Tag: investing

All investing related articles are found here. Educative, informative and written clearly.

  • Is it Possible to Predict Stock Market Movements?

    Is it Possible to Predict Stock Market Movements?

    Predict Stock Market Movements
    How is possible to predict stock market movements. Read to the end.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    Different gurus and many experts try to predict the stock market movements. Actually, they try to explain the stock markets by using many different theories. Sometimes, stock market predictions are more interesting than the last season of GoT which isn’t so hard, right?

    Even if you are not a trader and you never traded stocks, the possibility to predict stock market movements is exciting. Imagine that you can do so. How much it can be beneficial to your financial status?

    Real estate can be failed at its lows, money can be removed from mutual funds, anything can happen.

    What we have to do when the markets start to turn around? 

    Maybe to invest in gold, oil, some other tangible assets? To leave crypto? To sell stocks?

    Yes, when things rise to go bad, relocating money into tangible assets is a benefit. But is it possible to know the danger is ahead before it happens? How to successfully predict the stock market movements consistently over time?

    Do you know the maxim that “past performance cannot predict future success”? The paradox of that saying is that it will come up to you just after your broker tells you how great that investment was acting in the past. 

    Wink-wink, bro! At some point, the future can be similar to the past. Even the same.

    Stock markets go upward, stock markets go down

    Why do stock markets do that? Well, it is easy to explain. When more buyers than sellers are in the market, the prices will go up and vice versa. When more sellers than buyers are in the market the prices will go down.

    What provokes people to buy and sell? More often it is connected to the emotions than to logic. And here we come. The emotions are unpredictable. The stock markets are under the emotional influence, so they are unpredictable too.

    And you may think it’s useless to try to predict stock market movements. Or they are created to be unpredictable. It is a partial truth.

    We found this on investmentwarrior.com:

    “If today’s market is up…there is a 73% probability of tomorrow’s market is being as well, and a 27% probability that tomorrow’s market will close down. 

    If today’s market is down…there is a 62% probability that tomorrow’s market will also be down, and only a 38% probability that the market will close higher. 

    Historically the market has advanced on 58% of all market days, demonstrating its overall historic upward bias.”

    The future of the stocks in the market is a complex problem. Too many variables have to be calculated. Quantitative models, historical patterns, all failed. 

    The best prediction tools are our brains. It is a damn good forecast tool. But a human intellect cannot solve a mathematical equation so fast as a computer can. The human brain isn’t even close to the simple calculator. But the human brain developed powerful tools, machines, and algorithms. They can calculate very fast. Some of them will solve the most complicated formula in a sec. 

    Why predict stock market movements

    Predicting stock market movements is possible. It isn’t a waste of time.

    Experienced traders being a witness of a lot of market’s ups and downs, believe that the market will be equal, one day.  

    Let’s go back to the predicting tools.

    There is something called “algo trading”. With AI you practically can have the possibility to make a profit almost for sure. How successful will you be, depends on the inputs you add to algo. 

    Can you predict how the bulk of traders would respond to some events? It can indeed be completely unpredictable.

    Who want to predict stock market movements 

     

    They need to be sure they are investing in safe assets. Also, they have to know they will have fast and huge returns.

    Here we come to algorithms. How? The historical data are extremely important for trading and investing, for predicting the stock market movements. Are you ready to spend days, weeks, or months to gather valuable results? Why would you torture yourselves? Instead, you can use some good stock predicting tool, very fast and reliable to calculate the final result, to show you where to invest, when to enter, and when to exit the trade. 

    Traders-Paradise is preparing – Find the Best Exit Strategy Algorithm

    Traders-Paradise chooses to develop this tool because the exit strategy is maybe more important than anything in your trade. How is that? While you have many strategies and choices to enter the trade, the exit of trade can be done in only two ways: with lost or with profit.

    To know when to exit your trade you will need a lot of data. The tool like mentioned one is the easiest way to obtain them. Also, at the same time, similar tools are going to help you to predict the stock market movements. This tool will estimate how far the price will move and ensure that your profit potential exceeds your risk.  Without that data, it is impossible to predict when to exit the trade.

    Traders-Paradise is preparing something for you from that field. You will see it soon and you’ll be able to use it. It is very useful and impressive. But, the best news comes last. You have to wait for a while but stay tuned

  • Bitcoin dominance rate – Why some are concerned?

    Bitcoin dominance rate – Why some are concerned?

    Bitcoin dominance rate - Why some are concerned?
    Why this question about the Bitcoin dominance rate now?

    By Guy Avtalyon

    The bitcoin dominance rate is a very important indicator of crypto market preferences. It is the measure of how Bitcoin is important in the crypto world. To know the Bitcoin dominance rate observe its market cap as a percentage of the entire market cap for all cryptos. The traders and investors pay a lot of attention to it.

    Okay, it isn’t shocking news that Bitcoin is dominant. Everyone knows that. It is here for a long time, it was the first, it has attention like a rock-star.

    So, why this question about the Bitcoin dominance rate now? The alarms are a turned-on because of Bitcoin’s current climbing.

    In the crypto markets, it covers about 70% of the market cap as a whole. The same level was seen in April 2017.
    So, there we have a concern on the scene!

    Some are afraid that this is a sign that the bull run is close. That will accelerate bitcoin’s dominance to over 90%. The existence of any other crypto would be doubtful. That high dominance rate would destroy the others.

    The altcoins are on the edge of return, think others. Or no-return, the opponents are kidding. As always, when it comes to data interpretation you can see and hear literally everything and anything. But to be serious, the bitcoin dominance rate may show us many things. Even the increase isn’t always good news.

    Why increasing dominance rate isn’t good news? 

    Well, Bitcoin’s dominance rate is not an independent measure. It is related to momentum, inclination, confidence. In one word – popularity. Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency without a doubt.

     

    The price of Bitcoin is the measure of its reputation. On the other hand, dominance is related to bitcoin’s relationship to other cryptos. There is one trick: the dominance may increase when the price is going down and vice versa. To repeat, it isn’t an absolute measure.

    Bitcoin’s high dominance

    It could be a double sword.

    Bitcoin is an extremely volatile asset and risky this attribute often led investors to less risky assets and, can we say, safer. But, on the other hand, thanks to its popularity the whole sector of crypto assets may benefit if there are more investors in Bitcoin.

    This new increasing Bitcoin dominance is proof that investors’ sentiment that this crypto is relatively safe to invest in.  The sentiment indicator is just a current opinion, be careful with that.

    How can you be sure the trend will continue? With what energy? What sentiments do is give power, to push things to go further, to build a chain of very convinced investors and traders who are buying bitcoin. 

    The added importance is market trust, particularly at the initial steps of institutional engagement.

    Big traditional funds are not worried about the relative value of one token related to another. Their consideration is their portfolio. They will decide what is better to invest in, crypto, or some other asset. Having that in mind, it is more likely they will invest in Bitcoin if they want to have crypto in their portfolios. 

    Why is that?

    Bitcoin has the liquidity, active derivatives market and is registered in most jurisdictions. With the rising dominance rate, Bitcoin has the opportunity to boost investors’ trust in the overall crypto market. 

    But nothing would last forever.

    Prior run-ups in the dominance rate were followed with a change altogether with investors’ attention to new choices. That is a calculation. When market leaders grow extremely, wise investors take profits and re-invest in other winning assets. The last bull market noticed bitcoin’s dominance decline from above 85% to under 40%. This time it is something else.

    How? During the previous bull market, we had plenty of new tokens. Where are they now? They are not exciting anymore? No, they are not existing anymore.

    Moreover, the interest of institutional investors with a focus on bitcoin will launch bitcoin’s dominance to jump even more.

    Stay tuned and keep your eye on what is happening behind the stage. Traders-Paradise has a fantastic example of how to MONETIZE BITCOIN

  • Cannabis earnings – the countdown started

    Cannabis earnings – the countdown started

    The cannabis earnings potential is huge
    The cannabis industry is more than ever in investors focus

    by Gorica Gligorijevic

    Cannabis earnings is promising. This week can be very important for the cannabis industry. The time to post financial results is near. So, we will see their records for the last quarter. Aurora Cannabis is a top producer, but maybe some other marijuana stocks can generate more next year.

    First in line to show the last quarter result are:

    Greenlane Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: GNLN), Medipharm Labs Corp (OTC: MEDIF), and Village Farms International Inc (NASDAQ: VFF) they did it on Monday after the closing bell.

    Today, the results from Tilray Inc (NASDAQ: TLRY) will be shown. It is expected Tilray to record a net loss of 25 cents per share and its revenue to be of $41.11 million. Today also, earnings result from Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd (OTC: TGODF), Acreage Holdings Inc (OTC: ACRGF), and Flower One Holdings Inc (OTC: FLOOF) are coming after the market close.

    On Wednesday, Aug. 14, Aleafia Health Inc (OTC: ALEAF), Jushi Holdings Inc (OTC: JUSHF), and Helix TCS Inc (OTC: HLIX) have to post their earnings reports. They are followed by Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE: CGC) and Trulieve Cannabis Corp (OTC: TCNNF) after the closing bell.

    This is a busy week for cannabis companies. Investors seem ready to reward good companies. The main criterion among investors is the company can gain a profit. But, they are more than ready to punish the ones that don’t.

    Cannabis earnings will rise

    The cannabis industry is a big-money market. With legalization in more countries than it is now the case, it can be one of the most valued markets. I know there will still be the black market and a lot of money will go there, frankly more than in the legal markets. But still, this market could produce more than $250 billion in the next 10 or 12 years, counting the annual average sales, of course.

    That sounds pretty good for long-term investors. So, I feel free to suggest to you some companies to watch in the future.

    As the first Aurora Cannabis as a top producer. 

    It is the most trustworthy cannabis company among millennial investors. This data comes from Robinhood, an online app for investing with over 6 million users. The majority of millennial investors are Robinhood users. That put Aurora to the most-held stock online investment. It is reasonable to expect that millennials will take a bigger part in the world of investment in the future and support legal cannabis growth. It is easy to evaluate the reasons behind investors’ decision to invest in this company.

     

    Aurora is leading the world production of cannabis with an annual production of 150,000 kilos. It plans to reach 625,000 kilos of annual output in 2020. And it isn’t unreasonable. By engaging the full production capacity, Aurora can produce 700,000 kilos of marijuana on the annual range.

    Wall Street anticipates Aurora can be one of the best revenue generators in 2020 and capable to deliver about $518 million in sales per year. 

    The potential of cannabis earnings

    There are not too many pot stocks in the arena that could hit this expectation. But, Wall Street predicted three cannabis stocks able to surpass Aurora Cannabis in 2020.

    Curaleaf Holdings is expected cannabis earnings at $900 million in 2020 sales but with a cash-and-stock deal for Grassroots, which will bring to it about $350 million, let’s say Curaleaf Holdings may generate about $1,250 million.
    Also, pay attention to Cresco Labs, the potential of $715 million sounds good as Canopy Growth with $521 million.

  • Procter & Gamble shares jump over analysts estimates

    Procter & Gamble shares jump over analysts estimates

    3 min read

    Procter & Gamble shares jump over analysts estimates

     

    Procter & Gamble shares recovered Tuesday. Its earnings exceeded expectations after removing out the influence of the charge. So, this company is looking for fiscal 2020 with more optimism. Procter & Gamble shares have risen nearly 44% over the past year.

    The company reported earnings per share $1.10 and expected revenue at $17.09 billion.

    Wall Street expectations were different, analysts predicted P&G earnings per share at $1.05 and expected revenue at $16.86 billion.

    P&G reported a fiscal net loss in the fourth quarter of $5.24 billion. It is $2.12 per share. Also, they reported the net income of $1.89 billion, or 72 cents per share, for the previous year. 

    Procter & Gamble problems

    The main cause of the loss for the quarter ended June 30 was the one-time cost to write down the value of Gillette. The company $8 billion write-downs of its Gillette brand.

    Keep out details, P&G gained $1.10 per share, defeating the $1.05 per share which was the experts’ expectations

    Net sales grew 4% to $17.09 billion, beating predictions of $16.86 billion.

    The sales volume of the Gillette brand dropped during the quarter. The same had happened to Braun and the Art of Shaving brands. 

    Organic sales increased

    Procter & Gamble shares jump over analysts estimates

    But its organic sales had a positive result because of the price rises, it increased by 7% over the quarter. Expanded sales in developed countries helped too, Tide and Ariel are very popular in those days. 

    G&B health-care and beauty products, line SK-II and Olay, also performed well.

    The organic sales of Pepto-Bismol and Crest toothpaste jumped up to 10%. Also, the other health care products like Vicks and ZzzQuil increased in the sale.

    And, what is interesting, its laundry and dishwasher brands reported sales increase of 10% in the quarter.

    The forecasts

    The company stated it awaits fiscal 2020 revenue growth by range 3% to 4%. This adds a small negative influence from foreign currency. Wall Street was predicting fiscal 2020 revenue of $69.76 billion, up 3.5% from this year.

    Also, Wall Street prediction is earnings per share to rise by 4% to 9%. 

    “Our guidance range brackets current market growth with a bias toward continued share growth, while still expecting a strong competitive response,” CFO Jon Moeller told analysts on the call, reported CNBC.

    The company stated that its current forecast for commodities, foreign currency, transportation, etc. is supposed to end in a “modest net benefit” to earnings growth in fiscal 2020.

    Experts were predicting that the company’s adjusted earnings next fiscal year would rise by 5.1% to $4.75 per share.

    The beginning and the future

    Procter & Gamble was founded as a family business in 1837. It was kind of the family uniting after they married two sisters  Olivia and Elizabeth Norris. Both William Procter and James Gamble were immigrants. 

    Candlemaker Procter, born in England, and soapmaker Gamble, born in Ireland. Of course, the company with their last names was selling candles and soaps at the beginning. 

    Fun fact: They were sponsors of radio shows all around the US. That’s how the phrase “soap operas” was born. From Ohio all over the world.

    Today it is one of the biggest companies on the globe. 

     

    Procter & Gamble shares jump over analysts estimates

     

    How did they come to this?

    They operated very smartly, they bought various brands all over the world. Gillette, Old Spice, Max Factor, Crest, Pampers, Ariel, Tide. That is a smart diversification.

    This company is employing more than 120,000 people all over the world and own more than 80 brands. 

    Should you buy their stock? OMG, for sure!

  • Passive Investing is a Good Choice

    Passive Investing is a Good Choice

     

    Why Passive Investing is a Good Choice?
    Passive investing is the way to force your money to work for you.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    Passive investing has become a significant part of the market. Finally! The low-cost index funds or exchange-traded funds are popular. However, there are still a lot of investors who are trying to achieve an excellent return through active investing. The question is why they are doing that when passive investing provides a better alternative.

    What is passive investing?

    It is investing your assets in funds that mimic a market. The main task of fund managers is to purchase the security in the precise proportion of a particular index to copy it. It is a passive investment. Sometimes you will hear the term  “indexed investing.” It is the same.

    Let’s consider a bit more the act of active and passive investing strategies. Three years ago, the S&P500 had a total return of 9.54%. What did every passive investor make? Precisely 9.54%.  On the other hand, an active investor gained 12,5%, but the other made just a 1,9%, or some made losses of -27%.

    How is that possible?

    The passive portion returned 9.54% and the total market returned 9.54%.  But returns before the cost is not what should be counted. You should count what you actually earn. And what is that? The returns after cost and after-tax.

    So, where is the catch?

    Passive management is cheaper than active. Active management is more costly. If you know that the cost of managing an index fund is between 0,15% and 0,50% rely on the market replicates, you will find that an active investing will have a minimum of 1% higher costs than passive investing.

    That 1% is 100 basis points and may not sound a lot.

    But let’s consider the following situation.

    Let’s say you put your money in the bank account instead of buying stocks because you don’t want to pay that 1% of costs. You are short immediately 5-6%. Your wealth is worthless. Actually, if you invest that amount in stocks there is a chance to gain more. With putting money in the bank account you will lose 15-16% of your net profit from potential investments in the stock market. In only one year. Over time this difference could considerably decrease your wealth. It will surely lower your standard when retirement. 

    The costs of active investing are not only fees. The activity by nature adds more costs. The active trades create capital gains more often than passive investing. So, why wouldn’t you avoid them entirely? It is simple math. If you want active investing you would pay more. Just take into account the taxes and costs. 

    So, we have to say, index funds and passive investing can be a better option than actively managed funds. 

    Passive investing in index funds has changed the investment world.

    In 1975, Jack Bogle, the father of passive investing, introduced the index fund. His radical idea showed the financial sector regularly cheated the individual investor with the unknown and opposed fees.

    This doesn’t mean that everyone should be indexed. Of course not. Active managers’ choices hold prices closer to values. That allows indexing to operate. Index investing means to leverage their trade without paying the costs. The majority of investors decide to index part of their money, some do it with all of them. But the others want to explore the less-priced securities.

    Let’s consult the statistic, in 2017, the percentage of securities owned by passive fund portfolios was about 5% of the total in the global market. The biggest part it took in the US where it was 15 %.

    When it comes to investing, you can choose between active and passive investing.

    Picking the right is crucial to your investing profit. If you make a mistake, you can end up with money loss. With the right one, you are the winner and you can make a big success in the stock market.

    How to find the right passive investing opportunity?

    Passive management requires buying investments that track an underlying index or making asset allocation and holding to it for the long term.

    One form of passive investing is the mutual fund investment because the mutual fund’s purpose is to return what the S&P 500 returns every year. The advantages of passive investing are numerous.

    Passive funds don’t require you to make trades and adjust holdings daily. The management fees are much cheaper, which is a benefit in the long run. You will always get the same percentage as the market returns. Good or bad, but the same.

    Passive investing is easy. You just have to pick some investments and that’s all. There is no need to monitor the market every second and make changes or to try to catch price swings. But passive investing is not for investors who want to beat the market. Yes, you can do it from time to time, but all the time. So, probably, if you are not a professional you will make big losses.

    Passive investing is more than set up your portfolio and don’t touch it anymore. You have to monitor your portfolio and make corrections as the market moves. You have to rebalance.

    Say the stocks increase in price, bonds are falling. If you have a 60% stock and 40% bond in your portfolio, this price movement requires an adjustment to 70% stock and30% bond in the portfolio. In case you never make these changes in your portfolio you will take on too much or too little risk. You will not achieve your targets. So, some monitoring has to be done. In the first place, you have to think about your money. The money is not just a piece of paper. Having money means that you are free and safe.

    You have to force your money to work for you. Passive investing is for sure a good way.

     

  • How Long It Takes to Have Enough to Buy a Home

    How Long It Takes to Have Enough to Buy a Home

    4 min read

    How Long It Takes to Have Enough to Buy a Home

    To have enough to buy a home is everyone’s dream. This is a tricky time for millennials who want to buy a home. Some research, for example in Canada, shows that young people need between 13 to 29 years to purchase their first home. That’s too much. 

    While millennials over the world are striving to get on the property, about 70% of Chinese millennials reached the milestone. 

    Mexico is the next with 46% of millennials homeowners, the following is France with 41%.

    For the majority of millennials, owning house persist too expensive and they can’t save enough for a deposit. Property prices have increased in the last several years and the rise in salary did not follow this

    Almost 2/3 of millennials declared they would need higher incomes to buy a home. 

    According to Forbes, China has seven of the world’s 10 most expensive cities for buying such a property.

    So how have so many millennials in China have enough to buy a home?

    There are no secrets. For most of them, a parent’s help was crucial. Also, they have some benefits for married couples. For sons in China, parents will do almost everything to help them get married.

    Thanks to the One-Child Policy, next year will be 30 million men more than women who are looking for marriage partners. Parents in China want to improve the chances for their sons and support them financially to have enough to buy a home. Speaking about, gender equality. But it isn’t the subject of this article.

    We want to show you how to ensure your deposit in order to buy a house, to have enough to buy a home.

    There are some other ways to get on the property on your own.

    Let us ask you something.

    1) Are you able to save each year?

    2) When you save, where you put your money?

    The message of the following story is: start saving early and try to save often. We want to show you the influence of compounding.

    Let’s estimate how long it will take you to become a millionaire. Yes, why not?

    We will start with the Rule of 1.5, likewise recognized as Felix’s Corollary. 

    This rule says that for a flow of investments where the number of years times the interest equals 72, the final value will equal approximately 1.5 times the amount invested. 

    Say, investing $10,000 per year for 8 years at 9% interest.

    8 x 9 = 72 

    The value of the investments at the end of year 8 will be about $120,000.

    Or make it simpler

    $10,000 x 8 x 1.5 = $120,000

    It’s so far from being a millionaire but…

    We will use Felix’s Corollary again. All we need to do is decide how long it will take you to save $720,000 at a contracted interest rate. 

    To explain why $720,000. Because $720,000 times 1.5 equals $1,080,000. This describes why we didn’t use $1,000,000. 

    This is easier than it looks, you will see.

    Say, with a saving of $90,000 per year you will need 8 years to acquire $720,000. 

    And at 9% annual interest, you would save $1,080,000 over 8 years. Of course, most of you don’t have $90,000 per year to put on savings. 

    That’s why most of us are not able to collect a million dollars in 8 years. 

    So let’s expand it to 16 years. 

    Now, what do we lack to be a millionaire? Again implementing a 9% rate of return? Yes! Here is where the rule 72 again in the scene. Using the Rule of 72, we know that whatever we have saved over the first 8 years will double over the next 8 years because 72 divided by our interest rate of 9% equals 8.

    So we can break the 16 year savings period into 3 equal portions: 

    1) the amount we save over the first 8 years; 

    2) the doubling of this amount over the next 8 years; 

    3) the amount we save the second 8 years. 

    And here it is: $720,000 divided by 3 equals $240,000. That is the amount we need to save each of the two 8 year periods. That is $30,000 per year if my math is good. And it is, so you just follow the rest of this. That means $2,500 per month, which is a reasonable saving for some people.

    But you want to determine what it will take to be a millionaire in 24 years. All you have to do is just divide $720,000 by 7 and then again by 8. 

    So, $720,000 divided by 8 equals 90,000 divided by 7 equals about $12,800. Right? Hence, investing just a bit over $1,000 per month at 9% interest during 24 years period will make you a millionaire.

    Invest in stocks with little money to have enough to buy a home

    But, how to know when to get in a position in investing?

    Investing takes time to grow. It requires a relatively moderate risk and moderate returns in the short run. But investing may produce bigger returns by placing both, interests and dividends to hold for a longer period of time. So, you are taking a long position while investing. 

    You would like to hold your stock for several years and have a decent return. In most circumstances, you should take the profit when a stock grows 20% to 25% of the buy price.

    When to get out in the investment

    The general rule of investing is never getting out of your investment just because the stock price is dropping. The rule “buy high/sell low” isn’t valuable while investing. Otherwise, you will never earn money in the stock market.

    A selling an investment too quickly can hurt your portfolio.

    Have Enough to Buy a Home

    Can you “ensure” some positions?

    All beginners, no matter how smart they are, have illusions, so they have losses. You have to keep your losses small, don’t let them scare you and survive.

    The rules for managing the risk that we’ll show you may feel disturbing for beginners because they have small accounts. Well, the proper risk control may limits trade size. I know that. But it is important for you to know that it is a protection in the first place.

    The crucial rule of risk control is the 2% rule: never risk more than 2% of your account investment on any opened trade.

    Start by writing down three numbers for every trade: your entry, target and stop. Without them, a trade may become a gamble.

    I want to share with you one of the best advice I got when I become an investor.

    If you see your stock rises by 40% you should sell 20% of your position. When the stock later increases 49% more, sell the other 20%. That will provide you to have 125% of your primary position.

    You have 100% of the initial position. And it grows 40%:

    100%*1.4=140%

    You sell 20% of it, which means that now in your hands you have 80% left:

    140%*0.8=112%

    Stocks rise for another 40% progressively:

    112%*1.4=156.8%

    Now you sell 20% of the stock you have in your hands:

    156.8%*0.8=125.44%

    You end up with 125.44% value of the initial position.


    The bottom line

    To know how to structure your portfolio just implement this rule:100 minus your age.

    This rule is used for asset allocation. Subtract your age from 100 to find how much of your portfolio should be allocated to equities

    If you are at your 30s you should have 70% in equities and 30% in debt. 

    Investing doesn’t have to be difficult if you start early, understand investment opportunities, and invest in different assets to minimize risk. And provides you to have enough to buy a home.

  • Money Management

    Money Management

    Money Management
    Hans Stam

    by Hans Stam

    A little off topic but well received within my group how I manage money.

    So I decided to put this in writing to your benefit. 

    Many don’t know where all the money went at the end of their month. 

    Usually, they have a bit of month left at the end of their money. 

    Others make a lot of money but always seem to have a shortage anyway. 

    Some are doing just fine but don’t seem to get ahead in their finances. 

    The process of Money Management

    Here is the process I went through personally.

    I had one account at my bank as most people have. 

    All my money came in on that account and all payments were made from that account. 

    I started to write down all my expenses.

    Then I noticed I was overpaying for some services like my phone, so I contacted the phone company for a better deal and instantly got more than 50% discount. That was my first step in money management. 

    Same with other bills, I noticed some things I spent but didn’t really need or that could be done differently. 

    When I had a complete picture of all my expenses per month, I divided it into daily portions. 

    2nd Account in the process of Money Management?

    I opened a second bank account at another bank, and whatever income I had I placed at that central account. 

    Not only the usual income but also whatever money I got like tax returns or bonuses, etc.

    Then I set up automated daily payments from that central bank account to the initial bank account where most bills were deducted automatically. 

    The way it was set up plus perhaps a few bucks a day was taking care of the bills and it grew a bit every day. 

    Why another bank? 

    Anything can happen, and when it hits the fan, you better keep control yourself instead of letting the bank decide for you!

    3rd Account?! 

    Then I set up a third Bank account. I decided on a number I needed to do groceries on a daily bases.

    So from my central account, I got daily payments to use for shopping.

    Now I knew what was there every day to use and not overspend.

    4rth Account!!

    I also got Gas money from jobs I do.

    So I opened a Fourth Bank account.

    Every time I’m getting gas money, I deposit it in that account. 

    Most times I’m getting more than needed so all other car bills like taxes and maintenance are being paid from that account. 

    Central Account for Better Money Management

    When I did set it up that way, all I needed to focus on was the central bank account and I knew exactly what I needed a day, week, month. 

    I noticed at first it wasn’t easy but I was determined to get it right.

    So then I realized I needed a buffer of 3-6 months based on my daily payments. 

    I knew what I needed to survive 3-6 months without any income in case something happens. 

    This has saved me several times as I do not have a steady income. 

    Interest

    I noticed I was paying interest on open balances.

    So how did that happen? 

    I was in need of a car, and that’s a huge sum for most people. 

    So that had to be paid from the Gas account, but there wasn’t enough. 

    So I had to loan from a bank, but I paid more due to interest. 

    I decided to calculate the interest and paid the same interest amount into my central account as well. 

    Basically, I was paying back the bank, and now also myself. 

    Over time I needed more money on bigger spendings.

    So I loaned from the central account and paid it back from the account I needed it for with interest!

    How does that work?

    When I saw something in the shops I really wanted to have, I just paid it from the central account to my Groceries account. 

    Same goes for Gas-account when in need of more cash instantly like buying another car.

    Then by the daily income, I was getting on those accounts, I paid it back to the central account with interest.  

    It also made me aware that at times I did not really have to buy whatever it was I wanted, so it kept me from buying the item. 

    All I need to watch for is the buffer on the Central bank account to keep my internal economy going. 

    But before there was a buffer, I took care of small bills that were past due and made them disappear quickly. 

    Doing that gave me more and more control to work towards my buffer.

    Investments as the best way for Money Management

    When I wanted to start investing, I didn’t really have much money to do it with. 

    So I loaned money from my central account, and whatever money went out, I paid back with interest from my income. 

    So even if that investment was not working out, it was covered by future manageable income, bit by bit. 

    Whatever the investment did produce was placed back into the central account which also helped to pay off the initial loan. 

    If the investment made more, I was free to either let it grow or to fund the central account after the internal loan was settled. 

    When I invested more I considered it to be a separate loan which re-entered the process. 

    No logic

    It doesn’t seem logical to work with your money like that, it seems too complicated.

    But what it did do for me was that it gave me control over my bills which all happens automatically and it made me think twice before spending outside the balance on the cards. 

    So in a way, it made me focus and I know what I have to do next. 

    If my investments are not providing enough for my buffer, I know I need to get another job and quickly maintain my Central Account.

    Anything can happen in life, and I never really valued stability really going day by day without much thought until the day came I got stuck financially.

    So through desperation and a whole lot of debt, I decided to set it up to the way I have it now. 

    And although it did not help me overnight, the action alone to contact another bank and set up the accounts gave me a feeling of control.

    It also made me go look for other ways to make an income like another job to maintain the central account. 

    This got me moving with a plan in action and it has given me many benefits in my financial life.

    Back on control

    I took back control, and I crawled back from a deep hole which made me an investor and Trader. 

    Hopefully, you are not facing that mountain of debt in your life and you might not give this a second thought as long as you always have enough, but even millionaires can go bankrupt if they don’t pay attention. 

    Be wise, don’t let money become a problem where it doesn’t have to be. 

    I surely hope this off-topic article will benefit you, as money is not everything and it should not control your life. 

    Yes, we need it, so let’s deal with it and go on with other important things in life. 

    If you can support my work as a Mentor, please click here for a donation

    I really appreciate your encouragement. 

    Also, any support you like to show through PayPal is very much appreciated!

    to your success,

    Hans Stam

  • The Questions You Want to Ask Your Broker about Start Trading

    The Questions You Want to Ask Your Broker about Start Trading

    Questions to ask a broker
    This is the full explanation of what you have to do in your first contact with the broker.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    We assume you already made your decision to start investing or trading but you don’t know how to start and what to ask a broker. That is the situation where you would need a broker’s help. You already examine and find several and it is time to contact them.

    What you have to do that before you open an account.

    Before you open an account, you should use the internet browser. Traders-Paradise’s advice is to visit the web pages of every brokerage company you want to analyze. That first feeling about the brokerage’ site will be maybe the most important part if you want to start trading online. You must feel comfortable while you are checking section after section and it has to be user-friendly for you and you will find if the broker has a free demo account and how long you can use it before the switch to the real.

    Some websites may be slower at the first visit but try them again, maybe when you first visited them the traffic was high. A large number of visitors can make the website operate slower sometimes. This doesn’t mean the broker isn’t good.

    OK, you picked several brokers. So what is the next step?

    First of all, you have to make the first contact. The best way is to make some phone calls or to fill a contact form and let them call you.

    Be prepared, on the first call, they will tell you precisely what you like to hear. It will be so good but also, it might not be a truth. You must be aware. So, never play on the first hint. Try them more.

    Always keep in mind, you need to find the right broker for you. So, you have to talk.

    What to ask the broker?

    You will pay for financial advice, and you will entrust your hard-earned money to some person who will act as a genuine servant of your financial future. So, you have to ask, you have to talk.

    Ask if the firm has possible conflicts of interest regarding reasons to sell particular funds or products. Just ask. If you get a precise response, then the answer will satisfy many of the next questions.

    Ask the broker about trading commissions.

    It might be surprising but lower commissions are not always the better.

    Take care of it and examine all the information you can get.

    The price per trade may explain the level of customer service. If you don’t want to trade so often it shouldn’t be the subject of your consideration. In such a case it isn’t the primary if you need 30 seconds or 3 minutes to execute your trade, so the difference in commissions isn’t important too much. Will it be $5 or $25 per trade isn’t important if you don’t plan to trade very often, for example, 15-20 trades per year. But if you plan to trade on a daily base it is important.

    Training and education

    Also, you would like to know what kinds of training and education do they provide.

    Traders and investors, both advanced and novice need constant training and education to stay up to date with the laws and practices in the trade. This includes mentorship and copy trading. Mentorship is extremely important. The legal field is changing and you would need a good mentorship to follow the best practices in order to keep mistakes minimal. On the other hand, copy trading is good for novice traders and investors but leading traders may make mistakes too. At the beginning level, they are good. After you master the trading, you should build your own strategy and approach to the trade. That will depend on your personal goals, risk tolerance, and character.

    Also, important information is about other fees.

    Ask the broker about them. That is information about costs of account-maintenance and inactivity fees. So, it is good to make a list of services and transactions you might need before you start the conversation with the broker. Ask them how much all of them will be a charge.

    Ask a broker about the minimum initial deposit

    Minimum initial deposit is something you should know before you open the trading account. We assume you know how much you can invest but does it meet the broker’s regulation? Some brokers have account minimum and you have to know is it adequate for you. This minimum has to matches your budget.

    Withdrawals

    You need to know how much you can withdraw and how much time it will take. On some websites, you will find wonderful information about it but once when you talk with a live person you might find there are so many differences for almost every case. For example, on the website brokerage can write the withdrawals take a few days. That is true but sometimes it isn’t. Very often it depends on how big withdrawal is or in which circumstances you want to withdraw. Ask for every single detail about it.

    Customer support

    This is a huge question. Ask a broker’s about customer support and services before you sign up. Is it easy to find what you want on their website or you will need to spend the whole day and click through 100 pages? Can you access to their customer support fast? Does your broker have live chat? Is there any possibility to talk face-to-face?

    Banking services

    Maybe this isn’t a big deal but still, you have to know all about payment methods.

    The best choice is a brokerage account that can serve your banking need. The brokers now offer Visa or Master cards, direct deposit, ATM cards, etc.

    Ask a broker about investment assets selection

    All brokerages offer stocks traded on the major exchanges. But if you’re interested in options, bonds, currencies, cryptos ask if certain brokerages offer them. They’re not available in all brokerage.

    A good broker will set realistic expectations in front of you. They will provide some valid information from their experience. They will be based on the current market and on details about your goals.

    Beating the market is hard but at the same time exciting. Since it is hard for the majority, you need to add some weights to your portfolio. Without a broker, it is even harder. Statistics show that only 5% of market participants are successful. It is smart to use the best brokerage to be one of them.  

    Traders-Paradise recommends you to ask these questions as far as possible. Your broker has to truly serve you well. So, they should have no problem to give you honest answers.

    To get started on your broker research, use our Walls

    Traders-Paradise Team wishes you successful trading and investing.

     

  • Invest in any age, put the money in the stock market

    Invest in any age, put the money in the stock market

    2 min read

    Invest in any age. Don’t care how old you are you, you should put the money in the stock market. You should invest. Also, it doesn’t relate to how wealthy you are.

    What makes us think like this.

    The stock market is, yet, the genuine way we have for the progress.

    Think!

    Who invests a nice part of salary every year can be compensated after a decent number of years.

    For our financial growth, long-term investing is the best way to increase our wealth.

    Build your investing portfolio with the right stock and bond mix.

    Support it with index funds to maintain costs low. Avoid hedge funds for small investors and ETFs. In other words, you have to be smart and manage your investments.

    It is never late. Yes, we know. Everyone will tell you that the early ages are the best time to start investing.

    That’s true, but also, you can invest in any age.

    Invest in any age, put the money in the stock market

    The stock market is open space, who would forbid you to invest at age after 40, for example? Or after 50?

    Human’s life is longer and longer. Hence you could buy some stock, invest in bonds and in some index fund and supply your investment account for the next 10 years.

    When picking stocks you need to have in mind how you project to manage your investment. Say you are in your 40s, so you might want to invest in some high-risk assets.

    You might choose shares in some new or small company. But you might be interested in some abroad assets and developing markets.

    If, however,  you plan to invest shortly before retirement you will need some different strategy.

    Therefore, you should invest in a less volatile property.  For example, you might like to invest in bonds and shares that are paying plentiful dividends. If you are an older investor who just starts investing it is recommended to hold a mix of stocks, bonds, and index funds. Just put your money in the stock market.

    Invest in any age no matter how old you are.

    The S&P 500 gives a 10%  return per year, with dividends included.

    You might think it isn’t too much, but thanks to phenomena of compound interest you will double your capital every seven years.

    You see, just a little amount of money simply put in the stock market can produce big pays after some time.

    Where to invest in your 50s?

    Invest in any age, put the money in the stock market

    As you are nearing your retirement it is allowed to be a more aggressive investor so put your money in the stock market. For example, you may have a portfolio with 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. It is a good balance for the majority of investors. Keep in your mind your plan to retire at 65 and you have 15 years at least to collect very nice income thanks to compound interest.

    Of course, it is best if you can start earlier. But, truly, you may invest in any age. Think how much you will have after 14 years if you start in your 50s with $10,000. The compound interest phenomena are on the scene again. Just count, after 7 years double, and the next 7 years, and… Not bad, not at all.

    Maybe you wouldn’t be able to buy the new house but you might have enough for a relaxed life.

    That’s why you should invest in any age.

    risk disclosure

  • How to invest in a mutual fund

    How to invest in a mutual fund

    4 min read

    How to invest in a mutual fund

    To invest in a mutual fund, you can buy into a mutual fund through a mutual fund company, bank, or brokerage firm (similar to stocks).

    Typically, funds are either equity funds (investment in stocks), fixed income funds (investment in bonds), or money markets (kind of like cash).

    You will have to consider what is the minimum threshold for investing in the mutual fund. Because different funds have different investment minimums.

    Also, you will have to decide if you want to invest in a load or no-load fund.

    This means you will either be paying commission or not. But regardless of if you invest in a load or no-load fund, you’ll still be paying some fees. So, you have to factor that in when deciding.

    And, it is really simple to invest in a mutual fund.

    You simply determine the amount of money you’d like to invest in a mutual fund over the phone, online, or in person. There are so many options today.

    Online brokers generally often offer more diverse selections. However, you will have to open an individual retirement account.

    There are several expenses to account for. Like, transaction fees accumulated when investing in a mutual fund, early redemption fees if you wish to sell a fund in the first 60 to 90 days, and expense ratios that are a percentage of your investment.

    You can make money off of your mutual fund by selling it for more than you paid for it. Or through a variety of distributions like dividends or interest that can be paid out throughout your investment. However, most mutual funds will reinvest dividends for you unless you specify otherwise.

    Can money invested in mutual funds be lost?

    We will try to keep it simple. If you have invested only in mutual funds, theoretically the money can be lost.

    Reasonably – it depends.

    Well, investments are time unstable. So, at some period, your portfolio can hit the loss.

    But over the long period in time, the odds of losing your money are close to null.

    Yes, there might be accidents like some major market breakdown which could destroy your collected profits notably. But, in most cases, it is for a short time and markets would recover and your investment too.

    Let us explain.

    During the 2008 financial crisis, the fall in stock prices led to near 50% decline in the portfolio value of many people nearly throughout the world. Many people had panicked because this was a huge story. But, inside a one year, the portfolio value jumped back to its 100%. So, if some investor was really holding till today, it would be extra up 50–60% at least. In short, the possibilities of losing in the long-term are very small when investing in mutual funds.

    Take a look at this chart:

    Why Mutual fund is opportunity 

    Let’s do some math.

    You invested $100 and holding it for 10 years earning 15% CAGR = $404.5.
    You remember from the previous lessons: CAGR is the compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

    Some breakdown in the 11th year decreased prices by half – $202. But, this is still a return of 7.3%.

    The risk, if you are forced to sell here is not reaching your financial intentions and considerably it will influence your habits if you are retired.

    But what we can learn from the history of the present business world? The value of assets has jumped back to healthy from the critical after the great depressions.

    One note more. Instead of focusing on the systematic investment plan (SIP) a better choice is a focus on the systematic withdrawal plan (SWP). That’s the point where you begin to take out your money from risky assets. You are close to your goal and place in secured assets.

    So, the chances of not reaching your financial aims are reduced.

    The note: Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk.

    You have to keep this in your mind forever when investing in mutual funds. There are no investments without some risk associated with it.

    Missing or getting the money depends completely on the investment period an investor picks.

    We will show you how it looks in one more chart. We aimed out the period of big crisis 2008, in the red circle.

    Why Mutual fund is opportunity  1

    For example, you invest $1,000 for a day or two. If the stock market slips the preceding day, the value of your $1,000 will surely not appreciate.

    Also, if you invest the same amount for a week and the market is in a downtrend throughout that week, the invested money will not yield any profit.

    If you choose to stay invested for a year or more than that, though there is no guarantee, there is a possibility that your $1,000 may go up as a long-term investment horizon is always likely to give better results.

    In other words, you won’t lose all your money.

    Money can be lost mostly due to wrong timing.

    When the market is bullish, people invest aggressively. When the market corrects, people get scared and they take out money when the market is down or sideways.

    Say, investing in stocks through mutual fund route is a safer way to putting in money in the ever-volatile stock market. In a mutual fund, your investments are managed by professionals, who ensure the protection of your capital.

    Past trends have shown that usually mutual funds are profitable giving an average return of around 10-12%.

    Mutual fund investments become even safer and convenient if done via SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) route. SIP is a type of investment set up whereby rather than putting in a lump sum, you put in small amounts of money either in monthly, quarterly or annual installments. This, in turn, enables the fund to benefit from the power of compounding and also isn’t too much of a burden on the investor.

    risk disclosure