaned from the news. Sometimes they make trades on the basis of volume alone. Both institutions and speculators also hedge options which simply means they try to protect their positions by hedging their bets. Hedging in the simplest terms refers to the practice of taking a futures position that is in opposition to a position taken in the stock market. By doing this a person is covering himself/herself no matter which way the market moves. In truth, hedging can result in enormous losses. Hedging is only once of many devices which are used in trading commodity futures. So called futures derivatives can become so complicated that not even traders with years of experience are entirely sure what is being sold.

If you are considering trading commodity futures it is imperative that you read and study extensively before making any investment. After a period of study you should investigate the commodity options brokerage houses. Commodities cannot be traded on the exchanges directly by individuals. They have to be traded through people and firms who are registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Carefully read through the disclosure information which is provided by the brokerages you are considering.

Once you have decided to trade commodity futures, think again. Part of the reason futures trading can be so profitable is because trading is done with a leverage account. Leverage means you are only putting up a portion of the money and borrowing the rest on margin. If the futures go up your account pays the leverage costs out of the profits. If the futures you have bought go down you will have to pay the difference out of your own pocket. When futures fall precipitously you may be called upon to pay the money you owe immediately sometimes within an hour. It bears repeating that trading commodity futures is only for those who have capital they can afford to risk and lose.

Bear the following in mind.

Do not deal with anyone who will not provide disclosure documents. Do not allow anyone to pressure you or intimidate you into opening account. Do not use money you cannot afford to use to trade commodity futures. Do not borrow money to trade commodity futures. Do not be lured into opening an account by promises of quick, easy profits.

Trading commodity futures can be lucrative and exciting. Conversely, it can cause the loss of every penny invested and liability for any money borrowed on margin. Therefore, for anyone considering trading commodity futures the motto is truly, Buyer beware.

Christopher M. Luck has an extensive background in working exclusively with the commodity trading and is now offering his free trading tips to the public. If you are at all interested in Christopher's trading advice, tips, or secrets, you can visit his commodity blog

The Effect of Human Emotion on Investment Decisions and the Overall Economy

Economics is simply "the study of life" and the choices we make. Human emotion is perhaps the strongest force in the economic and financial environment. It gets its appropriate level of respect in the real world--and a very short shrift in the land of academia. Human emotion...the need to stay up with the Joneses...the drive to get a great deal...the drive to make a killing on an investment or a property...all can contribute to positive or negative developments in the economy.

Fear & Greed...Stocks

Emotion at times can be the primary driver of stock prices, whether up or down. The powerful emotion of fear can motivate holders of stocks or other financial assets to sell, at times regardless of the price received. The equally powerful emotion of greed can motivate investors to buy various assets, even when the inner voice might suggest the price is too high. Only later, in many cases, can investors recognize that they were "caught in the moment" and let emotion drive their actions.

Greed was clearly center stage during the second half of the 1990s and the first quarter of 2000, especially in regard to Internet stocks and the NASDAQ. Greed drove many Internet-based companies to sky-high stock market valuations, even as many of these companies lacked profitability or a reasonable chance to become profitable anytime soon. The overall NASDAQ was pushed to a high of 5049, much higher than many investors and market players deemed logical or possible.

At such unsustainable levels, fear soon became the more dominant emotion. The fear of millions of investors eventually pushed the NASDAQ down to 1113, a decline of nearly 80%. Hundreds of thousands of investors saw major losses in their retirement portfolios, requiring them to either stay in the workforce longer or return to gainful employment in order to rebuild damaged portfolios.

Fear & Greed...Real Estate

A similar greed-based rise was also found in the nation's real estate market in recent years. Tens of thousands of investors pulled their funds from the stock market and sought a new avenue to riches--real estate was just the ticket.

The decline of both short-term and long-term interest rates during 2001-2003 provided thousands of homebuyers with the opportunity to purchase their first homes. Tens of thousands of existing homeowners took advantage of the lowest home financing rates in 40 years to "trade up" to more valuable properties.

The Flippers

In addition, investors and speculators by the thousands began to push real estate values higher. Many of these investors, commonly known as "flippers," took advantage of extremely low short- and long-term financing rates to purchase additional properties.

It was not uncommon in hot real estate markets on the East Coast, the West Coast, and in the nation's Southwest for flippers to appear at announcements of new single-family and condominium developments, with the intent of buying multiple properties. Many of these flippers were successful in immediately bumping prices higher, and were able to pocket significant profits with limited risk.

Other flippers came belatedly to the game in late 2005 and 2006, and were ultimately stuck with multiple properties to finance, with limited potential buyers. Many of these flippers, as well as thousands of more legitimate homeowners, faced the bleak task of trying to unload properties at a time when many other investors were engaged in the same process. Their financing plight was made worse by the impact of 17 monetary tightening moves by the Federal Reserve through June 2006.

The problems of sub-prime lenders are serious in today's real estate market and are discussed ad nauseum in the media. The additional issue of flippers looking to liquidate investment properties adds to current real estate woes in many formerly high-flying markets.

Economic futurist Jeff Thredgold is President of Thredgold Economic Associates, a professional speaking and economic consulting company.

Since 1976, Jeff's weekly economic and financial newsletter, Tea Leaf, has been helping people make sense of the tangled maze of the U.S. and global economy and financial markets in a light, approachable style. Sign up to receive the free Tea Leaf email newsletter.

Jeff is the author of econAmerica: Why the American Economy is Alive and Well...and What That Means to Your Wallet (Wiley, 2007), and On the One Hand...The Economist's Joke Book.

His career includes 23 years with $96 billion banking giant KeyCorp, where he served as Senior VP and Chief Economist. He now serves as economic consultant to $50 billion Zions Bancorporation, which has banks in 10 states.

Fixed Indexed Annuity: Bank CD Alternative

A fixed indexed annuity (FIA) is the product of choice for top selling annuity agents who are tired of seeing their clients lose money in low interest rate CDs. A fixed indexed annuity is a hybrid fixed product that is fast becoming the new safe home for billions of former CD, stock market and mutual fund dollars. And with good reason.

HOW IT WORKS

A FIA provides a safety net of usually 1-3% interest compounded annually. But this is just the minimum guarantee through the contract term. The upside earning potential is much higher.

As the name implies, the fixed indexed annuity is tied to an equity index such as the Standard & Poors 500. The S&P 500 is the benchmark for U.S. equity markets, representing the general health of the overall stock market. As the market goes up your client's earnings go up because they participate in a percentage of the increase. But (and this very important) when the stock market comes back down again as it always does, your clients dont lose any money.

WHAT WAS THAT AGAIN?

This bears repeating. When the stock market goes up, earnings go up with it subject to a cap. But when the market comes back down again as it always does, the policy does not lose any money. Earnings are locked in at each annual anniversary index point. FIA owners earn 2 or 3 times the guaranteed interest rate when the stock market goes up, and when the stock market comes back down again they get to keep all profits. Upside earnings without the downside risk. How cool is that?

TAX DEFERRED GROWTH

Whats more, your client's earnings grow tax deferred as long as they stay in the annuity. This means they earn even more money on the portion they dont have to send Uncle Sam. Unlike a CD, there is no Form 1099 to add to income tax returns each year. Why pay taxes on income you dont spend? Seniors citizens are especially fond of Fixed Indexed Annuities since deferred interest is not counted as provisional income and can reduce or eliminate taxation of Social Security benefits. FIAs are also becoming the favorite funding vehicle in small business retirement plans like the 401(k) and SEP-IRA.

WHAT TO DO?

Whether you sell to retirees or future retirees, you owe it to yourself to learn why millions of people are moving billions (actually, trillions) of dollars into fixed indexed annuities. Theyre the sensible alternative that can make you very large commissions.

http://www.Free-Insurance-Leads.com Gary Le Mon is a wholesale distributor of fixed indexed annuities for Allianz, American Equity, Sun Life Financial, and ING. Author and developer of the Safe Money Seminar, a financial planning seminar for Seniors, Gary serves as guest speaker on behalf of agents and agencies nationwide. He is coach, mentor and motivator to over 700 general agents in his insurance marketing organization, InsuranStar Marketing. See also Insurance-Lead-Programs.com.

How Does Business Achieve High Performance?

Want a High Performance Organization?

For a while now we have been hearing a great deal about High Performance Organizations and High Performance Management and how achieving high performance will improve your business. In fact in todays technologically advanced, global economy high performance is not an alternative it is a requirement for all businesses that want to prosper in the years to come. The terminology of high performance sounds pretty straightforward; if performance is at a peak then the business processes should follow suit and so then should productivity, profits, and competitiveness. Lets investigate how it works.

How does business achieve high performance?

The standard methodology for achieving high performance within the workplace has been to breakaway from the traditional and highly structured model of business organization to one that is more organic and flexible. Within these organic systems managers are encouraged to create teams of employees who work together toward a common business goal. The teams are empowered to make decisions and solve problems, they monitor and improve their quality, and each individual employee is seen as a contributing business partner.

Utopia at last, people have meaningful work, employees are respected and trusted, creativity and innovation flourish, quality improves, and productivity reaches levels unheard of only months before. Yeah right!

So, what really happens? Why does the theory of High Performance so often get derailed when it is based on sound principles of human behavior and motivation?

The problem is not with the theory, it is in the execution!!!. Our culture is so indentured to the traditional model of organization that, despite our best efforts, it is almost impossible to remove the vestiges of managerial control, division of labor, and the reams and reams of policies and procedures that trap employees into doing things one way, and one way only. When well meaning executives, managers, and consultants get a hold of the notion of High Performance Management they often rush to create teams, write new job descriptions, set up feedback systems, and create elaborate reward and recognition programs all in an effort to convince their employees that they are valued and respected and that their contributions are meaningful and appreciated and will be rewarded.

Again, all sound notions but the problem is that these programs address only surface issues and they do not even begin to attack the traditional notions and customs that continue to prevail. Think of organizational dynamics like an iceberg where only 10% of the issues are visible on the surface and the bulk remains hidden and potentially menacing underneath. In truly High Performance workplaces managers do not have to convince employees that they are valued, the employees inherently know they are valued simply by the way the work is organized and performed.

So whats wrong with this picture????

The organization that is trying to be High Performance is really no more than a traditional organization in disguise. It has adopted new terminology and is trying out some new human resource management techniques but the organization has NOT CHANGED the way that it approaches the system of working. Work is still narrowly defined and departmentalized and management is still controlling and directing the flow. On the surface it may sound like things have changed but the employees know they are doing exactly what they did before; except now, they are part of a team doing it.

Make a real transition using Human Capital Management (HCM)

The only way to move toward true High Performance is to adopt a system of Human Capital Management that helps measure and execute real changes in the way that human capital (resources) is managed. It starts with the realization and acknowledgement that your human, or intangible capital is as important as your tangible capital and that like the tangible items, human capital needs to measured and accounted for on a consistent basis. Just as you want to keep your equipment in top shape so should you keep your people in top shape ready and capable of performing the job they were hired to perform. Just as you seek investment opportunities for your financial capital to grow, so you need to invest in your human capital and provide them with opportunities to grow.

By attending and understanding the needs of your employees you allow them to perform to their capacity. This maximum capacity yields high productivity and that is when you truly have a High Performance organization.

High Performance is as critical as it is possible. It is a process that starts with philosophical change and ends with practical solutions that lead to substantial improvements in the way work is accomplished, the way work is perceived, and the amount of work that is achieved. Practicing effective Human Capital Management that encompasses how the entire organization runs and how it evaluates employee success, will create a natural link to High Performance Management that will see businesses emerge as healthy, prosperous, and highly competitive.

Eva Jenkins is a visionary entrepreneur whose rich history of accomplishments in business and finance serve as both the foundation of and the fuel for her current success with VIP Staffing and VIP Innovations. Jenkins a lightening rod for innovative thought and a divining rod for uncovering hidden potential in businesses. Armed with a keen understanding of the dynamics of human capital aqcquisitions and an astute sense of the best way to leverage that capital, she uses her unique high-performance principles to help companies re-shape their fundamental business beliefs and practices. Her goal is to prepare her clients so that they may respond to, and more importantly anticipate, the precedent-setting HR challenges in today's evolving international global economy.

If You are Serious About Building Wealth, Follow the Behavior of the Ultra-Rich, Not the Rich

The Myths of the Wealthy Spread by the Mass Media

Recently, there was an article on CNNMoney that spoke about the secrets of the elite rich in the United States. In turn, several articles were written about this article, including one that stated that the richest of Americans built their wealth with diversification, wealth preservation and strategic growth. That is a ridiculous statement in itself because two of those strategies, diversification and preservation dont help build wealth. Perhaps the richest of Americans use these two strategies to maintain an even keel AFTER they have accumulated great wealth, but certainly they didnt use them during the accumulation phase. According to this article, a survey of Northern Trust uncovered that the richest Americans do not heavily rely on high-risk investment vehicles like hedge funds to make money, but are moderate risk takers who put more than half of their asset allocation into U.S. stocks and cash.

Again, just as former hedge fund manager and multi-millionaire Jim Cramer said that he used certain financial journalists, including ones employed by the Wall Street Journal, as pawns to spread misinformation far and wide to benefit himself, again this is an example of investment institutions using the media as pawns to spread their myths to keep the masses of retail investors ignorant. The CNNMoney article made it appear that the richest of Americans built their wealth by being conservative and slowly growing their money over time. Thats an oxymoron right there. To state that the rich became rich by slowly growing their money over time. Well, if they are slowly growing their money and becoming even richer, then this implies that they were rich to begin with. So how did they accumulate wealth? Surely not by slowly growing their money.

Sure, some of the richest Americans do not heavily rely on high-risk investments because they ARE ALREADY EXTREMELY RICH. The majority of ultra-rich do NOT build their fortunes by speculating on high-risk investments as is commonly believed. Often they build fortunes utilizing volatile assets and investments but that does not mean they were engaging in risky behavior. Many times, investing in a hedge fund can be much riskier than investing in some of the assets that your investment firm will tell you is risky. But investment firms will gladly place a portion of your money in hedge funds because the fees they earn from hedge funds are so high even as they advise you not to put your money in a much less risky investment with much greater earning potential. And this is the secret that investment firms never tell you. Volatile assets that often can be used to build great wealth are NOT RISKY if they are purchased at entry points that are extremely favorable and provide a low-risk point of entry. 99% of investors dont understand what high-risk investments truly are because they have been misinformed by their advisors and their firms for the past half of a century. Purchasing volatile assets at low risk-high reward entry points greatly mitigates and neutralizes the great majority of risk of volatile assets. If you dont understand this concept then you need to.

Replace Investment Firms Dumb Asset Gathering Sales Strategies with Intelligent Asset Growing Strategies

Many millionaires that are wealthy but that could be extremely wealthy fail to build enormous wealth because investment and financial institutions mislead them about certain asset classes and describe them as complex and risky and are able to convince their clients of this belief because they never properly explain risk-reward scenarios to their clients. However, those investors that are extremely wealthy are the rare breed that understand this concept. If investors had a choice between allocating $1,000,000 in a historically volatile Investment A that has a 78% chance of returning a 250% gain versus an Investment B that has a 95% chance of earning 9%, most investors would choose Investment A. However, because Investment A may exhibit 50% more volatility than Investment B, the great majority of advisors would steer their client away from the former investment into the latter one. In fact, this is exactly what even prestigious firms that cater to ultra high net-worth clients do because they allow misinformed, uneducated investors dictate the rules of engagement to them, and they would much rather appease such powerful, important people with slow,minimal gains rather than empower and enlighten them and boost their returns like never before. They would choose to steer them away because they present the investment opportunities incorrectly, merely telling their client that while they could earn 350% from Investment A there was also a very realistic probability that they could lose $300,000, and that shooting for the slow but steady $90,000 a year is much better for them.

If you are thinking to yourself, That makes absolutely no sense? Why would firms not earn 20% a year for their clients if they could instead of 8% a year? The answer is because the overwhelming majority of investment firms, no matter how prestigious their brand, are merely highly glorified sales machines. They fail to convince clients to invest in phenomenal investment opportunities that sometimes arise like Investment A because in order for Investment A to be a moderate risk, very high reward investment, it must be entered at a low risk entry point so that the probability of being down $300,000 at any give time would be reduced from perhaps 50% to 20%. And that even if their timing is not optimal, then a firm must educate the client that as long as they dont panic when they are down, the odds are still extremely high that they will earn a 250% or better gain. However, the greatest factor that determines why firms will not seek this strategy is time. Engaging in much better strategies such as these for their clients would take massive amounts of time in client education and enough time in research that the amount of assets gathered would take a serious hit.

So because it is not in a firms interest to engage in activities that maximize portfolio returns (unless it is their own institutional portfolio), instead, we have Chief Investment Officers at top investment firms making statements like, "Generally they [the richest of Americans] want to see prudently managed growth without a lot of surprises, which is why we emphasize diversification." Again, this is a sales & marketing campaign statement, not an aboveboard statement about how to make money for clients. If clients are uncomfortable with strategies that would actually built great wealth for them instead of producing mediocre or subpar returns, their discomfort only originates from the fact that the largest investment firms have been deceiving their clients, just as Jim Cramer had deceived the thundering sheep herd for years, about the realities of building wealth. This discomfort originates solely from the fact that he or she has been kept in the dark for so long.

Despite What Investment Firms Tell You, Myopia and a Concentration in U.S. Stock Markets Will NOT Optimize Your Portfolio Returns

Thus, we have a misinformation-driven cauldron of bad investment decisions that exist today. In 2007, youll still find Chief Investment Officers of very well known firms making ridiculous statement that investors need to invest at least 50% of their stock portfolio in U.S. stocks if they wish to grow their portfolios exponentially. How are they going to grow their portfolios exponentially with more than half of their stocks in a stock market (the U.S.) that has NEVER been the best performing market in the past 25 years (even among developed stock markets)? How will they grow their portfolios exponentially by buying stocks in market that trades in what is quite possibly the worst currency on earth among developed markets (the U.S. dollar)? Yes I know that when the U.S. dollar shows a brief spike in strength as is likely to happen soon (Im writing this article in April, 2007), that many people will question what I am saying, but this is only again because they are victims to the mass deception mind-games of the investment industry. I suppose if planning to earn better than subpar returns in your stock portfolio is engaging in risky behavior as Chief Investment Officers of various firms claim, then yes, I whole-heartedly endorse engaging in risky behavior.

And because so many people, yes even those considered quite wealthy, fall victim to the preaching of investment industry demagogues, there is a second mistake that many rich investors will soon make. Another survey of wealthy U.S. investors uncovered that a large percentage of investors with investment assets of over a million do not employ any type of investment advisor but plan to do so soon giving the increasingly gloomy nature of the U.S. stock markets. To that, this is what I have to say. Making money in difficult markets is ten times more difficult than making money in bull markets. If investors believe that it will be increasingly more difficult to make money in U.S. stock markets, but yet top investment firms in the U.S. continue to preach that more than half of your portfolio should be in U.S. stocks (mostly to cover their respective firms inadequate coverage of emerging markets), how is the hiring one of these men possibly going to improve these investors future performance outlook?

But there is an EXTREMELY important distinction to be made here. What Ive written above applies to the behavior and mindset of some of the richest people in America, but not THE very richest people in America. The very richest people in America, those you might categorize as the worlds ultra-rich, possess a very different mindset and behavior set than those that are just rich. The ultra-rich have positioned their portfolios extremely differently from how the rich people discussed above have positioned their portfolios. The reason why articles regarding their behavior and investment decisions are virtually non-existent is because they dont grant interviews and they dont want people to know what they are doing. But Ive investigated what they are doing, and trust me, it is nothing remotely similar to the behavior of wealthy investors described by Northern Trust and other investment firms.

If you would like to find out why the ultra-rich always manage their own money or are able to find the 1 in a million consultant truly capable of providing them the returns they desire, consult our resource of 101 Reasons Why Managing Your Own Money is the Only Way to Build Wealth. Even if the ultra-wealthy have someone managing their money for them, the only way they were capable of finding this 1 in a million financial consultant was due to the fact that if they had to, they could manage their own money successfully as well. Only by first fully understanding the most successful investment strategies themselves were they able to identify an advisor capable of employing similar strategies. However, a great majority of ultra-wealthy continue to handle and make their own investment decisions. And that is precisely why they are among the elite.

This article may be freely reprinted on another website as long as it is not modified, changed, or altered in any way and as long as the below author byline is included along with the active hyperlink exactly as is.

J.S. Kim is the Managing Director of SmartKnowledgeU. He has over thirteen years of experience in finance and financial services, and has earned a BA in Neurobiology from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MBA with a concentration in finance from the McCombs Business School, University of Texas at Austin. He is the inventor of the revolutionary MoneyPing investment strategies, a novel approach to learn how to build wealth, not just dreams.

To learn more about how to achieve financial freedom, and investment ideas to dramatically decrease risk and intelligently increase the probabilities of 25% or higher annual returns, click the following link Advanced Wealth Planning Techniques and Achieve Financial Freedom Ideas

Currency Trading For Beginners (Forex)

Forex market is expanding to new traders due to the advancements in communication technologies. Beginners can now learn 'the art and science' of Forex currency trading with a simple mouse click and can increase their income as well. What is needed is to follow certain basic rules; otherwise it may involve a potential risk of loss.

Beginners in Forex trading must start with a systematic study of the working principles. You must remember that forex trading is different from a stock market in many ways. The currency deals are always done in pairs like the USD/Euro or the USD/GBP. The study includes identifying the direction and movement of the currency before buying or selling so that you can make profit while the price going down as well as up. So if the currency behaves as per the prediction, you gain. The trick, therefore, lies in analyzing trends and patterns.

Learning forex currency trading for beginners is easy: You need an Internet connected PC and a dedicated schedule for learning. The more time and effort you put into it, easier it becomes for you to learn. As a beginner in learning forex trading, you do not even need to be familiar with the individual currency. But with your power of analyzing patterns, keen power of observation in studying trends and making them work in your favor, you can master the trade within a short spell!

A beginner interested in forex currency trading can perform almost every transaction online. To succeed at currency trading at the beginning, you need discipline, dedication and patience. The most appealing aspect of the forex trading is the financial freedom you can enjoy with very minimal effort.

As a beginner in forex currency trading, you should realize that it is not an income but an investment. Therefore, knowing the right time to invest is a key to success. Try to learn the trading strategies with your own research from various sources -- electronic and conventional. It is also advisable to start investing with little amounts till the time you achieve the required level of confidence. You as a beginner must master the ins and outs of a risk management strategy.

The beginners in forex currency trading can make use of several online tools, which can make their trading profitable. Some forex trading software can help you analyze market conditions; and guide you in making the decisions about the right time for investment. Identifying an effective trading system, therefore, is another major issue. You must be careful to check that the online brokerage company selling you the right trading system, which is backed by authentic technical as well as fundamental analysis and not on the basis of market rumors.

For more information trading currencies online please visit Forex Currency Trading for Beginners

The Credit Crunch and the Stock Investor (You)

The past four weeks have been a doozy. No sooner did the Dow set an all-time record on July 19 above 14,000 than the markets went into a volatile tailspin. The Dow has had several days of 200-300 point moves. Overall the market is down about 6%-7% in the month since July 19.

Whats the best thing to do right now?

First, the background facts:

The tailspin was begun by sub-prime mortgage lending. Many such loans were defaulted. It is fair to say that the mortgage market went into a bubble, and that the bubble is now deflating or collapsing.

The sub-prime mortgage mess began a chain reaction that spread through the credit markets and out into the stock market.

(1) Sub-prime mortgages were bundled into packages (securitized) and sold to hedge funds, banks, and other investors. Hedge funds and financial investors not only purchased these securities, but did so with high leverage: As much as 70% (or more) debt. As mortgagors defaulted on loans, the collateral supporting the mortgage-backed securities collapsed.

(2) Thousands of variable-rate mortgages will reset to higher interest rates over the next few years. As they reset, more owners will default.

(3) The difficulties in mortgages spread to other credit markets. Bank loans to hedge funds were themselves sub-prime, although nobody called them that. Several hedge funds ran into debt crises of their own, and others will follow.

(4) The countrys largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial, veered near bankruptcy until it tapped a massive credit line to stay in business. Smaller lenders have failed. Some others will fail, including possibly Countrywide itself.

(5) The problem has spilled over into the stock market via several paths.
(a) Margin calls have gone out. Forced to raise cash, hedge funds and others have been forced to sell stocks.
(b) Many investors have panicked, pulling their money out of the stock market. Financial stocks have been particularly hard hit.
(c) Private equity deals are grinding to a halt, as the money to finance them becomes unavailable. Private buy-outs helped fuel the market run-up earlier in the year. That propulsion is over.

National banks around the world have been injecting massive amounts of money into the financial system to stave off panic and illiquidity. The Fed has done so several times.

On Friday August 17, the Fed surprised by lowering its discount rate (for direct loans to banks) by 0.5% to 5.75%, which is another way of adding money to the economy.

But so far, the Fed has not lowered the Federal Funds rate, the one that impacts most other interest rates and serves as a benchmark for millions of consumer and business loans. The Fed has kept that rate at 5.25% for over a year. Many economists are expecting the Fed to lower the Federal Funds rate to further ease the economy. But the Fed has been reluctant to touch it, as it tries to keep inflation to about 2% or less.

Pundits, economists, and investors are split about the big-picture importance of the credit crunch. (1) Some maintain a not too worried stance, pointing out that the mortgage market is a tiny fraction of GDP, and that even in a worst-case scenario of massive defaults, the economic impact will be smallmuch less than the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s. They feel that the markets will work the problems out on their own. (2) Others feel that the crisis is going to get much worse, last much longer, and affect a wide swath of the economy. They say that we dont yet know the depth of the crisis, how many huge sub-prime loans banks have in their portfolios, how tight credit may really get as lenders pull in their horns, nor how the entire economy is going to be affected.

Many stocks of excellent companies, because of the downturn, are at their lowest valuations in years.

Economic fundamentals are fine. The just-ending earnings season showed strong results. Many excellent companies are doing well, growing in a healthy fashion, depend little on debt, and have no weaknesses on their balance sheets.

What does this all mean to the average individual investor? Is it time to be greedy or fearful? Is it time to protect against further losses by selling stocks, or is it time to purchase first-class companies at rock-bottom prices? Are the past few weeks the beginning of a bear market, or just a correction? Will the Fed ride to the rescue with the right moves, or will they screw it up?

For the stock investor, what are the risks right now? Id say these are the top three:

1.The credit problem, already a crisis, may turn into a catastrophe. There are undoubtedly many dangerous loans out there that we dont know about yet, and the credit markets may seize up for many months.

2.The economy will tip into recession. Companies will fall not only in stock price but in actual performance.

3.The Fed will make the wrong moves, or it will wait too long to make the right moves.

Risks usually have counterparts: potential rewards. The top three most likely opportunities:

1.The worst of the credit crunch is already over. The credit machinery of the economy will emerge stronger, as lenders reinstitute old-fashioned sound lending standards, to the long-run benefit of all.

2.The Fed will make the right moves at the right times. The economy will continue growing. There will be no recession.

3.Investors will take advantage of the bargain prices in stocks, accepting inevitable short-term volatility for a while until the market settles down. They will do this believing that in a few months or a year, the market will return the prices of excellent companies to rational levels.

I believe that the second listthe list of opportunitiesis more likely to occur than the first list, although that is certainly not a slam dunk. Reasons:

Investors are likely to recognize that the credit crisis is ultimately limited in size, and that overall the economy is in good shape.

The low valuations on many excellent companies will prove compelling and prevail over the fear that the credit crisis will ruin the economy.

By its injections of money into the economy and by its rate-lowering action, the Fed has signaled recognition of the importance of maintaining real liquidity in the economy and the markets.

The credit crunch is already reversing, what with the Feds action Friday, the shuttering of some hedge funds with the worst difficulties, the reinstitution by banks of more traditional and conservative lending standards, and so on.

Heres what we are likely to see over the next six months:

More revelations of serious credit problems in various areas.

More hedge funds will collapse. Some banks and financial institutions will be revealed to have more exposure to worthless credit assets than previously thought. The stocks of these companies will fare poorly.

Commercial and consumer lending standards will become tighter. Cash-rich companies (who have no need for credit) will benefit in comparison to companies which need debt to operate.

Investor sentiment will yo-yo as different revelations come to light. Therefore, the stock market will remain very volatile for a while longer. Up and down days of 200+ points on the Dow will be fairly common.

The Fed may or may not lower the Federal Funds rate. They will continue to take other actions to insure liquidity in the economy.

Investors will be all over the map on whether this is a time to be fearful or greedy, but on balance, the tilt will be towards seeing this as a buying opportunity. As a result, the stock market will be higher in six months than it is now, perhaps back to its July 19 level if not higher.

Action steps:

1.To the extent you have cash to invest, look for excellent companies with strong balance sheets.

2.If you use sell stops, either set them wider than normal, or dont set them at all, putting your faith instead in the foregoing analysis. The wider sell-stops will allow room for volatility.

3.Because the conclusions above are not slam dunks, limit your stock investments to or 2/3 of your available stock money. Neither be fully invested nor flee the market.

Dave Van Knapp is the author of Sensible Stock Investing: How to Pick, Value, and Manage Stocks. Click on this link to go directly to the book's page on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059539342X/sr=1-1/qid=1155381420/ref=sr_1_1/002-5852738-5260830?ie=UTF8&s=books . Or click on this link to learn more about the book and its sytematic approach to investing specifically designed for individual investors: http://www.SensibleStocks.com

Always Use Protection! Sell-Stops for Safe Investing

For most individuals, whether to sell a stock is the hardest decision in stock investing.

It sounds simple at first: Sell your losers and let your winners run. Sure, obviously. But how do you know which stocks are your future long-term winners and losers? More to the point, how do you tell the differenceright nowbetween a stock that is only on a short-term losing streak as opposed to one which is destined to be a long term loser?

Clearly, its easy to list your winners and losers as of right now. But thats not what this particular decision is about. This is about future eventsunknowable by definition. Even if your stock is falling in price, you dont want prematurely to decide that you made a mistake buying it or that its prospects have reversed from bright to dim. It may not be a loser at all. It just may have hit a bad patch. Your original positive outlook on the company and its stock may be correct, and the optimum decision may be to give the stock more time to reach its profitable destination. A stock in a short-term stall can become a long-term winner.

On the other hand, we all know Rule #1 of investing: Dont lose. So you cant wait forever to make your decision when a stocks price keeps falling.

Every Sensible Stock Investor wants to take a strategicnot whimsicalapproach to making sell decisions. You want to contain losses and sidestep risks.

The trailing sell-stop order is a very effective tool for sticking to a strategic approach. Lets make sure we understand what this order is. Then well talk about how to use them.

A trailing sell-stop orderwhich is a standard type of order with all brokerageshas these characteristics:

It is a sell order with a condition attached. You attach it. When the condition is satisfied, the order to sell is executedwhether you are at work, in the bathroom, on vacation, or wherever.

The condition is the ''stop'' price. That is the price you pre-select to trigger the sell order. If the stocks price falls to or through that point, the sell order is executed. You pre-select the trigger price when you are thinking objectively and strategically, not in the heat of a fast-moving stock price.

It is a trailing order. Over time, as the price of your stock moves up, you reset the trigger price a little highersay once per week. That way, the stop price trails along behind the stocks actual price, protecting you on the downside while not limiting your upside.

It is a standing order. That means it just sits there until (1) it is executed, (2) it expires, (3) you change it, or (4) you remove it.

Of course if the stocks price is going down, you leave the existing stop price alone. The whole idea is that it is there to protect you against losses. It does not take long to review and reset all the stop prices in a small portfoliomaybe a minute per stock online.

So trailing sell-stops are used to limit losses from your purchase price or to lock in the gains of your stocks as they advance. A trailing stop order gets you out if the stock suddenly starts to tumble. It works like a ratchet, letting your stock price move up but not down past the trigger price you have selected.

I follow one hard-and-fast rule: Sell a new purchase before losing 10 percent in it. So as soon as I purchase a stock, I enter a sell-stop order too, usually at 8 percent less than I paid for it.

After a stock gains 10 percent for you, your stop price will have reached what you paid for it, so you will never lose money on that stock. After that hurdle has been cleared, how do you set the stop price? The goal is to give the stock enough room for normal volatility, while at the same time being restrictive enough so as not to let profits escape if the stock starts to go backwards.

There are two main methods to set stop prices. First, you can set the stop price as a percentage below todays price (but never below what you paid once the stop price has reached your purchase price). I use the percentage approach most of the time. My default percentage is 15 percent, although I may change that (up or down) in certain situations.

I might use a looser stop (such as 20 or even 25 percent) for a blue chip company that I really expect to hold for a long time. This would typically be a company that has a fat dividend yield.

I usually use 10 percent if the stock is an ETF (exchange-traded fund). This is because funds are typically less volatile than company stocks, so they dont need as much wiggle room.

And I might use a stop as low as 2 percent or 3 percent for a stock that I have decided to sell. The tight stop price lets me squeeze out any unexpected upside that the stock may have left in it, but it still gets me out with negligible damage if the stock falls at all.

The second way to set the stop price is to examine the stocks chart for the past year or so. You may see that while overall the stock has been rising, some significant leaps and falls are part of its normal behavior. The dips may exceed any reasonable percentage sell-stop that you would normally set. But you dont want to sell the stock on such dips, because you can see that the overall trend has been upward, and you believe that it will be continue to be that way.

In that case, what I usually do is have the charting software (available on most financial websites) draw the stocks moving average line (MA). Try MAs between 50 and 200 days. What you might discover is that although the stock has its ups and downs, it essentially never falls below one of those moving average linesit always seems to bounce off the MA line and head back up. If thats the case, use that MA as the stop price.

This has worked perfectly for me with Chicago Mercantile Holdings (CME). Viewed through a wide-angle lens, the stock has done nothing but go up since it went public a few years ago. But viewed up close, it can be volatile. A couple of times I purchased it, only to have it trigger my stop order before too long. Then I made the observation that the stock never seemed to drop below its 200-day MA. So now I use that for my stop price. As the stock bounces around, the actual percentage of the stop price below the actual price varies. But I dont care. By using that approach, Ive held one block of shares without interruption since February 2006, and it is up 43 percentnearly 50 percent on an annual basis. CME is one of my all-time favorite stocks. The Merc has an exceptional business model, generates cash faster than McDonalds makes burgers, and has rewarded its shareholders handsomely. I am protected to the downside on a fairly volatile stock. Just as with percentage-based stops, I reset the stop price once a week. I just look up the current 200-day MA, and thats my stop price.

If you employ trailing sell-stop orders, you will find from time to time that you are stopped out of a stock that, as things turn out, you would have been better off just hanging on to. But thats OK. Cutting losses and preserving gains are so important to overall success that the risk of getting stopped out is preferable to the risk of taking a large loss. And, if a stop-out proves to be a mistake, you can reverse it. As the situation clarifies, nothing prevents you from repurchasing the stock.

Dave Van Knapp is the author of Sensible Stock Investing: How to Pick, Value, and Manage Stocks.

This guide for individual investors goes into more depth on trailing sell-stops, as well as other aspects of managing a stock portfolio. The book has a perfect 5-star reader rating on Amazon.com.

Click here to learn more about the book and the Sensible Stock Investing methodology: http://www.SensibleStocks.com

Learn Forex With Forex Training Videos

I came across a brand new forex video course, this one is not like many others since it includes videos, in addition to ebooks. Actually this course includes video tutorials, ebooks, softwares, mentoring from a professional trader, free signals and more. Doesn't that sound good ? I am going to tell you what you will get when you purchase the package.

You will get access to a members area to download the full package. Concerning the forex video courses, there are 28 online videos. You can see a sample on the website. It shows a trade strategy that brings 973 pips in about a week. Of course you don't make this kind of profit every week but this is easy to see how powerful is the strategy.

There are 5 full proven and profitable strategies in this package. Not just one.

You don't only get the video courses. There are much more informations about the strategies and the forex market in downloadable ebooks. You will find tools to help you analyze the market. You will learn the basics, the fundamental analysis, the technical analysis, the trading psychology and the most advanced strategies to pull in big profits in your account.

I have always been convinced that there are traders that know more than others. Of course their day job is forex trading, they do it all day. But there are also people that simply know good systems and make profit every day just following a plan. Their strategies are kept for themselves, the author decided to reveal some of them. And he does it well, and more than revealing his techniques, he and his professional team will mentor you, for free.

Having a mentor for free is the real deal of this package. Imagine all your questions being answered, you will never get stuck and always have a follow up after your purchase.

The creator also offers an additional members with more content. When you will have. New informations, new charts, new strategies, new tools. The package is regularly updated and updates are free ! You are even added to a VIP list and be able to see live examples of trades.

But my favorite bonus is a "one free month of Forex signals". If you already know how to execute a trade this is simply amazing. You know, signals tell you exact entry and exit point of a trade, for a specific pair. You know what pair to trade, when to enter a trade and where you take your profit. Just follow the signals.

This course is really new and I feel not so many people know about it. Anyway this is a perfect package for beginners there is so much information that you can't really go wrong. Plus, the free mentoring, and the free month of forex signals are worth enough the price ($97).

Learn Forex at ForexBo.com and find more about the Forex training videos.

Job Search - "Market Timer Needed"

Requirements For The Position

Have you ever wondered what the job requirements would be for the position of "Market Timer?" Assuming such a position existed, would you be qualified for it?

Such requirements would obviously be the same as those needed for anyone to successfully time the markets.

Let's see... what would the ad look like?

"MARKET TIMER NEEDED"

Candidates must be able to go against the prevailing opinion.

Candidates must be able to take a bullish position when everyone is bearish, and take a bearish position when everyone is bullish.

Candidates must be independent and self-assured. They don't worry about how they are doing compared with other investors.

Candidates must be able to accept that sometimes their investments will underperform the market, knowing that over time, they will outperform the market.

Candidates must be able to accept that their timing will require them to make frequent trades that may seem like mistakes, and a string of successive small losses won't drive them up the wall.

Candidates must be able to adopt a strategy for the long haul and stick with it, even when at times it is discouraging.

Candidates must be able to able to obey buy and sell signals, which often are issued against the prevailing sentiment.

Candidates must be able to ignore the mass media, which raise emotions and thus increase the risk of not executing a trade. It is often the trade that is hardest to take, that winds up being the most profitable.

Candidates must be decisive and willing to move at a moment's notice, without second-guessing, when a timing system calls for buying or selling.

Candidates must be willing to watch their investments every business day without fail.

What Each And Every One Of Us Face

Okay.... maybe it is not a job that we would see advertised anywhere. But the job requirements tell us a great deal about what each and every one of us face as market timers.

Market timers face a constant psychological battle. Prevailing sentiment, not to mention our next door neighbor, is constantly telling us to cave in and go with the majority. There is comfort in following the majority, at least for awhile.

But timers must walk alone. They can never give in to these pressures because just when the urge is greatest, the next profitable trend is launched. We must be on board. No trade can be missed.

Against The Herd

Yes... sometimes the majority are right, especially during a long trend. But never forget that the majority are wrong at market tops as well as market bottoms, when volume swells and everyone is moving in the same direction with herd-like mentality.

As market timers, we go against the herd. It may be tough at times, but we know that the profits realized over the years are well worth the battle.

Forex: Money Management Principles

Trade With Sufficient Captial

One of the worst blunders that forex traders can make is attempting to trade without sufficient capital.

The trader with limited capital not only will be a worried trader, always looking to minimize losses beyond the point of realistic trading, but he will also frequently be taken out of the trading game before he can realize any sense of success trading the method(s) or patterns.

Exercise Discipline

Discipline is probably one of the most overused words in forex trading education. However, despite the clich, discipline continues to be the most important behaviour one can master to become a profitable trader. Discipline is the ability to plan your work and work your plan.

Its the ability to give your trade the time to develop without hastily taking yourself out of the market simply because you are uncomfortable with risk. Discipline is also the ability to continue to trade the methods and patterns even after youve suffered losses. Do your best to cultivate the degree of discipline required to be a world-class trader.

Employ Risk-to-Reward Ratios

The following shows you possible risk-to reward ratios, and the win ratios required to break even in a trading system.

Risk-to-Reward Ratio (in pips)and Win Ratio Required to Break Even(%)

40/20 (2 to 1) = 67%, 40/40 (1 to1) = 50%, 40/60 (1 to 1.5) = 40%,
40/80 (1 to 2) = 33.5%,
60/20 (3 to 1) = 75%,
60/60 (1 to 1) = 50%,
60 /90 (1 to 1.5) = 40%,
60/120 (1 to 2) = 33.5%

Important Note

Never risk more pips on a trade then you plan to make. It doesnt make sense to risk 100 pips in order to make only 10. Why? See below example.

Profit taking level (pips): 10
Stop used or pips at risk: 100

You win 10 times which makes 100 winning pips. You ONLY lose once and have to give back all profits!!!

This type of trading makes no sense and you will lose on the long term guaranteed!

Toby Smitz - Daily Operations
Forex Trading with free education