Posts Tagged ‘wealth building’

PostHeaderIcon A Shockingly Simple Stock Trading Momentum Indicator

Following a trend is great. But if the trend is moving quickly, you want to know that so that you can get ahead of it. If the rate of change of the trend is going up, rising prices are going to follow quickly.

Momentum was the velocity multiplied by the mass of the object. Now first what is a momentum? You must have read about the momentum in high school physics.Velocity was the rate of change. Now. a simple way to calculate the momentum of any security price is to divide the closing price today by the closing price ten days back and then multiply it by 100! So when we talk of momentum in trading, we are talking of the rate of change of any security prices.

This gives you the momentum indicator. If the prices didn’t go anywhere momentum indicator will be 100. If the prices went up, the momentum indicator will be greater than 100 and the prices went down, the momentum indicator will be less than 100. Now, a trend is expected to continue if the momentum indicator is greater than 100.

PostHeaderIcon What Are LEAP Options?

Great Britain was finding it difficult to stay within the tight exchange rate band set by the European Monetary Union (EMU) in the early’90s. One person who made history with options was George Soros who is famously known as the man who broke the Bank of England.

George Soros is a famous name in the world of investing. He had always believed in contrarian investing. Contrarian investing means doing exactly opposite of what the crowd is doing. George Soros had this intuition that the Bank of England would be forced to devalue British Pound. So he bought call options on German Marks and put options on British Pound. He made a bet of $10 Billion by leveraging all the assets in his hedge fund.

Within a few days, Bank of England was brought to its knees as it was unable to sustain the immense selling pressure on the British Pound. Bank of England was forced to devalue British Pound in view of the speculative attack on the British Pound.

In a matter of a few days, George Soros made a cool $1 Billion profit on his bet. Can you make such a bet? Maybe not but this one example show the immense power options have if used correctly. Options are risky; there should be no doubt about it.

PostHeaderIcon S&P Futures Explained (Part III)

The monthly identifiers for the E-mini S&P futures contracts are H for March, M for June, U for September and Z for December. The E-mini S&P futures contract trade almost 24 hours per day with a 30 minute maintenance break in trading from 4:30 to 5:00 PM daily.

If you are a new E-mini trader you be careful as traders are expected to pay for the difference between the margins for the entry and exit points. In case you lose at the end of the day you are likely to pay in a big way. The margin requirements for E-minis are much less than the normal contract. The day trading margin is less than the margin to hold an overnight position in S&P 500 E-mini Futures contract.

All futures contracts are settled daily (assigned a final value price). Based on this settlement price, the values of all positions are marked to the market each day after the official close. Your account is then either debited or credited based on how well your positions fared in that days trading session. In other words, as long as your positions remain open, cash will either come into your account or leave your account based on the change in the settlement price from day to day.

PostHeaderIcon Dow Futures (Part II)

Stock index futures like the Dow Futures or the S&P 500 Futures are traded for speculation as well as hedging purposes. Stock-index futures are by far the largest category of futures contracts traded as a percentage of the total number of futures contracts traded. The dominance of index futures clearly speaks of the major role that stock-index futures play in risk management for the entire stock market.

Stock index futures like the Dow futures are a better option than trading individual stocks. There are other advantages of trading stock index futures like the Dow Futures. Some of these advantages are gains in the futures markets are taxed at a lower rate than the stock market capital gains.

However, future traders don’t have the same amount of time to make decisions as someone who is only trading stocks. Globex is a 24 hour electronic trading system for a wide variety of futures contract. If something happens on the stock market overnight when it is closed and you want to hedge your risk, you can trade Dow Futures or the S&P 500 Futures on Globex. Many futures brokerages offer lower commission rates as compared to stocks.

PostHeaderIcon Trading Decreased Volatility Breakout (Part III)

When you have identified the triangle formation on either the daily or weekly chart, get ready for a breakout. Each triangle type has its own directional bias. When you trade triangle breakouts, ignore any first breakout attempts whether it is to the upside or the downside. There can be three possibilities when you try to trade the decreased volatility breakout strategy.

Possible Case No 1: Suppose the second breakout attempt is in the downside direction for the descending triangle. Similarly it is in the upside direction for an ascending triangle. In simple words, the second breakout attempt is in the direction expected of the triangle type. This breakout could signal either the continuation of the existing trend or the trend reversal. You should not forget to ignore the first breakout.

For an ascending triangle make sure each side of the triangle gets touched two times at least. Place a stop buy order at least 10 pips above the horizontal resistance level to capture the potential upside breakout. Place a stop loss order 10 pips below the horizontal level of the triangle to protect against false breakout. Set profit target according to your time frame.

PostHeaderIcon Trading Decreased Volatility Breakout (Part II)

Aging Trend: This is the period of consolidation as the trend comes to maturity. Volatility tends to decrease at this stage of the trend as the momentum of the trend exhausts itself. This is the period where lot of profit taking will take place.

Both the bulls and the bears are hesitant to make daring moves at this stage of the trend. Experienced traders now know that the trend has aged and it is the best time to get out of the trend. They try to get out of their trades at this stage of the trend by closing their positions. This satisfies the appetites of inexperienced traders as they consolidate their positions by taking on the positions abandoned by the experienced traders.

Currency prices have moved by a large amount in the previous period of high volatility. This is the period of consolidation and the prices tend to stay calm during this period. The trend takes a short break and the volatility is low during this stage of the trend.

PostHeaderIcon Start With a Practice Account (Part I)

The best way for new traders to get a handle on what currency trading is all about is to open a practice account. Almost every forex broker offers a free practice account to new clients. All you need to do is to sign up with any good forex broker.

Practice accounts are funded with virtual money. So you are able to make trades with no real money at stake and gain experience in how margin trading works. Practice accounts give you the great chance to experience the forex market. You can see how the price changes at different times of the day.

Without any fear of losing money, you can trade your practice account with real market conditions. Practice trading will teach you how various currency pairs may differ from each other? It will also teach you how the forex market reacts to new information when major news and economic data is released.

PostHeaderIcon Rollovers & Currency Trading

Rollovers are transactions in currency trading where an open position from one value date or settlement date is rolled over to the next value date or settlement date. Rollovers are unique to the currency markets. Rollovers represent the intersection of interest rate markets and forex markets.

Remember that what you are trading is in fact the good old cash. Dont forget currency is money after all. Rollover rates depend on the difference between the interest rates of the two currencies in the pair that you are trading.

You should expect an interest gain/expense on holding a currency position over time. It is similar to earning interest on a bank deposit and paying interest on a loan. It is like having a deposit in a bank account when you are long on a currency. Its like take a loan from the bank if you are short.

Interest rate differential is the difference between the interest rates between the two currencies. You should think of the open currency position as one currency with the positive balance (the currency you are long) and one with negative balance (the currency you are short).

PostHeaderIcon How Does One Become a Mortgage Loan Processor?

Mortgage Loan Processors put all of the relevant documents together that are involved processing a mortgage. These individuals can perform such duties as ordering and processing an appraisal and acquiring essential documentation. Documentation can include: customer credit reports, customer applications, title insurance, ordering home appraisals, calculating customers’ monthly income, and payment documents. The Mortgage loan processor will check this information against the borrower’s information to ensure that there are no inconsistencies. Based on the confirmed application information, a mortgage loan processor will recommend whether to approve or deny the application. If the application is accepted, they will submit the application for underwriting.

Mortgage Loan Processors are in great demand. For those interested in a career as a mortgage loan processor, there are a number of steps one can take in order to achieve this lucrative job.

To become a mortgage loan processor, one has to have completed high school. However, there are some employers that require a university undergraduate degree. There are a number of colleges across the country that offers programs, diplomas and certificates in loan processing. Students enrolled in loan processing programs will learn about how to process a loan, credit policies and laws about processing a loan, various terminologies associated with loan processing, and the information that underwriters require. These programs tend to focus on the state in which they are located.

PostHeaderIcon What is Market Sentiment (Part III)?

Economic growth of countries can also have a big impact on the overall currency market sentiment besides the interest rates. United States is the largest economy in the world. US economy is the key factor in determining the global currency market sentiment. US economic growth figures affect the major currency pairs like EUR/USD, GBP/USD, CHF/USD and JPY/USD.

A strong economic expansion coupled with a healthy labor market tends to boost consumer spending in the country. Good economic growth helps in selling the stuff produced by the local companies and businesses.

A country with a strong economy is in a better position to attract foreign investors. Investments pouring into the country increase the demand for that currency. This increased demand causes that currency to strengthen against other currencies.

How do you measure the economy of a country? Some of the most important indicators of a country economic growth are: 1) Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 2) The unemployment rate and 3) The trade balance. Lets discuss these three economic indicators.