Candlestick charting is a highly powerful tool in the trading arsenal of any trader. In the last two decades, candlestick charting has become highly popular. There are many candlestick patterns that give profitable trading signals. Some are simple while other are complex. Hammer, the Hanging Man and the Spinning Top are three simple candlestick patterns that can be easily spotted. All three are different!

How to spot the Hanging Man and the Hammer? These candlestick patterns are easy to spot on the chart. When you spot a very small candle body accompanied by a pretty long wick on the bottom, it is a Hanging Man if it appears at the top of the uptrend and it is a Hammer if it appears at the bottom of the downtrend.

In less than ideal cases, you might also find a small wick at the top of the candlestick. When the Hanging Man or the Hammer appears, you need to look for the confirmation on the next day.

If you think that you have spotted a Hanging Man appear on the top of an uptrend, wait for the next day’s opening price. If the opening day is lower than the last day’s close, you have spotted a true Hanging Man.

Similarly, if you spot a Hammer at the bottom of a downtrend, you need to confirm it with the opening price on the following day. If the opening price on the next day is higher than the closing price on the last day, the Hammer formed was a true Hammer.

The best chart for these candlestick patterns is the daily chart. Once, you get the confirmation, trade these patterns. They can be highly profitable. But in case, you don’t get the confirmation the next day with the price action, simply ignore the pattern as not true. Whenever, you trade candlestick patterns, first spot them correctly than wait for the confirmation on the following day.

A Spinning Top is another candlestick pattern that reveals a tight battle between the bulls and the bears. Whenever, the battle between the bulls and the bears ends in a draw on a trading day, the following day, one side has to give in. When this happens an explosive move in one direction is highly likely.

Spinning tops appear much more frequently and are very easy to spot with a very small body in the middle of the candlestick and almost equal wicks on the two sides. A spinning top is a nice indication that the trend is about to change direction. Knowing about a trend change early is a highly profitable trading signal.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Master Candlestick Patterns with this 82 page PDF FREE Candlestick Guide! Download your FREE COPIES of the HVMM Ultimate Day Trading System and the Universal Risk & Money Management Tool!

Technorati Tags: business, Currency Trading, day trading, etfs, finance, forex, Investing, mutual funds, options, Real Estate, retirement, stocks, trading, wealth building

The quest for the best retirement states sounds like a good idea for people concerned with finding a great place to retire to at the end of the career. Lots of controversies and debates revolve around the tax-friendly and tax-foul conditions, but will anyone relocate just to save money? The location of your home greatly influences the share in the local taxes, which is why the entire retirement lifestyle may be about solving real estate problems.

The best retirement states are also called the ‘no tax heavens’ but things may not be as bright as you expect despite the fact that taxes are close to zero. There are other issues and worries that bother retirees and they are not always income. Sales taxes and homeownership taxes are worth considering before deciding to relocate, because this is thin ice you’re treading on. Maybe some of the best retirement states have a friendly policy for the retiree’s tax income, but the real estate taxes could be exorbitant.

People make the mistake of focusing too much on income taxes when searching for the best retirement states, but it can cost them dearly; a closer look at property taxes may be enlightening. Local governmental offices and the Internet provide most of the information on the specifics of a neighborhood. America’s best retirement towns has even made the subject of a book.

With the help of the Internet you can find information on the leisure and cultural activities, the estimated living costs, the criminal rate and the climate. Even so, do not trust charts and statistics 100% because information runs out of date pretty quickly in certain categories. Plus, do not overlook the cost of utilities that is sometimes ignored. These being said, it becomes clear that the classification of the best retirement states is neither simple nor easy.

Statistically speaking there are parts of the United States that deserve the name of best retirement states, but in day-to-day life things may be less clear. Very few Americans actually choose to move to a different state when they retire. Retirees find it difficult to leave family and friends behind, not to mention the the difficulty of accepting the stress of removal and the re-accommodation problems. Getting to live in America’s best retirement states is certainly more easily said than done!

To learn more about financial retirement planning, Retirement Planning, or Planning For Retirement tips, go over to my blog for more great Retirement Planning Advice, to learn how to start saving for your retirement today.

Technorati Tags: day trading, finance:investing, Investing:retirement planning, Real Estate, retirement planning, stocks

When you retire it seems like you have all the time in the world to have fun, and there are quite a few great retirement resorts out there. There are even people who move abroad in the attempt to escape the huge taxes, the high stress and increasing criminality rate. Which is why many retirement resorts, towns and villages are springing up especially in the United States and Europe.

The facilities provided on site are noteworthy. ‘Third age’ or retirement resorts provide socializing areas, healthcare and special medical facilities, and zones designed for leisure and sports activities. From a nice restaurant to a pleasant hour at the swimming pool, there is much you can enjoy in retirement resorts. Plus there are also shopping facilities as well as good properties to invest in. From the economic point of view, retirement resorts deserve all the attention, and governments know that much money can be done with proper support.

Retirement resorts are normally located in warmer climates, which is usually the case with lots of retirement communities in the United States. Nevertheless, this is not a rule of the thumb, as some very nice retirement resorts can be found in Southern Spain, in Granada, where you have snow in the mountains and low temperatures in winter. The 320 days of sunshine is a nonsense and you should not trust everything you read in advertisements.

People should in fact choose what retirement resorts to visit based on three considerable factors: the health benefits, the lifestyle and the budget. The sense of community is also important, particularly if you think of becoming a permanent resident of one certain location. Social relationships and friendships are very attractive to many retirees but very few retirees are adventurous enough to leave their homes.

There are very serious issues involved when analyzing several retirement resorts in view of a possible relocation. Many challenges need to be overcome before you can enjoy sand, sun and socializing. Are you sure you’ll find peace and tranquility away from home? Health insurance, health problems, distance from the family are very important related issues, not to mention the impact of the legal or tax system.

For more information on financial retirement planning, Retirement Planning, or Planning For Retirement tips, go over to my blog for more great Retirement Planning Advice, to learn how to start saving for your retirement today.

categories: finance:investing,Investing:retirement planning,retirement planning,day trading,real estate,stocks

Technorati Tags: day trading, finance:investing, Investing:retirement planning, Real Estate, retirement planning, stocks

When you start looking for good stocks, you often come across these terms like large cap, mid cap, small cap, growth and value. Let’s discuss these terms for a moment. Capitalization or cap refers to the combined value of all the share of a company’s stocks. The division between large cap, mid cap and small cap are often blurry and not sharp.

Mid caps are companies with $1 to $5 Billion in capitalization and small caps are companies with $250 million to $1 Billion in capitalization. Anything below $250 million can be considered as micro cap. However the following divisions are generally accepted: Large caps are companies with over $5 Billion in capitalization.

You must have often heard of the P/E ratio of a stock being talked about the analyst on CNBC or Bloomberg. Perhaps the most important ratio is the Price to Earnings Ratio (P/E). Now the most important term that you come across is growth stocks and value stocks. How do you determine this is a growth stock or a value stock?

Now the higher the P/E ratio, the more growth the company is supposed to have. So it can be either the company is growing real fast of the investor have high hopes of its growth. Now these hopes can be realistic or foolish, you never know! Now, if you follow financial news than you must know that the large growth companies always grab the headlines. But do the growth stocks really make best investment? The lower the P/E ratio, the more value the company has. Low P/E ratio companies are not considered to be the movers and shakers in the market.

Eugene Fama did seminal research on stocks and stock market s in’70s. Most of his results were startling and broke many myths. According to Fama and French, two famous researchers who did ground breaking research on stocks, over the last 77 years, large growth stocks have only seen 9.9% annualized rate of return as compared to 11.5% for the large value stocks.

Now intuitively you might have thought that growth stocks are better. What can be the reason for their lower performance over the years? The most probable cause seems to be their immense popularity. Since most of the headlines are captures by high growth companies, investors seem to think that they are the best investments.

Let’s go back to the IPO of Google. Think about Google, how its stock price shot up within a matter of weeks after it hit the market. Weeks after that it began to cool off. In 2007, Google stock was selling something around $500. So large growth stocks tend to get overpriced before you are able to buy them!

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Try these cash printing Forex Signals from heaven. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot System!

Technorati Tags: business, Currency Trading, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, money, mutual funds, Real Estate, stocks, trading, wealth

Are you aware of the fact that the peak of the global oil production (all liquids, including unconventional oil) will peak in the next few years. Do you know China is the largest producer of coal? Coal production n China would peak somewhere around 2010-2020.

You must be thinking what to do every available source of energy seems to be peaking in the near future? The global peak of uranium production lies somewhere around2025-2050. The global peak of natural gas production lies somewhere around 2025!

But there are many safe and environmentally friendly methods to generate the energy required. Uptill now these methods had been ignored maybe because they were a bit expensive. They were expensive in the sense that these methods factor in the external costs that were previously being ignored. Do you know this fact that the US Department of Energy has estimated that there is enough available offshore wind energy of the coasts of US that can nearly cover the current US electricity capacity? So what will fill this void in energy production in the coming decades?

If all the care in US were hybrids by 2025 that would roughly reduce 80% of the US oil import. IF every bulb in the US was replaced with an energy efficient fluorescent lamp, enough energy could be saved to shut down around 100 power plants.

So the solution is already there but it requires investments which are right now not forth coming. This will soon change as the global supply of oil starts to dwindle. The solution is already there and as the end of fossil fuel nears which is only a decade away, more and more alternative energy solutions will be used to generate cheap energy. Enough power could be generated for the entire US by covering only 9% of Nevada desert with parabolic trough systems. This is something like a plot of land 100 by 100 miles.

This is something that is bound to happen. The supplies of fossil fuel are finite and will be exhausted in the near future. You might have seen only a glimpse of that last year in 2008 when crude oil prices jumped to around $150 per barrel.

Oil deposits are being depleted at a fast pace and these resources once finished cannot be replenished. This prediction is based on our insatiable energy consumption and the lack of conventional supplies to meet the growing energy demand. This is most probably the safest long term bet that you can make in the long term. There is little doubt that companies operating in the green energy sector will ultimately become the major players in the overall energy generation and transportation mix of tomorrow.

Imagine Henry Ford in’09 asking you to invest in his Ford Motor Company that is about to mass produce a horseless carriage. Keeping in view the above facts, investing in green energy stocks in the best long term investment that you can make!

Right now the world is standing at another threshold. But many folks in that year of’09 were skeptical about Model T success. This is now 2009, exactly a century has passed. Do you think investing in green energy stocks is a bad idea? He tells you that this invention could change the entire landscape of the country. Knowing everything that you know right now with the power of hind sight with you, you will definitely say yes. Green Energy stocks may turn out to be your best investment decision of your life. A massive investment frenzy is about to take place in the green energy technologies.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Try these cash printing Forex Signals from heaven. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot System!

Technorati Tags: business, Currency Trading, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, money, mutual funds, personal finance, Real Estate, stocks, trading

Every investor wants stock prices in his/her portfolio to go up. What would make a stock rise so much? The whole point of investing in stocks is to choose one that has the greatest chance of a rising share value. Don’t we all look for a stock that we could buy for $10 and later on sell for $300 per share? Well, how can we proceed to accomplish such a feat?

So if the company does well, its stock will go up in price and if the company does poorly its stock will go down in price. Buying a stock is essentially buying a small piece of the company and its future potential for growth and profits.

The marketplace is in fact buyers and sellers, individuals and organizations that want to buy stocks or sell them. Now why does the stock goes up and down with the performance of the company. Actually the real force behind the stock rise and fall is the market place.

If there are more buyers of the stock, its value will go up and if there are more sellers in the market, the stock price goes down. This buying and selling of stocks can only take place in exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and over the counter markets like NASDAQ.

Sometimes you will find that the company does well and is posting good quarterly earnings but still its stock price goes down. What’s the reason behind this? Now it doesn’t mean that if the company does well and is showing good profits and earnings, its stock price will go up.

Everything in the markets is based on the expectations. Stock price goes up and down because of what the buyers and sellers expect will happen with the company in the near future. In reality the price of stock depends on the investor’s expectations. The price of a stock goes down because there are more sellers than buyers. So why is it so? The stock price does not go up or down just based on the company’s present performance. What can be the reason behind this unexpected stock price plunge?

However, the performance of the stock and the performance of the company over the long term have a logical relationship. In the short term, the behavior of the stock price is irrational and it can behave in crazy and illogical ways.

Stock investing is all about doing good research before you make your final decision to invest in a particular stock. Focus on finding companies that are strong, well positioned in the right industries and have solid fundamentals like a good management, good product, good service, growing industry, rising sales, increasing profits and so on. The bottom line is don’t worry about the short term gyrations of the stock price. Sometimes the industry and the economy matters more than the company. Picking a stock doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Understanding the company’s industry and the overall economic environment is critical to stock picking process. It would be interesting for you to know that Warren Buffet, the world’s greatest stock investor has over the years been a value investor. His famous investments were in insurance and manufacturing. He buys companies that have fallen on bad times but inherently their business model is sound, just maybe need a good management.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. Try these cash printing Forex Signals from heaven. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot System!

Technorati Tags: business, Currency Trading, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, money, mutual funds, Real Estate, stocks, trading, wealth

The more volatile the market, the higher then index option premium! The duller the market, the lower the index options premium. Well it depends on the expectations of the traders whether the market will move sufficiently in the near future for them to exercise their buy or sell rights.

Options are a far more basic instrument than the ETFs and futures. You can easily replicate any ETF or futures contract with an option but the reverse is not true. Options offer investors far more trading strategies as compared to futures. Such strategies can range from highly speculative to highly conservative. Suppose, you are afraid that the market is going to go down in the near future! You can protect yourself from this decline in the market by buying a out index option. When the market declines, the put increases in value. In case, the market does not decline, you only lose the premium that you had paid for the put option.

Of course for anyone who buys an options contract there should be someone to sell the options contract to make a complete transaction. Now the seller of a call options believes that the market will not move sufficiently up in the near future so he/she can make money by writing a call options contract and selling it to someone who believes the maker will move up.

The buyers of the put options are in a way insuring their portfolio against possible market decline but who are the sellers of the put options. They are primarily those investors who are willing to buy those stocks but only at lower prices. So in a way, buying and selling of options contracts make options trading a zero sum game. Either the market will move up or it will not. Either the option seller will win or the options buyer will win. The development of the stock index futures and the index options was a major development in’80s for investors and money managers.

So in a way, buying and selling of options contracts make options trading a zero sum game. Either the market will move up or it will not. Either the option seller will win or the options buyer will win. The development of the stock index futures and the index options was a major development in’80s for investors and money managers. The buyers of the put options are in a way insuring their portfolio against possible market decline but who are the sellers of the put options. They are primarily those investors who are willing to buy those stocks but only at lower prices. Options are an important component of any money manager portfolio. Many hedging strategies now depend on options.

The Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) gave the investor still more ways to diversify across all market with very low costs. ETFs give you the familiarity of the stocks but like index futures much higher liquidity and superior tax efficiency.

Index options give the investors the ability to insure the value of their portfolios at the lowest possible prices and save on the transaction costs and taxes.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Try these cash printing Forex Signals from heaven. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot System!

Technorati Tags: business, Currency Trading, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, money, mutual funds, personal finance, Real Estate, stocks, trading

If you have been following the breaking news that you might have come across the news that gold prices have reached historically the highest level! Recently gold broke the price barrier of $1000 per ounce. This might be the best time to invest in commodities. Some expert of the opinion that the secular bull market started in the commodity market a few years back and may continue for the coming decade! If you want to invest in commodities than you have many options like trading commodity futures, commodity ETF, commodity stocks or commodity mutual funds. A mutual fund is a fund managed by an investment professional on behalf of the fund investors. Now, mutual funds by law are constrained to follow conservative trading methods. Mutual funds cannot engage themselves in such sophisticated and risky trading techniques like arbitrage trades, long short strategies and distressed asset investing.

There are many different mutual funds like stock funds, bond funds, currency funds and even country specific mutual funds. But there are a number of mutual funds that specialize in investing in commodities or commodity related products. If you want to have a low risk investment in commodities than you should think about buying shares of a commodity mutual fund.

These commodity mutual funds use different investment strategies. Some of these commodity mutual funds invest in derivates based on commodities such as futures contracts and options based on futures contracts traded on the major exchanges in New York, Chicago and so on.

So how can you invest in these commodity mutual funds? After doing your research on these commodity mutual funds, you can select one that you consider to fit your investment objectives, simply write a check and purchase the shares of that commodity mutual fund either through your broker or directly through the fund providers. There are commodity mutual funds that may invest in companies that process these raw commodities such as energy companies and mining companies. So you will have to do your research in find the right commodity mutual fund for your objectives.

Now I said, after doing your research. The first step in your research should be to compile a list of questions like what is the fund’s investment objective, what securities does the fund invest in, who manages the fund, what kind of strategy does the fund uses, what type of people invest in this fund, what are the risks involved in investing in this fund, what is the funds track record, what is the funds fees and expenses and so on.

Now the two main commodity mutual funds are the PIMCO Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund and the Oppenhiemer Real Asset Fund. Now PIMCO Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund (PCRAX) is the largest commodity mutual fund in the market with $12 Billion of assets under its management. PCRAX tries to mimic the performance of Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index by investing directly in commodity linked instruments like futures contracts, forwards contracts and options on futures. Once you have your list of questions, see if the fund prospectus answers these questions satisfactorily. The good thing is that most of the mutual funds send their fund prospectus free!

When you talk of mutual funds than you talk about Morningstar ratings of that mutual fund! Morningstar also have got a five star rating system that can be really helpful to you in picking the best commodity mutual fund. Now as always Morningstar website is a very good resource for doing your research on commodity mutual funds. It can give you a lot of information about these commodity mutual funds such as the latest news, updates, load charges, expense ratios and other useful key data.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading !

Technorati Tags: business, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, money, personal finance, Real Estate, stock market, stocks, trading, wealth

If you are interested in investing in commodities than you can invest in a commodity mutual fund! Many people are not aware that commodities as an asset class has a lot of potential especially in the 21st century. It is being predicted that the 21st century belongs to the commodities.

Just buy the shares of the commodity mutual fund and let its NAV appreciate before you can sell for a capital gain. This is the simplest way for you to get involved in investing in commodities as the mutual fund portfolio management will be done by a professional manager and you have to do nothing.

ETFs started off some three decades back but became highly popular as investment vehicles in such a short time. Now, you must have heard about the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are really hot investments these days.

ETFs have many benefits. They trade like stocks but have the diversification advantages of a mutual fund. Now the good thing about investing in ETFs is that they give you the diversification benefits of a mutual fund with very low fees something like 0.7% as compared to 2-4% of the mutual fund. Driven by the growing demand of commodities by the investors many financial institutions are now offering Commodity ETFs.

So unlike a mutual fund whose net asset value is calculated at the end of the day and the shares of mutual fund cannot be traded during the day, you can go both long or short on ETFs all the time. Something you cannot do with a mutual fund! ETFs have the added benefit of being able to trade like stocks giving you the powerful combination of diversification and liquidity.

ETFs are mostly constructed to mimic some market sector index. Sector ETFs are a hot investment right now. Now, you can find thousands of ETFs in the market on different market sectors, stock indexes, currencies, commodities and so on. This diversification plus liquidity benefit makes an ETF a better investment tool as compared to the mutual fund and the stocks.

Let’s take an example of a commodity ETF. The Deutsche Bank Commodity Index Tracking Fund is listed on AMEX and tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index. This index is based on a basket of six commodities: light sweet crude oil, heating oil, gold, aluminum, corn and wheat. The first Commodity ETF in US was launched by Deutsche Bank in the start of 2006. This ETF is based on the Deutsche Bank Commodity Index and as you can judge

This ETF invests directly in the commodity futures contract. Now one of the downsides of investing in this Commodity ETFs is that it can be fairly volatile as it is based on commodity futures contracts that get rolled monthly. Another downside to this Commodity ETF is that it is based on a basket of six commodities only. Now, every month a new ETF gets launched. There are a number of Commodity ETFs that track individual commodities like crude oil, gold and silver. Do your research on Commodity ETFs, you may find a good investment.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading !

Technorati Tags: business, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, money, mutual funds, personal finance, Real Estate, stocks, trading, wealth

Investing in commodities may be something that investors thought of boring and dull only a few decades back but not anymore now. If you are interested in investing in companies that are involved in the production, transformation and distribution of commodities, than one of the best ways to do so is through investing in the Master Limited Partnership (MLP).

MLPs are public entities that trade on public exchanges. An MLP issues shares that trade on an exchange just like a company stocks that trades on an exchange. You can invest in an MLP by buying its shares on an exchange. The shares that an MLP issues are called Units and the investors who own them are known as Unit Holders.

Now most of the MLPs trade on the New York Stock Exchange. A few MLPs also trade on the NASDAQ and the AMEX. When you invest in an MLP, you are essentially investing in public partnership. There are tax advantages to investing in MLP. Unlike regular corporations, an MLP is only taxed once. Because of Congressional Legislation, any MLP that derives 90% or more of its income from the production, distribution and transformation of commodities qualifies for this tax exempt scheme. You must be curious how this tax advantage works out.

Suppose you invest $1 in the stocks of a regular corporation and you are in the 35% tax bracket. Corporate tax is 30% of it’s before tax income. This means that for each dollar that you invest you need to get at least $1/ (1-0.35) =$1.54 just in order to breakeven. So the corporation will have to generate $1.54/ (1-0.3) =$2.2 for each dollar that you invest in order to return you $1 after tax profit. Since an MLP has got the tax exempt status it will only have to generate only $1.54 for each dollar that you invest in it.

Tax exemption means that MLP have to generate a lower rate of return as compared to other companies competing with it in the same sector. Since an MLP has got the tax exempt status it will only have to generate only $1.54 for each dollar that you invest in it. Suppose you invest $1 in the stocks of a regular corporation and you are in the 35% tax bracket. Corporate tax is 30% of its before tax income. This means that for each dollar that you invest you need to get at least $1/ (1-0.35) =$1.54 just in order to breakeven. So the corporation will have to generate $1.54/ (1-0.3) =$2.2 for each dollar that you invest in order to return you $1 after tax profit.

However, most GPs do a good job of running the MLP as it is in their financial interests. Now you must know as a limited partner in an MLP, you have limited voting rights. This means when you invest in an MLP, you are giving away the keys of ownership to the GP. This means you are out of the decision making in an MLP.

An MLP is obligated to distribute all available cash back to its unit holders on a quarterly basis, so you will be getting a quarterly income from your units. Secondly as the MLP expands and grows overtime, its units may give you capital gain as well. Investing in MLP units can give you quarterly cash flows as well as appreciation of the unit price. However, always do your due diligence when you want to invest in an MLP.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading !

Technorati Tags: business, Currency Trading, day trading, ecommerce, finance, forex, Investing, market news, mutual funds, personal finance, Real Estate, stocks, trading, wealth