Currency Trading Systems - 5 Tests to Find the Best Systems

Heres a startling fact: Over 95 percent of the currency trading systems promoted by vendors cause traders to lose their money.

So, how do you find one of the 5 percent of trading systems that make money better yet, make big consistent profits.

Here are 5 tests you should apply, in order to find the best systems to incorporate in your Forex trading strategy - thus helping you and achieve big currency trading gains.

1. The Track Record

As the old saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating - and the first place you need to start with any trading system is the track record.

Look for a system thats been used by the vendor - and made real dollars, in real trading.

The problem is, you wont find many systems that qualify.

Youll normally be given a hypothetical track record. Although these systems havent actually been traded buy the vendor, you can see if theyll work for you, by paying attention to the following points:

. Is it tracked in real time? Some ratings agencies do this and calculate profit and loss. This is almost as good as a real time track record - and well worth considering.

. If the system isnt tracked in real time, then dont buy it - move on!

Anyone can produce a track record knowing the closing prices - and most vendors do this - and hope youre naive enough to buy it. The track records are simply made up, and not worth your consideration.

In conclusion, a currency-trading system either must make real profits, or be tracked in real time - to show that the logic that provides the trading signals is soundly based.

2. The logic

Make sure you understand the logic (even if the system is successful). The reason for this is, you must have confidence in the trading systems ability to make money even when it hits a losing streak.

If you dont understand the system, then you wont have confidence in it - and youll lack the discipline to follow the system. If you dont have the discipline to follow a Forex trading system, then you dont really have a system at all!

3. Personality

Some systems require you to make subjective judgements, whilst other systems are totally objective - you must decide which suits you the best. In addition, are you a patient trader? If so, a long-term system will suit you. If youre impatient, then go for a swing trading system.

You also need to look at the worst peak to valley drawdown, using the systems track record. What is the worst loss you would have taken? - And how long did it take to recover?

Are you comfortable with it? Always assume the worst drawdown is to come - and be prepared for it.

Finally, how much work does the trading system need to operate - and do you have sufficient time to operate the system?

4. Find out about the vendor

How long have they been in business? Are they traders themselves?

Ask many questions - and carefully analyse the responses - to see if the vendors answers makes you feel comfortable.

Are they the type of people who you are comfortable working with? Do you think that youll get support when you need it? Start asking questions and youll soon find out!

5. Guarantee

Never buy a currency trading system without a guarantee of satisfaction.

Most vendors who have confidence in their system will give you a money back guarantee and sufficient time to test the system. You should also carefully check the terms and conditions of the guarantee and if you're not happy with them, pass the system by. Somebody will be offering another new trading system for sale before long!

Final Words

Successful currency trading systems are out there - you just have to find them. If you do find a good trading system, it can pay back the purchase price hundreds, maybe even thousands of times over.

Grab 5 FREE Trader PDF's and get the support you need to trade like a pro with our user-friendly multi-lingual learn forex trading. Get up to date financial news, real-time market prices, tight pip spreads, built-in risk management system, and 24-hour professional support. Grab your FREE PDF's NOW:
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Next Auction Could Send Uranium Higher

No transactions were reported for the week ending February 9, according to Nuclear Market Review (NMR). As a result, the TradeTech spot uranium price indicator remained unchanged at US$75/pound. Market participants are focused on the upcoming auction by a U.S. uranium producer, wrote NMR editor Treva Klingbiel. She explained approximately 100 thousand pounds of U3O8 could be offered for sale by the end of February.

During this past week, several buyers submitted bids for 208 thousand pounds of U3O8 to a single seller. The U3O8, contained in an enriched uranium product, had been previously offered to the market. According to NMR, the seller is now evaluating those bids.

There is going to be upward pressure on prices, TradeTech chief executive Gene Clark told StockInterview. While uranium buyers want to lock in fixed price contracts, sellers want to be paid the going rate at the time of delivery. Because sellers expect rising prices in the months ahead, a significant gap exists between them, Clark told us.

Despite a quiet week absent any transactions or new demand, the existing demand remained firm. Klingbiel wrote, 15 utilities (are) currently evaluating offers or seeking to purchase almost 54 million pounds in the long-term uranium market. Nine buyers continue to collectively seek 4.5 million pounds U3O8 equivalent. But Klingbiel also cautioned, Approximately one-half of this demand is discretionary.

While no transactions were reported in the conversion or enrichment markets, utilities are evaluating offers and sellers are evaluating bids in both markets. For example, one U.S. utility continues to evaluate offers received in January for delivery of almost 3 million SWU; another is evaluating December offers for 1 million SWU. Long-term SWU remains at US$137.

Year-to-date (YTD) transaction volume is seasonally slow, but more quiet than usual. Over the past twelve years, YTD transaction volumes were higher, by early February, than in any other year except 1997.

TradeTech, through its predecessor NUEXCO, was the first organization to publish uranium prices, beginning in August 1968. After publishing the spot and long-term uranium price in Nuclear Market Review, TradeTech reports the weekly spot uranium indicator on the consulting services website.

Timing is everything for many of the junior uranium companies, and the timing of the next spot uranium auction may not get better than this. Many juniors hope to showcase their companys developments and future plans at the annual PDAC Convention, often issuing their strongest news before the event commences.

This is the Diamond Anniversary event, being held in Toronto and starting March 4th. For 75 years, prospectors and developers have met to exchange stories, gossip and plans for the coming year. Teck Cominco (NYSE: TCK) is the diamond sponsor. Often, many of the juniors strongly rally into the first few days of the conference.

COPYRIGHT 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

James Finch contributes to StockInterview and other publications. His focus on the uranium mining and nuclear fuel sector resulted in the widely popular Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market, which is now available on http://www.stockinterview.com and on http://www.amazon.com TradeTech posts the weekly spot uranium price on the companys website at http://www.uranium.info

The Monster Traffic Way Of Currency Exchange

In the advent of globalization, the name of the game is not money alone. Can we include currency exchange? In historical times, the mode of exchange is by bartering a valuable object with the desired other object. Currently, this may exist informally but vaguely, an item for sale would more or less be worth a sum of money.

But as the world transactions come in complexity, where the value of an economy is determined by the amount of its reserved wealth, money is a very broad traffic in commerce and all walks of living. Currency exchange comprises the biggest transaction in the world market. Each country has adopted its own unit as home currency, but with their independence from each other, they differ in economic standing based on many factors. The worth of their currencies against the other is the EXCHANGE RATE. Foreign Exchange goes with the acronym FOREX.

To understand the value of home currency, it is always comparable with another currency foreign to it. The most common way of expressing it is by Price Currency. A very simple example figure is this:

1 US Dollar ($) = 0.69 British Pound Sterling

The fluctuation of a currency is solely based on the demand of its supply. The more transactions are made with it, the more it becomes valuable. If there is less demand for the currency, it devalues fast, thus it will have an impact on its rate value. Primarily, this is observed generally in terms of countrys economic standing. If its people have the most employment, there are more needs for commodities and supplies that businesses are revolving as well as it use of money. Once currency is valuable, the interest rate is high which can also attract other investors to take chance on buying it.

A powerful currency would mean consistent price rate that does not devalue in a long period of time. In playing the game with foreign exchange buying, sometimes it is difficult for banks themselves to control those who manipulate them into selling the reserves, which in a way have impact on the countrys financial status. Several scenarios make a great decline of currency value like political uncertainties, unemployment that leads to higher inflation, other relevant issues that can hamper commerce and business from functioning well, and other macro-economic situations.

So far, the five most traded currencies in the world are the following:

• US Dollar
• Euro
• Japanese Yen
• British Pound Sterling
• Swiss Franc

EURO, a new currency that hit the market after its birth in 1999, is almost speculated a threat to US dollar. And yet the latter (US$) is still the highest with its 89% rate of world transaction, which dwarfed the rest to the fraction left. Still, no matter how insignificant a certain currency may be, the monetary flow is a big volatile traffic that literally flows like liquid around the world though it may seem unnoticed.

It may appear that Foreign Exchange Retailing seem to have the edge in terms of acquiring currencies, but actually, it turns out that there should be ways of marginalizing these businesses to balance the flow of currency exchange, which in a big overview, these retailers may take hidden charges for their own gain.

Without noticing, it is clear that no matter how small transactions are, negotiations play a big part on currency exchange jam, which any civilized world has embraced for centuries.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides currency exchange resources on http://www.aboutcurrencyexchange.info.

Learn Forex Before You Decide To Trade

If you think youd like to learn Forex trading, youre not alone. Forex trading has become the next big thing in the individual investors bag of money making tricks, and those who have been attempting to master the art of day trading stocks for years are looking at Forex trading as a much easier way to enhance their incomes.

Anyone can learn Forex trading strategies; the difficulty lies in taking what one has learned and putting it to work in the real world of instantaneous decisions required of every successful Forex trader.

The reason the Forex market exists is to ease the path of international commerce as global corporations, banks, governments, hedge funds, and financial institutions exchange huge amounts of foreign currencies with each other.

And as international commerce has grown, so has the amount of currency being exchanged each day on the Forex market. To learn Forex trading is to become part of the largest financial market in the world; the total currencies exchanged daily exceed $1.9 trillion USD. Most currency exchange transactions dollars are between one and ten million USD, but much larger amounts are not unusual.

Forex Deliveries
When you learn Forex trading you will become familiar with the differences between spot and forward deliveries. Your spot Forex trades will lead to a completed currency trade in two business days, whereas a forward Forex trade will be made based on a completion date which will not occur for a up to a year, or sometimes longer. By allowing forward Forex trades, banks can control the future flows of foreign currencies, protecting their own currency from extreme fluctuations in the exchange rates.

One of the thing you will discover when you learn Forex trading is that the currency markets have no brick-and-mortar locations like the NYSE and London Stock Exchange do. Forex trading is done entirely over the telephone or the Internet, via a network of electronic links extending into all the large urban areas of the world.

There is a trio of big players in the Forex market, and it consists of corporations, brokers, and banks. Global corporations are active in currency trading because they need to purchase foreign currency in order to do business around the world.

Other Lessons In Forex Trading
Those who wish to learn Forex trading should go into the process understanding that just as global political and economic conditions have a great effect on the currencies market, the volatility of the currencies market has a similar effect on global political and economic conditions.

As a countrys currency value rises or falls, so rises or falls its ability to compete on the global commercial scene. If a currency is devalued, its citizens will experience inflation because items imported in to e country would have cost more to purchase. And because the local currency has been devalued, the amount of more expensive foreign currency for which it can be exchanged will decrease.

But a domestic currency rapidly escalating in value will mean that imported goods are cheaper, so inflation will drop and the local currency will purchase more of a foreign currency because of its better exchange rate.

You can also find more info on Trading Forex and e-Forex Trading. e-forextradingsystem.com is a comprehensive resource to know about e-Forex Trading System.

Real Estate Investing By the Numbers:Part 2

As we now recover from the long holiday and consuming way too much turkey and stuffing, real estate investor minds come back to the plans that they will be making for 2007. Having talked to many investors during our recent appearance in NYC, I have discovered that many people have been in active in 2006 but are really planning on gearing up in 2007. Why? It seems to be a combination of a strong believe among experts and novices alike that 2008 will be the return of solid real estate market conditions and thus 2007 is a great year to pick up good values. Quite frankly, we concur.

In addition to the normal New Year's resolutions that you make, I highly encourage you to add one more to your list that you will actually keep.. LEARN TO BECOME A GOOD INVESTOR. During the time that our web site has been in existence, I have met many clients and investors who are all very bright and I know that they do some complicated things in their day job like surgery, education, law, etc., etc. What surprises me however is that many people feel that investing is rocket science. Having been a scientist and actually worked on a rocket, trust me when I tell you that investing is far, far from rocket science on the complexity scale. Most of real estate investing is just good old common sense that once you see it, you feel kind of silly for thinking that it was so complicated.

One of the common themes among many professional people I meet is that they are just too busy to learn what is needed. They go on to tell us that all they want to do is find somebody they trust and then take their advice.. Kind of like I don't want to learn medicine if I have a threatening ailment. While I agree with that for many things in life, for important issues like your health, your family's financial future, your children's education, etc., I believe a much healthier approach is to find a provider that you trust but learn enough to get comfortable with what they tell you. That way you have a much stronger conviction when you make a decision other than "gee, this doctor recommends this approach" or "wow, I will buy this property because Dr. Anderson sounded really excited". I hate to be the bearer of bad news but for both those decisions, you will wake up one morning a few months down the road going "did I make the right choice?" If you understand why you made that choice, then that thought will rapidly disappear and not be a hurdle. On the other hand, if you don't understand why you made that choice, you are in for some mental roller coasters.

As part of our push in 2007 to create a small, but extremely well educated investor community, let me now get off my soapbox and describe the next piece of investing by the numbers.

What You Need To Know

In our last article, we described the four key parameters that any real estate investor needs to know to evaluate a project. Just as a reminder, they are

1. Purchase Equity.

2. Annual Appreciation (%)

3. Annual Cashflow

4. Special Tax Situations

In our live workshop in NYC, we recently covered how you can sit at your desktop and get this information. For our projects, we provide this information to you but I believe it is really good to see one time how to actually do that and that it makes sense. Then, when you are looking at a property where information has been provided to you, then you can always go back and double check any piece that may not make sense. In late January early February, we will be conducting multi-city tours where you can come out and meet us live and we will teach this content. Please go to this page to tell us the large city that you live next to and give us a contact email if you would like to attend.

Calculating Cash On Cash Returns And Yearly Returns

One of the standard measures of many investments is what is called cash-on-cash returns. This is just a fancy word that says what % gain do I get for holding an investment. For example, let's say that you plunk down $20,000 in down payment and closing costs on a real estate investment and let's say in 2 years, you get back $65,000 after reselling with all expenses included; i.e., you have a $45,000 net profit.

The cash on cash return for this is simply:

COC(%) = 100%* 45000/20000 = 225%

One problem of this measure is that it does not take into account the time-value of money; that is, if I made that in 2 years versus 20 years, it makes a huge difference. So suppose in this example we plunked down $20K, got a simple interest return the first year, and then reinvested that gain with the same interest. Now what interest rate would accomplish this? A little more complicated to calculate but the annual rate of return to produce this is just a little of 80%. To see this, you can do the following:

Year 0: $20,000

Year 1: $20000*(1+80.2%) = $36,055

Year 2: $36055*(1+80.2%) = $65,000

If you are still in the mindset of 2004/2005 that you can plunk down $5,000 on something and make $75,000 in 6 months by flipping, then I wish you the best of luck. This is just not realistic except for a few needles in the haystack. On the other hand, if you are comfortable with making 30-40% per year on your money over a 2-5 year time frame, then that is very realistic and can be done with low risk.

So when we evaluate potential opportunities, one of the first parameters that we are looking at is this yearly return and we like to see 30%+. As we will discuss next week, this is not the only factor to consider but it is certainly one of the top 3.

Dr. Chris Anderson is the founder of one of the largest preconstruction groups on the internet today and is referenced in many venues including the New York Times and USA Today. Get access to wholesale property investments today

Trading Futures Contracts - How It Works

Trading is a simple process. Connect to the Internet and log onto your brokers web site. Choose the contract you wish to trade and display its details on your screen.

You are presented with two buttons - Buy and Sell. There are actually different ways to enter Buy/Sell orders, but we keep it simple here.

To bet that the price will go up, press the Buy button to enter a Long trade. The trade is ended by pressing the Sell button.

To bet that the price will go down, press the Sell button first to enter a Short trade. The trade is ended by pressing the Buy button.

As an example, one of the Dow Jones futures contracts trades at $5 per point.

The market is moving up and the trader decides to take a Long trade, pressing the Buy button when the index is at 11,600. 20 minutes later the index is at 11,640. The trader presses the Sell button, making $200 profit - the index went up 40 points at $5 per point.

Suppose that, after 5 minutes, the index has dropped to 11,580. The trader could press the Sell button to close the trade with a $100 loss - the index dropped 20 points losing $5 per point.

In a weak market, the trader might decide to take a Short trade, pressing the Sell button with the index at, say, 11,600. If half an hour later the index has dropped 100 points to 11,500, the trader could press the Buy button to close the trade, and book $500 profit - a 100 point drop at $5 per point.

If the assumption of weakness turns out to be wrong and 20 minutes after the start of the trade the market is up 30 points, the trade might be closed by pressing the Buy button and taking the 30 point loss - $150 - the index gained 30 points losing $5 per point.

In summary, Long trades make money if the price rises and lose money if the price falls. The opposite applies for Short trades.

Before trading, there must be a minimum amount of money deposited in your trading account. This is called the margin. It is not the same for different contracts. For example, the day trading margin for a soybeans contract is currently $675 at my broker, but it is $1,406 for the Dow Jones contract which is perceived as more risky.

If you are losing on a trade you may reach a point where your balance no longer covers the required margin for the position you are in. If this occurs, your broker may either close your position without consulting you, or contact you requesting that you immediately deposit more money to cover the margin. That is a margin call.

The broker charges you a fee every time you press the Buy or Sell button. That is the brokerage fee. My broker charges $2.40.

David Bennett trades US commodity futures from his home on the Gold Coast in Australia. He provides coaching and mentoring services for people wanting to start trading for themselves. Visit http://www.12oclocktrades.com to read more futures trading articles.

Fibonacci Numbers - How to Use Them for Huge Trading Profits!

The Fibonacci numbers sequence and the golden ratio have fascinated mathematicians for hundreds of years.

While Fibonacci numbers have many applications, they have received considerable interest from traders due to their uncanny accuracy in spotting market turning points in advance.

You can use Fibonacci numbers as a predictive tool and when used correctly they can enhance a your analysis of the market, helping you to increase profits and decrease risk.

The History of Fibonacci Numbers

The Fibonacci number sequence first appeared as the solution to a problem in the Liber Abaci, a book written by Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202 to introduce the Hindu-Arabic numerals used today to a Europe still using Roman numerals.

The original problem in the Liber Abaci posed the question: How many pairs of rabbits can be generated from a single pair, if each month each mature pair brings forth a new pair, which, from the second month, becomes productive.

The Fibonacci number Sequence

The resulting Fibonacci numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, are the result of the following equation.

If Fn is the nth Fibonacci number, then successive terms are formed by addition of the previous two terms, as Fn+1 = Fn + Fn-1, F1 = 1, F2 =

The ratio of any number to the next larger number is 62%, which is a popular Fibonacci retracement number. The inverse of 62% is 38%, and this 38% is likewise a Fibonacci retracement number.

Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio

Fibonacci numbers are found to have many relationships to the Golden Ratio F = (1 + /5)/2, a constant of nature which was of constant interest to the ancient Greeks, appearing in both Greek art and architecture.

Fibonacci Numbers and Market Analysis

Changes in stock prices are not simply a tug of war between supply and demand but also reflect human opinions, valuations, and expectations.

A study carried out by mathematical psychologist Vladimir Lefebvre demonstrated that humans exhibit positive and negative evaluations of the opinions they hold in a ratio that approaches phi, with 61.8% positive and 38.2% negative and that Fibonacci numbers are rooted in a traders psychology.

Predicting Market Movements with Fibonacci Numbers

Research shows markets as being perfectly patterned, explaining that humans, being part of nature, create perfect geometric relationships in their behaviours, even if they dont realize it themselves.

The Golden Mean is the number 0.618. In Both Greek and Egyptian cultures, this number was highly significant. They believed that the number had important implications in many areas of science and art. This dimension was utilised in the construction of many buildings - including the pyramids.

The Golden Mean appears frequently enough in the timing of highs and lows and price resistance points that adding this tool to technical analysis of the markets can help to identify key turning points.

W. D.Gann and Fibonacci Numbers

Gann was a stock and commodity trader who reputedly made over $50 million trading the markets.

Gann made his fortune using methods which he developed for trading instruments based on relationships between price movement and time and his work was heavily influenced by Fibonacci numbers.

Gann divided price action into eighths and thirds. This yields numbers such as 1/3, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, and 2/3. In percentage terms, these fractions are 33.3%, 37.5%, 50%, 62.5%, and 66.7%. These five ratios are commonly used retracement values. Gann placed strong significance on 50% retracements.

To learn more about using Gann trading methods please visit our web site: http://www.gann.co.uk

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.

Getting That Car Loan.:A Warning - Make Sure You Have A Set Budget

Getting approved for a loan is always the ultimate goal when you apply and it can be tough if you don't know the ropes. Several alternatives can make it easier for you though. You can always go the bank or credit union route for approval. This process of course will scrutinize your credit rating closely. It will greatly improve your chances of going through if you have steady income, a good job history, and a favorable credit report.

A Warning

It's no secret that sometimes choosing how the car is going to paid for can be more difficult than choosing the car itself. What makes it so difficult is there are what seems like an endless array of financing options to choose from. Some options are going to be good, and others are not going to be as favorable. You can either end up with the car of your dreams, or you can walk out with a loan deal that will leave you upside down-thus affecting your financial peace of mind for years to come.

More and more people are finding themselves upside down in their new car purchases, especially people with credit problems. The car dealer shows you a car that deep down, you know you can't afford...until he shows you how you can! Don't fall for it. You can easily end up in a lease or worse an 72 month loan!

First Things First, Budget!

Before you go to the car lot, do an honest budget. Calculate your net income (what you actually bring home after taxes and other deductions) and deduct all your bills and see how much free cash you have per month. If paying for a car and insurance will leave you at zero available cash for an emergency, you need to budget a little harder and cut financial corners where you can.

So you think you qualify for that beautiful car on the showroom floor? Think again...very carefully. Even though you may be told that the numbers indicate that you qualify, you still may not be able to afford it. This is where honesty should take center stage. Your thoughts should be centered on what the monthly payment is going to be, and how you're going to make the payment each month. Be patient, go through as many offers possible before committing. The real prize will be to walk away with the car of your choice and a low-interest loan to pay back.

If you belong to a credit union, this should be a good place for you to start looking. Credit Unions can offer some great rates for members. Another option is to go online. The loans are about as diverse and numerous as the websites themselves. There are a lot of competitive deals to be found. Online shopping only takes a moment of your time, and based on your present credit, may be able to give you a better deal than a dealership can.

Then there is the dealership car loan. A lot of people will warn you about this route, and often with good cause. But, if you do your homework and walk in with options in hand, you will be negotiating from a position of power. Make sure you're up on any dealer rebates as well. In the end, dealerships know they have a great deal of competition, and will do what is necessary to make the loan go through.

There will of course be those of who don't want to commit to a lengthy car loan deal. For the chosen few, there is always the leasing option. You may find your payments to be a lot lower, because you actually wind up paying for depreciation, and not equity. Be careful on this one so that you don't end up with overpayment for overage fees, which can sneak up on you. Do the homework, and you'll come out the real winner.

Liz Roberts is a loan consultant with NewHorizon Finance and has been providing consumers and business owners with financing since 1989. Bad Credit? Join our mailing list for tips on building and repairing your credit yourself without hiring a credit repair. For a list of unsecured bad credit credit cards click here. For a list bad credit auto loan lenders click here

Is Putting Real Estate in your Self-Directed IRA a Realistic Investment Choice?

The pursuit for a secure retirement has become progressively more difficult. Given the uncertainty of today's stock market in light of corporate governance failure on a massive scale with the Enron and WorldCom scandals, the poor recovery of investment because of the panic selling of stocks and bonds that have since wobbled their way back up, without bringing investors' funds with them and the political and economic uncertainty generated by the 'war against terrorism', it is not surprising that investors are looking for alternative choices to invest their retirement funds.

These days, many investors prefer to have a wider range of choices and the ability to diversify their retirement fund investments outside the poorly performing, so called conservative choices of stocks and bonds, and into other areas. This has resulted in a massive expansion in the market for self-directed IRAs.

Oftentimes the phrase self-directed IRA is tossed around by prominent investment firms and is only narrowly understood by the majority IRA investors. Unbeknownst to many self directed IRA investors many investment firms would have them believe that the term self-directed IRA only refers to the ability to choose which stocks, bonds and mutual funds they can buy. Fortunately, there is more to this narrative.

In contrast, a growing culture of investors is educating themselves on their investment alternatives and they are now starting to invest in real estate and other non-traditional assets. Indeed, any legitimate business investment is open to them both as single investors and undertaking group investments. If you know what you are doing or have expert advice in the area, it is possible even with low cash reserves to diversify retirement portfolios and in particular to capitalize on the growing real estate industry for example.

Most conventional financial planners don't offer truly self directed IRA plans since they may operate under plan documents which only allow investors to invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Nor is it in their interest to do so. Their commission structures are set up to favor investment in the financial markets whether this is in the best interest of the investor or not. Which means their advice is hardly objective.

Of course, this is not advising that investors completely abandon stock market offerings, merely that they do not keep all their eggs in one basket. Just as stock markets rise and fall so can real estate prices. But diversifying your investments minimizes the risk on your returns.

Procuring real estate for investment purposes with an IRA provides several favorable tax breaks. A Roth IRA allows the investor to benefit from tax deferral while it is growing and to be free from tax on distribution in contrast to a traditional IRA which is taxed at time of distribution. Nor is there a minimum distribution and investors can also continue to pay into Roth IRAs which can be of benefit if they intend to pass them to their heirs (which can be done without taxation). In addition, unlike 1031 exchanges, there are no specified investment timeframes or requirements to procure 'like kind' investments. Finally, capital gains tax is not applied since taxation does not occur until distribution.

All of these factors contribute to making real estate investment with IRA funds very tempting. However, it is not something that should be undertaken lightly nor should investors, unless they are experts in their own right in the tax and investment laws, undertake for themselves, due to the strict and sometimes complex legislation imposed through the IRS. Otherwise they may find themselves exposed to penalties and taxes. Just as you choose a traditional financial advisor when looking into stock and mutual fund investments you should also look a properly qualified self-directed IRA advisor.

First, traditional financial advisors are not usually best placed to give advice on real estate investment. While they have a good understanding of stocks and shares, they have very little experience of the real estate market. Instead, you should look for an advisor who can help you structure IRA and real estate entities, evaluate investment opportunities and avoid infringing self directed IRA rules in setting up investments.

Your IRA advisor will need to have extensive knowledge of self-directed rules and the expertise to implement complex deals plus a good strong background in real estate and real estate development. Because, while an investment in a single property is probably no more difficult than buying your own home, using private funds, especially self-directed IRA funds to invest in real estate developments, real estate lots, purchasing apartment communities and other larger scale real estate investments is something that most people don't have the requisite knowledge to undertake.

A good example is rehabilitating individual residential real estate. If you have never undertaken this kind of work, it can be a very risky business. Without substantial amount of real estate investment experience, you can easily lose your IRA retirement money. It is very important to have an appropriate real estate advisor who understands where to find to good real estate opportunities and knows what a realistic real estate investment and realistic rate of return is and how to appropriately manage a real estate rehabilitation or real estate development project from start to finish. Mainstream do-it-yourself TV shows showing rehabilitation projects are a case in point as the majority of people go over budget during the rehabilitation and the majority of times lose money. Don't let this happen to your retirement.

Ability to offer advice has to be accompanied by permissibility to offer advice. A self directed IRA custodian (as opposed to a self directed IRA advisor) may not offer any investment advice to an investor. It is prohibited. They must maintain a neutral position and can only give you advice on the IRS regulations and their firm's investment policies. Therefore, an IRA custodian cannot offer advice on real estate transactions, which is a good thing because their primary purpose is to hold account holders monies.

In short, real estate investment is a realistic option for most investors looking to diversify their holdings, but the key to benefiting from it is getting the right advice from the right source.

Joshua Geary with Asset Exchange Strategies is an avid writer, business strategist and online marketing consultant. For more information on how you can get checkbook control of your IRA and turn your self directed IRA into a wealth magnet visit the link.

Online Stocks - Swing or Stay the Day

Online traders enjoy the convenience of being just a click away from buying or selling. As they become more sophisticated in trading strategies, traders may consider which approach they prefer; day trading or swing trading. The major issue is timeframe whether you prefer rapid fire trades or longer term investing.

Day traders are geared for instant gratification or instant desperation depending on the success of the transaction. The day trader may follow a few stocks or skip around within an industry to take profits from sudden swings in the market. This strategy eliminates exposure from holds. It can be an exhausting process, sitting at the computer screen intensely for hours. Frequent trading can pile up big bills for trading fees. Thus for day traders trading fast also means trading smart. When not at the computer screen, the dedicated day trader is wired to information using notifications sent to the cell phone or other mobile electronic device. Almost like the thrill of a hunt, day traders are driven by the excitement as well as the profits from beating other traders to a winning score.

The swing trader searches for cycles and hopes to be on the right side of the cycle for maximum profits. Swing traders make use of technical analysis in trading decisions. The swing trader may use options and future as well as stocks. With this approach, the swing trader does not make as many trades in a given day as a day trader does. Waiting for that right opportunity increases the risk of each trade. But the willingness to avoid jumping at fluctuations rather than trends is part of the strategy. Also the swing trader spends less in trading fees and commissions by trading less often.

Another variation is the long term swing trading strategy. The long term swing trader counts on information from the indexes combined with fundamental and technical analysis to make trading decisions. The longer timeframe of weeks or months gives the long term swing trader some protection against those odd blips in the market day which are not real trends. Some stocks need time to level out, which can be missed by day traders. What the long term swing trader misses is the fast break day trading style; it can be made up with patience and persistence. Holding for longer periods definitely increases the risk, particularly for stocks in volatile industries. When the long term trader wins, its often a big win worth the patience.

Many online stock traders cut their teeth with day trading. Moving into the longer timeline of swing trading may seem slow at first, but also gives the trader great opportunity to become expert in one or two industries rather than being the generalist that some day traders attempt to be. The former buy and hold investor can find that long term swing trading gives the slower pace preferred with the chance of making profits from online trading.

Get your Momentum Stock Trading System and sign up for my free weekly online trading system newsletter here at: http://www.stressfreetrading.com

Weekly Markets Thoughts - August 12, 2007

The Fed kept again the interest rates unchanged. Is there any other choice? Well, not really and until it is possible the rates will be kept at these levels. The problem is that it is already very suicidal not to increase them as the inflation is accelerating more and more. On the other side, rising interest rates will block the not so robust American economy and will push it to a recession probably never seen beforeIt is a no win situation and the only thing to do for now is to postpone the disaster as long as possible, not to prevent it. And this is exactly what the Federal Reserve and its Chairman Ben Bernanke are doing.

The big story for the past week was that American Home Mortgage Investment filed for Chapter 11. Hey, everybody is looking surprised. Are you really? With all those mortgages given to people who have trouble to pay their grocery bills, is it surprising that they are not able to make their mortgages payments? And the absurdity of giving a 40 years mortgage to a 55-60 old year borrower? We have been to the extreme for sometime now and the bankruptcy of AHMI is just a little sign of what is lying ahead of us. It is a little warning wave. The tsunami is not here yet but it is approaching faster than most of us can imagine. As I said in one of my previous commentaries, we are not there yet. Those of you who are overloaded with mortgages of two, tree or more properties, you still have the time to reposition and better diversify your investments. For another 12-18 months we have the opportunity to rethink our investment portfolios and hedge our assets value.

The stock markets are still in a correction mode but nothing significant. Most of them crossed support levels and are going down further. It is still within the expectations. There is room for a further decrease but no place for worries. Not for now. The fall will push them back up and 2008 is expected to be a very profitable year. And probably the last one for a long, long time.

The currencies are consolidating and preparing for the next move up. The US dollar index is staying around 80.50 and is going to improve a little bit. Nothing major!

The commodities are the only stable place to be now and for the years to come. They will be your lifeline - the only hedge against inflation and economic collapses. Gold and silver are building a very solid support and the next move up should be very impressive. Crude oil is correcting from its recent highs but has room to rise further. The fall season is usually very good for commodities and this fall will not be an exception. Do your research or ask your financial advisor for help.

Best regards and good investing,

Stefan Penkov

http://www.investinghelptoday.com

Disclaimer: Stefan Penkov is not a registered investment advisor.The opinions and statements made in the above publication are the result of extensive research and are believed to be accurate and from reliable sources. The contents are my current opinion only, further more conditions may cause my opinions to change without notice. The insights herein published are made solely for international and educational purposes. The contents in this publication are not to be construed as solicitation or recommendation to be used for formulation of investment decisions in any type of market whatsoever. WARNING share market investment or speculation is a high risk activity. Investors enter such activity at their own risk and must conduct their own due diligence to research and verify all aspects of any investment decision, if necessary seeking competent professional assistance.

Wall Street to Main Street: News, Views and Commentary: April 26, 2006

Its Wednesday April 26, 2006, and after President Bushs speech yesterday oil markets are still towing the line as the main catalyst is still the situation in Iran, the rising prices at the pump has a big question mark on it as the switch to the ethanol additive may partially be to blame.

The NAMC Newswires Wall Street to Main Street segment in its entirety is only available to subscribers. Dont miss out and Keep in mind that all subscriptions are free and will remain that way. All that you need to do is go to www.namcnewswire.com and add your email address to receive the full segments. We value your privacy and all email addresses are only used for NAMC related items and not shared with any third parties.

We want to hear from our readers/listeners, so drop us a line, maybe you have a question about a certain company or perhaps you want to introduce us to a company that we should know about.. All that you need to do is either shoot us out an email using our contact form on our website at www.namcnewswire.com or give us a call toll free at 888-463-9237 between the hours of 6:30pm and 12am weekdays. Your question could be a part of the Wall Street to Main Street radio show that is syndicated daily.

Remember that you can always listen to the NAMC Radio on Streetiq.com, the leader in financial podcast. www.streetiq.com and is also available on iTunes.

Political Front

Twin suicide attacks targeting security personnel rocked northern Sinai near the Gaza Strip today, two days after triple bombings killed at least 18 people in a resort further south.

It looks as though Fox News Tony Snow will be named White House press secretary by President Bush at some point this morning, an excellent replacement for Bush.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to Iraq to show support for the country's emerging new government.

Added note:

The film about United Flight 93 that depicts the events of September 11 has premiered at the Tribeca Film and over 90 relatives of the victims of Flight 93 attended the premiere. Robert DeNiro acknowledged the presence of the relatives and the nature of the film as he addressed the audience before the showing.

On a personal note, being a New Yorker and seeing first hand the devastation that day, almost losing my wife in the WTC and attending countless wakes, I have to say that even though for most this may be a hard film to watch, it is a story that must be told so that we do not forget those that were lost and those heroes that never made it back home. I have yet to see the film but for Robert DeNiro to allow it to be shown at the Tribeca Film festival it had to be worthy.

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Movers and Shakers

Some major movers in yesterday's trading session include Pope and Talbot (NYSE: POP) which traded up $1.29 to close at $7.05, Great American Financial (NYSE: GFR) which traded up $2.53 to close at $22.65, Millipore Corp (NYSE: MIL) which traded up $5.90 to close at $75.25, NewMil Bancorp (NASDAQ: NMIL) which traded up $10.92 to close at $39.83, NurtiSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI), a company that is in its zone with summer creeping ever so close, the stock traded up $17.31 to close at $68.01, Serologicals (NASDAQ: SERO) which traded up $7.83 to close at $31.15, Zoran Corp (NASDAQ: ZRAN) which traded up $6.50 to close at $29.13 and Indymac Bancorp (NYSE: NDE) which traded up $5.94 to close at $75.99.

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Tid Bits

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) ripped through 1st quarter projections with a 48% rise in profits beating the analyst estimate and still the stock of the heavy machinery company was pounded yesterday as it closed at $74.93 down $2.45. But just like Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), this company was oversold and for all intents and purposes is still at a discount as it has to potential to go into the double digits this year.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) is not only a company to watch as earnings are on the way but its a stock to own. With major contracts being signed with China as of late its only a matter of time before that relationship grows a lot stronger, one other avenue of growth is Boeing tapping into the other emerging market India. So there are a lot of opportunities for growth as the stock has the potential to be a $100 stock in the next 6 to 12 months.

Amazon.coms (NASDAQ: AMZN) earnings slide down over 35% as they announced 1st quarter earnings of 12 cents per share, compared with $78 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. They painted a colorful picture as they gave some guidance for future quarters but proceed with caution as competition is going to get fierce in 2006/07 and the rising oil prices will drive up their shipping cost and will eat into their earning ability..

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FURIOUS FIVE

This is the third of our Furious Five companies that we see excelling in their industry in 2006. Our third addition to this weeks Furious Five is Power Integrations Inc (NASDAQ: POWI) it trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol POWI.

To get our outlook on the Furious Five and other vital information about this company and others, just subscribe to Wall Street to Main Street FREE at www.namcnewswire.com

We cannot stress enough that investors need to do their due diligence, call the companies, get the information, consult with your investment advisor and if you do not have one consider getting one. Put the same time into investigating these companies as you do when you go to purchase a new television, its only for your protection. When it comes to thinly traded securities stagger your orders or put a limit order in to avoid a run up.

NAMC Newswire Note

Go to the NAMC Newswire for updates at www.namcnewswire.com and you can listen to the NAMC Radio for the audio version of Wall Street to Main Street at www.namcnewswire.com/namcradio

To register to receive the Wall Street to Main Street Free Daily Newsletter Click Here or go to our site and click on the Newsletter section. www.namcnewswire.com/newsletter CEOs that want to contact us can do so by going to www.namcnewswire.com or call us at 888-463-9237.

Louis Victor NAMC Newswire 888-463-9237

Disclaimer: None of the information contained on the NAMC Newswire constitutes a recommendation by the NAMC Newswire, its journalist, nor its parent company that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific investors or person. Each individual investor must make their own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy featured on the NAMC Newswire or NAMC Radio Any past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. The NAMC Newswire, its journalist nor its parent company does not guarantee any specific outcome or profit, and all investors should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments featured on the NAMC Newswire or the NAMC Radio. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and investors may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information featured on the NAMC Newswire website or the NAMC Radio segment, investors should consider whether it is suitable for their particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from their own financial or investment adviser. Investors are also urged to do their own due diligence before investing in any security.

All opinions featured on the NAMC Newswire or NAMC Radio are based upon information that is considered to be reliable, but neither the NAMC Newswire, its journalist, its parent company, affiliates nor assigns warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. The statements and opinions featured on the NAMC Newswire by its journalist are based on their outlook at the time of the statement or opinion, and are subject to change without notice. NAMC may at times hold a position in the companies that it features, in these cases appropriate disclosure is made.

Louis Victor is the host of the syndicated podcast show and financial newsletter "Wall Street to Main Street" which is featured on the NAMC Newswire Radio. He has been involved in the financial industry for over two decades, on the retail and investment banking ends. He is also well versed in the advertising and marketing industries, which has given him insight into market trends and unqiue companies that may be under the radar.

Finding A Good Stock

One of the things people are always asking me is how can I find a good stock. The answer I give does not please them. I say, "You are not qualified to pick stock. You don't know how so don't try. Put your money in a no-load mutual fund that is going up".

The next cry is, "I don't want to buy mutual funds. What do I do?" OK, so I'll tell you. It is easy. You will have to do less than an hour of work. None of that Wall Street mythology about research which is all horse hockey. The way Wall Street does research is worthless. And don't listen to any broker. Advice from a broker is a eulogy for your money.

They want you to look at the company prospectus. This document isn't worth the paper it is printed on. It was not written for the investor; it was written to pass inspection by some Dilbert lawyer in Washington to see that it meets all the regulations. You can take a prospectus of a very good company and one of a company that has gone bankrupt and you will see they are almost identical. Throw them away.

Read the Annual Report. Another bit of smoke and mirrors. The title should tell you - Annual. Much of what is in it is a year old. Worthless. And let's hope it doesn't have a case of Enronitis.

Get a report from Morningstar. They know all about every financial statistic for a company that you can think of. You might even find out how many sugar lumps the CEO has in his coffee, but there is one thing you won't learn. If you buy this company's stock will it go up? What I am saying is that all the conventional wisdom methods of doing research are worthless. So what do you do?

On the Internet you can find a list of the best performing mutual funds. Go to www.smartmoney.com or www.yahoo/finance.com . There are other places also, but these 2 are very good. List the top 5 mutual funds (write down their symbols). Now go to www.bigcharts.com . Put in the symbol for one of the funds. A chart will come up giving you a picture of the price performance of that fund. If it is going up at a 25-degree angle or more it means the fund manager is doing a good job of picking stocks. At the top of the chart picture there is a legend for Morningstar. Click on that. The new page will show near the bottom the major holdings of this fund. Again you need to get the symbols for his top 5 stocks and look at the chart picture for each one. If that stock is going up in a nice steady price over a period of time of 6 months or longer you have found a winner. Do this with several funds until you have found some stocks you like.

You have let a professional stock picker do all the work for you and now can piggyback his expertise at no cost. Please remember that when that stock turns down you want to sell it. You may be able to ride one up, but you can never tell when it will turn into another Enron. Always be ready to sell.

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

The Six Sure-Fire Ways to Fail Trading Commodities, PART 5

Actual trading events where things went very wrong - and how to avoid them

The Six Sure-Fire Ways to Fail Trading Commodities:

5) Load Up With Everything You Have in Your Account

We’ve all read the same stuff about commodity trading money management...about how we should only risk 5-10% of our account one any single trading idea, etc. Much of the trading folklore is false, but this one idea is the truth.

During the last 2006 gold commodity market run up, I sometimes chatted with commodity futures brokers about the anonymous results of their clients who traded their own accounts. No names, just results. There was one futures and option trader who stood out. He was right about the gold market. He hated buying way out-of-the-money inflated options on futures (for good reason) and stayed with futures contracts only.

He was a brave soul who had about $100,000 to work with and held maybe 5 futures contracts for the long haul. As gold futures moved from the $500/oz area toward $650, he was making a good score. I was proud hearing of his ability to sit through the corrections and add more on the dips. He was up to about 12 futures contracts. His protective stops were down maybe 25 full points away from the action. His stops were safe at the time because the volatility was mild. His was a textbook campaign so far.

Then came the day when the gold futures market took its first sharp dip and stopped him out. He made about $60,000 on the trade, but was angry he got stopped out. The gold market took off again to the upside. He lost his discipline and started buying breakouts. Gold futures contracts went into a nasty chopping range for a month as he bought futures most days and got stopped out for losses.

He was livid. He then started buying larger and larger lots and moving his stops farther away. The market always figures a way to screw the majority at any one time and continued to take him out. In short order he gave back the $60K profit and some of his principal.

This was his second warning to stop and pull the plug on himself, but he didn’t get the message. The gold market had changed from a trending market to a chop. Finally he decided to change his tactics and join’em in the chop game. He started buying 20-lot futures in the middle of the night with stop loss orders a few dollars away. This wasn’t his game and he lost again, dropping another $50K. The market started to trend up again as he added more new money to his account to buy the breakouts. The days were running out for this gold bull leg. Gold future contracts were sometimes having daily swings of $50. It was totally Jaws V.

Then he decided he needed to buy gold call options to survive this intra-day and overnight volatility. He loaded up on strikes at 900 and 1000, far out-of-the-money. At about this time gold futures contracts finally made their top at over $700/oz as he correctly forecast in the beginning. He would have been up over $120K just by sitting tight.

Since that time, gold futures have declined sharply into the low $530 range. His option account eroded to worthless. While holding call options, he had gotten stubborn and decided the market would not boot him out, no matter what. Does this sound familiar?

What can we learn from this? He started out well, but unfortunately made a multitude of errors in the end. He had a fixed scenario, lost his discipline, traded too large for his account and bought far out-of-the-money gold options that were inflated in value. It’s sad, really. The saddest part is that he was correct on the direction of the gold futures market! He KNEW gold was going up and had started buying futures contracts in the lower $500/oz zone.

He was right as rain for several months and was doing fine. But the market changed from a trending, to a chopping, then finally to a bearish decline. This is quite normal in normal markets. Remember to always trade for a normal market! He was always looking for a classic gold-bug blow-off scenario. Sure it will happen again someday, but not often enough to risk money on it every time.

SOLUTION: The moral of this story is back to our 5%-10% money management rule. ALL the bad things in this tale could have been greatly softened if he risked only 10% or less on any one trading idea. He would still be trading. It’s no crime to get sloppy and lose our discipline. We are human and will always have trading issues. But an all-or-nothing attitude will sink us every time. (Read some of my lessons on "Win-Loss Ratios and Risk")

Part Six of Seven Parts - Next!

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

Thomas Cathey directs the managed futures division of Thomas Capital Management, LLC. Get FREE, the complete 44+ lesson, "Thomas Commodity Trading Course" by visiting: http://www.thomascapitalmanagement.com/commodity/welcome.htm It's brand new and fun reading... a "street-wise" trading e-course. Visit the main Thomas Capital Management trading website at: http://www.ThomasCapitalManagement.com

Success Trading for New Traders: What Does Bid and Ask Mean?

Do you ever wonder exactly whats going on in the trading pits after youve sent an order to purchase stock? Youve no doubt seen market quotes either online or even in the newspaper. Have you noticed that there are always two sets of prices given? What exactly do those mean and where will my order get filled? Lets discuss the basics of the two prices you see.

Lets say youre trading stocks. The first price (usually the one on the left) is called a bid. This is the price at which the market is offering to buy the stock. If you sell your stock at the market, this is the price that youll get. The second price (usually located on the right) is called the ask. This is the price at which the market will sell you the stock. If you submit an open order to buy shares at the market, you will get them for the ask price. Another element that comes into play sometimes is the size of the bid and ask. Usually, theres an order size that comes with the bid and ask. If that size is exceeded then the price will usually change and generally, that small price change will move slightly against you since you're creating a demand for that stock.

The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the spread. If you look at the spread of a large cap stock that trades over a million shares a day, and compare that to a small cap stock that only trades a thousand shares a day, youll see a huge difference. Stocks that are more liquid (or more activity) will have much smaller spreads than those with less activity. Thus, you will get a better fill (or deal) for a market order on a more liquid stock. One tool you can use to possibly improve your price is to use limit orders. If you want to buy XYZ at no more than $12 and the bid is $11.50 and the ask is $12.50, you can place a purchase order with a limit of $12. This means that the order wont be filled unless you can get it for $12 or better.

One word of caution with limit orders is that the market could run away without you if used with a buy order. And if your order is filled, youll be buying the stock on a downtick, which means it could be making a major move down. As a general rule, its not a good idea to use limit orders when selling stocks as the market could make a big move against you without ever hitting your limit price and youd be stuck with a big loss.

Chuck Cox is a Technical Writer and Industrial Scientist by professional with a background in statistics. He has used mathematical and statistical methods to invest and trade in the stock, futures, and options markets. Chuck has owned various businesses and presently operates several websites. To learn more about trading the markets, visit his website, http://www.earncashathometoday.com/trading-stocks.htm

Commodity Futures Day Trading The S&P 500 and E-Mini - Observations - PART 4

Not all conventional commodity trading folklore is correct. Some is and some isn't. Much is anecdotal. Most of it is designed to make you feel comfortable in a trade. Feeling "comfortable" is the fastest way to the poorhouse in commodity trading. We are paid to provide liquidity and take on risk. Read on to see if you adhere to this basic and important market law.

More S&P 500 and E-Mini Futures Contract Observations: PART4

"The following e-mini futures action turned into a big chop, then a big rally the next day: After a clean out decline, wait for a series of bottoms with big volume buying activity. Wait for the sell-off to a bottom and sharp rally and then the volume dies. This is the safest place to buy. This was the forth bottom and the previous three bottoms had bearish volume patterns. The forth bottom changed - it had bullish volume patterns and then price rallied to the close."

It pays to step back and view the e-mini futures market in context. My notes keep repeating it's a mistake to buy the first panic spike. I'd gotten good at buying spikes and wondered why I always broke even or even lost doing it. Most of the time a huge e-mini futures climax is followed by several tries to test the bottom. It's easy to get chewed up in these bottom tests since they can last for several hours before a big turn.

The single spike low that holds and supports a big move was popular in the 90’s, but it seems to have been replaced by a series of double, triple and quadruple bottoms. Throughout the bottoming area, you will see a bearish volume pattern until near the end where it turns bullish within the formation. It’s often profitable to stay bearish and continue to sell rallies and cover at the bottom area. In fact, EXPECT big bottoms to be tested.

If you are early buying a bottom, don’t let these tests fake you out. If you are positioning long, expect them and even average in some more as long as the bottom area reasonably holds. The e-mini market may even spike the original low by one-half to a full point, but any more usually means a major break down and you want to be gone.

Remember that “major” e-mini day-trading lows occur only every 3-5 days or longer, so be selective when positioning for them. Personally, I have found big turning point positioning to be a waste of time and money from a day-trading point of view. It often leads to overnight holds and a bad next-day gap surprise. It’s better to let the longer term futures traders beat themselves up and get the occasional rewards. Playing these large, range-bound formations from the short side until they finally end is the best advice.

When the e-mini futures market starts trending, use this larger frame of reference (the recent bottom) to pick up a bias in a certain direction. Then simply buy the dips and exit at the climaxes over and over. After identifying a big turnaround, don’t try to outsmart the market by shorting or reversing your position against the trend.

This is a difficult idea to adhere to, because the e-mini market will always be having minor corrections and try to fool you into believing it’s turned back down. But after the minor correction is done, the market will move to new highs in line with the accumulation that took place in the last couple days.

Part Five of Five Parts - Next!

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

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

How to Work with Arbitrage Trading

Arbitrage trading to most people many seem confusing for someone a first, and look hard. Well its not as hard and confusing as most think. It is quite simple actually. Arbitrage trading is well known around the world, and has many millions of people money for years and years.

The number one reason why very few people choose to use arbitrage trading is because its time consuming, and takes a lot of work to find out the arbs, and how to calculate them to find out how much profits you will make. This is all true but in the passed two years there have been a number of programs popping up on the Internet.

These programs resolve all the problems that most people find in sports arbitrage trading. Not only does it make it automatic but it does everything that would take someone hours to do in only minutes time.

Sports arbitrage trading is betting against two different bookkeepers that disagree on a sporting event. If you tried to do this on your own you would have to find the arb that the bookkeepers create, calculate how much money you will make, and find out where to place your trade.

If you use a software program you will eliminate all of these. Arbitrage trading software programs find the arbs for you, find the bookkeepers, caudate all profits you will make. The money you make with arbitrage trading is mostly tax free, and you will gain 1 - 10% on each trade you place. You can place as many trades as you would like each day all day. Arbitrage trading can be done from any where in the world as long as you have access to the Internet. You do not need to know anything about sports or arbitrage trading. Most software programs come with a step by step guide how to use there program, and you can be up and running in a few hours.

Imagine taking $500 and using arbitrage trading to turn it into $1,500 or even more a month. Sounds to good to be true? Well its not millions of people are doing it, and why cant you? What can and extra $500 or $1000 or even more a month do for you? I know it could pay for my car payment or help pay some other bills I can think of a million things this extra money could do for me and my family.

Learn how I make over a $1,000 a month using arbitrage trading. It's easy to due, and makes money to pay the bills. Visit Sports Arbitrage Trading to find out more information.

Stock Market Advice For Picking Hot Stocks

The best Stock Market advice you will ever read is to learn from mistakes when someone else has made them. So, this stock market advice list I made a list of some of the most common trading mistakes that are made. Even I`ve made some of these. If you have already made some of the mistakes, you can rest assured that you aren`t alone in making them. If you haven`t made them, then here`s a way to get around having to learn by making the mistakes yourself, by reading my stock market advice list.

The Stock Market advice tip #1, and worst mistake that people make is that they believe trading is the easy answer, a way to get rich quickly. People will often expect to become wizards in the market overnight, but they fail to realize that trading is like any profession; you must learn how to do it first.

For example, would you attend a weekend doctor`s seminar and expect to conduct heart surgery on Monday? Of course not! I am shocked at what people expect when they go to a weekend trading seminar. They think they will create wealth without having to work, invest or think, and it just doesn`t happen that way.

After treating trading like a get rich quick scheme, my next stock market advice tip #2 and most common mistake, is to approach the market without a plan. Without a trading plan, traders approach the market in an inconsistent manner. One day they trade stocks and the next they trade the foreign exchange. Or, they may use one set of indicators one day, and the next day they will throw these indicators out the window and take on a completely new set. Without a consistent approach, the only thing governing their trading decisions is really emotions, and that will doom them to failure.

If a new trader has managed to skip these last two mistakes, they often fall down when they try to go it alone. This is my Stock Market advice #3, all traders should find themselves a coach, or a mentor. Someone who can help them spot the errors in their system that they might not have noticed. An outside point of view can help you avoid other costly mistakes, and greatly increase your profits.

These are some common and quite basic mistakes. The next errors I`ll mention are ones that are just as prevalent in the trading industry, but they often occur once traders have been around for a while. I have some personal experience with these mistakes. Let`s call this stock market advice list, the three most expensive mistakes I`ve made.

My stock market advice mistake tip #4, or the first most expensive mistake, I made was to search for the Holy Grail of trading. This was an incredible waste of both time and money. During the first three years of my trading career, I spent over $25,677 on a library full of books, videos and seminars as well as spending thousands of hours in search of the perfect trading methods. Honestly, 95% of what I bought was pure junk I should have listened to my mentor earlier and realized the Holy Grail of trading is simply excellent money management!

My stock market advice mistake tip #5 or the second most expensive mistake I made was not having a predefined exit point. Early in my trading career, I remember trading a stock I thought had a high percentage chance of rising. I was too confident. I fully leveraged the position. Unfortunately, when things did not go as planned, I did not know when to exit, and was paralysed. I kept rationalizing why I should hold onto that stock. As the stock continued to fall, I made more and more excuses. At the very end, I remember thinking, I can`t take it anymore!

I sold out. That, of course, was the point the stock turned.

I learned two very valuable lessons that day. First, always have your exit points predefined. Second, big losses once started out as small losses, and it is much easier to take a small loss than a big one.

My Stock Market advice mistake tip #6 or the last most expensive mistake, I made is not one that took money out of my pocket; instead it was a mistake that made me leave money on the table. In fact, this reoccurring mistake cost me big.

Early on, I remember selling positions as soon as they showed a profit. I would not let my profits run, as I was too afraid to give the money back to the market. I figured the profit as mine. The result was that I ended up selling the stocks that were making me money.

It wasn`t until my mentor explained to me that when you are trading, and showing a profit, that is the point where you should be adding to the position, not closing it out, that I began to understand what I was doing. Once I started following his advice, my trading profits soared.

Trading is not an easy profession, but it give you great rewards. Avoid these common errors on my Stock Market advice list, create a simple, well-designed trading system, and learn your market. If you take the time to study the market, and learn from other`s mistakes as well as your own, you will become a successful trader.

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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.