Retail traders just starting out in the forex market are often unprepared for what lies ahead and, as such, end up undergoing the same life cycle: first they dive in head first - usually losing their first account - and then they either give up, or they take a step back and do a little more research and open a demo account to practice. Those who do this will often eventually open another live account, and experience a little more success - breaking even or turning a profit. To help avoid the losses from hastily diving into forex trading, this article will introduce you to a framework for a medium-term forex trading system to get you started on the right foot, help you save money and ultimately become a profitable retail forex trader.
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/05/060205.asp
The Best PTC Sites List Updated Jan 01 2010
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Forex Strategy Books
Forex strategy e-books that are listed here provide information on the specific trading strategies as well as the use of particular Forex trading instruments. Basic knowledge of Forex trading is required to correctly understand and use these strategies.
Almost all Forex e-books are in .pdf format. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open these e-books. Some of the e-books (those that are in parts) are zipped.
If you are the copyright owner of any of these e-books and don't want me to share them, please, contact me and I will gladly remove them.
1-2-3 System — A simple pattern trading system by Mark Crisp.
Bollinger Bandit Trading Strategy — A trading system based on Bollinger bands indicator by unknown author.
Value Area — from The Likos Letter.
The Dynamic Breakout II Strategy — by unknown author.
Ghost Trader Trading Strategy — by unknown author.
King Keltner Trading Strategy — by unknown author.
Scalp Trading Methods — by Kevin Ho.
LSS - An Introduction to the 3-Day Cycle Method — by George Angell.
Market Turns And Continuation Moves With The Tick Index — by Tim Ord.
The Money Manager Trading Strategy — by unknown author.
Picking Tops And Bottoms With The Tick Index — by Tim Ord.
The Super Combo Day Trading Strategy — by unknown author.
The Eleven Elliott Wave Patterns — by unknown author.
The Thermostat Trading Strategy — by unknown author.
Intraday trading with the TICK — by Christopher Terry.
Traders Trick Entry — by Traders Educators of Traders University.
Fibonacci Trader Journal — a journal covering different trading techniques based on Fibonacci indicators, by Robert Krausz. 12 issues.
Rapid Forex — a set of aggressive Forex trading strategies (Rapid Forex) by Robert Borowski and Stephen A. Pierce.
Microtrading the 1 Minute Chart — a small e-book aimed on Forex newbies to teach them the basics of M1 scalping.
BunnyGirl Forex Trading Strategy Rules and FAQ — set of rules for a BunnyGirl trading strategy based on WMA crossing.
The Daily Fozzy Method — by Michael Dunbar.
Forex Trader's Cheat Sheet — real Forex cheat sheet for position entry times/conditions by Quantum Research Management Group.
Offset Trading — a basic Forex news trading range breakout system by Dana Martin.
How to Trade Both Trend and Range Markets by Single Strategy? — by S.A. Ghafari.
A Practical Guide to Technical Indicators; Moving Averages — by S.A. Ghafari.
FX Wizard — essential Forex trading rules by Rob Walton.
FX Destroyer — a description of a rather simple Forex trading strategy, invloving moving averages, parabolic SAR and ADX indicators, by Izu Franks.
Learn How To Rake In Your Share Of
The $1 Trillion Foreign Currency Market
And Become An Expert Trader By
Using The Gladiator Forex Trading Strategy!
Introducing The Forex Gladiator Strategy:
Featuring Advanced Money Management
and Forex Trading Techniques!
Hi, my name is Juan Saton, author of Forex Gladiator and the creator of The Gladiator Forex Trading Strategy. I used to work hard, hoping and dreaming of the day when I could retire in comfort. But when I looked at the poor returns of most investments, it seemed retirement was an unattainable dream. I looked around me and saw millions of people working when they we were in their 70's just to make ends meet. That's when I decided that there had to be a better way and I was going to find it!
In The Forex Gladiator Ebook I'll Explain Everything You Need to Know To Become A Forex Gladiator:
 | The difference between Fundamental and Technical Analysis and how and when to use them. |
| The three kinds of price charts -- Line, Bar and Candlestick -- and how to read them. |
| How to choose the best Forex brokers, how they operate, and where to find them. |
| How to avoid the 7 biggest, most costly mistakes you can make as a Forex trader. |
| 35 of the very best, most important Forex day trading tips you need to know to ensure your long-term success. |
| The critical importance of formulating your own Forex money management system and following it every day. |
| My essential 3 step system for Forex trading and how to put it to use immediately. |
| An ingenious strategy that can increase your ability to spot potential winning trades by 100%! |
| The secret to knowing exactly when and where to exit for maximum potential profits. (I had to pay $10,000 to learn this!) |
| Learn how to quickly assess what the trend is and the exact strategy to exploit the situation for maximum potential profits. |
| Learn how to quickly know what market is the best market to trade. Simply applying this one technique can make all the difference in the world. |
| Fully disclosed system: no need to buy, rent or subscribe to any service. You control your trading, you decide when to trade, you decide how much to trade. |
| So easy to learn that most of my traders (many who are completely new to forex trading) put Forex Gladiator to work only 1 day after learning it. |
| No stress, no emotions: Since Forex Gladiator is 100% mechanical you will only follow strict rules to identify, enter and exit trades. No interpretation or judgment what so ever (if you trade already, you most likely know the value of 100% mechanical trading)! |
| Completely disclosed rules. Stop using those trading services or so called "black box" systems. Be in control of your trading. |
| And much, much more! |
Why Your Headline Will Make You Or Break You In Project Management!
The value of a proper headline when dealing with a project (or anything else for that matter) cannot be stressed enough...
Yep! I'm talking of the headline of your email correspondence here...
It only makes the day for a project manager so much more comfortable (not to mention easier), when he/she has to find something in a hurry...
And, usually...
What else... normally... is a project other than...
"In A Hurry..."
So, if you'd just give me an appropriate headline, I'm very apt to forgive everything else, and especially typos;-) - slang or whatever have you.
The need for understandable language however... Still though, just my 2 cents...
Whenever I got e-mails of character "more or less garbled", I'd call back to make sure the importance of such a post... And, if nothing else, make the person understand the value of an appropriate - to the CASE headline!
ALSO: Whenever I had to send people e-mails myself, I'd ALWAYS follow-up through a personal visit (in person) or follow up the e-mail by a phone call...
( That is, if the message was of particular imporance or of any urgency of nature, of course. Sometimes both... - when extremely important as to avoid EVERY possibility of a misunderstanding)
AND: I cannot STRESS enough the importance of this!
Besides... In the end... I cannot even count the endless millions saved from being flushed down the sewers of project-managemen-hell - purely by following this simple... little... routine...
The most obvious reason is that you get to eliminate the fuzz and the potential B.S. INSTANTLY...
BUT...
The most important (perhaps) and not always so obvious reason?
This way there will be NO phreaking way anybody involved could ever lamely excuse themselves with the so popular and widely used:
"Ohhhh! Oh my... I didn't know that..."
Or BETTER Yet! ---> You won't Even have to put up with the even more so annoying:
"Oh... I didn't know that... I NEVER got anything like that from you..."
Just try applying this strategy yourself... Just once!;-)
It'll only take a few more (no need for more than 2 to 5 more minutes normally) minutes of your day...
.BUT, I'll promise you... These 5 more mins will more than be worth it by the end of your week...
BECAUSE: While the other guy still is scrambling around, you have eliminated just 1 more obstacle that otherwise could've set you hours, and even days and weeks back due to stupid mis-communication and needless errors...
And, just so you know, this ONE tactic alone, made it possible for me to go in - take over projects other people - more experienced - more "skilled" and longer in the trade than me - had to abandon...
.Projects gone so astray that you'd be embarrassed (and then some) to call it YOUR assignment...
Still though, among others - this one thing made it possible - not only to rescue these lemons that no-one wanted...
.but, without exception, it made it possible to do so (rescue them) - within 90 days and less.
Making them absolute killer money machines in a snap...
No matter what size - no matter how down the sewers the project ever was...
And, usually...
The project never took more than 3-4 weeks to be back on its feet...
So, the morals here must be: NEVER - EVER underestimate the power of seemingly small, and unimportant things like these...
In the end, these are the nuggets that will separate the loosers from the winners...
And, in my experience as Project Manager, you, the Project Manager live a potentially "Dangerous" life...
You are like a King/Queen, but without land of your own...
And, the head of the Projectmanager will always roll first, unless you have done your work - backing yourself up...
.Documenting EVERY little bit of your work, and more...
But, when the documentation is secured, and your proper means of communication are provided for... Your time as emperor is way more secure and successful...
Not to forget, but so much more fun!
Best Regards and Much Success
Arne Yri
How To Run A Kick-Ass Project
That Will Rake IN The Fungolas
Big Droves Of Crisp CASH & Profits
EVERY Time - No Matter What!
http://www.ProjectManagementMadeEasy.com
by: Arne Yri
The REAL International Gold Standard: The Leadership Talk
Summary: The global economy has been a fact of life for decades now. But the author asserts that most leaders don't understand the right kind of leadership to propel those organizations to great global success. Here is a blue print on how to make your leadership truly effective on an international basis.
Working with thousands of leaders during the past 21 years in the global economy, I have found that most of them don't have a clue. They may know to some extent how to do business on a global level. But to exert the right kind of leadership on that level eludes them; so when I first meet them, they're usually getting the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways.
Of course, there are many successful global companies and leaders, but my experiences teach that they are successful not because of but in spite of their leadership activities. They may do things right; but they are not doing the global leadership things right. If they got that leadership right, they'd be getting a lot more results.
Clearly, the challenges of leading on a global scale are daunting. Differences in time zones, cultures, currency dynamics can be vexing. But one thing is the same. It takes leadership for organizations to succeed – leadership that must drive results, not now and then, not ad hoc, not in patches but consistently in all cultures simultaneously.
First, let's understand what kind of leadership is needed to achieve such success. Then I'll give you a powerful tool to make it happen.
Leaders do nothing more important than have people get results. There are two ways for leaders to get results, order people to go from point A to point B or have the people want to go from A to B. Clearly, the latter is more effective in getting results. Today, with speed, flexibility, and teamwork being driving global competitiveness, the order-leader who tyrannizes and micro manages can't compete against the leader who can build motivated teams to get results.
The days of the order-leader are not just numbered. They're over. Today, leadership is motivational or its stumbling in the dark. Because in terms of achieving more results faster continually, the order is the lowest form of leadership. Here's why: Until recently, ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the order-giving way of leadership has flourished. Order comes from a Latin root meaning "to arrange threads in a woof". In the Revolution's early years, captains of industry dealt with the uneducated country folk in their factories by ordering them where, how and when to work. The most efficient and effective production methods were created when workers were "ordered" or ranked like threads in the woof of production lines.
Refined and empowered by the Victorian culture, with its patriarchal power structure and strong links to Prussian military organization and dictates, the culture of the order-giver reached its zenith in the United States after World War II.
In the following decades, with most of the industrialized world recovering from the war, many U.S. businesses were like ocean liners plowing through relatively calm seas, their leaders, like liner captains and mates, running things by getting orders from superiors, giving orders to subordinates and making sure those orders were carried out.
But with globalization, businesses worldwide are undergoing changes as radical as any since the Industrial Revolution. With competition increasing dramatically, with the volume and velocity of information multiplying, with information becoming accessible to more and more people, with the traditional, pyramidal structures of order-giving flattening, leaders today need skills akin not to ocean liner piloting but white-water canoeing.
Order leadership founders in an environment where lines of authority are dynamic, information widely disseminated, markets rapidly changing, and employees empowered. In such an environment, new leadership, motivational leadership, is needed.
In short, the leader who can "have" others get results. That means global leadership is essentially motivational leadership.
That's the kind of leadership needed to achieve such success. Now, here's the tool to make that leadership happen. That tool is The Leadership Talk. Here's what the Leadership Talk is all about.
When it comes to realizing motivational leadership around the world, there is a hierarchy of verbal persuasion. This hierarchy extends to people everywhere, no matter what their culture, what job they hold, or what ambitions they have.
The lowest levels of the hierarchy are speeches and presentations. They communicate information. The highest level, the most effective level is The Leadership Talk. The Leadership Talk not only communicates information. It does something much more. It establishes deep, human, emotional connections with people.
The question isn't, "Why is this connection necessary in terms of getting organizational results?" (After all, the answer is obvious.), the question is, "Why is the Leadership Talk the gold standard for international leadership?"
For one thing, I've had top leaders in top companies worldwide applying it for more than two decades, and it simply works. It's all about helping leaders get what I call "more results faster, continually." You can get those kinds of results on a global scale without the Leadership Talk.
The Leadership Talk is motivational, action-focused, results oriented anywhere it's used.
That's because its key process, the Three-trigger Motivational Process, is tied to universal human motivators.
I emphasize process -- which is a sequence of specific steps to achieve a particular outcome -- because it's not good enough to motivate people now and then, we must do it consistently. Process promotes consistency and advances the quality, quantity, and dependability of results.
The Leadership Talk process I'm going to show you has been working for many hundreds of leaders for nearly 20 years. It's called The Three-trigger Motivational Process. And it's the basis of all my leadership processes.
Note that the triggers are in the form of questions. 1) DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE AUDIENCE NEEDS? (2) CAN YOU BRING DEEP BELIEF TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? (3) CAN YOU HAVE THE AUDIENCE TAKE RIGHT ACTION?
When facing a leadership challenge, if you say "no" to any one of these questions, you can't give a Leadership Talk.
(1) DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE AUDIENCE NEEDS?
Winston Churchill said, "We must face the facts or they'll stab us in the back."
When you are trying to motivate people, the real facts are THEIR facts, their reality.
Their reality is composed of their needs. In many cases, their needs have nothing to do with your needs.
Most leaders don't get this. They think that their own needs, their organization's needs, are reality. That's okay if you're into ordering. As an order leader, you only need work with your reality. You simply have to tell people to get the job done. You don't have to know where they're coming from. But if you want to motivate them, you must work within their reality, not yours.
I call it "playing the game in the people's home park". There is no other way to motivate them consistently. If you insist on playing the game in your park, you'll be disappointed in the motivational outcome.
(2) CAN YOU BRING DEEP BELIEF TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING?
Nobody wants to follow a leader who doesn't believe the job can get done. If you can't feel it, they won't do it.
But though you yourself must "want to" when it comes to the challenge you face, your motivation isn't the point. It's simply a given. If you're not motivated, you shouldn't be leading.
Here's the point: Can you TRANSFER your motivation to the people so they become as motivated as you are?
I call it THE MOTIVATIONAL TRANSFER, and it is one of the least understood and most important leadership determinants of all.
There are three ways you can make the transfer happen.
* CONVEY INFORMATION. Often, this is enough to get people motivated. For instance, many people have quit smoking because of information on the harmful effects of the habit
* MAKE SENSE. To be motivated, people must understand the rationality behind your challenge. Re: smoking: People have been motivated to quit because the information connecting the activity with many kinds of diseases is absolutely compelling.
* TRANSMIT EXPERIENCE. This entails having the leader's experience become the people's experience. This can be the most effective method of all, for when the speaker's experience becomes the audience's experience, a deep sharing of emotions and ideas, a communing, can take place.
There are plenty of presentation and speech courses devoted to the first two methods, so I won't talk about those.
Here's a few thoughts on the third method. Generally speaking, humans learn in two ways: by acquiring intellectual understanding and through experience. In our schooling, the former predominates, but it is the latter which is most powerful in terms of inducing a deep sharing of emotions and ideas; for our experiences, which can be life's teachings, often lead us to profound awareness and purposeful action.
Look back at your schooling. Was it your book learning or your experiences, your interactions with teachers and students, that you remember most? In most cases, your experiences made the most telling impressions upon you.
To transfer your motivation to others, use what I call my "defining moment" technique, which I describe fully in my book, DEFINING MOMENT: MOTIVATING PEOPLE TO TAKE ACTION.
In brief, the technique is this: Put into sharp focus a particular experience of yours then communicate that focused experience to the people by describing the physical facts that gave you the emotion.
Now, here's the secret to the defining moment. That experience of yours must provide a lesson and that lesson is a solution to the needs of the people. Otherwise, they'll think you're just talking about yourself.
For the defining moment to work (i.e., for it to transfer your motivation to them), the experience must be about them. The experience happened to you, of course. But that experience becomes their experience when the lesson it communicates is a solution to their needs.
(3) CAN YOU HAVE THE AUDIENCE TAKE RIGHT ACTION?
Results don't happen unless people take action. After all, it's not what you say that's important in your leadership communications, it's what the people do after you have had your say.
Yet the vast majority of leaders don't know what action truly is.
They get people taking the wrong action at the wrong time in the wrong way for the wrong results.
A key reason for this failure is they don't know how to deliver the all-important "leadership talk Call-to-action".
"Call" comes from an Old English word meaning "to shout." A Call-to-Action is a "shout for action." Implicit in the concept is urgency and forcefulness. But most leaders don't deliver the most effective Calls-to-action because they make three errors regarding it.
First, they err by mistaking the Call-to-Action as an order. Within the context of The Leadership Talk, a Call-to-action is not an order. Leave the order for the order leader.
Second, leaders err by mistaking the Call as theirs to give. The best Call-to-action is not the leader's to give. It's the people's to give. It's the people's to give to themselves. A true Call-to-action prompts people to motivate themselves to take action.
The most effective Call-to-action then is not from the leader to the people but from the people to the people themselves!
Third, they error by not priming their Call. There are two parts to the Call-to-Action, the primer and the Call itself. Most leaders omit the all-important primer.
The primer sets up the Call, which is to prompt people to motivate themselves to take action. You yourself control the primer. The people control the Call.
The primer/Call is critical because every leadership communication situation is in essence a problem situation. There is the problem the leader has. And there is the problem the people have. In many cases, they are two different problems. But leaders get into trouble regarding the Call-to-action when they think it's only one problem, mainly theirs.
For instance, a leader might be talking about the organization needing to be more productive. So, the leader talks PRODUCTIVITY.
On the other hand, the people, hearing PRODUCTIVITY, think, YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE ME MORE WORK!
If the leader thinks that productivity is the people's problem and ignores the "more work" aspect, h/she's Call-to-action will probably be a bust, resulting in the people avoiding committed action.
Let's apply the primer/Call dynamic to the productivity case. The leader talks PRODUCTIVITY: but this time uses a PRIMER. The primer's purpose is to establish a "critical confluence" – the union of your problem with the problem of the people.
In this case, the leader creates a critical confluence by couching productivity within the framework of MORE MEANINGFUL WORK.
The primer may be: LET'S GET TOGETHER AND SEE IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH AN ACTION PLAN THAT WILL ENSURE THAT THE PRODUCTIVITY GAINS YOU IDENTIFY AND EXECUTE WILL ENABLE YOU TO WORK AT WHAT'S REALLY MEANINGFUL TO YOU.
Note what we've done: The primer is LET'S GET TOGETHER AND SEE IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH AN ACTION PLAN.
The actual Call is from the people to themselves: LET'S INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY BY WORKING AT WHAT'S MEANINGFUL.
With that Call, the leader moves from just getting average results (YOU MUST BE MORE PRODUCTIVE: i.e., you're going to solve MY problem) to getting great results (YOU COME UP WITH WAYS TO TIE PRODUCTIVITY INTO MEANINGFUL WORK: i.e., you're also going to solve your problem.)
So, here's what the Leadership Talk Call-to-action is truly about: It's not an order; it's best manifested when the people give themselves the Call; and it is always primed by your creating the "critical confluence" -- they'll be solving their problem as well as yours.
The vast majority of leaders I've worked worldwide are hampering their careers for one simple reason: They're giving presentations and speeches -- not leadership talks.
You have a great opportunity to turbo charge your career by recognizing the power of Leadership Talks. Before you give a Leadership Talk, ask three basic questions. Do you know what the people need? Can you bring deep belief to what you're saying? Can you have the people take the right action?
If you say "no" to any one of those questions you cannot give a Leadership Talk. But the questions aren't meant to be stumbling blocks to your leadership but stepping stones. If you answer "no", work on the questions until you can say, "yes". In that way, you'll start getting the right results in the right way on a consistent basis.
The changing global marketplace can force you to confront a world of differences in cultures, time zones, and currencies; but one thing will always remain the same, the need for great leadership to drive great results. When you use the Leadership Talk consistently in your dealings around the world, you'll be putting into circulation the real gold standard that is recognized and valued everywhere.
2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com
by: Brent Filson
Things To Do Before Investing Into A High Yield Investment Program
We have compiled a short list of some of the things you can do before investing into a program to make sure you get the most for your money:
#1 - Search all HYIP forums for the name of the HYIP. Check for people spamming about the program, as this usually is a sign of a short lived scam. Look for people's opinions. Often those who have been investing in HYIPs for some time are the ones with the best insite. Most importantly, look for complaints of people who have not been paid.
#2 - Do a search on google. Copy small parts (1-2 sentences) of the text from both the hompage and the page with information on how they make their returns. Paste it into the google search bar with quotes around it, and see if anything comes up. A good amount of the time, google will return results that are an exact match, usually a professional traders website. Also, do the same thing with any images of people that are shown to look as though they are the admin of the program. Simply get the name of the file that the image is uploaded as by viewing the properties of it. Then paste this into the google image search. You will be amazed that a lot of the time you will see that the image is a direct copy from another site. This proves that the admin is lying.
#3 - Email the admin. Ask some good questions such as, where are you located, how long have you been around, and how do you make your returns. The common answers you will receive are United States, 2 Years, and Forex trading. Usually if these are the answers the admin is lying to you. about 75% of all new HYIPs claim that they have been paying members offline for over a year. 99.9999% of the time this is a lie. If an investing firm is able to deal with members offline for 2 years, there usually is no need to go online with their business.
#4 - Look at the main HYIP rating sites. If it looks like a program has been cheating the ratings by voting for themselves, or it looks like they may have hired a paid voter, then stay away. You can usually tell if a program is cheating by trying to look at what else each member has voted for. Also check the voters IP, maybe the cheaters were not careful and didn't use a proxy
All in all, if you follow these 4 steps you will likely be saving yourself a descent amount of money in the long run. HYIPs are extremely risky, and these steps alone do not guarantee success. They only improve your chances of walking away with profits.
by: Brian Kay
Explosive Profits: 7 Reasons to Trade Forex
There are many money-making opportunities out there and we’ve been involved with quite a few, namely property marketing, web development, residential construction security, multi-level marketing businesses etc.
We’ve come to a few conclusions with the help of some well-known properity coaches.
Often people with the income they desire don’t have the time to enjoy it. Those that have time don’t often have money. You don’t have to sacrifice your life-style to earn an above-average income. If you focus on the Forex for a few months you can make that dream a reality and create time and money to do what you REALLY want.
To earn a living money is given in exchange for a product or service rendered. It needs to be sold continuously otherwise your income stops abruptly unless it’s a repeat type of product or service.
Money is a medium of exchange. There’s no magical formula to possess it, you need to exchange something of value for it.
What if, you could have access to thousands of customers who are ready, willing and able to buy from you whenever you wanted? Wouldn’t it be great to avoid any hassles like money collection problems (just had a delayed payment from my web business), keeping difficult customers happy (we all know what that’s like), competition stealing your business without providing the same value etc.
All that is possible with Forex. You can also trade from anywhere. Take your laptop with you, find an internet connection and away you go.
Another advantage is that you don’t need experience to get started. Get a traditionally job involves accumulating specialized experience, having a well-polished resume and having the right contacts. With the right training course, you can get started straight away.
Here’s 7 more reasons to trade Forex:
1. It never closes. It’s open around the clock, worldwide. Trading positions open at Monday 7am, New Zealand time and close 5pm New York time on Friday. During this time, you can enter or exit the market whenever you like. It’s a continuous electronic currency exchange. This is great because you can trade whenever you have spare time.
2. Leverage. Standard $100 000 currency lots can be traded with as little as $1000. This is mainly because of the ease with which you can buy and sell, some brokers will leverage up to 200 times, so with $100 you can control a 200 000 unit currency position. It’s the best use of trading capital around, even banks lending on property investments don’t come close.
3. Accurately predict the outcomes. Currency prices generally repeat themselves in predictable cycles so you can see what the trends are. ‘Technical Analysis’ helps to see these trends and profit from them.
4. Low Transaction Cost. In other words, you mistakes won’t cost you a fortune. Good brokers won’ charge commissions to trade or maintain an account even if you have a mini account and trade small volumes.
5. Unlimited Earning Potential. Forex has a daily trading volume of over 1.5 trillion, the largest financial market in the world. It dwarfs the equities market (50 billion daily) and the futures market (30 billion).
6. You can make money in any market conditions. Each market is one currency against another, so when you buy in one, you’re selling in another so there’s no biase towards either currency moving up or down. This means it’s up to you to choose which currency to buy or sell with. Yu can make money going up or down.
7. Market transparency. This is an advantage in any business or trading environment. It means you can manage risk and execute orders within seconds. It’s highly efficient and allows you to avoid unexpected ‘surprises’.
I hope you’re now convinced that Forex is the best investment and income opportunity around.
To continue your journey of Forex Trading success and achieve enormous profits, visit http://www.wealthyforex.com. You’ll receive all of the resources you need to positively impact your future.
by: Sorna Devadas
Forex Market Offers Opportunity And Information
The forex market is what is called an international exchange currency market, where currencies are exchanged on a daily basis. There are five forex market centers around the world – New York, London, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Zurich. One does not need to be on the trading floor, so to speak to be involved in the forex market. Today, forex trading can be done from home on a computer.
The forex market itself is basically a worldwide connection of traders, who make investment moves based on the price of currencies, or their values relative to other currencies. These traders constantly negotiate prices with other traders resulting in the fluctuation or movement of a currency’s value. The value of a currency on the forex market also corresponds with supply. If there is greater demand for the Euro, let’s say, then there will be less supply of it on the forex market, which means, in time, it will make a Euro more valuable compared to let’s say the dollar. In short, in this forex market situation, one Euro would yield more dollars, subsequently weakening the dollar as well. Analyzing the forex market’s fluctuations allows investors to make predictions on how a currency will move in relation to another currency. They then can make predictions and buy and sell currency accordingly.
While some people view the forex market as a place to see what their exchange rate will be when they travel abroad, others view it as an opportunity to make great gains in their financial planning and future.
by: Jay Moncliff
What is the Foreign Exchange?
Foreign Exchange is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. The off exchange retail foreign currency market ( FOREX ) is the largest financial market in the world, with a volume of over $1.9 trillion daily. Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location, no central exchange.
It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another, spanning from one zone to another across the major financial centers. Traditionally, investors' only means of gaining access to the foreign exchange market was through banks that transacted large amounts of currencies for commercial and investment purposes.
Trading volume has increased rapidly over time, especially after exchange rates were allowed to float freely in 1971. High liquidity - The Forex market with an average trading volume of over $1.9 trillion per day. It is the most liquid market in the world.
Low transaction cost - The retail transaction cost (the bid/ask spread) is typically less than 0.1% (10 pips or points) under normal market conditions. At larger dealers, the spread could be smaller. Uncorrelated to the stock market - A trader in the Forex market involves selling or buying one currency against another.
Thus, there is no correlation between the foreign currency market and the stock market. Bull market or a bear market for a currency is defined in terms of the outlook for its relative value against other currencies. If the outlook is positive, we have a bull market in which a trader profits by buying the currency against other currencies.
Conversely, if the outlook is pessimistic, we have a bull market for other currencies and traders take profits by selling the currency against other currencies. In either case, there is always a good market trading opportunity for a trader. Inter-bank market - The backbone of the Forex market consists of a global network of dealers.
They are mainly major commercial banks that communicate and trade with one another and with their clients through electronic networks and telephones. There are no organized exchanges to serves a central location to facilitate transactions the way the New York Stock Exchange serves the equity markets. The Forex market operates in a manner similar to the way the NASDAQ market in the United States operates, thus it is also referred to as an over the counter ( OTC ) market.
No one can corner the market - The Forex market is so vast and has so many participants that no single entity, not even a central bank, can control the market price for an extended period of time. Even interventions by mighty central banks are becoming increasingly ineffectual and short lived. Thus central banks are becoming less and less inclined to intervene to manipulate market prices.
Copyright (c) 2007 Mark Molina
It operates through an electronic network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another, spanning from one zone to another across the major financial centers. Traditionally, investors' only means of gaining access to the foreign exchange market was through banks that transacted large amounts of currencies for commercial and investment purposes.
Trading volume has increased rapidly over time, especially after exchange rates were allowed to float freely in 1971. High liquidity - The Forex market with an average trading volume of over $1.9 trillion per day. It is the most liquid market in the world.
Low transaction cost - The retail transaction cost (the bid/ask spread) is typically less than 0.1% (10 pips or points) under normal market conditions. At larger dealers, the spread could be smaller. Uncorrelated to the stock market - A trader in the Forex market involves selling or buying one currency against another.
Thus, there is no correlation between the foreign currency market and the stock market. Bull market or a bear market for a currency is defined in terms of the outlook for its relative value against other currencies. If the outlook is positive, we have a bull market in which a trader profits by buying the currency against other currencies.
Conversely, if the outlook is pessimistic, we have a bull market for other currencies and traders take profits by selling the currency against other currencies. In either case, there is always a good market trading opportunity for a trader. Inter-bank market - The backbone of the Forex market consists of a global network of dealers.
They are mainly major commercial banks that communicate and trade with one another and with their clients through electronic networks and telephones. There are no organized exchanges to serves a central location to facilitate transactions the way the New York Stock Exchange serves the equity markets. The Forex market operates in a manner similar to the way the NASDAQ market in the United States operates, thus it is also referred to as an over the counter ( OTC ) market.
No one can corner the market - The Forex market is so vast and has so many participants that no single entity, not even a central bank, can control the market price for an extended period of time. Even interventions by mighty central banks are becoming increasingly ineffectual and short lived. Thus central banks are becoming less and less inclined to intervene to manipulate market prices.
Copyright (c) 2007 Mark Molina
You Never Know What You Will Benefit From In Forex Forecasts
Possible risks and profits to be made can always be predicted if traders would only have more accurate forex forecast to base their trade and decisions upon. Forex forecasts are only one way of keeping up with the volatile forex market. Success will depend the most in knowing what and who will affect the rate changes.
The forex market has already been through a lot of ups and downs that even fortune tellers would have difficulty guessing what will be its next movement. Making a forex forecast can be helpful but can also be too risky. Besides, doing it is not that easy also.
In forex forecasts, nothing specific is given. The traders are not made to hope high and expect more. If you have seen or heard a forex forecast, be sure to check on some projected rate fluctuations whenever and wherever possible so you would have an idea it the forex forecast shows a likely possibility to be tru or not.
Staying in touch and up-to-date with the latest news and happenings around the globe and information about the forex currency can help traders determine when is the best time to buy, sell and stay away from a particular market. All these things are important in the performance of your trade. Take note of some forex forecasts if only to serve as guide whenever you are in a situation that you find hard to make a decision upon.
How can one benefit from forex forecasts?
There are some companies that are offering forex forecast information as a subscription that traders can avail of. For those who do not have enough patience and browse for information in the internet, this forex forecast information would be their alternative.
No one said that there is a 100% accuracy in these forex forecasts. And no one told traders that they should also believe them 100%. If you want to have more degree of accuracy in the forex forecast, you could always find one with the most accurate percentage rate.
You could look for something or someone that offers free information or a trail period for you to test the degree of their ability to give accurate forecast about the forex market. There are also some sites that send out forex forecast to emails that you may want to try out just so you will choice to choose from if you decide to avail the services of some of them.
Relying only on one forex forecast is not the thing to do. You should at least have some more choices in the process of making an investment decision. Try to get more forex forecast from sources that are rampant online and offline so you would not stick to just one.
The thing to remember is that your investments are your future and you have already worked too hard to just let it all down the drain. Do not put the future of your forex trade into the hands of only person. Try to get several forex forecast and choose the best one that you think has great ounces of accuracy up their sleeves.
Before putting the future of your investments into the hands of those offering forex forecasts, make it a point to check out the latest that is happening in the forex trading and see if the trend is likely to go with what the predictions are telling about.
If you think more about it, people doing forex forecasts would not be out there giving bad frecasts because their reputation is the one at stake there. They surely would not want to ruin the image they have by giving false predictions about things that they know people will listen to, would they?
Like they say, traders should not believe all that is written in forex forecasts. Some but not all. There are still decisions to be made that will be based upon the trader itself and no amount or accuracy of forex forecasts can make that decision for them.
Just to be on the right side of things, always make sure and do your own research that will back up the forex forecast you actually think is going to work. You never know what it will lead to…
by: Kevin Anderson
Futures Versus Forex (Foreign Exchange Market)
Todays current futures market is quite unlike the futures of the 19th century. Todays future market is a worldwide one that includes manufactured goods, financial currencies and treasury bonds, and agricultural products.
When you speculate on futures it is not the actual good that is speculated upon rather it is the contract for the goods that is traded as value. Every futures contract includes a buyer and a seller. The following is an example of a futures speculation: A farmer agrees to deliver 1000 bushels of corn to a baker at a price of $5.00 a bushel. If the daily price of corn futures falls to $4.00 a bushel, the farmer's account is credited with $1000 ($5.00 - $4.00 X 1000 bushels) and the baker's account is debited by the same amount. Futures accounts are settled every day.
Using the above as an example this is how the contract settlement would play out: If the price of corn futures is still at $4.00 the farmer will have made $1000 on the futures contract and the baker will have lost an equal amount. However, the baker can now purchase corn on the open market at $4.00 a bushel - $1000 less than the original contract, so the amount he lost on the futures contract is made up by the cheaper cost of corn. Also, the farmer must sell his corn on the open market for $4.00 a bushel, less than what he anticipated when entering the futures contract, but the profit generated by the futures contract makes up the difference.
Speculators profit by daily fluctuations in the futures market by choosing to buy from the seller (buying short) or from the buyer (buying long).
The FOREX market has advantages over the futures market. FOREX is the largest financial market in the world. It is a liquid market and stop orders can be executed more easily and with less slippage than in other markets. The FOREX market is open 5 days a week, 24 hours a day. Traders can take advantages of opportunities as they become available. FOREX transactions are usually instantly executed. FOREX transactions are commission free. Brokers earn money on the spread.
Some investors feel that due to built in safeguards that FOREX trading is safer than futures trading.
by: Jeff Slokum
Transform Your Office Into A Powerhouse Of Success
Did you know that the area that you call your 'office' is a direct reflection of you? If your environment is clean and uncluttered it projects that the person who works there is calm and has everything under control. Consequently if it looks like the local rubbish tip then the impression others get is that this person is disorganised, and a complete mess.
Now before any of you get upset with these assumptions, I'm just stating the fact that the way you have set up your office will greatly affect how other people perceive you.
Of course, clutter is not the only area to address if you want to project a professional image, however it plays a bit part. There are several easy to implement ideas which will have a dramatic impact on your productivity, providing you take action.
If you seriously would like to turn your office into a powerhouse of success, then take action on these tips from Feng Shui guru Debra Jarvis…
The First Step
Move everything out of the area designated as the office, especially what's stored in cupboards and up on shelves. There is no place to hide from Feng Shui eyes. Bring back in only those items that are relevant. Evaluate the other stuff, do you love it, is it useful? If not get rid of it (sell, dump or give it away).
Everything in its Place
It is important that all items have a designated place to which they are returned after use. Put things used frequently in the most accessible spots. Time spent working is much more pleasant when we can easily locate and access items when required.
Set up Your Power Position
Place yourself in the power position. This is the position where you have a view of every entryway. Where you have a choice of places or directions, put your office chair in each position and sit quietly for a few minutes getting an idea of what it would be like to spend time there. The one that immediately feels right is your power position. When you set yourself up in the power position you have control in the space, your self-esteem will go up and you accomplish more. Try it for 28 days and if you don't find any benefits (including increased business) then change the position.
Clean and Clear Clutter
Maintain a clear desktop. Paperwork is relentless in its onslaught. Deal with it immediately, use TRAF (Toss, Refer, Act or File). Creating a pile to deal with later creates clutter and clutter is bad Feng Shui.
Remove Obstacles
Make your office area inviting to come into. In Feng Shui it is considered that opportunity flows to us in direct proportion to the ease of entry and the welcome that is experienced in our workplaces. This applies even when we are the only ones who ever go there. Only have items that you personally care for. Feng Shui tells us that everything is alive with memories, feelings and associations. What are the objects in your office saying to you? Question their origin, did you come by it because that's all you could find at the time, are you still in a good relationship with the person who gave it to you, would something else be more suitable?
Condition Audit
Does everything in your office work and is everything kept in optimal condition? In Feng Shui it is very important that we either attend to the repair of items immediately or where we are not prepared to do this we discard them. An item that is less than ideal is said to begin negatively impacting after 28 days.
Lighting
Use natural light as much as possible. Use incandescent electric lighting in preference to fluorescent. It is less tiring to work under especially if you are also operating a computer. Harsh white light is not optimal for working under. If you have to use fluorescent use full-spectrum (daylight) bulbs and experiment with only utilising half as many ie: where there is a double fitting only install one bulb.
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Plants
Plants absorb potentially harmful gases and clean the air. During the day they take the air we breathe out and recycle it. You can use plants in your office to improve the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to work. When people feel good, they perform better. It is important that the plants are well cared for and that they remain healthy and vibrant.
Water
Water features are another wonderful Feng Shui enhancement. As water symbolises opportunity and abundance, ensure that water is not stagnant and, if flowing, the fall is a full 360 degrees or towards the centre of the occupied space.
Debra can be contacted at Feng Shui Miracles, (07) 3367 0162 or e-mail: fengshui@powerup.com.au
The Final Word
It makes sense doesn't it? When you have an uplifting environment to work in, you feel good, you look good and you're more productive. Think about this…how many hours a week are you in your office? Probably more hours than you spend at home. All you need to do now is take action!
It's worth the effort to make some simple yet very effective changes so that you can powerup your worklife. All you need to do now is take action!
by: Lorraine Pirihi
Things Do Not Change. We Do.
We live in a world of constant change, and even though the vast majority of these changes are for the better, change is still something that many people – and therefore many organisations – can find extremely difficult to deal with. Why is this, and what can be done to help people embrace change rather than fearing it?
The nature of change
Change is all around us. Changes can be small or large, but the overall impression they create is of a world that is in a constant state of flux. Change may be welcome, but for many of us, the reaction to certain changes will be one of automatic resistance, which in turn often results in stress.
To accept change is akin to getting used to a new pair of shoes. The new shoes may be more waterproof, more hardwearing and better looking than our old ones, but they will almost certainly not be more comfortable until they are worn in. The amazing thing is that (assuming they are the right size and they fit properly) we often cannot envisage how or why we were so reluctant to put them on in the first place.
By definition, going forward involves some change, in order to keep on course. An organisation is either continually improving or it is failing, because no successful organisation can afford to simply ‘stand still’. This is why it’s so important that employees are given all the tools they need to help them embrace change and new ways of working – i.e. to feel comfortable in their ‘new shoes’.
Why is change so difficult to handle?
People are programmed into a pattern of behaviour with which they feel safe (their ‘comfort zone’). Change can threaten this feeling of safety, and people can feel disempowered by change - particularly if it is imposed on them or challenges their accepted thinking. It is therefore vital for people to understand clearly why imposed changes are necessary, and how those changes will impact them, their position, their responsibilities, and possibly their remuneration and future prospects.
One reason that staff may resist change is if they don’t think they will be comfortable in the new job environment or able to meet the new standards etc. If a change, particularly a fundamental change, is imposed within a company, a proportion of the staff affected will be bound to be dissatisfied. It is important to listen to their concerns and not to dismiss them out of hand – some of their worries may be valid and it is important for management to acknowledge this.
How to make change work
If your organisation is contemplating a major change, you can help to facilitate this by taking account of the following:
• Think through the change and what is required of the personnel affected, in detail, so that a clear plan of implementation is available. Be aware that some retraining may be necessary and have a plan of action ready to implement this.
• Staff will respond best if they feel involved in the decision-making. Maybe they cannot be involved in all the major decisions, but their implementation will involve a number of smaller steps and they can almost certainly be involved somewhere (and add value by bringing in their experience).
• Everyone copes better with change if they feel at least in partial control of it. It is the feeling of being out of control that can be frightening to most of us. So involve your staff, as far as possible, in their own areas of the change. Perhaps set up an implementation team involving a member of staff from within each department and reporting up to - and down from -management.
• Keep everyone informed as far as is possible of timetables and details. The imagination and concerns of staff can run riot when they are kept in the dark, particularly if they are anxious about the change. Regular meetings are essential and even if time is short, don’t abandon them. Make sure that the planned changes are clearly understood at all levels.
• Don’t give in to the temptation to impose changes without consultation. Unless you can persuade your staff to buy into the change by means of the steps above, they may leave or become de-motivated, neither of which will benefit the company. Similarly, a culture of fear (where staff are actively discouraged from conveying concerns or showing vulnerability) is counterproductive.
• Everyone works better where they can see the benefit for themselves. So take time to think through not just the overall plan of the change, but how it will affect and benefit individuals, then ‘sell’ these benefits to those affected. Don’t oversell them though, as staff will subsequently disbelieve anything you say. It is far better to be honest and admit that some things still need to be worked through, as this will help to build up trust with your employees.
• People need to feel they have some input to enable them to overcome their fears and anxieties. If you encourage them through this stage, they can become great advocates for the change and will work with you instead of automatically resisting.
• Accept that everyone’s capacity for change is different and some will respond quicker or more easily than others.
• Try to break the change down into manageable parts so that the overall change does not seem too overwhelming. Consider running a pilot operation to smooth out the glitches and allow input from users.
• Once the change has been implemented, don’t allow any return to the old ways or allow this as an option.
Preparing your organisation for change
Because change is so much a part of everyday life, your employees will benefit greatly from initiatives that make them more resilient. At its most simple, this means helping your employees maintain a healthy mind, healthy body and the positive mental attitude needed to approach change as a challenge and opportunity for improvement.
We all know that eating healthily, exercising and not being overweight are important, and we also know exactly how to achieve this (whether we do it or not!). To have a positive mental attitude may prove more difficult, and many of us are totally unaware of how to build our inner strength, with the consequence that when there is a problem, obstacle or required change, our internal capacity is not always sufficient and sometimes our mental manoeuvrability is too slow.
So how do you build inner resistance and strength? How can you prepare yourself for the challenges and adversities you will come across in the months and years ahead? One thing is certain, and that is that if you are not sufficiently resilient, your inflexibility will mean that eventually you will become an obstacle and instead of asking for your co-operation, colleagues will simply ignore you or go around you. We all know that the only way a skyscraper or any very tall structure can remain upright is for it to possess an inherent ability to move - albeit ever so slightly - with the prevailing wind and rain. We have to do the same, by learning to work with the forces we meet, moving and giving a little when the conditions demand it.
‘It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do about it’
The greatest challenge of all, in terms of change, is how to deal with adversity. I met W Mitchell, the US TV host, author and professional speaker, who lives and breathes his ethos that ‘It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do about it’. Here is a man who has overcome two life-threatening traumatic accidents that left him severely burned, without hands and paralysed. He has had to survive numerous operations and extensive plastic surgery, but talks to audiences from his wheelchair as if he were a tank commander addressing his troops. He has a quiet confidence and a measured delivery that possess an almost magnetic quality … you cannot help but listen to his every word.
W Mitchell has overcome so many adversities in his life, and has come out the other side with strength and determination. ‘Before I was paralysed there were 10,000 things I could do. Now there are 9,000. I can either dwell on the 1,000 I've lost or focus on the 9,000 I have left,’ he says.
There is no doubt that the traumas W Mitchell has gone through have changed him as a person. His life script was not one that he planned and yet he takes on each challenge with an acceptance and gritty determination. His life experience makes him into the person he has become, his message is forceful and memorable, and he is a success story that we could all do well to try to emulate.
How we could all benefit from such inner strength and such a positive outlook!
About The Author
Carole Spiers combines three roles of broadcaster, journalist and corporate manager in the challenging field of stress management and employee wellbeing.
With 20 years as a top industry guru on stress management and wellbeing, Carole’s energy and dynamism extends to providing professional comment to media including television (BBC, ITV, Sky, NBC, CNN), print (Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, trade and professional journals) and countless radio interviews.
A successful entrepreneur herself, Carole is the founder and MD of the Carole Spiers Group – a dynamic, niche consultancy, and the UK’s No. 1 provider of Stress Management and Employee Wellbeing from the shop floor to the Boardroom
A former Chairperson of the International Stress Management AssociationUK, Carole was instrumental in establishing National Stress Awareness Day™. Carole acts as an Expert Witness on Stress Risk Assessment before the Courts, and is the author of Tolley’s ‘Managing Stress in the Workplace’.
Free Special Report
Contact us to receive our FREE Special report ‘The Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions About Stress’ please email sb@carolespiersgroup.com
For more information on CSG’S services, including in-house and public training, stress policy, stress audit, risk assessment, attendance management, rehabilitation support, post trauma support, mediation, impartial investigations, expert witness, nationwide employee counselling team, coaching and mentoring services, please contact us:
Carole Spiers Group
International Stress Management & Employee Wellbeing Consultancy
Gordon House, 83-85 Gordon Ave, Stanmore, Middlesex. HA7 3QR. UK
Tel: +44(0) 20 8954 1593 Fax: +44(0) 20 8907 9290
Email: info@carolespiersgroup.com www.carolespiersgroup.com
If you would like to book Carole as a keynote speaker or conference chair at your next conference - check out www.carolespiersgroup.com/mediaenquirysheet.php
by: Carole Spiers
Credit And Debt Management
Today's consumers benefit drastically from the usefulness of credit. Credit cards are especially useful for large purchases, emergency situations, reservations, identification, and protection from fraud. Unfortunately, millions of consumers abuse credit cards beyond their financial earnings. The use of credit results in costly interest payments and late fees, impulse buying, overextended lifestyles, and the unnecessary stress from harassing telephone calls from collectors.
Do You Think You Might Have a Problem with Debt?
Below is a list that will help determine whether you are a single mother debt problems.
Over the Limit Credit Card Spending
If all of your credit card balances are greater than 80 percent of your credit limits, you should consider this a danger signal to debt.
Too Many Cards/Too Much Debt
If you can't pay off your combined credit card debt within one year, you should consider this a serious issue.
Out of Money
Many people use credit for small purchases such as food and gas. If you previously paid cash for these or other small items, but are now using credit, not debit or cash, it could be a sign that there is a problem.
High Debt-to-Income Ratio
Your debt-to-income ratio measures the amount of debt you have against the amount of income you are making. You can calculate this ratio by dividing your total monthly debt payment (excluding mortgage/rent) by your total monthly gross income (before taxes). If your debt-to-income ratio is close to or over 20 percent, this is a sign that you may have a debt problem.
Emergencies
Crises and emergency situations do occur, and sometimes people are unable to afford such things such as emergency auto repairs or medical expenses because their credit cards are tapped or the majority of their earnings are put towards debt repayments. It's always important to keep an open line of credit available for such situations.
Minimum Payments
What many people don't realize about revolving credit card bills is that making only the minimum payment can take 12 to 15 years to repay. You are not applying any significant amount toward the principal if you are only making minimum payments concluding that you may be overextended and in need of putting together a spending plan.
Using Your Credit to Make Payments on Other Cards
Taking cash advances to pay bills is not a solution for paying off debts. If you are paying one credit card with another you are actually creating more debt. You will also be faced with any cash advance fees and interest from that new line of credit.
Balance Transfers
Many creditors offer new credit cards with balance transfers available at low interest rates for only a limited introductory period. It's important to remember, though, that after the introductory period the interest rate usually skyrockets up to 19 percent or more. As well, a growing number of credit cards are associating fees with transferring balances.
Skipping Payments
If you are late with getting payments in such as your mortgage, rent, car loan, or utility bills more than once per year and are juggling bills and skipping payments, this is a definite sign that you have a debt problem.
Borrowing Money
If you are borrowing money from family and friends and unable to pay them back while struggling to pay your bills, credit counseling can teach you how to budget or advise you to go on a plan for paying off your debts.
Debt Consolidation Loans
Are you borrowing from a new source to pay off an old debt? Many people who do so obtain debt consolidation loans to pay off all their existing bills. However, once the bills are paid off, some people wind up charging on their credit cards again. This means having to pay back the loan plus the new credit card charges, which ends up driving people into further debt. Learn more about debt consolidation at Incharge.
Unsure of the Amount Owed
If you have no idea how much debt you owe on a monthly basis and keep using credit cards, your financial spending might be slipping out of your control. If you noticed that you were nodding your head up and down as you read through the list of debt problems you could be on your way to a serious problem with your finances. What to do about it as a single mother comes next.
Help for Single Mother if in Debt
If you're ready to tackle your own debt pile, here's what you need to do:
Get to know your debt
Study everything relevant about your debt such as your account balances, the interest rates, if the interest is deductible, how and when those rates can change and find out if you'll face any kind of penalties for paying an account early. If youÕre not sure call your lender and ask.
Prioritize your debt
Divide your debts into two piles
by: Kelly Kennedy
Forex Made Easy for Everyone
Forex made easy is as simple as you would want it to be. The foreign exchange market is a worldwide market and according to some estimates is almost as big as thirty times the turnover of the US Equity markets. That is some figure to chew on. Forex is the commonly used term for foreign exchange. As a person who wants to invest in the forex market, one should understand the basics of how this currency market operates. Forex can be made easier for beginners to understand it and here's how.
Foreign exchange is the buying and the selling of foreign exchange in pairs of currencies. For example you buy US dollars and sell UK Sterling pounds or you sell German Marks and buy Japanese Yen. Why are currencies bought or sold? The answer is simple; Governments and Companies need foreign exchange for their purchase and payments for various commodities and services. This trade constitutes about 5% of all currency transactions, however the other 95% currency transactions are done for speculation and trade. In fact many companies will buy foreign currency when it is being traded at a lower rate to protect their financial investments. Another thing about foreign exchange market is that the rates are varying continuously and on daily basis. Therefore investors and financial managers track the forex rates and the forex market it on a daily basis.
Those who are involved in the forex trade know that almost 85% of the trading is done in only US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. This is because they are the most liquid of foreign currencies (can be easily bought and sold. In fact the US Dollar is most recognizable foreign currency even in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam etc).
Being a truly 24/7 market, the currency trading markets opens in the financial centers of Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York in that sequence. Investors and speculators alike respond to the ever-changing situations and can buy and sell simultaneously the currencies. In fact many operate in two or more currency market using arbitrage to gain profits (buying in one market and selling in another market or vice versa to take advantage of the prices and book profits).
While dealing in forex, one should have a margin account. Quite simply put if you have US$ 1,000 and have a forex margin account which leverages 100:1 then you can buy US$ 100,000 since you only need 1% of the US$100,000 or US$1,000. Therefore it means that with margin account you have US$ 100,000 worth of real purchasing power in your hand.
Since the foreign currency market is fluctuating on a continuous basis, one should be able to understand the factors that affect this currency market. This is done through Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis. These two tools of trade are used in a variety of other markets such as equity markets, stock markets, mutual funds markets etc. Technical Analysis refers to reading, summarizing and analyzing data based on the data that is generated by the market. While fundamental Analysis refers to the factors, which influence the market economy, and in turn how it would affect the currency trading. Of course there are other economic and non economic factors which can suddenly affect the trading of the forex markets such as the 9/11 tragedy etc. One needs to have a shrewd acumen and a few number crunching abilities to strike gold in the forex market.
by: Brian Kolewe
HYIP Owner Does Not Want You To Read This Easy Tactics
HYIPs bring me $8289.68 in this month. How did I get this money without work? Answer is simple: I followed my golden rules of HYIP investing. I have compiled a short list of some of the things you can do before investing into a program to make sure you get the most for your money:
#1 - Look at the main HYIP monitoring sites such as theHYIPs.net Main aspect that you should check it is status of program. If program has status PROBLEM most likely this HYIP will be closed in next 2 days. Look at votes and comments. If it looks like a program has been cheating the ratings by voting for themselves, or it looks like they may have hired a paid voter, then stay away. Check the voters IP, maybe the cheaters were not careful and didn't use a proxy
#2 - Search all HYIP forums for the name of the HYIP. Maybe, somebody created topic about program which you want. . Look for people's opinions. Often those who have been investing in HYIPs for some time are the ones with the best insite. If you see that somebody are spamming it is sign of short HYIP. Most importantly, look for complaints of people who have not been paid.
#3 - Do a search on google. Copy small parts (1-2 sentences) of the text from both the homepage and the page with information on how they make their returns. Paste it into the google search bar with quotes around it, and see if anything comes up. A good amount of the time, google will return results that are an exact match, usually a professional traders website. Also, do the same thing with any images of people that are shown to look as though they are the admin of the program. Simply get the name of the file that the image is uploaded as by viewing the properties of it. Then paste this into the google image search. You will be amazed that a lot of the time you will see that the image is a direct copy from another site. This proves that the admin is lying.
#4 Ask the Admin for as much personal information as possible. Also, check out all the information he/she provides. If he/she gives a phone number, then give them a call. If an address is given, then check it out for authenticity by looking at online phonebooks, and other databases. The more information that is available, the less likely it is that the admin will take the chance of scamming hundreds of people out of their investments. It makes sense to email the admin and ask some questions such as: where are you located, how long have you been around, and how do you make your returns. Then compare this information with found one. The common answers you will receive are United States, 2 Years, and Forex trading. Usually if these are the answers the admin is lying to you. About 75% of all new HYIPs claim that they have been paying members offline for over a year. 99.9999% of the time this is a lie. If an investing firm is able to deal with members offline for 2 years, there usually is no need to go online with their business.
All in all, if you follow these steps you will likely be saving yourself a descent amount of money in the long run. They improve your chances of walking away with profits. This tips are not complete list. Full one of golden HYIP rules collected on http://thehyips.net/lessons/.
by: David Vagner
#1 - Look at the main HYIP monitoring sites such as theHYIPs.net Main aspect that you should check it is status of program. If program has status PROBLEM most likely this HYIP will be closed in next 2 days. Look at votes and comments. If it looks like a program has been cheating the ratings by voting for themselves, or it looks like they may have hired a paid voter, then stay away. Check the voters IP, maybe the cheaters were not careful and didn't use a proxy
#2 - Search all HYIP forums for the name of the HYIP. Maybe, somebody created topic about program which you want. . Look for people's opinions. Often those who have been investing in HYIPs for some time are the ones with the best insite. If you see that somebody are spamming it is sign of short HYIP. Most importantly, look for complaints of people who have not been paid.
#3 - Do a search on google. Copy small parts (1-2 sentences) of the text from both the homepage and the page with information on how they make their returns. Paste it into the google search bar with quotes around it, and see if anything comes up. A good amount of the time, google will return results that are an exact match, usually a professional traders website. Also, do the same thing with any images of people that are shown to look as though they are the admin of the program. Simply get the name of the file that the image is uploaded as by viewing the properties of it. Then paste this into the google image search. You will be amazed that a lot of the time you will see that the image is a direct copy from another site. This proves that the admin is lying.
#4 Ask the Admin for as much personal information as possible. Also, check out all the information he/she provides. If he/she gives a phone number, then give them a call. If an address is given, then check it out for authenticity by looking at online phonebooks, and other databases. The more information that is available, the less likely it is that the admin will take the chance of scamming hundreds of people out of their investments. It makes sense to email the admin and ask some questions such as: where are you located, how long have you been around, and how do you make your returns. Then compare this information with found one. The common answers you will receive are United States, 2 Years, and Forex trading. Usually if these are the answers the admin is lying to you. About 75% of all new HYIPs claim that they have been paying members offline for over a year. 99.9999% of the time this is a lie. If an investing firm is able to deal with members offline for 2 years, there usually is no need to go online with their business.
All in all, if you follow these steps you will likely be saving yourself a descent amount of money in the long run. They improve your chances of walking away with profits. This tips are not complete list. Full one of golden HYIP rules collected on http://thehyips.net/lessons/.
by: David Vagner
History of Previous European Currency Unions
The Euro feels like a novelty - but it is not. It was preceded by quite a few Monetary Unions in Europe and outside it.
To start with, countries such as the USA and the USSR are (or were in the latter's case) monetary unions. A single currency was or is used over enormous land masses incorporating previously distinct political, social and economic entities. The American constitution, for instance, did not provide for the existence of a central bank. Founding fathers, the likes of Madison and Jefferson, objected to its existence. A central monetary institution was established only in 1791 (modelled after the Bank of England). But Madison (as President) let its concession expire in 1811. It was revived in 1816 - only to die again. It took a civil war to lead to a budding monetary union. Bank regulation and supervision were instituted only in 1863 and a distinction was made between national and state-level banks.
By that time, 1562 private banks were printing and issuing notes, some of them not a legal tender. In 1800 there were only 25. The same thing happened in the principalities which were later to constitute Germany: 25 private banks were established only between 1847 and 1857 with the express intention of printing banknotes to circulate as legal tender. In 1816 - 70 different types of currency (mostly foreign) were being used in the Rhineland alone.
A tidal wave of banking crises in 1908 led to the formation of the Federal Reserve System and 52 years were to elapse until the full monopoly of money issuance was retained by it.
What is a monetary union? Is it sufficient to have a single currency with free and guaranteed convertibility?
Two additional conditions apply: that the exchange rate be effective (realistic and, thus, not susceptible to speculative attacks) and that the members of the union adhere to one monetary policy.
Actually, history shows that the condition of a single currency, though preferable, is not a sine qua non. A union could incorporate “several currencies, fully and permanently convertible into one another at irrevocably fixed exchange rates” which is really like having a single currency with various denominations, each printed by another member of the Union. What seems to be more important is the relationship (as expressed through the exchange rate) between the Union and other economic players. The currency of the Union must be convertible to other currencies at a given (could be fluctuating - but always one) exchange rate determined by a uniform exchange rate policy. This must apply all over the territory of the single currency - otherwise, arbitrageurs will buy it in one place and sell it in another and exchange controls would have to be imposed, eliminating free convertibility and inducing panic.
This is not a theoretical - and thus unnecessary - debate. ALL monetary unions in the past failed because they allowed their currency or currencies to to be exchanged (against outside currencies) at varying rates, depending on where it was converted (in which part of the monetary union).
“Before long, all Europe, save England, will have one money”. This was written by William Bagehot, the Editor of The Economist, the renowned British magazine. Yet, it was written 120 years ago when Britain, even then, was debating whether to adopt a single European Currency.
Joining a monetary union means giving up independent monetary policy and, with it, a sizeable slice of national sovereignty. The member country can no longer control its the money supply, its inflation or interest rates, or its foreign exchange rates. Monetary policy is transferred to a central monetary authority (European Central Bank). A common currency is a transmission mechanism of economic signals (information) and expectations, often through the monetary policy. In a monetary union, fiscal profligacy of a few members, for example, often leads to the need to raise interest rates in order to pre-empt inflationary pressures. This need arises precisely because these countries share a common currency. In other words, the effects of one member's fiscal decisions are communicated to other members (through the monetary policy) because they share one currency. The currency is the medium of exchange of information regarding the present and future health of the economies involved.
Monetary unions which did not follow this course are no longer with us.
Monetary unions, as we said, are no novelty. People felt the need to create a uniform medium of exchange as early as the times of Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe. However, those early monetary unions did not bear the hallmarks of modern day unions: they did not have a central monetary authority or monetary policy, for instance.
The first truly modern example would be the monetary union of Colonial New England.
The New England colonies (Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire and Rhode Island) accepted each other’s paper money as legal tender until 1750. These notes were even accepted as tax payments by the governments of the colonies. Massachusetts was a dominant economy and sustained this arrangement for almost a century. It was envy that ended this very successful arrangement: the other colonies began to print their own notes outside the realm of the union. Massachusetts bought back (redeemed) all its paper money in 1751, paying for it in silver. It instituted a mono-metalic (silver) standard and ceased to accept the paper money of the other three colonies.
The second, more important, experiment was the Latin Monetary Union. It was a purely French contraption, intended to further, cement, and augment its political prowess and monetary clout. Belgium adopted the French Franc when it attained independence in 1830. It was only natural that France and Belgium (together with Switzerland) should encourage others to join them in 1848. Italy followed in 1861 and the last ones were Greece and Bulgaria (!) in 1867. Together they formed the bimetallic currency union known as the Latin Monetary Union (LMU).
The LMU seriously flirted with Austria and Spain. The Foundation Treaty was officially signed only on 23/12/1865 in Paris.
The rules of this Union were somewhat peculiar and, in some respects, seemed to defy conventional economic wisdom.
Unofficially, the French influence extended to 18 countries which adopted the Gold Franc as their monetary basis. Four of them agreed on a gold to silver conversion rate and minted gold coins which were legal tender in all of them. They voluntarily accepted a money supply limitation which forbade them to print more than 6 Franc coins per capita (the four were: France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland).
Officially (and really) a gold standard developed throughout Europe and included coin issuers such as Germany and the United Kingdom). Still, in the Latin Monetary Union, the quantities of gold and silver Union coins that member countries could mint was unlimited. Regardless of the quantities minted, the coins were legal tender across the Union. Smaller denomination (token) silver coins, minted in limited quantity, were legal tender only in the issuing country.
There was no single currency like the Euro. Countries maintained their national currencies (coins), but these were at parity with each other. An exchange commission of 1.25 % was charged to convert them. The tokens had a lower silver content than the Union coins.
Governmental and municipal offices were required to accept up to 100 Francs of tokens (even though they were not convertible and had a lower intrinsic value) in a single transaction. This loophole led to mass arbitrage: converting low metal content coins to buy high metal content ones.
The Union had no money supply policy or management. It was left to the market to determine how much money will be in circulation. The central banks pledged the free conversion of gold and silver to coins. But, this pledge meant that the Central Banks of the participating countries were forced to maintain a fixed ratio of exchange between the two metals (15 to 1, at the time) ignoring the prices fixed daily in the world markets.
The LMU was too negligible to influence the world prices of these two metals. The result was overvalued silver, export of silver from one member to another using ingenious and ever more devious ways of circumventing the rules of the Union. There was no choice but to suspend silver convertibility and thus acknowledge a de facto gold standard. Silver coins and tokens remained legal tender.
This became a major problem for the Union and the coup de grace was delivered by the unprecedented financing needs brought on by the First World War. The LMU was officially dismantled in 1926 - but died long before that. The lesson: a common currency is not enough - a common monetary policy monitored and enforced by a common Central Bank is required in order to sustain a monetary union.
As the LMU was being formed, in 1867, an International Monetary Conference was convened. Twenty countries participated and discussed the introduction of a global currency. They decided to adopt the gold (British, USA) standard and to allow for a transition period. They agreed to use three major “hard” currencies but to equate their gold content so as to render them completely interchangeable. Nothing came out of it - but this plan was a lot more sensible than the LMU.
One wrong path seemed to have been the Scandinavian Monetary Union.
Sweden (1873), Denmark (1873) and Norway (1875) formed the Scandinavian Monetary Union (SMU). The pattern was familiar: they accepted each others’ gold coins as legal tender in their territories. Token coins were also cross-boundary legal tender as were banknotes (1900) recognized by the banks of the member countries. It worked so perfectly that no one wanted to convert the currencies and exchange rates were not available from 1905 to 1924, when Sweden dismantled the Union following Norway's independence. Actually, the countries involved created (though not officially) what amounted to a unified central bank with unified reserves - which extended monetary credit lines to each of the member countries.
The Scandinavian Kronor held well as long as gold supply was limited. World War I changed this situation as governments dumped gold and inflated their currencies, engaging in competitive devaluations. Central Banks used the depreciated currencies to buy gold at official (cheap) rates. Sweden saw through this ploy and refused to sell its gold in the officially fixed price. The other members began to sell large quantities of the token coins to Sweden and use the proceeds to buy the much Stronger Swedish “economy” (=currency) at an ever cheaper price (as the price of gold collapsed). Sweden reacted by prohibiting the import of other members’ tokens. Without a fixed price of gold and without coin convertibility, there was no Union to talk of.
The last big (and recent) experiment in monetary union was the East African Currency Area. An equivalent experiment is still going on in the Francophile part of Africa involving the CFA currency.
The parts of East Africa ruled by the British (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika and, in 1936, Zanzibar) adopted in 1922 a single common currency, the East African shilling. Independence in East Africa had no monetary aspect because it remained part of the Sterling Area. This guaranteed the convertibility of the local currencies into British Pounds. Regarding this a matter of national pride (and strategic importance) the British poured inordinate amounts of money into these emerging economies. This monetary union was not disturbed by the introduction (1966) of local currencies in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The three currencies were legal tender in each of these countries and were all convertible to Pounds.
It was the Pound which gave way by strongly depreciating in the late 60s and early 70s. The Sterling Area was dismantled in 1972 and with it the strict monetary discipline which it imposed - explicitly and through the free convertibility - on its members. A divergence in the value of the currencies (due to different inflation targets and resulting interest rates) was inevitable. In 1977 the East African Currency Area ended.
Not all monetary unions met the same gloomy end, however. Arguably, the most famous of the successful ones is the Zollverein (German Customs Union).
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were 39 independent political units which made up the German Federation in what is today's Germany. They all minted coins (gold, silver) and had their own standards for weights and measures. Labour mobility in Europe was greatly enhanced by the decisions of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 but trade was still ineffective because of the number of different currencies.
The German statelets formed a customs union as early as 1818. This was followed by the formation of three regional groupings (the Northern, Central and Southern) which were united in 1833. In 1828, Prussia harmonized and unified its tariffs with the other members of the Federation. Debts related to customs could be paid in gold or silver. Several currencies were developed and linked to each other through fixed exchange rates. There was an over-riding single currency: the Vereinsmunze. The Zollverein (Customs Union) was established in 1834 to facilitate trade and reduce its costs. Most of the political units agreed to choose between one of two monetary standards (the Thaler and the Gulden) in 1838 and nine years later, the central bank of Prussia (which comprised 70% of the population and land mass of the future Germany) became the effective Central Bank of the Federation. The North German Thaler was fixed at 1.75 to the South German Gulden and, in 1856 (when Austria became associated with the Union), at 1.5 Austrian Florins (this was to be a short lived affair, because Prussia and Austria declared war on each other in 1866).
Germany was united by Bismarck in 1871 and a Reichsbank was founded 4 years later. It issued the Reichsmark which became the legal and only tender of the whole German Reich. The currency Union survived two world wars, a devastating bout of inflation in 1923 and a collapse of the currency after the Second World War. The Reichsmark became the solid and reliable Bundesbank. The Union still survives in the Deutschmark.
This is the only case of a monetary union which succeeded without being preceded by a political arrangement. It survived because Prussia was sizeable and had enough real power and perceived clout to enforce compliance on the other members of the Federation. Prussia wanted to have a stable currency and introduced consistent metallic standards. The other states could not deprive their currencies of their intrinsic values. For the first time in history, coinage became a professional economic decision, totally depoliticized.
In this context, we must mention another successful (on-going) union - the CFA Franc Zone.
The CFA (French African Community) is a currency used in the former French colonies of West and Central Africa (and, curiously, in one formerly Spanish colony). The currency zone has been in existence for well over three decades and comprises diverse ethnic, lingual, cultural, political and economic units. The currency withstood devaluations (the latest one of 100% vis a vis the French Franc), changes of regimes (from colonial to independent), the existence of two groups of members, each with its own central bank, controls of trade and capital flows - not to mention a host of natural and man made catastrophes. What makes it so successful is maybe the fact that the reserves of the member states are hoarded in the safes of the French Central Bank and that the currency is almost absolutely convertible to the French Franc. Convertibility is guaranteed by the French Treasury itself.
France imposes monetary discipline (that it sometimes lacks at home!) directly and through its generous financial assistance.
Europe has had more than its share of botched (the Snake, the EMS, the ERM) and of successful (ECU, the United Kingdom and Ireland) currency unifications.
A neglected one is between Belgium and Luxembourg (BENELUX is the political alignment which includes the Netherlands).
There is no real currency union here. Both maintain separate currencies. But their currencies are at parity and serve as legal tender in both countries since 1921. The Belgian Central Bank controls the monetary policies of both countries, with the exception of exchange regulations which are overseen by a joint agency. In both 1982 and 1993 the two countries considered dismantling the union - but this was not serious talk, the advantages being so numerous (especially to the smaller partner).
These three currency unions have all survived due mainly to the fact that one monetary authority has been responsible, at least de facto, for managing the currency.
What can we learn from all this (not insubstantial) cumulative experience?
(A) A dominant country is required for a Union to succeed. It must have a strong geopolitical drive and maintain political solidarity with some of the other members. It must be big, influential, and its economy must be intermeshed with the economies of the others.
(B) Central institutions must be set up to monitor and enforce fiscal and other policies, to coordinate activities of the member states, to implement political and technical decisions, to control the money aggregates and seniorage (=money printing), to determine the legal tender and the rules governing the issuance of money.
(C) It is better if a monetary union is preceded by a political one. Even so, it might prove tricky (consider the examples of the USA and of Germany).
(D) Wage and price flexibility are sine qua non. Their absence is a threat to the continued existence of any union. Fiscal policy (money transfers from rich areas to poor) are a partial remedy. They can mitigate and ameliorate problems - but not solve them. Transfers also call for a clear and consistent fiscal policy regarding taxation and expenditures. Problems like unemployment plague a rigid, sedimented union. The works of Mundell and McKinnon (optimal currency areas) prove it decisively (and separately).
(E) The last prerequisite is clear convergence criteria and monetary convergence targets.
Judging by these requirements, the current European monetary union did not sufficiently assimilate the lessons of its ill begotten predecessors. It is set in a Europe more rigid in its labour and pricing practices than 150 years ago, it was not preceded by serious political amalgamation, it relies too heavily on transfers without having in place either a coherent monetary or a consistent fiscal policy.
This monetary union is, therefore, likely to join its forefathers and remain a footnote in the annals of economic history.
by: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.
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