Know Your Investment Style, It’s Very Important

Posted by admin as shares and stocks

This is something that most people don’t even think about, but knowing what your risk tolerance is and investment style are very important. This will help you choose investments that are more suited to you, and which the long run should do better as you will be less stressed and make fewer trading errors. 

While there are many different types of investments that one can make, there are really only three specific investment styles, and those three styles tie in with your risk tolerance, these are conservative, moderate, and aggressive.

Naturally, if you find that you have a lowish tolerance for risk, your investment style will most likely be conservative or moderate at best. If you have a high tolerance for risk, you will most likely be a moderate or aggressive investor. At the same time, your financial ambitions will also determine what style of investing you use.

If you are saving for your retirement in your early twenties, you should use a conservative or moderate style of investing, but if you are trying to get together the funds to buy a home in the next year or two, you would want to use an aggressive. Being an active stock market trader would be considered an aggressive style for most people.

Conservative investors want to make sure that they maintain their initial capital and make very modest gains per year, they want to sleep well at night. In other words, if they invest $5000 they want to be sure that they will get their initial $5000 back. This type of investor usually invests in blue chip common stocks and bonds and short term money market accounts. But remember trading stocks, even if they are blue chips can still be very risky as we have seen in the 2008/9 bear market.

An interest earning savings account is very common for conservative investors.
A moderate investor usually invests much like a conservative investor, but will use a small portion of their investment funds for higher risk investments. Many moderate investors invest 50% of their investment funds in safe or conservative investments, and invest the remainder in riskier investments.

An aggressive investor is willing to take risks that other investors won’t take. They invest higher amounts of money in riskier ventures in the hopes of achieving larger returns – either over time or in a short amount of time. Aggressive investors often have all or most of their investment funds tied up in the stock market.

Again, determining what style of investing you will use will be determined by your financial goals and your risk tolerance. No matter what type of investing you do, however, you should always carefully research the investment and never invest without having all of the facts.

If you think you are an aggressive investor and intend to trade stocks activily, make sure that you learn how to trade before making your 1st stock purchase.

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Technorati Tags: how to trade, investment, Investor, stock market trader, stocks, trading, trading stocks

Tips For Buying A Stocks Seminar

Posted by admin as shares and stocks

If you are about to start, or are already in the process of learning how to trade, or day trade, you may have already been searching the internet using Google or Yahoo for day trading training education, tools, software or seminars, and have found that there is a lot on offer.

For example “trading course” brings up 758,000 pages in Google and “trading seminar” another 109,000 pages, the question is what should you be looking for when buying trading education. In this article I’ll point out some of the things to check before spending your hard earned cash on your trading education.

1. Becareful of the hidden costs involved in a trading seminar that is away from home, account for the expense of hotels, meals travel and car rental?, it may be a lot more than you expect.

2. What is the return policy, this can vary widely between trading education companies, for some you only have a 3 day cooling off period while for others you may have up to 12 noon or the end of the 1st day to ask for refund if you decide this was not right for you.

3. For a live seminar are you also given a set of DVD’s of the same or similar content?, so often live seminars fail to explain all the very important details involved in day trading. Having a set of DVD’s enables you to review the content over and over again at home until you get it. Beware that some companies will bill you extra for the DVD’s even though you have already paid for a live trading seminar.

4. Check the internet for feedback on the company and trading seminar. Use search terms like “company name review”, “company name refunds” or “company name scam”. Often reviews are posted in trading forums, these can be found by searching for “trading forum”.

5. A head of time try and find out exactly who will be presenting the seminar. The last thing that you want is a professional “teacher” giving a seminar on trading, what you want is a “trader” who makes his living by trading and only does a few seminars a month out of interest and for personal reasons, not because they need the money.

6. If you are buying an online day trading or investing course where the content is 100% viewed online you should get at least a 30 day 100% cash back guarantee, if not stay away.

7. If you are buying a course or trading seminar in which DVD’s and manuals are being shipped to your house, again you should expect a 30 day 100% money back return policy, less shipping and handling, again if not stay away.

8. It’s very likely that you will have questions after taking either the live or online course or watching the DVD’s, make sure that you will be able to ask questions and have them answered, either one on one or in a forum setting.

9. Last, but certainly not least, before buying do a lot of window shopping. The price for trading seminars, either stocks, options, Forex or futures varies widely from $50 for an ebook to over $25K for a comprehensive set of training. You may be able to find the same material much cheaper at a different company.

Also be aware that day trading education and seminar companies are always running specials and offering discounts, before you buy search the internet carefully for any deals and also call the company directly and ask for a low price guarantee. Make sure you are paying the lowest price possible for the course or seminar before you commit to it.

A756452359

Technorati Tags: day trader training, day trading, investing, Investor, mutual funds, stock market, stocks, trading seminars

How To Buy A Trading Seminar

Posted by admin as shares and stocks

If you are about to start, or are already in the process of learning how to trade, or day trade, you may have already been searching the internet using Google or Yahoo for day trading training education, tools, software or seminars, and have found that there is a lot on offer.

For example “trading course” brings up 758,000 pages in Google and “trading seminar” another 109,000 pages, the question is what should you be looking for when selecting a trading course or seminar. In this article I’ll point out some of the things to check before spending your hard earned cash on your trading education.

1. Becareful of the hidden costs involved in a trading seminar that is away from home, account for the expense of hotels, meals travel and car rental?, it may be a lot more than you expect.

2. What is the return policy, this can vary widely between trading education companies, for some you only have a 3 day cooling off period while for others you may have up to 12 noon or the end of the 1st day to ask for refund if you decide this was not right for you.

3. For a live seminar are you also given a set of DVD’s of the same or similar content?, so often live seminars fail to cover all the very important details involved in day trading. Having a set of DVD’s enables you to watch the content over and over again at home until you get it. Beware that some companies will charge you extra for the DVD’s even though you have already paid for a live trading seminar.

4. Check the internet for positive and negative feedback on the company and trading seminar. Use search terms like “company name review or “company name scam”. Often reviews are posted in trading forums, these can be found by searching for terms like “trading forum”.

5. In advance try and find out exactly who will be presenting the seminar. The last thing that you want is a professional “teacher” presenting a seminar on trading, what you want is a “trader” who makes his living by trading and only does a few seminars a month out of interest and for personal reasons, not because they need the money.

6. If you are buying an online day trading or investing course where the content is 100% viewed online you should get at least a 30 day 100% money back guarantee, if not stay away.

7. If you are buying a course or trading seminar in which DVD’s and manuals are being shipped to your house, again you should expect a 30 day 100% money back return policy, less shipping and handling, again if not stay away.

8. It’s very likely that you will have questions after watching either the live or online course or watching the DVD’s, make sure that you will be able to ask questions and have them answered, either one on one or in a forum setting.

9. Last, but certainly not least, before buying do a lot of window shopping. The price for trading seminars, either stocks, options, Forex or futures varies widely from $50 for an ebook to over $25K for a comprehensive set of training. You may be able to find the same education much cheaper at a different company.

Also be aware that day trading education and seminar companies are always running specials and offering discounts, before you buy search the internet carefully for any deals and also call the company directly and ask for a low price guarantee. In other words make sure that you are paying the lowest price that they are offering the product for.

A756452359

Technorati Tags: day trader training, day trading, investing, Investor, mutual funds, stock market, stocks, trading seminars

Corporate Advisory Insight: Dark Pools

Posted by admin as stock price

Leisa Bugge from Thomson Reuters’ Corporate Advisory Services group discusses dark pools.

Transcript:

As we discussed in a previous video, dark pools are becoming ever more prevalent.

I’m Leisa Bugge and this is the second video in a series on dark pools.

Since our last video just over a month ago, there have been several articles written in notable publications, including two in the Wall Street Journal.

With our Corporate Clients asking more questions since our last dark pools video we thought it timely to talk about the topic further and open the discussion to new venues.

One common question is “What do dark pools mean for my stock price”. Good question, and while the answer is not straight forward we believe that it is worth discussing.

Do dark pools now call into question the Efficient Market Hypothesis? With broker-dealer owned, independent and exchange owned dark pools, does it matter which dark pool the stock is traded in?

We know many different investors use these trading venues, most notably secretive hedge funds, but also the plain vanilla institutions that populate the top of your shareholder lists.

The IR Professional and others alike should do what they can to educate themselves on this topic, because as we said this trading venue is becoming more widely used as the days go on.

For example, the big news last week was the Wall Street Journal reporting the NYSE and NASDAQ will be allowing clients access to dark pools as a way to increase revenues.

Now this is something that must affect a stock’s price, or is it?

Join our blogs through your Thomson One Investor Relations platform where we will help answer and debate these questions. You can find IR Hub under the Tools tab.

I’m Leisa Bugge with this Corporate Advisory Insight.

Duration : 0:1:47

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Technorati Tags: Advisory, Corporate, Financial, Investor, Relations, Research, Reuters, Services, Strategic, Thomson

Market Report - Asia Stocks Tumble After GE Fall

Posted by admin as shares and stocks

HANG: Asia stocks tumbled on Monday, with investors worried ahead of a heavy week of earnings and data.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 3 percent (12,918) in a broad-based sell-off that tracked Friday losses on Wall Street.

A nasty earnings surprise from U.S. giant General Electric and data showing U.S. consumer sentiment hit a 26-year low rattled investors across the globe.

China shares were also hurt, with Shanghai property firms among the biggest losers. Shanghai A shares lost 5.6 percent.

Worries about rising inflation have been spooking China investors, and fresh inflation data is due out later this week.

In Hong Kong, China plays such as China Mobile slumped after authorities stopped them from listing their shares in Shanghai amid weak sentiment. The Hang Seng index fell by 3.5 percent.

A slip in oil prices was one of the few bright spots for investors in the region. Oil slid below $110 a barrel after the dollar gained. The dollar rose following a warning on currency fluctuations from the G7 finance ministers.

Looking ahead, investors are eagerly awaiting earnings reports from big U.S. banks such as Citigroup, which will be released later in the week.

Duration : 0:1:29

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Technorati Tags: asia, Business, China, commercial, Inflation, Investor, market, nikkei, ntd, report, shanghai, stocks, street, wall

Corporate Advisory Insight: Program Trading

Posted by admin as stock price

Hallie Elsner from Thomson Reuters’ Corporate Advisory Services group discusses Program Trading.

Transcript:
As computers continue to become more and more integrated into our daily lives, many decisions that would have been made by us are now left up to technology. Take the example of online retailers, many of which suggest products to users based on the user’s previous purchases. In this case, computers are using algorithms developed through back testing to make an educated guess as to what the customer may be interested in. This trend has been growing consistently, as innovations and improvements in technology appear at an astounding rate. The same principle has been extended to the financial world as well.

Hi, I’m Hallie Elsner, and today we will be discussing program trading.

Every day on Wall Street computers trade large blocks of stock triggered only by an algorithm, or an advanced mathematical equation, developed to provide guidance and make trading decisions in the markets. These trades are called “program trades”, and they occur in significant volume and with great frequency, accounting for nearly 30% of the volume of the NYSE. Additionally, the use of algorithms in trading allows investors to obtain the best possible prices without significantly affecting the stock price or increasing purchasing costs.

The human element is not completely ignored in program trading. While computers are relied upon to initiate trades when market conditions meet a certain level, the underlying strategy behind a program buy or sell is often not computer — generated. The algorithms themselves vary dramatically for different portfolios in order to accommodate the goals and targets set by et managers and brokers. Because each algorithm is unique to each player, it is considered a trade secret to the firm and therefore is closely guarded.

Algorithmic trading is a close relative to program trading and has been more prevalent recently. This type of trade occurs when a computer program takes a large order, breaks it up into small blocks of typically 100-300 shares, and gradually submits these pieces to the market. The goal is to complete the order without other market participants realizing that a large trade is in progress. Despite such efforts, program trading can cause prices to fluctuate wildly. Deep sell-offs and rallies in the major indices can be attributed to program trading, which tends to focus primarily on companies within the three broader indices. However, program trading also provides a tremendous amount of liquidity to the market and therefore contributes to an efficient marketplace.

Program trades account for a large amount of market activity and therefore should be regarded accordingly. Savvy investors should be aware of the ability of program trades to move markets when making investment decisions.

I’m Hallie Elsner and this is Corporate Advisory Insight.

Duration : 0:2:39

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Technorati Tags: Advisory, Corporate, Financial, Investor, PROGRAM, Relations, Research, Reuters, Services, Strategic, Thomson, trading

Market Report Asian Stocks Climb

Posted by admin as shares stocks

ANCHOR:
In Tokyo stock prices moved higher as exporters continued to make gains on the back of a weaker yen. Electronics maker Panasonic lead the gains. Shares in the company surged over 6 percent after a report said quarterly profits for the firm were likely to be better than expected.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei finished the day 3.6 percent higher.

In China market shares dipped in morning trade after the government announced lackluster third quarter growth. The National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the nation’s GDP had slowed to 9 percent, more sharply than had been expected. Investors were heartened by the announcement.

In Korea news of the government’s 130 billion dollar bailout helped prevent share prices from sliding further. Seoul stocks saw modest gains helping the KOSPI index to close the day over 2 percent higher. The government plan seems to have eased investor fears but critics have said the measures are too weak
to reverse the stock market trend.

Duration : 0:1:4

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Technorati Tags: asia, Bank, commercial, Financial, Inflation, Investor, market, money, ntd, report, stocks, trade

Market Report: Asia shares swing

Posted by admin as shares and stocks

MARKET REPORT: Asia stocks swung on Wednesday as fears over a global recession crept back into investors minds.

A U.S. central bank official said the U.S. economy looked to be in recession.

The head of the Bank of Japan said global financial markets looked very strained.

Large exporters such as Honda Motors fell sharply. Rival Mazda’s stock also fell after a report that it has scrapped plans to build a second factory in
the U.S.

The Nikkei reversed steep falls and ended 1.1 percent higher.

China stocks were also largely weaker on worries about slowing global growth, especially because China’s momentum was slowing sharply even before the financial crisis.

Property and auto markets have slowed sharply in China, a further sign that China is not immune from a slowing world economy.

Anthony Trotter reporting for Reuters.

Duration : 0:0:56

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Technorati Tags: asia, Bank, commercial, Financial, Inflation, Investor, market, money, ntd, report, stocks, trade

Corporate Advisory Insight: Short Selling

Posted by admin as stock prices

Hallie Elsner from Thomson Financial’s Corporate Advisory Services group discusses short selling.

Transcript:
Every two weeks, the major North American markets report short interest figures on publicly traded companies, but what exactly is short interest, how do investors sell short, and why does it matter? I’m Hallie Elsner and on today’s Corporate Advisory Insight, we’ll delve into the investment practice known as short selling.

First things first, what is short selling?

Traders who sell securities “short” are essentially borrowing shares from institutional investors or brokerage houses that currently hold positions in the particular security and subsequently sell them in the open market. At some point, the short seller must then cover the loaned shares by repurchasing and returning them to the lending institution. The short interest is the number of shares that have not yet been repurchased for return to lenders, which is the number that is published on a bi-weekly basis. Another important aspect to a short position in a security is known as the “short interest ratio,” which is the number of trading days of average volume that would be required to close out the short positions through share repurchases in the open market.

An interesting phenomenon ociated with shorting occurs when market participants target securities with high short interest ratios by rapidly accumulating the shares at ever-higher prices, forcing the shorters to cover their positions at significant losses. As the shorts scramble for shares to cover their loans, the incremental buying exacerbates the price move upwards and causes a “short squeeze”.

Now, why do investors sell short?

Short-sellers have many different motives for their activity and various objectives as to how they hope their particular short position will reward them with a positive investment return.

The most basic of short selling strategies occurs when traders sell borrowed shares of companies that they perceive as being over-valued in the marketplace, betting that they will then be able to repurchase those shares in the future at a lower price. In this case, traders are indicating a negative view on the valuation of the company in light of future prospects.

Traders may also short-sell shares as part of a long/short strategy with two or more companies involved in a merger/acquisition (deal arbitrage) or an equity carve-out situation (sum-of-the-parts arbitrage). In deal arbitrage, the strategy is to go long the target company and short the acquiring company, when the deal is a stock-for-stock transaction. In an equity carve-out situation, where a parent company owns typically 80% of one or more public traded subsidiaries,, the strategy is to go short the subsidiary company stock(s) and long the parent.

Now that we know how and why investors short; is this data significant and what does it mean to a company?

In general, analysts are split about the significance of this data. An overall increase in short interest is considered by some to be a bearish indicator, since more investors are betting on a downturn in stock prices. But many contrarian investors consider a significant increase in short interest for a particular stock to be a buy signal, since short sales eventually must be covered. One needs to study short interest over a long period of time and investigate periods of unusual activity to gauge the prevailing market sentiment.

I’m Hallie Elsner, thanks for watching.

Duration : 0:3:4

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Technorati Tags: Advisory, Corporate, Elsner, Financial, Hallie, Investor, Relations, Research, Selling", Services, Short, Strategic, Thomson

Chinese Investors Reveal Unhealthy Stock Market

Posted by admin as stock prices

ANCHOR: 
The stock market in mainland China has been falling the past few days. The Shanghai index is at half its highest point of 6,100 points.
Yuxiang Yan, an investor from Hubei Province said that people are encouraged by the media to invest in the market, despite the reality that many shares have exceeded their investment value.
[Yuxiang Yan, investor]: “Newspapers are manipulating public opinion about the market.”
Ms Zhou, an investor from Hubei Province, said she bought shares from a false public offering share. But since the company owner was a communist party official, there was nothing she could do.
[Ms Zhou, investor]: “The government has no policy to save the stock market so people have lost trust in it. Relations with my husband suffered because of the false share and I considered suicide.”
When she appealed she was physically attacked by police.
[Ms Zhou, investor]: “The government had not only refused to help us but they igned police to come and beat us up. They said that we are responsible for the false shares because they didn’t ask us to buy it.”

According to the reports of the Epoch Times Newspaper, on the 15th of April, an investor in Hunan Province smashed the stock exchange hall in anger over falling stock prices and the lack of regulation by the communist party.
NTDTV, CHINA NEWS

Duration : 0:0:52

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Technorati Tags: China, communist, failure, Investor, mainland, market, ntd, party, shanghai, stock