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The Truth About Covered Calls

Mike Smith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:04:44 +0000

Most investors do not understand how to generate cash flow from their stock positions. Covered calls can be used to hedge your stock positions. My stock advisory newsletter first introduced to me the strategy of covered calls. I was shocked to discover that even major IRA accounts ran by brokerage firms allow you to write covered calls because of its relative safety to other option strategies.

Covered call writing is usually easier than most people make it out to be. It works like this. I’ll give you $1,000 now, if you let me buy your stock five months from now at a set price. If I want to walk away from the deal, you get to keep my money.

Ok so now let us go in more detail. I buy 1000 shares of CDE at $10 and the stock goes to $11 a few weeks later. I can generate cash flow in my position by selling someone the option to buy the stock from me 6 months from now at $12.50. For that option, the buyer is willing to give me $0.50 per share or $500 right now.

The $500 is deposited into my brokerage account immediately. My brokerage company will not allow me to sell my stock prior to 6 months unless I buy back the option on the open market. With big fluctuations in option prices, I usually hold my stock until the expiration date.

Six months from now, two things can happen. One, the stock goes above $12.50 and the person “calls” me out of the position, which I am more than happy to do since I bought it at ten. Second, the stock has declined below $12.50 and the option holder is holding on to a worthless option. The option holder would not “call” the stock from me at $12.5 when he or she might be able to buy it in the open market at $11.50.

I then start the process all over again and write the calls again.

Are you beginning to see how cool this strategy is? Here is what I just accomplished. First of all, I lowered my cost basis by 5% or $500. Secondly, I drew a line in the sand and said this is what I’m willing to sell the shares for, $12.50. Third, I generated instant income that I could use for Christmas or just reinvest.

This covered call writing strategy makes you a lot of money in a falling market because most option contracts keep expiring worthless and so you get to keep all your stock plus what the buyer of the option originally paid you.

There are a variety of software programs available that will let you spot the best stocks to buy, then write covered calls against. Of course you do not need any software. The software just saves you some research time.

Keep in mind that you should consult with a tax professional and a financial adviser before you begin risking your money on any options strategy.

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Trading And Seasonality In The Markets

Ahmad Hassam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:45:27 +0000

The next best holiday bets are the Labor Day and the Memorial Day because they fall before the first day of trading in September and June respectively. The day before the Presidents day is the worst day and the day after the Easter is the worst day after. However, you should keep in mind that a lot of other factors also come into play and you have a lot of room for error.

The best time of the year to own stocks is the Santa Claus rally which for all practical purposes is the 17 day stretch from December 21 to January 7. This is the best time of the year. Most of the folks usually feel fairly good about themselves around this time of the year.

FED always wants the consumer confidence high during this part of the year. The more shopping the consumers are going to do, the more companies are going to sell and earn. The more companies earn, the more their stock prices go up.FED tends to lower interest rates during holidays in order to go into the New Year with less of a worry if the economy is slowing down. There is a low trading volume which tends to exaggerate the trend if the economy is not doing well and is slowing down. However, when you are dealing with seasonality, you should keep these facts in your mind:

1) The market is not longer static. Money has no borders now. With one mouse click money is transferred from one locality to another. The seasonal effect may get interrupted by other events. More and more people have real time access to information and larger amounts of capital than at any time in the past.

2) At the end of the year, institutional investors want to make their results look as good as possible to their shareholders and tend to buy the stocks and so on. Institutional investors like mutual funds, hedge funds and insurance companies have become important players in the markets. So in case of an event free environment, seasonal tendencies may hold up fairly well.

3) The days of long term investing or what you call buy and hold are dead! Frequent market crashes have taught the investing public that investing for the long term is fairly risky. So there is more short term trading going on. These are the times for day traders and swing traders. With fewer people willing to hold stocks for longer periods, it is very difficult to predict seasonality.

4) The recent market crash was the result of CMO and Default Swaps bringing down the banks and Insurance companies in ways that had not been anticipated or foreseen by the analysts. Many had assumed that derivate securities are safe. Infact they have highly unpredictable tendencies. Derivates and outside the market trading activities can result in highly unpredictable patterns.

Then there is a change in demographics also taking place. With the aging of the population, the overall trend will be towards more income producing investments. So with everyone talking about the seasonal tendencies in the market, it reliability becomes less diminished.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Try This 1500 Pips A Day Forex Signal Service! Know These Candlestick Patterns!

How To Buy Good Cheap Stocks

Pete Marks — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:17:49 +0000

Penny stock trading software is a tool every serious professional penny stock investor at some point should have when trading stocks online. You may have had a stock account online with a brokerage house and thought the tools are good you need all the the sources of information available to help you with chart analysis and choosing the most profitable stocks.

We all know the hallmarks of what to look for in profitable stocks to buy good cheap stocks. PE ratio of 10 or more, and a profitable company in an expanding industry. These methods are used as safe stock picks. For someone to be more successful in picking stocks you should be using the best stock trading software available to help increase results and maximize profit. Professional traders usually have several tools at their disposal for making stock picks.

There are many stock options to chose from when picking stocks but the most lucrative stocks are the micro cap stocks or better known as penny stocks. You may be learning how to buy good cheap penny stocks and the best penny stock trading software can analyze charts of thousands of of stocks in a fraction of the time a professional penny stock trader could.

The best penny stock day traders are in it for the profit but are very active looking to take quick profit and make trades hourly, daily taking profit quickly from penny stocks. The penny stock investor is in it for the long term and is usually happy just to go with a few picks and trade stocks every so often. Either way if you have a large portfolio or want to get serious then you need some good tools to help make decisions quick and keep risk to a minimum when picking penny stocks.

If your after hours or day trading it is crucial you have stock analysis software you can depend on. Successful trading strategies and systems helps you narrow down the picks the free tools big online discount brokers suggest. Successful trading systems should make your picks more profitable, easier and there should be less risk and more reward.

With the availability of wireless Internet and WiFi access in hotels and on the road it is not unusual for your a successful stock trader to take their notebook computer with them to make sure they have no surprises when they return home. Just make sure you have internet access that is secure.

Stock trading software gives you the power of a professional trader even if you have little knowledge of chart trading to help you pick the good cheap stocks. You can also back up stock picks form other free tools and save countless hours doing the research manually with you own methods and strategies. You could also learn how to find good cheap stocks.

Even if your new or a novice and you are wanting more control of your stock investments picks and want the power of the professional trading online, using the best stock trading software is the way to go. We all want to create wealth and have financial freedom and to make money trading online is a very viable opportunity for someone who wants to learn how to trade stocks. No matter what you skill level is you should always be reading to increase you knowledge and ability to pick profitable stocks.

For more information on the Best Stock Trading Software or Stock Trading Software

Easy Reminders To Get The Best Penny Stock Deal

Malcolm Torren — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:35:31 +0000

The penny stock market is a roller coaster. One moment your up and the next thing you’re down. And the best part is that the excitement doesn’t stop. That is if that’s how you prefer to see it. Despite the risks being warned by many, you can still end the day with the best penny stock deal in the market. Because the best deal require knowing the best options. There will always be a way around it.

It is important to prepare yourself. This is an investment you are dealing with. There will always be risks and loopholes. Mistakes will be made. The price to get the best penny stock deal may not come easy. But there are easy reminders to keep you on track. Here goes.

- Stay positive about your views. You bring your money into the challenge and this can be disturbing. Especially when you sense that your stocks are falling. Stay light with your views and stay alert. Your positive attitude can always help you make better decisions for your penny shares in the end.

- Learn the loops of the trade. This is very basic and elementary. There are secrets in stock buying. But opening your mind to learning can be one of your best weapons. A best penny stock deal doesn’t come in a silver platter. You have to work for it. Understand the trends and the companies. Keep track of those who are consistent in the list. Most of all, learn the pricing changes.

- Consult others. There are many avenues to do this. In the internet alone, there are penny stock forums, message boards, and blogs that you can get insights from. If you can afford to subscribe to small caps newsletters, then do it. The best penny stock tomorrow may just be in the list. These are paid subscriptions so it safe to assume that it could be worth your money.

- Prepare yourself for the game. Another way of saying it is to calculate your risks. Don’t invest too much of what you have. A sound advice would be to keep it to a maximum of ten percent of your basic funds. If you have extra, the better. Just don’t over invest. You may lose all of them.

- Get to know the players and learn the language. Aside from the basic buy-and-sell stock exchange concept, there are other stuffs to know. The role players are the stock broker, day traders, SEC, NYSE, NASDAQ, and more. Then there are some terms. There’s the bull and the bear. There’s the pump-and-dump. Learn and understand them.

- Be prepared to discover more with experience. Just like a roller coaster, the first ride is scary. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll understand the highs and lows. Later on, you will know how, when, and what to anticipate. The key to winning the best penny stock is to never stop learning. Broaden your knowledge of the business. Keep a wise buy scheme always. The truth is, the penny stock business is not as easy as you think. Just keep your reminders easy to remember. Your last reminder must be to always learn from experience.

Learn more about penny stock pick. Find information on the best penny stock deals online!

How to Use a Forex Trading System for Locking in Profits

Mark Solomon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:49:39 +0000

Humans have little chance against a well programmed forex trading system. All the key decisions including currency pairs, entry points, exit intervals, loan to equity for each trade, and the limit orders can be instantly executed with a programmed forex trading system. Though currency or fx trading systems are complex beasts, even setting up the basics of currency pairs like CHF/GBP, how high to borrow from 1 to 75, etc., or when to enter and exit the trade can be enough to make the software pay for itself. By quickly producing orders that would require precious minutes if done manually, a forex trading system can lock in profits and prevent or cut loses in an instant. Only the programming of the forex trading system software must be tuned to assure it is a productive rather than a destructive tool

There are 5 key points for setting up and using FX or forex trading software

1. Take the forex trading strategy and write it down in single phases that define actions required. Analyzing for currency pairs to trade could be one step.

2. Record the steps for the currency trading method in small transaction steps including analysis, identifying trends, choosing currency pairs, choosing leverage for each transaction, and choosing the entry and exit points.

3. Make a chart or graph with executions of each step in the forex trading system, or currency trading software. Do not be surprised with repeated executions or steps of analysis for each point of entry and exit or raising or lowering limits, along with shifting stops. Forex trading is an analytic endeavor. The analysis and execution of each trade must be instant but often requires a trial and error approach for achieving profitability in decision making within the software.

4. Coding the trading system is straight forward when all of the decision steps for the forex trading method have been recorded. Foreign currency trading brokerages often provide the software for trading. Generally the order entry screen includes menus for selecting currencies for trading. Additionally, there are leverage selections from 1 to 100. 100 is for kamikaze traders! 10:1 leverage is good enough for nice profits without risking the whole account. The most challenging aspect of setting up and using a trading system is defining position entry and exits. Simple but still effective is the age old limit trigger. When for example the USD trades below X against the YEN, then sell USD/buy YEN. This is a trend following technique that is tried and true.

5. Once the basic currency trading system has been charted, and the options set in the screens on the particular software being used for fx trading, the next step is the most critical. The steps must be back tested or only used with small trades for the first 10 trades. This allows the inevitable mistakes to not take down the entire account.

Learn more about Forex Trading Systems. Stop by Mark Solomon’s site where you can find out all about Forex Currency Trading and what it can do for you.

History of The Wall Street Journal

Alex Drew — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:32:48 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is an English-language international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones … Company, a division of News Corporation, in New York City, with Asian and European editions. As of 2007, it has a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million, with approximately 931,000 paying online subscribers. It was the largest-circulation newspaper in the United States until November 2003, when it was surpassed by USA Today. It would later regain its number one position in the United States in October of 2009.Its main rival is the London-based Financial Times, which also publishes several international editions.

The Journal newspaper primarily covers U.S. and international business and financial news and issues-the paper’s name comes from Wall Street, the street in New York City that is the heart of the financial district. It has been printed continuously since being founded on July 8, 1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. The newspaper has won the Pulitzer Prize thirty-three times,including 2007 prizes for its reporting on backdated stock options and the adverse effects of China’s booming economy.

Dow Jones … Company, publisher of the Journal, was founded in 1882 by reporters Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser. Jones converted the small Customers’ Afternoon Letter into the Wall Street Journal, first published in 1889,[7] and began delivery of the Dow Jones News Service via telegraph. The Journal featured the Jones ‘Average’, the first of several indexes of stock and bond prices on the New York Stock Exchange.

Journalist Clarence Barron purchased control of the company for US$130,000 in 1902; circulation was then around 7,000 but climbed to 50,000 by the end of the 1920s. Barron and his predecessors were credited with creating an atmosphere of fearless, independent financial reporting-a novelty in the early days of business journalism.

Barron died in 1928, a year before Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that greatly effected the Great Depression in the United States. Barron’s descendants, the Bancroft family, would continue to control the company until 2007. Later on, the Woodworths published the paper. Mrs. Teresa “Teddy” Woodworth was a prominent socialite of her day. The Woodworths resided at New York’s Sherry-Netherland, sharing the penthouse floor with Cole Porter.

The Journal took its modern shape and prominence in the 1940s, a time of industrial expansion for the United States and its financial institutions in New York. Bernard Kilgore was named managing editor of the paper in 1941, and company CEO in 1945, eventually compiling a 25-year career as the head of the Journal. Kilgore was the architect of the paper’s iconic front-page design, with its “What’s News” digest, and its national distribution strategy, which brought the paper’s circulation from 33,000 in 1941 to 1.1 million at the time of Kilgore’s death in 1967. It was also on Kilgore’s watch, in 1947, that the paper won its first Pulitzer Prize, for editorial writing.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is a daily broadsheet newspaper that is among the most influential newspapers in the world

Never Trade Without A Stop Loss

Ahmad Hassam — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:10:27 +0000

The market goes in one direction. It has a correction. Then it continues back in its trend direction. It has another correction and so on. Even in sideways or choppy market, there are ups and down in the price action.

It is like the continuous ebb and flow of the tides. You must learn to ebb and flow with the tides in the market. Setting stops on the key levels of price support are crucial. These key support levels represent significant market realities occurring with enough trade volume to warrant a stop loss level.

The market will continuously fluctuate. How do you reduce the possibility of getting stopped out of a perfectly good trend by the normal ebb and flow of the market? The answer lies in the current price, volume and volatility of the market.

You will need to ensure that your trading system and approach take these factors into consideration so as to allow your stops to ebb and flow with the markets. The stops need to protect you from risk but they also need to allow the market freedom to fluctuate.

The market will tell you where to set your stop loss if you know how to listen to the market. To choose a random exit that does not include the crucial information the market is giving you at any time is ignoring what the market is telling you.

First learn to understand the market dynamics. Then you need to learn how to identify the correct stop loss based on the market dynamics. Then learn to adjust your trade size to manage your dollar loss. Never ever use an arbitrary dollar amount like, I will get out of the trade when it goes against me $200.

A stop loss protects you from different types of risks. The value of having the stop loss in place prior to entering the market is that you can unemotionally determine the best exits possible for the different types of risk like the trade risk, the market risk, the liquidity risk, the margin risk, overnight risk and the volatility risk.

As a rule dont try to risk more than 2% of your trading account in a trade. The position of your initial stop should be based on the rule of 2% risk on your trading account. Your stop loss position is determined by how much risk you are willing to take. For some advanced traders it is sometimes beneficial to risk more than 2% of their trading account on a single trade. However, the amount these traders risk must be carefully calculated depending on their proven historical performance statistics.

Remember the saying that there should be some method to your madness. Learn the yin and yang of trading. Placing stop loss correctly is an important part of the money and risk management program. One of the greatest challenges for any trader is to finally come to the point where he/she firmly believes that a sound money and risk management program is vital.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Try This 1500 Pips A Day Forex Signal Service from heaven! Learn These Candlestick Patterns!

Online Brokers For Options Trading

Micheal Thomas — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:54:24 +0000

Trading financial contracts and instruments such as stocks, funds, futures and options are now much easier with the latest technology advances around automation and analysis. Traders and investors can engage in options trading through the internet with discount commission schedules using advanced trading systems. There are now a variety of online brokers offering options trading services including NobleTrading, OptionsXpress and Scottrade.

Consideration when selecting an online broker for options trading takes proper analysis and research to meet your specific trading requirements. Some of the items you will need to consider are highlighted in this article.

1.Products Available Online options brokers vary in their option trading offerings. Some have restrictions which prohibit some traders to trade options on some financial instruments like stock options, futures options and currency options. Select an online broker that allows you to perform traders for your choice of options contracts.

2.Account Type A few online brokers offer single accounts to trade options, stocks and other financial contracts and instruments. Others will allow you to open multiple accounts to perform your trades. Select a brokerage which meets your specific trading requirements.

3.Commission and Charges Each online broker offers a different commission plan. Some require minimum amounts per transaction along with additional charges. The amounts vary and can be as low as $7 per instrument with additional fees of $1 to $2 per traded contract. Some online options trading brokers have hidden fees that are apparent when you first begin trading. They can include fees associated with minimum account balance requirements, account maintenance and wavy charges.

4.Access to Markets Make sure the online broker you select matches your trading style. Many option traders need delayed market access while day traders require real-time, direct, level 2 market access. Not all brokers allow trading for exchanges like ISE, AMEX, PHS, PSE, and CBOE.

5.Trading Software To be successful you need a robust trading platform which is web based and directly accessible. The online broker should provide charting software and analysis tools to help with your trading decisions. It is important to engage an online broker offer these types of platforms who also include training programs in order to properly use their tools.

6.Options Trading Strategies Options traders use a variety of trading strategies from simple call and put processes to multi-legged complex options trading strategies. Make sure your brokerage firm supports you in your options trading strategies.

7.Order Types Find out which market and limit orders your online broker supports. This is important when engaging in complex options trading strategies. Equally important is the software trading platform they offer because you need one that lends itself well to quick decisions.

To locate an online broker to meet your trading requirements begin searching the internet. Make sure you do a thorough analysis of each online brokerage before making a final decision. Finding the right online broker can give you the ability to become a successful trader and increase your overall financial portfolio.

If you want to learn more about option trading, feel free to visit our website.

The Power Of Knowledge On How To Invest Internationally

James S. Essex — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:53:54 +0000

It is only good investor sense and sound planning that helps one know how to invest internationally. It is no playground for an amateur and hence should be treated carefully. Investing your money in off-shore investments and instruments is a lucrative and profitable idea provided you consider some important aspects and understand the market well before plunging.

Even the most experienced investor will tell you that it is extremely risky business moving money off-shore and if you aren’t careful you could end up losing more than what you put in originally. A local investment is easy to monitor and control as you can work within direct contact with it. Not mention the liquidity of it; you can easily take your money elsewhere if you have it where you can keep a close eye on it.

Local investments have more liquidity and can be moved around with ease, transferring the money between assets for better returns. However moving money in off-shore investments involves various currencies and different markets.

There are two very important aspects to be considered before investing internationally. Since the international trading is done in different currencies, you need to know and understand how the exchange rate and exchange market function. There are millions of traders trading actively on almost a daily basis. Various factors govern the appreciation or depreciation of currencies and in fact your own currency may increase, decrease or even disappear if not monitored regularly. It is imperative that you watch the movement of your country’s currency and your own money with a hawk’s eye. Through experience and time you will be able to identify the indicators that will give you a roughly sensible idea of how things will turn out in the international market.

The second most important aspect is how the actual foreign market operates itself. As an able investor locally, you may know your market like the back of your hand, but the minute it comes to an off-shore market, you are playing a whole new ball game. There are new rules that come into play and if you need to know them inside and out before you can start making sensible investment decisions in that market.

There are umpteen numbers of useful places you can consider for international investments. These are foreign currency exchange, foreign bonds, and stocks in international markets, foreign mutual and equity funds or even direct investments into well performing companies.

They all have their benefits and obvious returns that you should look into before making your investment, by simply knowing what to look for you can maximise returns and minimise your risk.

Have you been looking for a solid international investment strategy that works for you? Before you waste your time looking for a good strategy, check out BeforeYouInvest.com’s investing for beginners guide before you do anything else. BeforeYouInvest.com reviews everything from stock market investing to the international investment strategy so take a look.

How To Trade Options the Safe Way

Donald Scott — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:08:37 +0000

Would you like to learn how to trade options for monthly income? Don’t just join any options course. Before choosing, there are many things to think about. Is the course taught by real option traders? Is live mentoring included in the course? Does the company answer your emails quickly? Can they be reached by phone? Are there references that you can talk to before joining?

Steps to Success with Option Trades

These are the questions one should ask before joining a mentoring program. The other is the price. Following, we’ll be mentioning one of the best courses on the market today. The price is good. There are live classes, and the strategies are the best out there.

The San Jose Options course is particularly focused on a personal learning approach. Each student receives personal mentoring and studies in small groups nearly each day of the week. The classes are mostly based on real option trades. Each live class is the archived to the student site for the students to watch again, or for others to watch who missed the live class.

San Jose Options truly believes that hands on experience is the way to learn this craft. Each student is given a paper account and works at managing trades right next to the mentor in live classes each day. They focus on super low-risk trades that can yield monthly profits. Another highlight of the course is the explosive strategy played over earnings, and they have software which can back-test trades in a few seconds.

San Jose Options was established in 2007 by Morris Puma, a trader with over a decade of trading experience. Morris studied with some of the most famous option experts in the industry and decided to continue on his own after developing his own unique strategies. He is the type of person who always finds a better way to do something. This means that students who take his course get to start at a very high level, a place where most option traders never get to.

Study to Trade Options with the lowest risk possible in the San Jose Stock Options Trading Mentoring program.

Advance Stock

The Truth About Covered Calls

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Trading And Seasonality In The Markets

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How To Buy Good Cheap Stocks

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Easy Reminders To Get The Best Penny Stock Deal

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How to Use a Forex Trading System for Locking in Profits

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History of The Wall Street Journal

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Never Trade Without A Stop Loss

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Online Brokers For Options Trading

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The Power Of Knowledge On How To Invest Internationally

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How To Trade Options the Safe Way

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