5 Ways to Find the Best Stock Picks
January 27, 2009
There is no doubt that penny stocks are a risky and thinly traded breed of stocks issued by relatively tiny companies. Also, the SEC does not require penny stocks to follow their reporting rules. This combined with unclear or unverifiable financials can make this stock seem like something to avoid altogether. Penny stocks can be dangerous for investors of all experience levels but especially for amateurs just getting their feet wet. Here are five tips to help find the best penny stock picks.
1. Profit
First off is the company you are interested in investing in experiencing any sizeable profits. Better yet is their profit to debt ration favorable. Youd be hard pressed to find one of these little companies without debt but that doesnt mean you cant be picky. In this case the least amount of debt with the most profit will be a better investment. Another thing to watch is how progressive the debt payoffs have been. This would be a sign of good or bad financial management.
2. Industry Trends
This is one of those methods that almost all people use anyway. If there is a high demand for oil then people instinctively want to go buy oil stocks. The only problem with this kind of trend analysis is it really isnt forward looking analysis. This is just waiting and seeing which doesnt get you in on the ground floor of and investment before the public takes notice. Investing ahead of an industry trend is far better. So look for stocks in industries that are the edge of more demand.
3. Personal Interest
Theres a saying that you do well at things you enjoy to do. This makes logical sense and it works with stocks as well. If you invest in something that actually interests you then you will naturally be more studious and make more of an effort to choose the best stocks. It can be very boring researching stocks that dont interest you and you are likely not to be as thorough as you should be.
4. Tenure
How long has the company been in business? This is not to say that investing in newer companies is a bad idea but its more likely to be safer investing in a more established company with some kind of track record.
5. Bad Behavior
Last tip is an obvious one. Stay away from companies whose operations or transactions have been questionable. Even if the bad press is not completely true it will be difficult for a company to recover in the short and maybe even long term.
Scott Johns conducts research and analysis of stock market picks for a penny stock analysis company. To check out penny shares for some of his company’s latest picks.
5 Ways to Find the Best Stock Picks
January 27, 2009
There is no doubt that penny stocks are a risky and thinly traded breed of stocks issued by relatively tiny companies. Also, the SEC does not require penny stocks to follow their reporting rules. This combined with unclear or unverifiable financials can make this stock seem like something to avoid altogether. Penny stocks can be dangerous for investors of all experience levels but especially for amateurs just getting their feet wet. Here are five tips to help find the best penny stock picks.
1. Profit
First off is the company you are interested in investing in experiencing any sizeable profits. Better yet is their profit to debt ration favorable. Youd be hard pressed to find one of these little companies without debt but that doesnt mean you cant be picky. In this case the least amount of debt with the most profit will be a better investment. Another thing to watch is how progressive the debt payoffs have been. This would be a sign of good or bad financial management.
2. Industry Trends
This is one of those methods that almost all people use anyway. If there is a high demand for oil then people instinctively want to go buy oil stocks. The only problem with this kind of trend analysis is it really isnt forward looking analysis. This is just waiting and seeing which doesnt get you in on the ground floor of and investment before the public takes notice. Investing ahead of an industry trend is far better. So look for stocks in industries that are the edge of more demand.
3. Personal Interest
Theres a saying that you do well at things you enjoy to do. This makes logical sense and it works with stocks as well. If you invest in something that actually interests you then you will naturally be more studious and make more of an effort to choose the best stocks. It can be very boring researching stocks that dont interest you and you are likely not to be as thorough as you should be.
4. Tenure
How long has the company been in business? This is not to say that investing in newer companies is a bad idea but its more likely to be safer investing in a more established company with some kind of track record.
5. Bad Behavior
Last tip is an obvious one. Stay away from companies whose operations or transactions have been questionable. Even if the bad press is not completely true it will be difficult for a company to recover in the short and maybe even long term.
Scott Johns conducts research and analysis of stock market picks for a penny stock analysis company. To check out penny shares for some of his company’s latest picks.
Real Estate Investing Avoid Buying a Unique Home in Preforeclosure Even From a Nice Family
January 26, 2009
Early in my career as a real estate investor, I got a call from a really nice family about to lose their home to foreclosure. Located in the suburbs, the house looked pretty much like every other house in the middle-income neighborhood on the outside. On the inside, though, the house was very unusual.
You see, the husband and wife were theater majors in college and they remodeled the lower level of their home to look like the set of a movie. The home gym looked like the set of Million Dollar Baby. The playroom looked like the set of Home Alone. And the home theater (with seating for six and a big screen TV) was painted entirely black, floor, walls, and ceiling.
The parents home-schooled all four children, so the lower level also housed a study room with computers and desks. The two-car garage was fully carpeted because the youngest children liked to play there during the day.
The house was a full time home, school, gym and theater for this family. The parents thought they would live there forever – or at least until the last of their children moved away. But sadly, they missed a couple of mortgage payments and found it impossible to catch up. They called me in hopes of selling their house fast so they could save their credit.
When I did my due diligence, I learned that homes in this neighborhood did not stay on the market long. Close to the public schools, it was a quiet neighborhood with lots of green space. Add to that: the neighborhood homeowners association often held potluck dinners and street parties and were the envy of the surrounding community.
What could be better? I thought. A great one-of-a-kind house in a great neighborhood at a great price.
I bought the house with about 20% equity, no money out of my pocket, and cash back at closing. I immediately put the house on the market. At the time I thought the uniqueness of the property would be a great selling point. I thought it would stand out as “one of a kind” and families would fight to live there.
Boy, was I wrong.
Most people who looked at the house thought the unique features of the lower level were just plain weird.
I marketed the house specifically to families with children who I thought would love the spacious gym, the play room, the home theater, and the study rooms as much as the family who had put so much of their personal stamp on them. But no one else seemed to see the beauty of it.
Only the strangeness of it.
The house sat on the market five months without a decent offer. I watched my profit dwindle drastically over six months while paying holding costs, utilities, and lawn care.
Then I made a hard decision. I hired a remodeler to transform the lower level into an ordinary looking basement with smooth white walls, dropped ceilings and beige carpet. I watched even more of my profit evaporate.
But I quickly found a buyer.
Lesson to be learned: Three bedroom, two bath, bread-and-butter houses are the best investment properties for a reason. Everyone can imagine living in an ordinary house. Not everyone can see themselves living in a really unique one.
It is Important to Start Investing Early
January 26, 2009
When you take your first steps into the working world, a step that usually comes hand in hand with finally moving out on your own, there are a lot of places you suddenly find your money disappearing to. Not only is there an onset of bills of the like you may have never imagined but there is the desire to buy all those things you were always wanting to buy. Now that you finally have the money to get that bigger TV, the car and gadgets you have always wanted it’s hard to stop yourself.
The problem that many people have when they first get to this position is that in doing all of this spending the money vanishes faster than they would have ever thought. The value of a dollar never seems to fully show itself until you are making what you think is a lot of money and then watch it add up to nothing.
In essence there is nothing wrong with this. It is a stage of life like any other and it comes with its own lessons to be learned. Truly, the most important thing to keep track of in this period is avoiding any significant debt; this is doubly true if you are just getting out of school and already have that education debt hanging over you.
If you are one of the lucky people who learn how to handle that and manage their money properly then there are other steps, just as important, to take. Most of us are never taught just what we are supposed to do with our money and how we can make that money work for us. Many people manage to avoid debt and even find a way of saving chunks of each paycheck in a bank account but too few of them do anything more with their savings than that.
For so many reasons, just leaving money sitting in a bank is a bad idea; if only because by the end of each year the bank is likely to take more fees than it gives interest. While leaving enough liquid funds to get by each month is important, taking excess funds and investing them is just as important. For people that do not have excess funds it is even more important that they find a way to create them.
By investing the money wisely, typically starting off with investments that build slowly but steadily, you are able to better ensure you have money for your later years. And just because your later years are far away doesn’t mean you should wait to invest. The thing is that the best investments are the ones that take time to pay off. The ones that make you rich over night are few and far between and are also the ones that are risky enough to make you broke overnight as well.
When you invest those few extra dollars you are able to put aside early they are able to turn into bigger dollars in the years that follow. Twenty dollars a week going into an average paying fund will not turn into thousands after a few years; but if you start that twenty dollars a week when your young, then it will be worth something significant when you really need it.
Mika Hamilton runs a website offering free investment tips and strategies for people looking to get started in the investment world. visit http://www.Global-Investment-Institute.com for more tips and articles like this.
Smart Investment Options For Your Retirement
January 25, 2009
Saving money and then watching it grow is an exciting thing but this requires knowing the right means of investing. In addition to a standard savings account, people invest with IRAs, stocks, bonds, real estate, businesses, 401K programs, and so on. The good news is that when it comes to investing, you have many excellent options from which to choose. Obviously, you want to choose the option that will make the most out of your hard-earned money.
Although people invest for different reasons, the number one reason is for retirement. Knowing how hard it would be to live off Social Security, people, especially those from the Baby Boomer era, are taking investing seriously, and they should. When you consider the low income for retirees, along with inflation, trying to live a decent life would be a challenge. Unfortunately, millions of people now live at or below poverty level because they did not plan for their retirement.
One of the most popular forms used for investing is the stock market. If you choose the right stock and the right equations, you can do very well. However, with the stock market, you need to remember that you are depending on market performance. In other words, if the stock market were ever to plummet as it did before, you could lose everything. For this reason, while the stock market is one option for investing, there are others with fewer risks.
For starters, there is a 401K and IRA. With this, you might think about contributing to an IRA account, based off funds from your company’s 401K plan. With a 401K, most companies will match funds to a certain point. Then, once you have achieved a set level, you would become eligible for the highest matching possible, allowing you to contribute to an IRA. When looking at an IRA, we recommend you choose one that does not penalize you for taking money out. Although the goal is to leave the money in, you could be faced with an emergency in which you would need to withdraw some funds. Therefore, a Roth IRA would be the ideal solution.
Investing can also be done by diversifying your mutual funds. Once you have invested your money in a standard index fund, you would need to look at various markets and industries of interest. With this, compare the mutual funds that concentrate on different aspects of the market. The bottom line is that if you use your mutual funds for investing in various market segments, you get the advantage of large trends while eliminating the risk with other types of investments.
You will also find a number of online investing companies that will allow you to buy stock for as little as $4. These programs are convenient and if done right, can be beneficial. The key in this case is not to become too “trade happy”, meaning you should not trade too often. For the most back on your money with online investing, we suggest you commit to following up on your stocks no more than once a week. Keep in mind that other types of investing include corporate bonds, insider trading, and 529 funds, which is a great way to save for your child’s future college.
Grant Segall writes for the investment and money matters website Investentry.com
No Money Down The Benefits of Real Estate Joint Ventures
January 25, 2009
Investors are attracted to the real estate market because of the incredible potential it has to multiply their money. Appreciation rates of properties are very high and almost all property deals guarantee you certain amount of profit.
One of main reasons why many others are not able to invest in real estate is that they do not have sufficient cash to pay the down payment for the purchase. However, there are plenty of financial schemes with ‘No Money Down’ option available for small investors to enable them to sustain the costs of purchasing property.
New investors can consider joint ventures, wherein one person finances the project and the other does the actual work. As a result, the one who does all the work has to put no money down for upfront costs. If you are new to the real estate game, and do not have enough funds to bear the upfront costs, you can opt for a joint venture. It is legally binding, and both parties agree upon a certain percent of profit each would receive after the project is completed.
It is a mutually beneficial partnership, wherein profits are divided according to individual contribution in terms of labor and money. The joint agreement is drawn to provide legal protection to the concerned parties in case the project fails.
A joint venture is beneficial if you are in one of the following situations:
1. When you lack borrowing capacity
If you have some money to pay the down payment, but are not eligible for a loan, joint venture would be beneficial for you. You can enter into a partnership with someone who has the necessary funds or is eligible for a loan to support your project.
2. When you do not have liquid cash or equity
You may be eligible for a loan due to your income or credit score. However, you may not have the necessary cash required to pay for the down payment of property purchase. In such a case, you can enter into a partnership with a person who can take care of the down payment.
With literally ‘no money down’ towards down payment, you can begin your dream project. There are instances wherein the seller carried a certain amount of the loan as a second mortgage. In exchange, you are required to give him a certain percent of the profits as decided in the agreement.
3. You have the necessary skills
There are investors who have the expertise to carry out a project or who have skills required for renovation. They may lack the funds for the project or may not have the inclination to invest money in the project. If you are one of those, then you can find a partner who has the money but lacks the time and expertise to complete the project.
It is important to draw an agreement carefully including all minute details to avoid any form of dispute in future.
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Investment Scams and How to Avoid Them
January 24, 2009
Most people, especially those new to the investment arena, do not realize there are a number of common scams which are used to victimize investors each year.
The misconception about investing scams is that most smart investors believe they will “know one when they see one” – this is simply not true. Especially in the modern marketplace were criminals have all the resources of the world wide web to create realistic investing schemes which capture the investors attention as well as their money.
The anonymity of the world wide web is a breeding ground for scam artists targeting individuals who so desperately want to get rich quick. Many of these criminals will set up web pages with news letters, forums, and prospectus for companies which do not even exist.
These sites are design with information including success stories from other investors. This is used to lure new investors in. By following un-research claims an investor can easily lose his investments, retirement, and education funds.
Remember professional investors live by the mantra that customers buy products but investors buy securities. Do not be lured in but what merely sounds good. The key is to keep a keen ear for what sounds and is valuable. Major red flags include the use of emotional and subjective words in combination with an investing recommendation.
If you become interested in a stock there are several ways to check if it is a valid stock tip or not. The first place to start is research the company that the stock is for. Take a look at their financial statements to get an idea of how well the company is doing by checking both income and debts. If both of those are in order call the company and speak with human resources. Ask them to validate th claims in the newsletter, email or web page are true. These are great ways to check if a stock tip is fact or fiction.
Another great place to look for information about a specific company is the SEC. Public companies must register with and file yearly reports to the SEC to document their growth and development.
These reports are thoroughly checked to make sure they are truthful and accurate. This helps not only to confirm if you have a valid investment but will also document if the company’s profits are going to continue to increase or decrease.
Access to the SEC and public companies can easily be found on the world web wide. If the advertisements claim to have certain investors feel free to call those companies and confirm their investments and their satisfaction with the company.
Many scam artists will use high profile company names to make the document more alluring to potential investing victims.
Additionally the NASD can be contacted. This organization helps states’ regulate securities and has all the information needed to verify if a company is real or not.
Only through being an aggressive and educated investor can you utilize your money to it’s fullest potential. Take the time to do the research, ask the questions, and if something feels funny, go with your gut.
There are plenty of real investing opportunities out there if you take the time to look.
More Articles & Tutorials and a Free Investing For The Beginner E-Course at http://www.Global-Investment-Institute.com
Forex Professional Market Investor Reveals A Short Cut To Mastering Stock Market Investing Rules
January 24, 2009
To operate effectively in any forex market investing environment, you need rules and boundaries to guide your behaviour. No matter what system you`ve developed, the potential exists to do financial damage to yourself – damage that can be greater than you think is possible. There are many types of trades which the risk of loss is unlimited.
To prevent this kind of loss, you need to create an internal structure in the form of guide lines that determine your behaviour so you always act in your own best interest. This structure has to be internal because the market won`t provide it for you. The markets provide structure in the form of behaviour patterns that indicate when an opportunity to buy or sell exists. But that`s where the structure ends; with a simple indication. Nothing happens until you decide to start or forex market investing; you continue to trade as long as you want; and there is no end until you decide to stop.
All the beginnings, middles, and endings of your trades are the result of your interpretation of the information available from the market. However, while the average trader may want the freedom to make these choices, but that doesn`t mean they are ready and willing to accept the responsibility for the outcomes. The reality of forex market investing is that, if you want to be successful, you have to accept that no matter what the outcome may be, you are completely responsible. Not the market, not the economy, not world events – you.
Traders who are not ready to accept this responsibility can find themselves in a dilemma: How do you participate in an activity that allows complete freedom of choice and avoid taking responsibility if the outcomes of your choices are poor? This can be accomplished by adopting a forex market investing style that is random. Random trading can be defined as poorly planned trades, or trades that are not planned at all.
Randomness in trading is unstructured freedom without responsibility. When we trade without well-defined plans and with an unlimited set of variables, it`s very easy to take credit for the trades that turn out to our liking, because in our minds we used some kind of method. But at the same time, it`s very easy to avoid taking responsibility for the trades that didn`t turn out the way we wanted, because there`s always some variable we didn`t know about and therefore couldn`t take into consideration beforehand. Random forex market investing is an unorganized approach that doesn`t allow you to find out what works and what doesn`t.
If the market`s behaviour were truly random, then it would be difficult, if not impossible, to create consistent results. If it`s impossible to generate consistent results, then we really don`t have to take responsibility. However, direct experience with the market tells a different story. The same market behaviour patterns present themselves over and over again. Even though the outcome of each individual pattern is random, the outcome of a series of patterns is consistent and statistically reliable.
These patterns can aid your forex market investing if you choose to use a disciplined, organized, and consistent approach. Many traders spend hours doing market analysis and planning trades for the next day. Then, instead of making the trades they planned, they do something else. The trades they make are usually ideas from friends or tips from brokers. By making unstructured, random trades, they are able to avoid responsibility.
Why would they do this? When you act on your own ideas, you put your abilities on the line and get instant feedback on how well your ideas worked. It`s difficult to rationalize away any unsatisfactory endings, since they`re the direct results of actions. On the other hand, when you enter an unplanned, random trade, you shrug off the responsibility by blaming your friend or broker for their bad ideas.
The nature of forex market investing itself also makes it easy to escape responsibility. Any trade has the potential to be a winner, whether you`re a great analyst or a poor one. It takes a lot of effort to create and follow a disciplined approach that will make you a consistent winner. But, if you invest the effort, you can achieve success as a trader, and reap the benefits of the market.
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FOREX Accounts One Size Does Not Fit All
January 23, 2009
Once you have decided that you have the proper mindset and are ready to start investing on the FOREX exchange you are ready for the next step. That step is to select the type of FOREX account you want to open. You should make this decision before you pick a broker to work with. Some brokerage companies specialize in one type of account or another. The type of account you choose could affect your broker choice.
You will find that most brokers offer several types of accounts. The primary differences between the account types will be margin requirements, minimum deposit and lot sizes. You will need to consider your trading strategy and financial resources to select the right account. The three most common accounts are mini accounts, standard accounts and managed accounts.
The most popular account with new investors is the mini account. One of the factors that make the mini account so popular with beginners is that it has the lowest minimum deposit requirements. The minimum deposit requirements for a mini account are dependent on the broker, some will allow you to open an account with only a $100 deposit. Most mini accounts will deal with lot sizes as small as 10 thousand currency units. Mini accounts may provide as much as a 200 to 1 margin rate and only require $50 per lot to trade. This means that with $50 you will be able to control $10,000 worth of currency.
Most mini accounts have a built in safeguard because they are aimed at beginning investors. This is usually referred to as “Guaranteed Limited Risk”; this guarantees that you will never lose more than your initial investment in a trade. In the case where the currency drops and the broker would need to make a margin call to keep your position open they automatically close the trade. This will cause you to lose the money you invested into this trade but you will not end up owing the broker money. The downside to this is that if the currency rebounds you will no longer have a position that you could profit from.
A standard account is another common account that has higher deposit requirements than a mini account. The usual investment to open a standard account with most brokers is $2,000. These accounts usually trade in lots of 100,000 units. With a standard account you will still usually have a margin ration of 200 to 1. To purchase a normal lot of 100,000 thousand units then will require a deposit of $500 from you. It is still pretty common with a standard account to have the “Guaranteed Limited Risk” safeguard included.
Some brokers will also offer what is called a “Managed Account”. With a managed account you will not be actively trading. A professional trader will be assigned to your account and will use your money to make trades. This requires a much lower investment of time and knowledge from you. Managed accounts usually have a higher minimum requirement amount, often of $10,000 or more.
You will want to consider your knowledge, financial situation and risk tolerance when deciding which account type will work best for you.
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Short Sale Real Estate Investing
January 23, 2009
Short sale investing involves buying a piece of property from a lender for an amount less than the balance owed on the property. Basically, there are two types of short sale realty investments. The first type refers to when you purchase a property, foreclosed by a lender listed with a realtor. In this type, you simply offer the lender, who has now become the owner on record, less than what is owed on the property. In this case, you can offer less than the balance that was due on the foreclosure. Such a short sale, realty investment calls for a good relationship with the realtor. The other type involves negotiating directly with the lender of a motivated seller. It is essential to be determined in the negotiation process, mainly in reaching the right person at the lender Real Estate Owned (REO) department and then to get the price of your choice.
The key to be successful in the first kind of short sale, real estate investment lies in forging a relationship with a reliable local realtor. You can always search for one or two realty offices in your area that handle majority foreclosures and short sale, realty investments. In order to build your relationship with the realtors, you need to inform them about your ability to buy. Make sure you follow through, once you make the offer. It will help the agent know that you are the investor to turn to, whenever he has a deal regarding short sale, realty investment.
There are three fundamental steps that can be incorporated, in order to be successful with short sale, real estate investments. They are as follows:
. Search for the properties: The first step to success in a short sale real estate investment is to search for properties. This can be accomplished through regular realty advertisements and looking for distressed or overgrown property. It helps you get calls from sellers close to foreclosure.
. Get the seller on your side: The second best way to earn success in this type of investment is to get the seller on your side. In order to do so, you need to listen, communicate and empathize openly and honestly with the seller, regarding your plans. Besides, you will also be required to answer all questions and speak to the concerned parties frequently, so as to keep the channels of communication open. It helps to keep doubts out of the picture.
. Find the right person at the lender to speak with: Though it is not easy to find a reliable person, but this step is essential. More often than not, the first person you speak to will not necessarily be the right person and you may require cross certain hurdles to finally reach the person with some authority. You would certainly require patience in order to get the job done.
Short sale realty investment is considered to be lucrative for building wealth too. Owing to the increase in foreclosures across the country, the trend of learning and applying short sale realty investment skills is likely to continue.
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