harin's blog

ECB: Looking For a Way Out

2009-11-20T04:45:00.000-08:00

While the Federal Reserve confirmed that rates should remain steady for some more time, since the economic growth is still in its early stage, the European Central Bank is already looking for a good way out. The change in market prospective could support the Euro currency over the medium/long term and penalize the U.S. dollar.

U.S.: The labor market lagging behind

The U.S. economy is rebounding, despite some signs of slowdown here and there. In October, the ISM non-manufacturing index was practically unchanged at 50.6. Only one of the four segments of the index declined in the month, while three out of eighteen industries reported some improvement in job numbers. Business activity increased for the third straight month and growth is expected to continue, since both unfilled and new orders moved up for the second straight month supported by the strong export numbers. The manufacturing index rose instead to 55.7 in October. It overcame expectations by growing at the fastest rate in more than three years. Here, again, exports supported the service industry, as thirteen out of eighteen industries performed better than expected. The labor market remains at the contrary the weakest spot. In October, the U.S. economy lost 190,000 positions (-170,000 expected) versus September’s 219,000. The unemployment rate is now at 10.2%, compared to September’s 9.8%. It corresponds to the highest rate of the past 26 years and not to far from the post-war record of 10.8% reached in 1982.

Angelo Airaghi is a Commodity Trading Advisor, registered with the National Futures Association and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He has been an active professional since 1990 working for major international financial companies. In the past 10 years, Angelo Airaghi has been an analyst and commentator for national and international media.

This article contains the following sections:

U.S.: The labor market lagging behind

ECB ready to change rate policy

USD/CAD: Meeting support.

Canadian Dollar’s Rally Halted as Commodities Falter

2009-11-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

The Canadian dollar had the first day of losses versus its U.S. counterpart and several other key-currencies as the price of commodities declined this Thursday after a sharp rise that started in the beginning of this week’s session.

The loonie is highly dependent on commodities rates since Canada is a main supplier of energetic and metallic commodities to the United States, and today, as the these markets had a breather, the loonie posted its first negative day in this week following the poor oil charts performance.

USD/CAD traded at 1.0534 as of 18:43 GMT from a previous rate of 1.0452 yesterday.

If you want to comment on the Canadian dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Dollar Down After Significant Rally

2009-11-17T04:44:00.000-08:00

This week has been extremely volatile for the U.S. dollar as different events moved markets sentiment among traders, forcing the dollar slightly down today after it rallied from the lowest level in 2009 versus the euro yesterday.

The U.S. dollar did not have enough strength to continue yesterday’s winning streak as several reports, specially from Europe brought risk appetite once again to markets attracting traders to euro priced assets as Germany, the wealthiest and most relevant economy in the Eurozone, grew further in the third quarter and France also posted positive numbers, indicating that the recovery in the region is solid and backed by fundamental factors. A report in the U.S. is likely to indicate an improved consumer sentiment in the U.S., decreasing attractiveness for safer currencies like the greenback and the yen, making both to rank among the biggest losers today in currency markets.

The German quarterly economic figures were regarded with high expectations among traders, since it was not clear if the past quarter figures would be repeated, causing risk aversion to climb, but after the reports’ released, even if European numbers were not as high as analysts suggested, the fact that figures came positive were already a relief in markets in the region, helping the euro to slash yesterday’s decline partially.

EUR/USD traded at 1.4884 as of 11:34 GMT from 1.4815 hours before the European quarterly reports. AUD/USD gained to 0.9286 from 0.9206.

If you want to comment on the U.S. dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

British Pound High on Giant Airlines Fusion

2009-11-15T04:44:00.000-08:00

The British pound had an excellent performance in the beginning of this Friday’s session as talks that the biggest airline in the country will merge another European giant in the sector brought optimism to London equities markets making the pound to benefit of a positive scenario.

After British Airways Plc and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, two of the biggest airlines in Europe decided to merge, the pound headed to a third straight winning week versus the U.S. dollar and gained terrain versus the euro, which according to some speculations could reach parity with the pound in the mid-term future. An optimism tone today in Britain regarding the economic recovery that is coming slower in the country than in other countries in Europe provided support for the FTSE 100 Index to post a second week of consecutive gains, giving a breather for the pound which is finally having a more sustained growth these past weeks.

The economic recovery in Britain is finally affecting markets sentiment, the fusion of 2 giant airline groups is an evidence that other merges can follow as long as the economy continues to grow, which is definitely favorable not only for the British currency, but also stocks in London, which have been last attractive than stocks in other European economic centers like Paris or Frankfurt.

EUR/GBP traded at 0.8915 as of 13:27 GMT from a previous rate of 0.9017 in the intraday comparison. GBP/USD traded at 1.6682 from 1.6545 yesterday.

If you want to comment on the Great Britain pound’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Aussie Dollar Extends Record High on Jobs Data

2009-11-14T04:45:00.001-08:00

The Australian dollar continued its yearly rally to set a new record high in 2009 after a report indicated an improved number of monthly jobs added in October, suggesting that the nation’s central bank is likely to continue its current policy of rate hikes for the next meeting.

The Australian dollar together with the Japanese yen were the biggest winners this Thursday as risk appetite declined, favoring the Japanese currency safe refuge profile and a report in Australia showed an increased number of jobs added in October, helping the Aussie to touch a two weeks high versus the yen, and the highest level in 15 months versus its U.S. counterpart and the British pound. The Australian dollar has been ranking as the second best performer in 2009 among the 16 main traded currencies, thanks to the country’s economic resilience and the early decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia to start a consecutive monthly interest rates hike that is likely to be a record of 3 straight months if confirmed in December.

Analysts are highly optimistic that such employment report will be essential to provide support for the central bank to continue its interest rates rise policy, as favorable jobs data are a strong signal of stability and recovery for any economy leaving a recession period.

AUD/CAD traded at 0.9772 as of 12:46 GMT from a previous rate of 0.9731 yesterday.

If you want to comment on the Australian dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Brazilian Real Ends Losing Streak on Global Optimism

2009-11-14T04:43:00.001-08:00

After speculations suggesting that the Brazilian currency will suffer further interventions from the national central bank to stop is rally, the real had a negative performance this week that only ended today after global optimism rose attractiveness for assets in emergent markets.

The Brazilian real managed to rise more than 1 percent versus the U.S. before the end of today’s session as positive data in Europe and Asia forced up demand for commodities and rose risk appetite, bringing investors to inject capital in Brazil despite speculations that further measures to stop the currency’s rally will be taken.

USD/BRL closed at 1.7269 from an opening rate of 1.7345.

If you want to comment on the Brazilian real’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Forex Basics

2009-07-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

What's Forex?

"Forex" stands for foreign exchange; it's also known as FX. In a forex trade, you buy one currency while simultaneously selling another - that is, you're exchanging the sold currency for the one you're buying. The foreign exchange market is an over-the-counter market.

Currencies trade in pairs, like the Euro-US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar / Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). Unlike stocks or futures, there's no centralized exchange for forex. All transactions happen via phone or electronic network.

Who trades currencies, and why?

Daily turnover in the world's currencies comes from two sources:

Foreign trade (5%). Companies buy and sell products in foreign countries, plus convert profits from foreign sales into domestic currency.
Speculation for profit (95%).

Most traders focus on the biggest, most liquid currency pairs. "The Majors" include US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. In fact, more than 85% of daily forex trading happens in the major currency pairs.

The world's most traded market, trading 24 hours a day

With average daily turnover of US$3.2 trillion, forex is the most traded market in the world.
A true 24-hour market from Sunday 5 PM ET to Friday 5 PM ET, forex trading begins in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins, first to Tokyo, London, and New York.

Unlike other financial markets, investors can respond immediately to currency fluctuations, whenever they occur - day or night.

How to earn money with Forex

2009-06-04T07:25:00.001-07:00

Since it might be a bit complicated for a beginner to figure out how to make money in Forex, we offer you this example:

You believe that the Euro to US Dollar (EURUSD) rate will increase. In your account you have 2000 USD (eGlobal-standard). At a price of 1.2750 you buy 150,000 Euro for 150,000*1.2750 = 191,250 USD.

This is possible because of the credit, which allows you to make transactions worth 100 times more than funds you have in your account (in this specific case, the maximum sum available for transactions is 2000*100 = 200,000 USD).

After a period of time, the exchange rate increases. You sell 150,000 Euro at the rate of 1.2850 and get 150,000*1.2850 = 192,750 USD.

Thus, after buying at a low rate and selling at a high rate, the difference 192,750 - 191,250 = 1500 $ is your gain. You have earned 75% of initial funds in your account, while the rate increased by 0.8%.

Another way of making a profit on Forex is based on the decrease of the quotation rate of the EURUSD currency pair:

Having created a real account with 200 USD in it (eGlobal-mini), you determine the upper and lower limits on the Euro to Dollar chart and sell 15,000 Euro (0.15 lot) at the upper limit for a price of 1.2850 (bid price) USD for 1 Euro, which equals 19,275 USD (15,000 Euro multiplied by the rate of 1.2850).

You have funds in USD in your account, but you can sell Euro using the automatic borrowing system. Hence, the company lends you 15,000 Euro free of charge, which you can sell by sending a selling request. Due to the leverage, the actual deposit is 100 times less than the sum sold: 15,000/100 = 150 euro. At a rate of 1.2850 this equals 192,75 USD. This very sum is going to be a deposit for a credit (marginal) transaction for your account. The maximum possible deposit in this case equals 200 USD.

Then during the day the price drops to the lower limit and you decide to buy 15,000 Euro at a price of 1.2750 (ask price) USD for 1 Euro, which equals 19,125 USD. The 15,000 Euro that you have bought are written off your account towards the repayment of the company loan, while the difference is left in your account.

Thus, due to the fall in the exchange rate you earn the difference between sold and bought, which is 19,275 - 19,125 = 150 USD. You managed to earn 75% (150 dollars) of your initial sum of 200 USD due to a rate decrease by 0.8% (from 1.2850 to 1.2750) in only one day.

The company takes a commission in the form of the difference between the ask and bid prices or spread, which in this example is 3 USD (spread of EuroDollar pair equals 0.0002 or 2 pips). More detailed information on terminology is in the Glossary.

In these examples, the spread is not taken into consideration while calculating percentages of rate changes because of its non-essential influence on the results. In the case of mircoForex or eGlobal-standard the calculations are similar with a difference only in account currency US cents for micro, USD for mini & standard. The consecutive use of the transactions shown gives the income of 75%+75% = 150%. In actual practice a much greater return may be achieved by using corresponding money management methods. Risk management methods also play an important role in trade

forex trend lines

2009-05-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Plotting a trend line on a Forex chart gives very valuable information.
Not only the trend line will show a current trend (direction) of the price move, it will also depict points of support and resistance levels for market price

In addition, it will also help to determine good entry and exit points, best positioning for profit taking and placing protective stops.
This very simple, but yet quite powerful tool will be one of the crucial indicators of possible trend reversal (when market price starts move in the opposite direction).

So, shall we learn how to draw trend line to make it our good friend in profitable forex trading?

In the uptrend market trend line is drawn below the pattern formation; in the downtrend — above. (That is why when the trend is going to change our trend line will be crossed, which therefore will give us a signal that the price can start moving in another direction.)

in the uptrend, Forex trend line is drawn through the lowest swing-points of the price move.
Connecting at least two «lowest lows» will create a trend line. In the down trend, trendine is drawn through the highest swing-points of the price move.
Connecting at least two «highest highs» will create a trend line.A trend line confirms its validity when the price respects this line. The more «lowest lows» / «highest highs» the trend line contains, the stronger it becomes.

Forex inflow cheers up tourism sector

2009-05-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Tourism in India may well be out of the woods if latest data is anything to go by. While the number of foreign tourist arrivals is

still less than April last year, significantly, foreign exchange earnings have gone up.

The number of foreign tourists who arrived in India -- excluding NRIs -- in April 2009 is 3.71 lakh as opposed to 3.84 lakh in April 2008, closing the gap substantially to 3.5%. Foreign exchange earnings, on the other hand, increased as compared to last year. FEEs were Rs 4,061 crore for April 2009, up from last year's Rs 3,773 crore.

"The data is certainly encouraging. After a spell of negative growth, the fact that only 13,000 fewer visitors came to India in April this year as compared to last year could mean that tourist arrivals could show positive growth by October," Leena Nandan, tourism joint secretary said. The last quarter of 2008 spelt bad news for leisure travel and India suffered the combined impact of economic recession and Mumbai terror attacks. Growth rate dropped to 18% in January and the first three months of 2009 have been difficult for the industry.

The tourism ministry, along with the industry, has incentivised travel under the Visit India 2009 programme promoting discounts on travel, stay and sightseeing.

While growth of foreign tourist arrivals to India dropped from a high of 14% in 2007 to 5.6% in 2008, world tourism growth has come down from 6.6% in 2007 to 1.8 in 2008. According to UNWTO, world growth in 2009 is expected to be stagnant.

Industry experts say that leisure travel may be picking up slowly and India could well be on its way to recovery by year-end. India has benefited from the fact that it has so far remained unscathed by the Influenza A (H1N1) virus that has gripped Mexico and parts of Europe, US and south Asia.

India’s Bonds Advance as One-Month High Yields Attract Buyers

2009-05-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- India’s benchmark 10-year bonds gained on speculation banks and investors will put spare cash into debt after their yield yesterday reached a one-month high.

Benchmark bonds gained by the most in a week as subscriptions at the Reserve Bank of India’s daily reverse- repurchase auction, a gauge of surplus money in the financial system, averaged a record 1.4 trillion rupees ($28.2 billion) a day this month, compared with 1.1 trillion rupees in April. India’s five-phase general election ended today, with counting set for May 16.

“Liquidity support and the fact that there aren’t fresh factors to be concerned about are making present levels attractive,” said s. srikumar, chief of fixed-income at state- owned Corporation Bank in Mumbai.

The yield on the 6.05 percent note due February 2019 fell nine basis points to 6.33 percent at the 5:30 p.m. in Mumbai, according to the central bank’s trading system. The price rose 0.61, or 61 paise per 100-rupee face amount, to 98.01.

Bonds pared gains before the government’s scheduled sale tomorrow of 120 billion rupees of debt, the second this month. India plans to raise a record 2.41 trillion rupees from bond sales in the six months ending Sept. 30 as it increases spending to revive growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Elections

As many as 714 million voters began casting their ballots five weeks ago in the world’s largest democracy. Exit polls showed neither the ruling Indian National Congress party nor the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party garnered enough votes to form a government without the support of regional parties.

The Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance may win 199 seats in elections to India’s 545-seat lower house, or Lok Sabha, a poll by the NewsX television channel showed. The BJP- led National Democratic Alliance may get 191 seats, it said. The majority mark is 272 as two seats in the house are nominated by the president.

The cost of five-year swaps, or derivative contracts used to guard against rate fluctuations, declined. The rate, a fixed payment made to receive floating rates, slipped to 5.73 percent compared with 5.78 percent yesterday.

Forex Trading Tips ---2

2009-05-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tip 5. Never risk more than 2-3% of the total trading account.

One important difference between a successful and an unsuccessful trader is that the first is able to survive under unfavorable conditions on the market, while an unsuccessful trader will blow up his account after 5-10 unprofitable trades in the row.
Even with the same trading system 2 traders can get opposite results in the long run. The difference will be again in the money management approach. To introduce you to money management, let's get one fact: losing 50%of total account requires making 100% return from the rest of money just to restore the original balance.

Tip 6. Put emotions down. Trade calm.
Don't try to revenge after losing the trade. Don't be greedy by adding lots of positions when winning.
Overreaction blocks clear thinking and as a result will cost you money. Overtrading can shake your money management and dramatically increase trading risks.

Tip 7. Choose the time frame that is right for you.

Choosing wise means that you are comfortable and have time enough to analyze the market, place and close orders etc. Some people can't wait for hours for the price to make a move, they like action and therefore prefer smaller time frames.On the contrary, for others 10-15 minutes is a hustle to be able to make the right decision.

Tip 8. Not trading or standing aside is a position.
When in doubt — stay out. If it is not clear where the market will move — don't trade. In this case saving present capital is and absolutely better choice than risking and losing money.

Tip 9. Learn to use protective stops. Respect them and don't move.
Hoping that market will turn in your direction is a very delusive hope. By moving a stop loss further a trader increases his chances to end upup with much bigger loss. When holding to a losing trade too long, and even if funds permit, traders as a rule are very reluctant to accept big losses, thus often continue "hoping for best"In the mean time invested money is stuck in the open trade for unknown period of time (weeks and even months) and cannot be used for opening new positions. Not working money — dead money. Also this will reAlso this will result in constant interest payments for holding open positions.

Tip 10. "Keep it simple, stupid" — applies to indicators, signals and trading
strategies.
Too much information will create a controversial picture of when to trade and when not to. To avoid lots of confusion create a simple but working method of trading Forex.

Forex Trading Tips --1

2009-05-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

tip 1. Gamblers go to casino. All unproved, spontaneous actions in Forex trading — are a part of pure gambling.
Any attempt to trade without analysis and studying the market is equal to a game. Game is fun except when you are losing real money...

Tip 2. Never invest money into a real Forex account until you practice on a Forex Demo account!
Allow at least 2 month for demo trading. Consider this: 90% of beginners fail to succeed in the real money market only because of lack of knowledge, practice and discipline. Those remaining 10% of successful tradersad been sharpening and shaping their skills on demo accounts for years before entering the real market.
A good demo account to start practicing with could be, for example, fxgame from Oanda.

Tip 3. Go with the trend!
Trend is your friend. Trade with the trend to maximize your chances to succeed. Trading against the trend won't "kill" a trader, but will definitely require more attention, nerves and sharp skills to rich trading goals

Tip 4. Always take a look at the time frame bigger than the one you've chosen to trade in.
It gives the bigger picture of market price movements and so helps to clearly define the trend. For example, when trading in 15 minute time frame, take a look at 1 hour chart; trading hourly would require obtaininga picture of daily, weekly price movements.

If a trend is hard to spot — choose a bigger time frame. Up and down market patterns are always present. Always make sure you know the dominant trend, unless you are a scalper. Scalpers have no need to spend their time studying big trendswhat's happening in the market here and now (during 5-10 minute time frame) should be of only importance to a Forex scalper.

3 Steps to Stop Losing Money in Trading

2009-03-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

To start trading a trader needs to fund an account with some of his or her own money. That is called the initial investment. But even before you consider this step, bear in mind these 3 essential points.

The 3 crucial steps are namely 1) what to do if your funds fall below a certain amount, 2) how you will manage risks and 3) is this initial investment sufficient.

The sad fact is that close to 95% of new traders don't know about these 3 steps at all and most of these new traders end up losing money.

Here are 3 tips to help you keep afloat and solvent regardless of how bad the market is.

1. Keep a separate account

Even before you start trading, you would have in hand a certain amount of cash, the amount would of course vary from trader to trader. What you can do is to keep half of the amount into a separate bank account

What happens is that you have just created a reserve account. This is held in reserve in case your initial account gets wiped out. The other reason for building such an account is that we have guard against our emotions. If you use up all of your account then should there be a need to transfer any cash over to your trading account it would take some time. During this time you get to cool off. There should never exist a need for you to touch your reserve account. If you lose the initial account. Stop and consider what went wrong before starting again. Take the time and effort to improve yourself.

2. Money management

The difference between a profitable trader and a loser trader is money management and psychology. There is now other way to be profitable other than to focus on money management and psychology.

A good guide to follow for money management is to use not more than 1% to 5% of your whole initial investment. How that works out is that if you happen to use 1% of your account, then you get to make 100 losing trades before you need to refund your account. Consequently if you decide to use 5% then the figure goes down to 20 losing trades. Depending on individual risk tolerance level you decide, but base that against the risk and returns of each trade as well.

3. Contingency Plans

This is your exit strategy. Let's face the reality, you will lose money, this is a fact. Unless you have a mentor to help guide you through the difficult starting stages of trading it is most likely that you will lose your first account.

That is why in the beginning you will need to split your initial investment into half. After you have traded and failed, then your next account will be a lot more profitable. You can read a lot of books, go for all the courses, but nothing beats the real experience of trading. After you have had experience in trading you will know how to handle your losses better. So set up a safety net, call it insurance if you like, just do it and you will thank me later.

The above 3 steps will help you to stop losing money in trading. Once you have stopped the out flow of cash, every trade you do brings in more profits to you.

OVER 100 EXCELLENT PART-TIME BUSINESSES

2009-02-24T08:54:00.001-08:00

INTRODUCTION

If you need more income and another job is not the answer, this
listing was designed for you!

We've prepared a selection of up-to-date businesses that can be
operated in or from your home on a part-time basis. Most of
these businesses require no special training and relatively
little investment. The most critical requirements are your:

- Willingness to work and

- Dedication to your business

Look through these suggestions for subjects that sound
interesting. Consider each as representative rather than
specific. For example, if you know nothing about African Violets
(#01) but are good with roses, by all means substitute roses for
African Violets. And, don't overlook the possibility of blending
these (or other) suggestions to form the ideal business
combination.

When you have decided on your business, check state and local
requirements for licenses, permits and make arrangements for
start-up supplies. You will probably need business cards, a
ledger and a rubber stamp with your company name and address.
Although your beginning supplies should be adequate, they need
not be fancy or expensive. Don't stock up too much as you will
probably need to make adjustments as you learn the needs of your
market. It is always a good idea to:

- Write out your business plan - an outline of what you intend
to do and how you plan to go about it.

- List what you will buy from whom, how much it costs, where it
will be stored, how you will advertise, what price you will
charge, your gross and estimated net profits and when you will
re-order.

Include everything you can think of that your business will
involve. The action will "force" you to organize your business
(in your mind as well as on paper) and greatly increase your
chances for profit and success.

In this (or any other) business, give careful thought to your
capabilities and your potential market. Select something that
you already know (or like and are willing to learn) and will
stick to - that people in your area will pay for. Your product
or service should be priced competitively, but at the level to
yield a fair profit. This motivates customers to buy and you to
work even harder!

GOOD LUCK IN YOUR NEW BUSINESS!

107 GREAT PART-TIME BUSINESSES

01. AFRICAN VIOLETS. Specialize in the propagation and care of
this popular indoor plant. Nurture, hybridize and sell when in
full bloom. Carry accessories, such as pots, shelves and
lighting. Keep a small but permanent ad in your local newspaper.

02. ALTERATIONS. Replace buttons, let out cuffs, shorten
sleeves, turn collars, repair tears for clothing stores,
laundries and cleaner who don't already offer this service. You
can work for them or leave a price poster in their store.

03. ARROWHEADS. Collect, buy, sell and MAKE (with deer horn and
clove) Indian arrowheads for hobbyists, displays and
demonstrations. Sell instruction and/or information booklets
and do-it-yourself kits. Offer various types of flint.

04. AUTO PARTS REBUILDING. Work with garages and mechanics.
Specialize in rebuilding one part (carburetors, master
cylinders, electronic ignitions) for one or several makes.
Install kits, ream and/or re-fit and guarantee all of your work.

05. AUTO TOUCH-UP. Repair minor dents, cover rock chips, remove
rust, polish, clean tires. Renew rubber and plastic, deodorize
to help bring the best price or trade-in. Advertise under
Auto/Trucks For Sale, with a price (e.g. "From $25.00")

06. AUTO PAWN SHOP. Hold cars as collateral for short-term
loans. Hold the title (if clear) or, "buy" the car with a 30
day or so buy-back price agreement or limited power of attorney.
Check laws and obtain legal advice before proceeding!

07. AWNINGS, WINDOW. Design and install permanent and fold-up
fabric and or metal awnings for storefronts, patios, house
windows, trailers and mobile homes. Offer a selection of
materials, colors and prices. Advertise prices and benefits.

08. BABY DOLLS. Create dolls with fine wigs from client baby's
own baby hair as keepsake dolls. Try to get cloth from baby's
actual clothes to make similar looking outfits for the doll
(work from a picture if possible). Put in glass case.

09. BARBEQUE. Use a portable (trailer?) meat smoker to take to
fairs, parades and festivals. Have a supply of prepared
sandwiches ready, but always have a fire AND AROMA (throw in a
little suet or sauce) going to attract more business.

10. BELT BUCKLES. Stock a selection of belt buckles for
truckers, workers, etc. Have special designs and insignias made
for local groups. Arrange to offer good prices on leather belts
as well (import some to sell at attractive prices).

11. BENCH RENTALS. Build bus-stop style benches and with city
permission, place them free of cost to the city at various
bus-stops. Pay a sign painter to apply advertisements for
clients who pay you by the month for the ads and space.

12. BIRD TRAINING TAPES. Make endless or auto-reverse tapes to
teach bird to talk, whistle or sing. Sell or rent the necessary
equipment to mount in or near cages. Charge extra to record the
bird owner's own voice giving the instructions on tape.

13. BIRDHOUSE BUILDING. Build and decorate fine, scientifically
designed birdhouses and feeders for birds native to your area as
well as those that migrate to or through your area. Make up
little info folders for each model.

14. BIRTHDAY LISTS. Compile birthday (anniversary, etc.) of
people in your area to rent as mailing lists to local merchants.
Or, contract to mail out cards each year on behalf of the
merchants. Have a set minimum, as $25 for 50 mailings.

15. BREAD SPECIALTIES. Bake unusual or otherwise unavailable
varieties of home made breads: oat bran, low calorie, ethnic,
salt free. Keep a small ad in paper, take orders for loaves
fresh from your kitchen and/or deliver fresh to stores.

16. BRONZING. Bronze (or pearlize) baby shoes etc. Make
mementos, awards and trophies. Design plaques and unique bases
with emphasis on local needs such as Chamber of Commerce of
company awards. Arrange for engraved plates on plaques.

17. BRUSH CLEARING. With you truck, tractor and shredder,
contract to clear brush and small trees from lots and acreage.
Haul off excess debris or use a composter to recycle and sell
organic refuse. Offer to drag or level the cleared area.

18. BUSINESS EQUIPMENT. Buy surplus equipment from bankruptcy
sales and auctions. Store and clean-up, but do not repair (let
buyer do that). Advertise bargain prices for qualified buyers
and sell at double or triple your investment.

19. CEMENT BLOCKS. Mold small orders of standard or custom
blocks (building, stepping stones, curbs) in all shapes and
colors. Make molds when necessary of plywood and tin. Take
orders, sell form your "yard" and through nurseries.

20. TRUCK LETTERING. Use pre-cut, self-stick vinyl letters to
produce long lasting, professional truck signs (no art talent
required). Use chalk snap lines to mark lines and center, peel
and press in place. Stock and offer a variety of letters.

21. CEMENT MARKERS. Make "engraved" cement or liquid marble
markers and signs. Mold "backwards" letters into various colors
and textures of plastic-like cement for carved in effect. Polish
molded marker into a professional looking stone.

22. CHAIR CANING. Use cane, plastic or other interesting
materials to weave seats and backs onto casual and picturesque
chairs for clients. Buy old chairs with promise at bargain
prices to re-glue, refinish, re-cane and sell at a profit.

23. CHINA AND GLASS DEALER. Collect and deal in antique and
interesting china and glass items. Buy at auctions, antique
stores, private and public sales and through your
advertisements. Deduct travel expenses for buying trips and
visits.

24. CITY LOT CLEAN-UP. Work with the city to learn of lots
that must be cleaned up. Contract to do the required work on
lots they designate (city adds bill to owner's taxes). Contact
absentee (or local) owners to avoid future city actions.

25. CLIENT LISTINGS. On your computer, input and maintain
customer (or business) information: customer info, purchases,
credit records, employee information, etc. Provide periodic and
custom sorts (including mailing lists) to clients.

26. COLLECTION AGENT. Represent one or more commercial agencies
(don't tell one about another, though). Solicit delinquent
accounts for collection from local businesses for a percentage
of monies the agencies collect.

27. COIN SEARCHING. Buy rolls of coins from banks (whatever
denomination you can afford). Search through them for coins
worth over face value. Keep all of these and replace with
"regular' coins and trade back in. Best in small towns!

28. COLLECTIONS. Accumulate collectibles (glass, matchbook,
baseball cards, comic books). Make up (from common specimens)
starter collections to sell to beginners. Sell valuable pieces
individually to collectors (some you got started).

29. CONCESSION BOOTH. Operate a booth or stand at a recreation
area, flea market, shopping mall or parking lot. Sell your own
products and/or consignment items. Carry some attractively
priced items just to attract more customers.

30. CURB PAINTING. With a stencil and fast-dry black spray paint
house numbers on all curbs in a city block then go back and
request a $2-$5 "donation" from occupants. Pass out circulars
the day before announcing your service.

31. CUSTOM CLOTHING DESIGNS. Paint, block print or transfer
unique or custom designs onto items of clothing: smocks,
T-shirts, jackets and fabrics to be made into clothing. Use
designs, illustrations, cartoons, things of interest locally!

32. DESERT GLASS. Collect and sell sun-baked, weather-beaten
glass in interesting colors. Make your own synthetic version by
baking and/or sandblasting suitable objects with inexpensive
equipment. Advertise your materials in hobby magazines.

33. DISTRESS SALES. Buy household items cheap at auctions and
close-out sales. Clean them up and sell as your own right out of
your living room because you need the money (e.g. to pay a
fine), and never because you have new or better things!

34. DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE. Make exquisite, scale furniture for
doll houses. Or, buy inexpensive imported items and upgrade
them. Normally, a little re-enforcing, sanding and a coat of
stain or polyurethane makes all the difference in the world!

35. DRIFTWOOD ART. With sandblaster, power or hand held wire
brush form and finish interesting pieces of driftwood (and other
woods) into decorations, lamps, candle holders and plant mounts.
Use deductible vacations to collect more driftwood.

36. ELECTROPLATING. Offer a chrome (and other) metal plating
service in your shop. Advertise in the newspaper and list with
auto, RV parts stores, auto restorers and body shops. Between
jobs plate items to sell (ornaments, trophies etc.).

37. FENCE INSTALLATION. Install fences for private homeowners.
List with hardware stores and keep a small ad in the paper.
Expand to furnishing the materials for a single bid. Offer a
variety of both functional and ornamental fences.

38. FISHING LURES. Use a fly-tying rig to tie flies and sell by
the dozen to individuals, bait shops, sports and department
stores. Design, manufacture and decorate fishing lures
especially for waters in your area. Then advertise and expand!

39. FLYER DISTRIBUTION. Hire kids or adults to distribute ads,
samples, coupons, announcements door-to-door or on parked car
windows. Charge extra to record occupant reactions. Contract
with individual businesses and advertising agencies.

40. FURNITURE RESALE. Select and buy promising articles of
furniture cheap at garage sales, stores (trade-ins) and
furniture auctions. Clean up, do minor repairs and sell from
your home. Concentrate on items that seem to do well in your
area.

41 COPY-READY MASTERS. With your desktop publishing system and
"laser jet" printer, convert customer's material into copy ready
masters that can be reproduced locally. Especially good for
small orders (set-up costs are very expensive for these).

42. DOG HOUSES. Build standard (bargain priced) and custom
(higher priced) dog houses in different sizes, shapes and
colors. Include insulation, treated wood on bottom, insect
repellent pillows or storage areas under the roof as options.

43. KITCHEN CABINET REFINISHING. Refinish in-home kitchen
cabinets. Remove old finish; sand, fill dents with colored
putty, stain (or paint), replace worn hardware, apply new finish
and install new external door knobs and drawer pulls.

44. WORD PROCESSING. Produce interim drafts and finished
professional letters, manuscripts and documents for students,
lawyers, writers and businesses. Make provisions for client
editing and subsequent re-writing as a part of your service.

45. TREE SURGERY. With a little training and experience, anyone
can trim, treat, fill and seal tree "wounds". Start with small
jobs and gradually increase as you build confidence and buy more
equipment. Take large contracts only when confident.

46. ROOF COATING. METAL. Renew rusty and/or leaky metal roofs
with paint, rust killer, galvanizing, aluminized tar or
insulating (foam) toppings. Charge by the square. Tip: use
mobile home coating (aluminum or white) for a durable finish.

47. RENTAL PREPARATION. Prepare apartments for occupancy: paint,
do minor repairs, cover scratches, remove stains, replace bulbs,
mow lawn, fix faucets and drains. Work with individual owners,
rental agencies and real estate companies.

48. SURPLUS SALES. Buy bargain priced items at auctions and
sales. Store neatly in a secure area; advertise to find buyers
who need (and will pay for) them. Open your warehouse one or two
days a week or sell large items by appointment.

49. ROCKING CHAIRS. Make beautiful, durable rocking chairs.
Offer a variety of woods, finishes, sizes and styles to fit
every customer. Charge extra for carving, special styles or
made-to-measure models. Offer specials on Mr. & Mrs. sets.

50. GAZEBOS. Build gazebos. Display a standard model at a good
price that you can deliver or customer can assemble. Then offer
larger sizes and various extras, such as shape, screens, shingle
roofs, benches. Use only quality materials.

5l. GLASS ETCHING. Custom etch (with acid, engraving bit and/or
sandblaster) glassware for individuals to-order and for
wholesaling to retail stores. Offer monograms, town or company
logo, family crests, art designs and local themes.

52. GOURD CULTURE. Grow and process a variety of interesting
gourds. Make them into decorations, utensils, painted figures,
birdhouses. Retail gourds and do-it-yourself finishing kits.
Retail seed packets with instructions for prize gourds.

53. GOVERNMENT AUCTIONS. Go to major state and federal auctions
and bid on items for subsequent resale. List with auction
authorities to receive notices of pending auctions. Learn and
follow the rules to find the best bargains.

54. GRAPHOANALYSlS. After learning the art and getting a
diploma, offer your services as a handwriting analyst to
individuals, law enforcement agencies and attorneys. Start with
local readings; work fairs for experience.

55. HANGING PLANTS. Specialize in hanging plants (flowers,
ferns, vines) of all sizes and descriptions. Display for sale
when in peak condition in attractive pots, with interesting
holders and hangers. Advertise that you take in trades!

56. HOME HANDYMAN. Perform handyman services for those who can't
or don't have the time. Advertise clearly what you do, keep your
appointments and guarantee your work (to the extent of your
hourly wages). Save customers expensive service calls.

57 HOTHOUSE FABRICATING. Build and sell small hothouses, some
with temperature controlled venting. Offer electric heating
systems for use in the cooler climates and be prepared to give
advice on their use. Consider selling seedlings.

58. HOUSE CLEANING. Offer one-time or periodic house cleaning
services. Perform the heavy tasks (shampoo rugs, clean stoves,
wash windows, wax the floors, defrost). Have a check-list of
jobs to be done and agree on price beforehand.

59. HOUSE PAINTING. Contract to paint houses and apartments or
rooms by the job. Have assistance (high school kids?) on hand
when needed. Increase your profit by supplying quality (only)
paint and supplies and bidding on the entire job.

60. INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS. CASSETTES. Make recordings of yourself
or others teaching and demonstrating their specialties. Start
with simple operations (making a will; cleaning a VCR); graduate
to more complex instructions as you learn.

61. INVENTION PROMOTION. Purchase three to six month option
rights on interesting inventions for relatively low fee. Run
test promotions and buy only the successful ones - those you can
sell for a nice profit or successfully market yourself.

62. INVENTORIES. Specialize in taking inventories for area
merchants (at their convenience - usually after hours). Work
alone or have a qualified team on call. Check with an insurance
company to obtain bonding for yourself and assistants.

63. JACK REPAIR. Repair hydraulic jacks (take a course if
necessary) in your garage shop for individuals, garages,
mechanics, retail stores. Buy, sell, take in trades and rebuild
all kinds. Offer special prices to mechanics.

64. JEWELRY BOXES. Make fine jewelry boxes to sell to and
through gift stores, catalog sales and individuals. Line with
velvet, offer lacquered, inlaid, shell or seed covered versions.
Have varied finished and storage arrangements.

65. KITCHENWARE RENEWAL. Specialize in the renewal of fine
cutlery, pans and wood kitchen utensils. Refinish and reshape,
install new handles, reline, make pieces to match missing parts
of sets. Offer personalization service.

66. KITES. Build, sell and demonstrate all kinds of kites and
accessories. Start a program to sell advertising space to
sponsoring merchants during "meets" that you help stage (e.g.
open, between schools, towns). Give away kites as prizes

67 LAPIDARY (GEM MAKING). Operate a rock shop in your garage.
Cut, polish facet, shape and mount gems in commercial and
amateur findings. Sell mounted, unmounted gems and jewelry.
Tumble imperfections and left-overs to sell separately.

68- LAWN MAINTENANCE. Contract to mow lawns by the job or
season. Charge extra to edge, rake, collect and remove
clippings. Refer related jobs to cooperating businesses for a
finder's fee or commission. Expand your service as you grow.

69. LIBRARY RESEARCH. Use your talent and the public library to
provide research data, technical details and background
information for clients who need their "homework" done. Charge
by the hour, page or a flat fee for your time and effort.

70. LIGHTING SPECIALIST. Design, sell, service and install
lighting systems for external residence and business buildings.
Use inexpensive 12 volt systems among shrubs for security and
beauty; colored spotlights for unusual effects.

71. LITTLE LEAGUE CARDS. Take pictures of small fry baseball
(etc.) players and print on baseball-like cards, complete with
their names, position and other "official" information. Offer in
sets with extra copies for proud parents and relatives.

72. MAGAZINE. SUBSCRIPTIONS. Sell a variety of magazine
subscriptions from your "office". Use "gimmicky" ads, give
credit for leads and prizes for multiple sales. Do lots of
telephone canvassing. Have a special every time you call.

73. MAILING LISTS. Compile mailing lists from various local and
wider area sources (buy voting registration lists, check on
buying tax and license lists). Sell names to brokers or keep
current and rent them yourself (on self stick labels).

74. MARBLE CASTING. With "synthetic marble", cast, finish and
market figurines, ashtrays, office (pen bases) and commercial
(trophies) items for wholesale accounts (stationery stores,
etc.). Make one or two special items for local retail.

75. METAL FOUNDRY. Operate a small metal foundry in your garage
workshop. Cast parts as a sub-contractor, custom items or your
own products. Buy or pick-up scrap metal to melt down. Examples:
dresser knobs, door plates and trophy bases.

76. METAL RECYCLING. Pick up, sort, process (dismantle, clean
wires) waste metals from any source. Accumulate into lots, wait
for periods of high prices and haul to salvage yards. Advertise
to buy surplus metals (at lower rates of course).

77. MINIATURE GARDENS. Create various sizes of garden-like
display containers of live plants for hospital sick rooms, boxes
for balconies, rooftop planters, offices and residences. Include
instructions for care to make your products last.

78. MOSAIC TILE. Buy patterns or create custom designed pieces
and install in an exclusive design for each customer. Offer
exquisite kitchen and bathroom designs, as well as spa and even
swimming pool arrangements. Charge for tile too.

79. MOSQUITO PATROL. With a sprayer mounted on your vehicle,
contract to drive through neighborhoods on an established route
and spray for mosquitoes (normally with a light malathion
mixture in diesel). Work with city or county authorities.

80. MOVIE MAKING (SHORTS). With your 16MM or VCR camera and
related equipment, make custom instructional, informative
(company introductions), promotional and advertising clips. Use
for board meetings, briefings and for cable advertising.

81. MOVING ASSISTANCE. With your truck HELP clients move (versus
"move" them - to stay legal). You can help them pack load, move,
unload unpack. Have stand-by crew ready to assist. Charge for
your time and expenses, not the move.

82. NATURE'S PRODUCTS. When in an area with wild products
(hickory nuts, maple syrup) that you can harvest, do so!
Process, package and sell then as genuine products of nature.
Clear your operation with the local health department first.

83. WINDOWS AND SCREENS. Repair windows: replace glass, repair
frames, renew or rebuild screens. List with hardware stores and
keep an ad in the paper. Fix one broken pane or bid to renew
windows and/or replace all screens on the house.

84. NECKTlES. Make exclusive, hand made ties from exotic
materials from all over the world. Offer a selection of designs,
attach your exclusive label and advertise in men's magazines.
Try local stores first then try larger markets.

85. NEEDLECRAFT. Make your own style of homemade items (pot
holders, bonnets, towel rings) to sell on consignment, to
catalog companies, or at a booth at fairs or flea markets.
Present them in tasteful fashion with your label attached.

86. NElGHBORHOOD NEWS. Compile, publish and distribute a
neighborhood newspaper (or newsletter) with local news, opinions
and interesting features. Include lots of names; sell space for
opinions, announcements and advertisements.

87. ON-CALL CLERK. Register with several stores to be called
for temporary or emergency fill-in (for the store or an
individual), for clerical or sales situations. Should pay more
than normal wages and could lead to a permanent job.

88. PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT. Build and install (and maintain)
playground equipment: forts, slides, climbing/monkey bars,
sandboxes, swings, teeters, circle rides. Use commercial
patterns or design your own. Check on liability insurance.

89. PET PHOTOGRAPHY. Specialize in pet portraits: in their home,
your studio or in their own "natural" setting. Offer a package
price for so many of each size. Go to dog shows and take
pictures of willing subjects (the losers too!).

90. PICNIC TABLES. Build standard, custom and deluxe model
picnic tables Offer a variety of sizes, styles, finishes and
colors. Expand to folding model and sets with umbrellas. Offer
matching chairs, end tables and child sized pieces.

91. PICTURE FRAMING. Make unique picture frames for stores,
artists and clients from moldings, scraps, unusual fabrics. Set
up jigs for the standard sizes. Between orders make standard
sized frames that can be finished in a variety of ways.

92. PIES AND COOKIES. Take orders for or contract for your
specialty baked goods. Deliver to wholesale customers in
containers that appear to be full and have your name and logo
imprinted on the cartons. Give retail customers pick-up time.

93. PILLOWS. Make and decorate designer, fancy, or "down home"
pillows. Sell to boutiques, fairs, through party plans, sales
catalogs and advertisements. Offer a variety of sizes, shapes
and covers. Do custom work for client's decor.

94. PLANT SCULPTURE. A profitable specialty: braid trunks, shape
into interesting forms. Trim, bend, graft, to create valuable
sculptures that bring premium prices. Use pictures in your ads;
sell each plant as an individual creation.

95. PRODUCT REPACKAGING. Buy bulk products (nails, beans,
vinegar) by the ton or barrel. Re-package into neatly labeled
packets, pints or boxes a sell for much more. Check with a local
attorney on any restrictive laws in your community.

96. PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY. Take flattering, descriptive pictures
of merchandise, clothing and satisfied customers for
advertisements, catalogs and brochures. Send sample brochures to
prospective manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

97. PRODUCT REPACKAGING. Buy bulk products (nails, paint
thinner, beans, vinegar) by the ton or barrel. Purchase and
re-package into neat (and full) packets, pints, boxes. Consider
using your own label (with legal advice) on containers.

98. PROOFREADING. Review manuscripts and printed copy and
advertisements for accuracy and grammar. Get considerably more
to review for content quality and technical accuracy. Work with
editors, writers, publishers and educators.

99. PROPERTY PORTFOLIOS. Prepare photograph and property
description folders. Make up folios for private parties (to make
sure their property is shown in the best possible light), and
for real estate companies to use in sales presentations.

100. RE-UPHOLSTERY SERVICE. Recover overstuffed chairs and sofas
for clients in your shop (sell fabrics). Buy good furniture that
needs recovering cheap at auctions to re-upholster and resell at
a nice profit. Take trade-ins to re-do.

101. YARD CLEAN-UP. Contract with homeowners, Realtors and
rental agents to clean up yards after winter, evictions, storms.
Mow, remove debris, water, replant, fertilize. Use periodic ads
in the paper, especially after winter or stormy weather.

102- TOY MANUFACTURING. Create, manufacture and market unique
toys that you can make in your shop possibly made in part by a
"partner" seamstress. Market to local stores, catalog sales
houses or by mail. Go to and have your own booth at fairs.

103. WRITE FOR CHILDREN. Write poems, Sunday school stories,
puzzle explanations, riddles, etc. for children. Sell to local
papers, children's book publishers or in your own booklets.
Check Writer's Guide in Library for more information!

104. GAG WRITING. Specialize in one liners and short funny
situations. Sketch your ideas, list each on a separate card and
file by subject matter. Offer your collection to cartoonists or
comics. Get their addresses from Writer's Guide in the library.

105 - SCHOOL DESK SALES. Buy old school desks at sales and
closed rural schools. Refurbish and decorate into nostalgic
furniture, plant stands and children's furniture. Sell restored
items individually, wholesale to stores or finish to order.

106 - PROMOTIONS. Organize community and commercial promotions:
order bumper stickers, posters; arrange for news releases,
interviews, photo sessions. Plan agenda, schedule workers,
coordinate events for a fee or percentage of profits.

107 - PEN PAL SERVICE. Advertise in both home and overseas
publications for correspondees. Charge for addresses or for a
subscription to your club news with paid advertisements placed
by those seeking penpals. Sell names to mailing list brokers.

Home-based customer service agents

2009-02-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

Business is strong for home-based customer service providers. I talked with several companies that look for home-based customer service reps and they say they are looking to recruit at least 20,000 new agents through the end of this year. The reason? Some large companies are cutting back on staff positions to save on salary and benefits. One of the first departments they look to outsource -- because they can -- is customer service. From banks and retailers to infomercials, consumer-focused companies require people to answer calls from customers.

For example, LiveOps is actively looking for home-based workers interested in sales, as well as licensed insurance agents for both health and life. Arise is specifically looking for agents with specialized skills in language and sales because its high-tech and retail clients are currently demanding this expertise from home-based agents. More specifically, Arise is seeking to recruit hundreds of French or German bilingual professionals, as well as those with great sales aptitude. The company says former phone-based, car or real estate sales agents could find a good fit with Arise when putting their sales tactics to work.

TeamDoubleClick focuses exclusively on virtual administrative assistants. The company says its client hours billed for 2005 were 8,840 and for 2008 they are on pace to exceed 80,000 client hours.

Freelance opportunities are growing. The work isn't downsized even though the work force is. So many companies are turning to freelancers to fill the void. Freelancing is very viable option for people facing job uncertainty either because they're out of work or need some extra money to make ends meet or create a safety net.

Successful Investing - Stop Losing Money and Stick With a Long Term Strategy With These 5 Tips

2009-02-22T11:21:00.001-08:00

Why do some people always make money while others lose? What do you need to do to make your portfolio successful over time? It helps if you have self-efficacy or the unshakable belief in knowing that you have what it takes to succeed whether or not you have the right skills. Stanford University psychologist Albert Bandura first described this behavior in the 1970s. Persistent effort, too, can help you as well as these 5 tips to successful investing:

1. Create an environment for success. For example, you can't build a portfolio of investments if you have no tools to track your performance and asset allocation. There are lots of free and low cost web tools to help you track what you bought, how much it cost, and the average annual return you are getting. Get the right information, software, web tools, etc. to help you organize all of your accounts -cash, pensions, and brokerage accounts.

2. Have good role models. You can't do it alone so make sure you have the support of significant others, successful mentors, or a coach. A good investment plan starts with a clear vision of why you are buying in the first place and what conditions would have to happen for you to sell.
I want to make money-- isn't an investment plan. I want to retire in 20 years with $40,000 annual income coming from investment and pension accounts-- is.

3. Avoid self limiting beliefs. If you lose money don't assume that you will never be able to make money again. Successful people have had many failures. Keep investing and adding money to your portfolio anyway-learn from your mistakes and move forward.

Don't be fooled into thinking that there are good times and bad times to invest. It is always a good time to invest because the alternative---doing nothing leads to a guaranteed loss due to taxes and inflation.

4. Don't allow losses to derail your dreams. Keep your eye on the target you set. For example, I want x amount of money in x years. Know that during those years not everything is going to be going up at the same time- and that's a good thing. Diversification is an easy proven money making long term strategy. Diversify over asset classes (large-cap, mid-cap, small cap, international, etc.) and asset styles (growth, value, balanced, etc.)

5. Believe in yourself and your portfolio. If you have a retirement plan strategy that is not on target, ask yourself if something fundamentally has changed. If not, leave it alone. Believe that you did the right thing to begin with and believe in your plan to see it through.

With determination you can model the behavior of those that are successful. With the right support system and tools, you can develop the optimism that's needed to recover from failures, and market downturns. Follow these 5 tips and you will stop losing money and become the successful investor that you want to be.

Get Started Investing in Forex: 37 Tutorials, Tools & Resources

2009-02-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Even if you’re an active trader in stocks, you may not be prepared to invest in forex, or the foreign exchange market. Forex trades 24 hours a day from 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday until 4:00 p.m. ET Friday, so you won’t hear those opening or closing bells. And, there’s no central market like the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. Instead, trade is conducted between participants through electronic communication networks (ECNs) and phone networks in various markets around the world. So, when you hear that the US dollar closed at a certain rate, it simply means that was the rate at market close in New York. But currency continues to be traded around the world long after New York’s close.

But, like securities, traders can go long or short and they can make a profit or lose money. As with stocks, it’s best to conduct some research into how the forex market works before you begin to trade. After you understand how the forex market works, you can begin to build a trading strategy.

The following list contains 37 tutorials, tools, and resources that will help you get started with investments in forex. If you’ve traded on any stock exchange in the past, some of these tools might feel or appear familiar, but they may have a new twist. The resources listed below were chosen for their clarity and simplicity as well as for their reputation.

Getting Started

The following information is for the forex beginner, but even intermediate-level forex traders might pick up a tip or two from these sites:

Baby Pips:
A pip is the smallest unit of price for any foreign currency, so "baby pips" is a bit redundant. But you won’t find any redunancy on this site. Skip the news on the front page for now and go straight to the School of Pipsology that holds a complete course for beginners. If you walk through all the lessons contained on this site, you’ll have a solid basic forex education under your belt.
Forex Glossary: Although the previous tutorial might help you to understand some forex terms, this glossary is a great tool to have on hand for future reference. You’ll see some familiar terms here, like "selling short" and "limit order," and you’ll learn that they mean the same as they do when you use them for trading securities. But, you’ll also find new terms like "big figure" and "two-way price," terms that will set you apart as a forex trader.
Investopedia: This online financial encyclopedia contains an extensive 10-part article on forex investing, from an introduction to a recap that covers everything from benefits and risks to technical analysis. If you can’t get enough of Investopedia’s information, head to their Forex index, where you can find a list of articles and an opportunity to download their free e-Book entitled, "High Probability Trading Setups for the Currency Market."
National Futures Association(NFA): Now that you have a basic understanding about forex markets, visit the NFA to learn how to build a sound forex strategy. The NFA is "the premier independent provider of efficient and innovative regulatory programs that safeguard the integrity of the derivatives markets," which basically means that this organization regulates any market that depends upon future cash flows. The "investor information" section contains materials about how to find a broker and basic lessons in forex trading. Plus, they publish forex warnings, news, and they offer a place for investor disputes and complaints.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission(CFTC): The CFTC operates along the same lines as the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), except this government organization focuses on protecting market users and the public from fraud in the futures and option markets. So keep this site handy to stay on top of any forex scams through their Consumer Advisory on Forex Fraud. You can learn quickly what to avoid in your learning curve through a detailed forex advisory that offers information about other resources as well.
Martket Traders Insitute (MTI): You don’t need to spend a lot of money to train in forex markets. Even MTI offers free resources such as videos and lesson plans that will help you get off the ground. If you like what you hear and see, you can invest in materials for the advanced trader down the road.

Learn about Currency

If you’re going to trade something, you better know what it is you’re trading. These currency sites will help you get up to speed on foreign currency exchange and markets.

Exchange Rate: Skip the top link box, as those links will take you to FXCM (Forex Capital Markets — see #13 and #33). Instead, try out the "hot" and "currency info" links that provide information about everything you’d want to know about worldwide currencies for 170 countries. Includes calculators, fun facts, serious facts, and more.
Oanda: With a free registration you can access customizable currency tools, including calculators and foreign exchange data. If you don’t register you can still access currency exchange tools that are great items for instant information, especially for travelers, let alone forex investors. The Traveler’s Cheat Sheet is indispensable for money-conscious globetrotters.
GoCurrency: This site offers a powerful and accurate currency converter, but don’t stop there. Learn about currencies by country, currency forecasts, and gather insights on foreign investments.
The Euro: Confused about the Euro? Over 13 European Union countries now use the Euro, and this Web site, brought to you by the European Commission, will teach you everything you want to know about this currency. But the Euro represents just one currency among hundreds. Which leads me to my next point…
List of Currencies: This is an extensive list provided by Wikipedia that covers everything from ancient coinage to the current Yen. As with most Wikipedia lists, you might run across a link or two that doesn’t contain information. But, you can use that information to search elsewhere if needed.

Get the News

Once you’ve learned the basics, the next best thing you can do before you begin to trade is to read up on forex information via traditional financial news sites and blogs. Use the tutorials listed above during this process so that you can grasp the language and learn the strategies involved in any reporting. Take advantage of forums or chats offered by these resources to ask questions:

Action Forex: This site offers an easy-to-read layout that includes news, insights, fundamentals reports, calculators, and tons of other forex resources.
Daily FX: An easy-on-the-eyes news source that offers a calendar, charts, and a forum. Sponsored by FXCM, this site offers a free weekly trading lesson and free quarterly outlook reports. You must be an FXCM client to access the market commentary, but the other "free" news offers a great resource for learning and for staying
on top of forex news.
Forex Reader: The Forex Reader is a popular blog that offers updates on financial headlines relegated by currency. It also serves as a resource for individuals seeking a Houston trucking accident attorney along with other legal and financial information.
Forex News: Like most of the sites listed here, Forex News offers more than news. Check
out their forums, their technical news, and their educational and research materials while you’re there. Register for free to take full advantage of the site’s resources, including a chat feature.
FXStreet: Global Forex Trading (GFX) sponsors this forex news site. Use the forums, chats, strategies, techniques, and trading tools to get a feel for forex. Additionally, several bloggers share their insights, including Wayne McDonell’s FX Boot Camp Training Videos (visit his FX Bootcamp
site).
Profiting with Forex Blog: You might discover that this newsworthy blog is part of the network, "Profiting with Forex."
The blog is interesting, but the backend reports, podcasts, and commentary at the "Profiting" site might appeal to you more.
The Forex Project: Lessons learned first-hand from a forex trader. This site has an unbelievably long list of topics, along with news about the blogger’s personal trading experiences, calculators, charts, news, and a perspective on forex psychology.

Participate in Forums

Speaking of forums, here are a few specific resources where you can tap into information from around the world that may help to answer your questions about forex trading and markets. Be aware that individuals who want to sell their ideas visit these forums, just like any other forums. But, you’ll find a wealth of valid information here as well.

MoneyTec: With over
33,000 members, this traders’ forum offers a format to discuss trading ideas, share, learn, and build new trading techniques and strategies.
Global View Forums: Another free forum that’s been around since 1996. This one focuses solely on forex. You must register to participate.
Forex Factory Forum: You’ll find a Forex Beginner Q&A section as well as topics that focus on specific strategies and techniques. Free to register.

Learn Strategies

You’ll discover that some forex traders use Fibonacci (Fib) methods, and that others rely on current financial news to divine futures. There are as many strategies as personalities in the forex market, but — like the stock market — they rely either on fundamental or technical analysis. The following contains a mix of the two:

Fibonacci Lesson: Don’t know much ’bout arithmetic, Fibonacci numbers, or the Golden Section? This tutorial, offered by Dr Ron Knott from the Mathematics Department of the University of Surrey, UK will provide results. Simple to use, easy to understand, and filled with illustrations to help you learn why some numbers are so important to nature. Interstingly, these numbers are also of vast interest to many forex investors.
Fibonacci Forex Indicators: Forex Planet will begin to show you how to apply Fibs to forex in this easy-to-understand lesson. But, the lesson is short, so you might try the next resource as well:
Mini-Lesson on Fibonnaci: This lesson also applies to forex, and it offers a short tutorial on applications along with a downloadable Fib calculator.
Intro to Japanese Candlestick Charting: Altavest provides a short and succinct introduction to Japanese candlestick charting, another method that forex traders use to graph charts.
Candlestick Patterns: If you like the Japanese candlestick methodology, this site will thrill you. Extensive patterns are illustrated graphically from basic to single patterns and reversal to continuation formations. This entire site offers some great information on techniques and strategies beyond the candlestick information, so take some time to look around while you’re here. Basically, this site has it all as far as technical analysis goes.
Fundamentals of Forex: Forex TV brings you the lowdown on what type of news would affect forex from a fundamental standpoint. You can use the information on this list to conduct further research, but I’ll bring a few of those topics to you now…
Consumer Price Index (CPI): The US Department of Labor offers a ton of information just on this page alone through their links. But, the CPI is often influenced by many other factors. If you’re a fundamentalist, you might want to tag this next link for further research as well…
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): Don’t play around with someone else’s opinions. Get the straight stuff from the US Department of Commerce like the pros. Everyone from the White House staff to US Trade Commission employees to trade policy officials who want to negotiate international trade agreements uses the measurements contained on the BEA Web site. Why should you be left out of this information resource?

Use Charts

Charts offer visual validation for technical strategies, but they also reflect fundamental behaviors in the market. Even if you’re a seasoned securities trader, you might want to learn more about the psychology behind forex trading. If you can read all sorts of charts inside and out, you’ll have the forex advantage.

The Law of Charts: Joe Ross offers advice for traders across the board, but the information contained in his "Law of Charts" offer speaks to forex as well as any other trading strategy. He identifies chart patterns that result from human behaviors and points to entry and exit targets on those charts. You can take advantage of Ross’s other tools as well, including the forum.
Forex
Charting 101: A brief and basic overview of forex charts from Pip Trader. You’ll discover that the charts are very similar to those that you might use for securities trading. But, some of the charts may seem more complicated if you’re not a seasoned trader.
Free Forex Charts: There’s no reason for me to push you into using a specific chart. Instead, I’ll point you to a short list of free forex charts that you can use for practice. When you’re ready to begin trading, take a look at their lists of premium and system trading charts for professional use. The lists contain ratings and reviews, visuals, features, and tips and tricks for individual charts.
FXCM: Although I don’t advocate specific brokers in this article, when you visit brokerage sites make sure that you take advantage of any free information offered by those businesses. In this instance, Forex Capital Markets offers tons of information about forex trading, and you can sign up for a risk-free 30-day practice account to get your feet wet. Forex.com and several other brokerage sites also offer this free account service. Be aware that when you sign up for these services that you’ll be added to a mailing list. You can opt out of these lists, but read any other pertinent information to make sure that you’re not obligated to purchase anything from any brokerage that you use for services such as this one.

Other tools

The tools listed below are "sidebars" to all the information listed above. I’ll cut you loose on the last two sites, as they contain just about every site you’d might want to access for more forex information:

Live Forex Rates: You might recognize the GFT logo behind the rates, but don’t let that distract you from the constantly changing figures. If you’re addicted to live feeds, you’ll be mesmerized by the constantly changing currency
rates on this chart.
A
Free Book about Forex: This book is truly free, as you don’t need to register to access the PDF file. A forex trader offers information about all the mistakes he made as he learned how to develop his own forex strategy. Short and easy to read, this little book will bring some insights into how to avoid some pitfalls in the forex markets.
Top 100 Forex Sites:
Although these sites are rated by popularity and, therefore, subject to rating scams, you can learn much from the sites that are listed simply from the variety of information that’s offered here. Many sites are brokerage firms, but as I mentioned previously you can find free information on many of these sites such as news, calculators, techniques, and more.
Earn Forex: A link exchange/directory for other forex sites. Unlike the "Top 100" site listed previously, Earn Forex doesn’t rate their links. But, you will also find much different information here than at the previous site. Additionally, the links are sorted by categories, which makes it easier to find what you need. In addition, you’ll find other tools here like calculators, articles, and a forex FAQ and glossary.

There are many other sites that I could list for your forex training, but my next suggestion is to head to your local library and read some books about forex trading. If you find an author or two who are to your liking, begin to study their techniques and strategies both through their books and on the Internet. If you share your information and questions on forums, you might find a mentor who will help you learn how to strategize and to use charts and fundamentals to your advantage as well.

Forex trading isn’t learned overnight; so don’t feel inadequate if you can’t grasp the fine points immediately. You can’t lose by learning more about how world economies work. The information that you gather in your search for forex training will make you a better trader no matter which markets you prefer to use.

Yuan Revaluation is in China’s Interest

2009-02-22T11:15:00.001-08:00

While China remains committed, in rhetoric at least, to a flexible Chinese Yuan that rises and falls in accordance with market forces, its actions suggest otherwise. Beginning in the second half of 2008, China stopped allowing the Yuan to appreciate, for fear that a more expensive currency would exacerbate the domestic effects of the credit crisis by making exports less competitive. What China fails to realize however, is that a more valuable Yuan is not only conducive to global economic stability, but also to its own economic well-being. In fact, the artificially cheap Yuan may have actually worsened the economic downturn in China, because de-incentivized the creation of a domestic economic base. Now that overseas demand has dried up, it is left feeling the consequences of this neglect. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
With China far too dependent on export-driven growth, it is now extremely vulnerable to the current steep decline in global export demand.Unless that structural imbalance is fixed, China’s long-term growth prospects are as bleak as those of the United States.

HOw to stop loosing money (2)

2009-02-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

When a trader begins to trade, what normally happens is that the first few trades are usually successful ones. The new traders then becomes so confident of their supreme abilities in trading that their carefully crafted trading plan and money management rules are cast aside.

Suddenly their trades are not going so well anymore, they begin to lose more and more regularly. It almost seems that the market is ganging up on them to rip the carpet from under their feet! New traders being inexperienced tend to take it very personally and then sub consciously decide to punish the market. The position sizes become larger and larger, money management is totally forgotten, and their trading plan is in tatters now. Any piece of rumor or hearsay is taken to be the gospel truth and acted upon. When all these fail and they still lose money, they turn to "sources" that tout the holy frail of trading. That one plan that could make a trader a million in less than a year! (Come on by now wouldn't you have woken up already?)

At that desperate situation, many traders choose to believe these sources and make some hefty purchases. They re fund their accounts and take their new trading plan to the market. History repeats itself, their first few trades makes them money then they being to lose again and again. Soon their account is wiped clean and it is about 6 months from when they first started on their path to forex trading.

Does the above story sound faintly familiar to you? It should because close to 95% of new traders that trade goes through this cycle.

Usually at this point in time I get a lot of applicants applying to join my classes and they clamor and complain that it's the broker's fault or that the trading plan was a rip off or that they were unlucky.

If you found the above example silly or even simplistic, then you are correct. But isn't it surprising that 95% of the people who start off as traders give up after 6 months? Simplistic or silly as it may seem, this happens so often that it isn't even funny anymore. In fact most new traders focus so much on easy and fast profits that they forget the real money making methods.

How then do you stop losing money in Forex and start making some profits? Forex is a business that works best with a defensive stance. If you keep running after the dollars you will only end up losing your whole account! To protect your account must be the first and most important action you as a trader take each time you trade.

There is nothing wrong with the trading plan you started out with or the plan that you bought online or off the shelves. There is noting wrong with the brokers or with the market for that matter. There is a lot of wrong in the way traders think! Discipline both mental and emotional, well planned profit objectives, total money management control. These are the elements that are sadly lacking in the education of many new traders. Prevent yourself from losing anymore money in Forex, plan your trades, trade your plan. Keep a tight rein on your money management, and never take an aggressive stance. This way you will stop the outflow of your money and increase the inflow of pips!

Technical Help (2): Forex AutoPilot EA

2008-06-18T02:16:00.001-07:00

Due to the recent program reliability issues (i.e. EA inactivity and Invalid price error_129), Marcus Leary and his support team made a first-time direct e-mail response to me and claimed that the problem has finally been resolved with the latest update on the ForexAutopilot EA. Click here for more info and the new EA should be updated in the member's area.

I also took this opportunity to raise my point regarding the EA trading and its potential system drawdown in hope to figure out the working of this forex autopilot EA. We've already seen quite a strong performance for this EA as the Euro rode from the 1.48 level to the current level of 1.54 !

I direct the following question to Marcus:

Q1: At what point the EA decides to take a loss and what is the acceptable drawdown for this EA?

Here is his full response:

It decided to stop according to signals from inner indicators. ForexAutopilot EA does not use fixed stop loss. It uses smart settings for stop loss to close losing trades according to inner indicators. EA with fixed stop loss will finally loose your deposit if trading against trend. Our ForexAutopilot EA does not have such problem. when i backtested i saw drawdown near 20-30% if trading with low risk.

I recommend to trade FAPS ea:
0.1 lot for deposit 1000-2000 usd
0.5 lot for deposit 5,000
1 lot for deposit 10,000

Earlier, I also send some of my queries to Andreas:

Q2: May I ask what is the eurusd_m1.set? And where should it be placed plus how can we change the default parameter?

Q3. LotsRiskReductor – Defines the risk. The parameter default is 1 , and what does it means. At what point, the EA decides to take a loss?

Here is Andreas's reply:

eurusd_m1.set can be skipped. It contains default parameters to let user load them if he wants to use default parameters after changing EA settingsLotsRiskReductor

To let program use AutoLot management (it means that IE decides the lot size itself) the variable Lots should be set to zero. So LotsRiskReductor will define the risk size. LotsRiskReductor can be from 1 to 10. 1 means 10% of risk of deposit. 10 means 100% risk.

If you have any problem/issue regarding this FAPS ea, you can try its support team or forward me your queries. I will put up a Q&A for everyone to read.

Latest Update: Great news ! My site readers can now use this e-mail address to reach Marcus & support team 'faster'. In addition, the technical problem surrounding the forexautopilot EA has been resolved via the latest EA update. In the mean time, you can also check out this latest performance report from the forexautopilot trading team.

When Oprah Stops You Trading

2008-06-18T02:15:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

It's been a while, I was kept away from the markets for a while, then after that deliberately hid away. Trading can be a taxing endeavour (in both senses of the word), the market is a real moody beast, and any guy that is married will know, pay attention to those that are moody! It was because of this I had to step back, stop writing here, halt the alerts for a while, stop updating beginnertrader.com unless someone else contributed and just take stock, I wasn't paying attention.

One of my weaknesses is over-exuberance, not really outwardly if you meet me in person, quite a calm fellow really, but inside my head many an idea will spawn. Sometimes it take a smack over this same head to realise when I am doing too much, in this case, a couple of weeks of poor trading (not losing weeks .. just but poor trading weeks) did the trick. My entries were early, my exits were late, my decisions rushed and my big toe hurt to buggery thanks to another over-exuberant teammate on the soccer field.

So I took some time off .. stepped away from the markets, did some reading and got back to the basics. I didn't even bother trading demo accounts or paper trading, instead I got outside, played some sport, spent some time with the better half and mini me, and just got away from it all. The result? ... a +450 pip week this week and a much clearer mind. Everything is about balance, good old Newton told us that way back when, so you would think we would have got it by now.

"Screen time" as it is called around the web (i.e. staring at charts for extended periods), is beneficial, don't get me wrong, getting the repeatable patterns into the subconsience can help, but once screen time becomes, mindless staring, it is probably time to shut the trading platform and take an extended break.

For me I knew I had reached that point when my trading behaviour became very sloppy, for others it could be when you start visiting the Oprah website, or start thinking Porn sites are educational, and you go there only for the articles. Whatever the sign is, drag your tired, bloodshot eyes from the screen and get some sunshine, it is a wonder what the outside world contains, and believe me you'll trade better for it.

Happy Trading

marketiva forex indonesia

2008-06-18T02:14:00.001-07:00

Forex (Foreign Exchange) is the name given to the direct access trading of foreign currencies. With an average daily volume of $1.4 trillion, Forex is 46 times larger than all the futures markets combined and, for that reason, is the world's most liquid market.

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1. MetaTrader 4
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20 Rules To Stop Losing Money

2008-06-18T02:12:00.001-07:00

1. Don't trust others opinions -
It's your money at stake, not theirs. Do your own analysis, regardless of the information source.
2. Don't believe in a company -
Trading is not investment. Remember the numbers and forget the press releases. Leave the American Dream to Peter Lynch.
3. Don't break your rules -
You made them for tough situations, just like the one you're probably in right now.
4. Don't try to get even -
Trading is never a game of catch-up. Every position must stand on its merits. Take your loss with composure, and take the next trade with absolute discipline.
5. Don't trade over your head -
If your last name isn't Buffett or Cramer, don't trade like them. Concentrate on playing the game well, and don't worry about making money.
6. Don't seek the Holy Grail -
There is no secret trading formula, other than solid risk management. So stop looking for it.
7. Don't forget your discipline -
Learning the basics is easy. Most traders fail due to a lack of discipline, not a lack of knowledge.
8. Don't chase the crowd -
Listen to the beat of your own drummer. By the time the crowd acts, you're probably too late…or too early.
9. Don't trade the obvious -
The prettiest patterns set up the most painful losses. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
10. Don't ignore the warning signs -
Big losses rarely come without warning. Don't wait for a lifeboat to abandon a sinking ship.
11. Don't count your chickens -
Profits aren't booked until the trade is closed. The market gives and the market takes away with great fury.
12. Don't forget the plan -
Remember the reasons you took the trade in the first place, and don't get blinded by volatility.
13. Don't have a paycheck mentality -
You don't deserve anything for all of your hard work. The market only pays off when you're right, and your timing is really, really good.
14. Don't join a group -
Trading is not a team sport. Avoid stock boards, chatrooms and financial TV. You want the truth, not blind support from others with your point of view.
15. Don't ignore your intuition -
Respect the little voice that tells you what to do, and what to avoid. That's the voice of the winner trying to get into your thick head.
16. Don't hate losing -
Expect to win and lose with great regularity. Expect the losing to teach you more about winning, than the winning itself.
17. Don't fall into the complexity trap -
A well-trained eye is more effective than a stack of indicators. Common sense is more valuable than a backtested system.
18. Don't confuse execution with opportunity -
Overpriced software won't help you trade like a pro. Pretty colors and flashing lights make you a faster trader, not a better one.
19. Don't project your personal life -
Trading gives you the perfect opportunity to discover just how screwed up your life really is. Get your own house in order before playing the markets.
20. Don't think its entertainment -
Trading should be boring most of the time, just like the real job you have right now

Forex Training In Canada

2008-06-18T02:12:00.000-07:00

The first time you in try FX trading - training in you will feel the thrill of greed. The forex options market started as an over-the-counter (OTC) financial vehicle for Forex training in large banks, financial institutions and large international corporations to hedge against foreign currency exposure. If you still see a trade there, then go for it.

Be informed about the economic indicators that are capturing most of the market's Forex pair trade attention at any given time. Come back the next day and try again. Pair clearly range trading requires a completely different money-management technique.

Why the Fed is such a Lousy Wizard of Oz

2008-06-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Another interesting articles from my friends over at Elliottwave.

********************************

Why the Fed is Such a Lousy Wizard of Oz
By Susan C. Walker, Elliott Wave InternationalSeptember 7, 2007

Central bankers who "follow the yellow brick road" end up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, every Labor Day weekend for their annual symposium sponsored by – who else? – the Kansas City Fed. (Who can forget Judy Garland saying to her little dog, "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," in the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz?)

The Jackson Hole Resort serves as the Federal Reserve's equivalent of the Emerald City, as Fed governors and presidents meet with central bankers and economists from around the world to discuss economic issues. This year, the symposium focused on housing and monetary policy. Usually, the Fed chairman kicks off the symposium and, this year, the new chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, did the honors. He closed his speech with these words:

"The interaction of housing, housing finance, and economic activity has for years been of central importance for understanding the behavior of the economy, and it will continue to be central to our thinking as we try to anticipate economic and financial developments."

Then came the other speeches. And it seems that some of the guests in Emerald City were waiting for their chance to pull back the curtain and prove that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz isn't such a wizard after all. Bloomberg reported that "Federal Reserve officials, wrestling with a housing recession that jeopardizes U.S. growth, got an earful from critics at a weekend retreat, arguing they should use regulation and interest rates to prevent asset-price bubbles."

Apparently, one academic paper presented at Jackson Hole graded the Fed an 'F' for the way it has handled the repercussions from the rise and fall of the housing market.

Truth be told, these folks are a little late to the table as critics of the Fed. We're glad they're joining us, but here's what they still haven't learned: It isn't because the Federal Reserve messes up by allowing credit, asset and stock bubbles to form that it's not a wizard. The Federal Reserve isn't a wizard for one particular reason that it doesn't want anybody to know – and that is that the Fed doesn't lead the financial markets, it follows them.

People everywhere want to believe in the Fed's wizardry. But all this talk about how the Fed will be able to help the U.S. economy and hold up the markets by cutting rates now is as much hooey as the Wizard of Oz promising Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion that he could give them what they wanted: a return to Kansas, a brain, a heart, and courage. Because when the Fed does do something, it always comes after the markets have already made their moves.

If you don't believe it, you should look at one chart from the most recent Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. It compares the movements in the Fed Funds rate with the movements of the 3-month U.S. Treasury Bill Yield. What does it reveal? That the Fed has followed the T-Bill yield up and down every step of the way since 2000. And the interesting question becomes this: Since the T-bill yield has dropped nearly two points since February, how soon will the Fed cut its rate to follow the market's lead this time?

[Editor's note: You can see this chart and read the Special Section it appears in by accessing the free report, The Unwonderful Wizardry of the Fed.]

We've got our own brains, heart and courage here at Elliott Wave International, and we've used them to explain over and over again that putting faith in the Fed to turn around the markets and the economy is blind faith indeed.

"This blind faith in the Fed's power to hold up the economy and stocks epitomizes the following definition of magic offered by Teller of the illusionist and comedy team of Penn and Teller: a 'theatrical linking of a cause with an effect that has no basis in physical reality, but that – in our hearts – ought to be.'" [September 2007, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast]

Because, you see, what makes the markets move has less to do with what the unwizardly Fed does and more with changes in the mass psychology of all the people investing in those markets. The Elliott Wave Principle describes how bullish and bearish trends in the financial markets reflect changes in social mood, from positive to negative and back again. To extend the metaphor: The Fed can't affect social mood anymore than the Wonderful Wizard of Oz could change the direction of the wind that brought his hot air balloon to the Land of Oz in the first place.

As our EWI analysts write, "With respect to the timing of the Federal Reserve Board rate cuts, we need to reiterate one key point. The market, not the Fed, sets rates." Being able to understand this information puts you one step closer to clicking your ruby red shoes together and whispering those magic words: "There's no place like home." Once you land back in Kansas, your eyes will open, and you will see that an unwarranted faith in the Fed was just a bad dream.

Susan C. Walker writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis company. She has been an associate editor with Inc. magazine, a newspaper writer and editor, an investor relations executive and a speechwriter for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Her columns also appear regularly on FoxNews.com.

*********************************

Forex can make you financially free

2008-06-18T02:09:00.005-07:00

The Most Lucrative Part-time Job or Home Based Business Ever

The Forex market is relatively new when compared to the traditional
stock market. The Forex or Foreign Exchange Currency Market was open to the public in 1998. In a year it will be a decade old. This is one
of the major reasons most people do not know about the Forex.
The first reason why you should take a closer look at the
opportunities in the forex market is because of its liquidity
estimated at $2 trillion daily. The other reason is that it is
traded 24 hours of the day and 6 days in a week and participation is
open to all, from individuals like you and me to very large financial
institutions.

With the economic situation of our day worldwide, where there are no
more job guarantees it is not unusual to wake up one morning and find
oneself jobless. In such times, there is an increasing need for a lucrative part-time job or home based business. This is something that you can had absolute control over.

There are of course a multitude of money making opportunities out
there, but to be factual, it is very difficult to find a real
opportunity which will allow you to make a living from your home
computer. Even when you do, you would have to spend hours
doing market research and invest large sums of money to bring it to
fruition. That is if you have not gotten involved in a scam project.
Most of the opportunities on the web today, even if you make big
profits, may be held by someone else. In other words, when you
participate in those turnkey businesses, you do not have control.

In addition to all the "fire your boss today" opportunities, there is
a program on CNBC called Mad Money that seems to begetting to the
masses and unknowing students to invest in the stock market. In
reality this is a very expensive experiment especially for student
that do not have a lot of capital. Buying a Goggle stock for $400.00
a piece is very expensive given that your capital can be wiped out if
the stock goes against you by 100 points. That money could be better
invested in the Forex positions (trades).

The forex market which is also called FX is not really as difficult
as it seems. There is not that much technical vocabulary to learn,
and the risk is considerably low, if you compare it to the other
markets. If we assume that you have 40% loosing trades, you still
have 10 trades left to bring you profit.
The fact that part time job and home businesses seekers should really
consider is that you can choose when to trade, how much to trade and
where you want to trade; all you need is an Internet connection, and
you are ready to tap in the biggest market of the world with $ 2
trillion activity everyday in the same way banks and large corporation do.

Contrary to the trading of stocks, you do not have to start with a
$1000.00 capital. You can start with as little as $250.00.
When you trade a mini lot (10,000 units) of e.g. GBPUSD currency pair
your entry ticket costs $28.00. So when the pair goes your way 1
point, you are $1.00 in profit and vice versa.
You can also trade lesser trading units and you can trade for as
little as $1.00. It is therefore possible to turn a $28.00 investment
to a profit of $100.00 in 24 hours if the currency moves in your
direction 103 points. Imagine been able to do this 2 times a week. In
a good week, this pair moves an average of 400 points.

The Forex market is not a get rich quick scheme it is easy to learn
and understand. It is also easy to make money in the forex if you let
someone dedicated to your success teach you.

Mercedes made more money with FOREX trading than with car manufacturing this year. It is a good way to make $100(0) a day.

Trade without money for 3-6 months on paper, than when you learn

start trading real money. Dont be greedy. 10-20 pips a day is enough.

Start with $250 and build it up to thousands slowly. When you

become a successful trader, you can live anywhere on the planet,

and never have to be dependent on a JOB (Just Over Broke).

1.

Download Metatrader 4 from:

http://www.interbankfx.com/

WHEN YOU FOLLOW THE RULES, YOU WILL MAKE MONEY !
YOU CAN QUIT YOUR JOB NEXT YEAR ...
90 % OF NEWCOMERS FAIL BECAUSE OF GREED, SAME AS IN LAS VEGAS ...

Read and study the whole thread.

20 pips = $20 a day
20 pips = $200 a day
20 pips = $2000 a day

George Soros from Hungary come to this country and made billions on Forex. In one single day he made 1 billion ... really the sky is the limit ...

2.

Here is the thread:

http://fxovereasy.50webs.com/Home.html

Let me known your results. This is my gift for you all.

Some traders searched for years unsuccessfully for this gift.

You can learn this on your own in few days.

I am artist and a philosopher with no talent for numbers. But you

dont need any talent for this, just follow the rules.

Dalibor

http://www.myspace.com/dalibor777

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here is the detailed description of how to install this system
in to your Metatrader:

First down load Metatrader 4 or Strategybuilder FX MT4 (there is a downloads link at the top of the page on this forum. My understanding is that the Metatrader 4 and Strategybuilderfx 4 are the identical. Once it is downloaded then double click to open it and make sure it is operational...then close it down.

Now go to http://fxovereasy.50webs.com/Home.html click on "Indicator downloads" which will open up the list of indicators.
If you left click on the top one (SHI Channels) you will probably get text. So right click on it and you'll get a drop down window...click on "Save target as..." (I found that sometimes when I did the right click first I would not get the window that contained "Save target as" so I found that I had to left click first...then click back and then right click), now you will see a "Save as" window.
In the "Save in" window at the top you want it to read "Local Disk (C). Here is how you can get it to say that without typing it in... click on the arrow at the right side of the upper box. You will now see a drop down window...in it you will see "Local Disk (C)". Click or double click on it and it should then open up it the "Save In" box at the top. Now in the contents below you will see "Program Files". Click or double on it and "Program Files will now be in the "Save in" box (Ifound that if I clicked on the little file folder to the left of the text, it opened easier). Below you'll find "Strategybuilderfx 4 or Metrader 4". Click or double click on it and "Strategybuilderfx4 or Metatrador 4 will now be in the "Save in" box above with it's contents showing below. Find "experts" below, click or double click on it and "experts with appear in the "Save in" box above. Now you will find "indicators", on which you will click or double click and "indicators" will now appear in the "Save in" box above with nothing in the large area below.
Down at the bottom right corner click on "Save"...now you are finished downloading that indicator.
Now go back to the ForexOvereasy indicator download page and download the next indicator. You should find that when you click on "Save target as" it will take you directly to the last step, with "Indicators" already in the "Save in" box, so all you have to do is click on "Save" and its finished and you're ready to download the next indicator. Don't forget to go back to the home page and download the "New Stuff".

Now that your indicators are all downloaded, go ahead and open your "Strategybuilderfx4/ Metratrader 4.
On the left side under "Navigator" click on the + next to "Custom Indicators" which should open up and show you lots of indicators which include the ones you just downloaded. Right click on an indicator and then click on "Attach to chart". Do the same with all the indicators that you want to add...and you should be ready to go.
You can switch the chart over to candlestick by clicking on the candlestick indicator at the top just to the right of center. I suggest you do this first.
I find this tradestation a little difficult to use but that may be because I'm not used to it. It has lots of features.
If you find that you want to delete an indicator, just right click on it and click on the "Delete indicator" line. (Some of the charts may already have some indicators installed that you may not want.)
I have some charts where the candles are very close together and some that are just right...and I haven't figured out the remedy.

Here is the chat thread, but dont complicate a great system, which cant be automated:

http://www.strategybuilderfx.com/showthread.php?t=15112

On this one page you have it all. If you follow the rules, and control your greed, you will become independently wealthy with this system. You are extremely blessed to read this page, as millions of new traders gave up from a lack of a good system. Many professional trader millionaires said, that this is the best system and if you cant work with this system, FOREX is not for you!

See this chart how I made 50 pips (it could be $50 at start, $500 or $5000 every day) :

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/4428/usdchfii1.jpg

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I see most people trying to make a system that should generate 1000 pips or 2000 pips per month, and try to enter every possible move. But the fact is, if you want to make $18 million in 5 years, all you need is discipline and 100 pips per month. Don't believe me? Read on....

Assuming that there are 20 trading days a month, 100 pips would be an average of 5 pips per day. It doesnt matter if you do day trading or positional, if you do 1 trade or 100 trades, all you need is a system that can consistently make 100 pips for you every month.

RULES:
1) You need a system that can make 100 pips consistently every month per lot.

2) Opening balance would be $500

3) Trade is done only in mini lots

4) 0.1 lot is allowed for every $500 balance. So if you have $1000 you can trade 0.2 lots and if you have $5000 you can trade 1.0 lots and so on.

5) Emotions like greed, fear and hope have to be barred out.

6) Once you made 100 pips in a particular month, you do not have to trade till the month is over. So if you make 100 pips in 2 days, you can quit for the entire month.

RESULTS:
After 12 months you will have $3,100
After 24 months you will have $26,000
After 36 months you will have $230,100
After 48 months you will have $2,050,300
After 60 months you will have $18,278,700

Suprised ?
So maybe you'd say no system can make 100 pips consistenly per month. OK, lets say if you were right. Would you agree with me that its comparatively easier to make 10 pips per month? Even if you target 10 pips per month, you would yet end up with $1.8m in 5 years using the same methodology.
Trading is like painting a canvas, you should step back and try to look at the bigger picture than a trade or a single day alone. It is so true.

So get rid of your greed and trade with nothing but common sense. Plz see the attachment for the break up of gains per month.

http://www.traderology.com/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=3

*********************************************************

God bless you all and I wish you a happy new lifestyle ...

Regret Will Kill Your Forex Account

2008-06-18T02:09:00.004-07:00

OK, so you just pulled the trigger on a trade and every bone in your body told you not to. You violated the rules dictated in your trade plan and you watched a small profit immediately turn into a major loss.

Sound familiar? What do you do?

You get over it, that’s what you do! Regret over a bad trade will eat your account from the inside out. Regret is a more powerful emotion than most traders recognize. It is like the unwanted guest that keeps living off of your bank account until there is no more left. It takes most traders into a tailspin that they will never recover. It can lead to dangerous psychological results such as failure to pull the trigger over even worse, paralysis by analysis.

“Yeah, but…” (I will save the disempowerment of this statement for another day)

It’s not easy putting those emotions aside when your money is on the line. That’s why they called it trading, folks. In Forex someone is on the other side of the trade controlling their emotions and eventually controlling your account balance. If you want to find consistency you must never let regret live in your trading experience.

Here’s what I do to combat this debilitating emotion … I get over it! How do I do this? I simply perform a post mortem of my bad trades (I still have them every now and then) and keep a detailed journal. Over time I began to recognize my personal triggers and simply tweaked my trade plan to be a more proactive currency trader and avoid the situations that led to the bad trade in the first place, in my instance over-trading or being tired.

What trader do I model my approach after? The answer may surprise you!

The answer is Tiger Woods.

I play golf, so you could imagine I am a huge fan of Tiger Woods. There are a lot of similarities between golf and trading. Both venues offer a look at who we are as a person, raw and uncensored. Both live in the world of risk and reward.

I admire Tiger Woods skill as a golfer, but even more so his mental toughness. Next time you watch Tiger Wood hit a bad shot follow his reaction. His immediate reaction is to get upset, really upset. Then count 5 seconds. His expressions and demeanor will have returned to one of focus and concentration.

And the funny thing is that is doesn’t matter what kind of prize money is online. He takes the same approach to every golf shot, in every tournament.

Let’s translate that to trading. Do you give yourself 5 seconds to get over a bad trade? Do you take the same approach to every trade?

Stop living in the world of regret and only think about the possibilities of wining trades and you will find your experiences trading the Forex market one filled with achievement and success.

Happy Trading!!

A Forex Trader’s Lifestyle

2008-06-18T02:09:00.003-07:00

Whether you are a novice Forex trader or a seasoned veteran one aspect you must always take into account is to ensure your lifestyle supports successful trading. Forex trading is no different from any other endeavor in life. Whether you are employee, employer or self-employed you must take the time and effort to ensure your environment is conducive to your success.

Take a look at your surroundings and make sure your lifestyle supports you being a successful Forex trader. Take in all the factors of success (how YOU define success) evaluate your factors to make sure your trading is:

Specific – Do you have specific trading goals and objectives? Do you have a trading plan? Ask yourself is your plan to general?

Measurable – Do you have systems in place to objectively measure your performance? If you don’t know your numbers then do you really have a trading business?

Has a Timeline – Do you have a timeline for which you are measuring your goals and objectives against?

Controllable – There are many aspects in Forex trading you can’t control, ensure that the areas your can control are firmly defined and managed with discipline.

Programmed Into Your Lifestyle – Are your Forex trading activities programmed and congruent with your lifestyle? Balance is important so make sure this passes the test!

Taken in Small Steps - This business is a marathon and not a sprint. Start off with small steps and build. The best practice trading principals do not change with account size.

Accountable – Forex trading (or any trading for that matter) can be such an isolated activity. Find ways to have others participate and hold you accountable for your goals. Make it real and measurable!

True Forex success is built through smart work and dedication. By establishing the trading lifestyle that best supports your personality will guarantee prolonged success. Remember, it is your Forex Journey. Be sure you enjoy the ride!

Happy Trading!!

The ONLY Difference Between Professional Traders and Amateurs Is ...

2008-06-18T02:09:00.002-07:00

He's a blog posting from one of my friends on mySpace, Barry. To close the year I couldn't resist posting this for thought!

****************************************************

Here's a revelation that changed my trading forever:

"Successful trading is imply a business of not making mistakes."

That has become such a cornerstone to my trading that I actually framed that saying and put it on my wall over my trading flat screens.

One of the most productive things you can do to become a profitable trader is to make a list of your most common mistakes.

Awareness is the first step.

Then watch your behavior and don't allow yourself to make those mistakes any more.
Each of us has her or his own challenges, so you must make your own list.

But to get you started, I'll expose my sins and share with you what have been my most common mistakes over the years. This is the official list of my own 7 most common mistakes. Perhaps you'll find it helpful:

1. Missing trades. When my setup occurs I need to make sure I'm aware of it and haven't been distracted by chat rooms, email, phone calls or lulled into boredom by a consolidating market.
I also need to make sure I don't hesitate to pull the trigger when I do see my setups.

2. Trading reversals that are not in extended trends and during which the internal market energy has not reversed.

3. Trading only 1 time frame without the confirmation of a longer term chart.

4. Trading while tired.

5. Over trading. Never try to make up for losses or missed trades. Never trade out of boredom. Never take any trade that doesn't match my rules 100%.

6. Not taking profits on my first exit soon enough. This is critical to adjust my cost position in the trade and therefore keep losses small.

7. Exiting my entire position too soon. I must keep at least part of my position alive until the energy of the trade has shifted so that I can ride the big moves.

Well, that's my confession.

Now you know my sins, but I imagine they're not so different than yours.

Have you committed these trading sins ... or your own unique ones?

The only solution is to REPENT!

That doesn't simply mean to say you're sorry.

It means to change your behavior.

Many people treat trading as:
an intellectual exercise.
a mathematical challenge.
or a research project.

Actually it's more about managing your behavior than anything else ... of course that's often the most difficult thing of all!

Are you a forex trader or a gambler?

2008-06-18T02:09:00.001-07:00

Here's an article I found in my files. Given the approach of the New Year, now is an excellent time to re-enforce those good trading habits and thoughts ... enjoy!!

How many pips do you need to be wealthy? The answer may surprise you.

A very common thought and question among us forex traders. Of course this is variable in desires; however it is a good idea to put things into perspective. In reality, the following is what separates the gamblers from the traders.

About 2 years ago I sent out a similar letter that changed the outlook and the lives of many traders. While most at the time were mini-traders a simple 25 pip gain equated to a mere $25.00. "How can I live off of that?" I was repeatedly asked. It didn't take long to put this into perspective.

Determining Percent Return

Profits are one thing, percent return is another. Monthly profits may add up to look nice or not so nice, but what is the actual return? I am sure we have all heard traders say, "I made 1,000 pips last month." OK.. what was your percent return? Not only for one month, but for the life of your trading.

Return Calculation

The simple return calculation is used to determine your return on an investment after you sold it. Or in this case, the profits after closing trades over a period of time.

Here is the formula:

Net Proceeds /Cost Basis - 1 x 100

Let's run through a simple example.

Suppose you traded one standard forex contract for a profit of 200 pips. This would be a raw profit of $2,000. The cost in this case was the spread and the margin needed to secure the contract; the most common margin is 100:1. Thus it cost a temporary, $1,000 to secure this contract. We say temporary because we all know we would not trade without a stop loss, most likely the stop would have been worth about $250.

Calculation:

Net Proceeds = $2000

Cost Basis = $20 (spread) + $1,000 margin

($2,000 /$1,020 - 1) x 100 = 96% (Just under 100% in a single 30 days)

So, if you are trading with a 100:1 margin and averaging around 200 pips per month, you are close to a 100% return per month.

What about per year?

Try it, you will be amazed. Hint: Don't forget to compound.

Take Home Message

Trade conservatively, a few 25 pip trades per week (300 pips per month) on a single lot can give you a return of just under 200% a month. Build your account slowly, trade with the same level of caution, just add more lots. This is the best method, the most realistic method and the lowest stress method of enjoying the rewards of forex.

John Keister

ForexInterBank

http://www.forexinterbank.com

Forex can make you financially free

2008-06-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

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Are you a forex trader or a gambler?

Forex can make you financially free