What Is The Best Investment In A Recession?

By Sue Calhoun

If you're nervous about the market, and have been sitting on the sidelines, here are some ideas for you to choose what could be the best investments for your portfolio. (Note: These are just ideas to consider and not recommendations; any investment decision you make should be based on your personal financial goals and risk tolerance.)

Stocks: Investing in stock will require you to be a little more active in managing your investments; the days of buy and hold are likely gone for good. Since the economy is still not back to top performance, you'll want to stay on top of your investments to ensure they continue to perform. Invest in the big name companies, those companies which perform in both good and bad markets. These are companies consumers continue to buy, their products are everyday necessities, and the management has maintained good revenues, low debt and adequate cash flow.

Bonds: Bonds may be considered a safer investment than stocks, but you still have to actively monitor their performance. If for example the company fails, as a bondholder you can still be impacted negatively. For Treasury bonds, lately yields are at extreme lows, and even went negative! So remember that low risk means low return, and balance that with your overall financial strategy. Also research municipal bonds, agency bonds, utility and corporate bonds. As with stocks, select bonds backed by healthy companies or agencies.

CDs and Money Market accounts: These investment vehicles are as close to savings accounts as you can probably get. They also have very low interest rates right now, even with large deposits you will likely find rates under 3% or 4%. Remember though that most CDs and money market accounts are insured (but not all - check with the bank you're buying from). With rates this low, you want to consider taking a little more risk, unless you are facing retirement, or paying for college in the next year or two. But again depending on your personal goals, keeping some portion of money parked in these safe investments might be a good idea.

There really isn't a best investment that works for everyone. Whatever you choose in your investment account should be based on your personal financial strategy. Don't let anyone tell you what is right for you; it has to fit with your goals and your risk tolerance. Spend the time to put together a financial plan, and you can choose your best investments with that plan in mind. - 23199

About the Author:

Looking for the best investment for your money right now? Sue Calhoun writes about contrary investing advice from not-the-usual sources.

How Seasonal Trends Effect FX Markets?

By Hass67

Most forex traders analyze and predict the future direction of currencies using fundamental or technical analysis. The craftier among them use the combination of both to predict direction of forex markets.

Fundamental analysis studies the long term effect of economic forces on currency markets whether financial or socio political using various economic indicators. Technical analysis is based on the premise that all available information is already compounded into the prices and the future prices can be predicted based on past prices.

If you have been trading stocks, you must be familiar with the term: The January Effect. It has been observed over a long period of time that stocks tend to perform very well between the last week of December and the first week of January.

The explanation of the January Effect is simple. During the last few days of the year, many investors are concerned about their tax returns. They try to realize capital gains or losses to file their tax returns. Many corporations also use the end of the year to face lift their balance sheets favorably at the end of the year.

Seasonality is not peculiar to the stock markets. In fact forex markets also tend to exhibit strong seasonal effects. Seasonality can be defined as a pattern that occurs at a particular period of the year.

The January Effect also takes place in forex markets because most of the investors who are liquidating their stock positions try to convert their local currencies into dollars at that time.

However, dollar shows stronger January Effect in some currency pairs as compared to others. There is a summer effect also. It has also been observed that dollar shows a summer seasonality when it tends to rise in USD/JPY pair and USD/CAD pair in the month of July and give back its gains by August.

There are many seasonal patterns in currency pairs that have been studied in other parts of the year. Now, it does not mean that you should take these effects blindly and trade based on them.

Seasonality only shows that there are strong chances that during a particular time of the year, the chances of a particular currency pair going up or down are more.

In some years, the effect may be pronounced. In others, not so pronounces. As a forex trader, you should keep these seasonal effects at the back of your minds while trading during that time of the years. You need to just understand these seasonal patterns. - 23199

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading; stocks and forex. Read about Trend Forex System. Best Forex Signal Service.

What is So Fascinating About Day Trading Stock Online?

By Anne Vardell

Modern day stock trading is almost entirely run by computer. That means that day trading stock online is within effortless reach of almost any individual with reasonable intelligence and some fundamental tools to help them along the path. With this in mind a day merchant can work from almost anywhere in the world. A living room or the back yard pool or even on vacation if the feeling struck them.

All that is really needed to handle day trading stock online is access to a decent computer, access to the Internet via some high-speed connection and a telephone. You have to admit, most of us have that stuff readily available at home and I would guess that 75 percent of the people or better have that same capability while traveling. SO we all pretty much have the tools needed to do this.

There are some additional things you will need that are going to be specific in design for the purpose of day trading stock online. Things like a brokerage or brokerage account set up for day trading and of course the market data that you will need to help make the buying and selling decisions, and these things are available while you are online with your High Speed Internet access.

Just to make things easier on you as you are day trading stock online you should make sure that you are using a PC that is running as large monitor as you maybe can have and set to the best resolution you have and it should be running the latest version of your chosen operating structure.

It goes to make sense that if you are day trading stock online you want your Internet connection to be as fast as you can get it and you want unlimited access or connection time so that you don't get interrupted or don't go broke staying connected to the world.

You should have a good mobile phone and if you can have Internet access there as well it will give you encouragement in the occasion that your line should tank.

On peak of that to do day trading stock online you will require a brokerage account set up and complete to go so that as you make the distributes there is a way to conclude them, You will need your trading software of choice and your graph software and so that you can persist in track of the markets, access to the interactive market data and outcome in a timely manner is vital.

Once you have all of these components together you are ready to take your day trading stock online to the highest level and you will be set to deal and make your money from basically anywhere in the world where these alternatives and criteria can be met and fulfilled.

Day trading stock online can be rewarding and pleasure and it something that can pay enormous payments for just a small total of work if it is done accurate. - 23199

About the Author:

Anne Vardell's online trading comparison guide. Providing the best, up-to-date information on the best in teach me to trade tips!

Common Forex Made Easy Tips

By Chan Boldene

Contrary to popular belief, trading using the Forex Made Easy method is very easy. Before I try to deconstruct this whole Forex business (and you know it is a business, don't you?), I want to share some simple but critical Forex Made Easy bits of wisdom. I will refer back to this occasionally. They're important not just as you learn to trade the Forex markets, but because they are quality principles to live by.

If you've been around any length of time, you've heard or read how the basketfuls of money we can make from Forex Trading (or FX Trading), so what are the tips and rules and strategies we can incorporate to make money from 4X Trading? Below are the seven tips for trading Forex that the management of Forex Made Easy (me) came up with to help make you USD, Euro, Yen in this crazy and rewarding field.

Forex Made Easy Tip #1: Don't get greedy.

This is embarrassingly simple. When you're on a sizzling hot winning streak, it's easy to think that you can't lose, but it is the kind of thinking that is very dangerous. Trading is relatively easy, but you can lose your shirt, your pants, and your precious bank account in short order too. Greed can consume you and deplete your trading account faster than you can say "but they didn't teach me that in the Forex Made Easy blog!" Greed can devastate.

Tidbit #2: Learn All You Can.

Making money in Forex does not take the talents of a brain surgeon. Who says you have to be a market genius to make money? Any body can learn to trade, and any person can make money. You don't need to spend a lot of time getting educated, but a trader with real world experience trading has a lot going for him.

Tidbit #3: Simple is Good.

This tip is perhaps the most difficult to conquer because we like tools and systems and programs and gadgets and indicators. The KISS method: Keep it Simple Stupid is still the best. The phrase is completely overused but it fits. Keep it simple: use a few indicators, and support and resistance. Don't get too complicated. Simple trading "systems" are far more robust (and less confusing) than complicated ones. If you aren't able to explain in a few sentences to a newcomer what the indicators are doing, then it's too much.

Tip #4: Make sure you have Risk and Money Management Rules

This Forex Made Easy tip is probably the least glamorous. Success is built on money and risk management. You need to learn about fluctuations and standard price deviation and if you have no idea what it is, there are plenty of resources online to educate yourself.

Tidbit #5: Discipline - Set Up a Basic Set of Rules and Stick to It.

No matter how great you think you are (and you're probably not all that...sorry), you will have losses. Even after you search this Forex Made Easy site for nuggets of wisdom and insight, which you will undoubtedly find, you will still need disciple. So, let me repeat that, you will have losses. But you need to have discipline to ride out the losses and bounce back. Know your rules. Stick to them. You need to keep your emotions in check when trading.

Forex Made Easy Tip #6: Have Fun

Trading Forex can be challenging and rewarding. It can also be exciting as you "win" more and more. Don't take your gains OR your losses so seriously. Don't spend your entire day in front of the computer screen. Go outside. Relax. Spend some quality time with your family. Watch a sunrise. Go treat your kids to an amusement park. Go on a second or third or eleven honeymoon with your spouse. The markets will always be there tomorrow.

Forex Made Easy Tip #7: Paper Trade Until You "Make Money"

Practice Practice Practice. I can't say that enough. There are software programs on the market (and some that we will recommend) to help you so that you won't lose money quickly. You can test strategies, theories, and win a million dollars - all with no money changing hands! You need to "paper trade." If you can't make money when there's no real money on the line, what makes you think you can make money when you're risking money?

We at believe that anyone can make money trading the Forex markets. The effort you need to put in will be well rewarded. So don't forget this rule: simplicity is best. Simple, steady, and well-executed strategies will make you a lot of money from trading the currency markets. That's the Forex Made Easy way. - 23199

About the Author:

Mr. Boldene is a freelance technical writer and has written many articles on Forex. Join him at Forex Tips for a few key ideas. Visit also Forex Rumors.

Foreclosures versus Pre-foreclosure - Which one Can Make you Richer?

By Dianne Jones

Pre-foreclosures are homes and/or property that are about to go into foreclosure. This is where some of the best deals are made. These are generally negotiated directly with the owner, who is eager to avoid the grief of foreclosure.

The number of pre-foreclosures is growing every day. If you've kept up with the media recently, you know that investing in pre-foreclosure homes is one of the best ways to make a substantial profit. There are virtually a limitless number of these discounted homes on the market, due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the current economic slowdown.

Depending on your situation buying a pre-foreclosure home can be an improved method of acquiring property rather then buying at an auction. Auctions more often then not require that you have the necessary cash on hand in order to bid. When buying pre-foreclosure homes, however, you don?t necessarily have to have cash on hand.

The main advantage of a pre-foreclosure is you get to meet the people who's house your interested in acquiring in a less anxious environment then at an auction. With an auction homeowners will usually remain anonymous.

One of the biggest advantages of purchasing a pre-foreclosure over an auction is that you can inspect the property before it goes into auction. At this point the property owner is still living in the home so obviously you want to call on them and take a look around the house to see what kind of condition it is in. If the owner feels you make be able to help them, they may disclose if there are any internal problems with the house (i.e. water damage, electrical issues, etc.). Also if the owner is co-operative and you have enough time it would be advised to get a property inspection done as well.

This allows you to determine how much effort, if any, will be required to repair the house and at what cost. This will eliminate much of the risk and will help you make a better decision about if the property would be a good investment or not.

So now you can see that buying at the pre-foreclosure stage has some nice advantages over buying at auctions or from a realtor. It really comes down having the right information to make the right choice, at the right price. - 23199

About the Author:

To learn more about the top government auction & pre-foreclosures web sites click government auctions reviews or pre-foreclosures.