Stock picks and tips

Current stock prices of publicly traded corporations can be found out easily. In order to know the stock price of a businesses, you can visit a few financial internet sites that provide that kind of data. Quite a few financial web sites nowadays provide real time stock prices along with stock price history, and I guess Google started this trend rage and soon other financial internet sites followed. If you are interested in checking out much more detailed information on price fluctuations of stocks an online brokerage website will do the job.

If you would like to know the stock price of a corporation in any financial website, try to identify a quotes bar and enter either the symbol of the business or if the site permits the name of the corporation. Most of the time as you type the company name; you should see the company name pop down below. If the businessappears as you are typing, just click on the firm name and it will provide you that firm’s detailed financial material. Alternatively, the symbol of a particular corporation can be entered in the Get Quotes bar. Once you have landed on the firm’s page you will be given with the stock price of the company. Usually, the price listed could be delayed by 20 minutes, and if the prices are being recorded in real time, the stock price recorded would be real time price of that corporation at that particular time.

You should make sure to check that the stock price that is being catalogued is sharp before making any trading decisions. While making a trading choice be sure to know that the stock price is the one at which price it is being traded and not a pre-market or after hours stock price. It is best to trade stocks based on the latest pricing information available from the brokerage web site itself rather than a stale facts from free financial web sites. With online brokerage corporations you have the ability to see what prices other traders are willing to secure along with the volume of the purchase orders.

Overnite EurAsian Trade lower….

EurAsian trade lower overnite on election angst in Japan and tightening angst in China. Not reflected in US screen trade which reads marginally higher a/o about 6:30 CDT.

Ecodata reports due out Tuesday include:
2 retail sales reports (different sources)
Case Shiller home prices
Consumer confidence

One of the retail sales reports is already out showing surprising strength, the Shiller homes price data is coming on the heels of unexpectedly encouraging real-estate reports last week, and consumer confidence is probably in the dumpster though not quite despondent.

Expect a slightly higher but very tentatively so opening…European shares fell back in early trade on Tuesday from the 10-month closing highs they hit in the previous session as investors took profits and after declines in Asia.

The European benchmark index is still up 50 percent from its lifetime low of March 9as investors have become more confident on the prospects for worldwide economic recovery.

Late Monday, reports emerged that the U.S. President, Barack Obama, plans to announce the reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Obama will credit Bernanke for “pulling the economy back from the brink of depression.” “It’s good news in the sense that it’s what the market knows. Clearly, easy monetary policy will be maintained at the Fed. There will be no change in tack there,” said Edmund Shing, strategist at BNP Paribas.

TOKYO, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average drifted lower on Tuesday, hit by profit-taking after surging 3.4 percent the day before, with investors finding few reasons to buy actively before Japan’s Aug. 30 election and U.S. economic data. Exporters lost ground after leading Monday’s rally, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) fell in the wake of losses in U.S. peers after a veteran banking analyst said 150 to 200 more U.S. banks would fail during the banking crisis.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Hong Kong stocks trimmed their losses to end 0.49 percent lower on Tuesday after earlier tracking Shanghai’s retreat on profit-taking following recent rallies.

This investment strategy I have to share is considered the most easily understood because it is based on common sense. Give me five minutes of your time to read this to see my point. The way to look at the stock market is by viewing its chart. To know if the stock market is performing bad is to see when the 1 year low was.

The 1 year low means the stock market price is below the same price it was 1 year ago. It also means no money was made in your retirement account. As long as the stock market is above its 1 year low in the past 12 months it means you are no longer losing money in your retirement account.
 
To see if the stock market is stabilized is to look at its 1 year average. The 1 year average is the average price over the past 12 months. As long as the stock market is above its 1 year average this means the stock market is moving up and you are making money in your retirement account.

The stock market chart shows how all the stocks of companies are performing. These stocks are in the mutual funds that you have in your retirement account. The companies in mutual funds are the same in the S&P 500 Index. The S&P 500 Index is a list of the 500 biggest companies in the world such as Walmart, Verizon, Sony, Exxon, Pepsi and hundreds more.

By following the S&P 500 Index you can see what and how the overall stock market is doing. Other indexes are the Dow Jones Index but it only has 30 companies and the Nasdaq Index which has many small companies. These two Indexes follow the lead of S&P 500 Index because of its more established companies.
 
To understand how the stock market works is go to any website investment page and click on the ticker symbol for this index. Next is to set the time frame for months. When you look at the stock market over the past 12 months with the month to month price instead of the day to day price you will notice all the zig zags are gone. The zig zaging of price movements is what confuses people because all you see is the fluctuations in price.
 
This is caused from the buying and selling of stocks from millions of people. Setting the time frame of the stock market chart to be viewed by month to month instead of day to day with straighten out all these lines you see in a chart. By doing this you will see straight lines being formed over the long term. It is like watching the stock market in slow motion because you are able to see when the market was up and down.
 
There are a lot of articles written on mutual fund strategies and but none will tell you why or how the strategy works. The answer lies in the chart because this is physical evidence of what is currently happening now. These are real companies with their stock prices going up or down. When the majority of stock prices are going down, it is a clear indication that most investors are selling. The reason they are selling is because these companies are about to be earning less revenue than before.
 
Stock prices go up when companies increase theirs earnings and they down when their earnings are decreasing. You can witness this by looking at the S&P 500 Index chart. This all points to our economy. Our economy is base on the gross domestic product. This is the increasing and decreasing of business services and products that are produced in the U.S.A.

The Government have Economists study how the U.S. economy is performing every month. These reports show how the manufacturing of products, employment, business services and retail goods are performing currently and in the past. It is easy to see if the U.S. economy is in a recession by comparing it to the stock market.
 
The key to a successful retirement plan is to finish every year with a positive percentage rate. This means your mutual funds have to go up from January 1 to December 31.
 
Keys points are:
 
1. Mutual Funds are a collection of stocks from many companies.
2. The companies in mutual funds are the same in the S&P 500 Index.
3. The S&P 500 Index is considered the benchmark of the stock market because of all the big companies in it.
4. It has to be above its 1 year low because this means the stock market has stopped dropping.
5. It has to be above its 1 year average for the stock market to be moving up. The 1 year average is the average price over the past 12 months.
6. Look at the chart of this index using the month to month price instead of the day to day price. This will erase all the fluctuations and make straight lines.
  
You will find this is the best investment strategy for mutual funds because it is shows how to avoid a bear market.
 

EurAsian markets hit highs on lite volume as recovery hopes abound. Post-peak however, some profit-taking ensued but I’d caution against reading anything too important into any of this because of the end of vacation season and resultant thin trade….. Overnite US screentrade higher but not fully reflective of overseas jubillance with DOW futures indicating about +30 points a/o 04:40 CDT..

This week also includes Treasury auctions of over 100byn in 2, 5 & 7 year notes of Tuesday, Wednesday and thursday – expect some crowding as a result – net effect will be clearer when we see the tail on Tuesday’s event..

Excerpted overnite market coverage below:
Published: Monday, 24 Aug 2009 4:45 AM ET By: Reuters

European shares rose in early trade on Monday, hitting their highest level in more than 10 months, with banks and commodity stocks gaining as investors become more confident about the prospects of a global recovery.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.9 percent at 975.49 points, having hit a 10-month high of 977.93 points earlier. The index is up around 50 percent since reaching a lifetime low in early March and is up about 17 percent for the year.

“There are no specific stories out there, there is no good news and no bad news. Asian markets were ok overnight and the outlook for the U.S. looks reasonable so there is not reason for Europe to take the top off,” said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners.

TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average jumped 3.4 percent in thin trade on Monday, boosted by hopes for a global economic recovery that sent U.S. shares climbing, with Canon Inc (7751.T) and other exporters leading the benchmark higher.

HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Hong Kong stocks surged 1.67 percent on Monday, tracking strength on mainland and overseas stocks markets, with refiners and Chinese finance stocks rallying after Sinopec (0386.HK) and China Construction Bank (0939.HK) reported strong earnings.

The way to understand how the stock market works is by looking at the stock market chart. The stock market chart shows how all the stocks of companies are performing. These stocks are in the mutual funds that you have in your IRA and 401K. The same companies in mutual funds are in the S&P 500 Index which is the stock market.
 
The S&P 500 Index is a list of the 500 largest companies in the world such as Target, AT&T, Apple, BP, Coke and many more. By watching the S&P 500 Index you can see what and how the overall stock market is doing. Other indexes are the Dow Jones Index but it only has 30 companies and the Nasdaq Index which has many small companies. These two Indexes follow the direction of the S&P 500 Index because of its more well known companies.
 
To see how the stock market works is go to any website financial page and click on the name of this index. Next is to set the time frame for months. When you are viewing the stock market over the last 12 months with the month to month price rather than the day to day price you will find all the zig zags are eliminated.
 
The zig zaging of price movements is where investors become confused because all they see is the changing in price. This is caused from the buying and selling of stocks from thousands of investors. Setting the time frame of the stock market chart to be viewed from month to month instead of day to day makes all these lines you see in a chart become straight. When doing this you will see the straight lines over many months as well as years. The stock market becomes a picture on pause because you are able to see when the market was rising down and up.
 
To know when the stock market is declining and losing money is to look at the 1 year low. The 1 year low means the stock market price is below the same price it was 12 months ago. It also means no money was made in your retirement fund. When the stock market is above its 1 year low in the past 12 months you can rest assure that the stock market has stopped declining.
 
To see if the stock market is leveling out and not going down is to look at its 1 year average. The 1 year average is the average price over the last 12 months. As long as the stock market is above its 1 year average this means the stock market is rising and you are making money in your IRA and 401K.
 
A lot of articles will write about a mutual fund investment strategy and but none will tell you why or how the strategy works. The answer is right in the chart because this is physical evidence of what is presently going on every day. These are real companies with their stock prices going up and down. When most or all stock prices are starting to decline, it is the sign that investors are selling. The reason they are selling is because these companies are about to be earning less money than before. Stock prices go up when companies increase theirs earnings and they down when their earnings are decreasing. You can this yourself by looking at the S&P 500 Index chart.
 
This all points to our economy. Our economy is base on the gross domestic product. This is the increasing and decreasing of services and products that are produced by business services in the U.S.A. The Government have Economist study how the U.S. economy is performing every month. These reports show how the manufacturing of products, employment, business services and retail goods are performing currently and in the past. It easy to see if the U.S.A. economy is in a recession by comparing it to the stock market.

Investing points are:

A. The same companies in a IRA and 401k plan are in the S&P 500 Index which is the stock market.
B. It is viewed as of the most watched Index because of all the well established companies.
C. Mutual Funds are a portfolio of stocks from hundreds of companies.
D. View the chart of this index using the month to month price and not the day to day price.
E. It has to be above its 1 year low because this means the stock market is no longer dropping.
F. It has to be above its 1 year average for the stock market to be rising up. The 1 year average is the average price over the last 12 months.

To avoid a bear market is by understanding how the stock market works.

Asset Allocation during the declines of a stock market is the only way to preserve wealth in a retirement account. To avoid a bear market and having an investment strategy is necessary for 2009.

This is  an update in the stock market for the short term and long term. From January 1 through today the market is up a positive 6% and the one year rate is down a negative 22%. The stock market is currently above its 1 year average which is the average price over the past 12 months.

The short term direction of the stock market trend is positive. The 1 year average of the stock market is the trend setter for how the market is doing at any present time. It gives investors of mutual funds the update by knowing if the market is going down or up. It is a cross between the short and long term direction of the market that shows when the market is turning positive or negative.

Investors should have switched from mutual funds to money market funds when the stock market reached its first 1 year low in early 2008. At that time the market was also under its 1 year average. The decline in 2008 could take years to make back the loss in value to retirement accounts. Asset allocation is when the investor transfers from declining mutual funds to safe mutual funds. This can only be done by understanding the stock market trend.

Economists agree that the recession has seen its worst but they also agree the economy is not as healthy compared to 2003. The stock market will continue to have its rise and fall in rallies but a long term bull market is still not insight.

The market is steady but will continue to go down until the economy recovers. To say the market will finish 2009 in a positive percentage is not guaranteed. The Commerce Department has released the second-quarter gross domestic product report which says, “including the April-to-June period, the economy has now contracted for a record four straight quarters, for the first time on record dating to 1947″. The key to a sucessful retirement plan is to finish every year in a positive percentage rate.The low in March 2009 is what is causing all the buying that is going on now. To say the market will finish 2009 in a positive percentage is not guaranteed. Economists agree that the recession has seen its worst but they also agree the economy is not as healthy compared to 2003. The stock market will continue to have its rise and fall in rallies but a long term bull market is still not insight.

The weakness of the U.S. economy has given rise to the largest epidemic of foreclosures in American history. But smart real estate investors are turning these ‘lemons’ into ‘lemonade’ in an incredibly profitable new way.

The real estate investing strategy du jour is called ‘Bulk REO Investing‘ and is a real monster.

Let’s take a moment to analyze the basics of this incredibly lucrative business.

To understand investing in Bulk REO, you have to understand the foreclosure process.

When a home owner begins to miss payments on their mortgage, the lender begins to send late/overdue notices to the home owner. Following a period of time determined by the lender, formal foreclosure proceedings begin. The ‘pre-foreclosure’ time starts with filing of foreclosure paperwork and concludes at public auction.

To complete the foreclosure process, the property is auction to the public. If there are no buyers for the property at auction, the property is returned to the lender. The property then receives the designation of being an ‘REO’ or the more formal name, ‘Real Estate Owned’.

Local real estate agents are usually used to resale REO properties at retail price to the general public. However, lenders are increasingly willing to take much less than their REO asset is actually worth. This happens because the buyer of the REO is required to purchase multiple REO’s in a single transaction.

These REO packages represent the potential to acquire huge amounts of equity for savvy real estate investors. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. There are many sources of funding for these transasactions including: hard money and commercial financing, as well as non conventional sources such as hedge funds and private investors. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Sal Buscemi of Dandrew Partners, a hedge fund in New York.

There is absolutely no doubt that when you are looking to choose a stock brokerage you should take it slow as your decision could have a massive affect on the returns you earn from your trading.

There are two main options, firstly there are discount stock brokers. These brokers basically just give you the barebones.

The other option is a full service broker. Full service brokers offer you the basics just like a discount broker. They also offer many additional services including retirement planning, trading help and advice, information on tax, risk management strategies and much much more.

For most investors, a online discount stock broker will be the best choice. Most people who buy stocks, especially experienced traders do no require the extra services of a full service broker. Even if an investor would find the services of a full service broker useful, they are often not able justify the additional expense.

Typically discount brokers charge between $3-15 per trade. However a full service broker will often charge well in excess of $125 for every trade. Look out for sites offering discount stock broker information.

Clearly this is a huge difference. Paying very large fees would mean you would have to make greater returns on your trading activites to break even after paying all the costs.

There are also other important factors to consider when looking for a brokerage firm. How good is their support? Do they let you trade out of hours? Do they charge hidden fees? Is their execution quick enough? Which payment methods do they take and how promptly do they send you your money when you request it? Are they regulated?

Let me show you a quick example of how much of a difference the commissions can make. If you make 5 trades per month and your account balance is $10,000 you will pay $25 a month in fees at $5 per trade and $500 per month at $100. See how the fees can harm your account in no time at all?

Would you like to trade stocks listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and do you need a good Online canadian stock broker.

There are many Canadian stock brokers to choose from. Some are undoubtedly better than others. Amongst the better ones include Scotia Itrade and Interactive brokers.

At present there are around 4000 stocks listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Some of these are the major Canadian banks CIBC, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada.

The big Canadian oil companies are also listed including Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Cameco Corporation, Husky Energy Inc., Nexen Inc, Imperial Oil Ltd.

When choosing a broker to trade Canadian stocks, it’s always important to consider the commission structure. If you are going to make money trading stocks, the last thing you want to do is give it back to a greedy broker.

Canadian full service brokers usually charge more than canadian deep discount stock brokers but they often offer you advice on trading, tax, retirement planning and much more. They will even pick your stocks for you.

Most of the services these brokers offer can be found freely online. A full service broker often charges well over $50 per trade. In contrast, discount brokers are often less than $15 per trade.

Personally, I do not think a full service broker is ever worth the additional expensive. Getting good returns trading stocks is difficult enough without having the additional barrier of an expensive and potentially greedy full service broker.

In conclusion, there are many Canadian stocks to choose from that have a good chance of making some nice returns, but as always, have a good solid risk management strategy and always be prepared in case your stock picks don’t work out as you hope and always choose your broker carefully.

There probably thousands definitions of penny stocks. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) definition states that a penny stock is any stock with a value less than $5.

This is by no means a definition used by everyone. Other definitions include stocks valued at less than $1. Lastly, any stock that is traded on pink sheets or over-the-counter bulletin board (OTCBB) is widely considered to be a penny stock.

Choosing a broker

Choosing a the right online penny stock broker is very important. As penny stock traders often buy a large number of stocks (due to the low price), it is important to choose a penny stock brokerage that has a commission structure that is favourable.

For example, some stock brokers charge a fee for each share purchased as well as a flat rate per trade. This could be very costly if you were purchasing large amounts of penny stocks.

Ideally the best penny stock brokerage is one with no fees additional fees for purchasing large numbers of shares, a low price per trade and quick execution of trades.

Volatility

Penny stocks can often be highly volatile, offering the opportunity for high returns. Fluctuations of 100% can be seen in a matter of days with some penny stocks.

Whilst this can clearly result in outstanding returns, it is important to consider the other side of the coin. huge can result in horrendous losses very rapidly.

It is very important to fully understand the risks when investing in penny stocks. Most traders do lose money investing in penny stocks. Solid risk management is a must.

Penny stocks are not for the faint hearted and are generally only suitable for investors with a very high appetite for risk.

Cheap to buy

Due to the relatively low cost of penny stocks, they are more affordable to a far wider range of investors. This is a bonus if you only have a small amount of money to play with.