Euro Currency Profile (Part III)

By Ahmad Hassam

Forex market participants widely watch the comments by the members of the Governing Council of ECB. These comments frequently tend to move the Euro. ECB publishes monthly bulletin detailing analysis of economic conditions. This bulletin can give important signals to changes in the monetary policy.

All major euro crosses are highly liquid. Now EUR/USD cross is the most liquid currency. The movements of EUR/USD currency pair are used as the primary gauge to judge the health of both European and the United States health. Euro is also known as the anti-dollar since it is the dollar fundamentals that have dictated the movements in the EUR/USD pair from 2003-2008.

As they have tight spreads, make orderly moves and rarely gap, EUR/USD and EUR/GBP are great trading currencies. EUR/JPY and EUR/CHF are very liquid pairs too and are used to judge the health of the Japanese and Swiss economies. Always remember to understand and study each currency pair in detail. Each currency pair has a unique behavior that you need to understand before you plan to trade that pair.

However, Euro has unique risks. Euro was launched in 1999. It is still a new currency. There are number of risks unique to the Euro. The most important is the exposure to the economic, political and social development of 15 member countries.

Although more countries are expected to join EMU, however, if a member country drops Euro and reverts back to its original national currency because it believes that ECB actions are not in its best interests, it could affect the stability of the entire region.

ECB has the power to determine monetary policy for its 15 member countries. With that comes the political pressure of 15 governments. Making monetary policy is a challenging task to do for one country what to talk of a group of 15 countries. This political pressure frequently tests the actions of ECB. We can say Euro is a currency without a country.

The present global financial crisis is unlike any in the past. However, the rapid response of ECB to the present global financial crisis in the shape of deep liquidity injections has transformed its reputation. The spread between 10 year US Treasuries and 10 year bunds can indicate Euro sentiment.

Another important interest rate that you must know as a forex trader is the Euro Interbank Offer Rate (Euribor). This is the rate offered from one large bank to another on interbank term deposits. Traders and investors tend to compare the Euribor futures rate with the Eurodollars futures rate.

Lower spreads between these two interest rates make the European assets less attractive. Higher spreads between the two rates makes the European fixed income assets more attractive. Merger and Acquisition activities between US and European multinationals have important implications for EUR/USD pair. Large deals have often significant short term impact on EUR/USD if in cash.

Important indicators for Euro are Preliminary GDP that includes France, Germany and Netherlands, German Industrial Production, Harmonized Index of Consumer prices (HICP), M3, German Unemployment, Individual country budget deficit. The largest countries in EMU are Germany, France and Italy. Study of the economic data of these three countries is also important. - 23199

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try Strignano's Forex Signals free. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot Trading System!

Tips and Guide For Penny Stock Traders

By Alfred Wayne

You have to keep various things in mind while buying and selling penny stocks. It is important to choose good stocks for which you need to research them before buying any stock.

You can take the help of various penny stock alert services that can tell you about stocks that are expected to gain soon. Many experts provide such services. These can prove profitable for you.

You should always choose the alerts service that has some reputation in the market. The person offering the service must be reputed. You should act wisely on the trades if you do not want to lose money.

Excel worksheets can be used to keep all records of trades done. You should use these tools to do trade like professionals. Microsoft Excel is a good option. You can use other free software that offers the same functionality.

Stock trading forums can help you a lot. Many experts hang out at leading forums. So you can get free advice and tips on buying the right stocks. You can also learn from the experts in trading.

You should also sign up for the professional training programs for penny stock trading. You should learn from an expert. It can be very profitable for you if you know how to trade. You can sign up for an online or offline training program.

You will also find various tools and services offered for penny stock traders. Many tools and services can help you make more money. To get maximum benefits, you should sign up with a full service online broker.

Penny stock trading can be highly profitable. You should get the advice of various people. But you should buy any stock using your own judgment and risk taking ability. Thus you can become a successful penny stock trader. - 23199

About the Author:

Investment in Stocks can pay huge profits if done the right way. Penny Stocks can generate the largest profits in the shortest interval of time.

Help Through A Forex Blog

By Bart Icles

As more and more people are getting interested in forex trading, more and more forex blogs are also being put up on the internet. These forex blogs typically contain valuable information that can help forex traders - both new and seasoned ones - in their currency trading needs. Oftentimes, these forex blogs also become community sites or places where different forex traders can meet and share ideas or questions with one another. Simply put, a forex blog can very well become a storehouse of information for many foreign exchange traders.

One of the most basic things you can learn from a forex blog is how to start a forex day trading business from your own home. While you might be familiar with forex traders who participate in big forex trades, there are those who content themselves with small currency trades. Those that make large investments to reap bigger profits often work for larger trading companies. On the other hand, those who tend to start small and would go after the small fish are typically independent traders.

You might also find it surprising to learn from a forex blog that in many cases, the most successful traders are those who operate independently - oftentimes in their own homes. But how exactly can one start to participate in forex day trading from the comfort of his or her room?

You can start by taking online courses that can give you basic currency education as well as integrated online trading techniques. These online courses are available in many websites and most of them offer free demos of their forex training courses. More often than not, the most basic topics that they will cover can include how you can analyze forex markets, the importance of currency trading, and how you can control or manage risk. You can then move on to opening an account in the very same website where you have had your forex trading online courses. You can start with mini trades just to get the hang of the market.

If software trading tools do not appeal to you, you make contact with an online broker and have yourself listed. After which, you can already start participating in forex forums or even create a forex blog of your own so you can share your own experiences in currency trading. This is also a good way of continuing your online education - you can ask for referrals as to which websites offer the best online forex trading courses. - 23199

About the Author:

When you learn forex it starts with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. When you learn forex trading takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Properties Flipping: Facts And Myths

By Arthur Butler

Real estate is often advertised as the hot way to make quick money. While property investments can be extremely financially rewarding, it takes hard work, patience, and perseverance to be successful.

It's easy to fall into thinking that real estate will immediately bring you financial security. The news media encourages this belief with stories about people who made it big in real estate.

It takes several months to a year before you begin reaping the rewards of your business. Finding your first investment and closing the deal cannot be done quickly, and then you have to put substantial work into your investment in order to get it ready to resell or rent out. If you do sell your investment, it takes just as long to finalize as it did when you bought the home.

The way piece of real estate flipping is described, it sounds like all you have to do is stumble across a random home, buy it, and fix it up. In actuality, you have to put as much work into it as you would into any other job: writing a budget, making lists of the kind of investment you're looking for, and evaluating potential homes to see if they are a good fit for your plans. You are very unlikely to be successful without such a plan.

Your budget should include how much money you can afford to keep tied up in a house (you need to have adequate cash flow to pay for renovations, property managers, or other expenses) and how much time you can afford to spend dealing with this property. Sometimes a real estate investment will take up to twice as long to come to fruition as you expect, so it's important to make sure you can wait that long to see profits.

It's important to stick to your budget; some aspects of house buying end up being more expensive than you expect, and if you don't have enough extra money you could end up losing money on the deal.

This may be true at the beginning, when you're dealing with just one investment. Even that can be overwhelming, as you will soon see. You have to find the right house, finalize the purchase, take care of maintenance and repairs, find renters or buyers, and so on. You also have to deal with tax laws and monthly mortgage payments. If your business becomes successful and you decide to make several investments at once, your workload will quadruple.

This is also why it's important to research properties prior to purchase. Learning about the piece of real estate's history, the type of neighborhood, and how costly it will be to maintain or repair will help you avoid making foolish purchases.

MYTH #4: The real estate investment business consists entirely of flipping properties .

House flipping--buying low and selling high--is popular thanks to the news media. However, the entire real estate investment industry does not revolve around this practice. Many people rent out properties or convert them into bed-and-breakfasts. It is a good practice to have a back-up plan for making money off a given house in case renters aren't interested or you can't afford significant improvements.

Real estate is an exciting, lucrative, dynamic business. Go in armed with the facts and you may find yourself reaping handsome rewards. - 23199

About the Author:

Arranging investment property loans has become increasingly difficult throughout the credit crisis, and not many are under the illusion that things will become any easier quickly. The property investment market is still a risky proposition, and proper planning needs to be undertaken.

A Bank Short Sale - My Only Option?

By Anthony Mauwer

A bank short sale is not the only choice we have to avoid foreclosure - but it is definitely better than some of the other possibilities. If a homeowner is already in this situation, they are already dealing with intense financial anxiety from every angle. If approved for a bank short sale, much of this stress will be alleviated because they'll be in a great position to purchase another home.

It's hard to admit that we may lose our home due to financial difficulties, but if we must let it go, avoiding foreclosures should be our highest priority. A bank short sale may be the best way out of the situation - but it's not the only way out. We could opt for a foreclosure and lose our home, have our wages garnished, owe thousands in unpaid property taxes, and be chased down for years by collection agencies. Don't forget the destroyed credit. If this scenario doesn't appeal to us, then we could do a bank short sale and settle all of these issues up front.

Either way, for the layman, a bank short sale or foreclosure can be quite stressful due to all of the complexities involved. There are attorneys, lenders, accountants, complex forms, legal jargon, and the internal revenue service to deal with. On top of that the money is tight on every side. We've got to remember in this situation that all parties involved are trying to get as much of their money as they can - so we've got to be prepared for anything. Banks are well-known for dropping surprise requests at the last second. Don't allow yourself to be pushed around!

These last second surprises can be avoided if we seek expert advice from the outset. We don't want to attempt a bank short sale without expert assistance of some kind - and should not procrastinate in acquiring it. Throughout the process we'll deal with complex issues of property taxes, our loan, and real estate. We'll need an expert in each of these areas. If you look in your area you should be able to find services that provide you with the expert assistance of qualified accountants, lawyers, and real estate agents - who will be paid by your lender. As with any type of service you need to exercise discretion in order to get the best assistance available.

A bank is losing money with a short sale and are not necessarily enthusiastic about doing them. They avoid a foreclosure - yes, but their attitude is not to be considered enthusiastic. They can be difficult to deal with at times because they're trying to get back as much money as they can. For this reason they might not always move as fast as we want - although we know they can. Patience is a valued virtue here - so practice it and keep cool. If you've ever had to work with the government you know exactly what dealing with these banks will be like.

The bank short sale is stressful on all involved, but if we complete it successfully, we'll definitely be the winners in the end. Hopefully, we'll come out the other side with no unpaid taxes, no bankruptcy and no foreclosure. This is why a short sale is so much better than foreclosure. It's a tough process - yes, but in the end we'll still be in a great position to purchase another home. Completing the process prepares us for our new future. A bank short sale is not the only way out - but I'll take it over a foreclosure any day of the week. - 23199

About the Author:

Anthony Mauwer's short sale advice has helped many homeowners successfully complete a bank short sale. Be sure to take a look at his short sale blog for tips, advice, and information on how the bank short sale can work for you.