Friday, June 22, 2012

Commodity Trading Tips

The floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, a maj...
The floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, a major commodities exchange in the United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Curious about dabbling in the commodity markets? Here are some top tips to help you avoid losing your shirt.

Understand Your Psychology

When you are making commodity trading decisions you are involved in a delicate balancing act. On the one hand you have to act swiftly to profit from the opportunities that arise, whereas on the other you have to be very cool and analytical to make the right calls.

Getting an understanding of your own psychology is very important for all successful trading. Often the worst decisions are made due to emotions interfering with the thought process. If your mind is clouded by strong emotions it is easy to make poor decisions.

Don’t follow the crowd


The chances are when everyone is talking about a trend it will be too late to jump on it. This especially goes for any kind of ‘hot tips’ that you get on the internet and through social media. You can’t bet on a race that has already been run.

It is important to be able to have the courage of your own convictions. Making money is commodities investing is a matter of being right when others are wrong. This can mean buying precisely when others are desperate to sell.

Be genuinely informed


There are all kinds of information that you can have access to that will be able to give you an insight into the state of the market. Commodity traders will keep a very close eye on the news and will be able to read between the lines in order to extrapolate likely trends.

Don’t ever buy something that you do not understand. If you are contemplating sinking funds into a raw material, do your homework first. Make sure that you know what a product is, what it is used for and how it is produced.

Make sure that you keep yourself abreast of the world political situation and current events. War, revolution and natural disasters can all have an impact on commodity prices. Technological developments and changing social trends will also play their part.

Get expert help


It is not always going to be possible for you to have all the information you need as an individual to make successful commodity trades. This is where buying into funds that are invested in this area makes sense.

Just as particular foods are only good for you as part of a balanced diet, any given investment is only wise as part of a balanced portfolio. This is why many individuals consider it worthwhile to pay the premium demanded by a wealth management company who understand how to balance risk against reward.

Ultimately all investments can go down as well up. The big advantage of commodities though is that they are real things, with real uses and real demands.


Simon Grant
produced this guide in association with Adam & Co., who offer their clients bespoke wealth management

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Bankruptcies that Shook the World (2000-2012)



2012 began with a stark warning issued by the World Bank. In its six month review of the global economy published in January, the Washington based institution advised governments to make preparations and contingency plans for an economic downturn similar to that experienced in 2008-09. Andrew Burns, the report’s author, stated that an “escalation of the crisis would spare no one”.
The fear of a double dip recession has not abated, with the worsening eurozone crisis increasing concerns around the world. In the twelve years spanning from 2000-12, there occurred the ten largest bankruptcies in world history. These monumental financial events have become key points on the grave road to our current global economic situation.
Intro image courtesy of alles-schlumpf

Thornburg Mortgage

The huge US mortgage lender was felled by the devastating combination of the credit crunch and US housing crash. Valued at $36.5 billion when it filed for Chapter 11 in May 2009, Thornburg Mortgage was unable to recover. Forced into liquidation, the company no longer exists and its remaining assets are still being sold to meet the claims of its numerous creditors and equity holders.

Chrysler

The Detroit automobile manufacturer is an American engineering icon. Nevertheless, when it showed signs of toppling, which would have made an enormous workforce redundant, President Obama stepped in and ordered Chrysler to file for bankruptcy in April 2009. The company was placed in the hands of the United Automobile Workers. Valued at $39.3 billion when it filed Chapter 11, the company has thankfully since recovered.

MF Global

Filing for bankruptcy in Oct 2011, while valued at $41 billion, blame for the plight of US brokers MF Global was laid firmly on the debt crisis in the Eurozone, which, of course, has taken a series of dramatic twists in recent weeks. A grand scale investigation is ongoing to look into reasons why approximately $1 billion of customer’s money, which should have been separate from the firm’s, is missing without a trace.

Conseco

The large US financial firm is a notable example of what can occur when a strategy of too eager and rapid acquisition comes undone. Filing for Chapter 11 in 2002, while valued at $61.4 billion, it was Conseco’s aggressive acquisition of firms throughout the ‘90s, which included Green Tree Financial, the largest US lender to mobile-home buyers, which caused it to succumb to immense debts. Conseco has now recovered.

Enron

The Enron scandal has come to symbolise our current epoch of corporate greed and unscrupulousness in the same way the Watergate scandal symbolised the epoch of political underhandedness, paranoia and corruption in the 1970s. The exposing of Enron’s fraudulent accounting activity led to it filing for bankruptcy in 2001, while valued at $65.5 billion, and the dissolution of auditing giant Arthur Andersen. Enron was liquidated.

CIT Group

Fortunately saved by a TARP bailout just 38 days after filing for bankruptcy in November 2009, while valued at $80.4 billion, the CIT Group is another notable example of what can happen when a commercial lender over expands their portfolio, without adequately heeding the warning signs of an ailing economy and impending credit crunch.

General Motors

The world gasped when another icon of American engineering filed for bankruptcy in June 2009. At the time General Motors was valued at $91 billion, but a crushing sales slump during the recession and the overwhelming financial crash of 2008-9 forced the automobile manufacturers into a downward spiral from which only a government bailout could save them.

WorldCom

It was extremely ironic that the telecommunications monolith WorldCom, which specialises in PR, should suffer such a reputation damaging disaster when they were forced to file for bankruptcy in July 2002, while valued at $103.9 billion. Charged with accounting and executive malpractice (not surprising given that they had joined with Enron) CEO Bernie Ebbers was sent to jail. WorldCom was eventually bought out by Verizon.

Washington Mutual

Filing for Chapter 11 in September 2008, while valued at $327.9 million, the Washington Mutual disaster came hot on the heels of the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the financial crash of 2008-9. JPMorgan Chase immediately bought out the banking operations of Washington Mutual when it succumbed to its immense losses. The fall of Washington Mutual is the largest bank failure in US history.

Lehman Brothers

The seismic shockwaves sent out when Lehman Brothers, then the fourth largest investment bank in the US, filed for bankruptcy in 2008, while valued at $691 billion, are still being felt today. The government refused a bailout and the financial market entered a period of marked instability, now referred to as the “perfect storm” or “panic of 2008”. The collapse of Lehman Brothers was the largest bankruptcy in US history and the investment bank was subsequently liquidated.
"Bankruptcies that Shook the World" was brought to you by the finance enthusiasts at IronFX, providing quality forex trading services.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Stock Carnival Ecstasy - June 19, 2012

Forex-sm
Forex-sm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Welcome to the June 19, 2012 edition of Stock Carnival Ecstasy.
Stefanz starts off the carnival this time with Discount model part 1: Basics - Investing: Strategy, Risk, Tools, and more. Stock Pandit has a number of Biotech Stocks with Huge Potential this month. Habeeb presents How to Calculate the Cost of Equity in a Common Stock. We have Are Penny Stocks A Good Investment For You? by Jessica Bosari. And finally Daniel Martinelli has 3 Components of Trading Discipline That Will Knock Your Block Off! Some really good stuff this time around, hope you enjoy, bookmark, share, tweet, like on Facebook, comment and come back soon.

stefanz presents Discount model part 2: Cash flow - Investing: Strategy, Risk, Tools, and more... - Skuzet posted at skuzet, saying, "I have written a series of articles about the discount model. I describe in this series the calculation of the discount model and the origin. Part of this series of articles is the explanation of three methods of discount calculation: dividend discount, cash flow discount and profit discount. With the discount model, the net present value of company's income or investors income can be calculated"

options

Laura Edgar presents Everything You Need to Know About IRAs posted at NerdWallet | Education, saying, "Starting early is the key. Compounding interest makes it extraordinarily easier to grow your money if you open your account now."

other

stefanz presents Discount model part 1: Basics - Investing: Strategy, Risk, Tools, and more... - Skuzet posted at skuzet, saying, "I have written a series of articles about the discount model. I describe in this series the calculation of the discount model and the origin. Part of this series of articles is the explanation of three methods of discount calculation: dividend discount, cash flow discount and profit discount. With the discount model, the net present value of company's income or investors income can be calculated"

stefanz
presents Discount model part 4: Profit - Investing: Strategy, Risk, Tools, and more... - Skuzet posted at skuzet, saying, "I have written a series of articles about the discount model. I describe in this series the calculation of the discount model and the origin. Part of this series of articles is the explanation of three methods of discount calculation: dividend discount, cash flow discount and profit discount. With the discount model, the net present value of company's income or investors income can be calculated"

stocks

Stock Pandit presents Biotech Stocks With Huge Potential In July posted at Arquitos Capital Management's Seeking Alpha page.

Habeeb
presents How to Calculate Cost of Equity on Common Stock posted at Best Dividend Mutual Funds, saying, "Cost of Equity is defined as the annualized rate of return (%) that investors must achieve on their investments in shares of companies or mutual funds. Those returns can be composed of annual dividend payments, capital appreciation in the value of the shares, special one time distributions, etc."

Jessica Bosari
presents Are Penny Stocks A Good Investment For You? | savingtools.com posted at SavingTools.com, saying, "When it comes to complex concepts, most people prefer to have things broken down as simply as possible. However, when it comes to investing in the stock market, simplification is problematic at best."

tips

Theresa Torres presents 6 Smart Ways to Invest Money in Your Blog | Ravi Saive: A Technology Blog For Newbies posted at Ravi Saive: A Technology Blog For Newbies, saying, "If you're starting a blog for profit, you must be prepared to invest some amount to make it competitive. Here are the areas where you can put that money to good use and expect a good return on investment."

Theresa Torres
presents Five Ways to Start Your Online Business Without Maxing Out Your Credit Cards - Make Money Online Free, Fast, and Easy! posted at Make Money Online Free, Fast, and Easy! - Make Free Money Blog, saying, "Many small business owners sometimes let their impatience and eagerness get the best of them and spend too much too soon resulting in their maxing out their credit cards. If you're planning to put up your own online business, these guidelines will help you stay on the safe side."

Dr. Dean
presents When Is a Cough Not Just a Cough? posted at Dr. Dean's TheMillionaireNurse.com Blog, saying, "Are you interested in preventing a deadly disease with a mere vaccine? This is one of those great returns on a small investment."

Habeeb
presents Fidelity Strategic Income Fund (FSICX) Review posted at Best Dividend Mutual Funds, saying, "Fidelity Strategic Income (FSICX) is has $9.5 billion in assets under management and yields a sporty 4.7% dividend according to Morning Star. The fund invests money in 4 major asset categories including US Government securities, emerging market bonds, high yield bonds and foreign developed market securities. About 93% of the fund is invested in bonds with NO exposure to equities."

Traci Hayner Vanover
presents What You Should Know Before Choosing an Investment Advisor posted at FinanceGuideTips.

tutorial

Daniel Martinelli presents Forex Trading Circle – Part 1 – The Setting For High Performance Forex Trading Starts With Your Beliefs posted at Forex Trading Circle.

Daniel Martinelli
presents 3 Components of Trading Discipline That Will Knock Your Block Off! posted at Forex Trading Circle.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of stock carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Stock Carnival Ecstasy - June 5, 2012

Eiko and her credit card
Eiko and her credit card (Photo credit: eikootje)
Welcome to the June 5, 2012 edition of Stock Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition we start with Dr. Dean who looks at risks and rewards in investing in Are You An Investing Scaredy Cat? Stefanz presents Investors cashflow, not just a companies cash flow. The Hope Credit is available for all attending college according to Jackson in Tax Credits Available for Students. And finally Steve presents Taxes: 5 Easy Ways to Save. Paying attention to your deductions throughout the year leads to great returns.Hope you enjoy the articles, bookmark, share, tweet, like on Facebook and come back real soon.

Mike Smith Jr presents Why Money is Worthless posted at Personal Hack, saying, "What is the value of money? Well it?s the value society assigns to it. What?s the value of a five dollar bill? Can you really explain it without thinking of what you can purchase with the bill? A five dollar bill is just a piece of paper. A thousand years ago it would have been worthless..."

other

Dr. Dean presents Are You An Investing Scaredy Cat? posted at Dr. Dean's TheMillionaireNurse.com Blog, saying, "Risks and rewards in investing...Do you understand them? What makes people sell when they should buy?"

stefanz presents Investors cashflow - Investing: Strategy, Risk, Tools, and more... - Skuzet posted at skuzet, saying, "For companies it is important to have a positive cash flow. Lots of investors look a the cash flow of a company before investing in a company. But the cash flow of the investor is also very important."

Theresa Torres
presents Clean Up Your Credit Before Buying a Home posted at Mortgages to go, saying, "Taking some steps to improve your credit score before buying a house can make a huge difference in the total amount you pay for a home, so it's definitely worth your while to take the time to do this."

Theresa Torres
presents Who are the People Behind the Credit Card Statistics? posted at CreditDonkey.com Tips, saying, "Let's take a look at how people who are struggling financially and those who are considered financially stable are using their credit cards and paying their bills."

tips

Jackson presents Learn to do Your Own Accounting From Day One posted at 2009 Tax, saying, "Even the small things like recording invoice amounts into an excel sheet can save you precious time and money with your accountant."

Jackson
presents Tax Credits Available for Students posted at 2009 Tax, saying, "The first education credit that is offered to students is called the Hope Credit or American Opportunity Credit."

Steve
presents Taxes: 5 Easy Ways to Save posted at 2012 Tax - Free Tax Filing Options, saying, "By focusing a keen eye on your tax situation throughout the fiscal year, savings are much easier to take advantage of."

fasal
presents Learn4U.co.in » Stock Market posted at Learn4U.co.in, saying, "http://learn4u.co.in/stockmarket-basicinformation-fundamentalanalysis-technicalanalysis-tips-tricks"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of stock carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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