Friday, September 7, 2007

Currency Trading Success - 10 Essential Trading Tips

If you want currency trading success and dont want to be one of the 90% of losers then the 10 tips below will help you.

1. Success comes from within

You cant buy advice from anyone one else it comes from within.

You need to be responsible for anything you do and keep in mind it is your efforts that will make you rich no one elses.

Forget the e-books and their fancy copy most of the authors have never even traded or failed brokers trying to make a fast buck.

2. Trade in isolation

Dont seek or give opinions, these will just upset your mental focus and let your emotions get in the way.

By trading in isolation you will stay disciplined and focused.

3. Use A simple trading method

Its a proven fact that simple methods work best and there is no correlation between how complicated a method is and how much money it makes.

In fact the opposite is true.

The more elements that you have in a system the more likely it is to break.

4. Trade with discipline

This is an obvious trait but most traders dont have it.

If you have a simple method you understand and have confidence in, you will be able to follow it with discipline through inevitable losing periods.

Many traders follow others, or systems they dont understand, confidence goes and they cant follow it with discipline.

If you cant follow a method with discipline you have no method in the first place.

5. Trade Longer Term

Day trading and intra day trading doest work, the logic is flawed and you have no chance of winning.

Use a longer term trend following system.

Currencies can show trends for months or years and this is where the profit is to be made.

6. Be patient

Many traders want to trade all time in case they miss a move, but this is pure gambling.

You need to be patient and trade only when the right trades present themselves in line with your methodology.

7. Have realistic Aims

Dont expect to get rich over night. If you could make 50 100% per annum you would make a lot of money over time.

Many traders have unrealistic aims, but it takes time to make money

8. Dont try to hard

Many traders think that the more effort they put into trading the more they will get out but this is not true.

There is no correlation between effort and reward in currency trading.

Your system can be devised in a week or two and trading should take no more than 30 minutes a day and you can see our other articles on how to do this

9. Manage risk

Currency trading is very risky, but unless you take a risk you wont get any reward.

What you need to do is take calculated risks when the odds are in your favor.

Accept risk as part of trading; never try and restrict risk so much that you have no chance of profit.

Many traders have simply no idea how to place stops.

Yet its one of the most critical elements of trading.

10. Know your edge

By this we mean:

What makes you think you have what it takes to join the 10% minority of winners?

If you dont know you dont have one!

Currency trading looks simple but few succeed and if you want to then the ten tips will help you.

FREE ESSENTIAL TRADER PDF'S & MUCH MORE!

On all aspects of becoming a profitable trader including free reports to download, features, articles an exclusive Gann Trading Course visit our website at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

Why Are Coalbed Methane Stocks Red Hot

Eric Nuttall:

Coal bed methane (CBM) is perhaps one of the last significant natural gas resources available in Canada. With the maturing of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, the potential for elephant sized discoveries has been greatly reduced. Higher natural gas prices have also greatly improved the economics for CBM exploitation. We at Sprott Asset Management are quite excited about the prospects for companies with coal bed methane assets so long as natural gas prices remain above $6 per Mcf (thousand cubic feet). The economics would be very skinny under $6.

StockInterview: But there may be elephant sized discoveries in CBM?

Eric Nuttall:

Well in Canada, CBM is called the oil sands of natural gas. The analogy is that its a very large resource. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board has assigned 71 trillion cubic feet of gas in place for Horseshoe Canyon and 239 Tcf of gas in place for the Mannville coals. Those are very large potential resources. They fit the definition of an unconventional resource: definable in aerial extent, predictable in nature and repeatable. In contrast to the oil sands, which are only found in Alberta, emerging CBM plays exists in many areas of the country, such as in Nova Scotia (Stealth Ventures), Southern British Columbia (Storm Cat Exploration), and even in Northern Ontario (Admiral Bay).

StockInterview: Can you explain why everyone refers to CBM as an unconventional resource, when methane is the key constituent of conventional natural gas?

Eric Nuttall:

Coal bed methane is referred to as an unconventional resource, because it requires different techniques and approaches than the exploitation of natural gas from a conventional reservoir. One such difference is the need to fracture the reservoir, often using air or nitrogen, due to the lower permeability of coal versus a conventional reservoir. This fracing can often be equal to the cost to drill a coalbed methane well, depending on the number of coal seams. Also, CBM wells typically come on at lower rates than conventional wells, yet have many of the same fixed costs, in addition to the added costs of fracing and compression. So it makes sense that in order for the economics to be equal, the CBM well would require a higher natural gas price.

StockInterview: Where is the strongest area for CBM exploration in Canada?

Eric Nuttall:

For the past four years, Horseshoe Canyon (province of Alberta) has been the primary industry focus. Horseshoe Canyon coals are almost always dry, are relatively shallow, produce sweet gas, and can be drilled with basic drilling rigs. The Horseshoe Canyon Trend is generally known, and exploration risk is fairly minimal. The primary risk is not whether the coals will contain gas, but rather whether there is enough natural cleating to allow for an economic rate of gas production.

StockInterview: But there appears to be more excitement in Albertas Mannville area?

Eric Nuttall:

The Mannville coals are a deeper and more complex target. The allure of the Mannville coals is they are thicker and contain much more gas than the Horseshoe Canyon coals. However, they contain large amounts of water. A joint venture between Nexen (Toronto: NXY) and Trident in mid-2002 began a 40 vertical well pilot project. They found that the coals were taking over two years to dewater and reach commercial gas rates. Such a long dewatering time greatly reduced the economic viability of the play. In August 2004, rumors of a successful horizontal Mannville well began to circulate, with gas rates of over 1MMcf/d mentioned. These rumors eventually turned out to be true, and marked a shift in Mannville CBM exploitation towards the use of horizontal wells. Operators have found that it takes months, not years to dewater the coals. The average stabilized rate is approximately 200 to 300mcf/d, an economic rate in a robust natural gas environment. Another pivotal event that served to increase interest in Mannville CBM was a recent Mannville acreage Crown land sale on December 14, 2005. EnCana (NYSE, Toronto: ECA) spent $159 million dollars to purchase rights to approximately 270,000 acres. This was their most costly land acquisition since spending $930 per acre in Cutbank Ridge. EnCana is a pioneer in the exploitation of Horseshoe Canyon CBM. I think this recent purchase demonstrates EnCanas belief that Mannville CBM is both technically viable and economic. I expect data from many wells that have been on tight hole status to become publicly available this year, and will further increase enthusiasm towards the play.

StockInterview: How does the Sprott Asset Management team feel about investing in CBM?

Eric Nuttall:

We have significant investments in several coalbed methane companies, in addition to companies with exposure to other unconventional resources, such as tight gas. I have many that I continue to monitor. We get quite excited over companies that have large resource potential and its very difficult to find that in Alberta and British Columbia now, because the basin is so mature. We look for multi-baggers at Sprott, so we look for opportunities that have well in excess of 100 percent potential upside on our investment.

StockInterview: Sprott Asset Management appears to be betting on an ongoing energy crisis, does it not?

Eric Nuttall:

Absolutely. Its a very strong macro view of Sprott Asset Management, that due to the world having peaked in its ability to produce meaningfully more oil, we are in an environment of sustainably high energy prices, whether they are natural gas, oil, coal, or uranium.

StockInterview: Which are some of your favorite CBM investments?

Eric Nuttall:

The most interesting one to us currently is Canadian Spirit Resources (TSX: SPI). We own about 15% of the company. It is a significant player in an emerging CBM play in Farrell Creek, which is north of Hudson Hope in northeastern British Columbia.

Whats unique about Canadian Spirit is the companys president Phil Geiger worked at Chevron between 2002 and 2003 at a time, when Chevron was deciding whether to pursue CBM development. Natural gas prices were low and Chevron decided not to pursue CBM. Phil Geiger was then able to leave with all of the data that he had accumulated over that time in which he evaluated potential CBM plays across the country. Farrell Creek was the one project he decided to pursue. Last year, Sproule Associates, the premier CBM reserve engineering company, assigned a contingent resource of 9 to 14 Bcf of gas in place per section, based on 46 sections. The company now sits on almost 60 net sections. Sproule is set to release a new report evaluating the entire Gething Formation. I think the assigned gas in place number could easily double. With gas content confirmed, the next risk was economic productivity. On March 15th of this year the company, after refining their frac job, released a stabilized rate of 250 300mcf/d from only part of the formation in one well. This is in my opinion clearly an economic rate.

Should Canadian Spirit Resources be able to replicate this rate on future wells, the company could be sitting on over 1 Trillion cubic feet of net recoverable gas, with a Duke gas pipeline running right through their property with 100MMcf/d of spare capacity. Though it would take many years to develop, if one were to value Canadian Spirit on a take-out basis I do not think it unreasonable to place a value of $1 per Mcf of recoverable gas, suggesting a market capitalization of $1 billion, roughly 7X larger than todays. It is important to note that the play is still in its infancy. Significant risk still remains. But this story possesses the type of upside that we look for, hence our significant ownership in the company.

StockInterview: Is there a favorite CBM company in Albertas Mannville area?

Eric Nuttall:

Ember Resources (Toronto: EBR) is the only pure play Mannville CBM company in Canada, and has approximately 219,000 acres of potential Mannville exposure. Half of their Mannville acreage offsets the Nexen/Trident Manville Project that was declared commercial in July of 2005, and whose partners plan on investing $400 million over the next year and a half to prove up the productivity of the acreage. Expectations of companies pursuing Mannville are that each section will recover approximately 3.6Bcf. Ember has over 340 net sections that are prospective. So their potential could be quite large, though it will take many years to prove up their resource potential. An investor should apply an appropriate risk factor to their acreage. I wouldnt be surprised if Ember were to be acquired at some point in the future, since it is extremely difficult to accumulate such a large contiguous area of prospective acreage.

StockInterview: Can you share another favorite with us?

Eric Nuttall:

Another company would be Rockyview Energy (Toronto: RVE), which was a spin-out out of APF Energy Trust. They were one of the first energy trusts to pursue coalbed methane. The management team is solid. Steve Cloutier, the President, was one of the cofounders of APF Energy Trust and was able to bring along his CBM technical team from the Trust to Rockyview. Rockyview has both existing conventional and CBM production, and is trading at roughly industry multiples on a cash flow basis. However, the company sits on significant Horseshoe Canyon and Mannville acreage, with 132 net sections of HSC and 55 net sections of Mannville exposure. On a risked basis, the company could have 160Bcf of unbooked resource potential. At a NPV of $1.50 per Mcf in the ground, would suggest the possibility of appreciation of over 100%. I think Rockyview would be a great take-out candidate for a Trust seeking low decline assets. I wouldnt be surprised if the company is not around in a year from now.

StockInterview: Are there many pure plays?

Eric Nuttall:

Its difficult to find pure CBM plays. There is Ember, Canadian Spirit, Rockyview, many others I wouldnt necessarily recommend. Maholo Energy (Toronto: CBM) is an exciting story I believe has significant upside potential. But their primary growth asset is not in Canada, its in Oklahoma, targeting a CBM horizon, but also an emerging shale play in the Caney/Woodford Shale.

StockInterview: Do you ever look outside North America to invest in CBM?

Eric Nuttall:

There really arent many coalbed methane plays that Im aware of outside of North America other than in China. A few companies have chased CBM in Australia, but they have not to my knowledge had a tremendous degree of success. I think anyone who has invested in an Australian coalbed methane story has not had a very pleasurable experience. Were invested in a few Chinese CBM companies. Were invested in Pacific Asia China Energy (TSX: PCE). Were also in a private company called Terrawest, which will be going public later this year. Weve found in general investments in Chinese CBM companies to have been somewhat challenging. It can take an extraordinarily long amount of time to sign a production sharing agreement with either CUCBM or with one of the state oil and gas companies. The wheels of bureaucracy move slightly slower in China than in North America.

Thankfully, future investors in Terrawest wont have to endure the wait that we had to go through. I expect over the next year that China will become a hotbed for natural gas exploration, and would encourage investors to seek companies that have already signed production sharing agreements. Both Pacific Asia China Energy and Terrawest have such agreements.

COPYRIGHT 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. StockInterviews Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market has become the most popular book ever published for uranium mining stock investors. Visit http://www.stockinterview.com

Forex Information - How To Use It To Your Advantage

The concepts of Globalization have changed the forex trading dramatically over the past several years. New investment strategies and instant electronic trading now ensures high returns for the investors. Therefore it has become quite important for the traders to have authentic forex information. Internet and other electronic sources like CDs, DVDs, etc., are fast replacing the conventional resources like books, magazines, etc.

The advantages of these electronic sources are there interactive modules and ease of navigation, which make them faster and more effective for even beginners to comprehend the information. Dynamic features like search or graphical representation of live data with two or three dimensional charts, graphs, and easy to learn e books are presented quite attractively to help the readers in understanding the subject.

You can have online forex information on:

Forex definitions and terms including glossary,

Market background information and the developmental stages of the trading,

Trading strategy and decision making,

Different methods of Technical and Fundamental analysis,

Controlling the risk.

Forex trading has long been recognized as a superior investment opportunity and the market is expanding to the individual small or medium traders than ever before. If you are powered by the knowledge and keep yourself informed, you have huge potential for earning from the market. Internet sites offer you wide ranges of e books which are classified in different groups like: forex books for beginners, books on market in general, on market profile basics, money management, trader's psychology, strategy and even books for advanced traders for supplementing their knowledge.

Forex information in the form of articles is again an exhaustive resource. One single site may present 2000 featured articles from which you can read any depending on your needs. These articles can be on brokerage, technical and fundamental analysis, money management, general tips or strategy building etc.

There are vendors or market professionals who offer forex tips and signals, which you can have by subscribing to their services. You can have information on forex market analysis, charts and technical analysis, trading platforms, facility to open demo account, etc. Different forex forums and groups are again a very useful resource for authentic information. You may find your queries being answered by veteran forex traders and the best thing is, most of the time, these tips are free. These traders very often share useful strategies and tips that proves to be extremely helpful.

Other than these electronic resources, you can always authenticate the forex information from books and magazines. Crash courses and short term seminars organized by different universities also prove to be helpful for those who are comfortable with the conventional class room mode of learning. Another advantage of these seminars is you get your doubts cleared by the experts directly. So the buzzword is to get informed and educated before you tread into the trade.

Forex more information about starting out trading curencies online please visit Forex Information