Ten of the Riskiest Types of Investments

Although many people classify all investments as either “safe” or “risky,” experienced investors understand that there are several levels and types of risk. Some risks can be mitigated with diversification, while others cannot. Investors who seek high returns must be prepared to absorb the high risks that come with them, which may include the loss of their principal. Ten of the riskiest types of investments available include:

• Options: The prices of listed market options change quickly and often unpredictably, and those who sell uncovered positions or buy contracts to open their positions can win or lose huge sums of money in very short periods of time. This type of trading is best left to experienced professionals.
• Futures: Like options, futures contracts can be high-risk vehicles for the inexperienced and uneducated. Those who speculate in this market are typically pitting themselves against institutional investors who hold underlying positions on the contracts that they purchase. Many financial advisors will tell you that both options and futures contracts can best be viewed as gambling instruments (although there are some safe and conservative strategies that employ them as well).
• Oil and gas exploratory drilling: There’s nothing better than striking it rich by drilling a hole that produces fossil fuels. There’s also nothing worse than spending thousands of dollars drilling a dry hole that produces nothing. Even though these expenses are usually deductible, the chances of substantial or total loss in an exploratory drilling venture are typically quite large.
• Limited partnerships: Although partnerships that are publicly traded tend to be relatively stable, small private partnerships should be viewed with caution and skepticism in most cases. Each partner is liable for all of the actions of every other partner, so you’d better be confident that everyone involved will be willing and able to do their part before you sign on the dotted line.
• Penny stocks: Stocks that trade for less than a dollar a share can provide enormous profits if you find the right company. The vast majority of them will instead provide you with substantial volatility, unpredictability (as they seldom move in tandem with the mainstream indices), and big losses if you are not careful. Stocks that trade on OTC Pink typically have little working capital and often provide bogus information to investors and regulators regarding their financial condition. A large percentage of the fraud that occurs in the financial industry happens in this arena.
• Alternative investments: Hedge funds, artwork, collectibles, precious metals, and royalty interests in oil and gas leases can provide sound returns for those who carefully research each possibility and do their homework. They can also drop drastically in value or become virtually worthless in some cases, and their prices may be determined by a very fickle market. Many investments in this category can also generate substantial tax bills, and alternative investments that are designed to function as tax shelters may post very weak returns. Private offerings that have not been filed with the SEC also do not have to adhere to the same regulatory criteria as publicly traded securities, and those who are approached with these investments should employ substantial due diligence on them.
• Junk bonds: Companies that have been either initially rated or downgraded to below investment grade must pay higher rates of interest than their more stable cousins in order to attract investors. However, their relative instability also means that there is a greater chance that they may default on their obligations, which can translate into a temporary cessation of income in less severe cases and a partial or total loss of principal in the event of total insolvency.
• Leveraged ETFs: Exchange-traded funds that employ leverage are among the most volatile instruments in the markets today. These funds are usually linked to an underlying index or other benchmark and will move either tangentially or conversely with it in some multiple. For example, an inverse ETF that is linked to the S&P 500will drop twice as much in value as the index rises and vice-versa. Some ETFs are designed to trade in multiples of three, four, five, or even more against their benchmarks.
• Emerging and Frontier Markets: Although many companies that begin in underdeveloped regions of the world can show explosive growth in their early years, they are also vulnerable to many types of risks, such as political and military risk, as well as currency risk from exchange rates. Investors who look overseas may also have to pony up for foreign taxes and tariffs. It can also be difficult or impossible to obtain reliable information on the financial condition of some of these companies.
• IPOs: Although many initial public offerings can seem promising, they often fail to deliver what they promise. The riskiest type of IPO is that of a new company that has no current outstanding shares. Investors here have no historical data to analyze and must base their decision solely on the company’s projected business model and estimated probability of success. Statistically speaking, four out of five IPOs trade below their initial price within the first five years.

The Bottom Line

All investments are subject to at least one type of risk, but some investments carry a much higher degree of risk than others. The investments listed here can provide substantial returns in some cases. The money that is put into them can also disappear quickly and permanently in others. Consult your broker or financial advisor for more information on this topic.

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Learn About Trading from Crocodiles

The crocodile is actually our best role model as traders; their behavior is really the perfect metaphor for how a trader needs to behave. We are without doubt predators, not just trading predators, but as humans we are naturally built and function as hunters. As traders, we must copy the crocodiles’ methods of hunting; we must be disciplined, patient, adaptable and methodical in our approach. Crocs have also demonstrated an ability to learn quickly and avoid risky situations as we will discuss more about later, these are also things that we need to do as traders.

Think of the crocodile…he’s big, fat, long and needs A LOT of protein in his diet to survive, to swim and to hunt. Is his energy best spent going around all day eating little bait fish which are easy to catch? Imagine how much energy he would expend trying to catch a high quantity of low-quality prey like that all day. If you have ever seen these crocodiles like I have in person, you will understand what I am saying; crocs are designed and have evolved to be patient “sniper” hunters…many little meals do not interest them as much as a big juicy nourishing meal does.

By trading less… our aim is to make a nice large “meaty” size trade that sustains us until our next trade. Sure we may have a few losses along the way to our big prize, but the goal here remains clear; waiting on the sidelines (or the shores of the river like the crocodile) to pounce on our prey and cop a huge nourishing meal. We don’t want to be running all over the pond or river looking for any small piece of meat or fish that we can find…we are going to wait it out and score ourselves a nice big juicy profitable trade (or in the crocodiles case, probably a kangaroo, a dog, or maybe even a human).

There is an expression in the English language that most will have heard at some point in their lives: “All good things come to those who wait”. This phrase is merely discussing the merits of being patient, possibly frugal, disciplined and well planned, but its implications are profound and very true for both the crocodile and the trader.

It may shock some of you to know that nowadays I may trade only 3 times per week or even less some weeks. You’re probably thinking “That’s not enough trades to make money”, I don’t blame you for thinking that way and it’s easy to think that way with most mainstream Forex websites pumping day trading and high frequency trading. But, my own personal experience is that it’s much more lucrative to wait patiently for high-quality trade setups than it is to stay glued to your charts all day and night trying to trade everything you can find.  The best trades are obvious, they almost “talk” to you and tell you to trade them, once you know what you’re looking for this will become apparent to you.

For definitions sake I would refer to myself as a swing trader and a trend follower. I attempt to capture the larger moves that occur over multiple trading sessions or possibly multiple days or weeks. In this way, I am very much analogous to a crocodile in my trading, in fact I might even buy a picture of a crocodile and hang it up in my trading office to remind me of how successful a predator the crocodile has been throughout history and most importantly, why it is so successful.

Crocs have a high strike-rate

It’s fairly safe to say that if a croc gets its jaws around its prey, the prey is not getting away. Crocs have a good strike-rate because they are patient and wait for the “easy” opportunities and then act with confidence and speed…they don’t hesitate. Whereas a Lion might have many failed hunting attempts trying to catch a Gazelle or some other quick animal, expending a lot of energy in the process, crocs tend to have less “losing trades” or failed hunting attempts…because they don’t waste time or energy…they wait and wait and control themselves with precision until their prey almost walks into their mouth…then they feed.

As traders, waiting and being patient can increase your strike rate. Controlling ourselves is really all we can do as traders…we cannot control our “prey” (the market)…we can only conserve our money and wait patiently until our trading edge presents itself. This is how you get a high strike rate as trader, not by trading a hundred times a week in some futile effort to “scalp” the markets.

Crocodiles are good at avoiding risky situations; they learn fast

Crocs “…learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation. They particularly learn to avoid dangerous situations very quickly”, according to the article The Extraordinary Lives of Crocs. The article went on to discuss that this ability of crocs to learn quickly and avoid dangerous or risky situations is yet another reason they’ve outlasted the dinosaurs and are still thriving today. Avoiding risk is one way that a species can survive over time and “win” the evolution battle of the fittest. Similarly, not taking on more risk than is necessary as well as learning quickly are two very important keys to becoming a successful Forex trader.

I have said many times before that risk management is KEY to becoming a profitable trader. Some traders don’t learn quickly like crocs do, instead they repeat the same mistakes over and over until they blow out their trading account. Even though we are clearly far more intelligent than crocs, we have a lot more emotions too, and these emotions often cloud a trader’s “gut feel” and cause them to hesitate, second-guess themselves and over-analyze the market. A croc does not second-guess itself…it’s simply such a fine-tuned predator that being patient, disciplined and executing with confidence are in built habits. As traders, we need to learn from our mistakes, and fast, because money is on the line. Our version of “avoiding risky situations” is not over-trading and not risking too much per trade.

Conserving energy for the next kill

The crocodile waits for the big meal because it makes more sense to wait and conserve energy by eating a large chunk of protein less often. The croc conserves energy and time by eating this way and it also is one of the main things that have ensured the survival of crocodiles over hundreds of millions of years during many periods when food was scarce.

If you think about not interfering with your trades as helping to make you money, it might make it easier to do. I actually imagine that I am making money by not trading and by simply doing nothing, because by not losing money from over-trading and over-involvement…technically you ARE making money. A crocodile would probably eat less food overall if it was constantly running around trying to find small prey, the crocodile intuitively knows that by being patient and disciplined it has a better chance at getting a higher-quality meal. The crocodile “knows” itself and its own limitations and uses its strengths to its advantage. Indeed, the fact that the crocodile has been around since dinosaurs walked the Earth is evolutionary proof that the concept of patience and discipline most certainly pays off.

The crocodile intuitively knows that it needs to conserve energy and wait for a big kill, this patience is actually a “skill” for the crocodile and it’s also a habit that has developed and reinforced in crocs over millions of years of providing them with large tasty meals. Longevity is critical to a trader; we need to conserve the money in our trading accounts so that when the “easy prey” or obvious trades come along we can get the most out of them. If we go around trading everything we see we will shrink our trading accounts and we won’t have enough money in our accounts to get the most out of the high-probability signals. Just as if a croc ran around all day trying to catch smaller prey it would not have the energy or positioning to grab the bigger and better prey.

Crocodiles are highly adaptable

Crocodiles learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation. This is a large part of how and why they have survived for millions of years whilst many other animals have become extinct during that same time. According to the article I mentioned earlier’The Extraordinary Lives of Crocs'; “…crocodile researchers often have to change their capture techniques because it’s very hard to catch them [crocs] with the same trick twice.”

Many researches think that the adaptability of the crocodile, including its ability to “ignore” hunger for long periods while it waits patiently for the “perfect” feeding opportunity, is one of the main reasons they survived whatever killed off the dinosaurs. It’s clear that the crocodile’s ability to adapt to its environment and to changing situations is one of the reasons it has survived and thrived for millions of years.

As traders, we have to adapt to changing market conditions, and as we’ve already discussed we need to have ice cold discipline to only trade when our “prey” is ripe for the taking. One of the beautiful things about price action trading analysis is that it’s an inherently adaptable trading strategy. Whereas many trading systems are rigid and make you stick to a strict set of rules or conditions, price action analysis gives you more of a “framework” to work off of when analyzing the markets and this framework can be used to trade any market condition  as well as adapt to changing market conditions.  

“Crocodile trading” should become a habit for you

In the past, I have written about the value of patience and how it is the core attribute of some of the greatest traders that have ever lived. I have put forward the argument on many occasions that ‘less is more’ and I think in today’s market conditions that statement is even more relevant. Over the years I have written countless articles which discuss how to implement a patient trading approach. My favorites being, “Trading like a sniper and not a machine gunner” and “The minimalist guide to trading”.  Hopefully many of you are really starting to connect the dots by now and have discovered first hand just how powerful these concepts are and what they can do for your overall trading performance and profitability.

It’s almost funny that it’s taken me until now to write an article on what traders can learn from crocodiles considering I live in Australia where crocs are world-famous and plentiful. Furthermore, almost every behavior of a crocodile directly parallels what it takes to be a successful trader, the similarities are almost uncanny. The crocodile is nature’s proof that “less is more” and that waiting patiently for the higher-quality opportunities is a recipe for success. This recipe has kept crocodiles thriving on the Earth for 200 million years, and it can and will help you thrive in the markets if you use it properly.

It’s critical for the crocodile to understand its prey and to know where to look for it and remain calm and patient until it arrives. As traders, we have to know what our trading edge looks like and where to look for it and then control ourselves enough to not over-trade before it arrives. 

Source: Good trading, Nial Fuller – “The Croc Trader”, http://www.learntotradethemarket.com/

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The Pros and Cons of Being Conservative with Money

Most financial books geared toward the needs of the general population are pretty conservative in their outlook. And they should be. Financial knowledge can be dangerous when you act on it without much experience. It’s the old “monkey with a handgun” scenario. Over-confident investors can lose all their money pretty quickly if they make aggressive actions that are not carefully considered. Conservative financial advisors want to save you this personal disaster. However, in order to go from good to great in the world of finance, you’ll have to take some big risk sooner or later. It’s how you learn. It’s how you grow. I’ll explain how taking calculated risks is necessary, and how you can start to plan yours.

The World Likes Slow Steady Money, But That’s Not How You Get Rich. New investors are advised to invest in mutual funds and ETFs, relatively low-risk investments that will nonetheless grow in value enough to support one in retirement, providing that monthly contributions are maintained throughout the life of the account. Conversely, there are lots of financial instruments that are designed to pay you slow and steadily, rather than giving you the responsibility of a lump sum. I’m talking here of structured settlements and annuities. These financial instruments are great, as long as you don’t mind getting paid a very little bit at a time. You’ll never have enough money to do any real harm, or any real good. If your hands are tied with a structured settlement, sell it and do something better with the money. I would recommend paying off a high interest loan, buying a house, or starting a business, but the choice is yours.

Being Slow and Steady With Money Forces You to Put Off Life. And, at the same time, it doesn’t. People think about retirement in terms of special things they will get to do during it: travel mostly. Travel is expensive, and is one of those things we love to do, but don’t have the time or money to do most of the time. Being conservative with money forces you to put off these big ticket leisure activities. But being frugal in this way can also teach you how to enjoy your life in little ways, cultivating interests and building friendships in a way that is personally fulfilling, as well as affordable.

There are a million other ways to be conservative or risky with your money. Your risk tolerance will determine how much wealth you are likely to accumulate. But there are also plenty of rewards to being frugal and conservative with your money. Figure out what your goals are early in life. Try to enjoy your life at whatever financial state you find yourself in. Then make sure that the way you are managing your money can sustain this lifestyle for the rest of your life. That’s pretty much the trick. If your risk tolerance (usually measured by how well you are sleeping at night) doesn’t match your goals, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate your goals. Other than that, it’s pretty simple to learn this stuff and make a plan that will give you the kind of life you want.

[Source:savvyscot.com]Sourse: Thefinancebucks.com

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Forex Trading Hours – Time When You Should Avoid Trading

Some hours are better to trade than other hours. Here’s a list of the most volatile trading hours for each of the 8 popular currencies.

There are times when the market doesn’t move at all, and it’s quite boring. This is usually during the Tokyo and Sydney sessions.

There are times which are quite wild and unexpected, and your stop loss limits can be breached temporarily, throwing you out of a generally good trade.

In general, the best trading hours are 10:00 to 12:00 GMT, when trading volume is high, but there aren’t too many indicators.

Everybody knows about the most dangerous hour: 12:30 GMT (or 8:30 in New York) when American indicators are usually released. On the first Friday of the month, this is especially dangerous..:)

Here’s a list of the most volatile hours for forex trading for each of the 8 major currencies:

• Australian Dollar: 01:30 GMT. This is the time when most indicators are published. 04:30 also sees some indicators.
• Swiss Franc: 07:15 GMT. While this is the strongest hour, publications happen many times at 7:00 or at 7:30, aroung the major hour.
• British Pound: 8:30 GMT. Here, the timing is quite strict. Almost all the indicators are published at this hour. Only few indicators are not exactly at this time. 23:00 GMT (midnight in Britain) is also notable for some releases, but the major ones are at 8:30 GMT.
• Euro: 9:00 GMT. European indicators often come from Germany and France, and therefore the hours vary. Indicators start as early as 6:00 and end no later than 10:00.
• Canadian Dollar: 12:30 GMT. Similar to its neighbor in the south, Canada releases many figures at this time. Note that the releases vary in Canada: some indicators are released as early as 11:00 GMT, and as late as 14:00 GMT.
• US Dollar: 12:30 GMT. Most indicators, including the king – Non-Farm Payrolls are published at this time, one hour before the stock exchange opens. More than a few publications are made at 14:00 GMT, an hour and a half later. These 90 minutes are very volatile. Trading volume is very high. Banks in New York, London and all across Europe are trading at this time.
• New Zealand Dollar: 22:45 GMT. In New Zealand, this is the most popular hour. Another hour that concentrates data is 21:00 GMT.
• Japanese Yen: 23:50 GMT. This is very significant. Almost all the indicators are published at this time. Only a small group of releases are made at different times, with 23:30 being the most frequent.

Note that all the times were made during the summer in the northern hemisphere. You should shift one hour down during the winter.

Source: http://www.forexcrunch.com/

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What Barcodes and Point of Sale Systems Can Do For Your Small Business

Welcome to the world of technology for the little guy! This article is finely focused, but it’s hard to discuss technology in any other way. We’re going to talk about barcode scanners, because they represent a micro-technology that allows the small business person to transact business on a point of sale (POS) basis, which is about as close to employing cash-and-carry, but without using cash. Kevin has asked that we discuss technology that can assist the self-employed, and this particular technology is one of the most effective tools you can have. The national chains have this technology available in every outlet, and you can have it too.

When linked with point of sale systems, barcode scanners make for a very convenient marriage of technology. You can find barcode scanners on the web at sites like Shopify, that allows you to invest in both a point of sale system and a barcode system at the same time.

They are essentially two sides of the same coin: the application of technology to make an efficient and profitable business that has a high level of automation and minimal human interference. Each has their own benefits to add to a business, but together their contribution is immense and can be a turning point in the fortunes of your business.

Here we take a look at how this symbiotic relationship helps a business grow.

Combining Speed and Accuracy at the Point of Sale

Many companies that use a combined point of sale and barcode system benefit from the speed and accuracy that each half of this interaction gives. It’s a well-known fact that including barcodes in a company’s operation strategy allows for a much higher level of accuracy when it comes to tasks that require the transfer of data from one location to another.

Data entry has the downside of being very unreliable and usually needs a second entry operator to recheck the information entered by the first operator. Even so, there are some errors that slip past both of the operators and may go on to cause havoc in the system. Barcode readers dispense with this problem, creating true data that is exactly how it was written on the barcode. This data can then be processed by the point of sale portion of the system without any trouble.

Streamlined use of the bar code system along with the point of sale terminal develops a culture of fast and accurate processing that makes speed a built-in part of the process. Entrepreneurs who prioritize these two elements tend to be considered much better than competitors who lack the technology.

Complete Inventory Management

Barcode scanners allow the storage of large amounts of information in a small space. Because of this they are ideal for the storage of inventory information. Many point of sale terminals have their own proprietary inventory management software. Combining the accuracy of barcode entry and the speedy method of updating information, barcodes work seamlessly with inventory management software to create systems of positive feedback.

This can be easily exploited in a number of ways, most effectively as a means of ensuring that inventory never runs short. Creating alerts to let ordering personnel know when a certain item has reached a stated “red zone” lets the company ordering staff be aware when an order is needed.

Some businesses take automation one step further by having the software put in orders as well by itself. The quick and accurate retrieval of information from a barcode scanner allows the data on the point of sale to be up to date. Current information always translates to better decisions. Inventory management can view and estimate the marketability of a certain product and can make a judgment call regarding whether to keep the item in stock or to let the stock run out. The small business – operating with a strong barcode system – never runs out of inventory.

Cost Effective Solutions for the Little Guy

At the end of the day, the bottom line is a major concern for each and every business owner. It is widely agreed that barcode systems are inexpensive, but point of sale systems tend to be pricey, especially if multiple point of sale terminals are required. Startup prices for point of sale systems routinely run into the tens of thousands of dollars. However, recent advances in technology has caused the price of implementing a point of sale system to drop drastically.

The rationale for this comes from replacing the expensive, custom built POS terminals with iPads running a specialized point of sale system with its own customizable inventory management system and a cloud backup for all data that passes through the terminal.

Combining this new solution with the traditional effectiveness of the barcode scanner produces a solution that is far more cost effective than its predecessors. Barcodes and point of sale systems are highly efficient at gathering and processing data at high speeds. This translates into a very brisk trade going on through businesses that adopt each one of these technologies.

Businesses that adopt both and streamline them to run alongside each other can almost automate their entire business. From a business owner’s perspective this is a godsend, since it creates a dynamic system that is not prone to errors but still produces fast, accurate results regardless of how long it runs. To say that the combined systems could replace human personnel is going too far right now.

However, if the growth of the technology in both these areas continues at its current exponential rate, it is possible that the future will see much less human staff.

If you’re a small business owner, barcode/POS technology could be the combination that takes your business to the next level.

[Source:outofyourrut.com]Sourse: Thefinancebucks.com

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10 Ways a Barcode Can Benefit Small Businesses

Adding a barcode printer to your business is a practical decision that has affected business operations for many small business owners. It might seem unnecessary if your business has few employees or operates from a single storefront location. However, for many businesses, it has been an excellent decision. Barcode is changing the way people do business everywhere. Here are 10 ways a barcode can benefit small businesses.

1. Barcode Systems Are More Accurate than Humans

It is called human error, because all humans make mistakes at some point. The mistake might be small, but a study by Mathias, MacKenzie & Buxton showed that, even the best trained data-entry person will make at least one mistake every 250 keystrokes. When it comes to numbers, mistakes can be costly. Although computers are not flawless, they can be programmed once to print the same barcode again and again.

2. Barcode Technology Can Save Money

An article in Small Business Trends notes that the best way for a business to save money is to keep an accurate inventory. It balances supply and demand for products, reduces costs for stocking items that are not moving, and avoids rushed shipping for out-of-stock purchases. Barcodes are the catalyst that makes tracking inventory much easier and virtually foolproof.

3. Small Businesses Can Be as Professional as Big Ones

Although a small business might not be in direct competition with a big box retailer, there is no reason that it cannot maintain the same level of professionalism. Customers expect more personalized service from small businesses, but they want that service to be efficient. A shopper purchasing several items does not want to wait while the cashier types in the price for each item individually, and barcodes can complete the checkout process in a fraction of the time.

4. Owners Receive Alerts when Inventory Drops

Using an integrated POS system that works with barcodes and an inventory database helps business owners know exactly how much of each item is available. For products that are the most popular, it is important to reorder those often so that they do not run out of stock. When products are unavailable, customers cannot purchase them. Keeping these items in-stock can increase revenue significantly. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. retailers lose $45 billion from not having inventory in stock.

5. Barcodes Can Boost Productivity for Manufacturers

In the manufacturing industry, many businesses are attempting to become leaner. Providing real-time data to clients gives the manufacturer control over the process and improves efficiency. Orders are more accurate, overhead costs for storing unsold items are reduced, and customers are satisfied.

6. Computerized Systems Are Superior to Paper

Surprisingly, many small businesses still rely of paper records for tracking inventory. When products are limited and sales numbers are low, this might be practical. However, if a business suddenly takes off or decides to push for growth, electronic inventory is important. To review sales for a certain time period, one would need to rifle through a stack of papers to find the date and then visually scan to find the desired information. With a barcode system, inventory is always accurate and organized to the minute.

7. UPC Barcodes Are Useful for International Commerce

If a business will be working with several retail outlets, especially major retailers, having a unique store identification number and coordinating UPC barcodes is important. A different barcode can be generated for each product and either attached to a product or integrated into the product packaging design. The Wall Street Journal suggests that these can be purchased from resellers, but this is not always a practical option.

8. Barcodes Can Keep Detailed Product Information

For most products, printing every fact about the item on its packaging or label is impractical. However, if a customer has a question about a particular product, it can easily be scanned to access that data. Code as much information as needed into a product’s barcode, including measurements, materials, washing instructions, and anything else that might be relevant.

9. Barcode Is Compatible with QuickBooks

If revenue is tracked using QuickBooks, it can easily be integrated to a barcode system like Shopify. Not only will inventory be updated, but daily sales numbers can be entered into the QuickBooks program efficiently. This guarantees accuracy and that no information can be missed. This is particularly helpful when daily transaction include not only sales, but also product returns or exchanges.

10. Barcode Can Be Run from a Tablet

For most retail shops, the POS system is little more than a tablet. This is incredibly convenient and allows for flexibility. Integrate barcode into an existing tablet program for easy access.

Ultimately, a barcode system has a generous number of advantages. When looking at a single benefit, it might seem trivial. However, when a business owner considers the big picture and the potential for growth, a barcode seems a small investment for the long run.

[Source:outofyourrut.com]Sourse: Thefinancebucks.com

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Ways to Achieve Trading Perfection

Achieving Trading Perfection - Trade quality, not quantity. Take the best of the best. Get the big picture. If you haven't previously come across such advice, or if you have and are not following it, it is time that you take these words to heart. But how?

Trade selection and adequate planning go hand in hand. This is where most would-be professional traders miss the boat. Much more money is made as a result of proper planning than from sitting and trading everything that comes along or "looks" good. It's difficult to fully understand why people think they have to trade so much. It's difficult to truly grasp why people think that they have to take as many trades as they do. Just the opposite is true. There is a correct approach to each and every trade. That is what achieving perfection is all about.

It all starts with proper management: planning, organizing, delegating, directing, and controlling. These facets of management must be woven together into your trading; they do overlap. Although planning is the major management function involved in achieving perfection, you can't possibly plan well unless you are organized to do so. You must have your tools at hand: your trading software, your data, the proper equipment. All of the rudiments for planning must be in place, which in itself is a part of organizing.

You must be physically fit when you plan: well nourished, properly exercised, well rested and mentally alert - all part of having your life organized, all part of achieving perfection as a trader. To be a winning trader, you have to be among the best. There can be no middle ground. There are only winners and losers, and to be a winner you have to be a champion. And, just like any champion, you must have discipline, self-control, and a willingness to train, train, train.

There are no runners-up in trading, you either get the gold or you give the gold. Often, while others are busy going to parties or watching sports events, you are busy poring over charts, studying, thinking, planning. When others are listening to music or watching TV, you are busy practicing your trading, practicing trade selection, working hard to become a more astute trader.

Part of achieving perfection involves the diligent study of charts. The data, as presented on your screen and preserved as charts, are, for the most part, all you have for making trading decisions. They are a picture, a visualization of what is taking place in the reality of the market. Your job in achieving perfection and becoming an adequate trader is to picture and imagine in your mind what makes prices move and form the way they do. Ask yourself, "How does what I see in front of me relate to the supply and demand for the underlying?" Ask yourself, "Is what I am seeing on the chart even related to supply and demand, or is what I am seeing related to an engineered move by some insider or market mover?"

Supply and demand are not what makes prices move or fail to move most of the time. The sooner you realize that fact, the better off you will be. Markets are engineered, manipulated ¾ you need to know that. But there's more to a chart than merely price patterns. Reflected in the chart are the emotional reactions of human beings. Reactions to rumors and news; to national and world events; to government reports - these, too, are on the charts. You might say that price movement, or the lack thereof, is the net effect of all the perceptions of all the traders who are participating in the market for a particular futures.

There is something else on the charts, something that too few take into account. That something is the manipulations from and by the insiders, the market movers, and by commercials holding large inventories of the underlying you are attempting to trade. In achieving perfection as a trader, you must train yourself to look for evidence of any and all of these things as you study your charts. It is the cumulative action of all perceptions which causes patterns to form on a price chart.

You must learn to look for the truths in the markets. There are certain truths which are self-evident; they are always true. For instance, take the phenomenon of a breakout. When prices break out, no one can change the fact that they did break out. It is a fact and it is true. The breakout may turn out to be a "false" breakout, but nevertheless it is a breakout. As part of achieving perfection in your trade selection skills, you have to learn to tell which breakouts are most likely true breakouts, and which ones are most likely false. How can you know? By the price patterns on the chart.

And what about trend? Your job in achieving perfection as a trader is to master how to trade a trend. A trend is a trend, is a trend. It is a trend until the end, and part of your job is to know when a market is not trending.

The trend is the trend while it lasts. While a market is trending it is telling the truth. The trend can change, but the truth is the truth. If prices are rising, the trend is up. If prices are falling, the trend is down. The truth can be found in the trend. It is an immutable fact.

You are to learn to make my money by trading with the trend. You are to learn what constitutes a trend. You have to learn to spot trends early so that you can make the most out of the market while it is trending. Your job in achieving perfection as a trader is to learn to recognize when a trend will most likely begin, and just as important, to learn to be even more adept at deciphering when a trend is ending.

In achieving perfection, you must learn to recognize "your" trade(s), and to take only "your" trades. Trade the formations and patterns that you can easily recognize and identify.

You must learn to trade using tips and tricks that you are shown and to accumulate and keep a collection of techniques that result in the selection of high probability trades.

How are you to do all this? Practice, practice, PRACTICE. Practice recognition of congestion areas. Practice recognition of high probability breakouts. Practice trend recognition. Practice and more practice. Just like anyone who wants to achieve perfection at anything, there must be total dedication, study, practice and more practice. You are to become a trading virtuoso. You are to practice, yet always realizing that you will never attain true perfection, that there is always room for improvement. There is usually a way to refine: ways that you can do things better, more efficiently, and with greater speed and finesse.

Source: http://tradejuice.com/

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How To Identify a Fake Forex Broker Review

Many traders or future traders shop for a broker to work with and find endless reviews on the web, and not all are genuine. Here are 5 ways ways to separate the good from the bad.

There are lots of sites that specialize in forex broker reviews and lots of talk about brokers in various forums. While a lot of information comes from real experience of people that have used a brokers’ services, some may have a hidden agenda of promoting the broker. Promoting a broker is OK, as long as it’s done in a transparent way. Let’s see the 5 ways to identify fake reviews:

1. Look at the site: if this officially a forex news site / education site, but the first thing that you see is a big list of forex broker reviews, then you can take the reviews with a grain of salt – the site’s sole purpose is to make money on affiliates and not necessarily have up to date news. So are the reviews genuine?
2. Check the link: If you see something like landingID=3 or affiliate=fxsite at the end of the link that leads from the review page to the broker’s site – this is definitely an affiliate link – the reviewer gets paid for referring clients to the broker. Getting paid for referrals is legitimate, but hiding the fact that the reviewer is paid for the service isn’t proper. For site owners, the solution is to write a disclosure about the affiliation. This way, the readers can judge for themselves if this genuine or not, having the knowledge about the affiliation deal.
3. Option to comment: If the site has an option to add your own comment on the review, actually your own mini-review on the broker, that’s a good sign of openness. But this may be tricky as well. Try commenting and see if your comment really appears on the site, or if it’s held for moderation forever. Sometimes comments are automatically posted, but are later deleted when they aren’t convenient. Such sites’ openness, but it’s fake.
4. Check the forum member: if a forum member posts a reply with a recommendation about a forex broker, even without an affiliate link, he could be associated with the broker. If he’s officially representing the broker, that’s like a full disclosure – you can judge him for yourself. But if he’s not? Well, check out what else he wrote on the forum. If he’s a regular participant, it could be genuine, but if his main agenda is promoting the same broker, don’t take his word. I must say the Forex Factory is doing a good job at getting such promoters out of the forums.
5. Search the web for negative commentary: A common check if to search for the name of the broker with the word “sucks” – this will easily bring you to negative reviews, and you can see how bad they are. Getting results for this search doesn’t mean the broker is necessarily bad, but this is how you’ll get some negative words as well.

After you finished reading the review, check out the broker with forex demo account – this is must when starting with a new broker, even if you’re a seasoned trader.

Source: http://www.forexcrunch.com/

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A Successful Momentum Trading Strategy

This year tens of thousands of Americans will take on the daunting task of learning to day trade. Only 10% will make money in his or her first year and only 1% will be able to make a living trading stocks. What separates the winners from the losers? All successful traders have learned through failures to follow a strict and simple strategy. Without a trading strategy you have little hope of becoming one of the few that consistently pull money out of the markets.

For a beginner trader there is a steep learning curve to understanding the technology, terminology, and software for trading. Expecting a new trader to also create his or her own trading strategy is not realistic. My friend Ross Cameron teaches a Momentum Trading Strategy at Warrior Trading. He focuses on finding low risk entries on strong stocks which is one of the best strategies for new traders.

A Jack Of All Trades And A Master Of None

In the stock market there is always another trader out there who is a little bit better and a little bit smarter than you. If you try to be a jack of all trades and learn a little bit about a dozen different strategies you are destined to fail. You must master one strategy at a time, and only add additional strategies once you have proven success with the first ones. It is very common for new traders to jump from one strategy to another because they get inpatient when they don’t find immediate success.

Learning to maintain patience and come back from frustrating days in the market ready is a common characteristic among all successful traders. Henry Ford once said “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently”. Success didn’t come easily for most of the traders I know. In contrast, it was the result of years of studying patterns, analyzing mistakes, and adapting to changing markets. The best traders I know all experienced getting knocked down in the markets but got back up ready to work even harder.

3 Steps To A Successful Momentum Trading Strategy

Momentum Trading Strategy

Momentum Trading is one of the most popular strategies. Momentum stocks typically have released news and are trading on higher than average volume because retail traders and institutional trades alike want a piece of the action. Retail traders love momentum stocks because they commonly known to be some of the easiest stocks to trade each day. The markets can be very choppy. Making irrationally moves up and down but without a well-defined trend. Stocks that trend nicely usually have a good catalyst. These catalysts become the creators of momentum.

Step 1: Find the Momentum

As traders we hunt first for the beginning signs of momentum. We use tools like Strategy Scanners built by Trade-Ideas. These stock scanners can be customized to show us stocks trading on above average volume or experiencing big percentage gains. I often begin running scans at 8:30am before the markets are officially open to see if any stocks are indicating that they will open higher. When a stock opens higher than it closed in the previous session this is called a Gap. Gaps in the chart are almost always the result of news.

Step 2: Identify The Catalyst

Once we have found a stock that is experiencing momentum we can begin hunting for the reason. Some traders focus strictly on the price action and disregard the fundamental reasons for the move. I like to know the news because I’ve found certain types of news cause particularly strong momentum. I like stocks that have just reported a big earnings beat or have issued a press release regarding new business acquisitions or new sales. I also really like trading biotech and pharmaceutical stocks on clinical trials results and FDA approvals. I tend to avoid catalysts such as an analyst putting out an upgraded price target or a journalist writing a positive article on the company. These lower quality catalysts typically result in lower volume momentum.

Step 3: Find A Setup

Once I have found a stock that is moving and properly identified the catalyst I can begin looking for a setup. A setup is an opportunity to buy the stock with low risk and high reward potential. One of the most common setups are called Flags. A Flag forms when a stock makes a very quick move up and then starts consolidating sideways. The move up represents the flag pole and the sideways consolidation represents the flag. When I buy a Flag I set my stop loss at the bottom of the pull back. I set my profit target just above the top of the flag. I look to get an initial position started and then add to that position if the stock continues trending up. Some of my biggest winning trades have been simple flag breakouts on a momentum stock.

Become A Master Momentum Trader

Momentum Trading is a very popular strategy because momentum is relatively easy to find. Almost every day all professional traders will congregate around a small handful of stocks experiencing momentum. This results in that small handful of stocks trading on extremely high volume. The higher the volume the easier it is to quickly move in and out of positions. Additionally, as more retail traders are watching these stocks the likelihood of flag patterns resolving in the anticipated direction increases because so many traders buy at the breakout prices. Remember, trading is not about a sprint to the finish. Becoming a trader is like participating in a marathon. It’s a long and grueling process but the results are tremendously rewarding for those who have what it takes to succeed.

[Source:moneysmartguides.com]Sourse: Thefinancebucks.com

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Mutual Funds

A mutual fund is a type of professionally managed investment that allows a group of investors to pull their capital together and purchase securities, while sharing the burden of administrative and trading costs. There are many different types of mutual funds; open-ended funds sell an unlimited number of shares publicly, either in bulk or to retail investors (individuals), while close-ended funds limit their offering and once full, accept no more investors or capital.

Other categories of differentiation are managed vs. passive, what industries or sectors they invest in (technology, industrial, financials, oil and gas, consumer services, consumer goods, healthcare, telecommunications, utilities, etc), the types of securities they purchase (stocks, bonds, real estate, mortgage-backed securities, commodities, money markets), the size of the companies they target (large, mid, or small market capitalizations), and the investment style (value, growth, or a blend of both).

All investment opportunities come with advantages and disadvantages, and while mutual funds are a good choice for many investors, they may not be the best choice for everyone. It is essential to weigh factors like risk vs. return, fees and costs, diversification, tax liability, and other options when investing for your retirement or a child’s education. As part of a complete stock portfolio, mutual funds can play an important role in growing your wealth.

Advantages of Mutual Funds

Diversification

One of the major advantages of a mutual fund is diversification, since they invest in a variety of stocks, bonds, or securities to maximize returns and minimize risk. Studies have shown that, if done properly, investors can diversify and spread risk by buying between 20 and 50 different stocks. Instead of incurring the trading fees of brokerage houses, it is simpler to invest in one that will allocate money on your behalf and minimize the risk of a concentrated position by instantly offering diversification. Further diversification can even be achieved by investing in multiple funds of varying investment styles, sectors, or types.

Anyone planning to invest should examine the fund’s prospectus to find out exactly which stocks and bonds, as well as the percentage of each, are included in their portfolio. If the fund is concentrated in one industry and only owns stock in dozens of different companies within the sector, the risk may be higher since losses may affect the entire industry and not just one or two companies. Although diversification does minimize the risk of losses, it may not maximize returns for shareholders if one stock’s positive performance is offset by another’s loss.

Professional Financial Management

Managing investments like stocks and bonds properly takes considerable research, time, and training. Individual management of stock portfolios is expensive and most retail investor’s can not afford the best professional managers, but by pooling together large amounts of capital and sharing costs with others, those with limited capital can still enjoy the benefits of professional financial management. This includes individuals highly trained working full-time to maximize your returns by researching securities to buy. Additionally, because the management team’s compensation is tied-in to the performance of the fund, clients and managers have aligning interests.

One way to spot a credentialed fund manager or finance professional is by researching whether he/she is a CFA or Chartered Financial Analyst, and has had the wherewithal to join IMCA, the Investment Management Consultants Associations.

People who invest in mutual funds do not have to be stock market gurus or have extensive knowledge about the advantages of different types of bonds since a professional manager makes all investment decisions. The mutual fund company and its managers then get a percentage of the profits that exceed the benchmark set plus administrative fees, which are all divided amongst investors as a percentage of their capital compared to the total size of the fund.

Lower Trading Fees and Costs

When stocks and bonds are bought and sold, there are fees charged for each transaction by brokerage houses and electronic trading systems. The larger the amount that is traded, the lower the percentage of the fee compared to the total transaction. Not only that, the cost of transaction fees is shared among all investors, which makes these funds attractive compared to individual trading in stocks and bonds.

Fees and total costs are one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a fund. A professionally managed investment vehicle is expected to yield higher returns compared to the average investor or the overall market, and this is what justifies the fees they charge investors. If an investment’s fees outweigh the excessive returns earned, then there ceases to be an advantage of investing in the financial product and investors should re-evaluate their choices, possibly moving their capital to another asset class, ETF or competing manager.

Liquidity

It can be difficult to get cash out of some investments if the money is needed quickly, but mutual fund investments can usually be exchanged for cash within 48 hours or less. This applies to open-ended mutual funds and it can make them an attractive investment. There are no penalties and you can cash in the full value of the investment. However, it is important to note that some investments have a lock-in period of 180 days, where you are not allowed to pull out your money until it expires or risk paying a percentage of your capital as an exit charge.

No-Load Mutual Funds

In trading, no-load means no fee for selling or buying an investment. Stocks have a load or fee with every transaction, but no-load mutual funds can be bought and sold without incurring any expense; however, this does not mean there are no costs. It just means that the company makes money on “management fees”.

Another advantage of mutual funds is that it only takes a small amount of cash to begin investing, with most funds willing to accept a minimum starting balance of $1,000. For example, the largest mutual fund companies, Vanguard and Fidelity, only require $3,000 and $2,500, respectively, to open an account. For people with limited money to invest, mutual funds can provide higher returns than savings accounts or certificates of deposit for the same amount of capital.

Disadvantages of Mutual Funds

Risks

Savings accounts and certificates of deposit have federal insurance (FDIC) that guarantees investors’ savings up to $250,000. There is usually a minimum guaranteed rate of return on these safe investments. Whole life insurance also guarantees a minimum rate of return on money paid into the policy’s cash value. Mutual funds do not guarantee the return of or return on investments, similar to any stock purchase, so it is possible for you to lose some or all your money if the stock market crashes or the economy experiences a recession or depression. While safer than some investments, there are no guaranteed returns and superior historical performance does not indicate superior future performance.

Active vs. Passive Management

One issue that is discussed when considering different types of mutual funds is whether an investor should choose passive or index funds versus actively-managed portfolios. Passive index funds offer you the ability to buy or play the stock market as a whole by designing a portfolio mix that represents the entire market, without actually buying every single public stock and incurring high trading costs.

Passive index funds are simpler to understand, have lower fees, and offer investors exposure to the broad market, whereas actively-managed ones try to pick winners and losers according to investment research and timing the market. In the last few years, studies have shown that index funds have performed better than active managers, and that the excess returns, if any, by managers may not justify additional costs.

Note: “Alpha” is the excess return relative to the fund’s benchmark index.

Tax Liability

Some investments like certain municipal bonds do provide tax relief. Interest income on municipal bonds is typically tax-exempt from federal, state and local income taxes if you are a resident of the state issuing the “munis”, while other investment options like IRAs, 401ks (check out this guide to understanding your 401K) certain types of life insurance offer income tax deductions and/or tax deferments to compete for capital. Returns on taxable accounts are subject to short or long-term capital gains and income taxes.Short-term taxes apply for investments held less than a year, while long-term capital gains taxes apply for ones held over a year. Unfortunately, since the tax issues are handled by the fund manager, individual investors have no control over how tax issues are handled or the terms of how the taxes will be paid. However, it is part of the fund manager’s responsibilities to minimize tax liability for his investors.

Over-Diversification

Over-diversification may occur when a particular industry outperforms the rest of the market, and your fund’s returns are decreased, on average, by mediocre gains or even losses in other sectors. If one stock performs particularly well while another disappoints, your net profit may be even.

Diversification can be both a negative and positive, as we pointed out earlier, depending on your experience and risk appetite; however, generally speaking, diversification is usually an advantage since no one can predict performance and it helps hedge against unexpected events, earnings shortfalls, or industry-wide breakdowns.

Un-Invested Cash

In order for mutual funds to maintain liquidity for investors, they must keep a certain amount of cash available for withdrawals. This is money that is not dedicated to investments and means that shareholders do not get the maximum return. In a typical year, most funds are considered fully-invested if they have 95% of their capital in the market; nonetheless, maintaining some extra cash for buying opportunities can be a benefit if the market is overbought or overpriced and is waiting for a dip to purchase securities at a discount to their intrinsic value. This can be one of the advantages of actively-managed mutual funds.

Management, Trading and Operating Fees

Mutual funds typically have fees that are paid by shareholders purchasing or selling shares and annual operating fees that are between 1% and 3% of the assets under management. Operating fees are deducted from investor accounts. These fees reduce the amount of returns and if the fund has a bad year with low or no returns, part of the original investment can be lost, unless the fund decides to reduce or eliminate its management fees on a bad year to avoid withdrawals. While the cost of professional management is lower than the cost of an individual account, it is not free and investors should compare and review fees of different funds before deciding where to invest. If you are a retail investor, this can also mean picking the best online brokerage such as E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, Scottrade, Charles Schwab, etc.

Incorrect Labeling

Under SEC regulations, mutual funds must have at least 80% of their assets in investments that are implied by the name of the fund. The remaining 20% of assets may be held as cash or invested as the manager chooses. The different types of investments that qualify for the 80% of assets can be fairly vague so names of funds are often chosen to attract investors and can be misleading. Individual investors should research prior to buying into it since the name and the prospectus may not tell the whole story.

Researching Mutual Funds

Unlike stocks, SEC regulations do not require mutual funds to give potential buyers specific facts like sales growth or P/E ratios. The mutual fund industry does not have to provide investors with information about their earnings per share and the specifics of how managers and research analysts recommend or choose stocks. This makes evaluating investment choices problematic since the net assets, which funds are required to provide, give a very incomplete picture of performance. Deciding who offers the best opportunity can be difficult, and using Morningstar or Lipper Ratings based on 1-month, 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year returns will not indicate future performance.

Mutual Fund Investing

In sum, the pros and cons of mutual funds give small investors the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of investing in stocks and other securities without many of the risks and expenses associated with individual brokerage accounts. Even though fund companies try to maximize risk-adjusted returns, there are still risks and those who are extremely risk adverse should consider more secure investments.

[Source:gajizmo.com]Sourse: Thefinancebucks.com

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