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Learning to use a forex chart will greatly improve your ability to become a profitable forex online trader. As with stock exchange investing there are several popular chart types used to visually analyse trading data. Some of the forex chart types include bar charts, candlestick charts and point and figure charts.

The forex chart can be very useful when looking to analyze markets when using technical analysis. The technical style of trading ignores fundamental factors and is only used with the price action of a market. This can be good to also remove the emotional effect trading has on your mental state.

With a forex chart you are able to see the movement of the market in a visual format. In addition to the standard chart you can add indicators or oscillators to help you make decisions about when to get in or out of your currency trades.

In case you do not know what an indicator is, it is a series of data points used to help predict movements in currencies. Some of the more popular indicators used on forex charts are moving averages, waves and bollinger bands.

Bar Charts – are quite often used in security market technical analysis. Bar charts are quite easy to construct making them quite popular. The charts are constructed by showing intra-day, daily, weekly or monthly movement as a vertical bar. Opening and closing prices are shown by horizontal marks to the left and right of the vertical bar respectively.

Candlestick Charts – were the secret weapon of the Japanese traders until Steven Nison of Merrill Lynch made the use of this chart popular in western markets. The candlestick chart is credited to Munehisa Homma, a Japanese rice trader in the early 18th century.

The candlestick is the graphic representation of the price bar: the open, high, low, and closing price of the period. The candlestick has become a widely used tool in online currency trading.

When you use the candlestick in your forex chart there are many patterns that you can learn to identify to help with your technical analysis. There are 12 you really should learn. Some of them include morning star, evening star, shooting star.

When using forex charts you should be using live data feeds. This means the data you are seeing in your forex charts is based on actual currency rates at the time you are viewing the chart.

To get your data and software for your forex charts you have free options and paid options. Quite often after selecting your forex broker you will receive some for of forex charting through their trading platform.

With the paid options you normally would pay for a data feed to construct your forex charts. This is typically a monthly subscription. You are quite often able to receive a free trial before committing to a subscription.

I currently use FXCM Trading Station and it comes with a built in forex chart. You can ask your broker what they recommend if you are wanting more advanced forex charting options.

If you are considering getting into the forex market and trading currencies I strongly recommend learning what you can about using a forex chart to help with your trading.

If you find this all too difficult you may instead wish to use a Forex signal service however this comes at a cost. It is always best to rely on your forex chart knowledge.

Looking for more forex trading information, visit forextradingonlineinfo.com. Sign up for the newsletter and receive a bonus report.

There are lots of sources that you can use in knowing different facts about solar energy. These facts are usually tackled in science subject. Anyway, do you know the meaning of solar energy? Well, it simply refers to as the energy from the sun. But sometimes it is also hard to determine which facts are true and which are just opinions. This article will give you some of the top interesting facts about solar energy:

• Solar energy is considered to be a renewable source; it may not be seen at night but it constantly exists.

• It will not give harm to the environment. It will not create air pollution that has carbon dioxide and some damaging dirt emissions and greenhouse gases.

• The solar energy is very useful in everything. It is capable of drying the clothes, heating water, heating swimming pools, powering minor appliances, powering fans in the attic, producing indoors and outdoors light, and even powering cars.

• The products made from the solar energy can be extremely expensive. Possibly the excessive cost could be the major downside.

• It will be economical to run the installed products. No wonder why, the energy coming from the sun is very free.

• If you made an excellent solar energy system and it generates more excellent energy compared to the one that you’re using, there will be a possibility that some company will purchase it from you.

• You can live independently with the use of solar energy. There is no reason for you to get energy sources from other sources.

• It is so easy to operate the solar energy system, because there is no need for you to connect it from power grid or gas.

• You can easily set up solar energy from remote areas.

• You can still have electricity supply if there is power blackout.

• The best way to improve the energy is to add some solar panels.

• Cars powered with solar energy have slower speed.

• It requires minor maintenance and can be used for long period of time.

These are just some of the interesting facts about solar energy that can help you in many ways. Try to consider using this to save money and help conserve the environment at the same time.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about solar energy facts, please visit Solar Energy Today for current articles and discussions.

The Japanese invented candlestick charts a few hundred years ago and they have been used extensively by traders ever since. They are basically like bar charts except they provide a lot more information. So how useful are they when used to trade the forex markets?

Well first of all I would say that it’s generally not a great idea to make trading decisions based solely on candlestick charts. Ideally you should also use other technical indicators as well in order to find high probability trading set-ups, before looking for additional confirmation from the candlestick charts. Some people do trade and make consistent profits by just trading forex candlesticks but they are definitely in the minority.

Before I discuss how you can interpret candlesticks let me first of all discuss what a candlestick actually is. In simple terms a candlestick is simply a visual display of how the price has moved during a particular time frame. It consists of a body which signifies the open and close price and two wicks which indicate the high and low point during that particular period. If it’s a green candle, the closing price was higher than the open price and if it’s red then the price moved down with the closing price ending up lower than the opening price.

This may sound fairly basic and you may well wonder how you can trade these candlesticks but there are a number of different patterns you need to learn because they can offer strong buy or sell signals.

For example, if you get several consecutive candles that all have very small bodies followed by a candle with a large body then you know that there is a strong chance of a breakout occurring either up or down depending on the colour of the bar.

Another strong candlestick pattern is the hanging man and hammer patterns. These are both strong indicators that a reversal is due to take place. They both look the same with a small body and a long hanging downside shadow. The only difference is that the hanging man is used to signify a reversal of an upwards trend and a hammer is found at the bottom of a downwards trend and indicates an upwards reversal. Used in conjunction with other indicators these are very strong signals that a reversal is imminent.

These are just a few patterns but there are many other candlestick patterns you should learn because you can gain some invaluable information from them, particularly when combined with other forms of technical analysis.

James Woolley runs a website which provides details about Forex Candlesticks Made Easy and other top selling forex products.

It is hard to define good and bad, especially when they are terms slapped on to something as subjective as a brokerage service.

A broker serves a few primary functions in the trading cycle. The brokerage takes orders from sellers and buyers and matches them. The broker also provides the most recent prices and most brokers provide a charting service as well. These services are not provided for free, the broker takes a commission from you each time you trade. This charge is called the pip spread. What that works is that when you enter a trade, you are automatically in the red. This spread varies from broker to broker but on the whole as a market, pip spreads for trading the majors are very low as compared to trading exotic currencies.

A good broker can then be define as a broker who provides the basic services and keep the spreads low and fixed. The issue about floating spreads is that there are times when the spreads can go to atrocious levels and that means if you place your stop loss too low, there is a high possibility that you get kicked out of a trade through no fault of yours or because of any market movements. The good thing about having fixed spreads is that you can work the spreads into your trading plan. That gives you control of how you want to direct the trade.

The reason why having a good broker is essential to your profits is that; you want to have reliability and stability when you trade. The last thing you need is a brokerage that might go bust, or not pay you or worse take your money and run! I have had experience with brokers who refused to pay out my profits especially if they were large good runs and these brokers even made it such that it seemed that it was a technical error so they were not liable to pay! As you can imagine, I quickly closed my account and switched services. The crazy thing was that the broker refused to give me MY money! After a few phone calls and a couple of weeks later I finally managed to resolve that ugly spat and recovered my funds.

Reliability and stability are absolutely essential for traders to have especially when we are faced with an ever changing market. With market situations as such, the last thing you need is for your broker to pull a fast one on you. For example when you are in the midst of a trade and suddenly the trade window hangs. It might be a technical issue you think, so you log back on immediately. To your surprise you realize that your trade has been canceled and that the money you placed into the trade was lost! This is something that you don’t need, so you try to contact the broker, but you emails never get answered and your calls fall on deaf ears.

At this point in time the only thing you can do is to switch brokers. This will affect your trading and throw a wrench into your profits. Choose a good broker at the onset and you will fair better in the long run.

Dr. Joshua Geralds is a successful Investment Specialist with over twenty years experience increasing the income of people world wide. Visit http://www.pipsalot.com to learn how to make steady profits through safe trading and down load your FREE e-book “Money Management” for a limited time only!

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

Currency trading has gained much popularity in recent years. Once thought to be the playground of the rich investor, it has become apparent lately that the currency trading market is accessible by investors of all levels.

Forex has now become an often-used term as opposed to just a few years ago when most people had never heard it. Now, the advantages of Forex trading are readily appreciated as more and more investors devote the major portion of their investing activity to the Forex market. The trading of currency involves simultaneous purchasing of one currency and selling of another.

It is the world’s largest market, with trades every day totaling over three trillion dollars, a staggering amount. It’s no wonder then that investors have flocked to it given the enormous amount of money changing hands and the opportunities presented by that volume.

One of the best things about this arena is that one can practice at will and play games online to improve skills and knowledge. Pretend, or phantom trading is referred to as ‘the game’ in the Forex field. This, of course, allows you to risk no funds while you thoroughly learn techniques through constructive practice.

To locate sites that supply practice training simply do a Google search for ‘Forex Trading’ and many sites will be presented. By the way, the term ‘Forex’ is derived from the formal name of the trading type, Foreign Exchange. The trading practice is also sometimes referred to as just ‘FX’.

For a complete overview of the Forex market, visit my web site through the link in my resource box below.

A major difference in this market, as opposed to the stock market, is that trading is not accomplished through a central point, such as the New York Stock Exchange. Trading in the Forex market is done on a direct basis, that is, between the two parties who are making the trade. Another major difference is that trading takes place twenty-four hours a day, through trading centers all over the world. The market trades continuously from Sunday night at 20:00 GMT to Friday night at 22:00 GMT. That gives investors a chance to make trades based on financial developments in the news without having to wait for a market to open the next day.

Many times, trades are done without commissions coming into play, a distinct advantage over the stock market. Still another advantage is the liquidity of the market, which translates into a constant supply of sellers and buyers, so there’s always a trade in the making around the clock. The market is constantly in flux and presents trade opportunities no matter whether a particular currency is moving up or down. The Forex market also offers the investor great leverage. An investor can control a position that is as much as one hundred to one more than his margin deposit.

Currency trading is a fascinating field and one that should be looked into if you are searching for an opportunity to invest and a chance to seriously increase your net worth. Check it out carefully and do practice investing before you make the plunge. And, of course, never risk money you can’t afford to lose. Visit my site listed below for much more information.

Good luck.

About the author:

Jim Nettleton is a radio and TV professional with wide-ranging interests. Visit his thorough Forex site for information in depth and real time quotes on currency pairs.

http://www.jaynetinc.com/ForexMaster

What is Options Trading?

An option is simply granting someone the right to buy or sell something in the future. In the case of Dow index futures options, when someone buys a Dow call option they are buying the right to purchase that underlying Dow future at a specific price, known as the “strike price,” at a future point in time, known as the “expiration date.” When an investor buys a put, they are essentially selling the market; a call essentially buys the market. Likewise, selling a put essentially buys the market; selling a call essentially sells the market.

In order to receive the opportunity to buy an option on this future, investors pay a “premium.” If the market does not reach the strike price of the option, then that option will expire worthless on the expiration date. If the market does reach the strike price of the option on the expiration date, then the investor will be assigned the underlying future at that strike price.

Advantages of Options Trading

Flexibility. Options can be used in a wide variety of strategies, from conservative to high-risk, and can be tailored to more expectations than simply “the stock will go up” or “the stock will go down.”

Leverage. An investor can gain leverage in a stock without committing to a trade.

Limited Risk. Risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned).

Hedging. Options allow investors to protect their positions against price fluctuations when it is not desirable to alter the underlying positon.

Disadvantages of Options Trading

Costs. The costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is significantly higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock, and these costs can drastically eat into any profits.

Liquidity. With the vast array of different strike prices available, some will suffer from very low liquidity making trading difficult.

Complexity. Options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance.

Time decay. The time-sensitive nature of options leads to the result that most options expire worthless. This only applies to those traders that purchase options – those selling collect the premium but with:

Unlimited Risk. Some option positions, such as writing uncovered options, are accompanied by unlimited risk.

Overall Options present a good opportunity to formulate plans which can take advantage of volatility in underlying markets as well as price direction. However for most traders the disadvantages are significant and online futures trading is usually a better option.

Tim Wreford runs Online Futures Trading, a website that provides information and resources for traders. Tim also provides a free day trading system, the results of which are updated daily on the site.

Known as equity swaps in the institutional market, they originated in the UK in the 1980s. Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are an agreement between the investor and the CFD provider to settle the difference in cash between the price at which the CFD trade position is opened and the price it’s closed.

On The Positive side

A CFD will mirror the performance of a stock without owning them, and the profit/loss is determined by the difference between the buy and the sell price. Because contracts for difference trade on margin, investors only need a small proportion of the total value of a position to trade.

A CFD will also mirror any corporate actions that take place. The owner of a share CFD will receive cash dividends and participate in stock splits. Traders use CFDs as they allow them to leverage into “stocks” for little upfront cost. Moreover, in a falling market, you can sell the CFD you don’t own and buy back when it has slipped in price value enough for you to pocket the difference and make a profit.

On The Downside

There are some significant disadvantages to trading CFDs, many of which are based around the fact that they are an OTC (over the counter) derivative. That means that the CFD provider, not a Securities Exchange, is the counterparty to your contract and it is their terms and conditions, designed to benefit them, that you agree to. The downside to CFDs include;

• The deposit is not a down payment for the balance of the CFD trade, but rather a margin held by the provider as protection against any possible losses. This means that an investor may receive a margin call demanding more money if they have bought into the stock thinking it was heading up and the share price falls.
• Given this, we suggest the use of a stop loss that is activated by the CFD Provider (broker) at a % move in the underlying share price against the trade. You would adjust this according to your individual leverage scenario. This should quash any margin call demands.
• You are liable to pay interest on the total transaction amount, regardless of the amount of margin that you have contributed.
• As an OTC (over the counter) derivative you are not offered the same protection as when you purchase shares. For example, some CFD providers are not obliged to use the stop losses you specify, they may also ‘bundle’ together orders from other traders and give you an average price.

Why Contracts for Difference

Leverage.

The leverage level offered by the CFD provider magnifies the underlying movement of the stock. Most providers set differing leverage levels and you can find the best level that suits you trading style. By using a Guaranteed stop Loss (GSL) it is possible to effectively increase leverage levels by capping the margin requirement held against you.

Control of Risk.

If you have ever traded, you know how important it is to use stop losses for capital preservation, especially when using a leveraged product.

• CFDs allow you to cut your losses quickly and leave your profits to run. This ability to quickly exit at the prevailing market price allows for greater risk control.
• CFDs reflect the price of the underlying equity, therefore, you will always know what the market price is of your shares and know what you can sell out for, provided you choose a CFD Provider who uses “at market” prices. Some CFD providers (market makers) may only give spreads, which have the potential to force you in at higher prices and out and lower prices.
• Placing automated Stop Loss orders can exit you out of suggestions that go against you while you are busy in your day-to-day activities.

Other things you may want to consider about CFDs

Hedging

Another application of CFDs, as an alternative to using Exchange Traded Options (ETO’s), is to use CFDs to hedge positions in your equity portfolio.

As with all hedging there is a cost. i.e. the commission you pay to open the CFD position, however, you will receive a net interest payment from the CFD provider as you are shorting the stock. Additionally, there is the indirect cost of depositing a margin payment with your provider to cover the CFD.

Duncan Hickman is an Analyst with Share Select http://www.shareselect.com.au who offer advice on Stock investment and trading, including derivatives such as CFDs

Here’s how I plan to turn the $1,000 per child that the Rudd Government is giving to my family on 8 December, 2008 into a gift that lasts for life.

For those readers who are either not Australian, or who are not aware of the recently-announced financial assistance the Australian Government is offering to families; here is a brief of what is on offer.

The Australian Government, which happens to be in Surplus (given the amount of debt per capita, I am not sure what this is a Surplus “of”…), announced recently that if you have children and you fall within the “Family Benefits Tax A” bracket, then to help ‘boost’ the economy, the Australian Government is offering families a cash payment of $1,000 per child, to be paid on 8th December 2008.

There is a whole swag of other payments being made right across the country to Age Pensioners, Disability Pensioners, Carers, and others, on the same day. The media had a field day, rejoicing in the announcement, saying that families will be able to spend this on Christmas presents and will boost Christmas sales and the economy. People everywhere are plotting how they will spend the unexpected booty.

Not me! I have bigger ideas than that and will actually be applying the cash handout to remedying – at least within my own family – the underlying cause that’s behind this whole sorry mess in the first place.

That is to say, I will be putting this money to work. I will use it to create more money for my children, which will, in turn, be reinvested to create recurring incomes, from a number of sources.

What’s more, I have found a way to do this in a risk-free environment – outside of the stock market, and outside of the property market – yet which allows me to invest small amounts in carefully selected businesses by purchasing their products and receiving profit-share from sales. More on this in a minute.

First off, I will open a bank account in each child’s name to accept their windfalls and start their Investment/Savings plans for the future.

Of the $1,000 each receives, I will put into action what every Investment book out there tells me to do. Invest 10% of all money received into growing more money.

So, $100 per child will be invested and put to work using the strategies set out in the free book “How To Let Your Money Make More Money Online… While You Are Busy Doing Other Things,” by Taylor Adams.

This has taught me exactly how to use subscriptions to online companies from just $5 per month as profit-generating investments. Money Buddy Alliance (MBA) offers a free service, so I am not paying any money to them. The money I pay is to my own subscription account, in return for which, I receive the product I subscribe to, along with a profit-share in the form of commission income. How cool is that?

$100 will more than cover a 12-month subscription to my children’s first Investment. So I can just pay the annual amount and not even have to think about it for the next 12 months.

All of this I have already had set up in my own name for some time, and know from my own experiences that it works a treat. So I will simply create a subscription in each of the kids’ names, and basically set them up for life.

There is a reinvestment strategy for when income reaches successive levels that will pay for a series of additional investments from profits, one after another. It’s so easy.

MBA just lets me know when my profits are sufficient to add the next investment position. I then take a look at it, and if I like it, I commence reinvesting in that one too. So far I have 8 different investment vehicles at various stages of development, from well established to very new. It’ll be fun teaching the kids how to do this as they grow.

Sometimes I still am amazed that for as little as $5 per month I can set my kids up for life in this way. And anyone can do it.

So what am I going to do with Kevin Rudd’s Christmas bonus – the $1,000 per child ‘windfall’ that the Australian Government has given to my family…??

I will teach my children how to invest just 10% of that money. I will show them how to purchase their “Money Tree seedlings” – an annual subscription to an online gardening club; which costs just $5 per month and pays out 90% of its subscriptions to its members.

This will dovetail very nicely with the gardening that we are teaching them in our own suburban backyard, where they now have a thriving worm farm and lush crops of organic fruits and vegetables.

I will teach them how to set up their online money processor which will collect their commissions, and pay their subscriptions from profits when renewal time comes around next year.

Everything at Money Buddy Alliance is kept so easy and straight forward, it’s just like following the “bouncing ball.”

This is the first step of a program that will teach my children how to invest their Christmas bonus money and put it to work while they are busy being kids; and I can monitor and watch my children’s investments grow, while I get on with being “MUM.”

For a free report called “The $5 poverty Cure,” send an email to Leanne with “$1,000 Family Tax Benefit A” in the Subject line. A detailed report will be sent to your inbox outlining how to start putting YOUR money to work, so that you will be ready to help start your kids’ investments when you receive Kevin Rudd’s Christmas bonus in December 2008.

Leanne Cane
leanne@moneybuddyalliance.com

Forex trading, also known as currency trading, can be a very profitable activity. It is a very hot trend right now in making money from home, and for a good reason. Trading the Forex market has never been easier or more profitable. There are so many tools for beginner traders, so even the worst ones can succeed. However, to be really successful in this business, you need to start the right way, and that means making right choices.

The first choice every currency trader must make is about the broker. In order to trade in the Forex market you need a broker, but not just any broker. You need a reliable, honest Forex broker. Without that, you are doomed to failure. A bad broker will give you bad spreads, high commissions, or just bad service. Choosing a broker is an important step, and should not be taken lightly.

After choosing the right broker, you need to get the feeling of the market, but without the risk. This is where the demo account of the broker comes in handy. After you sign up with your broker, don’t start trading with real money right away. Ask your broker for a demo account with virtual money. This way you will be able to understand how the trading platform works, and you will be able to perform trades in the Forex market without risking your money.

When you can make trades with your eyes closed, it is a good time to choose yourself a Forex trading system. Such system is supposed to give you exact rules about entering and exiting trades the most profitable way. You can either make your own system or get a pre-made one. If you are a beginner, it is better to get a system made by someone else, a system proven to work. When you gain more experience, you may want to develop your own system.

The next to last step, after you have your system, is practicing it on the demo account and seeing if it works. Never trust a system blindly, always check what you receive. Practice trading according to the system, including all technical and mental aspects of trading like this. When you do a good job following the system and the system proves profitable for you, you can make a deposit and start trading real money, making real profits.

To find all your necessities for Forex trading, visit the currency trading broker list and currency trading systems list of Great-Info-Products.com

About the author:

Nadav Snir is a stock market trader and Forex trader. You can find more information about Forex trading and Forex brokers at his site at http://Great-Info-Products.com/Forex/index.html