Posts Tagged ‘lows’

Black, White & Brown “That’s How it Goes Down”

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

As I casually strolled across the dingy Boston playing field on a brisk Sunday afternoon the winds began to whip through my jacket and the words watch your step scrolled across my mind as I carefully navigated through the debris that is a part of many urban ball fields , broken glass, geese droppings, etc. Wait a minute is that human feces? I finally made it to the sideline set up my portable sports chair and got ready to watch an M2Sports flag football game between the Giants and the Eagles. The only reason I was at this game was to watch my son Tony aka “Tadow” along with the rest of his Giant teammates “H8me, Sho Nuff, Killa, Toby, Javafi,Jeebies, El Negro, Phil, Cbert and P.T compete.

Before the game started the first thing I noticed was how diverse the teams were, there were men of all racial, social, religious and economic backgrounds playing side by side or as opposition. The formation of the league was the brainchild of Mario Lopez a Latino brother who had the vision to create a format where men can be men have fun, stay in shape and release the stress of daily living at least once a week and have the freedom to unleash their alter ego’s with names like K-Dogg, Speedy, Mr. Puerto Rico etc. It was great to see such a diverse collection of men gathered together.

The game finally began and immediately there was a lot of trash talking, this was my first time attending the games, so the language assault I experienced caught me off guard, I was sure someone was going to take the comments out of context and blows would be thrown, this was definitely not a PG-13 event and don’t get it twisted just because it’s a flag football league, this sports is not for little boys, hits on the sideline are legal and people can and do get cracked, much to the delight of the crowd on run backs or blocking at the line. Both teams spent a fair amount of time and energy trading verbal air assaults from ethnic put downs to the questioning of “Manhood” for everyone to hear and laugh at on the sidelines. The contest was intense and went back and forth the Giants scored first then the Eagles and this pattern lasted over two hours, until “Tadow” scored the game winning touchdown. What happened at the conclusion of the game is what really impressed me, I just knew that after all the jarring that took place the end of the game would be the opportunity for someone to over react to something that was said and blow it out of proportion, as I watched the teams walk toward each other at midfield, the teams simply shook hands, embraced, laughed, shared water and a genuine respect for their brothers after all it was just a game they left their differences on the football field.

At that very moment I pondered the following, why can’t these same men who represent something larger than themselves come together for a common cause away from the playing field and take that same passion and energy back to the community to help tear down the walls that separate us and make a difference? What is it that keeps our neighborhoods segregated once they exit the playing surface? After the games are over, the blacks will go their way and hang out with the blacks, the Latino’s will hang with the Latino’s and so on for the white males. It’s been said that sports serves as a microcosm of the larger society in many ways, but it’s ironic that the same people who can spend hours together as teammates or engaged in healthy competition go their separate ways and live in different worlds once the games end. Imagine how powerful it would be to see these same men standing side by side leading voter registration drives, mentoring programs, policing the block to make the hood safe, visiting classrooms, and juvenile detention centers. They would be excellent role models in demonstrating to our youth that beneath the obvious differences of color and race we can get along. On the playing fields diversity is what helps a team come together, the successful teams adopt the philosophy of inclusion and appreciation of variety and they figure out how to make those differences work together for a common goal, “winning”. Yet that same approach is rarely seen in other area’s politics, education, religion and employment to name a few.

Perhaps one day we will find a way to make society a microcosm of sports, rather than the other way around.

Tony Price

A Boston Based Collegaite Athletics Administrator and Head Basketball Coach. A Hall of Fame Inductee(Worcester State College) with 20 plus years experience as an athlete, coach, and administrator.

Commercial Loan Rate – Current Situation

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

There is currently a genuine state of confusion regarding commercial loan rates. The confusion is not just restricted to borrowers, either. Brokers, lenders and professional investors are all struggling to get a handle on what is going on with commercial loan rates.

Borrowers are under the impression that we’re at historic lows. They hear about the feds lowering rates and also hear national banks quote ridiculously low rates. What these national banks aren’t advertising is that their decline rates are at historic highs. Is difficult to be able to track a statistics like this but my friends and associates that work at intuitions like Bank of America, CITI etc tell me that there decline rate are at 95% or so.

So what that means is that they are cherry picking to an incredible degree (can you blame them?). The low commercial loan rates that they are advertising are only relevant for 5% of the borrowers that apply. Think about that for a moment, for every 100 people that fill out those 6 page applications, provide their tax return, etc, 95 of them are getting declined. As a comparison the decline rates are normally more like 50%.

The confusion is not just restricted to borrowers but to professionals in the industry as well. The spreads or margin are varying from one lender to the next more than we have seen. People in the business are struggling to understand why. Normally if you were to get 10 quotes on the same deal the commercial loan rates would be within .25 -. 35% of each other. Perhaps a few would tweak the prepayments or term, etc but their rates would be close. Now we are seeing commercial loan rates on the same deal varying between 2% -3%…

Part of the problem is that some of the lenders and banks themselves are having their cost of capital increase. Some of their credit rating are being lowered, as their balance sheets are scrutinised. So despite the Feds lower their rates, the margins that the banks charge (in order to cover their costs, risk and make a profit) go up as their cost of capital go up. So as one bank is more financial healthy than the next its costs of capital varies.

So what’s the happy ending? We currently don’t have one. If you’re thinking of buying or refinancing a commercial property in the next few months we would suggest getting it done now as in maybe a while before things re-stabilize and commercial loan rates become more universal.

Jeff Rauth is President of Commercial Finance Advisors, Inc out of Birmingham, Michigan. He has a STORE for commercial loan brokers. Contracts, spreadsheets, books, etc. Products starting at $4.95! Check it out commercial mortgage broker store or commercial loan rates

Black, White & Brown “That’s How it Goes Down”

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

As I casually strolled across the dingy Boston playing field on a brisk Sunday afternoon the winds began to whip through my jacket and the words watch your step scrolled across my mind as I carefully navigated through the debris that is a part of many urban ball fields , broken glass, geese droppings, etc. Wait a minute is that human feces? I finally made it to the sideline set up my portable sports chair and got ready to watch an M2Sports flag football game between the Giants and the Eagles. The only reason I was at this game was to watch my son Tony aka “Tadow” along with the rest of his Giant teammates “H8me, Sho Nuff, Killa, Toby, Javafi,Jeebies, El Negro, Phil, Cbert and P.T compete.

Before the game started the first thing I noticed was how diverse the teams were, there were men of all racial, social, religious and economic backgrounds playing side by side or as opposition. The formation of the league was the brainchild of Mario Lopez a Latino brother who had the vision to create a format where men can be men have fun, stay in shape and release the stress of daily living at least once a week and have the freedom to unleash their alter ego’s with names like K-Dogg, Speedy, Mr. Puerto Rico etc. It was great to see such a diverse collection of men gathered together.

The game finally began and immediately there was a lot of trash talking, this was my first time attending the games, so the language assault I experienced caught me off guard, I was sure someone was going to take the comments out of context and blows would be thrown, this was definitely not a PG-13 event and don’t get it twisted just because it’s a flag football league, this sports is not for little boys, hits on the sideline are legal and people can and do get cracked, much to the delight of the crowd on run backs or blocking at the line. Both teams spent a fair amount of time and energy trading verbal air assaults from ethnic put downs to the questioning of “Manhood” for everyone to hear and laugh at on the sidelines. The contest was intense and went back and forth the Giants scored first then the Eagles and this pattern lasted over two hours, until “Tadow” scored the game winning touchdown. What happened at the conclusion of the game is what really impressed me, I just knew that after all the jarring that took place the end of the game would be the opportunity for someone to over react to something that was said and blow it out of proportion, as I watched the teams walk toward each other at midfield, the teams simply shook hands, embraced, laughed, shared water and a genuine respect for their brothers after all it was just a game they left their differences on the football field.

At that very moment I pondered the following, why can’t these same men who represent something larger than themselves come together for a common cause away from the playing field and take that same passion and energy back to the community to help tear down the walls that separate us and make a difference? What is it that keeps our neighborhoods segregated once they exit the playing surface? After the games are over, the blacks will go their way and hang out with the blacks, the Latino’s will hang with the Latino’s and so on for the white males. It’s been said that sports serves as a microcosm of the larger society in many ways, but it’s ironic that the same people who can spend hours together as teammates or engaged in healthy competition go their separate ways and live in different worlds once the games end. Imagine how powerful it would be to see these same men standing side by side leading voter registration drives, mentoring programs, policing the block to make the hood safe, visiting classrooms, and juvenile detention centers. They would be excellent role models in demonstrating to our youth that beneath the obvious differences of color and race we can get along. On the playing fields diversity is what helps a team come together, the successful teams adopt the philosophy of inclusion and appreciation of variety and they figure out how to make those differences work together for a common goal, “winning”. Yet that same approach is rarely seen in other area’s politics, education, religion and employment to name a few.

Perhaps one day we will find a way to make society a microcosm of sports, rather than the other way around.

Tony Price

A Boston Based Collegaite Athletics Administrator and Head Basketball Coach. A Hall of Fame Inductee(Worcester State College) with 20 plus years experience as an athlete, coach, and administrator.

Can’t Get a Business Loan?

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

It time again to revisit alternative financing strategies for business owners needing money. Whether your business needs capital to grow, meet payroll, or to just simply survive, there are numerous alternatives for your company when banks so ‘NO’.

Personal loans are no longer viable options for business owners. Banks have tightened their purse strings on personal credit just as they have with business credit. This tightening typically does not have anything to do with the state of your credit or the value of your collateral. But more reflects their past indiscretions with their depositors’ money. Further, most business owners, over the last two or three years, have already encumbered all of their personal assets, leaving nothing of value to collateralize.

The following lists many alternatives that may still be available to your business. These alternatives allow business owners to capitalize on their previous hard work; be it from building relationships with suppliers and other business partners to closing sales and building a strong customer base:

Using Your Business Relationships!

Trade Credit: It never hurts to work with your suppliers. Ask for better terms; either more discounts or longer time for payment. Here you can reduce your overall costs or allow more time to collect money from your customer before payment is due to these suppliers. Now, your suppliers may baulk at this discussion as they are probably feeling the same pinch as you are. However, impress upon them that it does their business no good (short term or long-term) if you go out of business, have to cut back your standard orders, or are forced to find other suppliers who offer better terms.

In conjunction with trade credit, do all that you can to collect your receivables from your customers, as soon as possible. If your suppliers offer you discounts for early payment, offer the same to your customers (just maybe not at the same magnitude) or offer discounts for cash. This allows you to collect payments faster as well as reduce you costs by paying less for the goods you need to run your business. Just remember, in this type of economy, cash is king.

Using The Strength of Your Customers!

Receivables and/or Purchase Orders: If your business has accounts receivables sitting on its book just waiting to be collected, you maybe able to get cash for those assets NOW. There are cash advance companies (not banks) that specialize in purchasing your receivables. Companies like Bridgeport Capital Service, RTS Financial Services, or Paragon Financial Group. These companies will purchase your invoices for up to 90% of their amount. They will then work with your customers to collect these receivables (saving you both time and money on collection). When the invoices are paid, these companies will refund to you the remaining 10% of the invoice amount. This type of funding is great for struggling companies as these cash advance businesses will focus more on your customers’ credit and business strengths than your.

Many of these same companies will also finance your purchase orders. If you place an order with your suppliers and agree to pay for their goods over time, these cash advance companies will finance these agreements. This could allow your business the opportunity to take advantage of trade discounts (percentages off the purchase amount) as your company will have immediate cash to satisfy your supplier. This is very similar to having a line of credit with your bank but as an individual credit facility for each purchase.

Credit Cards: I not saying go out and get more credit cards. If your business accepts credit cards, there are companies (again, not banks) that may advance cash to your company based on your FUTURE credit card receipts. These facilities are only paid back when your business generates credit card sales. Thus, if you have a slow month, you are not stuck with a huge monthly loan payment. As your credit card sales ebb and flow, your repayment of these advances will ebb and flow in tandem.

Using Your Character!

Need just a small amount of cash to get you by? Try social lending sites like All World Private Funding!, Zopa, Prosper, or Lending Club. These sites create peer-to-peer lending in which ordinary people, who have additional cash, can review your request and contribute to the funding of your loan. The benefits of these programs include getting the money you need, possible lower rates and better terms than most banks offer, and you get to tell your story directly to the lenders.

Similarly, there is Micro-Credit companies. The largest in the US and around the world is ACCION USA. Micro-finance companies limit their total out lay to a maximum of $25,000 per loan. However, most micro-credit funders like to build relationships first with their borrowers. Thus, they may only approve smaller amounts in the beginning and increase your loan amount as you pay back each facility. These companies will also work with startup firms or those that have been turned down by traditional banks and other financial institutions.

Never forget your friends and family. These are the people who know you best and may better understand what you are trying to do with your business. There are many cons with borrowing money from those closest to you but new companies like Virgin Money will help you manage this new relationship. Companies like Virgin will help you keep everything in a business like manner.

Now, while there is a lot of focus these days on traditional banks, most communities also have Credit Unions. Credit Unions are not-for-profit organizations. Thus, they do not have to worry about Wall Street or shareholders. While the majority of Credit Unions have yet to fully adopt commercial lending departments, they should have lending programs in place that will meet your business needs.

Some of these alternative options maybe a little more expensive, overall, then having a single credit facility with a bank. But, they are a sure fire way of leading your company through our current credit drought. The key to success is to do your homework. Find the program that best fits your needs and that will provide the greatest benefit at the lowest cost to your business. Some business owners tend to panic a bit when they begin to feel the credit pinch. It is only natural as raising money for your business is time consuming, time that can hardly be spared in these trying times. But, remember to think about the long term. Don’t just settle on the first source that gets approved, find the best fore you. Be diligent!

Joseph Lizio holds A MBA in Finance and is founder and owner of http://www.businessmoneytoday.com

Automated Forex Trading System – A Logical Simple Free One That’s Made Millions

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

You can of course buy one of the heavily advertised automated forex trading systems online – but this one is simple to understand, free and made savvy traders millions and all you need to know about it is enclosed…

Let’s start with the ones you can buy and most have nothing to offer apart from fancy packaging and hyped copy, to appeal to greed.

They lack the basic requirement you need and that’s having made a profit. Check the track records and there normally just paper simulations done backwards!

Well that’s not real dollars and if you want a robot you want one that’s Made real dollars and the free one we are going to look at has.

Real Profits for Over 20 Years

The system has been used since the late seventies by serious traders and was devised by Richard Donchian who is considered the grandfather of trend following.

He left some great free info for traders to use and his 4 Week Rule automated trading system, is simple – but don’t believe it doesn’t make profits it has and still does. Let’s take a look at it.

The Rule

This is a one rule trading system which holds a position in the market at all times and this is the rule to execute your trading signals to.

Buy a new 4 week calendar high and reverse this position to a short position on a new 4 week calendar low – that’s the rule and it’s very simple!

Now you may be saying that’s too simple to work but all the best forex trading systems are simple but it works on logic which is valid and here it is.

Trade Breakouts

Almost all the big trends start or continue from new market highs or lows and by getting in on them, you are getting in on the big trends.

Currencies Trend Long Term

They reflect the underlying health of the country they represent so this means long trends of months or years and this system will get you a good chunk of the profits they produce.

You then have a couple of other very important advantages:

- Its objective you don’t have to think about the signal you just do it

- Its extremely time efficient and only takes about 15 minutes a day

So is the system perfect?
Of course not all systems have a weakness and this one is no exception.

When currencies don’t trend, it will generate losing signals but you can add a filter and exit on a one or two week high or low, go flat and wait for the next signal or you can use a short term moving average. This smoothes the equity curve but whichever way you choose long term this system makes profits.

The best forex trading systems are simple and this one is and don’t believe the vendors who try and sell you software with fancy names, clever packaging and a made up track record, go for the real deal and that’s a system, that’s still used after 25 years and is at the heart of many a successful forex trading strategy.

You don’t get much for free in life but Richard Donchian has left something for free, that is valuable, easy to understand and can help any trader seek currency trading success in just 15 minutes a day.

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Black, White & Brown “That’s How it Goes Down”

Monday, November 24th, 2008

As I casually strolled across the dingy Boston playing field on a brisk Sunday afternoon the winds began to whip through my jacket and the words watch your step scrolled across my mind as I carefully navigated through the debris that is a part of many urban ball fields , broken glass, geese droppings, etc. Wait a minute is that human feces? I finally made it to the sideline set up my portable sports chair and got ready to watch an M2Sports flag football game between the Giants and the Eagles. The only reason I was at this game was to watch my son Tony aka “Tadow” along with the rest of his Giant teammates “H8me, Sho Nuff, Killa, Toby, Javafi,Jeebies, El Negro, Phil, Cbert and P.T compete.

Before the game started the first thing I noticed was how diverse the teams were, there were men of all racial, social, religious and economic backgrounds playing side by side or as opposition. The formation of the league was the brainchild of Mario Lopez a Latino brother who had the vision to create a format where men can be men have fun, stay in shape and release the stress of daily living at least once a week and have the freedom to unleash their alter ego’s with names like K-Dogg, Speedy, Mr. Puerto Rico etc. It was great to see such a diverse collection of men gathered together.

The game finally began and immediately there was a lot of trash talking, this was my first time attending the games, so the language assault I experienced caught me off guard, I was sure someone was going to take the comments out of context and blows would be thrown, this was definitely not a PG-13 event and don’t get it twisted just because it’s a flag football league, this sports is not for little boys, hits on the sideline are legal and people can and do get cracked, much to the delight of the crowd on run backs or blocking at the line. Both teams spent a fair amount of time and energy trading verbal air assaults from ethnic put downs to the questioning of “Manhood” for everyone to hear and laugh at on the sidelines. The contest was intense and went back and forth the Giants scored first then the Eagles and this pattern lasted over two hours, until “Tadow” scored the game winning touchdown. What happened at the conclusion of the game is what really impressed me, I just knew that after all the jarring that took place the end of the game would be the opportunity for someone to over react to something that was said and blow it out of proportion, as I watched the teams walk toward each other at midfield, the teams simply shook hands, embraced, laughed, shared water and a genuine respect for their brothers after all it was just a game they left their differences on the football field.

At that very moment I pondered the following, why can’t these same men who represent something larger than themselves come together for a common cause away from the playing field and take that same passion and energy back to the community to help tear down the walls that separate us and make a difference? What is it that keeps our neighborhoods segregated once they exit the playing surface? After the games are over, the blacks will go their way and hang out with the blacks, the Latino’s will hang with the Latino’s and so on for the white males. It’s been said that sports serves as a microcosm of the larger society in many ways, but it’s ironic that the same people who can spend hours together as teammates or engaged in healthy competition go their separate ways and live in different worlds once the games end. Imagine how powerful it would be to see these same men standing side by side leading voter registration drives, mentoring programs, policing the block to make the hood safe, visiting classrooms, and juvenile detention centers. They would be excellent role models in demonstrating to our youth that beneath the obvious differences of color and race we can get along. On the playing fields diversity is what helps a team come together, the successful teams adopt the philosophy of inclusion and appreciation of variety and they figure out how to make those differences work together for a common goal, “winning”. Yet that same approach is rarely seen in other area’s politics, education, religion and employment to name a few.

Perhaps one day we will find a way to make society a microcosm of sports, rather than the other way around.

Tony Price

A Boston Based Collegaite Athletics Administrator and Head Basketball Coach. A Hall of Fame Inductee(Worcester State College) with 20 plus years experience as an athlete, coach, and administrator.

A Little Basic Forex Learning

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and the selling of another currency.
This continuously changing number financial system was launched in the 1970s. It is now the largest liquid financial market today with daily trades totaling well over 1 trillion dollars. The New York Stock Exchange is not nearly as large as the Foreign Exchange or Forex.

Trading

Forex is a true 24-hour market, which offers a major advantage over equities trading. Forex transactions take place online anywhere in the world around the clock. The market activity starts in Sydney, Australia and moves around the globe as various financial markets open around the world. Trading is not limited to a centralized location like the Stock Exchange or Futures Markets.

Currency

Currency exchange trading involves buying and selling two different currencies simultaneously. Markets are primarily affected by international trade flows and the flow of investment currency. Prices are quoted in pairs with a “Bid”, and an “Ask” price completing the quote.

The “Bid” price is the price the Dealer will pay or the Trader will sell for the currency. The “Ask” price is the amount the Trader will pay or the Dealer will sell the currency. The quote on some currencies are dependent on the US Dollar such as the Euro, British Pound, and the Australian Dollar to name a few.

Market

The foreign exchange market never closes so there is not the backlog of orders or excitement over breaking news stories that affects the open of the stock exchanges. The market in the traditional sense does not exist since there is no central trading location. The main currency market is the “interbank market” where large institutions deal with the risks of the fluctuations of the values. The “spot market” is the market for the buying and selling of currencies at the prevailing price. The Forex ECN provides an area or marketplace for traders to buy and sell very similar to a giant department store.

Trade

Trades can happen very quickly in seconds or take months to complete. The trader must secure a profit from the purchase and sale of the currency. This has spawned a technology allowing the trader to automate a lot of the process. The traders that are consistently profitable are those that have done their homework and understand the risks involved. By entering a trade, you are gambling the price will change in your favor by an amount that will allow you to break even or make a profit. If you decide to close a trade because of an unfavorable position, you stand to lose the spread also.

Price.

The price of the trade can be as little as one hundred to several thousand dollars and can move in a direction that will either favor or hurt your position. Price graphs are used to monitor this movement. A “pip” is the smallest amount the price can change and us used to reference the movement of the value of the currency.

Remember, only a small percentage of forex traders profit consistently and they’re the ones that have learned well

95 % of the investors in the forex market are losers! Do you have the drive to join the five percenters? Learn how to become a member of that 5% club.

Review the Equipment Lease Contract Before Signing On the Dotted Line

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Many business people don’t know that equipment leases can be negotiated. They do a quick read-through of the contract, see that the monthly payments are what was represented, and sign where indicated. Not carefully reviewing each paragraph of the agreement can be costly. Long, drawn-out contracts are often developed by leasing companies to gain added revenues and advantages for themselves. Consequently, in this situation, it is to the detriment of the lessee.

This article discloses some of the terms and conditions that are contained in lease contracts, but can often be negotiated. A properly trained lease broker can be invaluable in helping the lessee discern the points of contention and negotiate a fair and equitable agreement.

1. Credit or commitment fees: Some leasing companies will charge you a fee simply to process the credit application. Others may charge a fee to keep the credit commitment open after the application has been approved. These are ridiculous fees that I would advise never paying.

2. End of term option: This is a critical point in the contract. Beware of language that allows you to buy the equipment at a “mutually acceptable price” as opposed to fair market value. When a lessor states they will sell you the equipment at a mutually acceptable price, they can back you into a corner by charging just about what they want. Fair market value and $1 buyout leases are legally defined and more quantifiable.

3. The never-ending lease: Some leasing companies try to lock you into a leasing situation forever and the only way to escape is to pay an inordinate fee. Beware of a lease that gives you three options at the end of the term: a. Buy the equipment at a “mutually agreeable price”. b. Extend the contract at a mutually agreeable price, or c. Return the equipment to the lessor and strike a new deal at a mutually agreeable price. These are all poor options for you, the lessee and only serve to benefit the profit of the leasing company.

4. Equipment pass title fees: These are fees that some lessors charge when the lessee chooses to buy the equipment at the end of the lease term and obtain clear title. These fees can be as high as $250 or more.

5. “Put” at end of lease: Make sure that you have an option to buy the equipment at the end of the lease and not a put. A put may result in lower monthly payments, but requires you to buy the equipment, as opposed to an option, which gives you a choice.

6. Delayed payment to vendor: Some leasing firms delay payment to the vendor for the purpose of increasing their yield. This is unethical, creates a hardship for the vendor, and makes your company appear in a bad light.

7. Up-front broker fees:Some lease brokers charge an up-front fee at the onset of the relationship. I have never charged such a fee because my compensation is based upon a successful completion of the transaction and is a percentage of the amount funded.

These are some of the items to look for when reviewing an equipment lease. Keep in mind that competition among leasing companies is intense and they do not want to lose your business. Do not be shy about asking that these fees be taken out of the agreement.

Kent Harlan has been a CPA since 1984 and has provided consulting, accounting and financial services to several industries. He is the owner of Ozarks Capital Funding, LLC, a Springfield, MO based company offering business and heatlhcare financing.

Does your company need to finance new equipment or refinance your existing inventory of equipment? click here to apply.

EMAIL: kenth@ocflink.com
WEB: http://www.ocflink.com
PHONE: 417.849.7394

Pivot Point Trading Strategy – Two Specific Setups To Watch For

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Pivot point trading can greatly simplify Forex day trading. Pivot points provide good reference points at which to enter or exit trades as well as give an indication of the market bias.

You can either go online and download a pivot point calculator or use the free one referenced in the resource box below.

Simply get the High, Low, Close, Open figures from the daily chart by checking the previous day’s candle values and enter them into the calculator.

You can then draw horizontal lines on your chart marking the Central Pivot Point and then the other reference levels such as S1, S2, R1, R2 (S for support, R for resistance).

When pivot point trading it is also a good idea to put the mid reference points in also, M1, M2, M3, and M4 as price often will respect these levels.

The Indicators You Need For The Setup

It is good to have the 15 minute, 60 minute, and 4 hour charts displayed.

After marking the pivot point levels on your 15 minute chart, also show the following on the three time frames:

  • The 200 EMA (Exponential Moving Average)
  • Do Fibonacci calculations on the most significant highs and lows on the three time frames
  • Mark significant previous support and resistance on the 60 minute and 4 hour charts with a horizontal line

Time Of Day

Look for this setup around two time periods:

  • London Open (700 GMT)
  • London Close (1500 GMT)

The Asian session does not generally cause price to make new highs or lows. Trading orders and flows build up after the open of the European session in Frankfurt and take on new momentum once London opens an hour later.

Similarly, price action often slows considerably around the time of London closing.

Look For This Setup At London Open

Check to see if price is anywhere near M4 or M3 on the upside or M1 or M2 on the downside on your 15 minute chart.

Next consult your higher time frames, the 60 minute and 4 hour to see if any of those M levels coincide with a Fibonacci retracement or extension level, or the 200 EMA, or a previous support resistance line.

If you get a combination of those factors, there is a high probability price will test the M levels and then reverse and go in the opposite direction for the day.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed but the more factors you have coinciding at a specific level around a pivot point, the more likely price will react at that point.

Check to see where a 20-30 stop will put you and whether there are other levels of support and resistance nearby to offer protection and start taking profit as price approaches the other pivot levels either on the way up or on the way down.

Remember, pivot point trading suggests that when price is around M4 or M3 you are in a sell area and when price is around M1 or M2 you are in a buy area.

Look For This Setup At London Close

Now we come to the other end of the trading day which also lends itself to pivot point trading.

Often price will have done its run for the day by the time of London close and a retracement can be expected. However, you need to consider other factors.

Again check to see if price has reached a key level by the end of London close. This level could be around a pivot point which also coincides with your other indicators:

  • 200 EMA
  • Fibonacci retracement extension levels
  • Previous strong support or resistance

Next check your Average True Range indicator for the last 5 or 10 days and see what kind of range price has been moving in. This will vary according to the currency pair. The EUR/USD cross for example often puts in between 76 and 100 pips per day.

Now check the range of the current day’s trading. Has it equaled or exceeded the average range for the last few days?

If so, and if price is at a strategic pivot point which also matches with other indicators, you can enter a high probability trade and catch between 20 and 30 pips on the retracement.

These two pivot point trading strategies occur with surprising frequency a number of times a month.

Practice these methods, get your eyes used to looking for the combination factors surrounding pivot points, and trade with confidence.

Most definitely add pivot point trading to your list of trading strategies!

For a free pivot point calculator, Fibonacci calculator and the best free economic calendars click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html

The powerful 200 EMA strategy – easy for newer traders:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/200EMA-forex-strategy.htm

Do you know the important lesson Mohammed Ali teaches us about Forex trading? Read it here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/forex-online-trading-mohammed-ali.htm

Forex Course Trading – There Are So Many Forex Courses Which One is the Best For Me?

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

The Foreign Exchange markets (Forex or FX) were deregulate in 1997 allowing the private investor access to markets banks, brokerage firms and other large financial institutions once had a monopoly on. The novice FX traders quickly entered the market and just as quickly they realized they were in for a long learning curve if they were ever going to make this a profitable transition and thus a market was created for Forex Course Trading. Numerous types of educational programs where produced, refined and marketed to the public. Today there are so many courses it can be a mind boggling task attempting to select the one best suited for you particular needs. I will attempt to clarify this a little bit for you and make the decision making process a little simpler.

The first point I want to make is that the majority of the course are extremely inexpensive usually running $100 to $200. I know you saying to yourself that is not inexpensive. But, when you take into consideration that one small trade of a currency can easily make up the purchase price of the course then it is VERY inexpensive. The next subject is the types of courses. There are wide assortment of curriculum available covering extremely varied topics. The major segments the courses can be broken into are the following; comprehensive or covering everything A to Z, profiting quickly through mentoring, make money starting with small amounts, and very specific to the developers own experiences and how they profited using them.

If I was a complete novice to the markets I would start with a comprehensive course that provided an education on all aspect of the markets. After all, education is the corner stone of success in what ever field you attempt to enter. Are you really going to purchaser software and start trading something you know NOTHING about? This is a real bad idea, unless of course you need the losses to reduce you capital gains made else where to decrease your tax burden.

A few of the comprehensive courses you could try would be the following. The Peter R. Bain course titled Forex Mentor which has been around seemly forever and has had thousands of satisfied customers. This course covers everything and has been refined a thousand times over. Another class you could take would be Fap Winner which offers a great education and a personalized mentoring program. Those are just two of the TOP TIER rated courses and there are a few more. Just read the reviews of the courses which are available everywhere and the home page of the course and determine which one you think will be best for you.

The next step you could take would be to enroll in a course like The Forex Brotherhood or Forex Trading Made E-Z. The Forex Brotherhood is run by Jason Alan Jankovsky a professional Forex trader who essentially allows you to copy his complete trading portfolio. In other words you are virtually assured to be profitable immediately with this course. But, then again you would have NO idea of how and why you were making money for an extended time as you are just coping his ever move. But, it is a great place to start if you want to make money fast and you don’t really need to know how. Or you are willing to take your time learning, because he will teach you, it is just not going to be too quickly. The Forex Trading Made E-Z program was developed by an ex pilot who has found a very specific way of trading currencies and making money at it, which of course he teaches you.

After reading this article it is easy to see there are many different types of courses available, only a few were mentioned above. If your out to make a fast buck and you are not concerned with why or how you are making it then there is a course for you. If you want to turn this into a career and want financial independence, then there is a course for you. If you want to buy a piece of software and turn on the automatic trader and start making money, well there really is NOT a course for you, but you will have losses you can use to offset you gains made else where to reduce your tax obligation.

We have researched, tested & reviewed 100s of Forex Courses, Software Systems and Brokerage Firms which we only list our TOP 10 to help you LEARN FOREX TRADING

For 100s of FREE FOREX TUTORIALS please visit LEARN CURRENCY TRADING Good Luck! I look forward to seeing you on the trading floor making money!