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5.The Greatest Wealth Building Tool Ever Invented

2008-09-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

It is a well known fact that serious investors seeking long term growth of capital have as their main objectives the two most basic goals in investing:

* to find an investment vehicle that would effectively preserve capital and minimize risk in the face of a fluctuating and constantly flexing economy

* the investment vehicle must provide better than decent yields in all economic conditions to promote constant growth of capital value.

With the stock market as the premiere choice due to its historical record of outperforming all other investments over time, people are increasingly turning to the stock market as their main investment vehicle for future capital growth. It is here where much higher rates of return can be made with a relatively small increase in risk to capital.

With thousands of books, manuals, internet sites, seminars and courses offering investment strategies and trading systems in the stock market and its derivatives, there are few, if any, that deliver the ideal investment vehicle sought by the long term investor in search of safety and high returns. Not only is there a near total absence of an ideal investment system but there are many that promise eye popping, mind boggling returns and, they are exactly that; mere promises.

Most of the trading systems offered are structured on strategies or activities that work when conditions are ideally suited to the program being peddled. Most of their successes are highly dependent on picking the right stocks at the right time. In other words you must be a good stock picker or use a stock picking service (for a high monthly fee) to select the right ones for you. Market timing is also an important factor in their systems. Again, you must be a good market timer or depend on a service that provides market timing signals (also for a high monthly fee). These supposedly high yield investment programs don't say anything about how bad things can be when conditions go against their predictions. These programs do exactly as promised: great when the going is good but disastrous when the going is bad. Without doubt many have been taken by these so-called services and while an investor/trader may be successful for a while, the end result over a long period of time is always the same - no better than if you had done the selections yourself.

While there is no one investment system or vehicle that can be an answer-all to the various goals of various investors, there are some investment alternatives that can come close to satisfying the two basic needs of safety and decent returns. Diversified mutual funds have been touted as the answer to these basic needs. But over the years these funds have shown that during downturns in the economy they perform just as badly as the whole investment market in general. And, over the long term, many of these diversified funds have failed to even match market performance in general, much less outperform it. Enter market derivatives with emphasis options.

Trading in stock options has become very popular with institutional investors as well as private individuals as a sound money management system supplementing their investment portfolios. The ability of stock options to give the investor a wide range of choices is what has made the options market grow considerably over the last two decades. To quote one options expert: "Stock options are the greatest wealth producing tool ever invented on this planet. . . . if you know how to use them".

The key element of this statement is: . . . if you know how to use them.

For many people the mere mention of stock options, sends shivers up their spine. They look at options as synonymous with great risk. But isn't driving a car very dangerous for one who doesn't know how to drive? The ability of stock options to give the investor a wide range of choices in stock market investments is what has made the options market grow by leaps and bounds over the last twenty years. Statistics compiled by the Options Industry Council, a group that educates investors about options, show that volume in options trading has risen tremendously in recent years. Further, studies show that individual investors make up 60% of the market.

For the individual who has sufficient funds and is looking for more than a decent return on his capital and with controllable risk, stock options may be the answer.

There are dozens of option trading systems being employed by individual investors and institutions. Each system is designed to accomplish a specific investment goal. A financial institution may use long put options to hedge its winnings in stocks that have appreciated in value. Another investor may buy call options instead of stocks to enter a position in a security that has caught his fancy. Still another may sell calls against his stock holdings to generate income from his stock position, or what is popularly known as covered call writing. Of the dozens of option trading systems there is one that can be carried out as a long term investment program offering a fair degree of safety and consistent high returns over time, thus satisfying the investor's two basic needs of safety and return.

This is the selling of uncovered or naked options.

But wait! Is it not said that selling naked options carries the risk of unlimited losses? Isn't this a contradiction?

Indeed selling naked options when done carelessly and without a disciplined strategic program is extremely risky!

But by using a carefully planned and disciplined system of trading, the so-called "unlimited risk" factor in selling options can easily be conquered. There is a three-pronged trading strategy being used by one successful options trader that is proving to be a consistent winner in all market conditions. It is a trading technique that couples naked option selling with a modified ratio credit spread and the use of the roll over feature. While naked option selling has acquired a bad rap of being highly risky, this three-pronged trading strategy allows the trader to defeat the risk. Not only is the system able to substantially reduce the risk, it also offers one the ability to become a savvy investor/trader without having to depend on picking the right stocks or timing the market. It involves utilizing the system in any market condition using only one or a few stocks, ETFs or indexes (the latter two are more effective). One need not worry about finding the right stocks or timing the trades. The fact remains that stocks behave, more often than not, in crazy and irrational ways so that one can almost say that consistently choosing winning stocks is as good as a random walk down Wall Street. Rather than be proactive and try to predict and time the market, as many try to do, this three-pronged investment system is reactive. The prescribed trades are done in reaction to how the market has moved, not in anticipation of its future behavior.

This three-pronged trading system does not promise quick profits or mind boggling yields but steady annual returns in excess of 30%. It would be prudent to say that in times of deep downturns the system may not deliver the promised returns but it will hold its own and will definitely outperform the market.

One options trader that has mastered this three-pronged trading technique has decided to share his knowledge of the system by writing an e-book on its methodology. Borrowing from that quote about options being a great wealth producing tool he has aptly titled his work: STOCK OPTIONS: THE GREATEST WEALTH BUILDING TOOL EVER INVENTED. In it he details the step by step methodology of this trading technique and gives an exhaustive series of sample trades covering several months of transactions. It shows the effectiveness of the system in an up market, down market and horizontal market using only one ETF stock. To this day the writer continues to use only one or two ETFs in all his options trades. For more information: http://www.theoptionseller.com

4.Selling Options - Is It The Holy Grail Of Investments

2008-09-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Option sellers believe that if it's not, it's probably the closest an investor will ever get to the long sought Holy Grail of Investments or what is considered to be the ideal investment.

Let's take a look and see what exactly is regarded as the ideal investment.

When asked to define what the ideal investment is investors have various versions of what they consider to be the ideal investment or the Holy Grail of Investments. In the ultimate analysis, with few exceptions, most investors feel that an ideal investment should provide the following qualities: safety of capital, consistent high returns, immunity from economic and market fluctuations and fi-nally, liquidity, or availability of funds should the investor find an immediate need to tap his re-sources. Safety of capital and high returns seem to be the most desirable of all yet these two are totally opposing qualities in any investment. As the saying goes, the higher the risk, the greater the reward or inversely, the lower the risk the smaller the reward.

That said let's explore our choices. Until the advent of options there appeared to be nothing that came even close to being called an ideal investment let alone be called the Holy Grail of Invest-ments. We had to face the fact that investments were either low risk low reward or high risk high reward. Some investments were somewhere in the middle ground but few or none were in the Holy Grail category. Investors may be classified into two groups, passive and active investors. Passive investors prefer entrusting their capital to third parties and doing nothing more than expect returns from their investments either on a regular basis or value appreciation over time. They put their money into a fixed return instrument such as passbook savings accounts, money market funds, treasury bills, certificates of deposits, bonds and included in this lot are dividend paying stocks and mutual funds. Then there are the other passive investors that prefer to place funds into long term appreciation assets with capital growth as their main goal. Examples of these types of investments would be real estate, precious metals, arts and antiques. All these investment instruments while delivering small returns on a year-on-year basis do offer much safety of capital.

The active investor on the other hand is a more adventurous individual. He seeks high returns for his money, hopefully at reduced risk, by actively being involved in trading the markets, be it real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities, futures, foreign exchange, options or whatever else can be traded and made money on. Although more of a risk taker he nevertheless tries to moderate his risk exposure by restraining his profit objectives or rates of return on his capital. While passive in-vestors are happy with annual returns of 6 to 10 percent, active investors seek higher rates of over 12 percent and more like in the region of 14 to 18 percent per annum. Is this doable? Yes, it is and many are happy actively trading the markets and achieving these returns using their own trading techniques that somewhat controls risk to an acceptable degree. Now here's the shocker. Option traders are able to generate annual profits in excess of 20 percent without exposing themselves to any more risk that those achieving 14 percent. Now here is an even greater shocker. Among those that trade options the ones specializing on the selling side generate annual returns in excess of 30 percent with many averaging annual returns in the region of 40 to 50 percent without increasing the risk factor any more than the passive investor!

Foreign currency traders as well as commodities and futures traders sneeze at this claim saying that they can outshine the option seller in annual returns. True. But can they claim to do so at the same risk level as the passive investors? Most probably not.

Selling options (stocks, commodities, futures, etc) has become for many the Holy Grail of Invest-ments. To the experienced option seller this trading strategy offers high, consistent returns, a fair degree of immunity against economic and market fluctuations, liquidity, and finally safety of capital. This last claim may be open to debate from non-believers in this trading strategy. To be fair let's qualify the safety claim by saying that the inexperienced option seller is open to potentially heavy losses if he does not know what he is doing. But to the seasoned trader selling options is a safe investment strategy delivering all the qualities of an ideal investment to the point where successful option sellers claim to have found what to them is the closest one will ever get to the Holy Grail of Investments.

Selling options on stocks, which is the specialty of this writer, can be particularly rewarding using a carefully planned trading system combined with disciplined money management and with proper safeguards in place. There are many trading strategies in selling options. Some are simple enough, like the covered call technique, delivering fairly decent returns while others are more com-plex but more rewarding. There is one option selling system developed by this writer that can be carried out as a long term investment program offering a fair degree of safety and delivering con-sistent high returns time after time. By using a carefully planned, three-pronged system of trading, the risks associated with selling options can easily be conquered.

» How To Start Investing With Just $100

2008-09-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how much money you would need to start investing?

If you’ve ever thought that you did not have enough money to begin with investing, I’ve got some good news for you. My name is Sam Chim and I am the owner of Invest-Tips.com, the investment information site. Even though I’ve been investing for several years now, I still remember a time where I did not have a lot of money to start with.

Today, I’m going to show you a method which I used to begin my investing “career” with a small amount of capital. That small amount is just $100 or approximately £70 for those in the UK.

To achieve the highest returns available for our $100 we need to look for investments. We need to find a way in which can make this $100 work for us so that we can grow it to a much larger amount. We also need to have a method of evaluating and assessing risk to our capital.

I’ve found that the best way to start investing with small amounts of capital is not with real estate or stocks, it is with HYIPs (High Yield Investments Programs). These are online investments that anyone can participate and you are able to choose who to invest with and the amount you want to invest. Typically, these High Yield Investments offer between 20% - 40% interest per month. This means your $100 could turn into $140 in one month. Then after that it could grow to thousands if you kept re-investing.

However, one of the things that many “guru’s” WILL NOT tell you is – “it’s not as easy as it seems”. High Yield Investments require some level of research and money management. You will need to source some reliable investments (there are a lot of scams around) and also be able to manage your capital effectively to maximise your earnings and reduce risk (i.e. Are you going to diversify your investments or not?).

There is a lot to learn about this type of investment. Hopefully, after reading this, you will dig deeper and be able to start investing successfully with just $100. The opportunity to make money with HYIPs is wide open to anyone who wishes to take it. Are you going to rely on working for someone else for income or Are You Ready To Make Income On Your Own?

» A Beginner's Guide to Investing in Local Companies

2008-09-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

» A Beginner's Guide to Investing in Local Companies
by: John Mussi

With all of the fluctuations that can occur in stock investments, many people find themselves wishing that there was an investment alternative that allowed them to keep their money close to home while making sound investments in companies that they trust. If you happen to be one of these people, you might want to consider looking into making investments in some of the companies and businesses in the area in which you live and work. A number of businesses offer local investments, allowing their investors to know firsthand the sort of business that they're putting their money into.

To help you to decide whether local investments might be a good investment for your money, the information below should answer some of your questions and set you on the right path to finding the answer to other questions that you might have.

Finding local investments
Obviously, the first step in making investments in local companies is finding the companies to invest in. One of the easier ways to do this is to consult the financial section of local newspapers and inquire at a local chamber of commerce or other community commercial center. Larger businesses and local banks tend to be more likely to offer local investment opportunities to the public, so if you're still having problems finding available local investments then you should make an inquiry to managers or owners of your preferred local banks and businesses.

Making local investments
Once you've found local banks or companies that offer investment opportunities, it's time for you to make your decisions as to which local investments to make. You can, of course, make investments in several different local companies, but as with all investments you should make sure that you consider the potential for growth that each particular company or bank shows and take the time to decide whether or not this is the right investment for you and your financial needs.

Once you've carefully considered your options and have decided upon the one or more investments that are the best from among those that are available to you, contact the customer service personnel and find out the exact method used for purchasing stock.

Making money with your investments
One of the main problems that many people have with the thought of making local investments is the potential for a good return on their money; people who invest in the stock market can sometimes have a seemingly unlimited potential for gain, but those who invest in local companies are limited by the company's growth in the local community. This is often an unfounded concern, since many people don't realize exactly how much business some businesses and banks have in a local community over the course of a year. This is one part of careful research on the investments that you're considering… determining how much business your potential investment does each year. The more business there is coming in, the more profits will be made and the more your investment will be worth.

Additional investments
Many well-performing businesses tend to issue more stock as time goes by, and it is often the case that this stock is offered to existing investors before it is offered to the public at large. It's usually a good idea to purchase at least a little additional stock from well-performing local businesses each time that it's offered, since it's not always available like publicly-traded companies are. Each additional investment you make will bring in more long-term returns and help prove that local investments can work.

A Guide to Dividends and Reinvestment

2008-09-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

An important yet sometimes overlooked aspect of investing in the stock market or other investment markets is the payment of dividends by the investment. Many people who invest only part-time or have investment plans through their workplace may not even be aware that dividends exist; they may even be confused by the sudden payment of dividends that appears periodically.

For those individuals who aren't sure what dividends are or what you should do with dividend payments, this guide is for you.

Below you'll find some basic information on what dividends are, as well as ideas of when you should reinvest your dividends and when you shouldn't.

Defining Dividends
At its most simple, a dividend is an additional amount that an investor receives when the stocks or bonds that they are invested in perform well enough so as to give a profit to the company that they are issued from.

Many companies pay dividends based upon a portion of their profits, which is that portion divided up among all of those who have invested in it as a way to thank their investors for having faith in them and to share their profits with those who help them to stay in business.

Dividends are paid per share, so the more shares of a particular stock that you have the more you'll receive when dividends are paid usually quarterly, as that's when business report their earnings and profits or losses.

Some dividends are also paid on certain bonds or other investments that are done through a money market account; these dividends are a form of interest for the investment. In most cases, dividends are paid into a money market account so that you can choose to reinvest or withdraw them per your prerogative.

Some investments automatically reinvest all dividends paid, however, and many investment firms give you the option of having all of your dividends reinvested automatically into the stock or investment that paid them.

Reinvesting Dividends
Reinvesting dividends is an easy way to make more money off of a particular stock or investment... after all, the investment is doing well enough to be paying dividends, and the reinvestment means that you have more of the stock or investment than you did before.

If the dividends that you receive are paid to a money market account, you may also choose to reinvest them into other stocks or investments than the one that originally paid them... this can be especially useful if you are receiving dividends from one of your investments that you have a lot of shares in, but you have another investment that you don't have much of.

You can use the dividend from the larger investment to slowly build up the smaller one, or you can split the dividends among several different investments so as to build them all up over time.

When Not to Reinvest Dividends
Sometimes, however, it's just as wise to not reinvest your dividends. This is especially true when you're holding a balance in your money market account to take advantage of a high interest rate that's being paid to it, or when you're receiving dividends from short-term investments that you're going to cash out soon anyway.

Even if you decide not to reinvest your dividends, they are still an advantage of investing in certain companies or certain types of investments.

Remember to check and see whether your investments pay dividends and to investigate the options available to you in regards to reinvesting or gaining interest off of any dividends that are paid from your investments.