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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sell Your Gold And Silver To Weather The Recession

By Eric Hoover

Times are tough. Those who haven't already lost their jobs are concerned they might in the near future. Meanwhile, the cost of living is rising for millions of families. You may be a college student who needs funds for tuition and books. Or, you might be a stay-at-home mom trying desperately to make ends meet. Whatever your circumstances, there may be a solution hidden in your dresser drawers: gold and silver.

Many people have old jewelry, tooth fillings, and coins that contain a healthy store of value due to their gold or silver content. These items sit at the bottom of drawers and are all but forgotten. If you need cash to weather the recession, selling these assets may be the quickest solution. Below, we'll explain why more people than ever are selling their gold and silver. We'll also give you a few tips for selling your precious metal.

Stability In A Volatile Economy

Regardless of the economic climate and the fluctuations of currencies (for example, the U.S. dollar), precious metals experience little variance in value. Of course, prices have risen and fallen over the years, but most economists agree that gold and silver tend not to deviate much from their normal price band.

If you own precious metals, there's a good chance they are worth as much or more than their worth at the time you acquired them. They are a store of value, especially during a recession. Close observers of the market will have noticed that the prices of gold and silver have climbed over the past few years. Now may be the time to sell both for extra money.

Where To Sell Your Assets

There are several ways to sell your precious metals. Many people do so through online auctions and gold parties. Auctions are a hit-or-miss event; your assets may fail to generate interest. Gold parties are usually organized by a host who gathers a group of people along with a local buyer. The buyer will weigh each piece brought by attendees and make an offer.

Selling to online buyers has become far more popular. The process is simple and low-maintenance, and sellers usually enjoy better prices.

Getting The Best Deal For Your Assets

In a way, the online market is similar to a swap meet. There are many buyers who are willing to make an offer for your precious metals. Some will offer a better price than others. Some will be more trustworthy than others. One of the advantages to selling online is that reputable buyers list the prices they're willing to pay. It's easy to compare them.

One note of caution: don't choose an online buyer solely on the merit of the price they're willing to pay. Remember, some are unreliable. Sending your assets to them can be risky if you don't conduct a bit of due diligence. Call them on them phone to personally speak with them. Read the agreement on their website. By taking a few precautions, you'll receive a competitive price while enjoying a problem-free experience. - 23218

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Forex Tips - Trade To Profit By Understanding Lots

By Mark Green

What is the first image that comes to your mind when you hear the word 'lot'? I'm hoping you thought of a group or collection of items and not cars. In the forex market we have what are known as forex trading lots. These are the base unit size of any given forex transaction. "I will take 5 lots of the euro against the British pound" you have heard the lingo before; In general, one standard lot is equivalent to 100,000 units of the base currency.

You may remember that the base currency is essentially just the first currency of a currency pair, for example in the EUR/USD currency pair the base currency is the EUR and the 'quote' currency is the USD; this means that you if you buy 1 lot (100,000 EUR) you will pay for it in USD and if you buy 5 lots of the Euro as stated earlier, you would pay for 500,000 Euros using the equivalent amount of British pounds.

You may remember that the base currency is essentially just the first currency of a currency pair, for example in the EUR/USD currency pair the base currency is the EUR and the 'quote' currency is the USD; this means that you if you buy 1 lot (100,000 EUR) you will pay for it in USD and if you buy 5 lots of the Euro as stated earlier, you would pay for 500,000 Euros using the equivalent amount of British pounds.

So now that we know what it is, what is the significance or use of all this? Okay, so if you have a 10,000 dollar account with your favorite forex broker, who gives you leverage of 100:1 (for every dollar in your account you control 100 dollars worth of any currency in the forex market) you can gain full control of a maximum of 10 lots of any base currency in the market. But if you have a micro account but want to control lots 100,000 units in size, you will definitely need to increase the amount of money in your account. Do not make the erroneous decision to use large leverage to control lots greater than permissible for your account type as the risk just isn't worth it.

Start out trading forex market currencies with a small number of lots. A good size for beginners is between 1 and 3. With time you may find that this is plenty to be a successful trader in the market. After you gain experience and have more money in your account, you can increase the size and number of your lots following your risk management plan. - 23218

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Why The Level Of Your FX Currency Courses Is Crucial To Making Profits In Trading

By Compton Marsh

Success in the forex market all starts with they quality of the training you get. It is impossible to learn all of the basics of trading by mere experience alone. You could lose a lot of money by learning from experience. Training for the forex market is available online and can easily be found.

This article addresses the virtues of a good forex training program and shows you what to look for. When I first got into the forex market, I was confused about all of the training options that were available to me. I came across numerous websites that featured a variety of training products each designed to prepare me for a successful forex career.

Looking back, I now realize that there was one single course that was responsible for quickly learning the tricks of the trade or the basic of how trades work. It was a combination of learning tutorials, videos and course that made everything click. This by far is the best way to learn.

The best learning approach is to buy several training programs. The reason for doing so is that it provides you with a diversified learning experience with wisdom and insights from multiple experts. This perspective dramatically increases your learning curve.

When you learn from multiple forex investors, you skills quickly become sharpened. This way, when you encounter unique trading opportunities, more than likely you will somewhat familiar with what is going on. A solid forex education will last you for years to come.

It is never enough to read a book or two about the forex market. While books are wonderful sources of learning, they alone can sometimes lack the practical insight you can get from studying from someone who is actively doing trades. Most in-depth courses on trading provide unique insights known only to the trader.

The information covered in the courses should go into detail on every aspect of how the forex market works. This means they should cover the basics of individual currencies, how countries trade, how money is made and what mistakes to avoid. This comprehensive framework with help you lay a solid foundation.

No training program would be complete if the course did not cover the subject of forex platforms and the applications of forex signals. Aside from looking for new trade opportunities, you will spend the bulk of your time monitoring entry and exit signals and alerts. Since this is where the profits are made, it pays to learn as much as you can in this area. - 23218

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MLP (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

As said, this has to be done on a quarterly basis. The reason MLPs exist is to distribute all available cash back to the MLP unit holders. The following factors are considered before determining the amount of cash distributed to each individual investor:

1) The difference between the total cash flow and the cash flow ploughed back into the MLP for futures growth. 2) How many units you hold as an MLP investor. 3) The incentive distribution rights created for the GP. These are just a few factors. There might be more as well. You need to understand the reasons behind the factors that determine the distribution of cash among the individual investors.

So once you decide to invest in commodities, you have many investment options like mutual funds, stocks, ETFs as well as MLPs. You must do your due diligence while making your investment decisions. There are always pros and cons of each investment vehicle!

So investing in an MLP is just like investing in stocks. Investing in MLPs is quite simple. Since an MLP is a publicly traded entity. You can simply invest in an MLP by calling your broker and telling him or her how many units of a particular MLP you are interested in buying.

Something like 50 MLPs is being publicly traded in the United States. Out of these 50, 40 are energy MLPs meaning that they are involved in the storage terminals, pipelines, transportation, refining and distribution. Majority of MLPs trade on NYSE with a few trading on NASDAQ and AMEX!

You only need to remember this 90% of the income that comes to an MLP should come from the production and distribution of commodities for these MLPs to have the tax exempt status. Moreover, investing in pipelines and other energy infrastructure offers steady cash flow streams for an MLP.

So when you invest in an MLP, you should look for answers to the following questions: 1) What's the historical payout of the MLP? 2) How much is the cash flow? And so on. If your brokerage firm has published some research on the MLPs, you can reference that.

Now investing in MLPs do come with some risks like most of the infrastructure is like pipelines and drilling rigs that are vulnerable to natural disasters and earth quakes like the Hurricane Katrina, so any such event can have a negative impact on your investment.

Another factor that you need to take into account is the liquidity of your investment. Since the MLP is fairly small at this moment, there can be liquidity issues in withdrawing your investment from an MLP. These are some of the risk that you can face while investing in an MLP. There is another risk related with the management. You don't have much say in the management of the MLP. Running an MLP is basically a GP show. If you are not satisfied with the performance of the management or its policies only thing that you can do is to withdraw your investment from that MLP. - 23218

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Trading Crude Oil Futures (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

One thing should be clear to you. Energy markets will be a major focal point in the global financial makers and the global economy for many years to come. The key to understanding energy trading is to understand oil, natural gas, gasoline and heating oil futures. Again crude oil prices have started rising. The recent price of crude oil was quoted as $ 80 per barrel. It is being predicted that the price will soon reach the $ 100 per barrel mark. Analysts are of the opinion that this price might reach as high as $ 200 per barrel. In any case, with the end of global recession, the demand for crude oil will again rise making the oil prices go sky high as the supply cannot keep up with the rising demand.

You must be thinking that crude oil trading is being done only between different countries or hedge funds or highly wealthy individuals. For your information, crude oil contracts can also be traded by retail traders like you and me. NYMEX trades futures and options contracts for crude oil, natural gas, heating oil, gasoline, coal, electricity and propane. NYMEX is also home to trading in metals. Trading in energy futures is centralized at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange.

Next to interest rates, energy and especially oil is the center of the universe not only for the industry but also for the financial markets. The relationship between energy and interest rates is very important to understand. This relationship ties together the two most important aspects of the global economy: energy (the fuel for growth) and the interest rates (the catalyst that powers borrowed money to do things).

The relationship between energy and interest rates is very important to understand. This relationship ties together the two most important aspects of the global economy: energy (the fuel for growth) and the interest rates (the catalyst that powers borrowed money to do things). Next to interest rates, energy and especially oil is the center of the universe not only for the industry but also for the financial markets.

As a trader, you should know this fact that oil price rise often tends to slow down the economy and lower retail sales as well as consumer confidence with lower traffic on the highways. Sometimes the rise in oil prices leads to the increase in interest rates through the bond market and the actions of central banks and the other times the opposite happens. Rise in oil prices if often inflationary.

Some people consider the Peak Oil idea as controversial but this concept is increasingly plausible given the state of the global oil industry. Oil production in countries like Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria has peaked and is going down. Non OPEC sources of oil like North Sea and Mexico are also showing sign of declining production. There has been no major oil well discovery for the last few decades.

Oil production in countries like Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria has peaked and is going down. Non OPEC sources of oil like North Sea and Mexico are also showing sign of declining production. There has been no major oil well discovery for the last few decades. Some people consider the Peak Oil idea as controversial but this concept is increasingly plausible given the state of the global oil industry.

1) The world runs on oil and any threat to the supply of oil often leads to rising prices. 2) Demand fluctuates but supply of oil is finite. As an oil trader your primary goal is to consider the effects of events on the supply of oil and correlate this effect with your charts. - 23218

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