Made Moon Blog

INTRODUCTION

Having been trading stocks and options in the capital markets professionally over the years, I have seen many ups and downs.

I have seen paupers become millionaires overnight…

And

I have seen millionaires become paupers overnight…

One story told to me by my mentor is still etched in my mind:

“Once, there were two Wall Street stock market multi-millionaires. Both were extremely successful and decided to share their insights with others by selling their stock market forecasts in newsletters. Each charged US$10,000 for their opinions. One trader was so curious to know their views that he spent all of his $20,000 savings to buy both their opinions. His friends were naturally excited about what the two masters had to say about the stock market’s direction. When they asked their friend, he was fuming mad. Confused, they asked their friend about his anger. He said, ‘One said BULLISH and the other said BEARISH!’”

The point of this illustration is that it was the trader who was wrong. In today’s stock and option market, people can have different opinions of future market direction and still profit. The differences lay in the stock picking or options strategy and in the mental attitude and discipline one uses in implementing that strategy.

I share here the basic stock and option trading principles I follow. By holding these principles firmly in your mind, they will guide you consistently to profitability. These principles will help you decrease your risk and allow you to assess both what you are doing right and what you may be doing wrong.

You may have read ideas similar to these before. I and others use them because they work. And if you memorize and reflect on these principles, your mind can use them to guide you in your stock and options trading.

PRINCIPLE 1

SIMPLICITY IS MASTERY

When you feel that the stock and options trading method that you are following is too complex even for simple understanding, it is probably not the best.

In all aspects of successful stock and options trading, the simplest approaches often emerge victorious. In the heat of a trade, it is easy for our brains to become emotionally overloaded. If we have a complex strategy, we cannot keep up with the action. Simpler is better.

PRINCIPLE 2

NOBODY IS OBJECTIVE ENOUGH

If you feel that you have absolute control over your emotions and can be objective in the heat of a stock or options trade, you are either a dangerous species or you are an inexperienced trader.

No trader can be absolutely objective, especially when market action is unusual or wildly erratic. Just like the perfect storm can still shake the nerves of the most seasoned sailors, the perfect stock market storm can still unnerve and sink a trader very quickly. Therefore, one must endeavor to automate as many critical aspects of your strategy as possible, especially your profit-taking and stop-loss points.

PRINCIPLE 3

HOLD ON TO YOUR GAINS AND CUT YOUR LOSSES

This is the most important principle.

Most stock and options traders do the opposite…

They hold on to their losses way too long and watch their equity sink and sink and sink, or they get out of their gains too soon only to see the price go up and up and up. Over time, their gains never cover their losses.

This principle takes time to master properly. Reflect upon this principle and review your past stock and options trades. If you have been undisciplined, you will see its truth.

PRINCIPLE 4

BE AFRAID TO LOSE MONEY

Are you like most beginners who can’t wait to jump right into the stock and options market with your money hoping to trade as soon as possible?

On this point, I have found that most unprincipled traders are more afraid of missing out on “the next big trade” than they are afraid of losing money! The key here is STICK TO YOUR STRATEGY! Take stock and options trades when your strategy signals to do so and avoid taking trades when the conditions are not met. Exit trades when your strategy says to do so and leave them alone when the exit conditions are not in place.

The point here is to be afraid to throw away your money because you traded needlessly and without following your stock and options strategy.

PRINCIPLE 5

YOUR NEXT TRADE COULD BE A LOSING TRADE

Do you absolutely believe that your next stock or options trade is going to be such a big winner that you break your own money management rules and put in everything you have? Do you remember what usually happens after that? It isn’t pretty, is it?

No matter how confident you may be when entering a trade, the stock and options market has a way of doing the unexpected. Therefore, always stick to your portfolio management system. Do not compound your anticipated wins because you may end up compounding your very real losses.

PRINCIPLE 6

GAUGE YOUR EMOTIONAL CAPACITY BEFORE INCREASING CAPITAL OUTLAY

You know by now how different paper trading and real stock and options trading is, don’t you?

In the very same way, after you get used to trading real money consistently, you find it extremely different when you increase your capital by ten fold, don’t you?

What, then, is the difference? The difference is in the emotional burden that comes with the possibility of losing more and more real money. This happens when you cross from paper trading to real trading and also when you increase your capital after some successes.

After a while, most traders realize their maximum capacity in both dollars and emotion. Are you comfortable trading up to a few thousand or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands? Know your capacity before committing the funds.

PRINCIPLE 7

YOU ARE A NOVICE AT EVERY TRADE

Ever felt like an expert after a few wins and then lose a lot on the next stock or options trade?

Overconfidence and the false sense of invincibility based on past wins is a recipe for disaster. All professionals respect their next trade and go through all the proper steps of their stock or options strategy before entry. Treat every trade as the first trade you have ever made in your life. Never deviate from your stock or options strategy. Never.

PRINCIPLE 8

YOU ARE YOUR FORMULA TO SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Ever followed a successful stock or options strategy only to fail badly?

You are the one who determines whether a strategy succeeds or fails. Your personality and your discipline make or break the strategy that you use not vice versa. Like Robert Kiyosaki says, “The investor is the asset or the liability, not the investment.”

Understanding yourself first will lead to eventual success.

PRINCIPLE 9

CONSISTENCY

Have you ever changed your mind about how to implement a strategy? When you make changes day after day, you end up catching nothing but the wind.

Stock market fluctuations have more variables than can be mathematically formulated. By following a proven strategy, we are assured that someone successful has stacked the odds in our favour. When you review both winning and losing trades, determine whether the entry, management, and exit met every criteria in the strategy and whether you have followed it precisely before changing anything.

In conclusion…

I hope these simple guidelines that have led my ship out of the harshest of seas and into the best harvests of my life will guide you too. Good Luck.

Jason Ng is the Founder of Masters ‘O’ Equity international. He is a fund manager specialising in options trading and his Star Trading System has helped thousands of traders worldwide achieve financial freedom. Please visit Masters ‘O’ Equity’s website at http://www.mastersoequity.com.

It seems that every day I turn on the TV and find a Poker game. Texas No Limit seems to be all the rage these days. I love watching it. When I discuss this with others, their response is always the same, “You should play.” Ah, but what they don’t know is I stay out of the kitchen. As far as risk to reward ratio. That’s a gamble I’m not willing to take. I prefer to invest my money. Sometimes I gamble in the stock market, but as long as I stay within my comfort zone (long term), I don’t mind.

Tolerable risk should be the goal of every investor. Know your limits! Here are my big three don’ts:

1. Don’t invest more than 30% of your portfolio in risky ventures;

2. Don’t let your broker/advisor talk you into an investment;

3. Don’t gamble with money you’re not ready to loose.

Here’s a poem I wrote about a real person.

There once was a man from the North East Who thought he could tame the great beast Money in hand, he headed to Wall Street A Bull market it was, an IPO investment he couldn’t beat The morning bell rang and he started to buy…

Drug store, MP3, Martha Stewart, and Be Free, Flashnet, Redhat, Eloan, and Goldman Sachs, Foundry Networks, Agilent, NextCard, and JNI corp, Goto, PCOrder, Free Markets, and Intertrust technologies, Ivillages, Keynote Systems, Radware, and Women, Kana, The Street, Internet Initiative, and Insweb, WWE, TicketMaster, CitySearch, and Ziff Davis.

He felt so good, like a young man and spry The days rolled along and the market did swell Up 80% by the close of the bell.

It was over the next few days that reality hit home The stocks started to plummet like the downfall of Rome A huge loss was incurred, sell everything without care Along with riding the bull you get tamed by the bear!

This real man I’m speaking of has class action law suits against every one of these companies and the underwriters of the IPO. Here’s a link to the law firm, Lovell Stewart Halebian LLP http://www.lshllp.com/homejump.ihtml?page=classaction.ihtml that happens to be representing this man in all these cases. To this gentlemen I have 6 words…if you can’t stand the heat.

About The Author

Brian Weiss is owner operator of www.InvestmentRunner.com a specialty search engine with free investors software, spread sheets, investors dictionary, and financial weblog.

admin@investmentrunner.com

People ask me all the time why I write articles. They ask me
questions like:

What makes you such an expert?

Where do you learn this Internet stuff?

How long have you been doing this “Internet thing”?

How much money have you made and then they want to see my bank account figures?

I write articles based on a simple philosophy. I take what works and use it to impart some sanity into the crazy hyped up world of Internet marketing. I also apply what I have learned to the running of an my Home based business.

The Internet can be a very impersonal. Sometimes it seems
almost sterile in its approach. Everywhere people are trying
to sell something. Buy this - buy that - buy mine don’t buy
the other guys because it sucks, etc.

When you don’t buy then they get insulted. If the majority of these so-called Internet sites were real world brick and mortar stores they would be forced to close their businesses within the first few weeks, or months.

Why?

For one of following two reasons:

1) The law would shut them down for making such wild, and false, advertising claims. (Note: That is exactly what the FTC is starting to do to many websites!)

2) The store owners would run off the majority of their
potential customers with their carnival, take the money and run, style of hawking their inferior goods or the same goods you will find on hundreds of other sites.

Occassionally I get an email from one of my readers asking me for advice on one of the many “categories” of Internet marketing. The bottom line of every question I get is how to be “SUCCESSFUL” in working from home and marketing on the Internet.

The thing that intriques me most is that these people who
write to me never want to spend any money or invest any of
their time to be successful. All they want is some magical
formula that will give them instant “riches”. They are hardly ever willing to spend one thin dime or invest any of their time at all.

People don’t seem to think they need to educate themselves
about every facet of online marketing. All they want is for someone to hand them the answers on a silver platter. No work or investment in time or money to learn how to market - another words they aren’t willing to do anything.

The kicker is that people are actually convinced that you can do NOTHING to become rich except throw up an inept website. Then within a few weeks they’ll make a fortune and retire to Tahiti!

I would like to share with you the typical email that I get where a reader is asking for help. I’ll get a request for some information on the tricks to being a success with an online business.

The first thing I usually do is to ask the person some questions. The questions I ask are always the same. They are:

- Exactly what are you promoting?
- Is it an Affiliate program(s) or is it your own program, book, etc. and if its an Affilaite program are you promoting more than one?
- How long have you been trying Internet marketing?
- What is your website url?
- What is your Alexa site ranking?
- Who is your webhost provider?
- How are you advertising (Traffic exchanges, classified
ads, FFA sites, ezine ads, PPC)?
- What tools do you use to learn from (special membership
sites, ebooks, ezines you read on a regular basis, on-line
study courses, information sites, etc.)?
- How many hours a day are you devoting to your marketing
efforts?
- Why did you get into Internet Marketing in the first
place?
- Exactly what are your specific 1 month, 3 month, 1 year goals and 5 year goals. What would you like to get out of your efforts?
- Is this a hobby, a passion or a pure profit motive?

Rarely is anyone able, or willing, to answer more than two or three of these questions. If you’ve read my past articles you know how strongly I believe in setting aside some time every day to learn and grow your knowledge and your skill sets.

I usually reply back with some of the things the person needs to do to grow their business. Then more likely than not I get some terse reply of why I’m not giving them some secret formula. Or a personal attack on me because I choose NOT to brag about how much money I may have made in my own Internet marketing efforts.

My answer to that is a simple one. I would rather leave
this world with many friends and colleagues that know, and
trust me, than to put an few thousand in the bank by being a
dishonest cheat and bilking people of their hard earned money.

On all of my websites you will find my full contact information - including my actual address and telephone number. If you look at a 1,000 sites you’ll be lucky to find this same information on more than a couple of dozen other websites. Why?

People think they can throw up a website with a sales page, sell you something, collect the money and run. No bother, no
REAL guarantee, no responsibility - nothing. If that is what you think then you too are in the category of:

Invest Nothing - Get Nothing

I often get the feeling that those who write me don’t want
to listen OR learn - they just want some magical quick fix! Being a successful netprenuer is not a given…You MUST EARN your success.

As I said in an earlier article “What is more important -
Time or Money” it WILL take some of each. You can spend more money and take a little less time - OR visa-versa. However, your best results will be if you spend the time AND some money!

When I started my own Internet marketing I set a budget of how much money, and time, I was going to use for all of my marketing efforts. It was a very small budget, and it still is, but it was what I knew I could afford. I have actually spent most of my marketing budget learning the ends and outs of Internet marketing and very little on actual paid advertising.

You have heard me say this before I ALWAYS have been and will continue to always be a student. I am taking a small amount of my earnings each month and adding to my training, knowledge and promotional efforts.

One of the most important things I have learned is that NOT ONE of the six figure earners ever got where they are by taking shortcuts. They have all invested lots of time and/or money into their efforts, albeit some more than others. The point is this:
NO Effort = NO Results
BUT
MASSIVE Effort = MASSIVE Results!

If all you want is a free ride, the lazy way out, money for nothing and kicks for free - then all you’ll get is NOTHING! You only get back what you put into your business.

Invest Nothing = Get Nothing!

Michael Domeck is a trainer and a mentor working with students from all walks of life. As a Mentor he has become very astute with many different Niches as he has helped his students. As a trainer he has worked with 100’s of students helping them to acheive their dreams. Visit his websites at:
http://www.the-best-lighthouses.com

http://www.homefurnishingsforless.com

Mutual fund investing is a lot like Thai cooking. Everyone has heard of it, most know a little something about it, but very few actually know how to do it and do it well. To invest in mutual funds wisely, it is important to have a good grasp on what mutual funds are, how they work, and what the risks involved may be. The fact that mutual fund investments are often considered safer than stocks, options, and other investments often misleads people to think that their investment in mutual funds are risk free. This, as you will see, is not the case.

The Risks of Mutual Fund Investing

First of all, mutual fund investments are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal insurance program or government agency. Even in cases where mutual funds are purchased through a bank (some may even bear the name of the bank), it is possible to lose money when mutual fund investing. Also mutual fund investments come with costs and fees that can affect the amount of return you receive on a mutual fund investment. It is important to know the costs of mutual fund investing before buying the funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission offers an online mutual fund investment cost calculator at its website which allows potential mutual fund investors to investigate the costs associated with the mutual fund they are interested in.

What is a Mutual Fund Anyway?

A mutual fund is actually a company that operates by taking money from a group of investors (all those that buy the fund) and then invests it in stocks or bonds, short term money market instruments, securities, options, or some combination of these investments. If the investments pay off, the investors make money. Because most mutual funds are run by people with a certain amount of financial savvy and stock market experience, mutual fund investing is often considered rather safe, but the potential for loss is real and must be considered.

Mutual fund investing can be advantageous because there are a number of federal regulations in place that are designed to protect investors. The actual investments that the fund makes are watched closely by market analysts and financial managers whose job it is to make appropriate decisions regarding the mutual fund’s investments. The downsides include costs, taxes, and fees which must be paid regardless of how the fund performs.

Investment Tips by Mika Hamilton - Read more free investment tips, tutorials & reviews at http://www.Global-Investment-Institute.com

Recently I read an article that ended a long standing belief on my part. On an “Urban Legend” website, I discovered that Lemmings do not herd together and commit mass suicide by jumping off cliffs.

Why I believed this in the first place I do not know, but I guess I never had any reason not to.

The legend apparently began when during a 1958 Disney nature documentary, the film crew induced lemmings into jumping off a cliff into the sea. They then documented their suicidal behavior and used it in the movie “White Wilderness.”

There goes one more childhood belief.

Real Life Lemmings

But the suicidal behavior of lemmings, though not true of lemmings themselves, does have close counterparts in the real world.

What? Can this be true?

Think of any stock market bull rally that is nearing a top. Volume spikes as traders rush to buy stocks they would not have even looked at a few days or weeks prior. Sentiment is at bullish extremes and every industry, regardless of profitability, is relentlessly purchased to extremes of valuation.

In the very midst of this buying frenzy. When traders are going to bed each night and dreaming of being rich, there are those few individuals who refuse to be affected by the emotions of the rally. They start taking profits. Some start selling short.

Before long, even while the “lemmings” are still buying and trading volume remains high, there is a subtle shift. New highs are not held. New intra-day highs become losses at the close. Soon the shift become real selling and the deluge begins.

But the lemmings, who are emotionally still extremely bullish (running in herd fashion towards the cliffs) hang on. Finally, they start taking losses and as those losses grow, the lemmings start to feel the pain. They are not sleeping as well. The dreams are turning to nightmares.

Finally, the lemmings stampede. They start selling. The selling increases and after awhile, it becomes a deluge as all the lemmings try to unload their huge losing positions at the same time. They are now jumping off the financial cliffs en masse.

Real Life Lemmings Hit The Bottom

Now the lemmings have cashed out most of their positions. They have had it with stocks. They go to sleep with the security of knowing they will never put themselves in such a losing position again. Not ever!

As the lemmings take comfort, some astute traders see an advantage. They start buying into the severely depressed stock market. Slowly the market turns higher. More traders jump in and before long, another market advance is born.

Never fear, our lemmings will not be swayed. The vast majority of them, having been burned once, are not going to be burned again. Or so they say.

“…It happens over, and over, and over again. From Dutch Tulips, to great financial crashes. History always repeats.”
But oh, the easy money they are missing. The financial news talks incessantly about the profits being made. Their friends are making gobs of money, or so they are told. Slowly but surely the lemmings start to buy and a new bull rally to begins to form.

The next cliff is waiting patiently for them. It happens over, and over, and over again. From Dutch Tulips, to great financial crashes. History always repeats.

The psychology of fear and greed has been repeating like this for hundreds of years. You would think the “herd” would get smart, but very few do. It is hard to change emotional responses that are hard-wired into the human psyche.

Do Lemmings Ever Evolve?

To answer this question, we must look at the very astute traders who are buying near the bottoms, and selling near the tops.

Are they devoid of emotions? Are they like robots who are never swayed by the sentiments of the majority?

Actually, most were former lemmings. Experience is what makes a successful trader. Most have experienced “lemming losses” but these few realized it was a losing game.

The plain truth is, they are following a trading strategy. These special individuals, who realize profits year after year and are never in that crowd of lemmings who are jumping off cliff after cliff, are NOT lacking emotion.

They realized it was a losing game and they exited the emotional roller coaster that most stock market participants are riding, and began following “unemotional” trading plans.

This is what FibTimer is all about.

We have been there ourselves. We understand the only way to profit in the financial markets is to part from the herd. We have done that by creating, and following ourselves, unemotional timing strategies.

Anti-Lemming Trading

Unlike many other timing services which apparently practice voodoo in their timing signals, we are trend traders. We do not sift through tea leaves to make our buy and sell decisions. We identify trends and when a new trend is established, we trade it.

“…We have NEVER found anyone who can foretell the future.”
If the trend is false, we exit quickly. We exit our losing positions quickly and let our winning positions ride.

Unfortunately, many who look for timing services, and then start following a timing strategy, are actually looking for someone who can forecast the future. They WANT the crystal ball readers.

They want to believe. They are lemming wannabe’s.

They want someone to take their hand and lead them to untold (and guaranteed) wealth by forecasting the market’s direction before anyone else knows it. They accept the offered promises of riches because they “want” to believe.

We have NEVER found anyone who can foretell the future. Sorry about that. Of course at every market top and every market bottom there is someone who got it right. But getting it right consistently is another matter entirely.

What we can do is tell you the truth. Successful trading, market timing, can only be attained following an unemotional strategy that buys low and sells high. By following a strategy that cuts losses and stays with profitable trends when they occur.

If you follow FibTimer strategies, do not expect us to follow the lemming herd. We stay far away from tea leaves. We do not keep financial news on when we trade. If we are bullish when the herd is on a buying rampage, that is nice. But when we have a sell signal, we are out. No questions asked, no second thoughts.

If you are looking for timing that works, we are the answer. We are the anti-lemmings.

Frank Kollar is Editor and Chief Analyst at http://www.FibTimer.com market timing Services.

Heard about the Child Trust Fund? surprisingly few seem to have heard of the fact that all new babies get a free £250 voucher from the State to place in a Child Trust Fund. The child’s voucher can be invested in any one of three sorts of CTF account, Stakeholder - a shares-based account thatswaps into cash, a savings account or a shares account. It is an excellent way to invest for the future needs of a child

Scottish Friendly is a licensed provider of the Child Trust Fund The State is eager for the general public to have access to Stakeholder accounts and this is the type of account that we supply. This means that:

Investments are paid into Scottish Friendly’s Managed Growth Fund, which intends to provide good growth potential

It invests partly in shares to get the benefit of potentially higher returns over 18 years,compared to a cash deposit account (although the value of shares can
decrease as well as increase whereas capital would be protected in a deposit account)

It comes with a low ‘Stakeholder’ funds charge of only 1.5 percent perannum

When reaching 18 the young person will receive a lump sum, totally free of Capital Gains and Income Tax under present law

It’s affordable - additional payments can be placed in the account from only £10

One of the highlights of the Child Trust Fund is that anyone - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends - may give to the Fund to a ceiling of £1,200 per year to help augment the child’s Fund (once added, this money may not be withdrawn).

In a nutshell our Stakeholder account offers a good balance between possible high returns and a lower level of risk. There’s also the extra assurance that our account meets with the Government’s stakeholder criteria. However this does not mean that returns are guaranteed or that Stakeholder accounts are appropriate for everyone. Remember that the value of shares in the Managed Growth Fund (where your Child Trust Fund money is held) can go down as well as increase and would not be guaranteed.

Only children whose birthday is on or after 1st September 2002 are eligible to start up a Child Trust Fund. If you have older kids born before the above-mentioned date who are not eligible you could consider saving for them with a Child Bond - it’s a tax-free savings plan intended for long-term growth.

It is undoubtedly the case that saving for a child.your children is a sound means of preparing for tomorrow.

Agonizing displays of poor theatrics failed to entertain my mind one recent Saturday evening. I scrolled across several television channels hoping for an engaging program. Finally, one particular concert intrigued my senses. There on the stage performed one of rock and roll’s most expressive singers.

With every bit of his legendary convulsive style, Joe Cocker belted out each song with passion and enthusiasm. A solitary man represented by a dull silhouette and expressions of life’s complicated sorrows braided through words of reassuring simplicity. The foggy stage complimented his smoky voice as his lyrics invited every listener to share his soul. He was an elder musician with lessons to teach.

The English born Cocker, now in his early sixties, has been delivering the same spasmodic “air-guitar” performance for decades. His music has endured critics, fads, and lifestyle changes. Who can resist the tunes of “Heard It Through the Grapevine” or “Up Where We Belong?”

Perhaps some people mock his unique musical delivery, but his melodies speak to the soul.

At times, his twitching becomes somewhat distracting, yet in the end, his concert is a magical blend of R&B influences, solid rock and roll, and rhythmic gospel.

In the end, this diversified musician has prevailed through the good times and the bad.

Well, it must be Joe Cocker’s Market.

At times, the current stock market is intolerable and difficult to watch. Like Cocker, it sometimes seems contorted and out of control. The ups and downs can be disturbing, yet in the long run, the concert delivers tunes of delight. When the show finally concludes, the audience cheers for an encore.

As an investor, you may be cheering for an encore. Interest rates seem undesirable and the stock market volatility may have you curious about the future.

Keep your focus on a pre-determined game plan. Ignore short-term distractions and learn to invest in range bound markets. Do not allow the ups and downs to discourage you and by all means avoid making judgments by sight alone. Know your positions and the reason for inclusion in the portfolio. Longevity is the key and your risk tolerances, time horizons and/or goals must be prioritized. Together, you and the market may live in harmony.

Wardlaw’s belief is that familiar life elements best illustrate practical investment strategies; not typical investment jargon. With that philosophy, the author assists financial planners/advisors, brokerage firms, periodicals, and other investment information syndicates create informative and entertaining articles. For comments and questions, please contact the author at tools2invest@yahoo.com or visit http://www.tools2invest.com

Trading in the uranium market is done by a very small number of players. After all, there are about 440 nuclear reactors worldwide, a few dozen trading firms, fuel managers, and a relatively small number of utilities who participate in the actual buying of uranium. It’s the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Without it, nuclear reactors shut down. The uranium price has been skyrocketing since Christmas week 2000, with no end in sight. Forecasts range from $50/pound to well above $100/pound. Few believe the spot uranium price will go lower in the near future.

It’s become a fun game. Every Tuesday night (Monday afternoon, if you are a subscriber to the Ux Consulting), you will see the spot uranium price posted on the company’s front webpage. Moments later, the Yahoo and other Internet chat boards light up with commentary about the current uranium price and where it might head next. The spoiler is that TradeTech LLC issues its spot uranium price on Friday to subscribers and to the general public on Sunday night. Investors have been betting on the price swings of their favorite junior uranium stocks (more leverage, more risk/reward) by trying to second-guess the uranium spot price. Now, you can find out exactly how Ux C arrives at their weekly spot uranium price, from the president of Ux C, himself: Jeff Combs.

StockInterview: How does Ux Consulting arrive at your weekly spot uranium price?

Jeff Combs: We have a pretty specific definition. What we’re looking for is the lowest offer of which we are aware, at around the time we publish the price. The quantity being offered has to meet certain parameters. It has to be a certain size transaction within a certain timeframe. So we’re not really trying to cover transactions, per se. Obviously, where there is a transaction that takes place, there’s an offer embodied in that. We’re really trying to capture where the market is going based on current offers, rather than where it has been.

StockInterview: So is your published spot price more of a predictor than an actual trade?

Jeff Combs: It’s a predictor only in the sense that the next deal is likely to be done at the lowest offer price if the market is working efficiently. It’s like in the stock market where the lowest offer price will be taken first, although the stock market is a lot more efficient than the uranium market. Thus, we aren’t predicting the price of the next deal per se, but reporting the lowest offer price, which is an indication of where the sell side of the market is at that point in time.

StockInterview: So the weekly published spot uranium price is not based upon an actual sale of uranium that took place that past week?

Jeff Combs: Since it’s more of a forward-looking concept, the sale - that is, the coming together of buyer and seller - hasn’t necessarily taken place. But the level of the lowest offer indicates where the market is at that point in time. The sale itself shouldn’t deviate much, if any, from the offer price. This is especially true in a sellers’ market, where buyers don’t have much negotiating power. But it’s also true in a buyers’ market, as sellers are looking to offer an attractive enough price to encourage the buyer to take the material.

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. Read the rest of this interview and sign up for your free subscription to articles by James Finch by visiting www.stockinterview.com

Copyright 2006 Jason Chew

Tradionally, many investors shunt gold and invest in equities or fixed income markets. With the price of gold performing extremely well, alot of investors are turning their attention on gold.

The price of gold has topped US$700 recently. Gold has been in a bullish run since 2000. What is the implication? Will gold continue to rise in the future? Is it time to invest in Gold now? How to invest in Gold?

The rise in price of Gold is due to a number of factors. Some of them are listed below.

1. International tensions and Bad times

During internation tensions and war, gold will always hold it values. Sometimes, investors trade currency for gold In recent Iran and US nuclear issues, price of gold was shot up to US$700 in fear of oil prices rising. US dollars and inflation along with high federal trade deficit and debt have make investors buying gold to heged against currency flunctuations.

Though now the price is fallen slightly, it believe that gold is a good investment tool to use as a safe haven in time of crisis and bad times.

2. Supply and Demand Fundamentals

When the price of gold rise, more investors will buy gold. Since the supply and production of gold is limited, it will not be able to keep up with the increasing demand from the market. This will make the price of gold rally further.

3. Stock Market Bearish vs Gold Market Bullish

Gold always perform opposite of stock market historically. When stock markets are performing badly lately, gold markets were bullish. With uncertain economic and global conditions, some analyst believe that gold will further appreciate its value and continued its bullish run for long term.

It is never too late to invet in gold now!

There are a few ways to invest in gold which are shown below.

1. Gold Jewelery

Gold jewelery is a popular means of investing as savings in developing countries like India and Middle East.

2. Gold Bullion and Coins

Gold Bullion are gold bars in 1g to 400g. Goid coins are legal tendar of issuing countries and usually sell at a small premium above current spot gold price. Popular investment grade coins are US Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf,

3. Gold Certifcates or Accounts

These are ownerships rights to gold bullion held by a financial instution such as a central bank for safe keeping.

4. Gold Mining Stocks

These are stocks of gold mining and exploration companies. When price of gold rises, some mining stocks offer handsome dividends when the issuing companies profits.

5. Gold Mutual Funds

These are funds that have gold in the portfolio managed by professional fund managers. Some funds are region specific (such as US) or spread across different mining companies.

No matter what kind of instruments you choose to invest in, you have to mix your portfolio with the right proportion with your equities. The strategy to investin gold is to have balance portfolio with diversification. The objective is to use gold as a hedge against flunctuations in fixed income market. The best strategy is to start with 10 % level of your portfolio to invest in gold and slowly varies you level of gold to increase your portfolio stability.

Jason Chew is the aspiring Investor and site adminstrator of the investing site - www.investyourwaytosuccess.com
For more information on Gold Investing> and subscribe to the 7 Days Course HERE: gold.investyourwaytosuccess.com

There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that I recommend that all traders have a business plan. We recommend that the business plan cover all of the following areas.

• Your vision.

• Your purpose.

• Your objectives.

• A thorough self-assessment of your strengths and weakness, based upon real trading logs that you collect (if you haven’t done so already).

• A thorough assessment of the big picture of the fundamentals.

• A complete understanding of your beliefs about the market.

• Procedures for getting empowering beliefs and mental states behind you.

• A documentation of your research procedure for developing new systems and determining how to analyze their effectiveness.

• Your procedures for developing and maintaining discipline.

• Your budget and cashflow systems.

• Other necessary systems such as marketing, back office record keeping, etc.

• Your worst case contingency plan.

• System 1 - which is compatible with the big picture.

• System 2 - which is also compatible with the big picture.

• System 3 - which might come into play should the big picture change.

If you have all of those things, then you have a chance of doing well. But this means that your business plan becomes a tool for you to continually use to improve yourself and your trading. All of these topics were covered in some detail in our teleconference on business planning - and you can now get that series on CDs - including some sample plans that I critiqued during the last session.

You will notice that at the top of the list I include “vision.” One of the keys to real success in trading is commitment. Before I coach a trader, I look for commitment. Those who are not committed to do what it takes, usually commit financial suicide when they try to be full time traders. Now, I have no idea how to give people commitment. It’s more like something they are born with - not something I can coach.

However, I do have some clues to how you can develop it in yourself. The key to doing so is to develop your vision and purpose. Your vision is your dream life. What do you really want to accomplish, be, and have in your life to know that you’ve done your best? What is your dream life? I’d write this out in detail.

And you also want the purpose behind the dream life. What are the “whys” in your life? This is what gives it the real motivation and commitment. Why do you want the things you want? Write down as many whys as possible. You’ll know you have it correct when you are so excited about your dream life that you must do something right now.

So get started this week with just this one aspect of developing your business plan for trading or investing…start by writing out your vision.

In the unique arena of professional trading coaches and consultants, Van K. Tharp stands out as an international leader in the industry. Helping others become the best trader or investor that they can be has been Tharp’s mission since 1982. Dr. Tharp offers very unique learning strategies, and his techniques for producing great traders are some of the most effective in the field. Over the years Dr. Tharp has helped people overcome problems in areas of system development and trading psychology, and success related issues such as self-sabotage.

Dr. Tharp is the author of three acclaimed books published by McGraw Hill; the New York Times Bestseller, Safe Strategies for Financial Freedom, Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom, and Financial Freedom Through Electronic Day Trading.

He is the founder and president of the Van Tharp Institute, dedicated to offering high quality education products and services for traders and investors around the globe. Learn more and register for his free weekly email newsletter at http://www.vantharp.com