Archive for June, 2009

It is a simple task to work out what millions of foreign exchange traders are doing en masse during certain hours of the day. So there is not a great deal of challenge to forex day trading. This is where forex trading robots come into play. They are programmed to regularly seek and scalp small profits. This is able to build up a large income over time, with very little risk.

All traders have different skills, aims and trading systems in place, as soon as you understand this you will be able to see how predictable they are. It is a little bit of a challenge to undertake this yourself however, because of the randomness of volatility in short time frames. Support and resistance levels are therefore not valid and using a robot could mean losses to the trader.

Day trading is actually a good wicket, and there here are a great many day trading robots for sale. They offer simulated track records which are back tested. But the only way you can tell forex trading robot will perform is to test it with real data in real time. This is known as a forward test! The forward test will allow you to see how the robot performs in changing market circumstances on a broker account.

Testing a forex robot in this way is called a “forward test” as apposed to a “back test”. It has to be able to adapt to changing market circumstances while performing on a broker account. The test should reveal that the robot shows consistent trades, meaning more winning trades. And most vital of all is money management, the robot has to be able to protect the account equity without allowing any large draw-downs.

Ideally these robots should be tested against one another during the same or similar market conditions, with and identical capital deposit amounts. This is the only sure fire way to receive a true indication of whether a product is comparable or not. For vendors to cash in on day trading by means of a forex trading robot, don’t rely solely on the hype of historical price data and tested performance analysis. This is marketing speak from the people who sell these products. Be prepared to test and compare products yourself.

Jim Cramer is crazy. On his show, Jim Cramer mad money, he jumps about and screams like a crazy guy.

But last year he earned 12% compared to 6% average from investments he picked, so after all that proved he is not crazy at all.

Millions of investors like to watch Jim Cramer shows of mad money on CNBC every week.

When the investors were panicking due to the market spinning straigth down the toilte and the world was spinning out of control, then Jim Cramer was one of the few choices you can listen above the chaos, many people listened to this guy.

Jim Cramer mad money picks end to be aggressive. They plan for the market to keep doing what it is doing. In other words, if a stock has started going up, Cramer wants to buy and ride it up.

Usually Jim Cramer dump the stocks when it starts to fall before it falls further. His technique is not a bad at all when the market is not volatile and the swings are not move forward or more predictable.

But when things are going badly, they go badly quickly and stocks can reverse direction in a hurry.

One big problem Cramer has is when he interviews executives; he will normally recommend that you buy their stock.

If you’re wondering on what stocks to pick, the best advices can actually be gained from Jim Cramer mad money shows, not Cramer’s recommends on those executives stocks.

It is clear there will be a short term jump in price for those stocks after he recommends it, as many people will run out and buy these stocks.

So if you are quick on the draw and do just the opposite, ready to buy when he says “sell” and ready to sell on the margin when he says “buy” then you can expect to do quite well.

Credit cards are no more a luxury, they are almost a necessity. You can’t rent a car without one, you can’t purchase goods over the Internet without one; you can’t make airline reservations without one. Nearly everyone in modern societies have at least one credit card.

With the increasing popularity of credit cards among the people a new problem in the form of credit card debt has surfaced, which proves to be quite problematic not only for those who use the credit cards, but also to those who issue them. A better understanding about the functionality of a credit card helps to understand credit card debt in a much better manner.

Credit cards are used by people to purchase things on credit, which means one can purchase things without having to pay for them upfront. The credit card represents the credit account that a person holds with the firm issuing the credit card. The more you use your credit card for purchasing items it adds to your credit card account, thus creating your credit card debt.

Your total credit card debt is the total amount you owe the credit card supplier. You must settle your credit card debt on a monthly basis. So, you receive a monthly statement which shows your total credit card debt for that card. You must pay off your credit card debt by the payment due date failing which you will incur a late fee and interest charges.

Credit card holders are given an option of paying back a partial sum every month for clearing their credit card debt. This helps them to avoid paying the late fee, but increase the interest charges that in turn add up to the credit card debt. Due to the higher rates of interest on credit card debt, the amount of credit card debt keeps on increasing with time.

The credit card debt that is formed each month not only includes the outstanding amount that you need to pay, the interest that has been charged on it, but also includes the interest that is calculated on the previous month’s interest paid. Thus with the more delay that you make in clearing your credit card debt, you only make matters worse by increasing your credit card debt.

Thus your credit card debt accumulates rapidly and soon you find that what was once a relatively small credit card debt has ballooned into a big amount which you find almost impossible to pay. Moreover, if you don’t control your spending habits, your credit card debt rises even faster. This is how the vicious circle of credit card debt works.

Mutual funds are one of the ways whereby people can earn some money by saving without much risk. With mutual funds the company has a number of stocks, shares and bonds that can increase the client’s investment. While many countries have their own version of mutual funds you will find that Canadian mutual funds have a parent company that oversees their operations.

Generally, Canadian mutual funds are applicable only to inhabitants of Canada. If you want to invest your money in one of these Canadian mutual funds then you should look into the matter very carefully. The various companies that you should check out should have all of their terms and conditions denoted in a clear and easy to understand way.

You can look through financial pages of the newspapers and the Internet to look up how the different Canadian mutual funds are performing. These lists will help you to make a comparison between the mutual companies you are looking into.

To gain a clearer picture of what types of stocks and bonds there are in each of these companies, you should examine the listings that are given. Compare these details with those of other mutual funds.

In general, Canadian mutual funds will have the same type of funds as the mutual funds in the USA have. These funds include index mutual funds, low cost funds, front load funds, no-load funds and others. Before you decide to invest in a Canadian mutual funds group, you may want some legal advice.

This advice will have to handle the questions of tax that you might need to pay on both sides of the border. This is essential as the taxation authorities in the US require shareholders in investment corporations to pay some type of tax on capital gains distributions. You will need to know how the Canadian government looks at the tax rates for Canadian mutual funds.

There is one aspect that requires deeper inspection when you go through the various Canadian mutual funds. Canadian mutual funds can have a number of different brands of stock held under the umbrella of one fund. For instance you will find that RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Asset Management Inc. has one type of stock brand called the RBC Funds. Whereas ‘The Mackenzie Financial Corporation’, on the other hand, has 9 different brands.

All of this makes the idea of investing in Canadian mutual funds quite interesting. If you are at all interested, you will need to find out how you can invest in one of these funds. Your financial adviser should be able to offer you some assistance in this endeavour.

Dividends are payments from shares, unit and investment trusts, which, investors hope, are not only regular (usually twice a year) but also rise over time to reflect the companys (or trusts) growing fortunes. Dividends are taxable as income.

The good news is tax on UK share dividends is deducted before you get it. If you are a basic rate taxpayer, you dont have to do anything else. Nontaxpayers and ten per cent taxpayers dont need to do anything either. But theres bad news here: You cant reclaim the deducted tax under any circumstances. Even though its called a tax credit by HMRC, we refer to it as a deduction to save confusion.

Top-rate taxpayers have to declare dividends on their self-assessment form and have the cash ready to pay the gap between the 40 per cent rate and the tax deducted.

Whether you get income from unit trusts, investment trusts, or individual shares, look at the date the dividend was declared and ignore the period for which the dividend applied. A 10p a share dividend for the year ending 31 December 2006 declared on 1 May 2007 and paid on 1 June 2007 counts as part of your 2007 ” 08 return, not the 2006″07 calculation.

If you invest for long-term growth in shares that pay low or no dividends, youll pay less income tax. But dont forget these shares tend to be riskier. And you can get hit for capital gains tax on your profits.

Dont forget if you are near the top of the basic rate ladder ” earning around $36,000 a year ” your dividends can push you into the top tax bracket. For instance, if you earn $36,500 and have $3,500 of dividends youll be over the $39,825 (in 2007″08) basic rate tax limit for a person aged under 65.

Dividends from stocks traded in foreign markets can be tough to deal with. You may have to convert dividend payments into sterling as well as account for them separately.

You need to fill out the foreign income pages of the self assessment form. The UK has double taxation agreements with most foreign countries. The effect of these agreements is to cap the tax due on foreign-sourced income so you are no worse off as a result of possibly being taxed twice.

Many stock market companies have schemes by which shareholders can opt to receive new shares to the value of their dividends rather a dividend cheque. Even if you choose this option, you still have to declare the value of the new shares and any balance carried forward in cash because it is not large enough to buy a share. Youre liable for tax on re-invested dividends in just the same way as a cash dividend.

Forex trading is no longer just for banks, corporations and multinational import/export entities. Ordinary people like you and me can now profit from the $7 trillion industry. The gap has been narrowed by the availability of great forex courses online and offline not to mention state-of-the art but easy-to-use software that costs less than $100 to purchase.

Many start-up forex traders are heavily leveraging the power of the Internet. This is to procure forex training and forex courses that are now widely available. There are several advantages that can be accrued by using the power of the Internet. The first is that the Internet contains an immense quantity of tutorials and information. While the best forex training and trading course do retail for a price, there is a lot of material on the Internet for free. The first place to search is in forex forums. This is where people who trade in forex congregate and share ideas and tips. If you are a start-up trader, this is one of the best places to start.

Technically-speaking, there is a lot of forex software available online. You can read reviews and be able to find out which is the best software on the market according to experts. One of the best was designed by Marcus Leary, a mathematician who had insider knowledge on the workings of the forex trading business. The benefits of forex software cannot be understated. It is now quite possible to trade automatically without necessarily being present. This is called autopilot trading.

One of the advantages of forex software is the fact that the learning curve is drastically reduced. This means that even novices can now trade as well as the pros. Because of the initial risks involved in forex in the past, the software minimizes the risks and thereby makes it possible for people with little or no experience to avoid most of the pains of trading.

The software is easy to use. All one has to do is purchase the software which is now compatible with Windows and Macintosh machines, and install it. Installation is simple and the software guides you through the entire process. Once installed, software can connect to the Internet and even send regular updates. Forex trading is now possible 24hours a day using the software which can tutor you as you go along.

Forex trading has now become one of the fastest growing work-at-home small business opportunities. This is because many people are looking for extra ways to supplement their income. The current job market in the world has not created worker confidence and job security. This means that even those with stable jobs are looking for ways to earn an extra income and cushion themselves financially. Forex trading software makes it possible to work from home and also to work at one’s own pace. This is a great advantage considering that the software is also capable of making automated trades even while the user is not personally involved and available.

When you gauge the value of money depending on a comparison between the present and a point in the future, it is called utilizing the Time value concept of money which guides all monetary transactions and is also involved in discount buy. Time value concept is also used to grow money and ensure a stable future after retirement.

As the name of the concept goes, it is easy to gauge the fact that the time value of money involves a time based comparison of the value of the dollar at the present time to a certain point in the future. This future reference point could be somewhere between six months, two years or even as long as twenty years from the current point in the present.

The concept bases itself on the idea that the value of a dollar today is much more valuable than the same received at a point of time in the future. It bases itself on the current inflationary trends that dominate the world economic scenario today. In the face of such continued trends the value of the dollar is bound to take a drop. The theory blames the cause of such inflation on the spendthrift tendencies of the government. In the larger picture the issue of inflation gains a larger significance with the increasing amounts of time and money that get involved.

CREATING WEALTH FOR RETIREMENT WITH DISCOUNT BUYING

The following chart shows the future value of $1000 at different inflation rates over time.

Compound Interest We can use the same principle of the time value of money to work for us to counter inflation. We do this through earning interest on our money at a higher rate than the inflation rate. This principle works the same way when you use it to make your money grow, and is the easiest way to make money.

The concept of growing money is called compounding. You take a certain amount of money, invest it, earn a return on the investment, and then reinvest your initial investment amount and earnings over a period of time. You keep turning the money over and as this base amount grows, so does the amount it earns in interest. This is illustrated in the following chart.

Year Amount Interest Total Value of Invested Earned Investment

1 $1,000.00 $50.00 = $1050.00

2 $1,050.00 $52.50 = $1102.50

3 $1,102.50 $55.13 = $1157.63

4 $1,157.63 $57.88 = $1215.51

5 $1,215.51 $60.78 = $1276.29

However, there are other ways in which the growth of money can be estimated on an average. The first rule is called Rule of 72. This is the shortest and easiest methods to find out how long a period of time it will take to double the initial amount of money you have invested. The method is simple. Divide the number 72 by the rate of interest that you are earning and you will get the number of years it will take. Therefore, investing a thousand dollars at 12% would mean that you it would take six years to double your money.

Another little trick to learn in how long your money will be tripled is by the rule of 112. This is a similar method. Just divide the number 112 by the rate of interest that you are getting to get the number of years. Thus if you take the aforementioned amount and the divide 112 by 12%, it will take approximately 9 years to triple that amount of money.

The time value of money is crucial to the discount buy business because in this industry, deals revolve around the concept of paying cash today to receive cash in the future, definitely the easiest way to make money.