Saturday, October 6, 2007

FINCIAL FREEDOM FOR WOMENS

would like to give you the experience I have learned the hard way about securing your own future. I was like many other women born in my era "baby boomers". Married young, had children and thought my husband was going to take care of me for the rest of my life! How wrong own steps to secure my financial future. I am now at the age of 63 and havefinally taken these steps.
I feel secure for the first time in my life and so can you!More than ever it is now evident, that women can no longer depend on someone else. Just take a look at the divorce rates. You can no longer depend on a husband, partner, parent, employer or the government to take care of your financial needs for the future.With divorce rates averaging about 50 of women over the age of 55 now being on their own it seems obvious that the older we get, the more chance of being on our own.
I know that sounds scary and it is! Believe me I was scared stiff and didn't know which way to turn but there are ways to help yourself.Women need to ensure their own security, and for their children and indeed take care of their own financial wealth.Unfortunately we usually find excuses to avoid securing their our own financial wealth. Here are just a few:1. I'm too tired2. My husband will take care of me3. My husband is better at the finance than me4. I'm too busy with the kids5.
I'm not smart enough6. I'm comfortable at the momentI could add many more excuses for women to avoid taking charge of their financial arrangements, but what is the point?Income and security may be generated in a variety of ways such as beginning an on-line site and developing it in to becoming a real work at home internet business, perhaps dabbling in affiliating marketing, or even opening a small business venture.
How to do this - I acquired a laptop and went looking on the net for ideas - I found an ebook superstore cbdeluxe and went there for ideas - there were so many opporrunities!!!Other methods of ensuring a secure financial future could be investing in real-estate, either domestic or commercial, partnering or investing in other people's businesses, or possibly even the stockmarket and shares etc.
Again the ebook superstore cbdeluxe was a wealth of information.Investments must be for your own future, and need to enable you to create passive or on-going income. Investments that make your money work for you, and inevitably create more wealth
Women must first of all educate themselves, understand the area in which they wish to invest, and then begin with a small investment. Research ,research and research and it will become obvious which once will work for you. Once a return is visible, the ball begins to roll, and so does the wealth.
There are a number ofways which can provide the opportunity to increase your wealth which in turn will give you freedom. The freedom you deserve. Freedom from the dependence on either your partner, your parents, your employer or the government.Stop making excuses or procrastinating and look after yourself and your future. Take a deep breath and take the challenge up today!Life is too short, I found that out the hard way and had a big wake up call

Thursday, August 2, 2007

HOW BECOME RICH

Beginners should avoid complicating things trying to get rich in a day by venturing into every nook and cranny without knowing a thing or two about them. To begin with, you need a broker to handle your trades – individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order. Choose the right broker rationally.
This is a crucial point of money making from stocks.Making money from stock markets requires trading in the stock market. Cautious buying, holding and selling of stocks generate profits and money. Stock trading is the function that interacts and organizes in the stock market.As a beginner, you must understand in effect how the market works.
You really don’t have to know all of the technicalities of buying and selling stocks.Fresh business ideas just don’t come on like a light bulb; ideas only click the mind by exploring the business market. eFunHosting contains articles about ideas, tips and tricks and market news to only update a businessman but also brainstorm fresh business ideasThis market involves buying and selling of millions of shares all over the world, and generates profit.
The first and foremost you need to know is the functioning of the exchange floor, irrespective of whether you trade through the floor or electronically.When the market opens, hundreds of people are seen fast moving about shouting and signaling to one another, staring at monitors, and entering data into terminals, or busy on cell-phones on the exchange floor. It looks like a complete fiasco. However, by the time the end of the day approaches, the market has worked out all the trades, and is all set for the next day.These are the steps in a simple trade on the exchange floor of any major Stock Exchange: You instruct your broker to buy a number of shares of a company at the current market price.The broker’s order department passes the order on to their floor clerk, the dealing official, in the exchange.From this person it goes to one of the firm’s floor traders whose task it is to find another floor trader wanting to sell that number of shares of the company you wanted. Each floor trader has particular knowledge of which floor traders deal in what stocks.

The two come together on a price and seal the deal. The notification process moves backward along the line and your broker gets back to you with the final price. You receive the confirmation notice in the mail after a few days.Beginners should avoid complicating things trying to get rich in a day by venturing into every nook and cranny without knowing a thing or two about them. To begin with, you need a broker to handle your trades – individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order. Choose the right broker rationally. This is a crucial point of money making from stocks.Depend on your comprehension and your broker, who must be a professional. Never bypass understanding fully the cause(s) behind a bad result when it occurs.
Learn from your experiences, document them, and keep reading them once in a while.Web Hosting for Business Website:A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own websites accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies or individual that provides space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet conne

HOW BECOME RICH

Beginners should avoid complicating things trying to get rich in a day by venturing into every nook and cranny without knowing a thing or two about them. To begin with, you need a broker to handle your trades – individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order. Choose the right broker rationally.
This is a crucial point of money making from stocks.Making money from stock markets requires trading in the stock market. Cautious buying, holding and selling of stocks generate profits and money. Stock trading is the function that interacts and organizes in the stock market.As a beginner, you must understand in effect how the market works.
You really don’t have to know all of the technicalities of buying and selling stocks.Fresh business ideas just don’t come on like a light bulb; ideas only click the mind by exploring the business market. eFunHosting contains articles about ideas, tips and tricks and market news to only update a businessman but also brainstorm fresh business ideasThis market involves buying and selling of millions of shares all over the world, and generates profit.
The first and foremost you need to know is the functioning of the exchange floor, irrespective of whether you trade through the floor or electronically.When the market opens, hundreds of people are seen fast moving about shouting and signaling to one another, staring at monitors, and entering data into terminals, or busy on cell-phones on the exchange floor. It looks like a complete fiasco. However, by the time the end of the day approaches, the market has worked out all the trades, and is all set for the next day.These are the steps in a simple trade on the exchange floor of any major Stock Exchange: You instruct your broker to buy a number of shares of a company at the current market price.The broker’s order department passes the order on to their floor clerk, the dealing official, in the exchange.From this person it goes to one of the firm’s floor traders whose task it is to find another floor trader wanting to sell that number of shares of the company you wanted. Each floor trader has particular knowledge of which floor traders deal in what stocks.

The two come together on a price and seal the deal. The notification process moves backward along the line and your broker gets back to you with the final price. You receive the confirmation notice in the mail after a few days.Beginners should avoid complicating things trying to get rich in a day by venturing into every nook and cranny without knowing a thing or two about them. To begin with, you need a broker to handle your trades – individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order. Choose the right broker rationally. This is a crucial point of money making from stocks.Depend on your comprehension and your broker, who must be a professional. Never bypass understanding fully the cause(s) behind a bad result when it occurs.
Learn from your experiences, document them, and keep reading them once in a while.Web Hosting for Business Website:A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own websites accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies or individual that provides space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet conne

USE YOUR BANK ACCOUNT TO CREAT WEALTH

When you start out down the road of entrepreneurial success, one of the last things you are thinking about is preparing your books for the tax man, via the accountant. But if you organise your bank accounts and credit cards well, not only can this help your wealth creation activities, but it can save you a lot of money at the end of the year.I needed a blueprint on how to design a supportive environment using my bank accounts.
One that would be almost automatic, one that would "work".The first glimmer came when I read a great article by US life-coach Mike Neill called the "Freedom Fund" which was just perfect for employed people who want to leave their job and start a business. It covers setting up your bank account as if you were already self employed and Mike kindly gave me permission to reproduce part of it in this article.Then, over Christmas I was reading Mary Hunt's book "Debt Proof Living" (which is excellent by the way), and she goes into bank accounts in great detail. A light bulb moment. Wow! I realised that if you combined this stuff with Mike's Freedom Fund tip, it would be a great blueprint for how to set up your bank accounts to be a support system, a new "environment" to help you evolve into your new financial lifestyle.So here it is, with thanks to Mike Neill & Mary Hunt.__________________________________________________________________10 Steps To Financially Intelligent Bank Accounts - Part #11. Start with creating a Freedom Fund.So you want to be self-employed . My bank manager says that most companies fail because of a lack of profit or bad cashflow management, so let's see if you can run your company finances right now, as if you had already started.Look at what you typically earn now, per month, and then think about that as the total income for your company (as if it existed already). Then think about what realistic amount you could manage on, if you cut out some unnecessary luxuries.
Think about this amount as your "salary" to yourself. Aim for paying yourself a salary of 80% less than your company's gross earnings (your current monthly income).Set up a high interest deposit account with 90 days notice for withdrawals, transfer your monthly income over, to be paid into the new account, and set up a standing order to transfer the 80% - your new salary - into your usual account. Live on that for a while. It'll be worth it because you are proving that not only are you a good boss because you can manage the company's money, but you will be creating a Freedom Fund. (www.freedomfactory.com)2. Paying "Upstairs" or Paying It ForwardAnyone seen the great film "Pay It Forward"? The concept is that you should always do great things for others in the certain expectation that your kind deeds will make an amazing difference to the world. And that, , in some roundabout way, via maybe fantastical and unlikely routes, a kind deed done by someone around the world somewhere else, will find its way to you. It's a variation on the "Good Karma" theory, if you like.Most wealth creation experts agree that if you give or "tithe" a certain part of your income regularly, you will start to create abundance in your life. Mary Hunt says that "Giving teaches my brain that I have more than enough" and I agree with her that, when you give, you are starting to move beyond scarcity. When you live in financial scarcity mode, this is one of the hardest things to do. But it's a fact that all of the world's great wealthy people give. They give their time, their money, set up foundations and do a lot of fundraising. I am convinced that, if you want to become truly wealthy, you must decide right now that you will systematically give to others a set % of your income, no matter how tiny to start with. Do it by standing order or direct debit, out of your freedom fund bank account, but calculate it on a % of your 100% not on a % of your 80% salary. Create some freedom for others, from hunger, from abuse, from disease, from fear.3. Pay Yourself FirstIt's hard when you are struggling, to get your head around this next concept - Pay Yourself First. Robert Kiyosaki explains it very eloquently in his book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".Poor and middle class people tend to pay everyone else first. They pay the government in the form of their taxes, the car loan company, the mortgage company, Sainsbury's or Tesco's for food, the garage for car repairs, off-license owner for wine at dinner, even McDonalds for the kid's Saturday afternoon jolly. Paying everyone else first.So why are those people or companies more deserving of your hard earned money than you? Especially the government. Did you know that, if you are employed and paying PAYE, you are typically working until April every year just to pay your tax and national insurance?Every time you hand over cash or write out a cheque, especially while you are not yet creating one of the Funds below, remember you are paying that person or company first, before you are paying you.Tip: A good figure to aim for here is 10% of the 80% or so that you have decided on, as your salary.4. Your Catastrophe Fund.

Monday, July 2, 2007

STOCK MARKETFOR NEWBIES

The Stock Market For newbies can seem like a place to make some fast easy money. You sometimes hear how a stock went up two points, and say to yourself, if I had pulled the trigger on that one I could have made a lot of money. Fast easy money can be made in the stock market. But slow and easy is the way to go, and if you start at an early age, a fast and easy retirement is a reality.
Beginners at stock trading should learn all they can in order to succeed. You do not see a professional golfer pick up a club and become good at golf overnight. It takes time and knowledge to be good at anything in life. To start off, make sure you understand How The Stock Market Works. Start at the beginning and work your way up.
You did not pick up a book one day and start to read, first you learned the letters of the alphabet.How you are going to trade? knowing this is going to let you know what you need to be reading to learn about it. Are you going to scalp, day trade, swing trade, or buy and hold for the long run. Scalping involves buying or selling a lot of shares in a stock, and you are just expecting a small move in the price. Day trading is close to scalping but you are expecting bigger moves in the price, and you do not hold the stock overnight. Swing trading is when you buy a stock and hold it for two days to two weeks looking for a big move in the price. Buy and hold is when you plan on holding on to the stock for a long time. You believe the company is going to grow in value and the price is going to go much higher.Next you will need to understand what fundamental analysis and technical analysis is:Fundamental analysis relies on economic information, such as the companys financial situation, and quarterly earnings. This can take a lot of time reading each company's financial reports.
Their is a paper called Investors Business Daily to help with this. If you are going to be investing in the stock market, you should be reading this paper on a daily basis. Technical analysis is the study of charts. The tool used for this is charting software. Charts show a stocks price movement, and with looking at enough charts we can see everything we need to know about a stock, just by looking at the chart.Another important tool you are going to need is a Stock Trading System. If you travel to a place you have never been to before you do not just jump in the car and go. You look at a map, decide which way is going to be the best. The same is true with the stock market. Many beginners jump in without a plan of action, you have to have a plan, why and when you are going to make the trade, when you are going to take your profits, and you must stay with the plan. Practice paper trading before you start to trade to see how well you are doing.
Once you are trading well on paper then it is time to open an account.Now you are going to need some capital to start investing with. Do not start trading with money you can not afford to lose. If you have to start saving a little at a time until you have enough saved, then do it. Even though you went ahead and learned all you need to start trading, does not mean you are going to be a success at the very beginning. It is going to take some time, and you will lose some money. That is why you don't start trading with money you are going to need to eat with.

Friday, June 15, 2007

TOP 10 HIGH INCOM E BUSINESS TIPS

If you are searching the Internet in search of high income business opportunities then you have probably encountered a lot and are unsure of which ones are best and which ones are scams. The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of opportunities advertised on the web that aren’t worth taking the time to even read about them. Then again, there are opportunities that are worthwhile and will help you make lots of money.
The following top ten high income business opportunities will help you see which opportunities are really worth researching further!FranchisesOf all the business opportunities out there that offer high income, franchises are one of the best. Proven business models, a popular brand, and a client base make franchises a great way to invest money and start making money in no time.Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is a high income business opportunity and not only can you make a lot of money, but it is also really easy! Little risk is involved and all you have to do is work hard and get people to click on your link.
This involves selling a product or service, or representing a service or product that people are interested in. You need people to click on your affiliate link and when they do you make money. It is easy and with hard work and dedication it can be a great money maker.Web Designers
The Internet has really boomed and now every company, big and small, wants their own website. In fact, they need their own website. So, web designers have an amazing opportunity to make a lot of money working from the comfort of their own home and providing a service that is in high demand. Web designers have a very secure job because the Internet is not going anywhere and only more websites will be created each day.

TOP 10 HIGH INCOM E BUSINESS TIPS

If you are searching the Internet in search of high income business opportunities then you have probably encountered a lot and are unsure of which ones are best and which ones are scams. The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of opportunities advertised on the web that aren’t worth taking the time to even read about them. Then again, there are opportunities that are worthwhile and will help you make lots of money.
The following top ten high income business opportunities will help you see which opportunities are really worth researching further!FranchisesOf all the business opportunities out there that offer high income, franchises are one of the best. Proven business models, a popular brand, and a client base make franchises a great way to invest money and start making money in no time.Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is a high income business opportunity and not only can you make a lot of money, but it is also really easy! Little risk is involved and all you have to do is work hard and get people to click on your link.
This involves selling a product or service, or representing a service or product that people are interested in. You need people to click on your affiliate link and when they do you make money. It is easy and with hard work and dedication it can be a great money maker.Web Designers
The Internet has really boomed and now every company, big and small, wants their own website. In fact, they need their own website. So, web designers have an amazing opportunity to make a lot of money working from the comfort of their own home and providing a service that is in high demand. Web designers have a very secure job because the Internet is not going anywhere and only more websites will be created each day.

TIPS FOR GOODVALUE INVESTING

We all want to invest wisely. If done correctly then significant money could be made and financial security could be realized. However many people year after year loose money by investing in the stock market. They either pick the wrong companies or outside circumstances cause their investments to take a downward spiral. It is possible to make money by value investing but you need to know what you’re doing.
In this article we will look at some tips to help choose the right companies to invest in to hopefully turn a profit for you.When looking where to invest your money, you should look beyond the price of the stocks. You should look at the cost of the entire company. The market cap the price of all outstanding shares multiplied by the current share price. Thin information is useful because it can prevent you for paying too much for the stock prices.
Getting the right price for stock is essential to good value investing.When choosing a company to invest in, try to find out if they are buying back shares. If they are buying back shares they are increasing the overall value of each individual share make making fewer shares available. Is like dividing a circle.
Two circles could be the same size, but if you could only pick one piece from one of the circles, you would likely choose the piece from the circle divided in to four pieces rather than the one divided into 6.Finally, you should ask yourself how long you want to own the stocks for. If you’re looking to make quick money then value investing may not be the way you want to go. Financial genius’s frequently loose money trying to make it fast so don’t think your going to outsmart the stock market. The best thing to do is to find a good company, get the best price possible and reinvest the dividends. Keep your money in there for 10 or more years and your chances of making a profit are much greater.

TIPS FOR GOODVALUE INVESTING

We all want to invest wisely. If done correctly then significant money could be made and financial security could be realized. However many people year after year loose money by investing in the stock market. They either pick the wrong companies or outside circumstances cause their investments to take a downward spiral. It is possible to make money by value investing but you need to know what you’re doing.
In this article we will look at some tips to help choose the right companies to invest in to hopefully turn a profit for you.When looking where to invest your money, you should look beyond the price of the stocks. You should look at the cost of the entire company. The market cap the price of all outstanding shares multiplied by the current share price. Thin information is useful because it can prevent you for paying too much for the stock prices.
Getting the right price for stock is essential to good value investing.When choosing a company to invest in, try to find out if they are buying back shares. If they are buying back shares they are increasing the overall value of each individual share make making fewer shares available. Is like dividing a circle.
Two circles could be the same size, but if you could only pick one piece from one of the circles, you would likely choose the piece from the circle divided in to four pieces rather than the one divided into 6.Finally, you should ask yourself how long you want to own the stocks for. If you’re looking to make quick money then value investing may not be the way you want to go. Financial genius’s frequently loose money trying to make it fast so don’t think your going to outsmart the stock market. The best thing to do is to find a good company, get the best price possible and reinvest the dividends. Keep your money in there for 10 or more years and your chances of making a profit are much greater.

Monday, June 11, 2007

HOW TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Having the idea to start your own business is more than most people have, so you are already one step ahead of those people. When you are considering a small business start up then your mind is probably filled with questions about your business ideas, start up costs, and start up funding.
Still the biggest concern at this point is whether or not you have what it takes to successfully start and run your own business.
There are a keys that will actually help you determine whether or not you are cut out for such a hands on job. A key ingredient for small business success if truly having a passion for your business niche. It is a fact that you are able to learn more about business fundamentals and acquire a more in depth knowledge about the field of choice if you have a passion or at the very least a deep interest. It is much easier to convince customers if you are convinced your self. It is hard to sell something that you don't believe in or have an interest in.
This passion is also important in other aspects in your business as well. Without this drive to succeed you will have a much harder time overcoming any challenges that come your way. You must accept the fact that no business ever starts up smoothly without any bumps in the road.
Regardless of the amount of time you spent planning there will always be something that is out of your control. Possibly the most important ingredient of all is the desire and ability to work for your self. Everyone dreams of the day they won't have to deal with a schedule or a strict boss looking over your shoulders. However not everyone has the ability to successfully work for themselves. Many people get too lazy and need someone there to get them back o

Thursday, May 17, 2007

SHOW ME THE MONEY

As the stock market was experiencing its biggest one day drop ever last week, and as many investors watched their portfolios shrivel, I realized two very important things. One, there's nothing sadder than a shriveling portfolio, and two, the stock market could crash like a circus fat lady falling over a lawn chair and it wouldn't affect me in the least. I own no stocks. All my money's tied up in bills. You know, electric bill, phone bill, Visa bill, etc. I know, I know, I should be investing in long term growth stocks and no load mutual funds and high return commodity contracts.
I should be planning for my financial future, saving for a rainy day, gathering nuts for the winter, yada, yada, yada. The truth is, I gave up trying to save for retirement years ago when I realized it was a lost cause. I'm 37 years old. In order to have enough money to live comfortably by the time I'm 65 I would have to wisely invest $20,000 a year for the next 28 years. Now, I'm not about to divulge my salary (I don't need your pity), but if I had an extra twenty grand a year to invest I don't think I'd be sitting around worrying about retirement. I'd be having too much fun spending all that extra cash! Maybe I'd take investing a little more seriously if I knew how the stock market really worked. As it is, I don't know my NASDAQ from a hole in the ground.
All I know is what I see on the news. You have a crowd of angry men in a trading pit, shouting and cussing, pushing and shoving, gritting their teeth and elbowing each other in the ribs. This reminds me too much of the buffet line at Grandma's funeral. I'm not gonna trust these guys with my money. I'm not too worried about living out my twilight years in poverty, though, because I do have a plan. There's an ancient Chinese proverb that goes, "Invest in your children and your returns will be many." A beautiful thought, huh. The moment I cracked open that takeout fortune cookie and found those words on the little slip of paper I knew I had struck gold. Here's the Knox translation: Be nice to your kids when they're young and they'll take care of you when you're old. And don't worry, if being nice to them doesn't work, there's always guilt. If you're a little hesitant about sponging off your kids, think about this. Statistics show that raising a child from birth to age 18 costs approximately $300,000! And that's just for funny haircuts and Air Jordans. I think a little payback is in order here, don't you? If it makes you feel any better we'll put a time limit on it. Since we as parents are legally responsible for the little darlings until they are 18 years old, we'll use 18 as the benchmark. Using myself as an example, here's how it would work. Let's say I retire at age 65. Upon retirement, my kids would become legally responsible for me. They have to clothe me, feed me, give me a nice place to live, pay for expensive piano lessons I'll never take, let me borrow the car whenever I want, and listen without comment
when I play my music too loud. Add 18 years to my 65 and that gets me to age 83. With the life expectancy of the average American, white male being 75, I'll be dead long before they can legally kick me out! A brilliant plan, really, except for the part where I die. So let those with disposable income throw their money into the stock market. I'll be investing in disposable diapers. Gotta keep those kids happy, you know. I'm counting on them

Friday, April 27, 2007

HOW TO MAKE MONEY

In order to make money, you also need money to make one. But you don’t have to invest a lot of money to make more money. You just need a few dollars and some cunning to earn a lot.Below are some of the ways that you can earn money from the little that you have.Invest in stocksIt can be really frightening but to those who love to take risks, the rewards of the stock market to can skyrocket when you get lucky.
Even a small amounts of money can yield more than you can imagine if you play the market right.There are actually stocks that are valued in less than a cent. This, you can buy in bulk and see if they go up. When they do, sell the stocks and then buy again. This method of buying and selling can give you a lot of earnings but it can also make you lose a lot.If you, however, have a few thousands kept, you can always buy blue chips that you can keep in the long run. Blue chip stocks refer to the stocks of big companies that are valued high.
These stocks do not often go down in value.Invest in mutual fundsAnother way to make more is to invest in mutual funds. Mutual fund managers pool together the money of a lot of people and then invest them in properties, in the stock market, in government bonds and in other high-yielding investments.Because the money pooled together is high, one can expect to also get a higher yield compared to when you are investing just for yourself.It is important though that you study and carefully select the mutual fund company where you will be investing your money in. Make sure that they are credible and have good track records.Put up a small businessWhen you have excess money, nothing can yield a higher reward than your own business. Use some of your savings to finance the business. Who knows, your business may become successful! You don’t have to start really big. In fact, you can even start off your operations inside your home. Start small and then little by little expand.
You will just notice that one day you have a thriving business.You can start with buying and then selling or perhaps start producing small stuffs that you can easily sell to other people. Think of something that you can design or produce; then sell them off to others. It is good to think of a business that is based on your interests. Consider art or crafts if you are fond of these pastimes.Time depositsAlthough the yield in time deposits is not so high compared to other forms of investments, the risk is small.
This is ideal for people who cannot afford to lose their money in various investments. Time deposits are similar to bank accounts except that the initial deposit that they require is larger and you cannot touch your money for a specific period of time.Some time deposits can last for as short as a month while others can continue for more than 3 years. The longer the period of the time deposit, the higher should the interest be.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

INVESTMENT NEWS GOODOR BAD

As I become more and more involved with the world of investing, I have noticed one thing that causes me to get a little annoyed. That one thing is how financial news is reported. In a world that has everyone connected and up-to-date with so much information; I have begun to wonder how much that impacts the stock market.In my opinion, too much news has played upon the fears of many investors.
This has turned an already risky game into an extremely volatile game. This is because to many investors simply react out of emotion instead of finding the facts out for themselves. I also think some of the professional investors on Wall Street play on the emotions of the small investors.So
I do pose the question as to whether the markets may become too volatile in the future as people are connected 24 hours a day through so many new technologies. Will this constant access to information make it better or worse for the average investor? In the old days before the internet and 24 hour news channels; I would think less irrational selling of stocks based on news and information would have occurred. Today anyone who invests in stocks online is slammed with news good and bad.
Some may say that all this information is a good thing, and investors need to do their own research before putting money in or taking money out of the stock market. I do agree that every investor is responsible for their own actions. However, I think there is increasing number of new investors who will fall victim to their emotions based on too much information.I realize financial news stories and the technologies that distribute them can not be stopped. However, I do feel that media outlets need to put greater care into what they publish. Comments that may make a stock price go up or down quickly that are not based on realities, or may be over-exaggerated could be playing on the emotions of many investors

Friday, April 13, 2007

101TIPS TO BECOME RICH

Building Wealth – Millions of people all over the world seek the key to building wealth, yet it remains an ever elusive achievement to even those that have more resources than the average Joe and Jane. In fact, it doesn’t matter if your black, white, Latino, Asian, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Brazilian, Japanese, Kuwaiti, British, German, Spanish, Italian, Cuban, Chilean, American, or Canadian, the key to building wealth is the same no matter your nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion.
Yet so many people seek so many different solutions such as skipping from Merrill Lynch to Goldman Sachs to J.P. Morgan, to seeking out independent financial consultants, to speculating in assets they don’t understand, to buying investment newsletters to do their research for them. And the great majority of people that have been searching in this manner to build wealth are still searching today. Why?The answer is quite simple. All of these investors have a common denominator of failure and one lacking common denominator that is highly predictive of success. Their common denominator
of failure that binds them together is the fact that all of their searches to build wealth were motivated by the desire to find the easy way out to build wealth. The placement of their money in someone else’s hands to manage, the purchase of newsletters to provide their stock picks for them, and the greed driven behavior of gambling in speculative assets. Their common missing ingredient and their reason for lack of success, is their refusal to seize personal responsibility for learning how to manage their own money.So the million dollar question is literally this: What is the fastest way to build wealth?The Answer: Take the time to learn a proper investing system, seize responsibility for your financial future, and manage your own money. Unfortunately there are truly not any viable alternatives to this answer.
We’re here to show you why. Below we provide 101 Reasons Why Managing Your Own Money is the Quickest Way to Build Wealth(1) No financial consultant or investment firm will ever care more about the performance of your portfolio than you. Reasons (2) and (3) are quite lengthy because they help clarify reason (1).(2) This is perhaps the second most important reason. Most people realize that most financial consultants are nothing more than glorified salesmen and saleswomen, even if they do work for a prestigious investment firm. I’m not sure what the statistics regarding this are, but the next time you speak to the branch manager of your brokerage house, ask him to see the annual returns of the top five best-paid financial consultants in his office for the last five years.
Then ask him which financial consultants in the office have earned the best returns for their clients over the last five years and ask to see these returns. Don’t let the branch manager answer your questions by giving you the annual returns of the best five internal or external money managers that the investment firm utilizes. This response does not answer your question. First of all, it is highly unlikely that the top producers hire the top five best performing money managers year after year as any major global investment firm utilizes hundreds of money managers. By this, I mean that most financial consultants make zero decisions about what stocks are purchased with the money that you give them. They hire either internal or external money managers to do this for you. You want to find out what returns the top five best-paid producers in your office earn annually for their clients based upon the mix of money managers they hire for their clients.
If a branch manager refuses to divulge this information, you have to wonder why? If they tell you they do not know, why would it be of so little significance to the firm what kinds of returns the top producers earn for their clients that they don’t even track this information? And if they know, but won’t tell you, why would they not release this information? Shouldn’t the best paid financial consultants in any office be earning their clients the best returns year after year after year over any other financial consultant by a very wide margin. And if not, why are they being compensated so highly? The answers to these questions, if you receive honest answers, should reveal that great salesmen are compensated very handsomely by their firms while almost zero premium is put on the ability of a financial consultant to earn great returns for their clients.(3) Building on point (2), many investors will then say, OK. I’ll find myself the financial consultant, the one that falls in the top 0.5% of all consultants that really know what they are doing, and I’ll hire him or her. Here is why they are wrong again.
Because most people never take the time to properly learn how to invest themselves, they never can understand the investment strategies of those that truly know what they are doing. This lack of understanding, despite any efforts on behalf of the consultant to educate the client, inevitably leads to incessant questioning of this consultant’s actions, strategies, etc. which can grow very tiresome very quickly. I have dropped large accounts in the past because of such meddling, sophomoric behavior from clients that had a lot of money. Consultants that truly know what they are doing, despite their efforts, can not educate you fully in 3-4 hours time if you have been conditioned for years to believe the nonsense that global investment firms have taught you. Furthermore, because great consultants realize that so many widely believed concepts about investing are nonsense, and have achieved their great performance by realizing this, they will constantly be fighting an uphill battle against clients that believe this nonsense.

Therefore the chances that they would keep these clients in the long run are slim to none.Even if one finds the rare consultant that truly knows what he or she is doing, and truly has outperformed the markets significantly year in and year out, because these types of consultants invest so differently than the status quo, any lack of exposure to such intelligent investment strategies will undoubtedly cause fear. It is human nature that ignorance leads to fear. In turn, fear causes incessant badgering and questioning, a behavior that 100% of the time will cause a great financial consultant to terminate a relationship with a client. Because great consultants achieve their outperformance by making decisions that go against the grain of what 99% of other financial consultants do, a great level of understanding of how to invest properly is necessary for one to even to maintain a relationship with a great consultant. In the end, even if one doesn’t wish to manage his or her own money AND even if one is able to find that rare 1 in 1,000 financial consultant that really knows what he or she is doing, one still needs to learn a comprehensive investment system just to maintain a healthy relationship with their knowledgeable consultant. Ultimately, this is why you should learn to manage your own money!(4) Global investment firms always tout a message of trust in their commercials. But where is the historical performance that merits that trust? 6% to 10% a year?(5) 6% to 10% will never help you build wealth. You must learn to at least earn 15% to 25% or more every year. At 8% a year, it will take you 9 years to grow $250,000 to $500,000 and 18 years to grow $250,000 to $1,000,000 in a non-taxable account, not considering the erosion in purchasing power due to inflation. At 25% a year, it will take you less than 7 years to grow $250,000 into a $1,000,000 in a non-taxable account. That’s the difference between building wealth and preserving wealth. 6% to 10% a year helps you preserve wealth, not build it.(6) Major global firms will NEVER find the best stocks in the global market and hold them in your portfolio. (7) Reason (4) is true because major firms coverage of small and micro cap stocks are appallingly light. Firms must provide extensive coverage of large cap stocks , the Genentechs, the IBMs, the McDonalds, the General Electrics of the world to appease their clients. However, the Microsofts of the future are small and micro cap stocks now. You can’t build wealth buying and holding the IBMS of the global stock world.(8) Information technology and the flattening of the information world now makes it easier for you to be much more knowledgeable than any financial consultant employed by any of the major investment firms.(9) Financial consultants, because of the payout grid that dictates their salaries, are often motivated by selling you the highest commission based products, not necessarily what is in your best interest.(10) Investors that have actually built wealth through investing like Warren Buffet, George Soros, even Mark Cuban, have all managed their own money. Investors that have already amassed great wealth employ money managers. That should tell you something about what’s necessary to build wealth. (11) Even large global investment houses only have the resources to track about 1,500 stocks.

There are estimated to be over 75,000 stocks that trade globally. Investors want coverage of the most popular stocks in their country which means that the great majority of stocks that firms’ analysts cover are large cap domestic stocks. When I worked for a large Wall Street investment house, many times stocks I wanted to buy that were traded in China, stocks that returned triple digit returns in less than a year, had zero coverage at this firm. You want to own the best stocks in the world, you have to manage your own money. Give your money to someone else to manage, and chances are very very high that you will never own the best stocks and opportunities in the world.(12) There is a reason why you consistently hear statistics like 3% of individuals own 95% of the wealth, no matter what country you visit. The reason is that these 3% of people took the time to learn how to manage their money themselves and thus have truly built wealth. If you don’t believe that your returns should be limited to the knowledge of your financial consultant, then manage your own money.

For example, how many times have you asked your financial consultant, I’d like to invest in gold, or I’d like to invest in dollar declining funds, or I’d like to invest in Chinese markets, only to have your financial consultant stare at you blankly and say, “the safest way to invest is what I’m doing for you now.” I once heard this anecdotal story. A wealthy individual asked his financial consultant, one of the top producers at his firm, why he didn’t own any stocks in the Chinese stock market. The consultant said just give me some time and I’ll get you a list of stocks that we can buy. When he produced the list, the list contained the American-based Chinese restaurant chain P.F. Changs stock. If this is the kind of advice a top producer gives, you may think how can he be a top producer? Just read this entire list, and you’ll realize how easy it is for these types of situations to exist at top investment firms.Although this list contains 101 reasons, for the sake of space, we cannot list all 101 reasons here. To read the rest of this "101 Reasons" list, please follow the link below

Monday, April 9, 2007

The 5 Worst Stock Investment Strategies

Most investors approach the stock market with the wrong
frame of mind. But it's not their fault. They've been
conditioned to follow investment strategies that simply lead
them in the wrong direction towards financial disaster.

So to prevent YOU from making the same mistakes, I'm
going to lay out all the horrible investment strategies for
you so that you don't make the same mistakes as everyone
else, and start on the correct path to wealth in the market.

You're Not Going to Get Rich Quick

Nearly all beginning investors, along with a great number of
"veterans," have the mentality that they're going to strike it
rich. Well that's great, that's optimistic, but they expect it to
happen right away. This is probably the worst investment
strategy you can have¡­because it isn't an investment
strategy!

They're assuming that they can beat the system and crack
the code of the stock market that investors have been
struggling to find for years! The tortoise is going to runs
laps around the hare in this one, guys. What you need to
do is develop an investment strategy that can work for you
over the long run.

Don't Gamble

The majority of investors don't know when to buy low and
sell high. This is one of the basics, but people continue to
follow hot "investment strategies" and "trends" to strike it
rich. In gambling, it's not about the big take. Good poker
players, for example, make the most with their good hands
and lose the least with their bad ones. Here's an
investment strategy: play big, but play smart.

What's So Great About Your "Insider" Tip?

So many investment strategies are abandoned for the
"insider tip" that guarantees millions. But here are some
questions to think about¡­How many people have heard
this tip before you? Has the investment strategy been
circulating for long? And who did you hear it from? If this
insider information was given to you by a friend instead of a
listed company director, you're not going to have that great
of an edge. If this hot and quick investment strategy has
been around for a while¡­it's not going to be very quick any
more and has probably lost its magic.

The Suicidal "Set and Forget" Investment Strategy

Holding onto your stocks for extended periods of time is
just going to bring trouble. Stashing stocks away so that
they can grow and mature into some rewarding fund later
in life is NOT going to bring profit. There are too many
things that can go wrong, with the company or the actual
market, to create beneficial odds for yourself by using this
old investment strategy.

Do You Really Know When to Buy or Sell?

Not knowing what to do, being unsure of yourself, and
investing blindly will kick you out of the market before you
know what hit you. This is an information age. There are
investment strategies, techniques, and dozens of ways to
analyze EVERYTHING. Use them. Study up. Don't just sit
there with your eyes closed making the best guess you can
come up with. Create an investment strategy that works for
you. Stay on top of your game and more importantly¡­your
money.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Making Money from Stock Market

Making money from stock markets requires trading in the stock market. Cautious buying, holding and selling of stocks generate profits and money. Stock trading is the function that interacts and organizes in the stock market.This market involves buying and selling of millions of shares all over the world, and generates profit.As a beginner, you must understand in effect how the market works. You really don’t have to know all of the technicalities of buying and selling stocks.The first and foremost you need to know is the functioning of the exchange floor, irrespective of whether you trade through the floor or electronically.When the market opens, hundreds of people are seen fast moving about shouting and signaling to one another, staring at monitors, and entering data into terminals, or busy on cell-phones on the exchange floor. It looks like a complete fiasco. However, by the time the end of the day approaches, the market has worked out all the trades, and is all set for the next day.These are the steps in a simple trade on the exchange floor of any major Stock Exchange: You instruct your broker to buy a number of shares of a company at the current market price.The broker’s order department passes the order on to their floor clerk, the dealing official, in the exchange.From this person it goes to one of the firm’s floor traders whose task it is to find another floor trader wanting to sell that number of shares of the company you wanted. Each floor trader has particular knowledge of which floor traders deal in what stocks.The two come together on a price and seal the deal. The notification process moves backward along the line and your broker gets back to you with the final price. You receive the confirmation notice in the mail after a few days.Beginners should avoid complicating things trying to get rich in a day by venturing into every nook and cranny without knowing a thing or two about them. To begin with, you need a broker to handle your trades – individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order. Choose the right broker rationally. This is a crucial point of money making from stocks.Depend on your comprehension and your broker, who must be a professional. Never bypass understanding fully the cause(s) behind a bad result when it occurs. Learn from your experiences, document them, and keep reading them once

Monday, April 2, 2007

THE ROLE OF ONLINE STOCK BROKERS

It is very difficult to know the best way to go about making your money work for you. For generations the stock exchange has given consumers the opportunity to invest their money into companies that they felt would perform solidly, thus increasing the worth of their stock. In essence, the stock market acts as a facilitator between buyers and sellers, as they exchange stock that they hold in companies. These companies use the money they receive from their investors to further their business and increase profits; increased profit means a higher worth for the stock. And round and round it goes. Traditionally, those looking to invest went to a stock broker in any number of brokerage companies who would assist the investor in the buying and selling of stock and the building of their financial portfolio. But in this age of the Internet, investors need only turn on their computer to be linked into the stock exchange. Subsequently, to keep pace with this changing economy, online stock brokers entered into this new world of finance in order to assist virtual customers in achieving their financial goals.Online stock brokers work within investment companies that offer online resources as either their entire service or as part of their traditional brokerage service. Some of the more commonly used online stock brokers are Ameritrade, ETrade Financial, Fidelity, and Schwab. Such brokers operate much as traditional brokers - assessing the investor's financial situation, the financial plan they want to execute, and the stocks in which they are interested.Working through these online stock brokers, investors create an account where they can access their financial information at the click of a mouse. Online brokerage houses offer an extensive amount of information in order for investors to make informed decisions regarding their trades; stock quotes are kept scrolling at all times on the website; historical performance on each stock can be accessed; and in-depth information regarding each company's history and financial status is available for investors to perform research prior to investing.Investors turn to online trading and online stock brokers for a variety of benefits, not the least of which is low broker fees; online broker fees generally run between $7 and $10 per trade. There is also the control investors have to make decisions on behalf of their own portfolio. Investors are able to choose what stocks they want to buy - regardless of what the stock broker prefers. Online stock brokers - unlike traditional stock brokers - do not exert much control over the stocks of the investor. Online trading offers investors a whole new level of independence.The world of investment has changed; no longer are investors required to physically visit their stock brokers in order to examine their portfolio, set financial goals, and buy and sell commodities. Today's savvy investors work from their computers along with online stock brokers in order to be hands-on participants in their own financial future.

Friday, March 30, 2007

BUY GOLD, Read this............

In today's world of global uncertainty, one thing remains certain: gold coins. Gold bullion coins continue to outperform traditional vehicles the same way gold coins and bars outperformed everything under the sun during the 1970's. By holding gold coins in one's portfolio, you dramatically reduce the overall risk of your portfolio. Just by having some gold coins as part of your strategy, you also allow the price of gold, as it increases, to bring up the value of your portfolio.It is much easier to buy gold today than it was 30 years ago. Gold bullion coins are easily bought and sold with the click of a mouse. Not only is it easier to buy gold, but gold investments are exploding onto the investment scene like never before. In fact, gold coin sales by the U.S. mint in recent months have outpaced the gold coin sales of the prosperous-for-gold 1970's. Despite this recent fact, the gold price is just beginning its increase.As gold coins become more scarce, quite naturally, investors covet the yellow shiny metal at an ever increasing rate. The type of gold coins sought after by investors who follow the price of gold are American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs, South African Gold Kruggerands, Australian Gold Kangaroos, Chinese Gold Pandas, and Austrian Gold Philharmonics. These are the most popular gold coins available to investors who want profit potential and protection. The benefit to owning these gold bullion coins is four-fold.1. You get immediate liquidity. This means you can sell your gold bullion coins at or near the gold price at any time, anywhere in the world.2. You are in control. A strong gold investment is an investment in certainty. Knowing you have gold coins in your possession that you can rely on makes a world of difference to one's sense of financial well-being.3. There is tremendous profit potential with gold bullion coins, more so than just about every other vehicle out there. It matters not whether you hold American Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, South African Kruugerands, or any other type of these gold bullion coins, they will provide a well positioned investment portfolio an increased probability of profitability.4. Last but not least, gold bullion coins provide economic safety and stability in a world increasingly plagued with uncertainty and dangers. Those are some of the "pros" of owning gold bullion coins. There is more that a first-time purchaser of gold coins should be aware of; the "other side of the coin," so to speak. If you own American Eagles, Canadian maple leafs, South African Kruugerands, Austrian Philharmonics, Chinese Pandas, or Australian Kangaroos, they are subject to confiscation by the federal government. In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order which required U.S. citizens to turn in all gold bullion coins produced by the U.S. mint, as well as any gold coins and bars produced by foreign governments. Our country, in that period was in the peak of a crisis: the dollar was in trouble, smart investors were getting out of stocks and bonds, and unemployment was on the rise. This period was the great depression. The consequence of not turning in your gold bullion coins or gold bullion bars was a huge fine and jail. If you buy gold bullion coins today, like the American Eagle, the U.S. mint prints a $50 denomination on the back of the coin. Why? Because if the government were to confiscate gold bullion coins like they did in the 1930's, you would only receive the $50 denomination value, despite the current price of gold in the market, whether that price be $500, $1000, or even $2000. The chance of such Federal government confiscation is universally deemed as unlikely.Also gold bullion transactions are reportable to the IRS. We will also cover in detail the type of gold transactions that are not reportable, private gold, momentarily. Also important to recognize is that as the price of gold fluctuates, so does the value of gold bullion coins.Nevertheless, despite these contingencies, asset managers all over the country are recommending allocating at least some portion of an investment portfolio to gold. Prices are on the rise, in what analysts have termed a long-running bull market which is just in its beginning stages PRIVATE AND NON-CONFISCATEABLE GOLD COINS Investors naturally gravitate to gold investment vehicles where they can expect the greatest return with the smallest amount of risk. In the physical gold market certified gold coins reign supreme. Certified gold coins are the gold coins minted by the US Mint befor the year 1933. $20 Saint Gaudens, $20 Liberty, $10 Indian, $10 Liberty, $5 Indian, $5 Liberty and $2.5 Liberty gold coins are all examples of the most profitable gold coins an investor can acquire for several reasons. 1. Certified gold coins have a limited mintage. The government can not go back and mint any more of these gold coins. You want to own gold coins that continue to go up because of this fact year after year regardless of what the gold price does. Because of their limited availability these gold coins can surpass the gains seen by gold bullion 2 to 5 times.2. Certified gold coins are also one of the last legally private assets the government allows you to acquire. World Financial and goldcoinsgain.com are not required to ask for a social security number when you buy gold coins or when you sell gold coins.3. Non-confiscatable. Certified gold coins are exempt from confiscation. Certified gold coins are exempt from confiscation if the government decided to confiscate gold like they did in between 1933 and the early 1970s. You were in a world of hurt during those almost 40 years of you were holding the wrong kind of gold coins. So you can rest assured your certified gold will do what its supposed to do under the most strenuous conditions — protect your money.4. Immediate liquidity. World Financial is a major market maker in certified gold coins and will assist in converting your gold coins back into cash on a moments notice. In addition to the advantages listed above, certified gold coins are also more stable than bullion gold coins. The value of a certified coin is not solely determined by what the spot price of gold does. In fact, certified gold provides more stability than the stock market, bond market, or just leaving your money in cash. So if you are tired of having to worry about the current economic environment you may want to consider diversifying out of riskier vehicles into an asset that has stood the test of time. Portability is also something you should keep in mind when selecting which type of gold coins are right for you. To put things in perspective, you could carry one million dollars worth of certified gold coins in an attaché case. This should give you a sense of comfort knowing that you have acquired an asset that is completely portable and discreetly portable. IRA AND 401's BACKED BY GOLD COINS Gold Coins backing your IRA or 401k rollover makes the perfect diversification asset in today's uncertain economic environment. Gold coins can be added to your retirement strategy in just a few easy steps.Step 1. Determine what portion of your retirement account you would like to convert over into gold coins.Step 2. Print out the one page Gold Coin IRA Setup Form and fill out to the best of your ability. Fax the form into our retirement account department at (818) 506-6597.Step 3. A Gold Coin Customer Service representative will contact you in a very short amount of time to confirm and guarantee the availability of your gold coins. We then work with your existing custodian to get the appropriate funds transferred over into your new self-directed IRA, backed by physical gold coins.American eagle bullion gold coins are one of the most popular gold coins allowed by the IRS for your precious metal IRA. American eagle bullion gold coins come in 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce denominations. These gold bullion coins are guaranteed by the US Mint for purity, weight and size. The Gold American Eagle bears the "W" mint mark reflecting the gold coin was struck at the US Mint at West Point. The obverse of the American eagle bullion gold coin features Augustus Saint-Gaudens' full-length figure of Liberty with flowing hair, holding a torch in her hand and an olive branch in her other hand. On the other side of the gold coin a male eagle carries an olive branch as he flies above a nest containing a female eagle and her eaglets. Each gold coin is encapsulated in plastic and comes with a custom designated Certificate of Authenticity.American Eagle Proof gold coins are also available. The proof gold coins are more desired because each year they are produced by the US Mint in a limited quantity. Each proof gold coin is struck several times with a special die to create a more lustrous finish. Because of the limited quantity, investors will typically prefer these gold coins for their retirement accounts. Weather we are talking about gold coins or widgets whenever there is a limited amount naturally prices increase faster and become more valuable. The American Eagle Proof gold coins are also exempt from confiscation. A lot of investors like knowing they have the type of gold coins backing their retirement account that are not subject to confiscation by the Federal government.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Why The Best Person To Manage Your Money Is You

Self-Reliance is the Quickest Path to Financial Freedom

When I tell people that self-reliance is the quickest path to achieve financial freedom when it comes to investing, many people look at me like I'm crazy. In fact, I know a lot of people that told me they handed their money over to a firm after trying to manage their own portfolio and sustaining significant losses. But every person that had unsatisfactory results took the plunge without adequate preparation. They listened to the pundits on MSNBC, watched the Bloomberg Report, and read the Wall Street Journal and thought that they were sufficiently knowledgeable then to be great stock pickers.

They failed to seek out and truly learn how to invest properly and then failed to develop any type of investment system. Of course they were going to fail. Yet learning how to invest and make significant returns upward of 20% to 25% a year is not difficult at all.

It's either wrong choices about learning the wrong investment systems or laziness that causes the overwhelming majority of do-it-yourselfers to fail. But it doesn't need to be that way at all. There was an article in last month’s Economist that stated that the belief that more leisure time leads to increased happiness was a myth. Instead, the article revealed that people predominantly used excess leisure time to watch more TV rather than engage in any activity that really improved their outlook on life.

There was an article in the January, 2007 Economist that claimed the belief that more leisure time leads to increased happiness was a myth. Instead, the article revealed that people predominantly used excess leisure time to watch more TV rather than engage in any activity that really improved their quality of life.

However, I don’t agree with the conclusion of the Economist study. All it would take is a simple re-adjustment of perspective, I believe, to change that conclusion. For example, if it was mandated that people could not use their extra leisure time to watch TV but must engage in activities that require human interaction, then more people would have dinner with their friends, go to a play, concert or sporting event, enjoy a pick-up basketball game with their kids, and so on. I guarantee you that the study would conclude something different if this were the case. It’s just a matter of taking personal responsibility for one’s happiness.

In investing, the same rules apply. I’ve read and heard way too many stories where people’s retirements were ruined because they handed their money over to another person at an investment firm. As the financial consultant proceeded to lose all of the client's money, he or she continuously told the client not to worry because “stock markets go down but always come back” while never once admitting that the loses were due to poor decisions. By the time these clients finally decided to pull their accounts, many times they had already lost USD $500,000 or more. I’m not really sure why people are willing to work so hard to save so much money but yet so cavalierly give their money to someone else to invest for them. But they do.

If you take charge of your own investment life, I guarantee you that your results will be better than you ever could have imagined.

They might not improve right away, but over time, they will. Remember, this is a lifelong investment you will be making so you must give yourself a couple of years to judge the returns of your efforts. In order to achieve exceptional results, there are no shortcuts. In investing, however, people seek shortcuts all the time.

They pay thousands of dollars to newsletters to tell them exactly what stocks to buy and curse them when they lose money. They pay tens of thousands of dollars to their financial consultants every year and curse them when they lose them money. It is quite odd to me that the most controlling of people that will pour their hearts and souls into their careers and work extra hours because they do not trust their co-workers to do the job “right”, will turn around and so easily concede control of the management of the wealth that they worked so hard to create.

Many times I hear people claim, “I don’t know anything about investing, so I’m going to let the experts handle it”, and consequently hand their money to Merrill Lynch, UBS, or Goldman Sachs to manage. This notion is just plain silly for two reasons. Consider that most people have undergone at least 12 years of schooling. The most important class you could have ever taken during those 12 years would have been one about creating wealth and investing, but since no traditional institutions of education offer such a class, you must be willing to take one additional class to secure the rest of your financial life.

If we consider the fact that a the hours of a 16 week college class that met four days a week for 1.5 hours a class, or 96 hours of learning, is probably sufficient to set one on the path to significantly greater financial returns, it’s just plain silly that the overwhelming number of people make excuses that they just don’t have this kind of time.

The second reason this notion is so silly is that most likely, your financial consultant and the money manager he or she utilizes barely know more about investing than you do. 98% of money managers peg their portfolio to the major domestic index in their country, so this is something you could do in your sleep. Next time you meet with your financial consultant, take several hours before the meeting to study the global economy and use your knowledge to seize control of the conversation.

Ask what are the best asset classes for 2007 and why. Ask what emerging nations in the Middle East and Russia are likely to do with their massive petrodollar surpluses and how their actions are likely to move global markets. Ask them about the dynamics of the dollar, Euro, and pound sterling currency markets and how this influences how your portfolio is allocated. Most people don’t realize how little their financial consultants really know because they don’t know the right questions to ask.

Consider this. How many clients does your financial consultant have? 50? 100? 300? If you still think that you don’t have the time to learn, consider that your consultant most likely doesn’t have much time for you either. If you really want to make progress with your financial future, it is up to you to find the time. Several thousand or even several hundred dollars invested in courses and education that will teach you how to invest is money much better spent than paying tens of thousands of dollars in fees year after year after year to someone merely to achieve mediocre returns.

And what’s my advice for the type of courses/ books you should seek? With the increasing accessibility to information that is highly correlated to significant returns, I would most definitely concentrate on the longtail of investment strategies – those strategies that have evolved with the evolving information landscape and technology to leverage information to identify stocks best poised to explode higher versus outdated traditional fundamental and value investing strategies. That would be a good place to start.

Most people who try to do it themselves invest on a hot stock tip from their friend or from an unqualified financial consultant. Then when they lose money, they tell themselves it's much better to allow someone else to handle their money. However,that's because they never took the time to learn a proper investment system before making the plunge into the global stock markets. Learn a proper system first and you'll be well on your way to establishing financial freedom.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Benefits of Online Stock Trading

The new fad is online stock trading. Online stock trading refers to buying and/or sell securities by the stock investor himself on the Internet as compared to calling the broker and having him or her place the order. There are many benefits to online stock trading that I will discuss here.

Convenience/Quickness - Online stock trading allows you to place your orders from anywhere and at any time. The only piece of equipment needed is a computer. When an investor does online stock trading they save themselves time and money. Calling your broker takes longer and costs the investor more.

Control - With online stock trading the investor has full control of his or her investments. With online stock trading there is no having to explain to your stock broker on why and how long you plan to hold your position.

Efficiency - With online stock trading you can get account balance, positions, real time quote and other information instantly while when calling you broker would take much longer to receive this information.

Online stock trading allows all investors to take advantage of real time news and market movements. In the past when a stock investor had to call his broker it would take much longer to buy or sell and investors could not take advantage.


The Three Essential Rules For Profitably Trading On The Stock Market

Profiting from trading stocks is not a matter of luck. Successful traders develop a set of trading rules and diligently stick to those rules, no matter what. Here are the three essential rules that should be part of every trader's strategy.

Rule number one is that you do not know what the market is going to do.

No matter how skilled and how experienced you become, you do not know, with any certainty, what the market is going to do. All you ever have is an estimate, or educated guess, as to the path that the market is following.

Some of the greatest mathematical geniuses of all time have spent many years trying to write a system to accurately predict the ups and downs of the market and they have all failed. The reason why they failed is that there is no system. The market is a mass of individual psychology. It is impossible to predict all the various things that are going to influence that psychology let alone predict what that influence will be.

One of the great temptations for traders, who are experiencing a run of successful estimates, is to believe that they now understand the market. My advice to you, if you are experiencing this delusion, is to take a holiday in a nice, relaxing environment and then come back to trading only when sense has returned to your brain.

Rule number two is to decide, before entering a trade, what your strategy will be if your market estimate is wrong.

The biggest losses in trading occur when the traders have neglected to predetermine their loss cutting strategy or when a trader fails to follow their predetermined loss cutting strategy. Once the emotions of potential loss come into play our sound decision making ability takes a sudden and profound decrease. We start to kid ourselves that we know that the market will turn around and that we won't need to take a loss. If that ever happens to you then it is a good time for you to read rule one again.

If you were in the retail sales business then you would have to spend money buying your stock from the wholesaler in order to have the stock to sell at a retail profit. That is the nature of retailing. I see the inevitable losses in stock market trading as being equivalent to those wholesale purchases and the profitable trades as equivalent to the retail sales revenue. As long as the profits outweigh the losses then you have a sound business.

Of course in retailing you try to minimize the cost of acquisition of your stock. By the same logic, in trading you have a system to minimize the size of each loss and that is what rule two is all about.

Rule number three is to decide, before entering a trade, what your strategy will be if your market estimate is right.

The stock market is a volatile entity. You may be in profit today but if you don't collect that profit then it could turn into a loss tomorrow. For this reason you need a strategy for collecting your profit.

In discussing rule two I spoke about the psychological pressures and influences that you experience when you are in loss. Well the psychological issues are just as prevalent when you are in profit. I have seen so many new traders who fall victims to greed and hold their profit for so long that it turns into a loss before they collect a single cent.

Remember rule one; you don't know what the market is going to do. So make sure that you have a predetermined profit collecting strategy and that you have the strength of character to stick to it when the time comes.

The three rules above should be the first three rules in your personal trading system. If you can't accept and abide by these rules then I suggest that you stay away from trading.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Getting Rich The Easy Way?

We have all heard the story about multi-millionaire Auction Site sellers, but how did they do it? Anecdotal evidence suggests that 85% or more got in on the ground floor. The real rich sellers got in when the auction site was a fledgling.

Why and how did this happen? It’s simple – Auction sites treat their early big sellers like gold – and we know this from experience. We were a super seller on the biggest auction site around, but we couldn’t break into the multi-millionaire category, however in our efforts to discover what it was that made the difference we wined and dine their executives.

It was during these, off the record, conversations that we were told how it was done and how they made millionaires out of hundreds and made multi millionaires out of dozens of their early adopters.

The secret is the in the relationship between the auction site and its “Star” sellers. So when you join a new Auction site it is important to make a serious effort to distinguish yourself from the other sellers in the crop by being conscientious and considerate of both your clients and the owners of the website.

Of course this is just the beginning; wealth comes through hard work endurance and persistence. The selection of the right Auction website is important and there are only a few new Auction sites with advanced seller programs and you don’t find out about them until after you have proved yourself.

Once you join, spend a few weeks in establishing yourself, listing a good range of the product you have. Be careful not to fall into the trap of overpricing your products. If after a period of time you have not sold much, do not be disheartened, as this is the foot in you are looking for. Write a letter to the admin, telling them of your efforts and your desire to make both them and yourself succeed.

You will be surprised to find that many Auction site owners are ex-big sellers themselves and they will often be willing to pass these secrets onto their trusted sellers.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

10 Easy Steps Towards Stock Market Success

We all need a set of guidelines to help us along the way. This is what I use in all of my investments to ensure that I maximize every profit and virtually eliminate all of my risks. Now you can too…

1. Set Your Goal

You always want to start off any potential investment by thinking about what you want out of it. Ultimately, you're going to be making money off of it…duh. But how much? How quickly? How will this particular investment play into the bigger picture of all your finances? Getting all of this figured out ahead of time will give you a clearer image of your investment down the road.

2. Time to Strategize

We all know there are literally thousands of investment tactics out there. So pick one. Take your time and study up to find the approach that works best according to your financial goals. You can tweak it accordingly as you go through the rest of these steps, but the better prepared you are the smoother the entire process will go.

3. Asses Possible Risks

It is absolutely essential that you highlight the risks your investment will bring up. The key is to look at them realistically, not optimistically. You have to be able to devise an effective and PRACTICAL management plan. This will not only minimize your losses but in turn guarantee you maximize your profits, even if the investment tanks.

Notice how this step comes before profit assessment? This is to make sure you don't get overwhelmed with excitement before you size up the gamble you're taking.

4. Think about Profit Potential

Basically, you have to get paid, but you need to be able to do it at the right time. Most inexperienced investors just go for the cash, but by the time they actually collect their profits have diminished. Know when and how to get out so that the process is smooth and efficient.

5. But Are There Alternatives?

Do a little more homework. Check to see if there are other investments that have fewer risks, a better profit potential, or if there are is another strategy that will make your life easier (or hopefully a little richer at the end of the day).

6. Scaling the Mountain

This one goes along with devising an initial strategy. Every investment you make will have its challenges to optimize rewards and minimize shortcomings. By anticipating them you can create a strategy that will do just that.

7. Design Your Plan B

Set specific boundaries as to when you should get out of an investment. Whether everything goes wrong and you need to bail out or you've hit it big and need to move on, having explicit limits prevents you from losing returns or just losing more money.

8. Making the Right Choice

Investing takes time, so for one last time look over your new project as a whole. Now you've got all the pieces to see if this investment is really worth your while. And it's ok if it isn't: you'll be better off starting from scratch than losing on a big gamble.

9. Go for the Gold

In choosing to pursue an investment, go after it. Give it everything you've got and you'll come up a winner. Cliché, I know, but even if worse comes to worst you won't be that big of a loser either. Wholeheartedly following through on your game plan will give you the best returns in the long run.

10 Debrief

In the end look back over your plan. If somehow you bombed and lost a lot of money, try to figure out what went wrong. You want to ensure that you don't make the same mistakes next time. Constantly tweak your approaches until you find that perfect strategy. Once you've done that you'll eliminate all that stress that comes with the job.

How To Make Money In The Stock Market

When it comes to learning how to make money in the stock market the first and most important lesson is to ignore what Wall Street is telling you and try to avoid that broker.

Suddenly you are faced with brokerage fees and you are reliant on contacting your broker to get the job done. If you listened to a Wall Street broker the only words you would ever hear are buy. That’s why you need to learn how to make money in the stock market.

The problem is anyone can buy stocks but it’s knowing when to sell stocks that makes you rich. It’s having an exit strategy that works and those that have made millions had just that. Your broker get’s wealthy because he sells you stocks and makes a commission. It’s time you developed your own exit strategy and knew how to make money in the stock market.

You need to first study the market. Look for companies that are undervalued and stocks with a lower price earning ratios than similar stocks then seek out bad news. Wall Street loves to overreact. This is your chance to make some investments with great potential. Investigate company balance sheets and watch for good cash flow, low debt ratios, and consistent earnings. And most of all know when to cut your losses and bow out gracefully once you learn how to make money in the stock market.

As a shareholder there are two ways you can make money – by being paid a dividend or by holding the stocks and selling when their value increases. Remember a company does not have to pay out dividends if they do not wish too. Personal preference is to go for the hold and sell at an increased value which is where your exit strategy comes into play which when you learn how to make money in the stock market you will also learn the exit strategy.

There are three things to consider when building your exit strategy. You have to ask yourself how long you are planning on staying in this trade, How much risk you are willing to take, and where are you wanting to go from here. When you answer these questions truthfully your path will become clear and you will be on your way to making money in the stock market.

Making money in the stock market is your ticket out of the 9 to 5 world.