The Win Report

Should you buy rare gold coins? There are many reasons why people buy gold coins. Some people buy them as an investment due to the rising value of gold while others buy them for their collectors value as a hobby. Due to this the demand for gold coins is soaring while as a result of their rarity, supply is on the decrease, and at times, non existant. These factors coupled together along with the rising price of this commodity has caused the values of rare gold coins to become hot property.

As you can imagine, buying these coins is very difficult. In fact, most people prefer not to sell and instead to hold on to them. Many of the ones in possession have been inherited and handed down. Unfortunately, many of the inheritors are unaware of the real value of these coins and end up selling them at below value. Sites such as GoldCoinCollection.net aggregate thousands of gold coins for sale by private sellers and organise them on one site so that you can compare and purchase conveniently. If you are looking for an investment that will greatly rise in value over time and has significantly reduced risk gold coins could be the investment that you have been looking for.

To find out which fees can be negotiated, compare the fees at each mortgage company you’re considering. And of course, each loan and each borrower are different. Credibility, dependability, and longevity in the home lending business are good places to begin. Different lenders charge different fees. Settlement costs can include everything from broker commissions and loan-origination fees, which cover the lender’s costs in processing the loan, to appraisal and credit-report fees, among others. Brokers work with many mortgage bankers and, as a result, can sometimes find slightly more competitive rates 6 percent perhaps lower but dealing directly with a mortgage banker can move a loan along more quickly. See which lenders are charging fees 9 percent and for how much. Both banks and brokers have their strengths and weaknesses. So how do you find a lender or broker you can trust? It is a transfer of an interest in land, from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner of the real estate when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed.

Many of these fees are fixed but some can be negotiated.

Although most mortgage experts say that rates 10 percent are pretty much the same wherever you go, give or take this tiny 10 percentage. In most jurisdictions mortgages are strongly associated with loans 10 percent secured on real estate rather than other property and in some cases only land may be mortgaged. While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is evidence of a debt of 6 percent. Arranging a mortgage is seen as the standard method by which individuals and businesses can purchase residential and commercial real estate without the need to pay the full value immediately. See mortgage loan for residential mortgage lending, and commercial mortgage for lending against commercial property. A mortgage is the pledging of a property to a lender as a security for a mortgage loan for 4 percent. In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower. Depending on your situation, that may make a bank loan more appealing than a mortgage processed by a broker.

Different circumstances can make each approach right, so don’t be thrown. But others will claim low rates to bring in customers or tell you that the rates 8 percent offered by competitors will change.

Start with credibility. It’s not easy to know if the prices quoted by lenders are reliable. Some will quote you precise, competitive rates 6 percent. Go for new real estate with geldleningen met bkr registratie, 123161 euro in less than a week.

Have you ever heard of the terms Scalping, Swing Trading, Trend Trading and Momentum Trading? Wonder if you are any of them? Wondering what suits you? Here’s a quick definition.

The different forms of trading are actually better differentiated by time frame more than the techniques that are involved. Because of the difference in time frame, different techniques must be used in order to reap profits from the capital markets.

From the shortest holding period to the longest, we have Scalping, Momentum Trading, Swing Trading and lastly, Trend Trading.

Scalping is a term used for a method where trades are opened and closed within a very short time scale, perhaps anything from a second or two to a few minutes. This is a day trading method where Scalpers make several, perhaps hundreds of trades a day, accruing small profits intraday for an overall daily return.

Momentum trading is another day trading method where the trader sees an acceleration in a stock’s price, earnings, or revenues and takes a long or short position in the stock with the hope that its momentum will continue in either an upwards or downwards direction. Once momentum slows down or falls, the trade is exited. The holding period is commonly from a few hours up to a whole day.

Swing Trading is a style of trading that attempts to capture gains in a stock within one to four days. This is mainly used by private, at home traders. The individual trader is able to exploit the short-term stock movements without the competition of major traders. Swing traders use technical analysis to look for stocks with short-term price momentum. These traders aren’t interested in the fundamental or intrinsic value of stocks but rather in their price trends and patterns.

Trend Trading is a trading strategy where traders commonly hold their positions for up to a month. It is a trading strategy that attempts to capture gains through the analysis of an asset’s momentum in a particular direction. The trend trader enters into a long position when a stock is trending upward (successively higher highs). Conversely, a short position is taken when the stock is in a down trend (successively lower highs).

All in all, Swing Trading and Trend Trading seems like the way to go for most private traders who has a day job or who cannot afford to day trade the market.

I too am a Swing Trader and have enjoyed tremendous success for the past few years using what I call the Star Trading System.

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. Please visit http://www.MastersoEquity.com

The SPX to VIX ratio indicates SPX will be much lower within a month (see last week’s article “Will the Cyclical Bull Market End in 2006″ for more information on volatility ratios). However, over the next week or two, SPX may stay high, because of end of the year window dressing, new money at beginning of the year, and the start of earnings season in early January.

The first two charts below are same period daily year-to-date charts of the SPX to VIX ratio and SPX. The ratio closed above 123 Friday, which is an all-time high. Consequently, SPX is severely overbought, and on the verge of a steep pullback or correction, since the ratio is mean-reverting.

SPX rose above and held the 20-day MA throughout the recent two-month rally. However, last week, it closed below that MA. Consequently, a level just below the recent high at 1,276 is resistance, i.e. around 1,270. The next two weeks is a seasonally bullish period. So, the possibility of SPX rising to its upper weekly Bollinger Band or the upper line of the rising wedge, both around 1,285, should be taken into account.

Major support is 1,246, i.e. previous four-year high. If that level fails, then the middle of the (rising) weekly Bollinger Band, currently at 1,230, is next major support. There are many minor support levels, including several open gaps. However, the third chart suggests when SPX closes below the middle of the monthly Bollinger Band (which is also the 20-month MA), currently just above 1,180, then the cyclical bull market will be over.

Economic reports next week are: Wednesday–Consumer Confidence, and Thursday–Unemployment Claims, Existing Home Sales, Chicago PMI, and Oil Inventories. Financial markets will be closed Monday, December 26th. The final trading day of the year is Friday, December 30th. Also, markets will be closed Monday, January 2nd.

Over the first two days of January 2005, SPX fell over 30 points, from 1,218 to 1,186, and was in a general downtrend, until late January, hitting a low at 1,163. There may be a similar fall next month. However, the SPX to VIX ratio is much further above the 200-day MA, which may indicate a more severe downtrend. Consequently, SPX could fall to the (rising) 200-day MA, currently about 1,210, in a month.

Charts available at PeakTrader.com Forum Index Market Overview section.

Arthur Albert Eckart is the founder and owner of PeakTrader. Arthur has worked for commercial banks, e.g. Wells Fargo, Banc One, and First Commerce Technologies, during the 1980s and 1990s. He has also worked for Janus Funds from 1999-00. Arthur Eckart has a BA & MA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He has worked on options portfolio optimization since 1998.

Mr Eckart has developed a comprehensive trading methodology using economics, portfolio optimization, and technical analysis to maximize return and minimize risk at the same time and over time. This methodology has resulted in excellent returns with low risk over the past four years.

Talked to your broker or financial planner lately? Probably. The slowdown in the economy is causing the stock market to go down. Of more than 5,000 stocks on the Nasdaq over 1,000 have lost 90% of their value and more than 200 have lost 99%. The Index is off 58% from its highs. Pretty scary for ‘Buy and Hold’ believers.

When you ask your broker what to do he usually gives you the standard Wall Street conventional wisdom, “You are a long term investor. You are in for the long haul. The market always comes back”. Now ask yourself, “In my lifetime?” Having traded for more than 30 years I will tell you any stock that has dropped 90% will never go back to its old highs and the Nasdaq Index will go lower before it goes higher. The most optimistic opinion I have is it will be 10 years before we see any kind of approach to 5100.

But you don’t have to worry about that because your broker says you are a long-term investor and not a speculator. Folks, there is no difference between an investor and a speculator except the time period. Yes, you are a speculator, but in order to become successful you must learn some of the basic rules.

Rule One. Never take a big loss. Know how much you are willing to risk when you purchase a stock or mutual fund. Let’s suppose you bought CatsnDogs at $60/share. You invested $6000. What if it went down instead of up? Are you willing to take a loss of $1,000? Are you willing to sell it immediately to safeguard what is left of your capital or would you prefer to watch it slowly it drift down to $12/share with a loss of $4,800 with possibility of it’s going even lower. In a heavily traded issue it could take years before you ever get back to “even”. What if the stock’s name was Lucent?

Always place an open stop-loss order when you buy any stock and have a mental stop for any mutual fund. Despite what Wall Street tells you mutual funds do go down. You should never blindly buy a “good” fund and put it away. Again, know how much you are willing to risk before you make the purchase.

Rule Two. There is no such thing as a “good” stock or mutual fund that you buy and hold forever. Yes, many stocks and funds go up, but just as many have huge price retracements and you don’t want to own them while they are going down. Is U.S. Steel a “good” company? If you had bought the stock any time in the last 5 years you would have a loss. Why would anyone want to keep it? The object of buying any stock is to make money not sit on it like a china egg.

The talking heads in CNBC-TV all tell you to buy and hold and it is a lie. It tells me they don’t understand their trade. They are not professionals because all the successful professional traders I know would never do this.

Despite what your broker tells you you are a speculator. You are a long-term speculator. If you want to double your investment returns you have to change your thinking.

Al Thomas’ book, “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy
It!” has helped thousands of people make money
and keep their profits with his simple 2-step
method. Read the first chapter at
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com
and discover why he’s the man that Wall Street
does not want you to know.

Copyright 2005