The WSJ Guide to the 50 Economic Indicators That Really Matter: From Big Macs to Zombie Banks, the Indicators Smart Investors Watch to Beat the Market (Wall Street Journal Guides to…) $9.07 An entertaining, must-have guide to the indicators most investors aren’t following—but should be! To make the best possible investment decisions, savvy investors know that they should pay close attention to economic indicators. But while most are looking at conventional barometers like unemployment rates and housing starts, the smartest investors are following the often ignored, sometimes …

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The Secrets of Economic Indicators: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities $15.55 “This is the real deal. Baumohl miraculously breathes life into economic indicators and statistics.” –The Wall Street Journal “This is the most up-to-date guide to economic indicators and their importance to financial markets in print. The coverage of less-reported indicators, especially those from nongovernment sources, is hard to find elsewhere. The inclusion of the …

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Stock Market History Dow Jones Industrial Average Index 10 Bear Market Anniversary Pt 1

The Stock Market: the Second Biggest Financial Scam of the Twentieth Century Part 2 of 2

In steps the Stock Market, promising higher returns than stodgy old bonds, and money market accounts; hence, the stock market became the destination of choice for retirement savings and Wall Street responded by increasing the offerings to retail consumers through Mutual Funds. Before the year 2000 it was not uncommon to hear that the S&P returned 16% over the previous 10 years. Looking at the returns of one of the best known indexed mutual funds, the Vanguard 500, returns since its 1976 inception are 11.75%, impressive until you look at the 1 year return, -2.41%, the 5 year return, 11.89% and the 10 year return 5.06%. These are average returns not real returns. As an example let?s look at the growth of 1 dollar in the mythical High Fly Fund. High Fly posts a 50% gain in one year and your dollar grows to $1.50. The next year it posts a 25% loss, now your investment is worth $1.125. The average return for High Fly reported by the mutual company is 12.5%, but that is not your actual return. Your actual return or compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is in the neighborhood of 6% per year worse if you factor in inflation.

Is 6% acceptable given the risk that investors take on by Investing In The Stock Market? David F. Swenson, CIO of the Yale Endowment explains investor risk in his book, Unconventional Success, when he states: ?Because equity owners get paid after corporations satisfy all other claimants, equity ownership represents a residual interest. As such stockholders occupy a riskier position than, say, corporate lenders who enjoy a superior position in a company?s capital structure.? He goes on to say ?the 5.0 percentage point difference between stock and bond returns represents the historical risk premium, defined as the return to equity holders for accepting risk above the level inherent in bond investments.? Mr. Swenson?s comments and calculations of the risk premium were based on a compound annual return of 10.4% in the stock market compared with 5% bond yields. 10.4%-5% equals a risk premium of 5.4%. Unfortunately I have yet to find a calculation of CAGR (compound annual growth rate) that matches Mr. Swenson?s. I found many examples of average returns that match the 10.4% average growth rate but not the CAGR. The reason that this is important is that all other savings vehicles are quoted by the CAGR. Your savings accounts, bonds and money market account are all quoted by the CAGR or its equivalent, the annual percentage yield (APY). In order to determine where to allocate your funds, you must compare apples to apples not apples to oranges. As you might guess the CAGR for the stock market is lower.

A quick look at the CAGR calculator for the stock market on moneychimp.com shows the average return from January 1, 1975 to December 31, 2007 to be 9.71%. You only realized that return if you were invested in the market the entire time. What if you began investing in 1980? The numbers look about the same. If you started in 1985 your returns look a little better. By 1990 the CAGR drops to 8.21%. If you started in 1995 your CAGR jumps to 9.32%. If you began investing in 2000 your CAGR drops to minus 0.06%! If you eliminate the results of the past 7 years from the S&P performance and track performance from January 1, 1975 to December 31, 1999 the CAGR was 13.03%. When the stock market is good it is great, when it is bad, it is pretty darn miserable. For the record, there has been only one 9 year period from January 1, 1950 to December 31, 2007 in which the average return for the S&P was 16.14% and the CAGR was 15.32%: the period from January 1, 1990 thru December 31, 1999.

It should be clear from these numbers that your returns are dependent not only on how long you are invested in the markets but when you started investing. In fact the stodgy old bond investor has outperformed the Stock Investor over the past 7 years.

The 1990?s investor will have a very different view of market performance than the 2000?s investor.

Mr. Swenson?s book is a must read for anyone investing in mutual funds, he makes a compelling case, explaining why actively managed mutual funds are generally a money losing proposition for investors and why a balanced portfolio based on six solid asset classes constitutes the winning combination for investors.

How can I call the stock market the second biggest financial scam of the twentieth century if I am quoting numbers that are on the face of it pretty good? For four reasons:

1) because the true CAGR going back to 1950 is much lower 7.47%. It will take the average American worker 25 years and one month saving $10,000 per year to accumulate one million dollars in wealth as long as the market achieves CAGR of 9.71% and in 29 years 2 months if forced to accept the longer term returns of the market. These numbers leave very little margin for error for the average American worker. Retirement projections for the most part are based on returns that have existed at only one point in the stock market?s history since 1950;

2) because the same laws that facilitate the transfer of individual investor money into the stock market also mandate its withdrawal at a specific time which is tantamount to what all financial pundits have called a money losing strategy, Market Timing. In other words the laws governing tax-deferred savings mandate that withdrawals begin at age 70 and a half at the latest forcing retirees to time the market to determine their exit;

3) the time horizon for capturing meaningful gains from the market is long indeed, at least 30 years. To quote Mr. Swenson, ?Returns of bonds and cash may exceed returns of Stocks for years on end. For example from the market peak in October 1929, it took Stock Investors fully twenty-one years and three months to match returns generated by bond investors.?

Charles Farrell, an adviser with Denver?s Northstar Investment Advisors, used data from Morningstar?s Ibbotson and Associates to analyze 52 rolling 30-year periods, starting with 1926 to 1955 and ending with 1977 to 2006 ?But here?s what?s interesting: The Majority of your wealth would almost always have come in the last 10 years. Mr. Farrell calculates that, on average, you would have notched 8% of your final wealth after the first decade and 32% after the second. In other words, 68% of the total sum accumulated was amassed in the last 10 years.? (Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Clements November 21, 2007);

4) because current marketing strategies by financial pundits, gurus and Wall Street treat Stock Market Investing as a money in, money out proposition obscuring the true risks of investing and the true time horizon needed to accumulate wealth. In other words, the money needed for retirement must be invested for an extended period of time, roughly 30 years. It cannot be borrowed against. It cannot be used to buy a home, car, pay for college or a child?s wedding.

It can only be used for retirement 30 years hence. Any other needs must be paid for from an additional source other than retirement savings. Most people lack the financial education to understand this and blindly chase market returns hoping for a big score.

Fortunately there is a simple solution, but like most simple solutions this one requires work and financial education. I will introduce this simple solution in part 3 of this series.

Disclaimer: This is a thought-provoking article that draws upon real world examples, articles, books and websites that are readily available to the public. This article is not intended to offer Investment Advice. Any actions that you take in the market place should be the result of your own financial education and consultation with a licensed professional. Financial calculations were accomplished using the savings goal calculator found at Bankrate.com unless otherwise indicated.

About the Author

Ouida Vincent is an active real estate investor and entrepreneur who has watched her friends and family members struggle under the burden of home ownership and poor returns in today

Why aren’t conservatives talking about the great economy today?

After the Dow hit 13000 they all came out of the woodwork to talk about what a great job BUsh was doing with the economy… Despite the fact that a stock market index like the DOW is not an indicator of overall econommic health they touted thier success.
Now when the REAL economic information comes out, That being the GDP figures produced by the government Commerce Department, they fall silent?

it was weird when they were celebrating the Dow hitting 13000 like it was thanks to Bush. the stock market has been rising overall since 1929.
everyone fails to notice that while the stock market hit an all time high the value of the dollar hit an all time low versus the euro. why? deficit spending.

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1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash

Welcome to The Stock Market: A seemingly complicated topic explained in commonsense terms

If you’re one of these people who say or think that you don’t know anything about the stock market – prepare to be surprised.

You say you’re not interested in the markets because you’re afraid of losing money. You say that only professionals can make money in the markets and that you can only make money in the stock market if you have money to invest in the first place. I assure you – nothing is further from the truth.

The fact of the matter is, whether you like it or not, you are already a part of the stock market.

Believe it or not, every time you buy something, say an iPod, you are making money for a corporation, such as Apple. Whenever you buy a box of Kleenex, you are making the Kimberly-Clark Corporation just a tad richer. Whenever you steal the transmission out of a Corolla, you are making money for Toyota (since the owner has to get the engine replaced, courtesy of Toyota). I can go on, but is there a point?

Now, let me ask you: if you like a company’s product, why not buy some shares of that company? If you are making the corporation richer by buying their products, why not be a part of that company?

Is it possibly because you have never thought about it that way before or you simply didn’t know these options were available to you? Or maybe you just don’t understand the concept of shares and ownership of stock; maybe you don’t even know what a stock is?

Well, it’s okay and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s my job (and that of BigFatMoneybags.com) to open this world up to you and show you the opportunities that exist in the stock market.  Now let’s get started!

INTRODUCING THE STOCK MARKET!

The stock market is quite possibly the most magical place in the world to make money, second only to my rope selling business during suicide season. If there exists a place on this earth where you can take an initial investment large enough to buy a set of pots (or pans, whichever floats your boat) and turn it into enough to buy a duplex and a windmill to boot – it is the stock market.

Problem is, people either don’t understand what the stock market is or they don’t see the potential in it or they simply think it’s all a hoax. The technical term these types of people are classified under is: imbecile.

It seems that people don’t understand how you can take an initial investment of $5,000 and turn it into $10,000 (if you have somewhat decent stock-picking skills) or turn it into $1,000 (if you don’t) a year later. To understand how that is done you have to understand how the stock market works – which is what I will proceed to do right about…now.

The Stock Market Explained

You’ve probably heard some stupidly ecstatic talking head on TV screaming “Sell the children! The Dow has fallen 20 points!” or “Praise Jesus! The NASDAQ is up 112 points! Hallelujah!” Those words probably didn’t mean much to you in the past, but after reading and absorbing the knowledge in this article you will quickly understand what it all means and will be smarter than 99% of Wall Street, congratulations!

Before I go into explaining what the Dow or NASDAQ is, it will probably help to understand what a stock is in the first place:

A stock represents ownership of a company’s assets and profits and conversely in its liabilities and losses. A share represents how much ownership you hold of that company. Yes, it’s that simple.

You can purchase virtually any (major) company’s stock. Common examples are Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Best Buy (BBY) and Nike (NKE) as well as any of the Stocks found in The Gutman Fund. Those strange little abbreviations that look suspiciously like an alien language is actually how the stock is classified and is referred to as a “ticker” or a “stock symbol”.

If you’re so confused right now that you feel like hanging yourself with that rope you purchased from me, put it away; I will ease your spinning head with a little example:

The story of RICH

Let’s conjure up an interesting little company called Mr. Moneybag’s Rope Selling Emporium (Symbol: RICH). Currently, this company is a private corporation (meaning shares of this company cannot be bought and sold in the open markets) but to raise some extra dough Mr. Moneybag decides to “go public” meaning his company’s shares can be bought and sold in a stock exchange – this is what is referred to as an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Mr. Moneybags drives on over to his investment banker and  after many hours of screaming and obscene hand gestures they determine that the company is worth $20 billion. It turns out that Mr. Moneybags is a greedy little chimp and decides he wants to sell off the entire $20 billion and take home the cash all to himself – problem is that not many people can afford to go out and spend $20 billion everyday (unless of course you are a Gutman). That’s why they have to take that number and cut it into smaller, more affordable pieces – known as shares.

Mr. Moneybags decides he wants everyone and their pet horse to be able to afford shares in his company, so he sets the price per share to be $100. Since the company itself is worth $20 billion, that means there are 200 million shares at $100 a pop ($100 x 200 million = $20 billion).

In real life, the investment banks and whoever else took part in the IPO would take a percentage of these funds, but for simplicity’s sake let’s pretend all these organizations were feeling Christmassy.

Problem is, finding a buyer for every tiny little share can take longer than it takes a hundred-and-seven year-old lady to back out of her driveway. That’s why stock exchanges exist – so, instead of going out and asking Aunt Erma to buy some stock in your rope-selling business, you can refer to a stock exchange which will electronically connect buyers and sellers without any hassle on your part. [Some of the stock exchanges you commonly hear on the news everyday:  New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)]

Buying and selling shares on a stock exchange used to be done by Stock Brokers but nowadays with the advent of that contraption commonly referred to as the internet, online brokerages are all the rage now. The process of buying and selling shares of a stock is done within seconds. (More on this and choosing online brokerages later)

And thus, Mr. Moneybag’s company was sold off bit by bit in a pretty short amount of time (honestly, how can someone not want a piece of a company like that?).

It’s important to remember that when a company sells its soul in an Initial Public Offering, a Board of Directors is elected by the owners in order to manage the day-to-day operations of the company. It’s also good to know that ANYONE, literally ANYONE can Trade Stock – all you need is some money, a bank account and to be a human being.

And that is the story of how Mr. Moneybags made $20 billion in one day.

How the price of a stock is determined

So now you know what a stock is and how shares of stock are bought and sold. What I still didn’t explain is how you can take an initial investment of a few thousand dollars and turn it into many thousands of dollars or lose almost all of it.

The only way you can make money in the markets and take your initial investment and turn it many times more is by buying low and selling high. If you know anything – literally anything – about stocks, you know that their share price always fluctuates.

An example of buying low and selling high? You buy one hundred shares of a company at $10 a share, meaning your initial investment is a grand total of $1000 ($10 x 100 shares). A year later each share is worth $15, meaning you can sell your one hundred shares for $1500 ($15 x 100 shares) – a tidy profit of 50%. Question is, why does the price of each stock change and how can you use that to your advantage?

The reason that stock prices jump around as much as a rabid kangaroo infected with rabies is due to the wonderful market forces known as supply and demand. As simply as it gets:

When the demand for a certain stock is higher than the supply available, the price per share of the stock will rise. Since everyone wants a piece of the pie and there’s not enough of that delicious pie to go around, people are willing to pay a little bit more for every piece, thus the price per share rises.

When the supply of shares for a certain stock is higher than the demand (meaning there is low demand), the price per share of the stock falls. Say, Aunt Erma accidentally used insecticide instead of sugar and the only way people can sell their slices is by cutting the price, hence the price per share falls.

That having been said, there is also the case of what actually determines the demand of a stock. We know that the supply is determined by the amount of shares available to be purchased, but what factors lie behind demand?

The main reason investors are willing to pay more or less for a stock is because of what they think the stock is worth. If they believe the stock is worth more than its current price, they will pay a higher value for it. On the other hand, if the investor believes the stock is worth less, they will sell the stock if they own it or they will wait for the price of the stock to drop so they can buy at a price they deem suitable.

NEVER associate a company’s Stock Price with its value (how much it is actually worth – also known as a stock’s intrinsic value).

As I said earlier, you want to buy low and sell high – the only way you are going to do this effectively is by buying a stock that is worth one dollar for fifty, thirty or even ten cents and then sell it when it reaches its intrinsic value. Remember, just because a stock is Trading at gargantuan levels, doesn’t mean it’s actually worth that much.

The problem is, determining how much a stock is actually worth is where everything gets a little tricky. I’m not going to go into too much detail about that in this article as valuating stocks is slightly more advanced than the scope of this article – if you would more about the hardcore stock valuating skills (you know, the ones that make you all the money) then head over to my website, which you can find a link to in the bottom of this article.

Factors Affecting the Perceived Value of a Stock

The most common factor affecting how investors’ perceive the value of a company is by its Earnings. If you don’t know what earnings are (really?): they are the profits a company makes (commonly referred to as “the bottom line”).

So, if a company doesn’t make any money, it’s doubtful it will stay in business – thus the perceived value of the company falls.

Investors, and the inbred mules on Wall Street, watch earnings reports like hawks. If a company reports better than expected earnings, they will pile into the company, thus demand rises. If the results are worse than expected, expect the price to plummet. And since companies are required to report their earnings four times a year (every three months – referred to as a “quarter”), you can bet that there will be many occasions for stocks to swing back and forth like a wild monkey on a swing.

Other reasons the price of a stock will rise revolve around good news such as analyst upgrades, management restructuring or due to speculation, such as rumours of a larger company buying your company out.

Over a longer period of time, the price per share of a company will rise as the company grows and becomes more and more profitable (remember, if you own shares of a company you own a share of the profits).

Common reasons a stock will fall in price? The exact opposite of the last paragraphs: bad news regarding the company as well as analyst downgrades are some examples of why stocks fluctuate in price.

If learning about all this seems daunting to you or you are thinking that this information is only available to insiders (employees of companies), there is a good chance you are poor. The beauty of the stock market is that it is built to be fair for everyone (or at least is supposed to be), meaning that you have access to the same information as any insider. So now you don’t have any excuses for not being rich, sorry.

The Tale of Risk

Of course, when you Invest In The Stock Market there is always some element of risk involved. Then again, whenever you engage in any activity there is some element of risk involved, for instance when you are riding your bike to class there is a chance of you hitting a bump and, long story short, end up with bits of your head all over the road. There is even risk when you are reading a book: those sharp corners plus your eyes can equal an unpleasant trip to the hospital.

That’s why you should wear a helmet when you go biking or wrap your books in foam when you are reading in order to mitigate your risk as much as possible.

Of course there are many people who choose not to be prepared with a helmet handy for when they have their lives flashing before their eyes as they are falling off their bike head-first into the concrete in slow motion.

Granted, a very small portion of people end up with pieces of their heads missing when they go biking so it would make sense for them not to want to wear those clunky helmets. Then there are the bikers who bike down the middle of the road while keying cars and running over koala bears. For these types of reckless people, a helmet would be a good idea, yet many still don’t wear one.

This analogy of bikers and risk applies directly to Investing. As there are different types of bikers there are different types of investors. Some choose to be safe and take necessary precautions in order to avoid having to sell their organs in order to pay off the bills (equivalent to wearing a helmet while biking) while others are too busy recklessly investing without doing a smidge of research and thus end up not noticing the wall they are about to collide into…head-first…with no helmet…while riding their bicycles and losing all their money.  Karma is sweet.

I can go on talking about bicycles, pieces of head all over the ground and throw in a random reference to investing every now and then but I think you get the idea.

There are many Investment Strategies that will reduce the risk that comes with any investment such as dollar cost averaging, diversification, asset allocation or even investing in Mutual Funds. Again, I do not want to get too technical in this article so if you are interested in all of the investment strategies available to you then head over to my website which will be linked to at the end of this article.

All you really have to remember about stocks and risk is that the fastest growing stocks tend to be the ones that are the safest. Many people will launch boulders and packs of man-eating Rottweilers at me for saying what I just said, but then again doesn’t it make sense that the more people are buying of something, the better the quality?

There’s a reason Apple sells iPods by the pound while its stock price went from $2 to $200 and why Amazon is considered to be the next of kin to Jesus – and I dare anyone to tell me these stocks were “risky”. There are thousands of other such examples, but I’m too lazy to list them all.

And as for the people who say that Investing In The Stock Market is the same thing as gambling? I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.

Some More Things to Consider

Stock Indexes

If you watch the news you will constantly hear newscasters screaming hysterically about some strange contraption known as the “Dow”.

When they refer to the “Dow” they are referring to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index. The point of this index is to represent the state of the stock market as a whole; whether it does so effectively or not is a topic for a completely different article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is simply the average of thirty “blue-chip” stocks such as IBM, General Motors, McDonald’s and Microsoft. These companies are big, bulky, well-established and are considered to be rather dandy representatives of their sectors.

If the Dow rises in value, it is considered that the economy is doing well; if its value falls, it’s considered that the economy is not doing so well.

Other stock market indexes are the S&P500 and the Russell 2000, although the Dow is the index that is most closely followed.

Dividends

Dividends are one of the ways a company distributes its earnings to shareholders. They take the form of cash, stock or even property.  The amount of the dividend is determined by the board of directors; the more shares you own, the more dividends you get.

Also, high-growth companies (the kind of companies I like) tend to reinvest their earnings in order to sustain their super growth instead of giving their money away to shareholders, this results in the price per share rising.

Another reason I don’t like dividends is due to tax reasons. Just remember: you have to pay tax on dividends and paying tax means you make less money.

Different Types of Stock

There are also different types of stocks. The ones that I constantly refer to are “common stock” and is the type that most people refer to when they are discussing stocks.

There is also “Preferred Stock” as well as different classes of stock, such as “Class A” and “Class B”. I’d tell you more about these types of stocks…but there’s no point. Stick to common stock, that’s where the money is.

Different Types of Markets

When everything is fine and dandy and stock prices are rising in price while everyone is making money – it is referred to as a “Bull Market”.

When people are stockpiling food reserves, selling their kidneys to black market organ dealers, haggling their kids away for pocket change and when stock prices are falling – it is considered a “Bear Market”.

So now when you hear people using these terms, you won’t feel all that helpless anymore…maybe even on their level…or better yet, more powerful…powerful enough to crush their skulls into dust…and to conquer the world…with a flick of your finger.

Yes, the stock market can do that for you.

In Closing

Congratulations, now you know how the stock market works! With this knowledge alone you can go out and make greater returns off of the stock market than most “professionals” ever dreamed of making.

About the Author

Mr. Moneybags is the richest being in the universe to ever have existed and ever to exist. He writes about building wealth in the stock market, business and personal finance on his blog and is determined to prove that the subject of money shouldn’t make you want to douse yourself in gasoline and run into a forest fire.

You can find more of his amazing articles on his blog at http://www.BigFatMoneybags.com

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SchoolHouse Rock – Walkin’ On Wall Street

Do You Know How Wall Street Began?

The Stock Market is actually an avenue from which the stock of companies is purchased and sold.

Some people still believe that the stock market and Wall Street are one and the same. However, Wall Street in New York is just a single example of a stock market.

When you review the history of the stock market, Wall Street is quite significant. The concept of the stock market was actually born and developed on Wall Street.

In 1653, an establishment was formally built where Wall Street currently exists. The purpose of this establishment was for defense rather than commerce. Dutch settlers built a 12 foot stockade fence to keep out the British and Native Americans.

By 1685, this defensive establishment was torn down and replaced. The new street was named Wall Street by the British.

What About The Stock Exchange?

Two powerful stock exchanges emerged from Wall Street, which is why it is so famous. As a result of these historical developments, chaotic Trading developed and turned into the hectic financial markets we all know today.

In 1790, the first United States stock exchange was founded in Philadelphia. A group of New York Traders got together two years later to consider setting up a security business. This group of 24 men ultimately founded what is known as the New York Stock Exchange.

By 1817, New York merchants were upset by the poor state of their stock exchange. One member went to Philadelphia to check out their trading and discovered they were doing quite well in their exchange. The merchant came back to New York and shared how things were done in Philadelphia to improve operations. Within a short period of time, the New York Stock and Exchange Board was formally organized.

This exchange center was inaugurated on world famous World Street and the rest was history. Despite its difficult start, the New York Stock Exchange turned into the place where billions of dollars in Stocks and bonds are bought and sold everyday.

The Wall Street success story did not occur overnight, much like any other major enterprise. During the early 1900s, the New York Stock Exchange was on the rise. However, this incredible financial boom could not be sustained because the stock market crashed in 1929. The world was absolutely shocked and the unexpected Stock Market Crash was the cause of the Great Depression.

Slowly the economy recovered over time. Despite this fact, the mistakes of the Great Depression came back to haunt the exchange. The stock market crashed again in 1987. It was such a crippling crash that the Dow Jones actually suffered the biggest loss in a single day in the history of the stock market.

Over the past two decades, the stock market industry and the government have been trying to set up measures to prevent another major crash. Today the stock market is an essential part of the world economy. Thus, it is of the utmost importance to reduce or prevent another stock market crash to protect international economic interests.

About the Author

For more
wall street history
including stock Investing tips and advice, please visit:
http://stockinvesting101.net

I Want A job At Wall St. Impossible to Figure Out.?

Ok so here’s the dealio///
I went through some questions already asked, and couldnt find a right answer.

OK, Google FLOOR TRADER

Also, I really recommend that you do ’nuff research to be able to get in touch with a REAL FLOOR TRADER and ask a LOT of questions!

Are you really sure that you want to get involved in this?

Some things from the outside looking in, appear to be really groovie scene, and then you get inside, and your perspective changes.

Good Luck

U gonna need it!
.

ForeX Trading for Maximum Profit: The Best Kept Secret Off Wall Street $28.00 Take an in-depth, how-to look at Forex trading using the methods, analysis, and insights of a renowned trader, Raghee Horner.As the fate of the dollar against foreign currency generates both anxiety and opportunities, currency trading has been drawing much interest and a growing following among traders in the United States. The Forex market is particularly attractive because it trades with no gaps…

Forex Exchange and Wall Street – A Terse Run-down (Forex Exchange) Watch this.

A History Of Wall Street

The name ‘Wall Street’ comes from the 17th century wall which formed part of the northern wall of the New Amsterdam territory. This wall was built for the Dutch, who were then living in what they had named as ‘New Amsterdam’ to protect themselves from attack from pirates, Indians and other dangers that threatened their establishment.

The area soon came to be known as Wall Street and – created a link between the banks of the East River with the banks of the Hudson River. This trail made it into one of the busiest trading areas in the whole of the city, attracting merchants and commercial trade from all throughout the city.

While New York has one of the most famous stock exchanges in the world, the first American stock exchange was actually formed in Philadelphia in 1790. At this point The New York Merchant group had become heavily concerned about their own personal assets and values, as the consequential effects of the revolutionary war bonds were beginning to take effect. So, looking for ways in which to control their wealth, they sent an observer to Philadelphia in 1817.

Bringing back positive news of the thriving exchange in Philadelphia it wasn’t long before a similar exchange was established in New York. Initially ‘The Exchange’ met in a rented room on 40 Wall Street. Every morning President Anthony Stockholm would read a list of stock to be traded.

At this point the New York Stock Exchange was very primitive and very much the exclusive club of a few powerful gentlemen. Members had to be voted in and a candidate could very easily be ‘black-balled’ for having three negative votes against his name. Members wore top hats and dressed in swallowtail coats.

It wasn’t long before the Wall Street Exchange transferred from a one room trading club to a powerful world financial force. The start of the 20th century saw many fortunes made and lost. Several noteworthy panics occurred during this time, the first occurring in 1920. At this point both rich and poor were Investing heavily in Stocks, believing that no bad could ever come of such a move. For a while this was the case and by 1929 stock prices had been 400% higher than they had been previously in 1924.

However, the market couldn’t sustain itself and within a short while it crashed causing one of the largest financial catastrophes in world history. Since then Wall Street has lived through several more financial catastrophes, although the crash of 1929 will always be remembered as one of the most dramatic.

On a trip to New York City, Wall Street is a recommended destination to visit. After a day of exploring the financial district, visiting Staten Island and Ground Zero, you will begin to appreciate why this part of Manhattan is so important to New York. Cheap New York hotels nearby make it a possible area to stay in although thanks to the 24 hour subway line running throughout the city, you can stay just about anywhere and still be within easy reach of most New York destinations.

About the Author

Paul Buchanan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

An Inside Look at the Making of a Time Cover Story [VHS] The Crash: After a wild week on Wall Street, the world is different This fourteen minute video is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this Time cover story….

American Experience: The Crash of 1929 $13.08 Studio: Pbs Release Date: 12/08/2009…

Rogue Trader $14.99 Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 08/03/2004 Rating: R…

The History of Dow Jones $11.39 HISTORY OF THE DOW JONES – DVD Movie…

HTC DROID Eris Cell Phone Verizon $399.99 This close cousin of the Hero also features HTC’s Sense, which tweaks and improves the Android interface throughout. Key features include a large capacitive-touch display, 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture, Wi-Fi, EVDO Rev. A data, 3.5mm headphone jack, memory card slot, and voice memo….

Wall Street Crash History Video

Wall Street, Both Goldmine And Carnival

There is no other place on this planet as sophisticated and resourceful where you can make big money and get fleeced without leaving your armchair. The money craze on Wall Street has called attention to a new era for investors.

“Yessiree, step right up and play the game everybody loves! You sir, yes you with the big bear tee shirt. This is your lucky day! I’ll tell you what I’m going to do for you. Give me a half million dollars and I will guarantee that your investment earns twenty percent per year EVERY YEAR for the next five years and longer. Trust me.

(Pitch continued…) “This investment is one of a kind and we only offer it to special investors who seek above average returns. I’m giving you our confidential brochure documenting the returns over the past ten years. As you can clearly see from the charts and the sincere look in my eye (doesn’t matter which one), this is a phenomenal opportunity backed by our proven history of outperforming the markets.”Now, who in their right mind would fall for a scam like the one described above. You? If not you, who?

The shell game on Wall Street has been marketed in various forms.If you didn’t quite like the smell of the cologne worn by the scam artist offering you twenty percent on your money, you probably gave a huge fraction of your assets to a giant institution brandishing a recognizable logo for the last fifty years. I’m referring to Merrill Lynch. You sounded like a bug snug in a rug when you told your house guests or close friends (OR ME), “I’m with Merrill.”

For decades, Merrill Lynch posed as a monolith owning a legacy of strength and integrity.Who knew the benchmark of investment banking was so incredibly ineffecient while strutting its bullish messages in more tabloids than any financial institution in the world? I had only a small clue, going back twenty years; but I had no idea the company was casting a shadow across the markets that was ten times larger than its true size. Imagine, a global investment bank being swallowed up by a bank (Bank of America, NYSE: BAC)! Think about that for a couple of minutes.

Being Rich Has New Meaning

“The rich get richer” is an old adage that we have all heard for most of our lives. Forget it. These days the rich are becoming more corrupt by the hour, losing their integrity to the lure of money an preying on investors that need the money the most. It’s about time we all learned that any service or series of transactions that require new capital to be successful is a virtual Ponzi scheme!

Roughly three decades ago, Woody Allen described a stockbroker as someone who invested your money until there was none left. In the past decade, distributions of wealth have been a one-way system that benefits corporate executives more than any other class in the United States; and we taxpayers are now asked to take a flying leap of faith in hopes that our government will put the brakes on the inequities of Wall Street. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened, yet.

While Democrats and Republicans debate who’s right and who’s wrong, the swindler’s beat goes on. Unjustifiable use of company jets, lavish junkets to softer climes and additional perks to the best dressed executives will continue until President Obama finds a way to pull the plug. In my view, he is somewhat intimidated by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank. Who wouldn’t be? Those two bureaucrats began hobnobbing before Mr. Obama left law school. In my opinion, they represent the monkey wrench (think pork) in the recovery program.

About Hope

There is no doubt that our greatest commodity is hope. Government, being what it is, will grind through waste to achieve the economic restoration this country needs, albeit in a much longer time frame than actually necessary. Supposedly, the buck will stop at the Oval Office, and hard-nosed decisions from the top will be exercised.I think of the solution to our financial crisis can be characterized a a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

The banks have to be reclassified and refurbished, jobs must be secured and looting of investors’ pockets must cease, all within a singe time frame. Progress in these areas has to be achieved quickly in order to keep the glimmer of hope alive around the world.

If there was ever an opportunity for a U.S. President to be lionized as the champion of America’s future, now is the time – a feat that would be registered as one more magnificent moment in history.

Hudster

About the Author

I am a former stockbroker turned creative writer. My first novel, “Stock Power” was published in May 2008.

Government securities – what are they and…?

ok well i have a history exam on friday and i dont get this tiny part of my course – my notes say that the Federal Reserve board intervened before the Wall Street Crash and one of the things it did was

“Government securities” essentially are government debt – IOUs. When the U.S. government needs money, it issues treasury bills, note and bonds. Individuals and institutions (such as banks) buy them. The idea is (say) a bank will give the government (say) $1 million dollars, with the understanding that the government will pay back the money owed, along with interest at some future date. The problem is that when a bank owns a government security, it means that they do not have cash to loan to people to buy homes or cars. When people can’t get cash to buy things, then the manufacturer of things go out of business. So if your text book says that the Federal Reserve tried to buy back its debt instruments back from the banks, it simply means that they were trying to retire the debt, and give the bank cash (liquidity).

Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse $12.23 A fully updated follow-up to Peter Schiff’s bestselling financial survival guide-Crash Proof, which described the economy as a house of cards on the verge of collapse, with over 80 pages of new materialThe economic and monetary disaster which seasoned prognosticator Peter Schiff predicted is no longer hypothetical-it is here today. And nobody understands what to do in this situation better than th…

Wall Street Craps: How To Play Today’s Hot & Cold Stock Market For Fast Money With Less Risk $11.31 Author Steve Nakamoto spent five years on iVillage, the world’s largest women’s online community, serving as their Mr. Answer Man relationship advisor. Not surprisingly, the two-time Writer’s Digest Award-Winning author’s recent books have been in the personal development/relationship genre. But his newest book, a guide for independent investors seeking counsel in today’s difficult stock market, m…

Unlocking the Secrets of Wall Street: A Noted Expert Guides You Through Today’s Financial Markets $5.25 For many the stock market is an impenetrable maze of confusing numbers, while lawmakers, the Federal Reserve, market analysts, and professional economists seem to talk in a foreign language. Just what is a ‘J-curve’? What are ‘monetary aggregates’, and why are fixed income (bond) managers constantly stumbling over ‘yield curves’? “Unlocking the Secrets of Wall Street” cuts through insider jargon t…

Gerald Celente on Russia Today 05 Apr 2010

Rising Fuel and Food Prices. Crashing Stock Markets and Property Values. Fluctuating Currencies. Rising Unemployment. Recession

Are you tired of these kinds of headlines?

 Thought so.

Just a year back, everything was fine and people were making money in business, on property and The Stock Markets. Today, you would be very fortunate if you did not lose money in any of these areas. In times like these, I ask myself, why bother saving?  The answer to that question is that you have to save if you want to see your children through to independence and then retire comfortably. And that, my friend, is the purpose of my blog. 

I will be posting comments on my little understanding on mortgages, loans, insurance and savings and investments in general. Hopefully, there will be other intelligent and successfull investors and businessman who will also contribute to this blog, so that all participating here may be wiser when it comes to handling their personal finances.

Here is my take, as a mortgage broker, on how we arrived at the present housing market situation.

The  federal funds rate which was around 6.5% in the second half of 2000, was slashed through out 2001 till by February 2002, it was about 1.75%. Rates were then more gradually cut till they reached 1% in April 2004 and though they started rising from July of that year, it was 2 years, July 2006, before they exceeded 5%. The Fed cut rates in 2001 to avert a recession, but inadvertently planted the seeds for the turmoil in the housing market today. As rates went down, mortgages became affordable and people who normally would not qualify for such loans, based on their incomes, suddenly found themselves being offered mortgages from banks. For large numbers of families, their dream of owning a home became a reality. There was only one problem in this scenario. The lending banks did not ask the borrowers to prove that they would be able to maintain their mortgages when interest rates eventually rose. It was then about this time, that foreclosure rates started rising.

There were other factors as well. The banks came up with self certification mortgages which did not require any proof of income. They would accept the income stated on the application form with out running any checks, on the reasoning that they had the property as security or collateral. These mortgages came to be known as Ninja mortgages – No Income No Job No Assets, as customers who took out these mortgages probably would not have qualified if their circumstances had been looked in to with more diligence.  As foreclosures increased, property prices crashed. Many properties lost even more value on account of vandalism as empty properties inevitably suffer this fate. The end result was that families lost their homes, banks lost their loans and as financial sector shares crashed, shareholders lost a substantial part of their investment in these institutions.  Further, the problem was not confined to the USA only, as many banks frequently sell their mortgage portfolios or mortgage backed securities to other banks to raise capital. European and Asian banks bought many of these portfolios or securities as on paper they offered a very good return on their investment. Subprime mortgages are highly profitable as the interest rates levied from customers are quite high in line with the higher risk these mortgages carry. Nobody wants to be left out when there are profits to be made and so when the housing market in the USA crashed, European and Asian banks felt the pain. The net result has been that all banks have become extremely cautious in lending, not only to customers and businesses but even among themselves. Since lending generally fuels business and consumption, we now find ourselves heading towards a recession.

So how do we prevent this kind of a situation in the future?

I am no economist but the First Amendment grants me the right to make my opinion heard, even though it may be the dumbest thing you ever came across. So here goes.

The sole criteron for lending should be the ability of the borrower to pay back the loan and not the value of the property. The property should only play a secondary role in the lending decision.Mortgages should be granted only to customers who can prove a consistent and reliable income. They should not be granted on property values as these can fluctuate drastically or disappear completely. The loan can be quantified as a certain multiple of the total net disposable income of a family and no more. Another way arriving at the loan figure would be that the total net disposable income should be atleast twice the annual mortgage interest.  This would ensure that the mortgage installment on an interest only basis would be affordable even if the interest rate doubled. By disposble income, I mean the portion of the income left after all taxes and everyday expenses have been deducted. Banks should be compelled to do their due diligence and keep detailed records of their investigations before lending to customers. An independant body would then be responsible for monitoring mortgages and would have the power to impose penalties to erring lenders.

Purchasing a mortgage payment protection insurance policy should be mandatory for all borrowers. These policies pay out if the borrower is unable to work on account of accident, sickness or redundancy. They are usually two year policies and relatively cheap. They usually do not pay out in the first 6 months of purchase or where the person covered knew that he/she was going to be made redundant. In genuine cases, they pay out an amount covering the mortgage installment and utility bills. This payment provides some relief while the breadwinner looks for a job or recovers his health.

Finally, the lenders themselves could help avoiding such a catastrophic situation again. They could set up their own insurance company to guarantee the cost of  mortgages in default. The reasoning behind this suggestion is that a property rapidly loses its value once the lender forecloses and puts it on the market as explained earlier. It seems to me that it would be a much better proposition for the lender to let the family stay in the home and maintain it and advise and encourage the bread winner to sort out his problems. The insurance company would cover the cost of interest on the mortgage for a fixed period just like the mortgage payment insurance mentioned earlier. The insurance would only cover the basic interest cost of the loan to the lender and not the interest charged to the borrower.Also, the insurance company would do its own due diligence before selling the policy and shaky loans would probably be declined for cover.

In conclusion, I would say that most people are over optimistic on how much they can afford to borrow. It should be the lender’s responsibility to arrive at the right figure to lend so that neither they nor the borrower need suffer on account of inappropriate lending.

Thanks for reading and I hope you will let me have any comments, positive or otherwise, on my thoughts.

Zeke

About the Author

I am a mortgage broker and financial adviser.

How ignorant do you have to be to think Obama’s inauguration caused the Stocks to fall today?

Wall Street Falls on Bank Worries

About as ignorant as you’d have to have been to vote Bush in for a second term.

Wall Street Crash Of 2008

Wall Street History

Daily Market Commentary for November 20, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

The DOW officially shed 50 percent of its value,since all time high set during October 2007. (read more)   
http://www.millennium-traders.com/news/newscommentary.aspx

Economic data released today:

Jobless Claims: U.S. Jobless Claims for week of November 15 increased by 27K to 542K compared to survey of a drop by 11K; U.S. Continuing Claims for week of November 8 increased by 109K to 4,012,000; U.S. Jobless Claims for week of November 8 revised to 515K from 516K; U.S. Jobless Claims Highest since July 1992; U.S. Continuing Claims Highest since December 1982.

Leading Indicators: U.S. Conference Board October Leading Index fell 0.8 percent; U.S. Conference Board October Coincident Index rose 0.2 percent; U.S. Conference Board October Lagging Index rose 0.1 percent.

Philadelphia Fed Survey: Philadelphia Fed November Business Index fell 39.3 versus October drop by 37.5; Philadelphia Fed November Business Index Expected to drop by 38.0; Philadelphia Fed November Price Paid fell 30.7 versus October 7.2; Philadelphia Fed November Price Received fell 15.5 versus October 5.3; Philadelphia Fed November Employment fell 25.2 versus October drop by 18.0; Philadelphia Fed November New Orders fell 31.4 versus October drop by 30.5; Philadelphia Fed November Shipments fell 18.8 versus October drop by 18.8; Philadelphia Fed November Delivery Times fell 20.6 versus October drop by 20.2; Philadelphia Fed November Inventories fell 19.6 versus October drop by 22.3; Philly Fed Firms say Conditions Continue to Deteriorate; Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index at Lowest since October 1990.

At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the Trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including The Stock Market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) triple digit loss of 444.83 points to end the trading session at 7,552.45
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit loss of 360.77 points to end the trading session at 4,651.22
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) loss of 70.30 points to end the trading session at 1,316.12
S&P 500 (SPX) loss of 54.14 points to end the trading session at 752.44
FTSE All-World Index data excluding U.S. (AW01UK) loss of 6.84 points to end the trading session at 124.82
FTSE RAFI 1000 triple digit loss of 214.49 points to end the trading session at 2,828.32
BEL 20 (BEL20) loss of 83.31 points to end the trading session at 1,861.99
CAC 40 (CAC40) triple digit loss of 107.47 points to end the trading session at 2,980.42
FTSE100 (UKX100) triple digit loss of 130.69 points to end the trading session at 3,874.99
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) – closed November 19 – loss of 55.19 points to end the trading session at 8,273.22

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Stock Market Indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 429, declined stock prices 2,527; unchanged stock prices 111; stock prices hitting new highs 2 and stock prices hitting new lows 1,270. NYSE quotes for volatile Stocks and market trends, as well as Stock Quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: ProShares Ultrashort S&P 500 (NYSE: SDS) Stock Price gained 15.03 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $130.27, low on the trading session $109.39 with a closing stock price at $127.97; ProShares Ultrashort QQQ (NYSE: QID) stock price gained 8.35 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $99.25, low on the trading session $86.00 with a closing stock price at $98.60; BorgWarner Incorporated (NYSE: BWA) stock price gained 0.88 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $18.71, low on the trading session $15.00 with a closing stock price at $16.99.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 250; declined stock prices 2,994; unchanged stock prices 37; stock prices hitting new highs 3 stock prices hitting new lows 1,421. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the Nasdaq Stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: Baidu.com Incorporated (NasdaqGS: BIDU) stock price shed 2.29 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $120.94, low on the trading session $105.55 with a closing stock price at $109.45; First Solar Incorporated (NasdaqGS: FSLR) stock price shed 14.08 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $96.80, low on the trading session $86.00 with a closing stock price at $87.05; Woodward Governor Company (NasdaqGS: WGOV) stock price shed 5.02 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $19.60 low on the trading session $15.88 with a closing stock price at $17.06; Intuit Incorporated (NasdaqGS: INTU) stock price gained 0.16 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $22.44, low on the trading session $20.24 with a closing stock price at $20.71; PetSmart Incorporated (NasdaqGS: PETM) stock price gained 1.58 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $16.75, low on the trading session $14.44 with a closing stock price at $14.90.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 185; declined stock prices 701; unchanged stock prices 82; stock prices hitting new highs 6 and stock prices hitting new lows 245.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market activity for the day, at time of this posting for December 2008 Contracts:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) end of trading session price 749, -62.7
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) end of trading session price 1,046, -50.25
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) end of trading session price 7,507 -515
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 end of trading session price 453, -37.50
E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 (SMP) end of trading session price 207.20. -14.80

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.8029 to U.S. Dollars 1.2455
Japanese Yen 94.060 to U.S. Dollars 0.0106
British Pound 0.6788 to U.S. Dollars 1.4732
Canadian Dollar 1.2954 to U.S. Dollars 0.7720
Swiss Franc 1.2243 to U.S. Dollars 0.8168

Commodity Markets:
Energy Sector: Light Crude (NYMEX: NYM) shed $4.45 on the trading session for a closing price of $49.65 a barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (NYMEX: NYM) shed $0.09 on the trading session for a closing price of $1.69 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (NYMEX: NYM) shed $0.43 on the trading session for a closing price of $6.39 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (NYMEX: NYM) shed $0.10 on the trading session for a closing price of $1.01 a gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets:
Gold Market Price (COMEX: CMX) gained $12.70 on the trading session for a closing price of $748.70 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (COMEX: CMX) shed $0.29 on the trading session for a closing price of $9.03 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (NYMEX: NYM) shed $33.60 on the trading session for a closing price of $790.10 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (COMEX: CMX) shed $0.03 on the trading session for a closing price of $1.58 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (Chicago Mercantile Exchange: CME) gained 1.78 on the trading session for a closing price of 64.68
Pork Bellies (Chicago Mercantile Exchange: CME) gained 3.00 on the trading session for a closing price of 87.60
Live Cattle (Chicago Mercantile Exchange: CME) shed 1.38 on the trading session for a closing price of 86.53
Feeder Cattle (Chicago Mercantile Exchange: CME) shed 0.10 on the trading session for a closing price of 89.75

Other Commodities (cents per bushel):
Corn (Chicago Board of Trade: CBT) shed 15.25 on the trading session for a closing price of 378.00
Soybeans (Chicago Board of Trade: CBT) shed 41.00 on the trading session for a closing price of 856.00

Bond Market:
2 year bond gained 5/32 on the trading session for a closing price of 100 31/32 with a Yield of 0.98, Yield Change -0.09
5 year bond gained 19/32 on the trading session for a closing price of 103 31/32 with a Yield of 1.89, Yield Change -0.13
10 year bond gained 2 14/32 on the trading session for a closing price of 105 30/32 with a Yield of 3.05, Yield Change -0.28
30 year bond gained 6 30/32 on the trading session for a closing price of 117 2/32 with a Yield of 3.56, Yield Change -0.55

Thanks for reading
Millennium-Traders.Com
http://www.millennium-traders.com

About the Author

The Misbehavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Financial Turbulence $5.82 Mathematical superstar and inventor of fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot, has spent the past forty years studying the underlying mathematics of space and natural patterns. What many of his followers don’t realize is that he has also been watching patterns of market change. In The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, Mandelbrot joins with science journalist and former Wall Street Journal editor Richard L. H…

Tulipomania : The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused $7.63 For history buffs or gardeners who enjoy more than just digging in the dirt, Tulipomania presents a fascinating look at the tulip frenzy that took place in Holland in the mid-1600s. Beginning as gifts given among the wealthy and educated folk of Europe and Asia, the tulip rapidly became a source of incredible financial gain–similar to today’s Internet start-up companies or Beanie Baby colle…

Stocks for the Long Run : The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies $6.40 If anyone told you that investing in the stock market was the safest investment you could make, you might raise an eyebrow. However, if Jeremy Siegel tells you this, prepare to be convinced. Siegel’s book, Stocks for the Long Run, is a comprehensive and highly readable history of the stock market that dramatically makes the case for long-term investing in stocks. In summing up his approach t…

Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – Business Sheet – Removable Graphic WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won’t damage your paint or l…

Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – Stock Market – Removable Graphic WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won’t damage your paint or l…

Options and Stock Market Technical Chart Analysis for April 13, 2010 by Idan Koren

Wall Street Logic Got You Twisted in Knots?

It’s a simple fact: Goodyear Tire (GT:NYSE) lost money last quarter.

We’re not looking at the kind of money a major bank or a Wall Street brokerage can lose when they really set their minds to it. If those guys can’t flush a couple of billion a quarter down the crapper, then they just aren’t trying very hard.

Perhaps GT should look into the 24-karat gold plated office desk Giorgio Armani was pitching at this year’s International Furniture Exhibition at Milan? An expense like that for the C-suite could elevate the most prosaic Akron CEO to the same level as such exalted poster children of failure as Bank of America’s Ken Lewis (not fired – yet), Societe Generale’s Daniel Bouton (finally “quit” his position as Board Chairman), or maybe Bernard Madoff (jailed pretty much forever).

Reversal of Fortune

Still, a $333 million loss is a pretty steep reversal of fortune when you compare it to the $147 million the tire maker brought down a year ago.

The causes of all this pain probably seem pretty obvious to anyone who has been following the situation here in the States. When Detroit can’t sell cars, Akron can’t sell tires to Detroit. What’s more, sales of replacement tires (the source of some 80% of Goodyear’s profits) are pretty bad too, right about now. All told, units moved are off 20% and dollar sales are down 28%.

And while the recession may be deeper in some parts of the country than in others, Goodyear’s declines were remarkably evenhanded: All four of their sales regions saw marked falloffs.

Bald, Broken and Out of Control

(Now here’s a frightening thought: Not only are a fair portion of the folks around you on the highway driving cars of suspicious mechanical condition that probably ought to have been traded in by now, but their tires are getting bald to boot. Hmmm: perhaps a short play on a car insurance outfit like Progressive Insurance (PGR: NYSE) is in order?)

Goodyear CEO Robert Keegan swears that they did their best to haul back on rising costs. Raw goods like rubber were up 31% in the recent quarter. But the company skimped and saved where it could (that means it fired a bunch of people off the factory floor) and it actually managed to reduce cost of goods sold by 19%. Selling, administrative and general expenses are down 16% (that means it fired a bunch of white collar workers too).

Looking forward, most analysts figure that we have at least three, if not five, more quarters of pain like this coming down the pike. Chrysler’s bondholders just decided to take 20 cents on the dollar in cash now, rather than any deal involving stock shares. If GM isn’t bankrupt by this time next week, it will certainly be a fraction of its former size.

Heck, even my favorite amongst the former “Big Three,” Ford (F: NYSE) (current gains here are up to 300%!) is only looking this good because it cut the fat to the bone a year ago.

A Reflection of the Truth

Simply put: Goodyear won’t be selling but so many tires over the next 12 months. As Mr. Keegan put it: “While we aren’t satisfied with our results, they generally reflect the difficult market conditions.”

So one might imagine that an announcement of a grand old American Blue Chip’s slide into loss would cause their shares to slide as well? It’s just common sense, right?

Wrong!

GT shares actually shot up nearly 20% on this news.

When Is a Loss Not a Loss?

Why the spike? Various news services are touting that this result is actually not as bad as a panel of unnamed analysts predicted. Bloomberg, for example, notes that the mean prediction of the seven analysts it polled called for an operating loss of $1.33 a share, while Goodyear operations actually lost a mere $1.19 a share.

In the perverse logic of Wall Street spin, this is not actually a 322% decline quarter to same quarter, but rather a glorious 11.8% victory. And how much do you want to bet that next quarter, when Goodyear announces a crushing loss of similar proportions, the spinmeisters try to claim that losses are leveling off because they are no worse percentage-wise than they were the quarter before.

As hair-tearingly frustrating as shams like this are to those of us who still have some kind of preference for such ideals as honesty, decency and common sense, they do represent a bit of an opportunity.

A Ladder to the Moon

This 20% ramp job didn’t come on the heels of a generally depressed share price: Rather, GT has been moving up steadily for weeks now. Since hitting its decadal low of $3.73 back on March 6, GT shares had already gained some 181% going into today’s clown show.

No player wants to stand in the way of a bus like this. In fact, a good portion of yesterday’s run-up problem came when all the wise guys with short positions were forced to buy back shares.

But sometimes it can be a bit of fun buying what nobody wants… and right now nobody wants put contracts on Goodyear. As I sit to write, GT July 10 puts (GT SB) are Trading for a mere $90 a contract.

Make 129% When the Ladder Collapses

The GT chart shows genuine support down around $7.50. Even if GT were genuinely good to go (and believe me, it’s not), it would still come back to test that node before continuing onward and upward. And at $7.63, those puts would be worth $206, for a gain of some 129% in relatively short order.

Now please understand that in the modern market, betting on common sense winning out is considered pure speculation. ’Cause that’s just how twisted this whole deal has become.

Still, it’s an interesting way to make some decent coin while twisting back just a bit.

About the Author

Adam Lass is the creator of the WaveStrength Analytic System and contributor to Taipan Daily. He has written numerous articles and special investment reports for several major financial publications, including Taipan, Fleet Street, Strategic Investment and Penny Stock Fortunes, on topics ranging from long-term market forecasting, crude oil pricing, and currency speculation to high-tech Stocks and precious metals Investing.

Have you bothered to study the financial charts of Venuzeula?

Since nationalizing oil and other vital national interests, the gnp and venuszeulan stock market has accelerated upward. just a fluke? no accident, my friend. in usa only companies like exxon look like that. now what can you deduct from that? well, obama is surging and it doesn’t take a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing. tomorrow watch the wall street implode. it was a house of cards that is coming down. brace yourself. what a gd mess the greedy privateers created. dems and reps, they took, took and took until they could take no more. the bailout is their last grasp for a little more before the end.

Uncle:
What you say, is mostly true, but I have no idea about your County’s
wealth, but you surly hit the nail on head, its a MAJOR mess, that went around the world, and you may be right about tomorrow implosion. But that’s where the bottom is, and the whole market is waiting for this day. About 3 trillion dollars, is sitting on the sidelines.
When & if, they invest, the BOOM will start. Sooner or later, the buyers
will return, is it this week or next.

Why Wall Street’s Advice About Clinton Is Dead Wrong, How You Can Profit From the Stock Market Crash That Will Surely Follow …

An Inside Look at the Making of a Time Cover Story [VHS] The Crash: After a wild week on Wall Street, the world is different This fourteen minute video is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this Time cover story….

The Weiss Seminar ; 3 Tape Set ; Crash Profits Seminar ,Bear Market Investing,d-day for Wall Street $6.94 VHS 3 tape seminar…

People’s Century : 1929 Breadline ; PBS PBS documentary…

American Experience: The Crash of 1929 $13.08 Studio: Pbs Release Date: 12/08/2009…

1929 Depression Wall Street Stock Market Crash

Value Stock Market Crash Report

There has never been a correction that has not proven to be an investment opportunity. While everything is down in price, there is actually less to worry about than when prices are historically high. More money has been lost by people who bought into last year’s markets than by those who will buy into this one, at this stage of the correction. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

Every correction is different, the result of various economic and/or political circumstances that create the need for adjustments in the financial markets. This correction is worse than most that I’ve experienced, but the doom and gloom scenarios many have been pushing are unlikely to come to fruition. Once the media elects a new president, they’ll just have to start reporting better news: 96% of all mortgages are current sounds a whole lot better than 20% of all sub-prime mortgages are in trouble.

Some fundamentals in many excellent companies have eroded significantly (due in part to accounting rules that are being changed), but for the most part, interest payments are being made and few dividends have been cut. Bargain prices abound in both the equity and fixed income markets and interest rates are historically low.

A cocktail of credit market laxatives is working its way into a constipated world economy. Relief is on the way. Today’s prices may well be looked at as the lowest of the next ten years! Here’s a list of things to think about or to do while Investment Grade value Stock prices are at ten-year lows:

Don’t beat yourself up by looking at your account market value. You should expect it to be down significantly because all security prices have fallen. Look for ways to add to your portfolios—that’s what the smart guys are doing.

Keep in mind that someone is buying the individual shares that the others are selling. The buyers will hold on until they can turn a profit, and the cash on the sidelines will eventually find its way back into the markets as prices rise.

There are no crystal balls, and no place for hindsight in an Investment Strategy. Buying too soon, in the right portfolio percentage, is nearly as important to long-term investment success as selling too soon is during rallies.

Take a look at the future. Nope, you can’t tell when the rally will come or how long it will last. If you are buying quality securities now, as you certainly should be, you will be able to love the rally even more than you did the last time— as you take yet another round of profits.

As, or if, the correction continues, buy more slowly as opposed to more quickly, and establish new positions incompletely so that you can add to them safely later. There’s more to “Shop at The Gap” than meets the eye, and you may run out of cash well before the new rally begins.

Cash flow is king, so take smaller profits sooner than usual as long as there are abundant buying opportunities. Today, nearly eighty percent of all Investment Grade Value Stocks are down more than 15% from their 52-week highs.

In looking at your income securities, cash flow is the primary concern; as long as it continues unabated, the change in market value is merely a perceptual/emotional issue. A loosening of the credit markets should move CEF prices back into normal ranges.

Note that Working Capital keeps growing in spite of falling prices. Examine your holdings for opportunities to average down on cost per share or to increase your yield on fixed income securities.

Identify new buying opportunities using a consistent set of rules, rally or correction. That way you will always know which of the two you are dealing with in spite of what the Wall Street propaganda mill spits out. Focus on Investment Grade Value Stocks; it’s easier, generally less risky, and better for your peace of mind.

Stop examining your portfolio’s performance in market value terms— it leads to fearful, often frantic, decision-making. Keep your asset allocation and investment objectives clearly in focus and try to think in terms of market and economic cycles as opposed to calendar quarters and years. The Working Capital Model provides a calmer way of dealing with portfolio dislocations during severe corrections.

So long as everything is down, there is really less to worry about. This is the result of panic selling by ETF and open-end mutual fund owners and the beginnings of year-end window dressing by fund managers.

Corrections, regardless of cause, will vary in depth and duration, but both characteristics are only clearly visible in rear view mirrors. The short and deep ones are most lovable; the long and slow ones are more difficult to deal with. If you over-think the environment or over-cook the research, you’ll miss the after-party.

Unlike many things in life, Stock Market realities need to be dealt with quickly, decisively, and with zero hindsight. Because amid all the uncertainty, there is one indisputable fact that reads equally well in either market direction: there has never been a correction/rally that has not succumbed to the next rally/correction.

Get out there and buy low for a change.

About the Author

Steve Selengut
Sanco Services
Kiawa Golf Investment Seminars
Author: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read” and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”.

what were the main reasons behind the wall street stock market crash?

And how did the depression affect society?

The 1929 crash was mainly due to loans and shares being floated on negative equity on promisary notes that had no value and that compnaies could not pay the investors when the creditors moved in.
This started a huge crisis and run on the dollar, Stocks And Bonds.

Wall Street – New York Stock Exchange – August 2009

A Brief History of Stock Market Growth and Expansion

A brief history of The Stock Market might tell you that the world’s first stock exchange was in Italy or in Egypt or even in France, but no matter where they originated, the concept of a place to trade Stocks and bonds has taken firm root and stock exchanges are now the cornerstone of our financial marketplace. The first American stock exchange was established in 1792 in New York at the intersection of Wall Street and Bond Street and it continues to be there today, having grown into one of the world’s most influential stock markets. It is aptly called the New York Stock Exchange. A brief history of Stock Market Trading will show that the 1800s were a time of great innovation and growth for the stock market. It was in this century that government bonds, insurance and bank stocks started actively trading. It was also during this time that street trading was prohibited and the NYSE found a home on Wall Street in a building of its own. Specialists were installed at particular locations on the trading floor to facilitate stock trade. The 1900s were the time of the Industrial Revolution and saw much growth and expansion in The Stock Markets and their associated regulatory agencies. The Federal Reserve was set up to regulate the banking structure of the nation and New York gained popularity as the world’s financial capital supplanting London as the previous financial hub. The 1900s also saw the rise of speculators in a secondary trading market. Eventually this century was witness to one of the greatest stock market crashes in history, where stocks plunged and the Dow hit rock bottom by decreasing 89% in the period from 1929- 1932. This period immediately following the Stock Market Crash was called The Great Depression because it saw many people lose their savings, lose their jobs and and some even lose their lives. The stock market crash brought about much-needed regulatory changes into the stock market. The result was the passing of the Securities and Exchange Act which saw the formation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC is responsible for helping to ensure that such a crash never happens again by closely monitoring and regulating trading practices and ensuring that companies offer all relevant disclosure to the public at the time of going public. Today there are a lot of new initiatives taken by the NYSE and other American exchanges such as a paperless office, women on the trading floor, real time stock tickers on CNN-FN and CNBC, an updated technology plan for the trading floor, global indexes, and representative offices around the world. Beginner investors can learn a lot about the stock market by reading this and other related items outlining the brief history of stock market buoyancy and crashes – this will in turn help them understand what powers a bull or bear market and how to spot one coming like the financial pros do.

About the Author

Kelly Clifford from StockMarketsMadeSimple.com has put together a complimentary report titled “Stock Market Basics: A Beginners Guide To Understanding The Stock Market” that will likely prove invaluable in putting you on the fast track to becoming a knowledgable and successful Stock Market Investor. To download your copy now instantly.. visit http://www.stockmarketsmadesimple.com/index.php

Are you ready for the next Wall Street Collapse this fall?

plummeting home values (AND I MEAN PLUMETTING). You will be able to buy a mansion around here in a few months for $50,000. People losing their jobs. The government artificially keeping the automotive industry alive for a few months with the “cash for clunkers” program. OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

LOL nice trolling, unless you’re serious. Then your delusional rant is just sad and pathetic.