Worse than that, much of the action was due to the pirates and hell hounds going to Japan for super-cheap loans and then piling them onto corporations in the US stock markets. Today, the market belly-flopped for the 20th time in the …
Worse than that, much of the action was due to the pirates and hell hounds going to Japan for super-cheap loans and then piling them onto corporations in the US stock markets. Today, the market belly-flopped for the 20th time in the …
Do you know where the term “footbed” comes from? Most people have no idea that the term originated with the revolutionary sandal maker Konrad Birkenstock a 19th century shoemaker from Germany. Before Birkenstock shoes were all made with completely flat soles and had no arch support. They developed a revolution in shoe making by designing footwear that matched the actual shape of a person’s foot.
Initially their idea was sold as an insert to be used in other shoes that had no shape. Their company took off as a major manufacturer of orthopedic inserts. They were called “footbed supports” and the term ‘footbed’ became a legal trademark of the Birkenstock company.
As time went by they realized that their novel footbed support concept could be extended into different types of footwear that they could make themselves. The original sandals they developed were intended to give the wearer a near barefoot experience while still providing fantastic support and protection of the wearer’s sole. Little did they realize how much of a revolution they would create in the shoe and footwear industry.
People quickly found that not only were they comfortable, but they also helped greatly with many foot and back problems by providing the arch support and proper fit that had been missing in shoes and sandals to that point. Today Birkenstock sandals and other footwear are frequently ‘prescribed’ by podiatrists as part of normal care for people with foot, lower leg, and back problems. In particular the ‘heel-less sandals’ are known to greatly strengthen and tone calf muscles.
From their humble beginnings as simple shoemakers, Birkenstocks have become producers of some of the most recognized shoes and sandals in the world. They are available in hundreds of styles, materials and colours that will suit just about anyone’s needs and personality. And they have done it by sticking to their basic philosophy: make them comfortable and make them last.
About the Author:
http://www.birkenstock-sandals-and-clogs.com provides in depth information and reviews on Birkenstock Sandals and most other Birkenstock footwear.
If you are looking are thinking that Penny Stocks are a ?Get Rich Quick Scheme?, I?m sorry to disappoint you. Although great fortunes can be made from penny stocks, people can also lose everything they invest in Penny Stocks. The most important investment you can make at the start of your investment career is to invest in education.
Why Education and not stock?
Diving head first into the stock market is a great way of losing your money which is why we don?t recommend it. The best thing to do is to read, read and read some more before investing. One of the best places to get free information on penny stocks and trading methods is from the internet.
Forums, websites, news sites and eBooks are a great way to improve your penny stock investment education. There are some great books that you can borrow from libraries or purchase cheaply from shops.
When reading on the internet, please be cautious of stock recommendations and strategies and methods. Stock recommendations and opinions from internet forums can be biased and cannot be fully trusted without doing your own research. Similarly, eBooks with strategies which promise great returns usually do not work as suggested. The reason for this is, even if the strategy worked well for the author, there is no guarantee that it will work for everyone else because everyone is different although you may learn something that you did not already know.
Google News has a business section which is group for free up-to-date information on stocks. Yahoo Finance also has good news section and also provides free charts and company information.
No matter who you get advice from, whether it?s from a financial consultant or friend, you should always carry out your own additional research. You should make decisions based on facts rather than opinions.
When you feel confident enough you can try some ?test trades?. You can either keep a record of your trades on paper or you can use a stocks simulator website where you invest with ?fake? money. There is a website called Champion Investor (ChampInvest.com) which is great for this purpose as it also calculates profits and losses automatically. Also, if you the top performer of the month, you will be rewarded with ?1000.
Using a stock simulator means that you will not lose your hard-earned cash if you make a bad investment. Instead, you will learn not to do it again without losing your money.
If you are consistently able to make a profit with your ?test trades? then you can move onto the real thing. Keep your investment strategy exactly as it was when you were making profitable test trades, but instead of using ?fake? money, you will be using your own money through a stock broker.
So, to summarise - if you are looking to get started in penny stocks, please do not dive in head first without investing your education first.
About the Author: Sam Chim is an experienced penny stock investor. For more great penny stock advice, please go to his site: Penny Stock Advice
Once you’ve figured out how much of a down payment you can make on your home mortgage, it’s time to determine how to document the source of your funds for the down payment and closing costs. Now you might be saying, “Why do they care where I get the money?” Lenders need to verify the source of funds to both assess the underlying risk in you as a borrower as well as to prevent loan fraud. This makes it imperative for you, the applicant, to maintain complete and detailed records of how the money which you plan to use for a down payment makes it into your hands. Money from your own savings, checking & money market accounts looks best to the bank for a variety of reasons, and is amongst the easiest sources of capital to document.
Money in the bank is also very easy to document. The lender has the option of asking you to submit bank statements to them indicating that you have the money for the down payment and closing costs, or performing a formal Verification of Deposit directly with your bank. Most lenders ask for statements, generally 2 to 3 months if you are providing full income documentation or up to 24 months if you are providing alternative documentation of income.
When discussing your down payment, your lender may discuss the topic of seasoning requirements with you. If you have money in a bank account for 3 months and it reflects consistently in consecutive statements, that money is considered “seasoned” 3 months. Your lender may require that your down payment money be comprised of seasoned funds, and that any large influxes of capital into your bank account may have to be extensively and thoroughly explained, documented, and potentially disqualified. So start saving and plan ahead!
There are loan types which do not require any form of documentation in this regard, particularly No Asset Verification mortgages or “no assets” loan programs. Just as it sounds, this type of mortgage does not require any verification of assets, however lenders generally do not allow the applicant to borrow more than 60% to 70% of the property value without some form of asset verification. There is another type of loan program which is increasingly popular over the last few years called Stated Income Stated Assets mortgages, which allows for limited verification of assets, and some of these programs allow up to 75% or 80% of the property’s value to be loaned to the borrower.
Buying a home with no down payment, often referred to as a “no money down” mortgage, has become a popular way for first time buyers to enjoy the benefits of homeownership without substantial savings, however it is important to note that borrowers who want a zero down loan will be faced with higher interest rates and monthly payments and are statistically shown to have higher rates of default and foreclosure.
No matter what you decide to put down, if you have and can document assets above and beyond the down payment and closing costs on the home and mortgage you can establish “reserves” with your application. Having ample capital reserves, good credit, and your down payment sitting in your bank account for a couple of months can in combination help you qualify for some of the best programs available, and potentially save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage.
Tristan Hunt is a seasoned financial professional with a wealth of experience in the mortgage industry, advising clients on debt consolidation, refinancing & investor loans. Website: http://www.RefinanceOne.net
Making a Fortune in the Stock Market >> How to Buy and Sell Stocks … Traders Secret Strategies BY http://www.SharpTrades.com
Profitable day traders and investors recognize that knowing how to pick and trade stocks with momentum is among the fastest and most effective ways to harvest BIG piles of cash in the stock market.
The problem is that if you don’t know which stocks to look for and how to approach them while limiting your risk, you won’t even get close to making some profits.
You don’t necessarily have to trade momentum hot stocks all the time. But you can learn how to take advantage of them when you encounter the best opportunities.
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Over The Counter Bulletin Board stocks (OTCBB) and the Pink Sheets are the two types of penny stocks you will encounter. The main difference between the two is that OTCBB stocks are required to file with the SEC and the pink sheet stocks are not. Some traders refuse to trade pink sheets because of this, those traders are missing out on some great opportunities. Even Warren Buffet has been known to look for undervalued companies in these markets.
Beware, trading in the OTCBB and Pink Sheets is not for everyone. Often the stocks are illiquid and have a large spread between bid and ask. There are also a lot of companies that are completely worthless and will try and masquerade as great companies while diluting their shares. Another worry about these stocks is the fraud involved or “pump and dump” schemes where traders or company insiders have their stock “talked up” on bulletin boards or in chat rooms. The posters make unrealistic statements about where the company and the price per share are going, while selling you their shares. The price per share then plummets. You can avoid most of these problems with due diligence on your part. Take the time to read filings, call the company and investigate thoroughly. This investigation should take place with OTCBB stocks and Pink Sheets. Do not expect to find everything you need to know in the filings.
After you find a stock that you wish to purchase, you pull up the price and find that there is a 30% difference between the “bid” and “ask” price. The bid being what a trader is willing to buy a stock for and the ask what a trader will sell the stock for. Finding spreads of 30% or more is very common in these markets. If the stock is thinly traded with a big spread, you will want to buy on the bid, or a small fraction above the bid. If the stock is moving fast because of news or an announcement, you will probably be forced to buy at the ask. When you place your order to buy on the bid or slightly above, it may take a long time to get filled. You may never get filled. At these times patience is a virtue. You may also want to try buying shares somewhere between the bid and ask.
If you have done your homework well and the company announces great news, such as winning a high paying contract with IBM, the stock will then take off, gaining 100% or more before others can even call their broker to buy shares. This is the reason for investing in these markets.
I do not recommend that you place all of your money in such a “High Risk, High Reward” market, but spend some time investigating penny stocks and you may be rewarded greatly. Remember: exercising due diligence is important for all investment decisions in any market.
About the author: Keith Guyette M.Ed, J.D. is a professional trader as well as the owner and head stock analyst for www.bottompicks.com. Mr. Guyette is also the moderator at one of the largest stock bulletin boards on the web.
Penny Stocks can be a great investment, but you have to know what to look for, or sometimes more accurately, what to look out for. Buying Penny Stocks based on a recent email you received, or what you heard from someone you barely know, is not usually a good idea. Penny Stocks have historically been a source of wealth for many investors, but conversely have been the source of countless lost small fortunes. Determining what is good advice, mixed with all the hype, can sometimes be a very difficult process. You don’t have to be a stock market guru or brilliant investor to make a killing with Penny Stocks, but you do have to be willing to do your homework, and use a great deal of common sense to stay alive when you are swimming with the sharks in what can be dangerous waters.
There are many great small companies in existence today, struggling to stay afloat, that are tomorrow’s rising stars. Without the capital to grow and expand very few of our current generation of conglomerates would be more than a forgotten flash in the pan. Selling shares of a company can inject the needed capital into a niche business that may take it into the next level. However not all, if not most, of these tiny corporations will be around for very long. This creates an interesting situation for us, the investor or speculator. While the company in question may not be worth much today, what might that company be worth tomorrow? Hence the term speculation, which is the lifeblood of any Penny Stock trader.
Unfortunately, within this world there are a few unseemly characters, who seek to part you from your hard earned dollars. And, they will go to nearly whatever means is necessary to achieve their goal. PR firms, or Investor Awareness firms, are sometime hired to promote a small corporation’s stock in hopes of raising the share price. This in itself is not necessarily a sign of ill intent. Many times a small company may be very good at what it does, but for whatever reason finds itself unable to generate enough press interest in their successes to generate buying activity of their stock shares. However, this is occasionally done with the sole purpose of raising prices rapidly in an attempt to make quick profits on a very hollow company, one that has no real market or solid foundation. Hence the phrase, pump and dump. Pump and dump in a nutshell means, exaggeratedly “pumping” up the company in question with the primary intent of “dumping” their shares once the share prices begin to rise.
What can you do to protect yourself from being caught up in a pump and dump scenario? Most importantly you must use your own due diligence to wade through the hype. Ask yourself a few basic questions about the company in question. Are they making money? Are they creating new products? Are these new products going to be valuable in the future? The rules for trading Penny Stocks aren’t much different from those of trading large cap stocks. However, the risks can be much larger, but the rewards can be as well.
If you aren’t willing to do at least a bit of homework, investing in any stock is not a good idea. Never rely entirely on anyone’s advice, especially when dealing with Penny Stocks. But, if you take the time to research your investments, investing in Penny Stocks can be a very financially rewarding experience.
Arthur Browning is a seasoned stock investor and author, who actively contributes to the Penny Stocks website http://www.1centstocks.com
Stocks have been a popular investment for hundreds of years. Companies issue stocks to raise capital for expansion and new projects, and each share of the stock represents a partial ownership in the company.
When the company does well and makes a profit, the value of the stocks rise. Stock owners can sell their shares for a profit or hold on to the stock for even more gain in the future. Sometimes companies will issue dividends part of the profits that are distributed to share holders.
Stocks are traded on stock exchanges. Most stocks are bought and sold through brokers who charge a commission or fee for this service. American stock exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ). Most stocks are only listed on one exchange, although large companies may have listings on several exchanges.
Stocks were traditionally seen as long term investments. So called ‘blue chip’ stocks - those having proven value over many years - may form the backbone of an investment portfolio. Short term trading is a relatively new phenomenon made possible with the advent of Internet trading. Day traders attempt to take advantage of large daily fluctuations in the market by buying and selling many times in one trading period. It is relatively risky and any profits realized are reduced by broker commissions charged on each transaction.
Stocks may sometimes be bought on margin, meaning that the investor borrows money to buy the stocks. Margin rates are usually around 50% - the investor can borrow as much as half the value of the stock.
FOREX
The Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX) is quite different from the stock exchange. In contrast to the stock exchange, the FOREX is primarily a short term market. Most traders enter and exit deals within a 24 hour period sometimes within a few minutes. Many FOREX trades can be made in one day without building up a large brokerage fee because FOREX trades are commission free. Brokers earn money by setting a spread the difference between asking and selling prices.
The FOREX is the largest financial market in the world. It is handles transactions worth $1.5 trillion every day. By comparison, all the American stock exchanges combined handle daily transactions worth about $100 billion. The huge volume of FOREX means that it is one of the most liquid markets in the world. There is always a buyer and seller for any type of currency because the world economy relies on the movement of goods from country to country. The stock market is less liquid because participants may choose to hold their investments or move on to other markets.
The FOREX is not located in any one location. Trading markets are located world-wide and because of difference in time-zones trades can be made 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Trading begins in Sydney, Australia on Monday morning (Sunday afternoon New York time) and continues non-stop until Friday afternoon New York time.
Stock exchanges have more limited trading hours. While it is possible to trade on exchanges world-wide, each exchange is independent and operates for just 7 hours a day. There is no way to buy or sell a certain stock that is only traded on one stock exchange when that exchange is closed.
Other advantages of FOREX? It is more predictable than stocks. It follows well established trends; it allows high leverage typically 100:1 instead of 2:1 on the stock market; and it doesn’t require a large investment mini accounts as small as $250 can get you started in FOREX.
About The Author:
This article provided courtesy of http://www.daytrader-futures.com
Copyright Hana Lee - http://www.daytrader-futures.com
You need to consider some basics before you enter the world of investing in stocks. The main reason: the stock market is a field dominated by savvy investors, who know the ins and outs of making profitable trades. For people who are not on the inside, Wall Street can be a very dangerous place. Here are a few tips that can help you in your beginning stages:
1) Don’t even consider “tips” that tell you about “hot stocks”. Consider the source: if you had a huge, cannot miss, money making investment tip, would you offer it the world at large, free of charge? You wouldn’t, and neither would anyone else. If someone is touting a can’t miss stock, they most likely have a financial interest in seeing the stock rise. Conversely, if they are rooting for the stock to miss, you can almost rest assured that have “shorted” the issue.
2) Always do your due dilligence. You’ll hear this advice over and over again, and that’s because it’s extremely important and bears repeating. You must always do your own due dilligence. Relying on the advice of others, no matter how well intentioned it may be, is almost always a recipe for disaster. Make sure you dig in and really examine the public numbers and financial releases from companies. Nothing tells the story more clearly than the numbers. Ignore basic touting techniques like press releases which have very little substance, and rely instead on hype to tell the company’s story.
3) Only invest money you can afford to lose. Sure this is a basic point, but tons of people miss it. You should only invest money that you can honestly afford to lose, and without any tears, if the worst case scenario comes to fruition. Everyone enters into investments with the right idea of earning big profits, but in many cases, this never pans out. If you lose your rent money, you can rest assured that your days of dabbling in the stock market will come to a very quick and bitter end. ut asides small amounts of money each week from your paycheck for savings and investment and use that.
The learning curve for investing in stocks can be steep, but in the final analysis is well worth it. In no other endeavor can you make the types of returns that are associated with the world’s greatest stock investors. But make sure to take your time, and keep detailed records of all of your transactions, with particular attention being paid to what you were thinking when you made the trade. Over time, this record will become an invaluable instrument for helping you determine what type of trade makes you the most money, and it will also give you insights into your character as a trader. There’s plenty more to learn, of course, but hopefully these basic ideas will help you on your stock investing journey. Good luck.
Darren McLaughlin is the webmaster of the Stock Market Basics resource center.