Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Political conditions


Political conditions
Internal, regional, and international political conditions and cases can have a profound effect on currency marketplaces. For instance, political upheaval and instability can have a negative impact on a nations economy. The rise of a political faction that is perceived to be fiscally responsible can have the opposite effect. Also, cases in one country in a region may spur positive or negative interest in a neighboring country and, in the process, affect its currency.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Economic factors


These include economic policy, disseminated by government agencies and central banks, and economic conditions, generally revealed through economic reports.
Economic policy comprises government fiscal policy (budget/spending practices) and monetary policy (the means by which a governmentscentral bank influences the supply and cost of money, which is reflected by the level of interest rates).
Economic conditions include:
Inflation levels and trends: Typically, a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency.
Economic growth and health: Reports such as gross domestic product (GDP), employment levels, retail sales, capacity utilization and others, detail the levels of a countrys economic growth and health. Generally, the more healthy and robust a countrys economy, the better its currency will perform, and the more demand for it there will be.
Government budget deficits or surpluses: The market ususally reacts negatively to widening government budget deficits, and positively to narrowing budget deficits. The impact is reflected in the value of a countrys curency.
Balance of trade levels and trends: The trade flow between countries illustrates the demand for goods and services, which in turn indicates demand for a countrys currency to conduct trade. Surpluses and deficits in trade of goods and services reflect the competitiveness of a nations economy. For example, trade deficits may have a negative impact on a nations currency.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Market Psychology


Perhaps the most difficult to define (there are no balance sheets or income statements), market psychology influences the foreign exchange industry in a variety of ways:
Buy the rumor, sell the fact: This industry truism can apply to numerous currency situations. It is the tendency for the cost of a currency to reflect the impact of a particular action before it occurs and, when the anticipated event comes to pass, react in exactly the opposite direction. This may also be referred to as a marketplace being oversold or overbought.
Flights to quality: Unsettling international events can lead to a flight to quality with investors seeking a safe haven. There will be a greater demand, thus a higher cost, for currencies perceived as stronger over their relatively weaker counterparts.
Longterm trends: Very often, currency marketplaces move in long, pronounced trends. While currencies do not have an annual growing season like physical commodities, business cycles do make themselves felt. Cycle analysis looks at longertrem cost trends that may rise form economic or political trends.
Economic numbers: While economic numbers can certainly reflect economic policy, some reports and numbers take on a talismanlike effect the number itself becomes important to industry psychology and may have an immediate impact on shortterm market moves. What to watch can change over time. In recent years, for example, money supply, employment, trade balance figures and inflation numbers have all taken turns in the spotlight.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Factors Affecting Currency Trading


Even if exchange rates are affected by numbers of factors, in the end, currency costs are a result of supply and require forces. The worlds currency markets can be considered as a massive melting pot: in a big and changing mix of current events, supply and demand ingredients are constantly switching, and the cost of one currency in relation to a second shifts accordingly. No additional marketplace comprehends as much of what is proceeding in the community at any given time as foreign currency exchange.
Supply and demand for any given currency, and thus its value, are not influenced by any single element, but rather by several. These elements generally fall into three categories: economic ingredients, political conditions and marketplace psychology.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Indonesia fast needed to export alocation to traditional market for Japan and America.
After economi crisis america experince, as the crisis effec from subprime mortage, Japan to flare up too. That economi country to contraction experience at second 3th month. That is effec from export and customer buying turn off.
This to maked the big economic country in Asia "waterfall" to the 1st resesi included six last year.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Market opportunities of indonesia


Demand for overseas education in Indonesia is concentrated, for the most part, in the major cities of Java such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Sumatra (Medan), as well as, to a lesser extent, in the smaller cities of Semarang and Yogyakarta. Economically, socially and politically, Indonesia remains very much a centralised state and Jakarta is the heart of the economic and social life of the country. With wide access to information it is unsurprising, therefore, that Jakarta provides a large majority of Indonesians choosing the UK as study destination.
A one-year master’s degree course is the Unique Selling Point for Education UK in the Indonesian market with around 60 percent of Indonesia students who continue their study in UK pursuing a Postgraduate programme.
However, competition in this market is getting tougher and we seen for the last two years the number of postgraduate students from Indonesia is declining due to several reasons:
• The competition for Postgraduate programme currently is not only coming from traditional study destination countries such as Australia and USA but also from countries like Japan, Germany and Netherlands where programme deliver in English.
• The cost of study abroad still one of the main issue for most of the students, perception of high cost in UK (study and living) due to higher exchange rate for UK Pound sterling compare to other currencies.
• Increasing quality of higher education in Indonesia through international collaboration and curriculum development, students have a more affordability option to continue their postgraduate degree in Indonesia
It is the undergraduate sector that shows slight growth in the last two years with the increased numbers of National Plus Schools offering IB and A-Level programs that can provide direct entry to the undergraduate program in the UK. There is a potential for this market to develop more in the future. Australia and the USA used to be a dominant position in this market, but Malaysia and Singapore are now becoming more active in the Indonesian market, recruiting undergraduate students and as result now they are the key market in this sector.
The market leaders remain to be USA and Australia, with Germany, Netherlands and Japan grows its popularity among the students at the postgraduate level.
The USA has been recruiting Indonesian students for longer than other competitors. AMINEF provides information on study opportunities in the USA, and 'family tradition', whereby one or other parent or a brother / sister may have attended an American university, is often a major contributory factor in an Indonesian choosing to study there.
Australia makes extensive use of agents, and has geographical proximity to Indonesia (important to parents) and a favourable climate as its main attractions. It support with continuous visits and promotion that Australia University does in Indonesia either by them selves or with the education agents. Australia University also very active in creating link and partnership with Indonesia universities.
In the undergraduate sector besides USA and Australia, alternative destinations such as Malaysia and Singapore remain popular, especially Malaysia, which is able to attract a large number of undergraduate students from Indonesia each year because of their off-shore programme with Australia and UK universities.
In the face of these competitors, encouraging self-funding Indonesians to 'dare to be different' by opting to study in the UK is the kernel of the challenge. It will need intensive promotion of UK Education through different channel (exhibition, education agents and school and university network) to maintain our market share in the future.

Our infrastructure and strategic education priorities
Starting from November 2004, British Council Indonesia moves to a new office located in the main business district area at the Jakarta Stock Exchange Building. There is limited access for visitors and we do not provide any consultation to students or display promotion materials for this reason. Much of our Education UK work now is delivered by working with local partners (education agents, educational institutions and scholarship providers) and visits through Education UK presentations and exhibitions.
As part of our support for the development of higher education in Indonesia and building good partnerships between UK and Indonesian higher institutions, our focus now will be targeted at 50 promising universities that already been identified by the MoNE providing them opportunity for development of programme and research collaboration using PMI2 and DelPHE. Through PMI2 programme and symposium we also want to improve our level of engagement and working relations with policy makers from Ministry of National Education.
Education UK regularly runs two major exhibitions per year, in April and November (for postgraduate programmes only). Major exhibitions are usually held in Jakarta and Bandung. Based on the current review on the service and value for money of British Council exhibition compare to other similar exhibition run by agents we will continue to find complementary activities/services that could support our major exhibition. At the Education UK Postgraduate Exhibition in November 2007 we run UK Alumni Job Fair in Jakarta, trying to build the reputation and creating positive perceptions towards UK qualifications among the major companies and prospective students in Indonesia. The response from the alumni and participating companies were positive and we are aiming to make the Job Fair as the annual event.
We also look for new market opportunity by expanding our reach and activities to major cities outside Java like Makassar, Pekanbaru and Palembang through mini exhibition, institutional visits and attending agents’ exhibition. Activities will be focusing a tighter geographical with possibly large potential students – targeting major Indonesian cities where the prospects for successful recruitment of students seem most promising, thereby delivered an effective approach in the Indonesia market.
A database of 465 high schools and 150 universities in eight major cities in Indonesia has been developed which could be use by UK institution to target specific institutions for promotion and partnership purpose.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Market Characteristics of Indonesia


Market characteristics by British Council
The Indonesian education system recognizes two different paths of education: school education and non-formal education. Non-formal education is aimed at developing learners’ potentials with emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge and functional skills and developing personality and professional attitudes.
Nowadays, Indonesia school education adopts a six-three-three-four school education system, which consists of six years of primary, three years of junior secondary, three years of higher secondary, and four years of higher education.
• Primary school: has a duration of six years of education, and receives new pupils regardless of having graduated from Kindergarten or not. Based on the effective legislation, primary school was basic education that continued after the entire education of Kindergarten. This consists of a general education program.
• Junior & Senior Secondary School: with a total six years of study (three years at Junior level and three years at Senior level) after Primary School. There has been a rapid growth in the range of types of vocational senior secondary schools such as — Higher Secondary School-Economics, Higher Secondary School-Family Welfare, and Secondary Technical School — the other types of schools developed were: Teacher Education School, Higher Secondary Sports School, Household Technology Secondary School, Secondary School on Social Education, Secondary School on Industrial Handicraft, Secondary School on Indonesian Arts, Secondary School of Art, Secondary School of Music, and Secondary School on Agricultural Technology.
• Higher Education University; with three to four years for bachelor level and five to seven years for graduate level taken up through university, institute, academy, or other higher education institutions

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Education of market Indonesian Info


Education
In education, the Government of Indonesia made political commitments for achieving basic education for all. In this broader context, national level reflections were engaged for developing a new vision of education, as part of the reform in Indonesia, which emphasise the implementation of the principles of democracy, autonomy, decentralization, and public accountability. The reforms in the education system have given prominence to enhancing its performance in the framework of even distribution of educational opportunities. This reform process has a fundamental impact on the national education system and it’s mission to meet various challenges in the present day world.
The key targets include expansion and equity; the improvement of quality and relevance and the implementation of autonomy in higher education. The Law seeks to open access to education at all levels and all forms - formal, non-formal, as well as informal - for all the citizens of Indonesia. Its main thrust is to make education relevant to societal needs; to develop further community-based education; and to enhance participation by the community in supporting basic education. It provides rights and obligations of citizens, parents, community, and Government.
Indonesian government through its Ministry of National Education (MoNE) now is pushing universities in Indonesia to achieve a prominent international position in the world especially in Asia through joint collaboration in research and programme with university abroad. In order to support this Directorate General of Higher Education already identified 50 promising universities from 2,315 higher education institutions (81 state institutions and 2,235 private institutions) in Indonesia in the effort to introduce those institutions to the academic community in the world enabling them to choose an appropriate partner to establish cooperation. These 50 promising universities were selected based on: Awards, Student Life, Facility, Research and Community Service and International Collaboration.
For the development of teaching staff quality at higher education institution (universities), MoNE providing scholarships opportunity for lecturers taking master degree and PhD abroad. In 2008 it’s expected that 500 lectures will be receiving this scholarships.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Economic of indonesian info


Realease by British Council
Indonesia’s economy is on a moderate growth path with GDP expected to rise by 6-6.5 percent during 2006-2007, supported by stronger domestic consumption and investment. Gross investment is expected to increase to 22-26 percent of GDP, stimulated by the new Government’s planned measures to enhance certainty for investors.
The government’s new Medium Term Development Plan for the next five years, aims to raise the economic growth target to six or seven percent a year, lower the unemployment rate from 20.26 percent in 2005 to 6.7 percent in 2009 and to achieve a reduction in poverty incidence from 16.6 percent in 2004 to eight point two percent in 2009.
Economic growth in Indonesia has increased to 6.3 per cent in 2007 compare to 5 per cent in 2006 despite recent turbulence in financial market and oil prices. In 2008 the World Bank estimates that the growth will increase to 6.4 per cent in 2008 supported by the growth in domestic investment and exports. Reflecting the strong economic growth, unemployment declined from 10.6 per cent in 2006 to 9.8 per cent in 2007.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Market environment of indonesia


Release by British Council
Indonesia is an archipelago country with 18,108 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited. It is located in Southern East Asia bordering Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Australia, the Philippines and East Timor.
Indonesia’s total area is 1.9 million square kilometres spanning 3.977 miles from East to West and consisting of 3 time zones. Currently, Indonesia has 33 provinces. The density varies greatly from island to island. The capital city is Jakarta which is one of the densest populated cities in the world with 12,957 inhabitants per sq km.
The total population in year 2005 is estimated at 225.3 million with an equal proportion of men and women. According to age structure, the population composition is:
• 29.1 percent of 0-14 years
• 65.7 percent of 15-64 years
• 5.2 percent of 65 years and over.
The current estimated population growth rate is 1.45 percent.
Indonesians are identified with an ethnic entity, often linked to a specific language, customs and traditions and regional origins. Islam is Indonesia’s main religion (almost 88 percent of all Indonesians), making Indonesia the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

IDX Series of Event in Padang

IDX Series of Event in Padang
to Mark the 31st Anniversary of the Capital Market Reactivation in Indonesia (1977-2008)

Padang, July 17, 2008

Padang – In relation to the 31th Anniversary of the Capital Market in Indonesia, the Indonesian Capital Market and Financial Intitutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK), Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Indonesian Clearing and Guarantee Corporation (KPEI) and Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) held a series of socialization and corporate social responsibility events in Padang.

As a start off, IDX organized a Forum for Potential Investors entitled “Investing in Capital Market To Grow Your Wealth”. This event aimed to introduce the society of Padang and its surroundings to the Capital Market as an alternative investment.

Together with the forum, IDX also inaugurated its newly established Capital Market Information Center in Padang. The center was inaugurated by the Assitant Governor II of West Sumatera, Mr. Suryadarma Sabirin, and the President Director of Indonesia Stock Exchange, Mr. Erry Firmansyah.

IDX is optimist that the establishment of the Capital Market Information Center in Padang will broaden the horizon of the local society regarding Capital Market as an alternative place to invest and a main source of funding. Moreover, it hopes that the center in Padang could attract more local companies to be listed in IDX and support the development of local companies in the region. Currently, IDX has opened several Capital Market Information Centers in Makassar, Riau, Balikpapan, Palembang, Pekalongan, Manado, Jember and Pontianak to make closer the IDX and the capital market participants, as well as the potential investors in the regions.

Furthermore, as a form of concern and solidarity, together Bapepam-LK, IDX, KPEI and KSEI helped to rebuild the SDN 01 Singkarak primary school, which was ruined by the earthquake. Positive results are expected by this effort to re-build these public facilities after the earthquake, especially in the learning facilities of the region. Up to day, the CSR activities organized are mainly related to the education world, based on the understanding that education is the most important factor in the development of our young generation. Thus, the inauguration of the SDN 01 Singkarang on Saturday, 19th July 2008 was performed by the Indonesia’s Minister of Finance, Ms. Sri mulyani Indrawati. Also present at the inauguration were the Governor of West Sumatera, the Regent of Solok, the Chairman of Bapepam-LK and the President Director of IDX, KPEI and KSEI. On the inauguration day, twelve students with high achievements and 10 students of SDN 01 Singkarang coming from poor families, were granted scholarships.

Friday, August 1, 2008

U.S. stocks mostly lower on economic worries

U.S. stocks mostly lower on economic worries
3:43 p.m. 07/31/2008 By Nick Godt Provided by
Motorola swings to profit, boosts tech shares
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks were mostly lower Thursday, and the market was on track for a mixed performance in the month of July, as economic concerns resurfaced after data showed weaker growth than expected in the second quarter and a big jump in jobless claims.
"The data were a little disturbing, especially jobless claims that near critical level," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services. "The GDP also came up short of expectations, and the general feeling is that now the [tax] stimulus is gone, what comes next?"
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was down 113 points, or 1%, at 11,473, with 21 of its 30 components retreating.
The blue-chip average had rallied nearly 450 points over the past two sessions and was still on track to post a 1% gain for the month of July.
"We moved up over 400 points over the past few days," Mendelsohn said. "Taking a little breather now makes some sense."
Among blue chips, shares of Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) fell 3.3% after the oil giant's earnings surged 14% but still missed analysts' expectations. Away from the Dow, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) fell, after also missing estimates.
The energy sector was under heavy selling pressure as crude futures slumped 2.1% to end at $124.08 a barrel after surging on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) was down 10.5 points, or 0.8%, to 1,273, led lower by a 3% drop in the energy sector. While consumer-discretionary stocks got a reprieve from falling oil, the financial sector also gave back some of its strong gains from Wednesday.
The S&P was down 0.5% for the month of July.
Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS), another blue-chip stock, slumped 4% even after the company reported a larger fiscal third-quarter profit than expected.
General Motors Corp. (GM) fell 3% after Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on the automaker, along with those of Ford Motor Co. (F) and those of Chrysler LLC.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) remained higher, gaining 4 points, or 0.2%, to end at 2,334. The technology-heavy index has still gained 1.8% in July.
Tech shares received a boost from Motorola Inc. (MOT), whose shares jumped 12% after the mobile-device maker said that it swung to a second-quarter gain of $4 million, or break-even per share, from a loss of $28 million or a penny a share in the year-ago period. Wall Street analysts forecast a loss of 4 cents a share on revenue of $7.7 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research.
Economy
The Commerce Department said that growth rose 1.9% in the second quarter, lower than the 2.3% expected from economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Growth figures for the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2007 also were revised lower.
Separately, the Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment benefits jumped up 44,000 to 448,000 in the week ended July 26.
Elsewhere, ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL) surged after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) offered $60 a share, or $4.5 billion for its partner on the Erbitux drug.
Shares of MasterCard Inc. (MA) gained after news late Wednesday that the company will be added to the S&P 500 Index on July 1 and after reporting a better-than-forecast rise in adjusted profit.
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) rose after the coffee retailer offered a positive outlook late Wednesday on its restructuring.
Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) were off 20% after the Web-software firm met earnings expectations but saw revenues disappoint.
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday, continuing a rally from the previous session after a stronger-than-expected private-sector jobs report helped offset a rebound in oil prices. The Dow industrials rose 186 points, the S&P 500 rose 21 points and the Nasdaq added 10 points.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Stock Market Scam And How To Avoid Them


With all the prices going high these days, people would instantly grab the opportunity on anything that will make them earn money. And this is basically where fraudulent people take advantage of.

Today, there are many scams as there are starts in the sky. They had been so rampant that people became so aware of its alarming condition. But still, even if they know that there is a bound to be a scam out there, they could not yet distinguish what is a scam and how can they avoid it.

In the industry, one of the proliferating scams is the stock market scams. A lot of people are getting enticed to join these simply because their offer seems so hard to resist.

Why? Because who wouldn’t resist a “get rich quick” strategy? These are just petty things but are actually bigger problems than what you thought it is.

For people to know what stock market scams are and how to avoid them, here’s a list of the common stock market scam lurking mostly in the Internet today:

1. The “Pump and Dump” stock market scam

This type of stock market scam is mostly disseminated in the Internet. Here, people usually get to see messages posted in the Internet advocating them to purchase a stock at once. This type of scam also urges those who have stocks already to sell their stocks immediately before the value depreciates.

These deceptive scammers claim that they have reliable sources about a threatening development. They even assert that they utilize a foolproof combination of the stock market and the trade and industry data so as to get some stocks.

The bottom line is that this type of stock market scam is detrimental especially to those who are starting small. In reality, people behind this scam would want to manipulate the stock market through small time businesses because small businesses are easier for them to manipulate.

2. Pyramid scam

Just like its motherboard, this pyramid scam in the Net tries to hoard money from the consumers by letting them invest their little amount of money and grow it really big provided that they recruit more people into the company.

These two are the most common stock market scams lurking in the Internet today, and the only way to avoid them is information. It’s a must that people should be aware of them, know their styles, and how they recruit people. If in case, they cannot determine if it is a scam or not, they should verify the claims from the right people. That’s the simplest thing to do.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Sustaining The Future Of Your Stocks Market


After investing your money into the stock market, it doesn’t mean that it has a life on its own and it would generate lots of money every month. Of course, you are the most important factor in the success of your investment.

Whether you are the stock broker or you buy your stocks individually, it is important to be aware of the correct timing in making use of your money. Here are some few tips that could maintain the money you are making from the stock market and prevent future losses:

* Stock listings. For your investments to grow rapidly, you should have your own lists of the companies you have bought shares on. With this listing, you would be able to check up the profit each company is earning every month. Thus, making your money assured from losses.

* Proper timing. Knowing the general market’s condition would play a vital role in the profiting and losing of your money. Although you have invested on a company with stable earning sales, you are still not safe from losing your money. When the market moves into an opposite direction, you would not be making earnings. It is now your decision to buy or sell your stocks.

Note: Never be too attached with investments. Remember that stock market is a game that needs high mental capacity and less emotional burdens. Meaning, you should begin to move on when you have been proven wrong with your timing. Accept your losses and try winning your money back.

* Buying and selling. If you have lost money from the companies you have invested on, don’t fret. It is still in your hands whether you would continue to trust the company’s competence or not. Many brokers advice that cutting down the losses in your list of stocks is significant for the future of your investment.

When buying for new stocks, it is sensible to test the stocks first by investing a smaller amount of money. By doing this, you would be able to analyze the market condition and if losses occur, it wouldn’t be too much of a load in your part.

* Balance. To know which stocks are suitable to buy, you should observe the price, volume, and daily highs and lows in the environment of the stock market. By doing so, you would be able to know the market trends and analyze your prospect companies.

For your stocks to provide you with high ROI, know the environment and trust your judgment in deciding the right timing to buy and sell. By doing this, you would ensure that the future of your investment would be in safe hands.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Stock Market Quotes 101


The stock market quote is the basic collection of numbers an investor must understand to achieve success in the stock market. It is a list of prices for certain stocks at one point within the trading day. In the past, stocks were quoted in fractions, but now, most exchanges use decimals. Stock market quotes are found in newspapers, as well as online. Stock quotes are updated regularly during the trading day.

What are the numbers and columns in the stock quotes mean? Though most are easily understandable, some may be confusing for a stock market newbie. Here is a review of the common numbers in the stock quotes and what they mean.

Newspaper Stock Market Quotes. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) format is easiest to follow.
Listed below are the columns and a brief explanation for each column.

- YTD % CHG – The Year-To-Date Percentage Change. This represents the stock price percentage change for the year. This percentage is adjusted for stock splits and dividends over 10%.

- 52-Week HI & LO – The two numbers in the column record both the highest and the lowest price the stock is traded for within the last 52-weeks. Previous trading day not included.

- Stock (SYM) – This is where the stock name and symbols are listed. Stock names are usually abbreviated. The stock symbol is printed in boldface. Some newspapers don’t print them at all.

- DIV – This stands for Dividend reflecting the annual distribution rate based on the last regular disbursement for a stock.

- Yield % – The yield percentages are the other disbursements paid to stockholders as a percentage of the stock’s price.

- PE – The Price to Earnings Ratio is the per-share earnings over the closing price.

- VOL 100s – This means sales volume expressed with two missing zeros.

- CLOSE – The last price the stock traded for a certain day. But it doesn’t mean that this will be the price the stock opens at the next trading day.

- NET CHANGE – This is the amount at which the stock closed today against yesterday.

- Footnotes – These notations point out any extraordinary circumstances within the listing such as new highs and lows, unusual dividends, first day of trading, etc.

Online Stock Market Quotes. Online stock resources cover the same information as the newspaper stock quotes. However, the difference is mainly with regards to getting the “live” information. Compared to reading yesterdays stock quotes on the paper the next morning, the information presented on online resources are updated constantly within the course of the trading day.

Indeed, stock market quotes offer a wealth of information when it comes to wise stock investment. as long as one understands what the numbers mean.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Stock Market Price


How Stock Market Price Rises and Falls

Understanding how stock market price rises and falls is similar to understanding the prices of other products in the market. It also follows the law of supply and demand. Price of stocks rise and fall due to the following reasons:

1. Company profit projections and image

A company’s growth and profit forecasts describe how capable a company is in delivering its promises to its investors. These numerical projections are carefully prepared by a company based on their past profits and projected additional profits due to new products and services, operations and infrastructure improvement.

Aside from profit forecasts, company image can also make an impact on a company’s profitability. Rumors of change in management, take-over, mergers, and even personal issues about the company’s top executives can affect the company’s image.

For example, a rumor of a merger between two big companies projects more stability and greater profit projections for both companies. As more investors would want to buy stocks from these merging companies, the demand for their stocks will rise. Based on the law of supply and demand: the greater the demand for stocks, the higher will their prices be.

A bankruptcy rumor about a company can send its investors to sell all their stocks. If there are more sellers than buyers of stocks then the supply (of stocks) is greater than the demand for stocks thus, stock price will fall.

2. Political Economy

General news about the local and global politics has an immediate impact on the economy and consequently to stock market prices. Politics and economics are correlated. Positive news such as lower unemployment rates, increased productivity, peace and order, and strong confidence in the government has positive impact on the economy. Such news encourages more local and international investors to open companies in a certain location or country. This in turn would generate more jobs, and as an effect, would encourage more trading in the market at higher stock prices in general due to the increase in demand for stocks of different companies.

On the other hand, negative news such as political instability and turmoil, security problems such as terrorism and insurgency, frequent strikes, and inflation has negative impact on the stock market prices. Investors are driven away by these things and close-up. As an effect, more stockholders would sell out. This creates more sellers than buyers thus stock market prices fall.

3. Interest rates

Higher interest rates are associated with a slump in economic growth. This creates a sluggish environment where investors become apprehensive in buying stocks. Either they keep the status quo or sell out their stocks. When the demand for stocks is not high, prices will go down.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Stock Market Investment Tools


The Use Different Stock Market Investment Tools in making Investment Decisions

There are different stock market investment tools available today that help investors maximize the availability of information in their investment trading activities.

The internet contains a wealth of information about different publicly listed companies in the US. There maybe websites that provide free research information although the information available maybe general knowledge in nature.

There are also companies that publish in-depth research reports on listed companies although they may available on a per subscription basis which may be costly for a retail based investor to subscribe to. These research reports may cost from a hundred to a thousand dollars depending on the quality of the research reports being sold.

News articles, research reports and analyst reviews about companies are tools that provide fundamental information about a company. Fundamental information can be from current news events about a company’s activities or analysis of their previously published financial reports. Investors can then make more fundamental research and analysis from this information to gather more data that aid him in his investing strategies.

There are also tools available today that provide management of raw data such as current stock quotes, historical price data or index performances. These tools can be bought from software companies and can be installed in PCs and these tools will be a big help in gathering, processing and analyzing of raw data available and come out with information that will be more useful to the investor.

From raw data containing the historical closing prices of specific companies, these can be run thru investment tools to come out with information such as historical price trend of one company as compared to an index of companies its being compared with or probably have a report of the volume of stocks traded on these companies on a specific period of time. These reports generated thru these investment tools will help an investor in making more efficient trading strategies from the raw data initially available.

Some stock market investment tools are purchased from software companies and they would usually cost hundreds of dollars which may not be practical for a small scale individual investor. There are analysis tools available on the internet from online stock market trading companies that they are accessible online and are made free to their clients. These tools are made available to their online investing clients as this also helps aid them in their trading strategies.

While the stock market tools, information and research products are available around the internet, careful planning, data gathering and interpretation of analysis made from these tools are equally important to ensure successful trades and long term investment growth of an investors’ portfolio.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Stock Market Investment Strategy


Stock market investment is a risky stance, but it should not stop any aspiring investor from taking the first step. The choice to make the stock market endeavor succeed lies upon the investor.

1. Knowledge

A wise investor would only delve into stock market investment upon being apprised with the necessary and crucial information. It is a must to invest on companies only upon learning everything about it, from its past records, current performance and future plans.

Stock market investment advice should be sought considering the difficulty of locating that right stock that will give big returns. The investor must fully know the fundamental value of the stock he or she will buy.

Invest in a company which belongs to a familiar industry. The stock market investor must have a good understanding of the business in order to realize more the value of the stocks. This will also make the investor less dependent to analysts and advisers.

The sources of information to rely upon must be carefully chosen too. Tips offered in the market should be avoided as much as possible. These are usually given by people with vested interests.

2. Long-term goal

An important consideration in stock market investment is setting a long-term goal. The long-term goal would determine the approaches to be taken and influence the decisions to be made.

The adherence to that goal would ensure regularity in instances of indecision when the stock market gyration comes to play. It would avoid whimsical decisions adversely disturbing the finances. A long-term goal could result to a more stable financial future through steady purchases investments. The key word here is consistency.

3. Calculated Risks

There are risks in any business endeavors. However, this must be calculated to minimize the probability of loss and to increase the expectation of profits. Speculating is not an option.

Never gamble and risk losing big money in the stock market. Investments should not rake in huge losses. It is easy to buy stocks, but money lost would be difficult to gain back. One cannot afford costly mistakes.

The established system in realizing the long-term goal must be strictly followed then. This will reduce the probability of putting too much money just to incur big losses.

5. Discipline

To make the most of the stock market investment, the investor himself must possess the proper determination and discipline to continually persevere in realizing the long-term goals set.

Stock market investment today requires passion and courage to come out as a winner. The stock market gives the opportunities; all that is required of the investor is being prudent.

Stock Market Investment Software


Stock Market Investment Software: A Helpful Trading Tool

When man invented the computer, it became an invaluable tool to many people who has learned to use it and has become a part of their everyday lives. Many people turn to various types of computer software to suit their needs, and most of these softwares are tailored to the clientele it hopes to accommodate.

Nowadays, many people can access their bank accounts online. From this single account, they can enroll other accounts which may include bills for credit cards, utilities such as electricity and water, and even schedule payments for their insurance premium. These advances in the financial world have helped facilitate better, safer, easier transactions which always benefit consumers.

Similarly, when stock market investments shifted from person to person trading to today’s more sophisticated process of online stock trading, companies began putting up websites to encourage their clients to do most transactions online. This is usually done using stock market investment software.

An investor may subscribe for free or pay a certain amount for an account through his trading company’s website. As he does this, he is required to download and install the stock market investment software that the company is using. This is mostly done so that the subscriber and the trading company use the same investment software.

There is a number of stock market investment software available in the software industry today. They can go from the simple to the highly sophisticated one. Most of these application softwares offer the same basic features of a graphical user interface (or GUI) to help a user perform one or more specific tasks. There are types of these stock market investment softwares that are intended for large scale use and there are types which cater for more personalized usage, as in the case of users installing and using personal financial managers in their personal computers and digital assistants.

Investors mostly use the software of their choice to manage their accounts, and check the value of their stocks. This is very helpful to online investors as the software’s GUI facilitates the tasks that they want to perform.

Stock market investment softwares are purchased separately by the trading companies that use them to transact with their clients. They usually have agreements with the company that developed the software so they could avail of their product at a lower price. Some companies hire stock market investment software developers to design their software so that it is easier to tailor it to their particular needs.

Stock Market Investment Newsletter

Urgent: Reliable Information on Stock Market Investment

Investors should take full advantage of the unlimited opportunities offered in the stock market. The best way to invest in the stock market is to get hold of important and crucial information. An investor should know the company, stock, records and trends.

However, various sources of information out there proffered as stock market research made available by most commentators and analysts. The reliability of such information still remains doubtful, considering the subjectivity of the ideas submitted. This is not helpful to stock market investors.

Relevance of stock market investment research

Stock market research provides for basic and technical overview of the analysis made on the stock. A stock market investment research allows assessment of actual value of the company. It delves upon the records and history of the company. The research also aims to foresee the future trends of the stock. Serious investors will utilize the information to build an excellent system to establish the investment.

Conducting ordinary stock market investment research

In doing stock market investment research several factors are considered. Primarily the stocks are evaluated based on the following:

  • Price

  • Earnings

  • Yearly Profits and Revenues

  • Company Ranking

  • Future Plans

The data gathered will then be evaluated. From the evaluation, a conclusion will be made, providing an assessment of the company’s stock value and foreseeing the direction the company is bound to make.

There is a problem however in stock market research done by ordinary analysts and brokers. The research is susceptible of being influenced by bias and financial interests of those who evaluate the stocks and the market.

Stock Market Investment Newsletter Research

Making accessible the crucial information through stock market investment newsletter research is a welcome idea at this point.

Conducting investment analysis done by unbiased researchers will provide investors more reliable, insightful, and most of all, independent information about the stocks and the stock market. Ideally the stock market investment newsletter research is conducted by researchers with no financial interests in the stocks or markets evaluated. The goal is to give viable and lucrative investment opportunities.

Stock market investors as such are empowered to make independent decisions. They can now get a clearer perspective of what is in store for them. The upside aspects of the specific industry will be carefully laid out before the investor.

Stock market investors do not only create wealth for themselves. The success would also redound to the benefit of the nation and of the public. This proves the relevance of stock market investment newsletter researches in helping investors make sound decisions.

Stock Market Game

The stock market is a game

As a kid, have you ever played the board game Monopoly? This is a game that deals with properties, banks, infrastructure, and millions of colorful dollars.

Like in Monopoly, the stock market is a game in which you have to decide the buying and selling of your properties. Although in the case of the trading business, you are making stock market decisions.

The money you collect in Monopoly when you have circulated the whole board game would be the dividend or the payment in the stock market. The amount of the money you collect would be determined by the properties you have in the game. Just like in the stock market, the more shares you have, the larger amount of money you would be given.

When you are getting bankrupt in the game of Monopoly, you have the power to sell your colorful houses or building when you need to regain your finances. Just like in your stocks, when the market falls, you have the authority of which shares to sell out and which shares to retain.

In winning the Monopoly game, you are obliged to keep your properties before the construction of your houses and hotels. You would lose to your challenger if you sell these properties to him even for twice the normal price of your property. Just like in the stock market, making lots of money does not mean you are successful in what you’re doing. In order for you to win with your stocks, you should be able to double your property to give you a higher dividend of shares.

In playing the board game, you need an opponent to start the game. It’s your opponent’s job to prevent you from owning many properties and collecting large amount of money from him and from the bank. Just like in the stock market game, there are also factors that prevent you from the success of your shares. These don’t necessarily have to be other investors, but it could be the taxes you are obliged to pay or the interest of your stockbroker from your dividend.

Playing the game of the stock market could be done even with just a little amount of money. Just like in the board game, all you have to own are colorful play-money for you to own properties and collect more money in the future.

Although the trading system could be compared to the board game, you should take the stock market seriously. Why? Because this is real life and real money is at stake.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Stock Market For Dummies

"You, the dummy, and the stock market"

Ok, so you want to dabble in the stock market. Unfortunately, you don’t know how and where to begin. So what do you do?

Well, the first relevant thing to do is ask the basic question of what is a stock and its significance.

A stock symbolizes ownership of a company. Some view stock as certificates. So the more stocks a person owns of a particular company, the more of the company they own. And the more the company they own, the bigger the influence they have in running the company. This is called equity investment.

The next thing to do is familiarize yourself with financial terms such as ‘price-earnings ratio’, ‘margin’, ‘option’, ‘earnings per share’ and ‘leverage’.

Then, it’s on to knowing where and how to actually buy stocks.

There are two ways to buy stocks:

1. brokerage service

2. online exchanges (e.g. banks)

Exchanges are services that allow investors to access stocks all over the world. Here, they can buy and sell stocks without the need for a broker. Certain banks allow you to set up your own stock portfolio and buy and sell stocks online using the money you have in these banks.

Brokerage services are rendered by brokers. These middlemen do all the work for you. They research the stock market, give advice, and buy and sell stocks according to the wishes of their clients. These brokers earn a commission from the stocks bought or sold.

Once you have chosen how to buy and sell stocks, the next thing to do is to open an account. As stated earlier, exchanges allow you to monitor and control your stock portfolio personally. If you choose to enter the stock trade with a bank, then ask your bank the specifics of setting up your own account.

If you choose to trade stocks via a broker, find a reputable broker and ask them to open and manage an account for you.

After you have successfully set up an account, it’s time to study the stock market and plan your strategy: will you be conservative in investing your money? Or will you be aggressive? Are you in it for the long term? Or are you a day trader?

After you have identified your plan, it’s time to do some research on the stocks offered in the market. Having a broker will significantly make it easier for you as they will do the research and give you advice. But, it is still best to study the market yourself.

Be warned though, the stock market is volatile. Be prepared for a roller-coaster ride.

Stock Market Crash Course

Stock market is like a market place for businessmen. In a public market, goods are sold to the public. In a stock market however, stocks are sold to the public. Company stocks are sold in the form of shares. The more shares a person buys in a company, the higher his or her stocks are for that particular company.

The stock market consists of the primary market and the secondary market. Primary market is where companies raise finances for their operating expenses by selling shares to investors. The secondary are investors who buy and sell those shares to other investors. Their decisions are constantly based on changing market conditions.

A stock market is like an auction house. It is a systematic method of buying and selling. In a stock market though, it is a common sight to see people shouting and gesturing at one another.

The buying and selling of stocks begins in different places. If a person decides to purchase stocks in a particular company, a broker is contacted. This broker in turn takes the money of the investor and coordinates with a floor broker at the stock exchange. Usually a floor broker works for the broker or with the company selling the stocks.

At the stock exchange, floor brokers purchase the stock that the investor wants. When a deal is consummated, it is made known to a broker and the investor becomes a stockholder of the company.

That investor may decide to sell the stock. This is usually done when the price per share has gone up. This entails profit for the investor. For example, if a person bought 100 shares at $20.00 per share and the price increased to $25.00, selling those 100 shares results in $500.00 profit.

The economic principle of supply and demand is the driving force of the stock market. The number of shares of stocks that are open to the public dictates the supply and the number of shares that investors want affects the demand.

Movement of stocks in a certain market causes the constant changes in the prices of stocks.

For example, if most people believe that the economy is growing, they would buy more stocks. But if the economy is in a downfall, their tendency is to sell their stocks.

Many businessmen choose to make a long term investment in the stock market. There are instances where stocks decrease in value causing a stockholder to lose money. The stock market does not guarantee profit. The better a person is in reacting to the changes at the stock exchange; the better his chances are for profit.

Risks Of A Stock Market


Stock market risks: Is my money really worth it?

So, finally, you have your money you can call your own. Naturally, you want to see your money grow. Saving your money in a bank doesn't entice you, seeing it offer too little growth potential. You want something that gives a little more risk, with the hopes of having a much larger financial return. You turn to the stock market.

But wait! Are the risks involved in investing in the stock market worth my money? Investing is a good tool to increase you money, but you have to keep an open mind and know what to look for.

Needless to say, investing in stocks is a risky business. There are some risks that fortunately, you can control.

For example, you must guard against investing in "hot" stocks. True, some get wealthy in investing in "hot" stocks such as the "dot-com" bubble in the 1990s, but when the initial buzz around these stocks begin to slide, so does your investment. Once they fall, they really fall hard in a short period of time. This includes your money and others like you who invested in these stocks. If you really need to invest in these stocks, you have to keep a constant eye on them and try to sell them when they start to level off or drop.

To avoid such risks, you must diversify your portfolio. Basically, it means buying a little bit of a lot of different types of stocks and bonds. In that way, if one stock gets down, another one of your stock might be up and will help you recover some of your losses. It is a good idea to have some stocks in the technology sector, telecommunications, biomedical, and consumer corporations. In time, you could add your portfolio with precious metal and diamond indexes, and some general investment funds.

There are also companies that offer "safety stocks". It will be a sound decision to have several shares of companies such as this in your portfolio. This is because such stocks rarely fluctuate and most often offer a slow and steady growth, thus giving you an assurance in your investments.

Do not rely on tips saying that this stock is "going to be big" and the like. These tips are often unfounded, and these stocks are almost worthless. Investing in these stocks might give you a higher return but in the long run, these stocks will just give you worries. Read the Wall Street Journal or watch the stock reports on news networks to know more about your stocks. Also check relevant websites to see how your stocks have been performing in recent weeks.

Pros And Cons Using Your Credit Card On The Internet


With today’s technology and the E-commerce, using credit cards on the Internet is now more practiced and favored by consumers and online businesses alike.

For people who are not familiar with shopping on the internet using their credit cards, here is a list of the pros and cons that you must be adept with before considering using your credit card in the internet.

1) As a buyer and owner of the account, there are pros and cons in using your credit card on the internet:

* Online, you don't have to wait on a queue to purchase anything with your credit card. On the other hand, you might get ripped off since you don't know the seller.

* Shopping in the internet with your credit card gives you a wider selection of products with low prices. In contrast, shopping in the internet would not give you a chance to examine the product more thoroughly.

* Using your credit card online gives you the advantage of purchasing products anywhere in the world. However, some sellers may not be trustworthy enough to really deliver what you bought.

* Accessibility of shops 24 hours a day could be provided for you when using the internet. Also, 24 hours a day somebody out there could just be lurking waiting for you to key in your credit card number for him or her to use.

* Although there is a large selection of products to supply the needs of the customer, records have it that there is only an average of 1/10 stocks obtainable on the internet.

2) As a businessman using the internet to sell products and services, there are pros and cons in using your credit card on the internet:

* In using the internet to sell to customers that use credit cards, the company’s market sales would increase. But, purchasing hardware and software to support these transactions would cost the company a large amount of money. Also, regular maintenance is required to ensure that all transactions happen smoothly.

* Because customers make use of credit cards through the internet, the company would be able to expand their sales globally. On the other hand, a company must make sure that the stocks are enough to supply the global market when the demand suddenly spikes.

*Through the large number of consumers using their credit cards online, the company's profits won't be that hard to increase. But this entails keeping up with the competition since there a lot of other companies vying to get the most out of the credit card phenomenon.

Pros And Cons Of A Stock Market


Understanding the nature of the stock market, including its pros and cons, doesn't have to be confusing one. Many people fear that in order for them to know the nature of the stock market, they have to understand a gamut of stock and marketing terms and all that jazz.

On the other hand, some people saw behind the veneer of all these economic gibberish, and saw the potentials of what they could get from investing in the stock market.

In a nutshell

Simply put, the stock market is the market to buy and sell stocks and shares. This is where company stock gets traded. The term is also used to describe the totality of all stocks in one country. That is why we hear reporters talking that "the stock market was up today" or that "the stock market went down after the dollar fell to the euro."

What are the pros and cons of the stock market?

One of the reasons why we need the stock market is because it is an important factor for the US economic system to operate. Through the stock market, US companies improve their financial viability and expand their operations by raising funds from selling stocks. Without the stock market, our companies become slower in their growth and might falter in the increasing competition in the US as well as against international companies.

Another reason for the existence of the stock market is that it also has role in personal financial planning. This is because many individuals buy stock shares as part of their personal financial strategies. More importantly, most Americans have a stake in the stock market because retirement programs invest in stocks. It has shown that retirement programs earn a lot more by investing in common stocks than other options such as saving the funds in banks.

Of course, the stock market also has its downsides. Remember that the stock market is not a tool for instant success. True, there are cases of one getting wealthy by investing in the market, but this involves having shares in various company stocks, which means a lot of research, time, and money. One also gets rich when some stocks become "hotter" such as the "dot-com" bubble in the nineties, but when the initial buzz around these stocks falter, the value of these stocks tend to crash.


Problems With The Stock Market


"Investors often cause stock market problems"

With the advent of online banking and online trading, the stock market has opened its doors to virtually every person willing enough to grow their money.

And yet, despite this, not everyone has joined the bandwagon. The biggest factor being the potential risk involved in trading stocks.

The stock market is among the most volatile financial institutions in business. And it’s this volatility that tends to be the biggest problem with the stock market.

Almost any reason, real or imagined can cause these extreme fluctuations that often affect the stock market’s credibility.

Real factors such as the weather, political instability, political decisions, war, terrorist threats, boycotts and strikes, economic trends and international trade or even company scandals also become factors to the stock market problems.

Bad weather such as hurricanes affects certain industries such as oil production. This then drives the cost of petroleum products higher as production gets limited. This causes a cascading effect that drives stocks of oil companies higher.

Political instability in a country can affect investor confidence thus lesser investing is done. This causes the shares of local companies to slide downwards.

Boycotts, strikers and terrorist threats have also proven to be the bane of the airline industry. Shares of airliners have tumbled throughout the years with every terrorist attacks all over the world.

But aside from uncontrollable factors such as natural disaster (or war), the common underlying link that allows these other reasons to affect the stock market so significantly is investor psychology.

Humans are prone to herd mentality. Often, people confirm with the actions and directions of other people.

This is a common mistake in investing.

An example of this is during the early 90s when dozens of dot com companies sold their stocks in the stock market. It created an artificial demand for stocks of companies that did not even provide real and concrete services.

These stocks soared in value as more and more enthusiastic investors bought them. This happened up until the time it was realized that these companies did not actually post any considerable profit to sustain the value of the shares.

The stocks then tumbled and virtually lost value as investors frantically sold their shares.

This tendency to panic and depend on the direction of others is among the real causes of problems with the stock market.

There are two actions arising from this mentality:

a.) panic buying

b.) panic selling

Of the two, panic selling causes the most harm since it causes a steep and quick drop in the value of shares.

The best way to avoid causing these problems is to practice due diligence and to keep a level head while investing.

Problems With The Stock Market


"Investors often cause stock market problems"

With the advent of online banking and online trading, the stock market has opened its doors to virtually every person willing enough to grow their money.

And yet, despite this, not everyone has joined the bandwagon. The biggest factor being the potential risk involved in trading stocks.

The stock market is among the most volatile financial institutions in business. And it’s this volatility that tends to be the biggest problem with the stock market.

Almost any reason, real or imagined can cause these extreme fluctuations that often affect the stock market’s credibility.

Real factors such as the weather, political instability, political decisions, war, terrorist threats, boycotts and strikes, economic trends and international trade or even company scandals also become factors to the stock market problems.

Bad weather such as hurricanes affects certain industries such as oil production. This then drives the cost of petroleum products higher as production gets limited. This causes a cascading effect that drives stocks of oil companies higher.

Political instability in a country can affect investor confidence thus lesser investing is done. This causes the shares of local companies to slide downwards.

Boycotts, strikers and terrorist threats have also proven to be the bane of the airline industry. Shares of airliners have tumbled throughout the years with every terrorist attacks all over the world.

But aside from uncontrollable factors such as natural disaster (or war), the common underlying link that allows these other reasons to affect the stock market so significantly is investor psychology.

Humans are prone to herd mentality. Often, people confirm with the actions and directions of other people.

This is a common mistake in investing.

An example of this is during the early 90s when dozens of dot com companies sold their stocks in the stock market. It created an artificial demand for stocks of companies that did not even provide real and concrete services.

These stocks soared in value as more and more enthusiastic investors bought them. This happened up until the time it was realized that these companies did not actually post any considerable profit to sustain the value of the shares.

The stocks then tumbled and virtually lost value as investors frantically sold their shares.

This tendency to panic and depend on the direction of others is among the real causes of problems with the stock market.

There are two actions arising from this mentality:

a.) panic buying

b.) panic selling

Of the two, panic selling causes the most harm since it causes a steep and quick drop in the value of shares.

The best way to avoid causing these problems is to practice due diligence and to keep a level head while investing.

Online Stock Market Trading


How to avoid the dangers of online stock market trading

Online stock market trading has made it possible for millions of individuals, especially those who are not keen on investing in stocks the traditional way, to play the stock market game. Almost anyone, from novice investors to expert day traders, can participate in online stock market trading.

But online stock market trading has many dangers and if you are nit careful you could end up losing instead of earning lost of money.

Online stock markets trading allow individuals to participate in the stock markets at greater speed. But because of this, it has also become easier to make investment mistakes. Therefore, the fundamentals of smart should still be applied in online stock market trading to avoid falling into traps.

One of the most common problems with first-timers in online stock market trading is they think they can make a lot of money online even without any investment skills and knowledge. This is probably brought about by stories of overnight successes. They must keep in mind that for every ten investors that makes lots of money from online stock market trading there are at least ten who lose money.

New online stock market traders think that they could survive in online stock market trading without any investment skills and knowledge is because markets have been bullish recently. For the past six or seven years, common investors made significant profits from any buy and hold strategy. Investors only start to realize the importance of being financially savvy when markets show bearish signals. That’s the only time they employ smart financial planning through diversification.

What potential online stock market investors need to realize is that online stock market trading is really no different from traditional stock market treading. The web hasn't changed the fundamentals of smart investing it has only made it easier to invest. Individuals – like most professional day traders - should still have a set of rules and guidelines to help them avoid the dangers of online stock market trading.

Like in traditional stock market trading, the first thing you have to do is to arm yourself with basic information about the company you’re investing into so as to avoid “gambling.”

Perform some fundamental analysis to determine if the stock is worth the price. You can do this by researching. Good source are websites of major brokerage houses, finance publications and mutual-fund companies.

Because online stock market trading is easier, it becomes tempting to trade often. But it's tough to beat the market on a consistent basis. For the long term, a buy-and-hold strategy is the best way to invest even in online stock markets.

Online Stock Investment Strategy


Wanna Trade? Do It Online!

The first continuous trading on a stock exchange was done in the 17th century in Amsterdam. Prior to this, in 13th century France, product traders used to meet in a house which they later called “Bruges Bourse”. Nowadays, stock markets can be found in most countries but the biggest markets can be found in the United States, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom.

Long before the advent of online stock market investments, trading was done by individual buyers and sellers. These are business persons who do their own trading activities. Later on, as market participants in the stock market increased, stock brokers began to represent individuals and other big firms who are interested to buy stocks.

A wealthy businessman has his own set of stock brokers representing his business interest in the world’s big stock markets. Brokerage houses were then established to cater to the increasing demands of the trend. These big firms are called brokerage houses and examples include Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Charles Schwab.

Due to the Internet’s capacity to connect many people from different places at the same time, the process of buying and selling stocks has become faster, easier and less expensive. Online stock market investments have been availed by many investors because of its unique features compared to the traditional stocks trading.

Online stock market investments are easier to do because if a buyer or seller decides to do online trading, he does not have to pay a stock broker anymore. Stock brokers can charge up to as much as $100 per trade, while online stock market brokers can charge as low as $10 per trade.

Online stock market trading allows investors to do all transactions in front of the computer. An online stock market investor can also check and manage with his stock portfolio in real time using a computer. Several online stock trading companies have opened their websites to cater to the demands of their increasing clientele.

Online stock market investing has made the business of trading easier, faster, and cheaper. An investor who does online trading will not need to call his broker to conduct business. All he has to do is go the stock broker’s website and indicate the stocks he wants to buy or sell and these orders will be processed in real time.

These online stock market brokers or stock market websites, as they are called, also contains a lot of additional services in their websites. They can provide online stock market traders with stock market information, and other relevant insights.

More Stock Market Investment Tools


A newsletter is defined as a publication which is distributed on a regular basis and which discusses one main topic for the benefit of its readers. Newsletters are published by clubs and business companies to provide their clients with company relevant information.

A stock market investment market newsletter is published to provide stock market investors with insights on the current trends in the market. These types of newsletters are distributed by trading companies to their subscribers and clients. A stock market investment newsletter provides news, analysis, interpretations, and commentaries that are related to the market developments and which are relevant to a trading company’s subscribers and potential clients. It is meant to help the stock market investor to choose the right investment opportunities and how to invest sensibly.

An investment market newsletter is very similar to other popular newsletters. It is usually written for stock market investors and usually contains the following:

* Company profiles – this information includes the company’s description, trading history, and its recent stock charts;

* News articles – these articles inform the stock market investors on the current trends in the market and the company’s recent developments and milestones in the stock market;

* Stock portfolio – a stock portfolio is the compilation of the company’s stocks, bonds, and other investment related resources.

* Features articles – these articles may include features about the trading company, tips and other helpful hints about the stock market.

* Monthly top gainers and losers – this part of the newsletter is very helpful because it shows and compares the price movements of stocks over the previous month. It could also be done on a quarterly or annual basis.

* Stock performance tables – the investment newsletter can feature and compare all the stocks which are related in type and provide financial and other useful information.

Stock market investment newsletters are printed and are usually published online through the trading company’s websites. Subscribers can get a free copy for their own personal use, and potential clients can always view and download from the company websites. These websites also provide archives, or past copies of their stock market investment newsletters which subscribers can easily access and read from their personal computers.

Others say that stock market newsletters provide subscribers and investors with investment tips and present them with all possible styles and methods. Investors can now easily see which stocks to buy, which companies to buy stocks from, and what particular techniques work for him – all with the help of a stock market investment newsletter.