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

Future of eCommerce and Retail in India - The Perfect Storm

The online retail environment in India is eerily quiet. The overall online pie is still very small. Broadly speaking, Indian consumers arent shopping online. The distributors or local vendors still look at the online channel as a drop in the bucket. New online retailers are slowly emerging however Indian ecommerce just cant seem to hit its stride. What does this all mean? Is online retailing not for the Indian market? Are the cultural preferences of Indian customers so unique that ecommerce will never achieve a mainstream status? Although the current state paints a very somber image for eCommerce in India, it reminds me of the time when we went on a vacation to Florida, only to find out that the area was about to be hit by a category 3 hurricane. Standing in balcony of the hotel room, I could feel an uneasy quiet. Wind was calm however I could feel something big was about to happen. Two years later, I find myself standing on the verge of another perfect storm a storm that will change the face of online shopping in India.

It is not a mystery anymore that the retail industry is going through a significant organization in India. Some would argue that this opens up more exciting options for consumers to shop in a physical store, which would further impact the adoption of online shopping in a negative way. Fair argument, however, I would like to share some specific reasons why I strongly believe that a reverse phenomenon is inevitable organization in physical retail will fuel an explosive growth of online ecommerce in India.

Why has eCommerce adoption been slow in India?

Before we look at the factors that will drive an explosive growth in eCommerce, it is important to look at why eCommerce hasnt taken off so far in India. Although there have been several debates on this topic, to me the most basic reason is that most Indian consumers still dont see enough value proposition in shopping online. They cant be blamed because over the past few years, they have heard a lot of horror stories about not receiving the right products, not receiving products in time, notwithstanding the issues related to cumbersome returns and cancellation processes when shopping online. On the other hand, we cant fully blame the online retailers because they have to rely on third party vendors, logistics partners who still havent achieved enough scale and the level of technology automation to consistently meet the desired service levels. These issues really point to the lack of a mature eco system across the eCommerce value chain. The organization in retail will give a significant boost to this eco system, which will help build trust with consumers so that they can feel comfortable in shopping online.

Organization in Retail will catalyze eCommerce eco-system

First and foremost, as the retail industry gets organized in India, the overall supply chain infrastructure will see a significant improvement. This will have a direct and positive impact on the online channel. Today, the online supply chain infrastructure is virtually non-existent. Distributors use adhoc means to replenish inventories and fulfill customer orders. This leads to significant out of stock situations, which impacts the overall online customer experience. Having a solid supply chain infrastructure in place, distributors will be able to fulfill online orders in a predictable way.

Second, organized retailers will push for standardization across manufacturers and fulfillment partners. If we look at categories such as apparel, one of the biggest reasons consumers dont like to shop online is that they dont know what they are getting in terms of size, quality and fit. However, as there is standardization in quality as well as the attributes, consumers will feel more confident in purchasing the products online, without needing to touch and feel the physical product.

Another factor that will play a significant role in building this eco system is technology automation across the value chain. For nationwide retailers to maintain a competitive cost structure, they will push the manufacturers as well as suppliers to offer sophisticated technology integration so that they can better manage the flow of merchandise across the value chain. Online retailers will directly benefit from this sophistication in technology because they will be able to fulfill customers orders in a predictable fashion.

Lastly, national retailers will need to pool large amount of inventory in their distribution centers to service their stores across India. Holding inventory comes with an inevitable risk of over-forecasting. In these excess inventory conditions, retailers will need outlets for clearing the merchandise to free up the capital, and to flow fresh season merchandise into the stores. Web is a great channel for the clearance strategy, and retailers will be able to offer deep discounts online to clear up the inventory before they get ready for the next buying season. In US, various online retailers such as Overstock.com are built around the business model of buying overstock merchandise from retailers across US, and offering deep clearance pricing to customers.

Looking beyond Supply Chain & Fulfillment

The factors discussed above will help improve the adoption of eCommerce by making the online channel much more reliable. However, the role of online channel doesnt end here. With organization in retail, new online business models will emerge that will help facilitate online as well as offline sales. In Sears, we used to call these Web Influenced Sales. Over 70% of retail sales across high consideration categories in the United States are influenced by some kind of research on the internet. There are online businesses that provide comparison shopping services (e.g. Shopping.com), discussions on hot deals (e.g. Fatwallet.com), product reviews (e.g. CNET.com), Local store promotions (ShopLocal.com) etc. All these services are part of the online eco-system, that provide information at consumers fingertips so that they dont have to scour through 100s of printed store ads or rely on word of mouth to determine where can they purchase that new XBOX 360 console. As retail organizes in India, we will see the evolution of similar online aggregation and retail focused services that will not only help customers make informed purchase decisions, but will also put the online channel in the center stage of online and offline retail.

The confluence of above factors will set the stage for a perfect storm that will redefine the role of online channel in the minds of Indian shoppers.

Darpan Munjal has over 13 years of leadership experience with Fortune 100 companies in the retail and eCommerce industries. Currently, he is the Chief Technology Officer at Indiatimes. Prior to joining Indiatimes, Darpan was the Divisional Vice President of eCommerce at Sears Holdings (A $55 Billion retailer) which ranks #3 in US. Darpan holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and writes a blog on eCommerce and Retail opportunities in India at http://www.commercewiki.com

Forex Trading: The Fundamentals and the Technical

Foreign Exchange Market, FOREX, is an international exchange market where currencies from all around the world are traded. FOREX trades are always done in pairs, for example, USD/Euro, USD/JPY, Euro/JPY, GBP/CHF, and CAD/USD. United States dollars, Australian Dollars, Japanese Yens, British Pounds, Swiss Francs, Canadian Dollars, and the Euro Dollars are the seven major currencies traded nowadays. With an average of $1.9 trillion daily turnover, FOREX stand as the largest trading market in the world.

Regardless of its bulky volume of trades done daily, FOREX is relative new to the world where the market begins at 1971 and its only made available to the publics since 1998. Currencies like USD and Swiss Francs were backed up by gold previously. Unlike in the early days when it required huge investment to start FOREX trading, it is now an easy trading business that trades can be done with just a computer with Internet access and an active FOREX account. With the rise of Internet technology, FOREX trading had become an alternative for those who are seeking financial freedom without the hassles of a conventional job.

More than 70% of FOREX traders lose money in FOREX market as they traded blindly. FOREX trading involves a lot of risks thus a well-designed analysis method is a must. To reduce these risks to the minimum, FOREX traders, like traders in any other market, implement Technical analysis and Fundamental analysis in their trades.

The Fundamentals

Fundamental analysis basically means studies of surrounding events that affect the market trends. For example FOREX market, fundamental traders will consider events and situations that will affect the value of a country currency value. These factors include the local bank policies, political states, country growth rates, natural disasters, market speculators mood, terrorism attacks, and wars.

The fundamental is commonly known as no-number analysis where traders are investing solely on their personal reviews on one-country economy trends. Fundamental traders normally review a country economys situation base on these fundamental elements and respond accordingly. Generally speaking, natural disasters and unstable political state poison a countrys economy; thus currency value drops. Vise versa, if a country is basically free of natural disaster, and its showing a steady economy growth rate, currency of the country will be strong.

In FOREX market, it would be difficult to trade solely based on fundamental analysis as it only provides an overall view on the market condition. Numeric data and graphs are much needed to give a more accurate estimation on the market movement. This will lead our discussions to the second type of analysis method the Technical.

The Technical

Quoted from one of the FOREX well-established website, www.Forex.com, Technical analysis is a method of forecasting price movements by looking at purely market-generated data. (Well, at most of the time, this market-generated data means the price of the currency) The analysis is done base on the concept of history repeats itself and thru comparing present situation with the past, technical analysis is quite effective in drafting out the entry/exit price indicator.

Price charts are often the only item a pure technical trader concerns in. Through patterns of charts, various indicators will be generated and used for planning the investment tactic. A few well-known indicators for FOREX traders are strength indicator, momentum indicator, and volatility indicator. Technicians strongly believe currency price (or any other market numeric data) moves in trend and it will always follow a pattern similar to the past.

Although the methodology looks secure with proven tracks in the olden times, it would be relative unsafe to trade FOREX purely base on technical analysis. The future does not equal with the past. There are a lot of unexpected variables that technical analysis does not reflect on: change of country leaders, change of government, natural disasters, change of bank policies, investors mood, war-- all these factors affect currency value directly and might not have happened before in the past. A combined of two approaches (fundamental and technical) is always encourage to get the optimum plots on your investment plan.

FOREX can be extraordinarily beneficial to a variety of people. It gives huge leverage rates, it gives incompatible liquidity to your money, it gives convenience to trade on the Internet, and it can definitely give you a lot of money if you trade smartly. Like any other trading business, if you are new to it, best advice you can get is to learn and practice more before you test your wings. Seminars, eBooks, Internet, papers, video courses all these are handy to get yourself ready. You can also try out your skill on the demo account provided free. After all, FOREX trades 24hours a day and there is always money to make in the market, so why not be patience until you are fully ready for it?

"It's okay to be a newbie!" http://www.golearnforex.net Get Forex trading course and http://www.golearnforex.net learn Forex here at http://www.golearnforex.net!

Forex Trading Brokers

In financial trading, it is not easy to understand the markets and make profits. It is always advisable to take assistance from experts in the field. The need for experts becomes all the more important in forex trading where there are many complications and high risks. When we talk about experts, it may not be possible to get the opinion of analysts who write articles on various forex movements but the Forex Trading Brokers who have the experience and acumen.

There are a number of Forex Trading Brokers in all the countries and each of these offers a variety of services that help the trader in making his decisions as well as money. The services start from simple carrying out of the transaction as suggested by the investor to providing online trading portals for the investor to carry on the transaction himself using various analytical software products.

Online forex trading is one of the recent developments in forex trading and most of the brokers provide this 24 hours a day on 5 days a week when the market is open. The brokers also provide real time information on the exchange rates of various currencies thus indicating the relationship between major currencies. This helps the investor to predict a fall or rise in foreign currency prices and make decisions accordingly.

Tips are given by brokers on specific forex transactions as well as in general terms to help the investor become a better-informed trader. Most brokers provide information and recommendations on a daily basis. On the other hand, whenever any important global event seems to affect the foreign currency prices at any point of time.

Forex Trading Brokers also provide analytical reports on the relationship between various currencies at regular intervals. This is prepared for traders who are interested in the top few currencies. Brokers track relative price movements worldwide such as the USD-Euro relationship, owing to the demand for these currencies.

Many brokers also provide, using various technical analysis tools, the forecasts for foreign currency price movements, on a minute-to-minute or hour to hour basis to help the trader take informed decisions.

For traders who are very new to the forex market, a number of Forex Trading Brokers offer a unique and helpful tool in demo trading accounts. These accounts can be opened online easily with a few details about the trader to register. On registration, down comes a host of information on forex developments and the online forex quotes. All this is provided in real time and only the actual trading becomes a demonstration or virtual trading to better equip the trader to the nuances of forex trading.

In the demo trading accounts, there are also certain brokers who offer online competitions with other demo traders to provide a real time trading environment. This helps the trader understand the basics of trading and the means of making more money than his rivals make. Thus, Forex Trading Brokers offer a host of services!

Thomas D. Houser http://www.bestforexcurrencyinfo.com/

What is Forex?

If you read about investing, you've seen the word forex pop up. But because forex doesn't get much publicity in the major publications and websites, many investors don't know that forex is just short for "foreign exchange." So trading the forex market is simply trading foreign currencies. As recently as ten years ago, currency trading had high barriers to entry, so only large banking and institutional firms had access to the tools and systems required to play in the forex game. Recently, however, technology has developed to the point that any individual investor can hop right in and trade with one of the many online platforms.

When buying and selling in the forex market, you'll see that there are four "currency pairs" that dominate the percentage of trades. Those four are the Euro vs U.S. Dollar, US Dollar vs Japanese Yen, US Dollar vs Swiss Franc, and US Dollar vs British Pound.

The goal when investing in currency is to be holding a currency that appreciates in value in relation to the other currencies. To use an overly simplistic example, if you bought 50 British Pounds for 100 US Dollars, held the Pounds for 1 week, and in that period the value of Pounds increased in relation to US Dollars, you could then convert those Pounds back into dollars for, say, $120.

Unlike the domestic stock markets, the forex is open for trades 24 hours a day. Much like the phrase "it's always noon somewhere," it's always business hours at some region of the globe. Since every country trades on the FX market, and it's open all day, the daily volume is roughly $1.2 trillion, which dwarfs that of the NYSE. Another comparison to make in order to truly realize the magnitude of the forex market is with the currency futures market (which has around 1% of the daily volume).

One other important distinction to make is that currency trading is not centered on an exchange like the NYSE or NASDAQ. There is no central body or organization required to act as middleman. Trading circulates between major banking centers around the world.

Until recently, there were strict financial requirements and massive minimum transaction sizes which prevented individual investors from trading. But with the advent of the internet came the FX brokers. A forex broker is similar to an online stock trading account such as etrade. Anybody can open an account and buy and sell in any quantity. Because the brokers have thousands of investors placing orders through them, they are able to meet the large minimum transaction size by purchasing in large blocks and distributing currency amongst the purchasing investors.

Although it is now easy to start trading forex, it is a complicated and complex market. While it offers fantastic opportunity for wealth, it is also very easy to lose your shirt in a hurry. Before trading forex, do your homework and read as much as you can find before investing your hard earned money.

This article is just a small piece of the free Forex Education at forexgameplan.com. Go learn about this incredible market and sign up today while the 30 day course is still free.

Have You Ever Wondered What Stocks Are and How Stock Market Investments Work?

To many people, the stock market is like a fuel injected engine; they are familiar with the term, but have no idea what it means. We hear about stocks daily. The evening news reports on the Dow while the daily activity on the New York Stock Exchange takes over several pages of your newspaper. But what do all of those numbers mean? And just what is a stock? For that matter, what is the stock market? While the technicalities of these terms would require volumes in order to explain them sufficiently, the general definitions can provide a brief view and introduction into this fascinating world - and perhaps it will serve to whet your appetite for more.

By definition, a stock (also called equities, securities, corporate stock or equity) is an instrument that denotes a position of ownership in a corporation. The stock is a representation of the claim on the corporation's proportional share in its profits and assets. The number of shares that a person owns, when divided by the outstanding total number of shares, determines that person's portion of ownership in the company. For instance, if a company has 10,000 shares of outstanding stock, 500 of which the person owns, then he or she owns 5% of the company. Often the person who owns the stock has voting rights which means that the shareholder has a vote in decisions regarding the corporation that is proportional to the amount of shares that they own.

The only type of company that issues stock is a corporation. Sole proprietorships and limited partnerships do not distribute stocks. The corporations publicly trade stocks on stock markets such as the Dow and the New York Stock Exchange. The term stock market is a broad, general term to describe an organized for the trading of stocks. This is done through exchanges and OTC (over the counter). Securities that are traded OTC are not able to be traded on an exchange because they do not meet listing requirements or for some other reason.

There are several different types of securities, stocks are just one of the types in this group. Mutual funds are a collection of stocks, bonds or other securities of which investors purchase shares. The shares in mutual funds fluctuate on a daily basis and the investor is able to sell their shares at any time. A mutual fund, though, carries less of a risk than a stock because of the diversity of the stocks in the fund and the failure of one will likely be balanced by the returns on the rest of the stocks in the fund.

Trading stocks can be lucrative and there are many different opportunities for getting good returns. For instance, money market instruments carry virtually no risk while individual stocks are considered more of a high risk. There is also the Forex which is the trading of foreign currency. This is an exciting world, and there is something for just about every type of would-be investor. Explore the various options in the stock market world and you are sure to find something that will appeal to you.

For lots more free information about the Stock Market check out the articles at http://www.stockinvestingforbeginner.com/sitemap.php

Forex Trading - The Untold Secrets Of Forex Trading

Forex trading is a system developed to allow people to trade currencies in the various markets. For example if you bet $100 on the Yen to go up and it does, you make money. It has become incredibly popular over the last few years not because of its tranquility but because of its volatile nature. Seems sort of strange, but there is a good reason for it.

A volatile market can only mean one thing a series of large spikes both up and down. This means the gains are much higher than in any other form of online trading and it's not strange to see traders making up to 100 times the amount they initially invested.

The forex trading market unlike options and stocks is greatly affected by a number of variables, one of them being the news. During news time when an issue arises, a stir is created in the market. This is a time when some of the largest spikes may occur and a great percentage of people make both huge profits and huge losses.

Sticking To A Strategy

Some of the most successful online traders would agree with this technique finding a strategy and sticking to it. There is nothing magical about forex trading, the prices go up and the prices go down. Whether or not you make money, completely depends on the predictions you make.

There is no room for gut instinct in forex trading. Emotions tend to get in the way of your desired outcome and is one of the biggest reasons why 90% of traders fail within the first 12 months. There are of course many scientific ways of helping to improve your odds when trading in forex.

The Simple Moving Average

One of these strategies is to use a simple-moving average. This is where we extract a set of averages from previous existing spikes. Once you have determined this average you can then make an assumption that whenever the price crosses this average in the future, it's a surefire signal to buy. There are of course programs out there that can do this for you as it can be a fairly time-consuming job.

Some Tips For Beginners

Before you even think about forex trading, spend at least a week reading from people who know what they are doing. Then once that week is over, go back and analyze the information you just read to determine whether or not it was dependable. Then go and read for another week!

If there is anything to say to a beginner to the forex market or any other form of trading, it's this - don't trust anyone but yourself! Sure ask for advice, but make sure the final decision on your trade investments is solely yours. Measure up the investment to also determine whether or not you can afford to lose what you are about to place in and don't ever go overboard!

Your goal if you don't have one, should be to find a strategy that works and stick too it. Don't go changing strategies just because you got a hot tip from some guy who fluked a trade and made a mint. Find a good strategy that works well and stick to it.

The Fox And The Hedgehog

We can say people are categorized as being one of two things - they are either a fox, or a hedgehog. A fox is a person that knows a little about a lot of things and therefore tends to jump from one strategy to another. In other words, they are very cunning and use a great deal of strategies to try and get the hedgehog. The hedgehog knows a lot about ONE thing. It knows that whatever the fox tries, all it has to do is crawl up into a ball and when the fox pounces, he gets a mouthful of spikes, and so the hedgehog survives.

Don't be a fox, be a hedgehog. Become an expert of one strategy in forex trading and I promise you will reap the rewards.

If you want to learn more about forex trading or anything else about the forex market then Forex-Trading-Platform.org is the place to go for all the best FREE information!

Can You Really Make Money Doing Nothing?

There are several well known and well used phrases regarding money. Most of these have been around since the first bank notes were printed and we stopped using the barter system. While many still hold water today, our generation and those that follow may find that the tide is turning on this particular issue.

For example, "money doesn't grow on tree's". If I had a pound for every time I've heard that, I would be much richer than I am now. However the truth is that in some money making systems money can grow on tree's. The problem for average Joe is in deciding which is honest and profitable and which won't give you a dime. Many referral systems will use some sort of tree structure with different payouts depending on which branch of your tree a new user finds. While these can be ongoing, the chances are in my opinion that anyone who attempts to profit using referral systems will be in for a rough ride. Of course if you are the owner of a popular web page with thousands of visitors you are likely to refer many, but often your proceeds will come from your referrals referrals. Can you guarantee the actions of people you don't know? No certainly not, you can't even second guess people you do know half the time, its human nature.

Never gamble more than you can afford to lose. That's not just a popular saying, its extremely good advice. There are however several ways to increase your chances. For example, don't put all your eggs in the forum basket. Forums are full of other peoples baskets and offers and for each post or threat you place there are likely to be thousands of others which are equally appealing or more so if posted by someone more experienced than yourself. Your own site, blogs, post your links anywhere you can think of, Hell, even put it in your local shop if they'll let you. Your referrals don't have to come from Google! A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but the more birds in the bush, the less chance of missing one so the one in your hand has less value.

High risk investment programs are the latest trend, but for me, I would urge caution with any of them. Most are short lived, many will only get you a few percent more than your initial investment, and almost all are only profitable for a short period when they first begin. Once more people join the cake has to be cut into more pieces until eventually only crumbs are left.

For investors its important to realise that fraud becomes much easier within the anonymous culture of the internet. I have heard of and witnessed people chatting online with people thousands of miles away as if they were someone from next-door. But was the Mark you spoke to really Mark, or an Abigail who is stuck at home with the children trying to make her life more exciting? Can you trust what they tell you when it comes to money? NO, certainly not. So if possible, only choose sites that are verified in some way or another, preferably by some party who has an interest in businesses being legitimate.

'Get Paid To' programs always imply minimal effort, nice relaxing read of an e-mail etc, but the truth is, you need thousands to make any real money. Links on each perhaps, and the inevitable possibility of ad ware contamination on your computer as a result. Its not doing nothing, or even close, its hard work for little penance.

My final advice has probably been heard millions of times today alone. READ THE SMALL PRINT. What are your earnings supposed to be, how much work will really be required (there are very few that don't require anything more than a small sign up fee), most will require referral links, selling, or marketing but remember, if you are posting links for a site, thousands of other people are too. We can't all be the link that they see unless there is only one entry point into the system.

I would hate to dissuade anyone from attempting to make money online, I do it, other people do it. Some manage and some fail, but you should be careful and know exactly what you are getting into before you get into it, e-mail and ask questions if you need to be sure. The mistake that most people make is to expect too much too soon, appreciate the fact that if a system is going to make you a lot of money without any effort, it will take a little time.

Billy Middleton is the creator of the Safepay Verified the new poundpyramid system where you earn a FIXED return of 25000 per share.

E-currency Exchange Home Business

If you are reading this article you are probably one of the many people who have spent countless hours searching for unique ways to make money on the internet. Very few people have gone on to succeed and most have failed miserably time and time again.

So how are some people succeeding? The answer is quite simple; they are finding a business that works with their specific strengths and needs. The majority of people today trying to get into the home-based business industry are not salesmen and genius marketers. People fiddle around looking in all the wrong places wasting loads of money on advertising that isnt working and E-books that promise wealth.

It took me five years to find a business that did not involving selling, building a down-line or that required me to recruit more people. That is when I stumbled across e-currency exchange, the fastest growing online opportunity today.

So what is it then? E-currency exchange allows everyday people just like you and I to build a financial portfolio through a complex system of thousands of people exchanging funds from dollars to electronic currency. There are two sides to the trading system, the portfolio side and the console side.

Initially you create a portfolio that receives 1.5% to 4.0% gains per day on the amount of money in the portfolio. For example, if you put in $1,000 and received gains at a rate of .35%, your profits for one day would be $3.50. This money is compounded daily and grows continuously over time. It is not uncommon for people who initially invest $100 to grow their portfolio value to $1000 in 1 month. It is easy to see that over the course of time you can make substantial gains.

Once you have been in e-currency exchange program for 90 days and your portfolio has grown to a value of $5000, you are able to apply for a console. With a console you can now process requests from people that wish to take their money from e-currency and convert it back to the dollar. As a console holder you receive a percentage of the amount being exchanged as profit. There are literally people lined up in a queue that need these exchanges processed daily. There is such a high demand right now for exchangers that it is a very profitable business for those who are able to console.

The only down-side is learning how to navigate through this e-currency network which is extremely difficult without assistance. Most people try it out for a few days, become frustrated and quit because they simply do not know what they are doing. That is why we have developed a guide that will walk you through everything you need to know! We have everything from personal phone support, to forums, to live chat rooms. There is no selling or recruiting and that is what makes this the perfect business!

Learn how I turned a $400 investment into $4,000 over the course of 60 days. For more information and resources check out E-currency Online E-mail: support@e-currencyonline.com

General Guides for FOREX Trading Newbie

Being new to FOREX trading? Dont worry, getting started in FOREX trading is easy and you can always test your skills first in a demo account before you go live with real money. To get started in FOREX trading, we have to get to know what FOREX is. For the inexperienced, FOREX trading involves buying and selling the different currencies of the world. A FOREX deal is made when one buys one currency and sells another at the same time. It is always traded in pairs, Euro/USD, CHF/USD, USD/JPYyou get short in a currency every time to buy another and the profit is made when you buy-low and sell-high.

FOREX market is the largest trading market in the world. It yields an average turnover of $1.9 trillion daily and the figure is nearly 30 times larger than the total volume of equity trades in United States. FOREX trading is very unique as the trades are done between two counterparts via electronic network or telephone connections. There is no centralized location as stocks or futures markets and trades are done around the clock. Everyday FOREX trade begins when the financial centers in Sydney start their day, and moves around the globe to Tokyo, London, and then New York. Traders can always response to the market regardless of the local time.

Although FOREX trading involves such a big volume of trades nowadays, it is not made available for the publics until year 1998. In the past, the FOREX market was not offered to small speculators or individual traders due to the large minimum business sizes and extremely strict financial requirements. At that time, only banks, big multi-national cooperation and major currency dealers were able to take advantage of the currency exchange market's extraordinary liquidity and strong trending nature of world's main currency exchange rates. Only until the late 90s, FOREX brokers are allowed to break huge sized inter-bank units into smaller units and offer these units to individual traders like you and me. Nowadays with the rapid growth of Internet and communications technology, FOREX trading has become one of the hottest make-money-at-home-businesses for those who wish to avoid conventional 9-5 day job.

As a fact in FOREX trading, FOREX is mainly traded in large international bank. According to Wall Street Journal Europe, 73% of the trade volume is covered by the major ten. Deutsche Bank, topping the table, had covered 17% of the total currency trades; followed by UBS in the second and Citi Group in third; taking 12.5% and 7.5% of the market. Other large financial cooperation in the list is HSBC, Barclays, Merril Lynch, J. P. Morgan Chase, Coldman Sachs, ABN Amro, and Morgan Stanley. For market participants segment, approximately half of the transactions done were strictly between dealers (i.e. Bank, or large currency dealer); others are mainly between dealer and non-financial institutions.

To start trading on FOREX, one must first learn how to read FOREX quotes. Foreign exchange quotes are always listed in pairs (e.g. USD/JPY 109.2): the first listed currency is known as the base currency with a constant value of 1 unit; while the currency listed in the second is known as counter. In our given example, USD/JPY 109.2 means a dollar of United States Dollar is equal to 109.2 Japanese Yen. In other words, the quote shows the relative value of one currency compare to the other. It means the value USD had been increased when USD/JPY quote goes up

However, a two-sided quote (e.g. EUR/USD 1.2435/1.2440) consisting of a 'bid' and ask is often seen. The bid price is the price at which you can sell the base currency; while the ask price is where you can buy the base currency. The different of bid & ask price is commonly known as spread. In the example of EUR/USD 1.2435/1.2440, this means you can buy 1 Euro Dollar with 1.2440 USD or sell 1 Euro 1.2435. Currency brokers make their profit through these differences of bid & ask price and this is how they manage to provide their services to individual investors without charging them commission fees.

You dont need much tools to trade in FOREX market. A computer with Internet access, a funded FOREX account with foreign currency exchange broker, and a trading system should be sufficient to get things started.

To reduce the risks of losing money, some basic charting knowledge is as well recommended before you start trading FOREX. FOREX charts assist the investor by providing a visual representation of exchange rate fluctuations. Many variables affect currency exchange rates, such as interest rates, bank policies, geopolitics, and even the time of day may affect exchange rates. As stated by expert FOREX trader Peter Bain, charting is an essential tool in FOREX trading. In his newsletter, he reveals that daily charts, hourly charts, and 15-minute charts are used while trading in FOREX. As quoted from his informative newsletter -- Daily chart will help you define the overall trend from a position trading point-of-view, and the hourly (one hour) chart will give you a feel for the intraday trend. The 15-minute chart is used for entry and exit with assistance from the five-minute chart, where price is moving quickly, and you need to be closer to the action.

Being one of the technical method, FOREX charting is based on the principal history repeats itself. FOREX traders who study charts predict the market future by evaluating past market performance. The time frame used for charting might differs for different traders, some analyze the past one week, some prefer six months analysis, and there are also traders who analyze the market for the past five to ten years before getting involved in a FOREX trade. A huge variety of FOREX charts are available in the market. Some charting methods are very simple, using a few FOREX indicators to show trading direction; other charts may include up to forty indicators and those are mainly for advance traders that are more skillful. MACD Divergence, RSI, RSI range, and price are some of the well-known indicators in charting.

As the article is meant for FOREX rookies, you are probably one of those who are looking forward to get involved in the FOREX market. However, there is no shortcut to be success in FOREX trading. Trading in FOREX is not as simple as it seen from outside. Especially theres margin involved in FOREX trading, you might lose a lot of money in the beginning and learn your lessons in a hard way. Take all the time you need to learn this new trading skill well -- practice everything you learn with a demo account before you consider going 'live' with your own money. Seminars, eBooks, Internet, papers, as well as video courses are all your needs to get involved. I wish you good luck and good profit making in your FOREX trades.

"It's okay to be a newbie!" http://www.golearnforex.net Learn Forex trading from scratch at http://www.golearnforex.net

The Foreign Exchange Future Market: A Good Mechanism

First things first, what is a Foreign Exchange Market for futures contract. In the United States, this type of contract basically means that it is an agreement wherein both parties agree to buy and/or sell a particular currency (not the USD) at a specified price on a specified date in the future, as according to a standard contract that is agreed by all the participants involved in such a currency exchange.

In such an agreement, it is important to know that none of the parties are really selling or buying any one thing. What is being agreed on is that both parties definitely agree to sell or buy currencies on terms that have already been agreed on and at a specified date in the future, that is if the contract reaches maturity. Although, it does so rarely.

Another matter to take into consideration as well as be aware of is that a Foreign Exchange Market futures contract is basically similar in concept to that of a forex forward contract. What is similar to both is that they are agreements that specify that a particular amount of a particular currency is to be bought and sold on a certain future date. Their difference lies on the following: the futures contract is publicly traded, however the forward contracts is traded in an over the counter fashion.

In a futures contract, the currency terms are made in standard form and of which could be traded and are all subject to specific rules in trading of a particular exchange with regards to limits in the daily price.

A future contracts is also adjusted everyday, as there are maintenance and initial margins as well as settlements in cash.

Meanwhile, a forward contract is customizable so that it would be able to meet the needs of customers. In this type of contract, payment via cash is not required (though a collateral could be needed). In this type of contract, the agreement is made by two parties directly, with the absence of a clearinghouse.

Basically, a futures contract could then be seen as a series or a portfolio of forwards, with each day covering a period that is longer, or one that is in between settlements in cash.

Therefore, it is the futures foreign exchange market that, in the end, provides an effective mechanism wherein users could very well alter positions in portfolio in ways that is different than the conventional spot or cash market. Thanks to the futures market, it therefore facilitates risk transfer. Another add-on is that the market of forex futures contributes much to information and discovery of prices of market functions.

Meanwhile, there also exists options in currency that are exchange-traded. Transactions that arise from such a trade are made through clearinghouses of the particular exchange where they are traded. The clearinghouse then guarantee a particular party against the others default.

In this particular transaction, there also exists the buyer-option, this entitys role is that once the premium has been paid by him or her, there also no longer exists any obligation for such a trade, financially speaking. For this person, margin payments are no longer necessary.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it is an entity called option-writer that carries the risks as it is this person that is basically required to put a margin initially as well as on additional payments. That is if the price market moves opposite to what his position is.

For more information and tips about Forex Trading. Visit us at http://www.ForexTradingSpot.net

FOREX Trading: Risky Business

You can see the claims on some FOREX web sites, implying that FOREX is a risk-free pastime. No investment is risk-free.

In FOREX you are trading substantial sums of money, and there is always a possibility that a trade will go against you. There are several trading tools that can minimize your risk, yes, but eliminate it, no. With caution, and above all education, the FOREX trader can learn how to trade profitably and minimize loss.

The Scams

FOREX scams were fairly common a few years ago. The industry has cleaned up considerably since then. Still, you should exercise caution before signing up with a FOREX broker by checking their background.

Reputable FOREX brokers will be associated with large financial institutions like banks or insurance companies, and they will be registered with the proper government agencies. In the United States, brokers should be registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission or a member of the National Futures Association. You can also check with your local Consumer Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau.

The Risks

Assuming you are dealing with a reputable broker, there are still risks to FOREX trading. Transactions are subject to unexpected rate changes, volatile markets and political events.

Exchange Rate Risk: refers to the fluctuations in currency prices over a trading period. Prices can fall rapidly, resulting in substantial losses unless stop loss orders are used (see below).

Interest Rate Risk: can result from discrepancies between the interest rates in the 2 countries represented by the currency pair in a FOREX quote. This discrepancy can result in variations from the expected profit or loss of a particular FOREX transaction.

Credit Risk: is the possibility that 1 party in a FOREX transaction may not honor their debt when the deal is closed. This may happen when a bank or financial institution declares insolvency. Credit risk can be minimized by dealing on regulated exchanges, which require members to be monitored for credit worthiness.

Country Risk: is associated with governments that may become involved in foreign exchange markets by limiting the flow of currency. There is more country risk associated with "exotic" currencies than with major countries that allow the free trading of their currency.

Limiting Your Risk

FOREX trading can be risky, but there are ways to limit risk and financial exposure. Every trader should have a trading strategy; i.e., knowing when to enter and exit the market, and what kind of movements to expect. Developing strategies requires education, which is the key to limiting risk. At all times follow the basic rule: Never use money that you cannot afford to lose.

Every FOREX trader needs to know at least the basics about technical analysis and how to read financial charts. He should study chart movements and indicators and understand how charts are interpreted. There is a vast amount of information on FOREX trading available both on the Internet and in print. If you want to be successful at FOREX, then educate yourself.

Stop-Loss Orders

Even the most knowledgeable traders, however, can't predict with absolute certainty how the market will behave. For this reason, every FOREX transaction should take advantage of available tools designed to minimize loss.

Stop-loss orders are the most common way to minimizing risk. A stop-loss order contains instructions to exit your position if the price reaches a certain point. If you take a long position (expecting the price to rise) you would place a stop loss order below the current market price. If you take a short position (expecting the price to fall) you would place a stop loss order above the current market price.

Stop loss orders can be used in conjunction with limit orders to automate FOREX trading. Limit orders specify that an open position should be closed at a specified profit target.

Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer. Visit FOREX4U to learn more about this fascinating trading vehicle.

Buy And Sell Stocks Online

All dreams can be realized, as long as you do not dream something that is humanly unachievable. But, dreams can be realized with proper planning and with the help of strong willpower. However, before you apply both these, have a look at an easier way to gain success, i.e. money. You need strategies here too; some prudent strategies that help you to reap profits on your invested money. It is to buy and sell stocks online.

Consider this, someone needs money to start a business and you lend it to him. But here instead of taking any interest from him, you ask him to give you some percent of the profit he makes with the business. When you are buying stocks you are actually doing this, you buy stock or shares from some company and give it some money to invest in the business. As the business starts earning profit with your money, you have some share in the total capital of the company. The company gives you some share of profit.

You do not do anything else and you are paid the profit your money earns. Your money grows by itself and offers you profit. You must be feeling the urge to dive into this buy-sell stock business right now. But wait. As told before, it is a business the company does with your money. Businesses may end in a loss or a profit. And if the company faces a loss, it will charge a loss on your share too, resulting in a fall in your share price. Therefore, it is essential to observe caution while doing stock trading.

But, dont get disappointed. If you use your experience and take some expert advice, your chances of losing are very less. A good and efficient stockbroker can help you in this context. Brokers are people who help you and suggest you the best stock to buy and hence increase your chances of gaining through the stock market day trading. He, in exchange of his service, charges a small amount of commission.

However, in the world where computers and Internet have invaded everything, it is quite common that you can get this all stuff online. So, try finding a brokerage site. It is better that you find one online. Online brokerages site helps you in making the right decision by offering the right products and right information.

User-friendly site can really guide your money well by deciding the best stock to buy now factor. Several options should be there when you open an account and it must suit your budget and investment plan.

Compound Interest Return and Dollar Cost Averaging can be great features. Dollar cost averaging is a system where investment is made at regular intervals over the same dollar value of shares. The use of the Compound interest return by this site really maximizes your long-term profit. Monthly, weekly or daily automatic investments provide you yet another comfortable option. The firm should charge low commissions.

I wrote this article to share my views about buy stocks online and buy cheap stocks

Forex Trading Secrets - Can You Really Rely On The Books?

As more and more people are considering investments as a way to take care of their futures, the forex market is booming. There is much material on the market, both in print and on the Internet, about the latest investment trend. Most of it boasts to offer forex trading secrets that are unique and can help the individual to succeed. Experience should tell consumers to be wary of such boasts, and yet individuals buy it like it is going out of fashion!

The question is, just how useful are the forex trading secrets that various publications offer?

The answer is dependent on the source of the forex trading secrets and the credibility behind their boasts. There are a number of sales letters on the Internet that offer to give a beginner forex trading secrets but those secrets can actually simply be an overview of how to trade on the forex market.

The problem is that nobody can distinguish between a book genuinely offering forex trading secrets from one that gives an overview of the concept until it is too late. A sales letter is designed to market an ebook without revealing the content and that is exactly what it does! It is not until you pay that you can distinguish the genuine forex trading secret books from those that masquerade as genuine!

Although there are fewer actual published books available on forex trading secrets than there are ebooks available on the Internet, a good number of them are worth investing in if you are looking for specific help in order to trade successfully. Forex trading secrets books such as Forex Revolution: An Insiders Guide To The World Of Foreign Exchange Trading by Peter Rosenstreich, can provide an amazing insight into forex trading secrets and is endorsed by the UKs Financial Times. This gives it far more credibility than an ebook on forex trading secrets could ever hope to achieve.

If you are looking for a cheaper option to learn the forex trading secrets and have a few hours to spare then there is always the option of trawling through the Internet articles and websites dedicated to the forex market and forex trading secrets. It can take quite some time to find useful tips, but the little gems that are present in articles that take up web space can revolutionize your forex experience. Just a few helpful secrets could increase your profits, as long as they are accurate and credible!

Simon Aridej is the owner NewForexLive.com a site which provides a good information about forex trading tips, how to trade like a professional forex trading free forex trading ebook and much more. You can download forex trading ebook for free by Click Here!

Your Target for Financial Stocks

As the trouble with subprime lenders unravel, we need to be ready to be proactive and grab financial stocks that are getting hammered for unfair reason. This means that the company is either getting involved very little in the subprime business or people are concerned that even the AAA rated loans will be seriously affected.

That brings us to two possible candidates that I can think of:

Washington Mutual Inc. (WM). This company has little if any mortgage borrowers with subprime credits. Washington Mutual is the ninth biggest subprime lenders according to Marketwatch. However, due to its sheer size, it represents less than 5% of its total loans. Washington Mutual is also one of the biggest mortgage lenders in the country. If the housing sector weakened considerably, Washington Mutual will get hit in the process. What is attractive about Washington Mutual is its low valuation (forward P/E of 9 if all is well and good) and 5% dividend yield at current price of around $ 40. When default of subprime loans occur, Washington Mutual may take a hit for the current year's earnings, but if the incident is isolated, earning would rebound the following year. At $ 40 per share, I believe that Washington Mutual is too risky for the play. If it happens to go down to $ 30/ share, this has a significant chance of getting you a 50% return or so down the road.

Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC). Countrywide is getting linked more to subprime borrowers than Washington Mutual Therefore, share price may drop more. At current price of $ 35, Countrywide has a forward P/E of 7. Still, forward P/E is misleading should many of the subprime borrowers default on their loan. Countrywide is the third largest subprime lenders in the country according to Marketwatch. However, subprime loans merely represent 7% of the company total loan. While the dividend is not enticing, its forward P/E is lower than Washington Mutual. For patient investors, Countrywide Financial might be a good investment at $ 25 per share.

Will there be any opportunity to pick up these shares at the forementioned price? Nobody knows. However, the goal in investing is to minimize risk. I feel that at current price, while cheap, has a little more risk that I can tolerate. Of course, you should not simply buy the shares just because the price hits certain point. Do further research to find out if the drop is warranted or not. The above mentioned price is merely a starting point for investor to do research.

Novice Investing is the online investing guide for beginners. You can also submit investing articles here

How to Add Shares to a Profitable Position

Say you have a stock in your portfolio that is up 30% and it forms a base or consolidates to a moving average, and you want to add to this position. How would you go about doing this?

There are a few ways that I have approached this situation. Some of you may agree and some of you may disagree with the way I pyramid or scale my positions when they are in confirmed up-trends after my original entry. When the market is weak and the NH-NL ratio is not confirming a bull market such as 2005 and 2006, I am cautious when I enter a position making a new high. Hypothetically speaking, I will use a $100,000 portfolio and round numbers to keep the examples simple although the CBG position explained in detail is based on a true position.

If I start to research a stock and feel it will travel from $60 to $100, I will determine the maximum position I can assume from a simple position sizing calculation. If I determine I can handle an 8% drop, I am allowed to purchase 208 shares at $60 per share (Ill typically round it off to 200 shares in this situation). My position size will be $12,500 with a maximum drawdown risk of $1,000 or 1% of my entire portfolio. My stop will be located at $55.20 or slightly beneath a specific support area that is within 8% of my purchase price. If the stock is breaking out of a specific pattern such as a cup with handle, I will buy half my position at the time of breakout and the other half after the trend is confirmed several days later.

If the stock is in a solid up-trend and not in a recognizable pattern, I will typically purchase 2/3rd of the position when I see the opportunity and then follow up with the remaining 1/3rd of the position at the time of the next pullback (only after the stock reaches a minimum gain of 25%).

Other times, when the market is acting healthy and the NH-NL ratio is strong, I will initiate the entire position based on my original 1% position sizing model and reassess the situation at a later date. Using a recent example, I added shares to CBG when it consolidated in the $40s and then readjusted my position sizing model to 1.5% (the math can become tricky at this point since the price has changed and my portfolio value is different). I have never gotten into this much detail in a simple blog post but I guess now is better than ever. This method is my own so you will not find it anywhere else and it may or may not appeal to everyone.

The following is a true example using actual stock prices but the portfolio size has been altered to keep the calculations simple and to keep my own activity discreet.

When I first purchased CBG, I took on the entire 1% portfolio risk and wasnt sure if I would ever add shares in the future (this wasnt my concern at the time). I liked the stock and thought the 15 week pattern that preceded my buy was picture perfect (especially since the correction was due after the prior up-trend from the IPO date). I placed a market order on June 1, 2005 at $38.97 for the entire risk amount of 1%. The stock was already under coverage on the MSW Index since May 21, 2005 at $37.20 but I was looking for a break above $39. I used the calculation of $39 which gave me the purchasing power of $12,500 or 321 shares (my order was filled for 320 shares at $38.97 = $12,470). After I placed the position, the stock immediately reversed but I stayed put as it didnt violate any sell signals and then watched as it quickly advanced into the $40 range and approached $50. The stock consolidated over the next three months as I held the position and started to cover it more heavily on the MSW Index with a new purchase price of $50. The resistance line was touched several times so I decided that I was going to add shares if the stock broke-out above $50 with confirming volume.

As it turns out, I did add shares when the stock started to form the obvious consolidation during the fall of 2005. I added shares on November 2, 2005 at $52.68 (a little higher than I wanted but it was an extremely powerful move that day). The stock hesitated slightly over the next several days but never violated the new support line of $50. Within six weeks the stock moved towards $60 per share and I felt very comfortable. So, how many shares did I buy and how did I determine the size of my additional position? When pyramiding up, I have always been taught by my father to take on a smaller position than the original purchase. In this case, my portfolio had grown by about 10% since the summer so I decided that I could take on another 0.5% risk in CBG (a total risk of 1.5% - my maximum risk in any one stock caps at 2% of my entire portfolio). When running the new calculation, I had a portfolio size of $110,000 (hypothetical value) with a 1.5% risk factor or $1,650 risk on the entire position.

I used a price of $50 with a risk factor of 0.5% (half of 1%) with a stop of 8% (typical for my calculations) which gave me the purchasing power of $6,875 or 138 shares. I bought an additional 130 shares and added them to my original position of 320 shares for a total of 450 shares and a total cost of $19,318.80 (minus all fees, etc). Now, take a look at how this works (it doesnt work perfectly every time but this time I kept the numbers round): Using the position sizing calculator; plug in a portfolio value of $110,000, a risk of 1.5%, stop loss of 8% and an average cost basis of $45.83 (($38.97+$52.68)/2). What do you get? Amazing: a position size of $20,625 or 450 shares. I currently hold 450 shares with a dollar value slightly lower ($19,318.80) than the maximum calculation in this equation.

The support line is $50 but the stock went on to maintain the 50-day moving average as the true support line heading into 2006. I have not sold one share in this company as I approach one year of holding the stock from the original date of purchase. I will not base my sell on anything but my stop which currently resides slightly below the 50-day moving average. I have a tremendous gain in this stock and I owe it to two things: CANSLIM for finding the actual stock (strong earnings and a recognizable pattern setup) and position sizing for giving me the right amount of shares to purchase. By using the moving average and a retracement stop calculation, I know the exact location to take my profit. Also note that I will most likely scale out of the position if it starts to consolidate in a new range. This is a topic for another day! I always start with a 1% risk factor but will raise my risk factor to 1.5% or even 2% in rare situations when things are working out and I am placing good money after a profitable trade. Again, this is my own personal method so I advise that each individual use what works best for their own portfolio and test several scenarios.

Chris Perruna - http://www.marketstockwatch.com Market Talk with Piranha

Chris is the founder and president of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We offer an extended no obligation monthly trial period starting immediately with two free weeks. We don't stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make you own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.

The Art of Contrary Thinking - You Need to know it to Trade Successfully!

The art of contrary thinking is one of the most powerful tools a trader can use, and is a trait with which all true great traders are familiar.

What is the Art of Contrary Thinking?

The art of contrary thinking consists in training your mind to ruminate in directions opposite to general public opinions; but basing your opinion in the light of current events and human behaviour.

Humphrey Neills book, "the art of contrary thinking, the best known work on the subject, is based on the simple yet powerful idea that:

"When everybody thinks alike, everybody is likely to be wrong"

Why Contrary Trading Works

By spotting situations when the consensus is either extremely bullish or bearish, then a trend change is imminent, as it is likely the emotions of greed and fear have pushed prices too far away from true value.

This is evident in such events as the 1987 stock market crash.

Here we have a short-term, self-fulfilling prophecy. When the change occurred, everyone changed his or her mind at once, causing a huge move.

Of course, if you can step aside from the crowd and take a contrary view at these turning points you can make big profits.

Why Contrary Thinking will always be Valid

While Humphrey Neil's work, "the art of contrary thinking, (published in 1954), is the most famous book on the subject, there existed a century earlier a book on contrary thinking.

Charles MacKays book, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, (published in 1854), covered three important financial crashes:

he tulip mania, the Mississippi madness, and the south sea bubble. He reflected upon how investors always pushed prices too far when caught in a consensus:

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

It is clear that to succeed in trading you need to think independently of the majority at important market turning points.

Becoming a Contrary Trader

Gann was one of the greatest traders and traded in the early 20th century. He realized that human nature would always mean that you had to think independently of the crowd to succeed.

We cannot escape it (emotion). In the future, it will cause another panic in stocks. When it comes, both traders and investors will sell stocks, as usual, after it is too late, or in the latter stages of a bear market.

He was aware that human nature was constant and influenced the majority of traders:

Therefore, in order to make a success, the trader must act in a way to overcome the weak points that have caused the ruin of others

How to Predict a Major Change

Gann was not just a writer; he was a successful trader and had an extraordinary record of accomplishment in the stock market, for example:

Gann used to publish a forecast for the following year. In 1928 he published a forecast which predicted the date of the September 1929 US Stock Market High, and that a Black Friday would occur, a year in advance of the actual events.

In 1932, he also recommended buying stocks at the all time low in the Dow in June and July.

Gann was one of the most successful stock market investors ever, and developed a strategy to set him apart form the crowd, and simply let market action indicate where prices were going.

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

Forex Beginner Systems - A Step-By-Step Guide to Trading Profit

This forex beginner systems article is a comprehensive guide to the steps needed in devising a forex trading system as a beginner. Knowing which way to jump with all the information floating around can be a daunting proposition; so having a step-by-step guide by a successful experienced (and humble: lol) trader is obviously a great start. There aren't any in depth explanations here as the purpose is to highlight the areas which require further investigation, and in what order of importance. I have articles specific to each category on my website which I will link to at the bottom of the page. Anyhow, follow through with each of these steps and you will be well on the way to forex trading profit.

The main steps are:
1.) Get background information on what forex trading entails.
2.) Learn how to manage risk and size positions correctly.
3.) Find a strategy you are comfortable with.
4.) Test your strategy.
5.) Interpret the numbers.
6.) Find a broker.
7.) Rake in the cash!

Basics:
First of all, with forex beginner systems, it is important to know just what you are getting into. Forex trading is just like any other business. You wouldn't go off and try to build houses without reading a book or getting some lessons now would you? Constructing systems is much the same. Without any knowledge of the market you are essentially building a "house of cards". You don't need a Phd in macro-economics, but a solid knowledge base will only aid in your trading decisions and help ease your mind throughout the entire process.

Risk Management:
The next thing to learn is how to manage risk and size positions. These factors should be the cornerstones of any system. In essence: you need to know how much to risk losing on each trade. People often make the mistake of ignoring this factor; that's why over 90% of traders fail. Think of it in terms of being a gambler or being a casino; we know who always wins right? Do your due diligence on risk management and position sizing and you will be well on the way to becoming one of the 10% of successful traders.

Strategies:
Once you understand the numbers a little better you can look at specific strategies to trade. Forex beginner systems should be quite simple. As with many other things; simple can also be very effective. I have found that trend trading and swing trading in particular can be very simple and also very effective. The main thing though, is that you feel comfortable trading a strategy. Psychology plays a large part in forex trading too, so having a simple yet effective strategy is often the best. It's a case of K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid!).

Testing:
The next aspect of creating forex beginner systems is testing. Testing your system is all important in knowing if you will turn a profit or not. Don't "go off half cocked"; you may wind up with a "blown up" trading account. It's a step closer to being a "casino" and another step away from being a "gambler". To add further perspective; just imagine if boeing didn't test their planes before they used them..... Would you be getting on one? I didn't think so! It's much the same with trading; test your hypotheses and make sure they work.

Analysis:
Analyzing the results of these tests is the next thing to do. Anyone can see if a system will be relatively profitable from the results of testing. The hard part comes with understanding how to interpret the results and how they will effect your trading in real time. Analyzing the results and making necessary changes to your forex beginner systems will also likely make you substantially more profitable. There is no end to what can be done with statistics. Again let's look at our jet-plane analogy. From flying the plane we know it doesn't crash. But how much fuel per mile did it use? How much will we need to fly from our place to a nice island in the Maldives? How can we get their faster or without using as much fuel. You get it? Knowing how to get there is one thing; but getting there the cheapest and fastest way possible is harder.

Brokers:
Now it's time to find a broker to trade your forex beginner systems with. Brokers offer free trial accounts with play money to check out their wares. By all means take advantage of these offers. Also, you should be aware of some of the different types of brokers and the features they offer. This is important as well. Think of it as choosing to fly "Econo-miser" or "Champagne" airways.

Conclusion:
Now you should be all geared up with some shiny new forex beginner systems if you have investigated all these things thoroughly. If you're still not sure, there is loads more information on my site and others. There are loads of people researching new ways to make money in the currency markets, so please, check the web regularly and see what else they have found. Some offer their information free (like me) and others charge for their info. Do not be too tight with the purse strings though; as one profitable trade can often see an item paid for many times over. Now off you go and rake in some of that cash!

The original article with links to all relevant articles can be viewed here

Joseph Ward is an experienced, successful currency trader. He teaches his simple, practical and profitable forex trading methods, for free, via his website www.forex-trading-profit.org Take a look at some articles, tutorials or reviews and start your journey to forex trading profit today for free!

Copyright 2007 Joseph Ward.
Permission is granted to reproduce this article online provided the article is not edited and the preceding links with this copyright notice is included in such reproduction.