Forex trading is an exciting world that is slowly becoming popular with people who thrive on the excitement as well as the incentive of making fast money. However, making money in forex trading is not all that easy and it requires a basic understanding of the foreign exchange market.
The foreign exchange market can be loosely termed as the place where foreign currencies are exchanged to make a profit. An interesting fact to note is that in the early days, there was free floating exchange of major currencies, which occurred through banks and important financial institutions, where the rate of exchange was largely determined through the existing demand and supply of currencies. However, there have been instances where banks and institutions have interfered to either increase or decrease these rates, but these have been few and far between. In the earlier days, only banks and such institutions were allowed to speculate but in recent times, this has been extended to private parties too.
The foreign exchange market is an OTC or over the counter market, which means that there is no central exchange system like the stock markets. Rather, the market consists of a multi tier system, of which the first tier or the top tier consists of banks, the largest banks in the world to be precise. These banks have created an interbank market, where they agree to buy and sell currencies at rates set by them in mutual agreement. They have an electronic broking system in place, which allows all banks to be aware of the exchange rates simultaneously.
The second tier of the forex market comprises of the branches or parts of multinational companies, like branches of various banks or financial institutions so that people at the local level wanting to exchange currency can do so easily.
The third tier of the foreign exchange market is that of the retail brokers who form the most liquid and volatile part of the market. It is interesting to note that the currency trading market is not only the biggest market in the world but is also the most liquid one, which in turn is maintained with the help of private traders and retail brokers. With the ease in which forex trading can now be conducted in the comfort of your home, with only a computer and broadband connection, the number of retail traders are increasing at an exponential rate every day. Dare you miss out on this opportunity?
Monday, December 27, 2010
Foreign Exchange Market - A Guide to the World's Best Home Business
Are you considering trading the Foreign Exchange Market? Many others have and are now earning a great living from home. You too can do this with the right trading system. Before you begin, you should know some of the basics.
The Foreign Exchange has a few names. You'll hear it referred to as the Forex, currency market, FX, and spot market. It's a world-wide financial market where all of currencies are traded. Yes, you can buy and sell a country's currency just like a stock on the stock exchange.
A currency's prices is always relative to another countries currency. You will see that currencies are always priced in pairs. The value a one country's currency will change as its buying power fluctuates. Price is influenced by the economy, government policy, natural disasters, political speeches, etc. News announcements can have an immediate impact to price.
The creation of this market was for the purpose of aiding global investment. Corporations can use it to control the cost of importing and exporting. Banks use it to support their clients. Short term traders access it to buy and sell in order to make a quick profit.
As a short term currency trader, you can earn a fantastic living. You can run this business anywhere you have access to the internet. Like any business, you need to have the right trading tools. In the past few years, software companies have created very powerful yet easy to use trading systems that are incredibly accurate.
I spent a few months testing out a number of currency trading systems. I did this by using a demo account from an online discount broker. I kept the two that performed the best. It's made trading the Foreign Exchange Market very easy.
With the system I use, you can download it, deposit a couple of hundred dollars in a trading account, and you're in business. After downloading the software you can start trading almost immediately. How many other businesses do you know of that can make you far more money than most jobs, the start up cost is only a few hundred dollars, and you can be making money on you first day! And, you don't need any specific background, education, or experience with the Foreign Exchange.
In conclusion, the Foreign Exchange Market is used by different people and groups for their own reasons. You should consider treating it like a home based business. Start out by testing trading software like I did. What's stopping you from doing it right now?
The Foreign Exchange has a few names. You'll hear it referred to as the Forex, currency market, FX, and spot market. It's a world-wide financial market where all of currencies are traded. Yes, you can buy and sell a country's currency just like a stock on the stock exchange.
A currency's prices is always relative to another countries currency. You will see that currencies are always priced in pairs. The value a one country's currency will change as its buying power fluctuates. Price is influenced by the economy, government policy, natural disasters, political speeches, etc. News announcements can have an immediate impact to price.
The creation of this market was for the purpose of aiding global investment. Corporations can use it to control the cost of importing and exporting. Banks use it to support their clients. Short term traders access it to buy and sell in order to make a quick profit.
As a short term currency trader, you can earn a fantastic living. You can run this business anywhere you have access to the internet. Like any business, you need to have the right trading tools. In the past few years, software companies have created very powerful yet easy to use trading systems that are incredibly accurate.
I spent a few months testing out a number of currency trading systems. I did this by using a demo account from an online discount broker. I kept the two that performed the best. It's made trading the Foreign Exchange Market very easy.
With the system I use, you can download it, deposit a couple of hundred dollars in a trading account, and you're in business. After downloading the software you can start trading almost immediately. How many other businesses do you know of that can make you far more money than most jobs, the start up cost is only a few hundred dollars, and you can be making money on you first day! And, you don't need any specific background, education, or experience with the Foreign Exchange.
In conclusion, the Foreign Exchange Market is used by different people and groups for their own reasons. You should consider treating it like a home based business. Start out by testing trading software like I did. What's stopping you from doing it right now?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Are Debit Cards Good For Your Teen?
Like most teens, James is far less financially capable than your average adult. This is because he is young, financially dependent on his parents and just doesn't have enough experience in handling money. However, sooner or later, he will have to depart from his parents' care. He has to go to college or go live his own life. It is inevitable, he will soon be on his own.
When he embarks on this journey, he must become independent from his family and make a life for himself. This includes choosing the right career path, saving and budgeting efficiently and establishing himself within society. In short, his success or failure in the future will solely depend on his abilities. He then needs to be a good decision-maker and take care of his finances.
But for now, while he is under his parents' care, they take great part in shaping his future. It is up to them to ready him for certain life challenges, one of these challenges being finance management. In the future, James must know when to splurge and when to save. His parents' training will greatly influence him on this. There are many ways in which they can shape him into becoming a a good saver. One of these is by letting him handle a job. Just like other kids in their teens, James can undertake a job in the evenings, or over the summer holidays.
Through this he will learn the value of hard work ethic, obeying company rules and managing ones finances. When it comes to money, James should handle his work finances himself. This includes paying his mobile bill and even owning his own debit card. Sooner or later he will learn to put aside savings, pay bills on time and only spend money on necessities.
Other parents tend to assist their teenagers far too much in this crucial point of their progression into adulthood. They lend their kids their credit cards. But as they have surely learned by now, credit cards cause debt. It also shrouds the mind of a supposed-power to purchase. However, it only fools people in to such thinking. Credit cards are nothing but debt with interest rates that needs to be repaid on time.
A debit card, however, is far different. It uses the funds on a person's account therefore there is no lying. Whatever a person spends, it is his own hard-earned money. Mentally, debit cards benefit through the lesson of "living within your means". When one exposes their teenager to such an idea, he will carry it with him for life. He will always have the notion to spend his own money and buy only what he can afford. So by exposing kids to the benefits of debit cards, parents are preparing their loved ones for a financially wise future.
When he embarks on this journey, he must become independent from his family and make a life for himself. This includes choosing the right career path, saving and budgeting efficiently and establishing himself within society. In short, his success or failure in the future will solely depend on his abilities. He then needs to be a good decision-maker and take care of his finances.
But for now, while he is under his parents' care, they take great part in shaping his future. It is up to them to ready him for certain life challenges, one of these challenges being finance management. In the future, James must know when to splurge and when to save. His parents' training will greatly influence him on this. There are many ways in which they can shape him into becoming a a good saver. One of these is by letting him handle a job. Just like other kids in their teens, James can undertake a job in the evenings, or over the summer holidays.
Through this he will learn the value of hard work ethic, obeying company rules and managing ones finances. When it comes to money, James should handle his work finances himself. This includes paying his mobile bill and even owning his own debit card. Sooner or later he will learn to put aside savings, pay bills on time and only spend money on necessities.
Other parents tend to assist their teenagers far too much in this crucial point of their progression into adulthood. They lend their kids their credit cards. But as they have surely learned by now, credit cards cause debt. It also shrouds the mind of a supposed-power to purchase. However, it only fools people in to such thinking. Credit cards are nothing but debt with interest rates that needs to be repaid on time.
A debit card, however, is far different. It uses the funds on a person's account therefore there is no lying. Whatever a person spends, it is his own hard-earned money. Mentally, debit cards benefit through the lesson of "living within your means". When one exposes their teenager to such an idea, he will carry it with him for life. He will always have the notion to spend his own money and buy only what he can afford. So by exposing kids to the benefits of debit cards, parents are preparing their loved ones for a financially wise future.
Four Ways Credit Cards Can Help Your Finances
Credit cards are often painted as being, more than anything else, the bringer of debts and misery to consumers. They have remained a popular product for many years, though, not because they are sometimes used badly but because they are often used well.
Know what you're doing and what you want and cards can be an excellent supplement to current accounts, personal loans and even to your everyday purchases. When you go to compare plastic you'd be forgiven for thinking that they are for one things and one thing only: borrowing money in the short term.
This is because laws on advertising cards mean that they have to advertise the typical variable APR, that is, the interest rate on borrowing more prominently than any other offers.
There are even rules on how much bigger the font of the interest rate needs to be. However, since most credit cards have an interest free period of around fifty days there is no need to pay interest at that high rate when borrowing in the very short term. Since that's much cheaper than going into most planned overdrafts and all unplanned overdrafts this is the first way that credit can help your finances.
A second way should be on your mind when you compare personal loans. In this case, some loans can be paid back early without there being a penalty to the holder of the loan for doing so. If you go for this sort of loan then you could use a super balance transfer offer to pay off the loan and then pay the balance transfer back at 0%, potentially saving hundreds in interest fees.
The third point is that cards can be used to make money and thus to supplement income in a similar way to investments and savings accounts. For example, when you go to compare savings accounts it might be the case that you could spot one offering a high rate for the length of an interest free offer. In that case, while the money is the savings account earning money it isn't accruing interest for the borrower.
The forth and final point is that credit cards can make money in another way: through rewards. This will only be relevant to those who spend a lot of money throughout the month and it'll be especially relevant to those who spend a lot of money in just one store which has its own rewards scheme.
Know what you're doing and what you want and cards can be an excellent supplement to current accounts, personal loans and even to your everyday purchases. When you go to compare plastic you'd be forgiven for thinking that they are for one things and one thing only: borrowing money in the short term.
This is because laws on advertising cards mean that they have to advertise the typical variable APR, that is, the interest rate on borrowing more prominently than any other offers.
There are even rules on how much bigger the font of the interest rate needs to be. However, since most credit cards have an interest free period of around fifty days there is no need to pay interest at that high rate when borrowing in the very short term. Since that's much cheaper than going into most planned overdrafts and all unplanned overdrafts this is the first way that credit can help your finances.
A second way should be on your mind when you compare personal loans. In this case, some loans can be paid back early without there being a penalty to the holder of the loan for doing so. If you go for this sort of loan then you could use a super balance transfer offer to pay off the loan and then pay the balance transfer back at 0%, potentially saving hundreds in interest fees.
The third point is that cards can be used to make money and thus to supplement income in a similar way to investments and savings accounts. For example, when you go to compare savings accounts it might be the case that you could spot one offering a high rate for the length of an interest free offer. In that case, while the money is the savings account earning money it isn't accruing interest for the borrower.
The forth and final point is that credit cards can make money in another way: through rewards. This will only be relevant to those who spend a lot of money throughout the month and it'll be especially relevant to those who spend a lot of money in just one store which has its own rewards scheme.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Why Yahoo Finance Is The Best Financial Website
Yahoo Finance is the best free solution for analytical Finance data on the internet. When I was a young Investment Banker, I used to use Yahoo Finance all the time to check on daily stock prices. It is absolutely great for young poor college professionals who don't have much money and would like to learn more about Finance. If you cannot afford expensive data services like Bloomberg and still want to conduct basic financial analysis, then Yahoo Finance is for you.
Yahoo Finance can totally help you with many different tasks. You can get all the latest news on companies that you are interested in. Simply punch in the company's ticker and get all the latest information about that particular company. It even works for mutual and index funds. If you are looking to study macroeconomic data or country specific currency data, Yahoo Finance can provide you with exchange rate data as well.
If you are looking to do financial modeling, you can get excellent historical data on Yahoo Finance about any company or mutual fund you choose. Then you can download the data in csv format to use with any spreadsheet program of your choice. This is a wonderful feature because it provides you with the very raw data you need to make a price graph. Then, you can use the graph to figure out future price movements, trends and shapes. This is incredible for any up and coming technical analyst.
Because Yahoo is strong in a lot of different countries around the world, you can even access international data concerning many emerging economies. So, if you are studying Asian or South American economies, you can now get good reliable data about these countries as well. Also, get historical currency exchange rate data that can be of great help when charting forex graphs and predicting prices.
The best feature in Yahoo Finance is the ability to create your own mock portfolios. You can now pick companies that you think will do well and create your own portfolio. Then, you can see if you would have made money using those decisions. You can buy and sell as many shares that you want depending on chosen price points.
You even get customized news alerts for the companies in your portfolio. I would recommend that you create as many portfolios as possible to learn as much as you can about different types of investments. This is also an excellent learning tool for those people who are looking to learn more about the stock market.
Yahoo Finance can be an absolute boon for anyone wanting to start out in Finance. If you are looking to learn how to go about conducting yourself in the market, then getting to learn the ropes is a breeze on Yahoo Finance. I would recommend the site to any newbie. It is truly an excellent offering from Yahoo and it comes at a great price: free. So go ahead and register yourself, get your own user name and password and you can be off on your own Finance adventure.
Yahoo Finance can totally help you with many different tasks. You can get all the latest news on companies that you are interested in. Simply punch in the company's ticker and get all the latest information about that particular company. It even works for mutual and index funds. If you are looking to study macroeconomic data or country specific currency data, Yahoo Finance can provide you with exchange rate data as well.
If you are looking to do financial modeling, you can get excellent historical data on Yahoo Finance about any company or mutual fund you choose. Then you can download the data in csv format to use with any spreadsheet program of your choice. This is a wonderful feature because it provides you with the very raw data you need to make a price graph. Then, you can use the graph to figure out future price movements, trends and shapes. This is incredible for any up and coming technical analyst.
Because Yahoo is strong in a lot of different countries around the world, you can even access international data concerning many emerging economies. So, if you are studying Asian or South American economies, you can now get good reliable data about these countries as well. Also, get historical currency exchange rate data that can be of great help when charting forex graphs and predicting prices.
The best feature in Yahoo Finance is the ability to create your own mock portfolios. You can now pick companies that you think will do well and create your own portfolio. Then, you can see if you would have made money using those decisions. You can buy and sell as many shares that you want depending on chosen price points.
You even get customized news alerts for the companies in your portfolio. I would recommend that you create as many portfolios as possible to learn as much as you can about different types of investments. This is also an excellent learning tool for those people who are looking to learn more about the stock market.
Yahoo Finance can be an absolute boon for anyone wanting to start out in Finance. If you are looking to learn how to go about conducting yourself in the market, then getting to learn the ropes is a breeze on Yahoo Finance. I would recommend the site to any newbie. It is truly an excellent offering from Yahoo and it comes at a great price: free. So go ahead and register yourself, get your own user name and password and you can be off on your own Finance adventure.
3 Tips for Achieving Financial Freedom
Let me start off by saying that we live in a very distracted world currently, where consumerism is king. Just what is consumerism? It's the thought or idea passed on my companies and marketers that we need every new gadget, gizmo or even latest designer suit that comes out. Now, let me ask you this. Just how much is enough. There are many out there with brand new designer clothes with the tags on them after a year's time! This should tell you something, we are living in a time when 'shop-aholic-ness' is the new addiction of disease -if there is such a word.
It's the notion that we must buy absolutely everything we see on tv, hear on radio e.t.c. Just because it's trendy, we need it. Well, I'm hear to snap you out of this unrealistic and financially devastating dream that you maybe living in. Far better to strive to one day become financially free and live the type of lifestyle congruent to your newfound Financial Freedom status. It is a goal that every aspiring lifestyle dreamer should be seeking. I want to show you 3 Tips for Achieving Financial Freedom in this article.
The following is three easy tips for Achieving Financial Freedom that you can start applying almost immediately.
Start a Journal and track what you spend. One of the biggest issues that you possibly have right now is that you aren't actually tracking what you spend. You maybe floating on a financial ship that has leaks, tracking where those leaks are in your financial life will keep you financially afloat and also help you towards your goal of achieving financial freedom.
Get Rid of All Bad Debt. What do I mean by 'bad debt'? I'm talking of the debt that is not part of an investment strategy but instead you have to pay it down yourself every month or so. E.G. A Brand new car is an example of bad debt while a rental income house that a tenant pays your loan is good debt.
Pay More Than Your Minimums. If you want to eventually get out of debt and achieve financial freedom, you should be paying more than the minimum each month. Start with your lowest debt and wipe it out, then start on the next and vice versa.
Just implementing these three steps in your lives will be more than possibly what 90% of people are not doing. These people are not financially free usually and entrapped by our consumerism example above. If you want to achieve that goal of finally becoming debt free, come up with a measurable plan and stick to it. Imagine what your life would look like without having to worry about the burden of debt on your shoulders.
It's the notion that we must buy absolutely everything we see on tv, hear on radio e.t.c. Just because it's trendy, we need it. Well, I'm hear to snap you out of this unrealistic and financially devastating dream that you maybe living in. Far better to strive to one day become financially free and live the type of lifestyle congruent to your newfound Financial Freedom status. It is a goal that every aspiring lifestyle dreamer should be seeking. I want to show you 3 Tips for Achieving Financial Freedom in this article.
The following is three easy tips for Achieving Financial Freedom that you can start applying almost immediately.
Start a Journal and track what you spend. One of the biggest issues that you possibly have right now is that you aren't actually tracking what you spend. You maybe floating on a financial ship that has leaks, tracking where those leaks are in your financial life will keep you financially afloat and also help you towards your goal of achieving financial freedom.
Get Rid of All Bad Debt. What do I mean by 'bad debt'? I'm talking of the debt that is not part of an investment strategy but instead you have to pay it down yourself every month or so. E.G. A Brand new car is an example of bad debt while a rental income house that a tenant pays your loan is good debt.
Pay More Than Your Minimums. If you want to eventually get out of debt and achieve financial freedom, you should be paying more than the minimum each month. Start with your lowest debt and wipe it out, then start on the next and vice versa.
Just implementing these three steps in your lives will be more than possibly what 90% of people are not doing. These people are not financially free usually and entrapped by our consumerism example above. If you want to achieve that goal of finally becoming debt free, come up with a measurable plan and stick to it. Imagine what your life would look like without having to worry about the burden of debt on your shoulders.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Lending to Businesses
If a bank is lending to someone for personal use, the loan is just another expense for the borrower to take from their monthly income. It doesn't enhance their ability to make repayments and if anything, it reduces their ability to repay because presumably, their funds were already committed elsewhere.
But, if you lend money to someone who already has an established business and they intend to use the funds to further invest in that business, then one could argue, that they are increasing their ability to repay their loan and therefore increasing their covenant strength.
On the other hand some people say that by lending someone money for home improvements, it increases the value of the underlying asset but they forget that in a repossession scenario, you'd be looking at forced sale recovery value anyway as you don't know in what condition the property will be left. In my mind, it is better to increase the value of the covenant (i.e. the borrower) because there is less chance you'll end up in a fire sale. Furthermore, if the investment in the business does yield results, then the borrower will be able to draw more money out of the business and so the home improvements may be done anyway.
Finally, the last thing to bear in mind is that someone who relies on their business to generate themselves a living will fight their hardest to keep it afloat because the last thing they want is to lose their source of income and may well be a more responsible and commercially aware person.
In conclusion, it makes more sense to lend to people that will invest in a business than to lend to people that intend to spend the money on themselves. They are likely to be far more responsible borrowers.
Roma Finance is an independent residential and commercial finance broker with over 10 years experience, based in Manchester.
We specialise in many types of property and asset finance including Bridging Loans, Commercial Mortgages, Secured Loans (second charges), Invoice Discounting, Development Finance, Stock and Plant & Machinery Finance.
What makes Roma Finance unique is that we actually underwrite loans for other lenders. We have very strong lender relationships, we know the key decision makers and their appetite for deals, we understand their funding process, we get deals completed quickly and most importantly, we can give clear and honest feedback to our clients.
But, if you lend money to someone who already has an established business and they intend to use the funds to further invest in that business, then one could argue, that they are increasing their ability to repay their loan and therefore increasing their covenant strength.
On the other hand some people say that by lending someone money for home improvements, it increases the value of the underlying asset but they forget that in a repossession scenario, you'd be looking at forced sale recovery value anyway as you don't know in what condition the property will be left. In my mind, it is better to increase the value of the covenant (i.e. the borrower) because there is less chance you'll end up in a fire sale. Furthermore, if the investment in the business does yield results, then the borrower will be able to draw more money out of the business and so the home improvements may be done anyway.
Finally, the last thing to bear in mind is that someone who relies on their business to generate themselves a living will fight their hardest to keep it afloat because the last thing they want is to lose their source of income and may well be a more responsible and commercially aware person.
In conclusion, it makes more sense to lend to people that will invest in a business than to lend to people that intend to spend the money on themselves. They are likely to be far more responsible borrowers.
Roma Finance is an independent residential and commercial finance broker with over 10 years experience, based in Manchester.
We specialise in many types of property and asset finance including Bridging Loans, Commercial Mortgages, Secured Loans (second charges), Invoice Discounting, Development Finance, Stock and Plant & Machinery Finance.
What makes Roma Finance unique is that we actually underwrite loans for other lenders. We have very strong lender relationships, we know the key decision makers and their appetite for deals, we understand their funding process, we get deals completed quickly and most importantly, we can give clear and honest feedback to our clients.
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