Investment Center

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Your Money Or Your Life

Gepost door admin op 22/03/2008
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

Have you stopped to realize that although you go to school to learn about important subjects, no one teaches you how to manage your money?



Money is an essential part of life in our pursuit of happiness, yet very rarely will a parent sit down and tech their child how to handle their money.



This is true in grade school, high school and worst college. So what happens? Many of us end up in an extremely large amount of debt. We can’t seem to get it together even if we make more money.



I found myself in this trap about 13 years ago. I had an okay job, a car, and an apartment. Nice I thought soon I would buy a house and live the “American dream”. Wrong! I could never save enough to buy a house. I had plenty of credit cards, so many that I never had enough money due to many payments to put aside for my dream home.



What was happening to my paychecks? Well, I was over extended in credit card debt for one. The buy now pay later syndrome was well embedded in my head. That mentality had to stop! Since, I wasn’t terribly behind in my payments I was able to get some help from the creditors. I simply asked for a lower interest rate and/or the ability to skip a payment. After that call, I had to cut up and dispose of the cards. No! I didn’t cancel my cards but I got rid of them just the same.



Next I bought a tablet just for my budget information and bills. I also purchased a software program to keep track of my expenses. I think it is important to keep something manual that you can carry as well as a computer software tool.



Next, as bills came in, I wrote them down with the name, address, phone number of the creditor, my total balance, interest rate, and minimum payment due, the due date, and if there were any annual fees acquired with the card.



Review the card with the highest interest rate and pay more then the minimum due. Always ask if they can reduce your rate or seek the possibility of debt consolidation buy applying for a low interest rate loan or credit card. If you haven’t cut up your credit cards do not get a consolidation loan. Because most likely once your payments are manageable you’ll start using your cards again.



Minimizing your spending is the key to financial freedom. Make sure to start a savings plan after you’ve gotten your debt under control.

Dina D Harbour, Financial Coach


Wanted Debt Or Alive (A counseling service)


http://www.wanteddebtoralive.org

Small-Cap Stocks: The Beginning of the Journey

Gepost door admin op 19/03/2008
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

When an individual investor wants to roll up his sleeves and do some research in the pursuit of the next big winner in the stock market, the place many start is in the small cap sector.

As with the other capitulation sizes (capitalization is a stock’s market value), no one can completely agree on a precise definition, but corporations under $2 billion are often considered small caps. It should be pointed out that there are two asset classes below small caps. Micro caps are companies between $50- 300 million and Nano caps are below $50 million. To further confuse the issue, there are also “penny stocks” that really have nothing to do with capitalization size, but are stocks that trade very cheaply.

Life begins for many small caps as an Initial Public Offering (IPO) or as a “spin off” from a larger company. Like Toddlers, these companies are often still in their developmental stage. At this point they exhibit characteristics that give them the potential for both massive growth and extreme downside volatility.

Their huge growth potential is obviously the piece that attracts most investors. Who wouldn’t have wanted to get in on a Microsoft in its early days of trading? The question of course is who knew about Microsoft back then?

Often, it is individuals not institutions that first get in on the ground floor. Analysts working for major brokerage firms usually don’t have the time to develop coverage on small companies and institutional investors generally have limitations of how much they can own of a single company. Although a $100 million may seem a lot to an individual, it’s a drop in the bucket for the big players and equals 20% of a $500 million company. The 20% far exceeds what the SEC stipulates a mutual fund can own and often exceeds the investment policy statement of an institutional investor.

The disadvantage here to the investor is there is relatively little published research that the individual can rely on in the decision making process. But the good news is that the individual investor has the opportunity to buy the stock before the institutions get in and run the price up.

Many investors believe in the “efficiency” of the market. This means that with all the information out on a particular stock, the market can “efficiently price” any stock. In the case of small caps (where information is often lacking), an argument can be made that there is some potential to profit from inefficiencies in the market. Again, this cuts two ways. Many investors can remember that it wasn’t too long ago that many small cap techs sold for vastly inflated prices only to watch a steep price slide as the market started to correct these inefficiencies.

Income investors should probably look elsewhere. Small caps generally conserve whatever cash they earn for growth potential. Any yield is usually incidental to their objective.

For mutual fund investors, small caps can be an interesting proposition. Certainly, mutual funds can help offset some volatility through diversification. However, for investors that want to follow a small cap’s ascension to the large cap sector, mutual funds may disappoint. Often, to avoid what’s called “style drift” a mutual fund manager sells a successful position simply because it has outgrown its capitalization value. While this may be helpful for asset allocation purposes, it’s not appealing for investors wanting to watch a company “grow up”.

Glenn (”Chip”) Dahlke, a senior contributor to the Living Trust Network, has 28 years in the investment business. He is a Registered Representative of Linsco/Private Ledger and a principal with Dahlke Financial Group. He is licensed to transact securities with persons who are residents of the following states: CA. CT, FL, GA, IL. MA, MD. ME, MI. NC, NH, NJ, NY.OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WY.

If you have any questions or comments, Chip would love to hear from you. You may contact him at dahlkefinancial@sbcglobal.net. You may also reach him by going to the Living Trust Network web page located at http://www.livingtrustnetwork.com.

Copyright 2005. LivingTrustNetwork, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the written consent of the Living Trust Network, LLC.

Learn to Calculate a Stock’s Pivot Point

Gepost door admin op 16/03/2008
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

Stocks breakout from properly formed bases everyday but many investors don’t understand how to locate a pivot point or what patterns to study that may contain this very important buy signal. A pivot point can be described as the optimal buy point or the area at the end of a familiar base pattern where the stock breaks out into new high territory. William O’Neil, the founder of Investor’s Business Daily is considered the pioneer of the pivot point in modern times. As Jesse Livermore explains in his book (1941), the pivot point can also be described as the point of least resistance. When a stock breaks the point of least resistance, we are presented with an opportunity where a stock has the greatest chance of moving higher in a short period of time, especially when volume accompanies the breakout.

The pivot point can be calculated as the stock is forming the handle on a cup-with-handle base. The ideal buy price would be $0.10 higher than the highest spot during the handle, also know as the top of the right side of the base. The intraday high can qualify at the highest point and does not have to be the closing price of the stock. If the stock closes at the high for the day, then we will use this number as the high point.

The exact methods used for finding pivot points vary depending on the base pattern that is forming on a daily and/or weekly chart.

When a flat base occurs, an investor should look for a move $0.10 higher than the top point on the left side of the base or the start of the formation.

A saucer-with-handle follows the same rules as the cup-with-handle and is described in detail above.

A double-bottom formation triggers a pivot point that will be $0.10 higher than the middle peak in the “W” shaped pattern.

Many investors will try to cheat the rules and place a position prematurely before the stock breaks out and passes the pivot point. I do not suggest buying until the stock triggers the pivot point on above average volume also known as qualifying volume. The area considered as the least amount of resistance is weighed so heavily because all overhead sellers are gone as we break into new high territory. The pivot point usually comes within 5% to 15% of the stock’s old high 52-week high.

Don’t chase a stock that is 5% or more above the proper pivot point. This does not mean that you can’t buy on normal corrections and pullbacks to support or moving averages, especially if the stock remains in an uptrend. This rule only applies to the pivot point area as the stock becomes extended. If you buy with the pivot point and sell when a stock falls 7-10% from the pivot point, I guarantee that your yearly performance will increase dramatically.

Chris Perruna - http://www.marketstockwatch.com

Chris is the founder and president of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We don’t stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make you own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.

Stocks And Shares - How To Trade Profitably In A Bear Market

Gepost door admin op 06/03/2008
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

Trading in a bull market is easier than trading in a bear market. Many traders find they can make money trading in bullish markets, but when there is a major correction underway or when the market is bearish, they literally freeze and are unable to trade successfully or find profits in their trading.

First,when a market has collapsed, it is important to accept the fact that the market trend has changed from bullish to bearish. It is human nature to find scapegoats or to find a “reason” or to rationalise away the fact that the market trend has changed. But unless the trader accepts the fact that he is solely responsible to trade his way out of a bearish market, he will find his position untenable and discover losses that add up daily as the market bearish sentiments continue. It does not pay to refuse the responsibility of your own trading action and put the blame on your broker or your friend who has given you the “tips” that led to your losses.

If you are faced with losses from a sudden collapse in prices, accept that it is your responsibility to now institute action to get out of this situation with profits.

Secondly, while in bullish markets it is easy to trade by just buying stocks that are in initial outbreaks and just holding them and coming back again after a few days to reap profits, you cannot do the same during bearish markets.

In bullish markets, you trade with the trend, and as long as the trend is up, you stand to make easy profits. On the contrary, in bearish markets, the market goes into consolidation, and trends are “shorter” in duration or the market will go into a sideways direction, with prices oscillating between ranges. During bearish markets, we are more biased towards range trading rather than trend trading. So if you do not know how to change from using trend trading to range trading, you can be caught with short term trend changes and suffer whipsaws and lose money trend trading during bearish markets.

Dealing with traders who have gone through a series of major market corrections since 1987 has led me to conclude that there is no room for lackadaisical trading during bearish markets. The margin of error for a trading signal is much lower when trading in a bearish market. I have seen traders who are able to quickly change or adapt from longer trend trading to trading shorter swings in the market or range trading to be able to make money from their trades. In bearish markets, they are contented with smaller profits, but trading more often and in higher volumes. To aid in their margin of profits, they are able to negotiate the lowest brokerage terms possible with their brokers or to use discounted online trading platforms.

In bearish markets, the trader who range trade will be the one who is best positioned to take advantage of the shorter and faster rebounds that occur as stocks get oversold and retrace upwards. Accepting personal responsibility and adapting to range trading will improve his chances to make money during bearish markets.

Peter Lim is a Certified Financial Planner. He maintains a blog, “The Art of Trading” http://get-investment.info/finance where traders can follow his postings on technical analysis and trading techniques and market commentaries which are applicable for any stock exchange in the world where stocks are freely traded. He also provides more free trading resources at http://www.online-guides.info.

Real Estate Investing - An Alternative To Traditional Stock Market Investment

Gepost door admin op 31/12/2007
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

>From a historical perspective, investing in real estate is
almost as old as the construction of property itself. Indeed
many business owners who created their wealth through companies
then went on to diversify into real estate investments. In fact,
over the years real estate investments have produced similar
returns to those found in the stock market. Let’s take a look at
some of the reasons:

First of all, and most obviously, the supply of building land
around the world is limited, even when taking into account
landfill opportunities. Since the world’s population is growing
and the demand for housing ever increasing, then there would
seem to be a never-ending and increasing requirement for real
estate of all types.

Now let’s take a look at the mechanics of buying property. Here
it can be seen that investing in real estate is quite different
from most other traditional investments such as stocks. With
real estate you can often borrow up to around 80 percent of the
value of a property, sometimes even the full value and beyond
under special circumstances. Thus a more modest investment of
say 20 percent of the value can be used to buy and control the
full value of the larger investment. Naturally, if the value of
your investment increases, I.e. property prices rise, then the
value of your real estate investment also increases. If so, then
you are into profit, including that on the money you originally
borrowed.

Naturally, there will be costs associated with real estate
investing (such as legal fees and property maintenance, taxes,
etc), but these are usually small in comparison with the
potential gains.

Borrowing in order to invest in real estate makes real estate a
type of leveraged investment. But if you know anything about
leverage, you will realize that leveraged investments can also
go against you. What, for example, if the property you purchased
for $300,000 decreased in value to $240,000? Even though the
value only dropped by 20 percent, you actually lose 100 percent
of the original $60,000 investment. And if you have a mortgage
on this property making up its full purchase price, you will
actually need to pay money to the mortgage provider in order to
cover the costs of selling the property. That’s in addition to
the loss of the whole of your initial investment.

So, as you see, investing in real estate is something to be
taken very seriously and should not be done with money which you
might need for other things in the near future. Investment in
property is more secure as a long-term investment. In the above
example, if you could have held onto the property and not sold
it, the loss would purely have been ‘on paper’. In all
likelihood, over time the value of the property, unless grossly
overpriced when you originally bought it, will rise and you will
likely not only recover the full value of the initial
investment, but also possibly make a nice profit when you do
come to sell.

Another reason that real estate is a popular investment is that
there are profits to be made from it whilst you are the owner.
In addition to the tax-saving benefits (in that any tax due on
the property’s increase in value doesn’t become due until it is
eventually sold), you can also make additional money from
renting out the property. This can often cover all your running
costs of the property, plus providing a profit on top.

Unless you make a large down payment, early on during your
ownership the monthly operating profit from your property
business is likely to be small or non-existent. But over time
this profit will increase as the amount of rent you can charge
increases at a higher rate than the running costs. Naturally
these profits will be subject to normal income tax rules.

A further benefit of investing in property is that you might be
able to purchase cheaply a run-down or ‘distressed’ property and
fix it up or develop it further. Properties like this can still
be found if you look around carefully. Naturally, investing in
this type of real estate can still produce large gains. This is
something you certainly can’t do with traditional stock market
investments.

However, returning to the initial question about whether real
estate investing is still a viable option when current prices
seem to be nearing their peak: yes, it can still be so, but you
might need to be more creative and prepare to be in for the long
haul. Property ‘flipping’ methods that worked extremely
successfully yesterday, might not work at all well tomorrow.

You might also consider diversifying into overseas real estate
markets. Whilst this will require greater study and analysis,
and there are many more legal issues to consider, seeking out
what appear to be undervalued international real estate
opportunities has the potential to be highly profitable if
handled correctly.

Naturally, you should always seek the advice of professionals,
both financial and legal, before investing in properties of any
description, particularly when considering investing overseas.
There might be major implications to your overall taxation.
Risks can also be substantially higher when you are not there to
oversee your investment in person.

A Calm Scrutiny of Payday Advance Interest Charges

Gepost door admin op 26/12/2007
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

One of the largest accusations by disparagers of the no fax fast cash advance business is concerned with the borrowing rate conventionally demanded for a short term payday loan that can accrue to 1-200%.

As you will know, the annual percentage rate or “APR” is just a classic indicator formalizing the total amount of interest a debtor would have to pay for one full year. This APR renders the mechanism to realistically assess which medium can boast a higher vs. a lower ultimate cost to the receiving party, incorporating additional charges that will swing in.Decidedly the rate of interest p.a. is acknowledged to be a very mighty formula bearing upon financial commitments spanning a period of at least 12 full months .However, re short-term investments the annual lending rates are certainly appropriate.

Rather, let’s compare a payday advance to hailing a taxi home from the train station. It might cost you about forty dollars to get back home. So forty dollars may be quite a bit of money to have to pay for riding home nonetheless lots of people do it since it is a sensible thing to do and addresses a requirement. Ok, so everybody knows the alternative: hire a car for an entire day for 40 dollars including an unlimited number of miles.

So let’s assume we do that- rent a car and drive 400 miles during that one day we’ve rented it. Now obviously the defenders of APR would submit that everyone ought to annualize this quote to get a reasonable comparison! So to check this out, let us take the price the taxi rider will charge us (to wit: $2 per mile multiplied by 400 miles) resulting in $800.00. The APR counterpart of the rented car contra our taxi hire gives $40/$800. Of course, there’s no doubt that renting a car wasn’t the world’s best option, even in view of how much more expensive the lending rate was in this specific case.

And exactly the same applies to short term payday loans. Remember that payday advance loans are limited to two weeks, they’re not annual loans. The extravagant annualized rate of interest doesn’t make any sense in view of the fact that this class of loan does not arch the full year. The interest rate charged tallies as about 15%-25% for the loan.
Learn more about a bad credit payday advance here.

Bank Foreclosures a Profitable Investment?

Gepost door admin op 20/12/2007
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

Bank Foreclosure Investing

Several people, especially those new to real estate investing,
will prefer bank foreclosure to any other form of property
buying because they think that they are safe properties to buy.
Their understanding is that the bank owns the property and
therefore they are free from all liabilities and other negative
encumbrances. Though a bank foreclosure can be safe, the bank
never owns the property. The property has only been pledged as
collateral, meaning in the event of default of loan payment, the
property should be disposed to redeem the loan.

Bank foreclosure property many not be cheap

Many people also believe that bank foreclosure is cheap, no
matter what. It is held that the bank must sell the property the
same amount it cost so such prices are not highly marked. Many
people who hold this idea may be in for disappointment because
if the lender becomes the successful bidder at this auction,
then the propeerty can be sold at any price. The bank also wants
profit it needs to stay in business by operating at great
profits.

Nevertheless, buying bank foreclosure still remains the popular
way method of buying property. The process is fairly easy and a
lot of risks associated with other forms of purchase are either
eliminated or reduced in the bank foreclosure.

How to assess properties for sale

To buy bank foreclosure, scout for announcements or notices in
the newspapers or from the courts. You can also contact a real
estate agent for such notices or use a listing service. In your
search, you have to be guided by a set of criteria to get the
best deals. To make a great investment, you will have to
determine your own investment policies and get properties that
are close to you. You should also be mindful of the price. Are
they reasonable? Look at the architectural design. Will it be a
good sale if you intend to resell it? If you intend to occupy
the place yourself, consider the neighborhood. Is it a
well-developed area with full services? Has it got enough rooms
for you and your kids?

Summary

For the real estate investor or home buyer, foreclosures are an
opportunity to acquire property that can serve as a investment
or as a primary residence.

Acquiring foreclosures after the sale, whether from an auction,
or from the bank or other lending institution (referred to as
REOs or real estate owned) is essentially the same as buying
from any other seller in a normal transaction. Therefore, it’s
in best interest to understand and educate yourself in
foreclosure process if you choose to pursue these opportunities.

Start Now To Prepare Yourself For A Rewarding Future

Gepost door admin op 07/12/2007
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

For some odd reason, youth has a way of deceiving even the elect in believing there will always be plenty of time in which to plan for a financially secure future.

But time is no respecter of persons.

To make matters worse, we often tend to get “caught-up” in the rat race just to stay current with existing costs of living. So caught-up in fact that in learning this important lesson too late, we often fail to pass on the importance of preparing for a financially secure future to our children.

Thus the cycle of choosing to be unprepared for a comfortable retirement continues generation after generation. That’s right, it is a choice.

So where does this leave us today?

Before we get there, let me quickly explain what true wisdom is. You do want to be wise don’t you?

Wisdom is taking the knowledge you have obtained and APPLYING it to your specific situation. Whatever that situation may be. Take time to acquire the knowledge and equal time to think out ALL of the possible outcomes of your actions.

Usually and much too often we KNOW what to do, but we fail to do it. There are many reasons why this may occur. Among these reasons are, lack of self-esteem, self-worth, and needing the approval or assurance of friends and/or family.

Now let’s get back to the time factor. As the saying goes, “Why put off till tomorrow what YOU CAN DO TODAY!”

It’s time that we wise up and start applying today sound principles to reach our desired financial goals. There has to exist a reason you want to be wealthy, or at least well to do. And not just for the sake of being wealthy. Without a reason, wealth won’t last long. In fact, obtaining it would be pointless. So what are your reasons?

Is it so that you won’t have to stress over bills any longer? Or so that your children wouldn’t have to experience the life of struggles you had to endure?

Let these be the motivating factors that propel you toward your goal.

We cannot deny that there is a lot to learn about living a new lifestyle. Heck, we can’t even deny the natural fears that come along with even trying to. But what it boils down to is choice. Your choice as to whether or not you really want a more prosperous life.

If you really want to, then you must:

Make up your mind. Determine in yourself that this is what you are going to do.

Make and write down your plans. First your long-term goals, then successive (smaller) goals that will take you step by step to the overall goal.

Then simply stick to it. Don’t spread your tasks thin. In other words, don’t have so many things working at one time that you’re not able to complete any of them. COMPLETE one project at a time before moving on to the next task.

Skip any of these steps and you are back to square one. But by adhering to these simple principles, you will find that you are able to accomplish a lot more, in a lot less time. You will also have the ability to apply these principles to every area of your life, leading to a more organized approach.

Know the difference between needs and wants. Take care of your needs first. Create a daily schedule of tasks for yourself and how much time you can commit to each task (an example can be found by visiting http://www.wskgroup.com/business-overview.html).

Do the same by creating a realistic budget. Then stick to it.

The more organized you are, the less it will seem as though the task ahead of you is a tedious one. Why stress over matters in which YOU have control of?

If obtaining wealth and financial freedom is your goal, start today by putting together a sound plan that will get you there step by step. Use your time wisely by taking the time to “invest in yourself”.

Tired of stressing over not having enough income? Darryl R. Robinson was there, and for that reason has taken on the commission to teach and lead as many that have the desire, implement strategies that will help alleviate their financial needs. You can visit his website at http://www.wskgroup.com.

Investing Wisely – The Way to Riches

Gepost door admin op 30/11/2007
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

Multiply Your Money – Invest with Care

The investment in stock multiplies quickly. The certificates of deposits may give you interest rates ranging from 4 to 5% depending on the deposit period. Out of the interest that you receive, you have to pay income tax as if it is applicable to you.

The invisible deduction on the interest comes from inflation. The inflation rate of about 3% in USA makes a hole in your pocket without your knowing it. When you consider income tax and inflation together, you may be actually loosing money rather than making money on your certificate of deposit.

Excess Money – Your Saving

The money you every month or year earn is not all spent in the same year. Clever and careful persons always control the expenditure so that they always have an excess of money over the expenditure. This is the rate that drives the future progress of a country

The personal saving rate in USA has been lower at 8% compared to other countries where the rates of 15 to 30% have been the norm over last few years. This excess money is the saving you can invest. Since the savings available in USA is only 8%, the case for investing wisely becomes stronger.

What is the best avenue?

If you can take some calculated risks, the stock markets become the focal point of investing. The increase in the wealth can be phenomenal. An investment of $10,000 made in Microsoft shares in 1986, was worth $3.5 million in 2004. There is no way in which the certificate of deposits can match this kind of increase in personal wealth. But remember not every company has the growth rate of Microsoft.

The General Impression

The general impression about the stock market continues to be bad and the cases of persons going down in stock market become the talk of social circle. No one talks of Warren Buffets of stock markets until they have reached the level of legends. Such legends may be few in number, but there are many Warren Buffets in waiting in wings about which one knows or cares to talk about.

So What Do I Do?

The key is to start investing wisely and go up as you progress. If you follow the tips given below the chances are you might make money sooner than you think.

A warning is due here. Although the tips can be given, there is no guarantee that you will make as you might desire and the rate of your growth cannot be certain. It all depends on how you go about it. None is going to walk you through the phase of investing with a guaranteed return on your investment.

Smart Investing Tips

• Have a plan ready and consult your broker when you make that plan operative.

• Study the market changes and do not be in a hurry to make an investment before you have studied the market movements.

• Although “buy low and sell high” is the stock market mantra, remember that it is not possible to do it always. Whenever you get profit, do not forget to bring it home and re-invest.

• When in doubt, wait and wait. Do move for kill if you find an opportunity. Be ready to take risks if necessary, but the risks should be calculated ones and not reckless.

• Ask when you are not sure. Deal only with the established brokers and develop good relation with the broker. It might pay you in just one deal with that broker.

• Never invest on hot tips, rumors, or inside information. Do not give in to pressure tactics.

• Be on lookout for smart investing opportunity. Once you get it do not let it go.

For more information on shares and investing in stock market, please visit http://stockmarketpages.info

Red, Green, Yellow - or - Stop, Go, Go Very Fast: Which Describes Your Online Trading?

Gepost door admin op 06/11/2007
Toegevoegd onder: Investment Center

Ever notice how behavior in one area of life can apply to behavior in other areas of life? For example, I’ve noticed a number of things while driving that apply to online trading. One of them is regarding how people behave toward traffic signals.

In the USA, where I live, all the traffic lights are red, yellow, green -
red for stop, yellow for slow down or caution and green for go.
The lights always change in order from red to yellow to green
and back again to red after a time.

How drivers relate to the changing lights is NOT always the same.
There are three types of drivers and responses to seeing a green light:

Type one drivers believe the light will change to red at any moment. In
anticipation of the change, they begin to slow down far in advance.
I call them “Red Lighters.”

Type two drivers know green means it’s ok to go. They continue on
their present course and speed, making no changes at all as they approach
the light. I call them “Green Lighters.”

Type three drivers know the light could turn yellow at any moment,
so they step on the accelerator to catch up to the light as quickly
as possible, not wanting to miss it. I call them the “Yellow Lighters.”

Many people apply these same approaches to most of life’s opportunities,
including online trading. Maybe you do the same thing.

If you see an opportunity approaching, do you slow down, believing that
since it won’t last you shouldn’t be too hasty or you could be stuck in a
bad deal? “Red Lighter.”

Or, do you see the opportunity coming, and just let it come at its own
pace, taking your time and accepting whatever happens when it reaches
you? “Green Lighter.”

Or, do you rush to it, knowing that it could be gone at any moment so
best to jump on it immediately so you don’t miss out? “Yellow Lighter.”

Each of these approaches has its risks, and its rewards.
Red Lighters take no risks, and therefore never “push their luck”
by hurrying into anything. On the other hand, what risks are they
actually taking by potentially missing out on opportunity?

Green Lighters just want to travel safely and smoothly.
They don’t mind what happens along the way so they just keep
going with the flow of traffic. Sounds smart, doesn’t it? Yet, what
real gain is there in being “just like everyone else”?

Yellow Lighters don’t want to miss any opportunity so will do
whatever is needed to capture the potential reward. But how big is
their risk in being first?

Each is going the same direction, and could even be in the exact same
type of vehicle, but none is actually any more guaranteed to arrive at their
destination than the other. The Yellow Lighter will probably get there the
fastest, but could also get into an accident along the way from so much
speeding. The Green Lighter will arrive safely in a reasonable time, but
will likely arrive with the rest of the crowd and never be early. The Red
Lighter will probably always be late, and will typically spend so much time
on the road that they never get to fully enjoy their destination.

Which are you? Which do you want to be? How do you assess risk and reward
in your financial decisions, your daily activities, your life? Like it or
not, everything we do every day has a risk and an associated reward.

Getting in a car each day and driving to work carries with it the very real
risk of death from a traffic accident, with the reward on the other side of
the commute being a paycheck. Everyone must assess the risks and rewards in
their life for themselves on an ongoing basis, something that I myself do
constantly every day and that I encourage you to do as well. You just might
be surprised at the trades you find yourself making unconsciously.

I invite you to notice your trading style and adjust it according to the
results you wish to achieve. Being conscious of our behavior patterns
and changing them when appropriate can make all the difference in
online trading success.

Jonathan van Clute is a
full time investor, educator, speaker, and online options and sports arbitrage
trader. In addition to his business activities, he is also a musician, video
editor/animator, and one of the world’s greatest Segway Polo athletes. He
can be reached via email at jonathan@PMLinvestments.com and is speaking at an upcoming teleseminar, visit http://snurl.com/vclights for details.

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