Monday, September 10, 2007

Does Forex Make Money?

With a daily turnover estimated at around $1.8 trillion the answer to the question "Does the Forex make money?" is pretty obvious.

The bigger question is: "For whom?"

With the opportunity for anybody and everybody with a computer and an internet connection to participate in the Forex to make money in recent years, thousands of individuals have had some exposure to the challenges of Forex trading.

Is The Forex A Fool's Game?

According to some estimates, the vast majority, perhaps as high as 95%, lose money.

Is it a fool's game, just an elusive dream to trade the Forex to make money to try and achieve financial security?

In view of the high failure rate, it is prudent for anyone who is contemplating entering Forex trading to do their homework first. While the majority fail to make consistent profits from the Forex, a minority do, and some of them make huge profits from the Forex.

The Realistic Mindset

What is the key? A realistic mindset when approaching the Forex, a commitment to learn and get a proper education, and then, application of the knowledge learned in a disciplined way backed up by perseverance!

For an individual who has already had experience trading stocks, or futures, the learning curve may only involve a few months when switching to the foreign exchange market.

For the complete novice the learning period will probably run into years, anywhere from 1 to 3 years according to some estimates.

During this time the novice will have to first get acquainted with the workings of the Forex, learning the terminology, and working with a demo account on a trading platform supplied by an online broker.

Months will need to be spent sitting in front of a computer screen studying candlestick charts, getting acquainted with specific patterns, learning to recognize high probability setups. There is no shortcut for this part of the educational process if you want the Forex to make money for you.

The Most Critical Factor

Then comes the most critical part of all: developing the mental discipline and emotional control necessary for safe trading.

The Forex can be a minefield for anyone who is not in control of their emotions. For a person who has a gambling instinct, the Forex will suck their account dry in a very short time. The Forex is not a game of chance.

Successful trades are the product of careful market analysis, an understanding of how the market moves acquired from months and years of experience, and a strict control of equity management.

Even with all that input, the successful trader will still regularly lose trades. As long as there are a greater number of trades that are successful, the Forex will make money for you.

Make An Informed Decision

If all this sounds overwhelming and a little foreboding, you are getting the picture of what is involved once you start down the road as a Forex trader.

On the other hand, this is a job that can be done from home, with as many hours committed to it as you wish to allow, and in the long term, once the skills have been acquired, the Forex can provide a substantial form of income.

Will the Forex make money for you? That is an individual question and will depend on all the variables discussed above. Do your homework, check out educational materials, examine your current workload and circumstances, be honest about your personality style, and then make an informed decision.

To learn how to preserve your mental and emotional resources in addition to your account equity click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/Advisor/forex-day-trading-mental-equity.htm

For a free pivot point calculator, Fibonacci calculator and the best free economic calendars click here:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/tools.html

If you are looking for a comprehensive Forex education with mentoring from professionals check this:

http://www.vitalstop.com/Forex/forex-education.html

Forex Strategy Trading

There's no doubt about it, if you're interested in genuine investment opportunities, then forex strategy trading offers you enormous possibilities. More commonly known as the foreign exchange market, it is believed that the forex sees approximately $1.5 billion in turnovers each and every day. However, in order to see regular returns on your investments, its vital you have some knowledge of forex strategy trading.

Your first step in forex strategy trading is to learn the market. Get to know the market and educate yourself on how the system works. Youll find that the major players on the forex marketplace are the commercial banks, central banks and also businesses who deal in foreign trade. Many companies and individuals are attracted to the forex market because of the speed and the liquidity of assets. Transactions take place in an instant and many are attracted to the promise of large profits.

The currencies most frequently traded are the US Dollar, the Euro, the Japanese Yen, the British Pound and the Australian Dollar. Trading is both speculative and virtual in nature, there isnt a physical product that is actually being brought or sold. For instance, you might decide to buy the British Pound with the US Dollar in the hope of seeing a rise in the pound. Then when its value has risen, you would sell it for a profit.

Also, before you actually start trading, practice! You can actually practice trading on paper. This will help to become familiar on how the market works. You will find that some online brokers do permit free paper trades, this helps you to practice and get used to the tools and software involved and of course, you gain invaluable experience in the process.

When choosing a forex dealer, be sure to do your research on the company. Make certain that the dealer is regulated by the law and can offer good customer service. Avoid any dealers with schemes that sound too good to be true!

Forex trading may well seem attractive and a good way to invest your money. But it can be stressful at times and even the most experienced investors will make losses from time to time. The key is to minimize the losses by educating yourself, learning from your errors and following a strategy that works for you.

Mark Gardner is a popular webmaster and publisher of http://www.exchangeforexrate.com To get the latest on the forex market and the exchange forex rate check out our website today!

TTS Newsletter #3

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WELCOME & CONTENTS

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Hello, and welcome to your fortnightly newsletter from the

offices of TrainerTrackStats.

In this issue:

- Review since last newsletter

- System angle: Quick Return Chasers

- The joke...

- Tomorrow's qualifiers

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REVIEW SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER

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In the last newsletter, I showed you a way to profit from the changes in going that can happen at this time of year. Well, without so much as a crystal ball, that proved to be very prescient, as the rains came recently and changed many tracks from Good to Firm, to Soft. With a plethora of non-runners, there were also many horses running on the 'wrong' ground for them, and a few shock results as a consequence.

Its also been a disappointing run for TTS followers. In the last newsletter's "Tomorrow's Qualifiers" section I tipped two winners, at 5/1 and 4/6, along with a 2nd at 12/1, from four selections. But since then, its been a war of attrition with rays of TTS sunshine few and far between.

Sunday 15th October summed it up, when Red Scally, a qualifier until his price moved from 14/1 to 16/1 two minutes before the off, outstayed the opposition to triumph. Some solace for me when some of my subscribers told me they'd backed it, but in truth, the strict interpretation of TTS dictates that I cannot record it as a win for TTS.

Looking ahead, its definitely a case of 'onwards and upwards' for TTS, with many of the big stables now gearing up for the season proper after a sleepy start. 11th November sees the Murphys Gold Cup meeting at Cheltenham and, from then on, its action all the way to the end of April. For TTS fans, its action from right now, as there is jump racing in the UK pretty much every day from here.

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SYSTEM ANGLE: QUICK RETURN CHASERS

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An angle that you should always be aware of when betting, is the significance of a horse making a quick comeback. I have for some time paid close attention to horses running within 3 days of a previous effort on the All Weather, and I wondered if the same principle held true for jumpers.

As ever, I put this to the test with my trusty Racing Systems Builder software (the same hugely impressive database I trawl to locate the TrainerTrackStats nuggets). After playing around with a few variables, I ended up with the following criteria:

Handicaps (Chase and Hurdles)

3-8 years old

Ran 1, 2 or 3 days ago

7/2 or less

YEAR WINS RUNS STRIKE% LSP LSP% VSP%

2001 6 17 35.29 0.99 5.82 -5.84

2002 5 15 33.33 -0.77 -5.13 10.81

2003 11 27 40.74 5.25 19.44 21.78

2004 16 34 47.06 14.06 41.35 39.25

2005 12 23 52.17 15.13 65.78 61.71

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50 116 43.10 34.66 29.88 28.05

As you can see, though there aren't too many qualifiers, they win pretty much every other start, and are well worth following.

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THE JOKE.......

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Nothing to do with horse racing or winner finding but quite funny nonetheless!

(With apologies to all nerds - myself included - in advance!)

A truck driver is hauling a trailer load of computers, and stops for a beer. As he approaches the bar he sees a big sign on the door saying "Nerds Not Allowed - Enter At Your Own Risk!" He goes in and sits down. The bartender comes over to him, sniffs, says, "You smell kind of nerdy. What do you do for a living?" The truck driver says, "I drive a truck, and the smell is just from the computers I am hauling."

The bartender says, "Okay, truck drivers are not nerds." and serves him a beer. As he is sipping his beer, a skinny guy walks in with tape around his glasses, a pocket protector with twelve kinds of pens and pencils, and a belt at least a foot too long. The bartender, without saying a word, pulls out a shotgun and blows the guy away.

The truck driver said, totally shocked, "Why did you do that?" The bartender said, "Not to worry, the nerds are overpopulating Silicon Valley and are in season now. You don't even need a license." The truck driver finishes his beer, gets back in his truck, and heads back onto the freeway. Suddenly he veers to avoid an accident, and the load shifts. The back door breaks open and computers spill out all over the freeway. He jumps out and sees a crowd already forming, grabbing up the computers. They are all engineers, accountants and programmers wearing the nerdiest clothes he has ever seen.

He can't let them steal his whole load. So, remembering what happened in the bar, he pulls out his gun and starts blasting away, felling several of them instantly. A highway patrol officer comes zooming up and jumps out of the car screaming at him to stop. The truck driver said, "What's wrong? I thought nerds were in season." "Well, sure," said the patrolman. "But you can't bait 'em."

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TOMORROW'S QUALIFIERS

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The TTS runners for Thursday, 19th October are:

Haydock

2.40 Flake

3.40 In Extra Time (PRICE WARNING)

4.40 Rival Bidder

Sea Wall (DOUBTFUL RUNNER)

Ludlow

2.50 Cannon Fire

Note the (PRICE WARNING). These horse - like all qualifiers -

must be 14/1 or shorter to be a qualifier.

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REMINDER / NEXT LETTER...

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Well, that's about all for this letter. I hope you've enjoyed it. Before I close, I'd like to take the opportunity to remind those of you who have yet to subscribe that I now have a daily email subscription service for TrainerTrackStats, giving you all the following day's selections the night before. Better still, you can take a FREE trial for a week before having to invest a penny of your 'hard earned'.

For more information, go to www.trainerflatstats.com/subscribe

Next newsletter will be in your inbox on or around 31st October.

Finally, if you have any comments / feedback on this letter, or anything you'd like to see in future,

please email your suggestions to enquiries@trainerflatstats.com

I'll look forward to hearing from you!

As ever, thanks for reading, and best regards

Matt Bisogno

Author, TrainerTrackStats NH 2006/7

http://www.www.trainerflatstats.com

Matt Bisogno is a lifelong horseracing and betting enthusiast, and has published a number of statistical analyses of trainer patterns for horse racing betting purposes.

Can You Make Money Flipping Houses in This Market?

Even though the real estate market has entered a "correction cycle," there's no need to sit on the sidelines, waiting for the market to rebound. There's still money in flipping houses, even during an economic downturn. Here are a few suggestions:

First, save money on your building materials. A good place to find discounted construction materials, paint, and appliances is at ReStore, the retail outlet of Habitat for Humanity. You can purchase quality used or surplus building materials, doors, lighting fixtures, and hardware for your project at a fraction of the normal price.

If you don't have a ReStore nearby, shop around for an appliance store that offers returned, refurbished, or scratch-and-dent appliances at a discount. If you let it be known that you're in the market for those kinds of items, you may find a store owner who'd rather sell those types of appliances to you rather than writing them off altogether. Ask. You have nothing to lose, and profits to gain--especially during a market downturn.

Another way to sell your house is to research your target buyers and then make sure your project meets what they're looking for. When the market's hot, you can get away with painting the walls white and installing neutral carpet, but when times are tighter, you have to be more creative. If you know your potential buyers, you can tailor your flipping efforts toward attracting them.

Along that same line, don't underestimate the value of staging a house to attract your target buyers and to prompt them to offer top dollar. You don't have to totally furnish it. Just add a few strategic decorations to prompt potential buyers to begin visualizing what their own furnishings would look like in the home.

Finally, it's important to close sales quickly during a down market. If you find someone who really likes the home, don't spend too much time negotiating. The term "buyer's market" means that buyers have the advantage, so when you find someone willing to buy your house, don't try to squeeze out every dollar of profit you can. Take your profit and move on, since you can never be sure when the next offer will come in--and in real estate especially, time truly is money.

It doesn't matter if the market is up or down. You can still make money flipping houses if you plan carefully--and then stick to your plan.

Free "The Truth about Making Money Flipping Houses" ebook at http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/free_flipping_houses_ebook.html

Copyright 2007 Jeanette Fisher

Youth Ill Prepared for Life Changing Credit Decisions

"Too few credit cards can hurt your credit score," said Evan Hendricks, author of Credit Scores & Credit Reports. That's because a thin credit profile doesn't provide as much evidence to lenders that you're capable of paying back your debts on time as the more extensive track record of someone who is responsibly managing several cards and loans.

CNN Money

I really enjoyed this article about managing your personal credit. I think it is incredible sad how ill prepared kids enter society in regards to managing their credit. Most people I know fall into one of three categories:

1. "What's my credit? I could care less."

2. "I have credit cards that let me spend as much as I want. Cool!"

3. "My mom said that credit cards were invented by Satan, so I should stay away."

The number of people, especially young people just starting out, that actually actively work to manage their credit is very small. This is despite the fact that building your credit will probably save you more money in the long run than any 401K or savings account ever could. A good credit score can save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage, and puts you in a position to leverage your credit when starting a business or even beginning a new job.

Very few people are aware that the government has mandated that each of the three big credit agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, give a free credit report annually since 2004. They don't give you your actual score, but they let you see all the entries in your file, and correct any inaccuracies that have creeped in. This can be viewed at www.annualcreditreport.com, not to be confused with www.freecreditreport.com, which is a sneaky hook by Experian to get you signed up for their service.

As for those people that think credit cards are evil, they should all stop surfing the internet. Yes, a lot of good has happened as a direct result of the internet, but porn is also much more accessible. With any incredibly powerful and life-changing technology, the power is a double edged sword. Used correctly, credit can make your life 10x easier. I use credit cards for every expense in my life, from a $0.99 candy bar to a $2,500.00 computer. As long as you pay it off monthly, the benefits are 3-fold:

1. It's like a 30 day zero interest loan. Your money can sit in the bank or in the stock market and be earning you interest, while the money you spent costs you nothing.

2. You have protection like cash or checks will never offer. If your wallet gets stolen, you just cancel your cards, and even if someone charges something on them, you are protected and usually don't even have to pay a fee to have the charge reversed.

3. Points accrue and you can get some really cool stuff. I get 1-3% of my purchases awarded as Amazon.com gift certificates. Again, as long as you are paying off your cards, that's like a 2% discount on every purchase you make!

That all being said, credit cards have doomed thousands of people to never ending debt, but that isn't the fault of the credit cards, it's because we Americans love accruing stuff. And we wonder why we have such a large trade deficit...but that's a rant for another day.

In short, credit is your friend, and you should spend time improving it, much like you would woo a woman.

Derek Perkins is the CEO of Seatability (http://www.seatability.com), a bungee office chair manufacturer and distributor, and former owner of Pocket Innovations, a software company focused on portable software applications. Visit his blog at http://www.derekperkins.com for more information about business, personal finance and other topics.