วันจันทร์ที่ 20 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2553

Life insurance

Author: Jared D. Ingram


Life insurance is another kind of insurance wherein it is life itself gets protected from the uncertainties and unexpected incidents in one's life. It is like preparing for any untoward incidents. This is ideal for anybody who is working for a living earning income to support their family. It would give him a huge sense stability and security to have his entire family protected by a life insurance. Buying a life insurance policy means you are assured of a financial assistance in case you lost your job and therefore loss of income, funeral arrangements, pay for your children's education incase needed. You know what policy that will nicely fit to your family's needs and requirements. You can take the plan that will fit your family's situation.
There are three kinds of life insurance policy, whole life insurance, term insurance and the universal insurance.  Whole life insurance is considered as permanent insurance since it includes the entire life of the person insured and beyond for he has death benefits too. It involves a life insurance and investment fund. A part of the premium paid is used to build a cash value investment that will be made by the insurance company for the insured.  In cases of need, the insured can even borrow from the cash accumulated in his investment fund without being taxed. The term life insurance has no investment component and it only last for a set period of time. /payment of premiums is made only during the specific time period. It also has death benefits which is available only during the specified time period. It is renewable yearly meaning you purchase the policy year after year. But if you don't want to renew it, you can opt to change it into cash value policy. The universal life insurance is another kind of life insurance policy that is a combination of term insurance plan with money market type of investment. Your investment is tied up to stocks or bond mutual fund and returns are not guaranteed. On the other hand, the term insurance policy has tax deferred interest thus savings account is accrued.
It is best to buy life insurance when you are young, healthy and at the prime of your life. Life insurance is at its cheapest rates when the buyer is young and in good health. People who have heart conditions and over weight will have to pay 50 percent more than the normal rates of the life insurance. Others, who smoke, have dangerous jobs and are into dangerous sports like racing and skydiving are likely to pay higher premium rates. The best thing to do is to shop around in the internet for insurance company who might charge less than the others. Or if you know any insurance agent you might want to ask for advice regarding your situation. But remember, it never pays to fool the insurance company since these companies are expected to know their field and they know when they are being lied upon. You don't want to have your claim to be denied when the time comes for your family to collect it.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/life-insurance-3876536.html
About the Author

Are you looking for more information regarding life insurance? Visit http://www.whatisinsurance.com/ now for more information.

วันอาทิตย์ที่ 19 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2553

General Facts for Mexico Auto Insurance

Author: westcoastri


West Coast Insurance Services is here to provide general facts about Mexican Auto Insurance and provide you with the best coverage's available with the most competitive rates on the market today.

Mexican Auto Insurance is important when traveling into Mexico, without it your travels could end up in disaster. Although you might hear that Mexican Auto Insurance is not needed when crossing the border, that seems to be correct. Being caught without it by the Mexican Police is not good though. They are able to detain you for hours and even impound the car and the fee's are not light. Avoiding this headache is simple. West Coast Insurance Services has trained agents via telephone to help you secure coverage for your vehicle. They have also made it easy to where you could visit their website and buy the policy via online and print out the original policy before you leave your trip. So when you cross the border you are prepared with your Mexico Auto insurance and you have peace of mind and not need to worry about being pulled over by the Mexican Police and not having the proper documents for proving you have Mexican Auto Insurance.

Please keep in mind if you go into Mexico without the proper Mexican Insurance and if you hit someone/vehicle you are liable for it. If you do not have the proper Mexican Insurance in place the Mexican police are able to detain you, it is considered illegal to drive without Mexican Insurance. When having Mexico Auto insurance an adjuster will get to the scene and help you out legally and take the report down for you and the 3rd party affected. This is why having Mexican Auto Insurance in place when traveling into Mexico is extremely important! Your trip can come to a halt and you could remain detained for a couple days with no vehicle. www.WestCoastRI.com // www.InsureBaja.com can help you secure coverage for your trip to Mexico, whether it be 1 day, 1 week or a year!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/general-facts-for-mexico-auto-insurance-3872015.html
About the Author

Myself webmaster of westcoastri - we pride ourselves on offering the most comprehensive Online Mexican Insurance, Property Insurance in Mexico, Mexico car Insurance, condo insurance, Mexico Auto Insurance, Mexico Home Insurance and lots more in Mexico at affordable rates.

Why to use a Currency Broker and the benefits of bespoke contracts

Author: James Matthews


In the modern world technology allows information to be instantly shared and as a result people are becoming financially savvy. We are tiring of bad exchange rates being offered by the high street banks as the perception of the bank as the most effective method for money transfer is quickly and justly becoming eroded.

Currency Brokers operate as FX specialists and generally offer exchange rates that are a lot tighter than High Street Banks, this means more money in your pocket!


The benefits of using a Broker does not stop there, customer service from High Street Banks can be entirely impersonal and often you will not speak to a Foreign Exchange specialist. This means (among other things) that they will not talk you through any of the market movements and explain other bespoke contract options that could save you money. Among some of the options on your Currency Transfer are:

  • Spot Contracts
  • Forward Contracts
  • Limit and Stop Loss Orders

The majority of Currency Transfers, particularly through Banks are Spot Contracts. This is where a rate is agreed on the ‘spot' to do a deal within a limited time frame and transfer the funds into another currency over an almost immediate time window. These type of contracts are particularly useful if the funds are needed urgently, however they are generally over used throughout the industry. A major criticism of clients when transferring funds is that there is a tendency to leave transferring funds right to the last minute, whilst the same people will negotiate to get that extra $1500 off a property they leave themselves at the mercy of exchange rates when sending money overseas. On a £200,000 Currency Purchase a 1% movement in the GBP/USD rate (Cable rate) will cost you over an additional $3,000. By choosing the right time to make your Currency Exchange and by ensuring you get a good rate by using a Currency Specialist over a Bank you can save yourself thousands on your transfer.


Is a Forward Contract apt for me?


Communication is vital in giving yourself the best chance to achieving a good exchange rate. If you leave yourself a time frame where funds are available then a Forward Contract can be utilized to maximize your transfer.

Forward Contracts are a great tool to safeguard your Currency Transfer from risk. It is said that 97% of people that gamble on the Currency Markets lose, a worrying statistic – especially as  many of these people are self considered experts. If you know that you need a certain amount of money to settle on a house by not agreeing a rate you are effectively risking that purchase as the rate moves (which it does around every 3 seconds!). Again for many of us this property purchase is a significant amount (if not all!) of our savings and so getting the best rate is of paramount importance. If the rate moves against you (the difference between the high and the low on EUR/USD last week was approximately 3%) then a $400,000 property purchase could cost an additional €8,190.24 depending on when you make your transfer, and this is only over a week!


By utilizing a Forward Contract you remove the mercy of the markets, albeit you do run the risk of the market increasing but surely this is a better, safer option than the risk of the market moving against you and not having a rate tied in? At the very least by guaranteeing the rate you have extra information in that you can plan exactly for the amount of funds you have to play with and you can rest assured that the transfer is going to be affordable.


What is a Limit and Stop / Loss order and how do I use one?


Limit and Stop loss orders are another way of protecting your funds from market movements. Limit orders allow your transfer to process automatically if they hit a certain level. For instance if the mid market rate is 1.18 (the GBP/EUR rate at present) and you want at least €120,000 from your £100,000 transfer you can use a limit to automatically fill your requirement if the market moves in your favour (you need to note that the mid market rate will need to move above 1.20 to achieve 1.20). Limits are often used in conjunction with Stop loss orders.

On the same transfer if worst case scenario you need €110,000 on your transfer or your purchase becomes unaffordable then a stop loss order can be placed. As with a limit a stop, loss can be used to safeguard your rate from market movement, if the markets move very close to 1.10 then your rate will be filled so you can achieve no worse than €110,000 from your £100,000 money transfer.

By speaking to your Specialist Currency Broker all these options will be explained as well as any necessary data releases upcoming that may affect your transfer. On big data releases (interest rate decisions, GDP, Housing or Inflation figures) it is not uncommon to see the markets rise or fall up to 1% in a matter of seconds.


If you have any Currency Requirement upcoming please feel free to get in touch and I would be more than happy to explain exactly how any of these options could benefit you.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/why-to-use-a-currency-broker-and-the-benefits-of-bespoke-contracts-3650143.html
About the Author

I am an Executive Dealer working for Award Winning Currency Brokerage Foreign Currency Direct. For the best rates on your money transfer contact me on FREEPHONE 0800 328 5884, email me at jfm@currencies.co.uk, or follow me on twitter - @FindCurrency.

วันเสาร์ที่ 18 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2553

Plenty of New Health Insurance Plans and Their Benefits

Author: Sharma


In order to save your health as well as money, there are various medical plans designed and proposed. Most of the health insurance companies offer reasonable and quality health coverage policy to meet your requirements at present and future. A new health coverage policy named 'Hospital Care' is released by ICICI Prudential; this plan covers around 1,000 surgical processes and hospitalization. Under this policy, there will be coverage for each and every expense that is associated with hospitalization such as; doctor fee, room costs, operation fee and various others incidental expenditures.

This new-fangled plan offers a prearranged assurance amount for their customer, which might be more than the real hospitalization expenditures.  The policy that covers up the therapeutic expenses of an Individual is called Individual Health Insurance Plan. There is one solo policy called "Family Floater Plan" that makes safe hospitalization expenditures of your whole family. With the help of one sum assured and one premium, the floater plan covers up your entire family unit under a single policy.

A handy approach to get and judge against Health Insurance Plans is offered by Insurance Pandit that is also known as "Medi-claim Policy" and it is generally provided by chief assurance companies.  Most of the expenditures that take place due to life threatening accident or Major Medical sickness and practice are covered by a type of coverage usually called ‘Critical Care Plan'. It also offers insurance beside unintended death and eternal total disablement. Health benefit with Insurance is a distinctive plan that covers hospitalization (Inpatient) and Outpatient unit expense together with dental treatment, bill of medicines and treatments.

This kind of assurance policy allows optimal tax savings, which can be up to Rs. 5099 u/s 80D.  There is one enduring, yearly renewable, U.S.-style main therapeutic insurance plan available that is called "Global Medical Insurance". Silver, Gold and Platinum are 3 different plan options available with this GMI program. This policy comes under a quality medical assurance program that will act in response to their therapeutic requirements everywhere in the globe. Visitors Care Insurance program is one of the grand assurance opportunity when your parents are traveling to US or for worldwide vacation.

It offers reasonable defense to the civilians of any country while visiting to US. This program is able to renew for 5 days to 12 months and up to a highest total of 24 regular months.  Special assurance polices for more than 100,000 international civilians in over 100 nations are delivered by International Medical Group. A short-term health insurance program meant for Foreign Nationals is called "Visitors Medical Plan". It also includes global visitors, impermanent resident or green card holders visiting globally. The program offers therapeutic assurance for sickness or any kind of injury at the time of travel or while residing out of the country.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/plenty-of-new-health-insurance-plans-and-their-benefits-3869719.html
About the Author

Sharma is a SEO copywriter for Blue Shield CA. He has written many articles in various topics like Kaiser insurance.To Visit Our Website Anthem blue cross CA. Contact him at forhealthplans.art@gmail.com

WAHID'S PHILOSOPHY- THE EXAMINED & CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF STRATEGIC PLANNING AGAINST BUSINESS PLANNING

Author: MOHAMMAD WAHID ABDULLAH KHAN


Author avowal: this article "Wahid philosophy "I have include some preliminary and essential information's that introduced about the strategic planning and business planning idea of readers, learners and businessman, this article also explained my philosophy about the business planning and strategic planning. As a financial consultant my viewpoint that the strategic planning set the foundation followed by business planning to spell out the operational planning,

Introduction: business planning is a more successful tool than usual strategic planning because it focuses an organization more effectively on the factors that interpret into assessable results and success. A good business plan services the organization to produce, Prioritize, and match these vital components, so that the plan has a greater possibility of being successfully implemented,

Business review:

Business review explained the organization, business project or product, reviewing its purpose, management, operations, marketing and finances. Every category of business plan requires analysis, careful assessment of all known factors, and analytical potential results of special options that are open to the company

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning decides where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focal point of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization, while the focal point of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service or program

Why Do a Business Plan?

Business planning is an efficient and official advance to accomplishing the planning, coordinating, and control responsibilities of management. It involves the growth and purpose of: long-range objectives for the project; Business plans become visible in many special formats, depending on the consultation for the plan and difficulty of the business. However, most business plans a business plan is often prepared when:

1. Opening a new organization, business venture, or product. or
2. Growing, acquiring or improving any of the above.




There are numerous benefits of doing a business plan, including:

1. To identify a problem in your plans before you implement those plans.
2. To get the commitment and participation of those who will implement the plans, this leads to better results.
3. To set up a roadmap to compare results as the venture proceeds from paper to reality.
4. To accomplish greater profitability in your organization, products and services all with less work.
5. To achieve financing from investors and financer.

For these reasons, the planning process often is as useful as the business plan document itself


When Should Strategic Planning needed:

An organization has been around for lots of years and is in a reasonably established marketplace, then planning capacity be accepted out once a year and only positive parts of the planning process, like dealings planning - objectives, responsibilities, time lines, budgets, and so on  are efficient every year. Due to the following procedure or purposes Strategy planning is needed in organizations,

1. Clearly define the purpose of the organization and to establish rational goals and objectives constant with that mission in a clear time frame within the organization's capacity for achievement.
2. Communicate those goals and objectives to the organization's constituents.
3. Develop a sense of ownership of the plan.
4. Ensure the most successful use is made of the organization's possessions by focusing the possessions on the key priorities.
5. Provide a base from which progress can be measured and establish a method for informed change when needed.
6. Listen to everyone's opinions in order to make agreement about where the organization is going.

Understanding Strategic Planning

There are a mixture of perspectives, models and advances used in strategic planning. The way that a strategic plan is developed depends on the nature of the organization's leadership, ethnicity of the organization, difficulty of the organization's environment, size of the organization, expertise of planners, etc. like a mixture of strategic planning models, including goals-based, issues-based, organic, scenario some would avow that situation planning is more of a technique than model.

1. Goals-based planning is probably the most common and starts with focus on the organization's mission, goals to work toward the mission, strategies to achieve the goals, and action planning,
2. Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining issues facing the organization, strategies to address those issues and action plans.
3. Whole strategic planning force start by articulating the organization's vision and values, and then action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values. Some planners prefer a particular approach to planning,

Some plans are ranged to one year, many to three years, and some to five to ten years into the prospect. Some plans take in only top-level information and no action plans. Some plans are five to eight pages long, while others can be considerably longer.

In addition: The sizes of the organization, differences in how organizations carry out the planning activities are more of a matter of the nature of the participants in the organization than its for-profit/nonprofit status. Strategic planning is the most common form of strategic planning. But issues-based planning is also a very popular approach to strategic planning an approach still too-often forgotten.

Other reasons include that strategic planning:
7. Provides clearer focus for the organization, thereby producing more efficiency and effectiveness.
8. Bridges staff/employees and the board of directors (in the case of corporations).
9. builds strong teams in the board and in the staff/employees (in the case of corporations).
10. provides the glue that keeps the board members together (in the case of corporations).
11. Produces great satisfaction and meaning among planners, especially around a common vision.
12. Increases productivity from increased efficiency and effectiveness.
13. Solves major problems in the organization.

Purpose of Strategic Planning
The use of strategic planning in higher education has improved appreciably.  Resource constraints and a lively worldwide situation necessitate considerate, strategic philosophy to be fixed in the decision-making process of a university, at all levels. Particularly, the reason of strategic planning is to:

1. Assist people identify the association over the next 20 plus years
2. Produce a directional article, to lead although not warning future chances
3. Permit the university to support strategic objectives with economic and human wealth
4. Supply an instrument to frequently assessment and make sure brilliance in education, examine and outreach

Always First Do "Plan for a Plan"

As well a lot, planners skip into the planning procedure by reviewing the organization's assignment or then establishing a idea and targets to achieve in the future. as a substitute, planners should always set up by doing a "plan for a plan." When planner skip this step, they too often create a plan that is not applicable to the organization, idealistic to apply, and nonflexible to the traditions and restrictions of the organization.

Strategic Analyzing External and Internal Environments

A common complaint about strategic plans is that they are just "to-do" lists of what to achieve over the next few years. Or, others protest that strategic planning never seems to come in handy when the organization is faced with having to make a not easy, major decision. Or, other complains that strategic planning actually doesn't help the organization face the future. These complaints arise because organizations fail to conduct a systematic strategic analysis as part of their strategic planning process. Instead, planners decide to plan only from what they know now. This makes the planning procedure much less strategic and a lot more deduction. Strategic analysis is the heart of the strategic planning process and should not be ignored.
.
The Strategic Planning Process:

Strategic planning became an intentional process in which top executives occasionally would prepare the firm's strategy, and then write it down the organization for accomplishment. The following is a flowchart model of Strategic planning process:

The Strategic Planning Process = Mission > Objectives > Situation Analysis > Strategy Formulation > Implementation > Control

This procedure is most appropriate to strategic management at the business item level of the organization. For large corporations, strategy at the business level is more anxious with running a portfolio of businesses.

Strategic planning against business planning:

01. Strategic planning: Strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization,

Business planning: Though the center of attention of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service, or program

02. Strategic planning: An organization's strategic planners already know much of what will go into a strategic plan but, development of the strategic plan greatly helps to clarify the organization's plans and ensure that key leaders are all "on the same script". Far more important than the strategic plan document, is the strategic planning process itself.

Business planning: An organization's strategic planners already know much of what will go into a strategic plan too a business plan is about money. It outlines the strategies that the organization will use to move others to spend money donations contracts, memberships, and product sales. Successful nonprofits in the future need to determine how their own abilities will generate sufficient money.

03. Strategic planning: The Strategic plan guides mission fulfillment by articulating goals, action steps, and resources.

Business planning: In contrast, "A business plan is typically focused on the actions and investment necessary to generate income from a specific program or service.

04. Strategic planning: The Strategic planning might start by articulating the organization's vision and values and then action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values. Some planners prefer a particular approach to planning, like as grateful inquiry. Some plans are scoped to one year, many to three years, and some to five to ten years into the future. Some plans include only top-level in sequence and no action plans

Business planning: A business plan, by evaluation, shows how an organization will coordinate tasks to deliver on its goals and include great detail about time frames and roles, usually for a one year Period. It is equivalent to what many nonprofit capacity builders would identify as a "work plan.

05. Strategic planning: A strategic plan is a document that is primarily intended to be used internally by the organization, to guide itself. In some cases, in fact, in many cases the strategic plan is never seen by anyone outside the organization. It often contains information about organizational strategy that a company might not want in the hands of its competitors

Business planning: A business plan, on the other hand, is typically meant to be used to explain others. For example, if a company needs to draw investors, the investors will want to have assured in sequence about the company before they entrust to investing. They surely will want present financial in sequence, and they will want to know where the company expects to get revenues in the prospect, its market, and so on. A bank looking at giving a loan to an organization will want similar information.

06. Strategic planning: Strategic planning is a high level process which deals with establishing the Vision and Mission of the organization, its Values, key Objectives and Focus Areas, and Key Performance Indicators. If this is done well, there will usually only be minor tinkering as the Plan is revisited and revised each year
Business planning: A business plan will have an operational plan for each function as well as the financials and will produce lower level objectives and action plans which tie back into the Strategic Plan. Specific Key Performance indicators will be developed for each functional area

At a quick look- Strategic planning against business planning:

giant picture philosophy about the social and managerial prospect, and decisions about how to understand an organization's mission with exact goals, objectives, strategies, and resources and involve stakeholders in the procedure in opposites Operationalization with the purpose to ensure financial success, guide performance, and ensure sustainability of the organization or venture as a vehicle for achieving larger goals

01. Strategic planning: Vision and Mission or desired future state and organizational purpose external and internal future may be articulated
Business planning: Definition of the venture - identifying programs, products, operational activities and the impact

02. Strategic planning: Goals, objectives, theory of change - long-range outcomes, intermediate outcomes, and intentions for the impact these actions will have in advancing a desired future
Business planning: Staffing and management structure, roles and responsibilities - including relevant experience, skills, and accomplishments

03. Strategic planning: Program plans -action strategies that are likely to be effective and are well-suited for the organization to advance vision/mission
Business planning: Financial requirements initial capital, cash flow, restricted revenue, recordkeeping for different sources

04. Strategic planning: Resource development - policies, principles, and practices for generating revenue that are well-matched to the goals and values.
Business planning: Revenue projections - break-even point, profitability, reinvestment or reserves

Conclusion: my philosophy there is not one successful that doesn't plan and work, strategic planning purely as a matter course. Surely it should be all over the organizations. The business plan is much more money driven. a strategic plan doing a lot more about the population, dream, and absolutely about how to bring in funds. But in the business plan, the market research is quite different and much more listening carefully on specific products, and exact services. It's in some ways more general, in some ways more inclusive.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/wahids-philosophy-the-examined-careful-consideration-of-strategic-planning-against-business-planning-3643161.html
About the Author

MHOHAMMAD WAHID ABDULLAH KHAN
S/O MOHAMMAD SAADULLAH KHAN
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Mr. Mohammad Wahid Abdullah Khan is the Project director of "Max Textiles Ltd".Mr. Wahid has been in accounting field since 1999. Prior to that he had completed over ten (10) years in various fields of Business like - Accounts, Finance, Internal & External Audit, project budgeting and project costing related positions in some of the largest group companies & the join venture companies in Bangladesh.

He consults about small- medium business owners and services professionals, business consulting service and project process. He is most experience in Financial Risk Assessment, Financial analysis, Financial Advising and Project Cost Analysis. He has published more than 100 articles & case study in different international journals. Such as Business, finance, personal finance, international finance, auditing, Risk assessment topic and performance & industrial related,

Mr. khan's most popular articles is  "WAK" Model - The way of best solution for an organization internal audit process,( 1st,2nd,& 3rd part) "WAK" Model- for successful financial resource , "Wahid khan"- cost analysis, Wahid theory – the key of dynamic series for successful financial consulting, Wahid techniques – the Significance and dependability manner for Performance audit(1st,2nd,& 3rd part) Wahid's Opinion - non-conformity among the performance audit and financial audit, Wahid's view- The cogent task and the confront of financial/economic analysis in the modern business decision making , Wahid's outlook- The Business Financial Analysis Should Be Included several required Documents with the analysis report or plan, WAHID'S JUDGMENT-difference strategic plan as opposed to an operational plan ,WAHID METHODthe charismatic and fruitful guideline for financial investment decision making ,WAHID'S MEASURE - the influential and evaluated of similarity between profit & non- profit business planning
& PPBS Model, he has consulted with more than 25 service & product companies,  in recent years Mr. khan has been spending most of his professional time for financial consulting , Mr. Wahid is the owner of "WAM" Associates and "WAK" business solutions;

Next Year - The Third Year of the Presidential Cycle! December 17, 2010

Author: Sy Harding


Next Year - The Third Year of the Presidential Cycle! December 17, 2010.
The history of the Four-Year Presidential Cycle is that the stock market tends to experience its worst corrections and bear markets in one or both of the first two years of a president's term, and then be positive for the last two years of the term.
In fact, studies have shown that if investors were to stay out of the market for the first two years of each presidential term, and then buy and hold for the last two years they would substantially outperform the market over the long-term.
So, obviously the presidential cycle has a big influence on the stock market. Administrations of both parties tend to allow corrections of excesses to take place in the first two years of their terms, and then pull out all the stops with economic stimulus to make sure the economy and stock market are recovered and looking good when re-election time rolls around. That in turn usually results in the economy being overheated, and the stock market being over-valued again, and the cycle repeats, with the next administration then allowing those excesses to be corrected in the first two years of its term.
However, as the last four years have shown, there are sometimes exceptions in the shorter term. The 2007-2009 bear market began in the third year of the Bush administration and continued down through the fourth year, and the market has been up quite strongly for the first two years of the Obama administration.
The obvious question is whether the cycle has reversed this time. If the market was up for the first two years of the term will it be down over the last two years of this cycle?
The answer is that it's not likely.
I studied the market going back to 1915. There were seven other instances when the market was up for both the first and second year of the cycle. It did not affect the history of the last two years of the cycle usually being positive. Only once was the market then down for the third year. That was in 1923, and the Dow was down only 3.2% for the year.
However, I also went back to 1900 to check out the market's performance in the third year of the cycle regardless of what it did in the first two years, and found that third years of presidential terms were not impressive prior to World War II.
I count five times out of the first ten presidential cycles from 1903 to 1939, or 50% of the time, that the market was down in the third year of a president's term. Two of the declines, in 1903 and 1907 were actually bear markets, with the market being down 22.4% and 37.7% respectively in those years. It was also down 53% in 1931, the third year of Herbert Hoover's administration (during the severe 1929-32 bear market).
But all of those negative third years were prior to World War II, not in the post-1950 modern market era.
It can be misleading to only look at the market's year-end levels to determine risk, as doing so does not take into account the corrections that can take place within a year.
For instance in 1987, the third year of President Reagan's second term, the market was up 2.3% for the full year. Easy enough to buy and hold through?
Definitely not. The Dow reached a new record high in August of 1987. But it then topped out into a serious bear market that culminated in the October 1987 crash. In that three-month decline the Dow lost 36% of its value, and panic prevailed. Even Wall Street conceded that the market was probably headed lower, and that the similarity to the 1929 crash might result in the economy falling off a cliff into another Great Depression. There were probably few buy and hold investors left by the time the market instead recovered to close up 2.3% for the year.
So I also checked out the intra-year corrections within other years, and nothing like 1987 occurred in the third year of other administrations. With the exception of 1987, between 1943 and 2007 the short-term corrections within a third year averaged only 8.5%, with the worst being 16.1% (in 1971).
So, although it's not quite the sure thing Wall Street is assuring us of, it is true that at least since 1940 the third year of the presidential cycle has always been a positive year with only relatively small ‘drawdowns' in corrections during the year, with the exception of 1987.
That does not mean they are necessarily wildly positive. Some of the third years, while positive, were only marginally so, for instance 6.1% in 1971, 4.2% in 1979, 2.3% in 1987, 6.4% in 2007.
However, based solely on the Four Year Presidential Cycle it does look like 2011 should be a low-risk year, even though the first two years of the cycle were already quite positive.
Of course there is always the possibility other factors, maybe even the current high level of investor bullishness that may have already factored a positive 2011 into stock prices, will become a larger factor than the Presidential Cycle this time around, as happened in 1987. But whoever said that investing was easy? However, it's usually easier when the odds presented by the Four-Year Presidential Cycle are in your favor.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/next-year-the-third-year-of-the-presidential-cycle-december-17-2010-3868458.html
About the Author

Sy Harding is CEO of Asset Management Research Corp., author of 1999's Riding the Bear and 2007's Beat the Market the Easy Way, editor of www.StreetSmartReport.com, and www.StreetSmartPost.com.

วันศุกร์ที่ 17 ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2553

How to Trade Commodities

Author: David Brown


The key to successful investing is developing your knowledge in the markets and to take things slowly and methodically. Commodities trading is no different. It is an exciting market which, if you are preapred to put in the time and effort, can be very lucrative, but always be aware that risks lurk in the shadows just like any other investment.
Physical Trading
Physical commodities trading is buying and selling the actual commodity itself not some sort of derivative instrument like a futures contract. There are obvious downsides to this method namely storage costs, insurance costs and shipping costs.
The physical market, for our purposes, focuses on those commodities that are easily stored, bought and traded for the average investor. These are such things as Gold, Platinum, Palladium and Silver.
The most popular method of trading such items on a retail basis is in the purchase of coins. There are many companies on the web that provide services for the purchase of coins for collectors and speculators.
The internet, of course, has given investors many options for the purchase, storage and trading of gold coins however, our favourite example of trading gold on the web is Bullion Vault. They allow the purchase and storage of gold in small quantities and have an efficient trading system. They hold $290mn of gold for clients and appear to have a very good reputation.
Leverage
If you didn't know the term 'leverage' before the current financial mess, you do now. For those who need a refresher, here is how it works. Let’s say you buy £100,000 of gold and whomever you buy it off only needs you to put down a 10% deposit, £10,000. Let’s say gold goes up 10%. You now have gold worth £110,000, if you sell it now you pay back the £90,000 you borrowed and you get your original £10k back along with your £10k profit. Basically you have turned a 10% gain in the price to a 100% gain on your investment.
Obviously if the price dropped 10% you lose your money, hence the mess that some are in at the moment.
Physical Commodities on Leverage.
There are still some companies around that provide leverage on physical commodities across a range of products, however, the costs associated with trading, such as interest on loans, storage and insurance fees have made the product less attractive to the active trader. Having filled a gap in the market for some time the product was overtaken by some of the instruments mentioned below.
ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)
More accurately described as 'Exchange Traded Commodities' these instruments  take into account all the fees such as storage etc associated with trading. They trade like shares are liquid.
An Exchange Traded Commodity is an investment vehicle that tracks the performance of an underlying commodity or basket of commodities. ETCs work on exactly the same principle as ETFs – with the ETC tracking the performance of a single underlying commodity or a group of associated commodities. Single commodity ETCs follow the spot-price of a single commodity, whilst 'index-tracking ETCs' follow the movement of a group of associated commodities, such as cattle, energy or livestock.
ETCs offer the commodities trader a number of inherent advantages without the associated vagaries of trading an individual stock:
Direct exposure to the commodities markets – the value of your investment will rise and fall in direct proportion to the price of the underlying commodity.
Liquidity - ETCs are ‘open ended’ securities, which are created and redeemed on-demand. This means that the supply of ETCs is unlimited and that price changes will accurately mirror developments in the price of the underlying commodity.
Stamp duty & CGT - ETCs are not shares and so trades are exempt from stamp duty. Furthermore, ETCs can be traded within ISA accounts, allowing you to shelter your profit from Capital Gains Tax.
Low dealing costs - ETCs are traded on the regular stock exchange, making them both accessible and affordable – they can be traded through your share dealing service for a commission.
Portfolio diversification – ETCs give broad representation across entire commodity sectors and different geographic regions.
Futures
A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell your chosen commodity at a specific date in the future - at today’s prevailing market price. These markets are highly liquid and the contracts can be sold on again at any point before the final delivery date, i.e. the day when the farmer or miner will deliver the raw materials to the person holding the contract.
The producers and end-users are still present in today’s markets, but it is the traders and speculators who are now responsible for most of the volume that keeps the market liquid.
The main benefit of trading futures is that you are making a direct investment into the underlying raw material and your future profit or loss is entirely dependent upon fluctuations in the underlying commodity price.
Going back to leverage, most futures trading is done ‘on margin’, which dramatically increases potential profits (and losses, remember).
Shares
Exposure to the commodities market can be gained from buying and selling companies whose business it is to mine, distribute or trade in commodities that you are interested in.
The shares are, generally, liquid and accessible for trading, the problem, however, is that there are many other factors that could effect the share price that may not have anything to do with the underlying commodity. These could be management issues, cash flow, macro economic issues and geo-political issues.
CFDs and Spread betting.
CFDs and Spread betting are easily accessible trading instruments which are essentially derivatives of many of the above, however spreads and dealing costs can be harsh to investors.
Technical Phrases
You will hear such phrases as 'contango' and 'backwardation'.
Contango is a term used in the futures market to describe an upward sloping forward curve (as in the normal yield curve). One says that such a forward curve is "in contango" (or sometimes "contangoed").
Formally, it is the situation where, and the amount by which, the price of a commodity for future delivery is higher than the spot price, or a far future delivery price higher than a nearer future delivery.
Backwardation is a futures market term: the situation in which, and the amount by which, the price of a commodity for future delivery is lower than the spot price, or a far future delivery price lower than a nearer future delivery. One says that the forward curve is "in backwardation" (or sometimes: "backwardated").
Commodities trading has many aspects that set it apart from trading other markets and for those that become learned in the trading of the instruments it can be lucrative. Commodity traders over the last few years have seen huge swigs in price which have lead to large profits (and no doubt some large losses).
Currently the global market in commodities is in a state of flux. Gold, for example, is seen as a safe haven against inflation and uncertain times, hence it recent volatility.
Having worked in commodities for some years it was always noted that volatility is our friend, whether a price is going up or down there is money to be made, when commodities are flat there is not much action and the cost of trading out ways the potential profits.
For the foreseeable future volatility is definitely here to stay. Stock market issues and global recessionary fears on the one side and continued development of emerging markets using vast amounts of the world resources on the other, will see volatility in this market for many years to come. This, therefore, as a market to learn about and trade ,is a very interesting and potentially lucrative proposition.
As with all trading, however, there is a very real possibility that trading commodities, especially on leverage, could lose your portfolio a lot of money and you should be aware that it is highly risky. Do not risk more money than you can afford to lose and make sure you have a system that allows you to use limits and stops to contain this risk.
The online trading system available from HF Markets allows you to trade all of the above with assistance, if required, from a professional regulated broker who can guide your initial trading strategies and help you become familiar with trading this exciting area of investment.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/how-to-trade-commodities-596268.html
About the Author

The author has spent 20 years in the financial services industry trading everything from physical commodities to futures. Currently writes for a variety of sites including online trading sites and general market information sites.