Global Investing Podcast

Peter Leeds, one of North America’s leading Investment Coaches, is a self-made millionaire who has created his fortunes on the stock markets. He has also empowered thousands of individuals to do the same. He offers sites like http://www.pennystockinsider.com to help penny stock investors make wise decisions.

Financial statements are a useful tool for judging the health of a company, and for comparing it to its competitors. They show what the company owes and owns, the profits or loses it has made over a given period, and how their position has changed since their last statement. Generally if you can tell which direction a company is heading in, you can also forecast future stock prices with some accuracy.

Gaining a basic knowledge of financial statements, and applying this knowledge when choosing or assessing investments can help you pick tomorrow’s winning stocks, while avoiding tomorrow’s losers.
Of course, financial statement analysis will not always factor in significant news events, unexpected incidents, changes in management, and other factors which may influence share prices, but it provides a starting point from which to gauge the present value of shares, independent of future occurrences.

The following report details some simple financial statement explanation and analysis methods. Although the topic can get much deeper and more complex, this article is designed to give investors the ability to understand the numbers and simpler of financial ratios, and be able to use that knowledge to assist them to make better decisions when doing their due diligence.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows a company’s financial position at a specific date, usually the last day of the company’s fiscal year for annual reports. One side of the balance sheet shows what the company owns and has owing to it, called assets. The other side represents liabilities, which are what the company owes, and also has shareholders’ equity, which represents the excess of the company’s assets over its liabilities. Shareholder’s equity is often referred to as book value.
Total assets are equal to the sum of the company’s liabilities plus the shareholders’ equity. In other words, take away liabilities from assets and the remainder is what value is owned by the shareholders.
The Balance Sheet can be used to uncover the value of the company, the debt load, and cash position.

Earnings Statement

Also called the Income Statement or Profit and Loss Statement, it shows how much revenue a company received during the year from the sale of its products and services, and the expenses the company incurred due to wages, taxes, operating costs, etc… The difference between the two is the company’s profit or loss for the year. The amount left over after taxes is the net earnings.

Net earnings are basically saying how much money the company ‘really’ made over the course of the year. Some companies can have low earnings if they used much of their money for research and development, to acquire other companies, fuel aggressive growth, move into new markets, etc, which is much more favorable than if the company had low earnings because they didn’t generate many revenues, their expenses were too high, etc…

Statements of Changes in Financial Position

This shows how the company’s financial position changed from one year to the next. Also called the cash flow statement, this details how the company generated and spent its cash during the year.
This statement can be used in evaluating the liquidity and solvency of a company, and to assess the ability of that company to generate cash internally, to repay debts, to reinvest in itself, etc…

Sources of Financial Reports

Certainly you can get financials from the companies themselves. Most will gladly fax them to you, or mail you their latest quarterly and annual reports.

However, a faster way to access the information can be by Internet. For example, go to Yahoo.com and choose stock quotes. Enter the ticker symbol for the company you are interested in, and Yahoo will provide its most recent press releases, which will include past quarterly and annual reports with the financial statements. You can also check the previous reports to compare which direction the company is moving in and look for trends (i.e. increasing debt load, unpredictable earnings, decreasing revenues, erratic revenues, etc…).
There are also many other Internet resources which provide similar information, such as wsrn.com, bigcharts.com, (canada-stockwatch.com for Canadian issues), etc…

Comparison Shopping

To familiarize yourself with some of the numbers, try looking up the financials of three companies you own or are interested in.

(Balance Sheet) Which of the companies has the greatest long term debt load? Do any of the companies have greater current liabilities than current assets? Compare the current share price to the shareholder’s equity (book value): is the share price much greater or less than the book value?

(Earnings Statement) What were the revenues of the most recent year (or quarter) and does the number represent an increase or decrease from the previous period? How much money per share did the company earn (or lose) in the most recent period?

(Statement of Changes in Financial Position) Has company debt been increasing or decreasing? What was the greatest expense the company incurred according to the statement?

Decision Making

Understand that financial statements can provide investors with a partial fundamental snapshot of a company. They only represent one piece of the puzzle. Remember that, while financial statements can help investors compare several companies, comparison is limited only to the numbers provided.

In other words, you can see that one company made money while the other lost money, but you don’t know which has the better technical outlook (based on analysis of the trading chart), which is a potential takeover target, which will have the best future earnings, etc…

As well, the impact of financial statements tends to be long-term as it relates to share prices. Four quarterly reports showing increasing earnings may push the stock into an upward trend as the market begins to recognize the fundamental improvements of the underlying company, but one quarter of increasing earnings may or may not have a significant impact on shares.

Therefore, most investors use financial statements as part of a greater overall decision making process. Certainly, though, an understanding of and familiarization with the data can benefit any investor who takes the time to make educated trading decisions.

Important Points

Many growth companies don’t need nor are expected to have positive earnings. Instead, they generally accumulate debt as they focus on research and development of new technologies, aggressively move into new markets, fight for market share with competitors, etc… Other companies with minimal growth prospects on the other hand, have more importance placed on actual earnings, lowering operational costs, etc…

Be sure to understand what numbers are important and unimportant to a specific company based on their situation and the position they are in. This can be done easily by going to wsrn.com and doing an industry comparison on the company in question. Do companies in the same industry seem to have positive earnings, or is the focus on growth, research, etc… Are they a larger or smaller company than the industry average, and are they growing faster than the others?
Read the fine print to make sure the numbers you are reading have been audited, rather than being just company estimates, or unverified results. This generally is not something you need to worry about with most exchange-listed companies, but it is important practice.

Many annual statements will begin with positive news about sales or revenue increases, or other positive comments, but further reading reveals that the company actually lost more money, increased debt, or had a poor quarter or year. For most companies their financial statements are part of their promotional material and they need to make the information sound as impressive and positive as possible, even if the overall results were disappointing.

Be wary of one-time earnings or loses. For example, a company may win a huge lawsuit settlement and the influx of money gives them positive earnings for the quarter. However, how would they have done when the one-time extraordinary is ignored? Learn more at http://www.pennystockinsider.com.

There are thousands of individuals who rely on selling real estate to make a living. These individuals are known as real estate agents. The majority of real estate agents work for an existing real estate agency; however, there are a number of agents who work on their own. Whether you have your own real estate business or work for an existing company there are number of benefits to having a real estate agent website.

Real estate agents are trained professionals that many individuals go to when they need help to sell their existing home or to purchase a new one. A large amount of trust is needed to do business with a real estate agent. New home buyers or sellers want the reassurance that they are doing business with an individual who is working in their best interest. Since it is often hard to develop a sense of trust with an individual that you hardly know a real estate agent website could come in handy.

A real estate agent website is not guaranteed to prove that a real estate agent is legitimate or offering the best service around; however, it is still helpful. A real estate agent website will give you valuable insight into the personal life and professional training that a real estate agent may have had. A real estate agent website will common have information on the agent in question. Common information may include their age, where they live, any children, any community ties, where they went to school, or any relevant real estate training they may have had.

If you are a real estate agent and you currently do not have a real estate agent website you should consider having one made. When making a real estate agent website there are two options that you should consider. You can develop your own website or hire a professional to do it for you. Hiring a professional will cost money; however, professional websites are more likely to increase your website traffic and possibly your real estate sales. The end result would make this money well spent.

If you are a real estate agent working on your own then it may be easier to make the decision to have a real estate agent website developed. If you are a real estate agent who is employed by a larger company you may have to have company approval before having a real estate agent website developed. If this is the case you should not be afraid to approach your supervisor. It is highly likely that having a real estate agent website will increase the number of clients who obtain their services. It is possible that your supervisor may even wish to have all of their real estate agents develop their own website.

Since there are a large number of benefits to having a real estate agent website you should not be without one any longer. Developing a real estate agent website is easy to do. Why lose potential sales just because you do not have a website?

This article is mostly for people that already know what the Forex market is and at least know the basic concepts. If you have no clue about what this market is or you have never heard about it, I will give you a very brief explanation bellow.

Forex is the acronym for Foreign Exchange Market. This is the biggest and most liquid market of the entire world today. One to three trillion dollars exchange hands at Forex every day. That’s a huge amount of money. No stock market exchange of any country come close to this.

This market is huge. It is a sea of money full of sharks and dangerous waters, but it is also the only market where you at least hypothetically can make $1,000,000 in two weeks starting with only $1,000.

I say hypothetically because what happens often is that people blindly gamble their money at Forex without knowing anything about it and they lose their shirt. That’s why I say to you: be careful! This market is profitable, but you need to learn the basics well, do your homework and demo trade a lot.

Just remember that 95% of traders lose money, 5% make it and less than 1% become rich at Forex. The nice thing about this market is that you can make money without creating any product or service, selling anything, nor advertising. You just trade some cash and get paid depending on your knowledge and expertise.

This is the market where banks, transnational corporations and individual traders exchange one currency for another. I am talking about the spot Forex market. You can trade at huge leverage as much as 400 to 1, meaning that for every dollar that you have for trading you can trade 400. For example if you have $1,000 on your account you can trade as much as $400,000.

This is dangerous. Most experienced traders won’t use such a high leverage. In the other hand, high leverage can be good if you learn how to use it in your favor. Anyway, that’s enough for the basics. If you want to learn more about how this market emerged, its history and so, then read my other articles.

Now let’s talk about the strategies and how some traders make money at Forex. Let’s start by saying that what works for me may not necessary work for you. Trading currencies is risky. That’s a fact. But ultimately I discovered a few strategies that could give novice traders a winning edge.

Trading Forex is not as easy as most people think. Today you may be earning a lot and tomorrow you are losing 40% of your starting capital. Novice traders often make the same mistakes over and over again. I will enumerate a few of them bellow.

1. Do not look for a holly grail of trading.

This is for people who are afraid to lose or are too greedy and want to get rich quick. Even when it seems so, The Forex Market is not the place to get rich quick. Yes, you can make a lot of money over time and yes you don’t have to sell anything, nor create or advertise any products. Still you have to learn a whole lot about what makes this market tick and what moves the price of the currencies plus how to manage your money effectively so you don’t lose your shirt.

Many novice traders spend a LOT of time searching a perfect strategy that will allow them to always win-win and never lose. They want to have guaranteed profits because they can’t stand to lose and/or they want to make too much (millions) quick so they can retire fast and buy a mansion in a far distant beautiful tropical island. It doesn’t happen.

Don’t waist your time. A trading strategy that allows you to have guaranteed profits do not exist. Trading is very risky. That’s why it is so profitable. Remember: “no risk, no reward.” So, do not try to always win on every trade. It is simply not possible. There is no way to get rid of the fact of uncertainty. What I mean is that no matter how effective your trading strategy may be, sometimes it will fail and you have to be ready to face this fact.

By not trying to find a perfect strategy that turns you into a millionaire fast, you will just save a ton of your own time and efforts. It doesn’t exist. If you find it, please don’t tell me about it. First I won’t believe you. Second I don’t need it. You will find out bellow why I say that I won’t need it.

2. Use technical analysis and fundamental analysis.

When I started trading I didn’t believe in this. I wanted to find a strategy which consisted of money management alone (which I explain bellow). This is not good! Money management is important but you still need the other two. You define (“predict”) where the market is heading to depending on how effective your technical and fundamental strategies are.

Mastering technical analysis is the ability to predict future price movements by analyzing past price data and graphical patterns. You get a graphic of certain currencies. Check the data that you observe and based on your knowledge of technical analysis you “predict” with certain degree of accuracy where the market is going.

Many brokers allow you to add technical indicators to the graphs while you are trading. You can try this on a demo account and see how well you are able to define the future price movement of the currencies you plan to trade. One of those brokers is www.oanda.com.

There are many technical indicators. I can’t tell which one will be more effective for you. Every trader is different. This is something that you will have to discover by yourself. There is not a hidden secret or magic formula for trading Forex. It is what you do every minute when you are in front of the graphics and checking the news what really counts.

The secret is in your overall knowledge and your decisions. This comes with experience and practice. If you open an account with one of these online brokers you can trade on paper before you trade with real money, so you can learn and practice before you risk any capital.

Let me tell you about a few technical indicators that you can use. You can use the MACD (Moving average convergence divergence), the Bollinger Bands, Pivot Points, RSI, Stochastic, Fibonacci, EMA, Elliot Waves and many others. There are in fact many technical indicators but these are among the most widely known and used.

When you add technical indicators to the graphic the brokers software will automatically perform mathematical calculations to reveal interesting facts and patterns about the graphics that you can’t readily see without said indicators. You can use the technical indicators to create your own technical systems.

These systems will never work 100% of the time, but if they work 70% – 80% it may be enough. That’s because you can control your risks with money management techniques as I describe bellow.

To further increase your probability of winning and reduce your probability of losing on every trade you can use fundamental analysis. I think that most traders choose one or the other but many traders use both.

Fundamental analysis is to trade the news. What is going on with the countries’s economies of the currencies that you are trading? What is the unemployment index? Did something suddenly happen that could drastically affect the price of the currencies?

Trading the news is another effective way to “predict” where the market is going. Many online brokers offer you a link with important financial news. For example www.oanda.com has this feature. You can also find financial news on the following websites:

a) www.bloomberg.com

b) www.businessweek.com

c) www.economist.com

d) money.cnn.com

e) markets.ft.com

f) www.reuters.com

g) www.fxstreet.com

3. Use money management strategies.

You need money management techniques. This is what makes you or breaks you. Put it this way, most traders invest far too much of their trading capital on every trade. It is as follows . . . “Expect to make too much and you will make too little, expect to make little and you will make a lot.”

What does it mean? It means that if you try to make a fortune on every trade you will lose your shirt. If you expect to make a little on every trade and you compound your profits, you may make a lot of money over the long run.

The first rule of money management says that you should not risk more than 1% of the money that you have on your account. You control this risk with stop loss and limit orders. When you start trading this may seem as little profits specially if you start with little trading capital. In the other hand if you compound some or all of your profits you may increase your account exponentially over time.

The magic of compound interest is amazing! This is the way that most fortunes are created on the financial markets, little by little. If you gamble your money you may lose it fast.

Many traders do exactly the opposite. Imagine that you open an account with $5,000 and you enter a trade for $1,000. Let’s say that the market moves against you and you lose those $1,000. Now you have $4,000 on your account. You think that the price for the currencies is too low, so it should recover. In fact you are pretty sure that it will come back.

Then you invest $1,500 to recover from the previous loss plus realize a $500 profit. The market moves again against you. It kept going in the same direction, something that you didn’t expected. What happens? Now you have $2,500 on your account. That’s 50% of your initial trading capital. It will be very hard for you to recover from that loss.

In the other hand, if you risk 1% of your money on every trade, you will have $4,900 on your account after that initial loss. It will be much easier for you to recover from those trades.

The second rule of money management is to expect always to receive more profits than the money that you risk to lose. This can be accomplished through limit and stop orders as well as trailing stops.

For example if you expect to make a 25 pips profits on every trade, then you put the stop order at 15 pips bellow or above your entry price. A better way to have a greater expectancy ratio is to use trailing stops as I describe above. A trailing stop allows you to cut the loses short and let your winners ride.

These are the basic techniques that a successful trader should use to generate consistent profits at the Forex Market. This is basic information, but I realize that many people out there don’t even know what Forex is, so I didn’t want to get into more complex strategies here. You will find information about complex and advanced Forex strategies on my website.

EasyWebRiches.com © 2006

Foreclosure investing is actually quite another world when people have finally taken that risk and go for it. This really applies to anything else in life. Remember all those late nights where you’d stay up and watch those “how to make millions in your sleep” commercials. Or perhaps you remember all those times you went to the book store and purchased tons of real estate investment study guides.



In fact you probably have a impressive home library and collection of real estate, investment, and how to get rich quick type books by now. Some people may get a feeling of being overwhelmed after wading through those thick books and studying all the complex terminology.

The truth is, if you are a naturally goal-oriented and self-disciplined person than you can probably achieve a full-time income in real estate within a year with the right system. So how do you choose the “right” system when everyone and his uncle says they are an expert or guru within the real estate domain?

One thing you might want to consider doing is to align yourself with a acquaintance or relative who is already successful in real estate investment or at least in the branch of real estate that you are interested in doing. Don’t be shy, definitely get in touch with them.

It may be a friend from high school or university, or perhaps even a former room mate that you knew when you were just getting started with your own life and needed someone to share the rent costs with in order to have your own place, etc. I am sure that if you brainstorm for a bit, you may even surprise yourself at how much opportunity there is in your own circle.

That is actually a very good idea- the number one way to get into real estate successfully is to have a mentor or at minimum someone that can really show you the ropes and provide feedback in real-time. No matter how well written the courses you’re looking at is, nothing really compares to a trusted friend or adviser that can actually walk you through this process step-by-step.

Even if it isn’t step by step, it’s still great to be able to call someone up and ask for advice on what you are doing as well as to add some motivation to the process. Folks this relationship is priceless. You can save hundreds of hours of time learning things on your own, and also save thousands upon thousands of dollars in costly mistakes.

Ultimately you will have to walk the path yourself in order to learn and profit from this wonderful industry. But the initial first steps will furnish you with the momentum to be able to soar on your own two wings.

Your home is undoubtedly the most valuable asset for the vast majority of us and selling it will cost thousands. Using the money saving tips in this article should reduce the cost of moving home.

Estate Agent fees vary, so shopping around and don’t forget to haggle and pay one off against the other. You should aim for 1% commission, also push then to limit the tie-in period to no more than 6 weeks, this gives then enough time to sell the house, but if they can’t you can move to another agent without going “multi-agent” which will increase the fee to about 3%+, a big no-no! Ensure you get a fair valuation, never tell an estate agent what other agencies have valued your house at. They will use this to manipulate its offer, often resulting in wide distortions. 

It is false economy to go for the cheapest solicitors, so get recommendations from all the estate agents you speak to and remember to ask for the name of specific people, rather than just the legal firms. Give them a call and ask what their charges are, also note whether they are they friendly, helpful, and most important efficient? Fees are negotiable so haggle! Play off each one against the other to get yourself the best service at the best price.

Selling you house privately can save thousands. One in twenty vendors are now taking the DIY route which could save you thousands. That is a massive money saving tip, but there are a couple of downsides, basically “time and effort”. You could consider newspaper advertising, flyers and signs. Newspapers usually charge per line or per word so try to keep your advert as brief as possible without making it uninteresting. The simplest way would to sell your house yourself is to use one of the many online house selling service.

Obviously it is best to sell your house when the market is strong and demand is high, so keep an eye on the local property market. Generally, the market tends to be stronger in early and late summer than the rest of the year, so aim to sell your house then. Also avoid completing with your neighbours so if there are already a few “For Sale” signs on your street, it might be better to wait a bit.

Research has shown that a poor presented house can take longer to sell and may reduce the price by thousands. So get your paint brushes out, give your home a lick of paint and finish all of those DIY jobs which are outstanding. Also talk to the estate agent about adding value to your property it maybe worth spending a bit of cash to make some more. However, be careful not to over spend, you might not get your money back, so talk all planned improvements through with your estate agent.

If you are determined to save money when selling your home, do some more research, as they say knowledge is power. Websites such as <a href=”http://www.maxxsave.co.uk”>Maxxsave</a> specialise in offering <a href=”http://www.maxxsave.co.uk”>Money saving tips</a>, a brief browse around such sites will allow you to get all the information you need to save you a ton of money.

Most people have heard of trading, like the New York Stock Exchange, and Forex trading isn’t far off from that.

Most people have heard of trading, like the New York Stock Exchange, and Forex trading isn’t far off from that. The difference is, is that Forex trading is the trading of currencies, not stocks. It also has a larger volume than stock and bond markets combined! As with stocks, it is a high-risk investment, but it can also have an extremely high return, easily doubling investments in minutes.

The best part about Forex trading, is that it is done using a margin. That is, you don’t need the full amount to buy a currency. A Forex trader can buy $100,000.00 with just $1,000.00. This allows traders to make huge profits with minimal investment. And the Forex market is open to all types of investors, not just big organizations, and banks.

The best place for an investor to start when considering the Forex market, is the Forex community. Research is key to understanding Forex trading. Consulting Forex forums and community boards can be extremely beneficial.

The next thing to do would be to choose a system. A system, is a specially designed method, software, or course developed by professional in Forex trading. There are many systems out there, so research must be dome to make sure the system fits your needs. Before purchasing a system, you should ask them a few questions like, how long have they been in this business, and and if there is a trial version available. Make sure that they have customer testimonials too.

By going to Forex forums, and chat rooms, one might be able to find out what system others are using, or what systems are recommended most. Most professional traders believe that having a trading system is an important factor in establishing a stable revenue in the forex market. Systems tell investors when, and what, should be done in each trading situation.

Another thing that an investor will need is a broker, to assist with transactions. There’s a wide variety of brokers, so be prepared with questions about their credentials. Ask them about their leverage, and their spread. As these are both determining factors in how much money the investor can make with each investment. The investor may also choose to handle transactions themselves.

An investor also needs to master analysis, and form a strategy, to get a competitive edge, and improve their odds. They need to learn to recognize the different factors that affect the Forex market. A person has a much better chance of success at trading forex, if they do their research, and know what to look for. And, in conclusion, it doesn’t matter if a person is experienced or a beginner in the world of Forex!

Some Information To Help Prevent You From Getting Into Too Much Debt

Too much debt is what too many of you know about right? Yes, debt can be a killer when it comes to trying to make it financially, in this difficult world that we live in. Making smart choices and being knowledgeable about earning money, saving money, investing money and not getting into too much debt, are important issues of interest that should be noticed much more than they are by many.

Throughout this article I want to discuss with you all some helpful information that could potentially help to prevent you from getting into too much debt early on in your adult life. Many people who are just coming out of high school or college often make the same mistake, they rush right into too many different things that they can not afford to pay for, so they finance or charge it all!

Doing this is what starts this terrible and sometimes painful cycle that is not going to do anything except cause you stress and struggle all throughout life. Knowing and understanding just how serious of a problem this can be is very important and finding out this kind of stuff early on in life can really be very helpful and can save you a great deal of heartache later on in life, when you are working on paying off many of your debts that you have collected over the years, for one thing or another.

Debt can destroy any persons life, so no matter how much money you have or do not have, be aware that without even realizing it quickly enough, debt can begin piling up, and start eating you alive. It is not something that many of us ever plan on having to deal with but unfortunately throughout life, some things do tend to happen that we just simply can not control and often times that unfortunate incident can cost you a substantial amount of money, money that you or nobody else can ever really afford.

It is so very important for everyone to understand early on in life just how difficult your adulthood can be because of uncontrollably rising debts each month. This is why you should always be aware of the fact that it can indeed happen to you, just as with anyone else that you know and if you are aware of all the risks surrounding you then you should most definitely be more prepared in knowing just what to do when and if that time does ever come for you, at any unexpected moment throughout the duration of your life.

Do not let debt be your controller, you control all of your actions and try and be as responsible as ever, whenever it comes to how much and what you decide to spend your hard earned cash on. Knowledge of your financial standing at all times, along with some good judgment, when it comes to spending those finances, will help to ensure that debt crisis’s will never be a part of your life.

This article will teach you the basics of starting your first internet business. You’ll be introduced to some very useful products and services. You can also use this as a checklist to help stay focused and make it easier to set up and improve your internet business.

This article will teach you the basics of starting your first internet business. You’ll be introduced to some very useful products and services. You can also use this as a checklist to help stay focused and make it easier to set up and improve your internet business.

1) ‘Find a Market’ – Find a market before you decide on a product. If you pick a product first then find out later there isn’t a market for it, you will have wasted a lot of time and money. So be sure to look for the market first. Also try to find an area that inspires or excites you. If you find your passion then it’ll be easier to stay motivated when building your business. Use Google to search different keywords. Try searching with Yahoo to see what else is selling. Check eBay for all their different categories. And use ClickBank to look for interesting markets. When you locate a market and find out what people want, all you’ll have to do is sell it to them. After your first internet project is up and running, and is profitable, then you may want to start looking for your next market. Remember it’s very easy to jump from one project to the next before the first one is finished. So try to find a market or project that you really like and stay with it until its making money.

2) ‘Find a Product’ – After finding a market you’ll need to find a product to sell. You could search the internet to see what other people are selling to get some ideas. Or buy resale rights to a product. Maybe you can sell an affiliate product. Remember you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Find a product someone else is selling and make it a little better, different, lower in price, or add a bonus whenever someone buys from you. If you choose to sell digital products you will find many extra benefits such as: no shipping or handling, low start up cost, your profit margin will be close to 100%, your customer will get their product right away. And a lot of it can be set up automatically so there’s less work for you. Make sure to take full advantage of the automation possibilities of the internet.

3) ‘Get a Domain Name’ – You’ll want to have your own domain name. Try to think of a few different names because your first choices may not be available. Choose a short name and it will be easier for people to remember. If possible get domain names ending with .com or .co.uk. You should also try to get a name to match your product. And maybe use keywords in your domain name to get a better listing on search engines.

4) ‘Hosting Companies’ – The purpose of hosting company is to keep your website running properly. They will make sure everything is working properly so your customers can navigate through it and buy your product or service. This is a very important responsibility. If your website isn’t working properly or not at all then you are losing money. You may find some free hosting companies, but you really do get what you pay for. So it may be better to use a paid hosting company.

5) ‘Create a Website’ – Create a website so your customers can buy your products 24 hour a day. You will be competing with lots of other website’s so try to make yours unique. If your site takes a long time to download your potential customers will go somewhere else. Graphics are nice to look at but slow to download so have more text and less graphic. Remember its words that sell products. To get ideas for you website search the web and look for sites that you like. Make sure your website is easy to navigate. And if you are short on time and have the money you could hire a professional to build your site. Or if you want to save money you could do it yourself.

6) ‘Payment Processor’- To collect money for your products you will need a payment processor. Make sure that you accept credit cards because most transactions will be made with them. You should also consider other options as well, like accepting cheques and postal orders. And you may want to use PayPal. The more ways you can collect money the more sales you’ll make. And if you’re selling a digital product you may want to use ClickBank.

7) ‘Auto responder’ – If you want to make your internet business easier, then you’ll want to automate as much as possible by using auto responders. You can automate a lot of your every day business tasks leaving more time for you to concentrate on more important things. Here are a few examples: send out email advertisements to everyone on your list at predetermined intervals. Automate the delivery of several different mini courses all at once. Send out sequential emails automatically whenever someone buys one of your products. Have all of your digital products sent out automatically. And with auto responders you can collect names and email addresses and add them to your list of customers and much, much more.

‘Free Advertising’ – This may be a good way to start out if you are limited on funds. But this will be slower than paid advertising and will take a lot more time. And time is money so figure out how much you’re worth and monitor your time. If you are spending a lot of time with free advertising and not getting the results you like, then you may want to try something else. Keep in mind when using free advertising someone else may also place their ad with yours and this is not very professional. Also when you join these free advertising lists it usually means everyone on that list can send free advertising to you. So you may get a lot of unwanted emails.

9) ‘Paid Advertising’ – You may get better results with paid advertising. And at first you may think blasting your ad to as many people as possible will make you the most money. But this really isn’t a good idea for a couple of reasons. First a lot of people won’t have an interest in your product so they’ll probably not even read your ad. And second you may be accused of spamming which is something you never want to do. So always try placing ads with your specific targeted group. And always test your results to make sure that its cost efficient.

10) ‘Collect a List’ – This gets 5 stars. Start collecting your list of names and email addresses as soon as possible, add to your list often, and cherish your list because it will make you money over and over again. Whenever you need extra money you can send an email promoting a product to your list. So you’ll want to collect names and emails addresses by offering free e-books or a mini course, by having them join your newsletter and of course whenever they buy your great product.

And remember to always invest in yourself. Invest your money for quality information that will help expand your business, and invest your time to thoroughly read the information.

While paper-based investments and real estate are vulnerable to effects of changing times, gold soars. A precious metals investment may save a portfolio when all else fails.

Invest your money and buy gold

The old Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”, has particular relevance to the current epoch of U.S. history. There’s a lot going on right now, much of it scary. Major investors around the world are responding to the events of our perilous age by sinking their dollars, deutschmarks and yen into gold, silver and palladium; Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and billionaire speculator George Soros to name but a few. Big financial institutions like the Central Banks of Russia and China are also leaping onto the metals bandwagon driving the price of these precious commodities ever higher.


This is spurring a gold rush not witnessed since the Misery Index years of the 1970s. Many financial experts now view gold in particular as an island of stability in a paper-based investment market growing stormier all the time, a development that bodes well for everyday folks who want to shore up their retirement accounts with a precious metals hedge.


“People the world over are losing faith in politicians, and currencies,” says Marc Lubaszka, President/CEO, World Financial, a highly successful investment firm specializing in precious metals based in Studio City, Calif. “This has resulted in a flight to gold and other precious metals, a storehouse of value for more than five thousand years. Investors are taking their money out of paper assets, and putting it where it is likely to earn a better return in uncertain times.”


Old Reliables Unreliable
Investments once considered as stable as granite are rapidly losing ground, Lubaszka explains. Real estate is but one example. Long praised as a slam-dunk by money gurus, home-buying is no longer viewed as a hurdle-free path to profit. Stratospheric pricing and higher interest rates are putting intolerable pressure on the current housing bubble, factors bound to bust the suds sooner or later and drive the overheated real estate market into deepfreeze.


“The housing bubble will burst rather than gradually deflate, following the rapid and violent pattern of decline of nearly every financial bubble throughout history,” Lubaszka says. “Higher interest rates negatively impact not only the health of the housing market but other economic segments as well. The stock market takes a hit because higher rates make it more costly for companies to pay for debt. Higher rates hurt corporate profit margins and reduce stock value, bad news given the deep debt situation so many companies are in today.”


Paper is Passé
According to Lubaszka, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 80% of its original value since the early 70’s when we went to a floating currency, a situation not helped very much by the debut of the Euro in the late 1990s. Unlike American dollars, a portion of the Euro is gold-backed, a stability feature that has helped it outperform the dollar over the long haul. It is for this reason that many foreign investors have been taking money out of U.S. dollars and putting it into gold and oil instead, one explanation for why the price of both has continued to rise in recent months.


“Gold prices are climbing right now because the Federal Reserve is printing dollars in flood proportions to keep the real estate market afloat,” adds Richard Russell, editor Dow Theory Letters, a stock market trends and securities report published since 1946. “This is creating inflation, which erodes purchasing power. All the world’s central banks are inflating right now, reducing confidence in paper globally and encouraging gold-buying. India and China are spurring gold prices as well. India is the world’s largest gold-consumer, and the Chinese government is actively encouraging its citizens to buy gold.”


All are extremely encouraging signs for gold investors. Over the course of the past 35 years, gold has climbed in value from a modest $35 an ounce to nearly $600. Contrast that with the battered U.S. dollar, a currency currently worth only 20% of its value in 1970.


“When gold peaked-out in the 1970s, interest rates were at an all-time high,” Lubaszka says. “Right now we’re waiting to feel the effects of the last 9 interest rate increases which generally take 6-9 months to begin impacting the economy.  Now’s the time to buy gold because when rates go up, downward pressure is exerted on real estate, stocks and bonds and commodities like gold tend to increase. The opposite occurs when rates travel from a high to a low. That’s the time to reduce gold assets and increase the paper part of a portfolio.”


Buy Without Getting Burned
Michelle Henderson, a talent agency owner in Los Angeles, Calif. understands the stakes when it comes to investing. “As an agent I work in a commission-based world, and have to invest in both people and ideas all the time,” she says. “Though I’d had bad experiences with stock investments in the past, I knew I would eventually find something that would work for me.  I invested in a diversified metals portfolio made up of palladium, silver and gold, and earned a profit of 38% with the palladium alone. Staying focused on making money, and following World Financials advice, I was able to earn an above-average return and greatly increase the overall value of my assets safely.”


Lubaszka explain, “It’s probably best for the first time investor to begin conservatively by purchasing physical metals instead of gold stocks, which can be very volatile”. According to Clearwater, Fla.-based talk show host and gold analyst, Tom O’Brien, when metals gain 20%, gold equities jump by fifty or sixty per cent. That’s great when it happens but the reverse can occur as well.


Buy gold bars or coins, and put them in a safety deposit box. If you chose to purchase coins from a coin shop, make certain you pay the lowest price possible and that they have a buy back policy. If you elect to go with a broker, fees will be inevitable because you are purchasing a tangible commodity.


There are brokers, and then there are brokers. The best of the breed will answer all questions, and make the process of first-time gold buying less nerve-wracking. Great brokers are also accessible when needed, and quick to call with any new information that affects the value of the investment.


Work with established companies, five years in business is good, ten even better. Don’t bother with firms that badger you with telemarketing offers or apply high-pressure sales tactics. Avoid paying high commissions too. Some brokers have layers of fees, through which they earn more money then they do investing on behalf of customers. There are also companies out there that will not buy metal back. Stay away from them as well.


“Check references and Better Business Bureau ratings”, Lubaszka adds. “Deal with a company that takes an active interest in doing business with you. World Financial, for example, offers a five-star customer satisfaction guarantee. If questions are not answered or we fail to respond to a prospect’s call or email within 24 hours, that person receives a one ounce silver American Eagle coin free of charge. A financial advisor’s job is to ease the investment process, and to insure that customers get the most for their money. Good advisers are merely good, but the best are worth their weight in gold.”


To contact World Financial directly call 818.264.4085.  World Financial is the premiere provider of precious metals to investors nationwide.  Aside from offering numerous incentive programs, World Financial offers clients the right type of precious metal strategy for every investor’s needs.  They are located at 12198 Ventura Blvd Ste 200, Studio City CA, 91604.

Real Estate Investment Secrets

Discover the Jealously Guarded Insights of Real Estate Tycoons and Hot Dealers!

Contents:
20 Pages

Description:Most investors are not interested in investing in urban real estate. This means that there is a wide open opportunity for those who ARE interested in investing in urban real estate. You will likely hear umpteen reasons why you should NOT invest in urban real estate so let me give you a few good reasons why you SHOULD invest in urban real estate.

You see, the point of having a strategy for profiting from the purchase of any piece of real estate must be your first decision because everything that comes after that is dependent upon it.

All is revealed in Real Estate Investment Secrets – with each page is packed with solid ‘how to’ secret to becoming the next Real Estate Tycoon in your area of dominance!

>> Download Here <<

Real estate investing is always good and sometimes it’s red hot. When it’s hot dozens of real estate seminars begin rolling across the country and thousands of people spend thousands of dollars for investing education.


It’s startling to learn that of all those thousands of eager folks who attend these seminars only about 5% buy even one investment house. Why? The real estate gurus sell the “sizzle” and make profiting from real estate sound easy. The truth is that it’s simple, but not easy.


Here’s a quick plan that will enable anyone to begin building financial independence.


There are basically four steps to investing in single family homes:


1. Buy homes below full market value. Yes, people really do sell homes for less than the home’s full value. The key is to understand that most home owners will only consider a purchase offer that is all cash and within 5% to 10% of their asking price.


The successful investor learns to find financially distressed home owners who have no choice but to sell for less than market value. They have lost their job or been suddenly transferred; they are divorcing; they been living beyond their income; the family has been overwhelmed with medical bills and, not uncommonly these days, their money has gone to support a drug habit.


Those are examples of motivated sellers. They have to sell and they will accept something other than a conventional, all cash offer.


2. How do you find motivated sellers? You work at it! Like any business it is important to develop a little marketing plan. One that is simple, yet very effective, is the one that was proven 75 years ago by the Fuller Brush company; door to door sales.


You are selling your skill as a home buyer to people who must sell. Your are there when they need you and you have the skill to help them solve at least part of their problem. With door to door prospecting you will learn more and buy more homes quicker than any other method. However, most people just won’t walk door to door for three or four hours per week. OK, there are other ways.


You can watch public notices for the announcement of foreclosure sales. Meeting with a home owner right after they’ve received a notice that they are about to lose their home allows you to deal with a very motivated seller. Other public notices that provide buying opportunities include probate, divorce and bankruptcy. You can follow the Homes For Sale listings in your local newspaper or Internet site.


You can telephone the names found in these notices or, and this is the least time consuming, send a postcard expressing your interest in buying their property. It will produce buying opportunities, just not as many as personal contact.


3. After you’ve found a motivated seller you must understand how to frame offers that provide benefits for both you and for the home owner. A good real estate investor quickly learns that this is not a business of stealing property, but of solving problems in a way that benefits the seller.


The home owner is in a tight spot of some kind and you can save them from public embarrassment and, in most cases, give them at least a little cash to get a new start.


No investor can afford to leave cash in every deal. No one but Bill Gates has that much available money. You must use creative techniques like, leases, option and taking over mortgage payments. Little or no cash is needed for those deals. You can find plenty of reasonable priced educational material on those subjects in book stores or on EBay. The same education that seminars sell for thousands of dollars.


4. You make your profit when you buy! Never make a purchase until you’ve carefully determined exactly how you will get to your profit. If you hold it as a long term investment will the monthly rental income more than cover the monthly mortgage payment? Will you sell the deal to another investor for fast cash? Will you do some fix-up and sell the property for full value? Will you quickly trade it for a more desirable property? Have a plan before you buy.


There you have four steps that even a part-time investor can execute in three to four hours per week. What’s the missing ingredient? Your determination and perseverance. If you will unfailingly follow the plan for a few months you will be well on your way to financial independence.

The internet is wealth creating resource. It has made millionaires of countless individuals who have found ways of providing products/services via the internet. This site is for e-marketers and future or home-based business owners. Here you’ll find ways to make money on the internet as well as work-at-home resources to help get you started. First, let’s start with the most common ways of making money online. Below are the 6 most common ways used today to earn income on the net:

Buying and Reselling/Ebay
Drop-shipping
E-trading
MLM (Multilevel Marketing) and Direct Selling
Affiliate/Referral Programs
“Out of the box”

1. E-bay Selling – Buying and selling products is one the most common ways of making money online. It can be very profitable if you find, make or channel a product that is in demand for example: e-books/information, electronics, furniture, office supplies, apparel, etc. The key is to out-think the competition, since the creation of the Ebay phenomenon thousands of sellers have monetized on the opportunity. It’s important to find a product that you’re familiar with in order to be an effective seller; for example, don’t sell computers if you don’t know what “processor speed” is, you’ll just set yourself up for failure. If your having trouble finding a product try going to WWB, they offer products as well as information/ tools on how to find niche products and sell them on Ebay. You can also go to the Ebaystore to set up an inexpensive storefront if you don’t want to build your own.

Drawbacks to Ebay selling are:

Finding/making a profitable product
Can be time consuming (Plan to spend 20-30 hrs/week)
Very competitive market

2. Drop-ship- Drop-shipping is very similar- however the advantage to drop-shipping is that you don’t have to worry about moving the products yourself. With drop-shipping you’re really working as a third party in the sense that you find vendor’s who’ll drop-ship, and when you make a sale, they deliver the products directly to the customer for you-thus, no inventory or overhead costs? It can also save you the money and hassle of running to UPS every month to send/receive shipments. Another perk is that you don’t have to buy the product before you sell it! You simply take the order and give it to the manufacturer for shipping, and you receive a check, without having bought a thing. I know I make this sound pretty easy but in fact it takes an adequate amount of information gathering in order find hot products. The first thing you will need to obtain is a drop-ship directory in order to find vendors who drop-ship, it will cost you anywhere from £35-£60, but the money you spend will more than pay you back in safety and time. The only source I recommend for directories is WorldWide again because their the only vendor directory provider that’s Ebay certified-there’s a lot of fakes out their posing as drop-ship providers who are really just “middlemen” trying to collect a commission.

Drawbacks to drop-shipping are:

It can be extremely time-consuming finding reputable vendors with profitable products that will work with drop-shippers.
Backorders and returns can be a headache if you’re with a bad vendor.

3. E-trading is a trend growing more in popularity everyday. Right now the biggest e-trading market is Forex (Foreign Exchange Market) which has a higher turnover rate than the U.S. equity market. Foreign currency trading is a VERY lucrative market and involves simultaneously buying and selling currency online. Transactions take place OTC (Over the Counter) or via internet/phone, as there is no centralized location for trade such as with the stock or futures markets. Not only does Forex offer trading tutorials and conferences for you to learn to trade, but they also allow novice traders to get a taste of the market by allowing you to begin trading with as little as a £15 investment. Forex trading time is short in nature as it does not require long periods of holding before trading as with stocks or bonds. Actually 85% of all currency transactions last around a week or less. A great benefit of trading with Forex is that you aren’t charged commissions or exchange fees. They also offer “real time” price quotes. Go over to Forex.com to get more information about the currency trading market and how to get started.

Drawbacks:

Plan to have an investment of at least £150 to see the big bucks.
The market can be very sporadic and due to the short term nature you will need to stay informed (daily, even hourly) of trends and economic changes that will cause value fluctuation.

4. MLM and Direct Selling business opportunities in my opinion are the most misrepresented and underestimated income opportunities on the web. Most of this is due to false and misleading claims about products/services and income potential made by shady distributors and sales associates. Multi-Level Marketing or (MLM) companies are organizations that provide a product or service and market it by “word of mouth” advertising or paying independent distributors to sell the products as oppose to paid advertising i.e., radio, TV, newspaper. These distributors sell the products and receive commissions; however the majority of the money is made by “referring” or bringing in more distributors, who then bring in more distributors, and so on. The key to these businesses is to find established and legit companies with good commission structures and not spend time and money on small, “fly by night” corporations. Direct Selling is really in essence MLM (even though they try hard to distinguish themselves) except the products that are usually sold are “higher ticket” or more expensive products. Direct selling allows you to make more money with fewer recruits because you have higher commissions. Both of these opportunities are for people who desire and motivation to “run their own business”, because once you recruit people in under you, you have to teach them how to do the same, it’s called the process of “duplication” which involves duplicating the work habits of successful individuals and teaching others to do the same. Income is unlimited and residual, so even when you retire from the business (realistically anywhere from 2-4 years) you’ll still receive checks! An initial investment is required for both opportunities in order to purchase the products and/or start-up kit so if your not looking to invest anywhere between £30-£150 for an MLM or at least £350-1.5k for Direct Selling maybe these businesses aren’t for you.

Drawbacks:

With so many un-established companies on the internet its hard to discern what companies are paying real people real money, so do your research before pulling out your credit card.
There is a high drop out rate in MLM’s due to lack of adequate training from the recruiter/upline and or motivation on the recruits part, so choose your upline carefully because some members will recruit you then leave you on the corner.
Direct selling is bit more challenging due to the type of products/services being offered. It’s more challenging to sell due to the fact that a lot of people who are looking for a business are doing so because cash is tight, so most of them don’t have a grand to invest in order to start (believe me I know).

5. Last but not least we have Affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are perfect for people who don’t want to sell their own product, don’t want to talk to people on the phone or in person, and/or don’t want to spend a lot of money. An affiliate is someone who advertises a company’s services/products on their site by placing banners/ads of the company’s site on their website. When the organization makes a sale from your website link, and in some cases even a referral from the affiliate’s site, the affiliate receives a commission. Affiliate marketing is inexpensive to start because 99% of the companies don’t charge you to become an affiliate, and why should they? I mean after all you’re bringing them visitors, which turns into more sales revenue. You don’t have to have your own site to be an affiliate, but it is necessary if you’re looking to attract more visitors and make more money. The key is joining a good handful of affiliate programs so that you can create multiple streams of income, that’s how top affiliates earn thousands/week.

Drawbacks:

It can be challenging finding quality affiliate programs to join. Many companies claim to “have the best” program.
If you don’t have traffic, what’s the point? It’s better if you actually KNOW HOW to bring traffic to websites. Many affiliates make money due to the fact that they don’t know how to market their programs.

Not enough??? Well try thinking out of the box. Most successful online marketers created income by simply finding a need or a solution for a product/service. For example, while vacationing in Colorado a few years ago I came across a guy who’d made millions simply by creating a website/lead capture page that surveyed people who were searching for real estate. The page, he stated, basically was a questionnaire collecting information about their requirements: price range, number of rooms, location, etc. After receiving the information from the site, he then sold their information as leads to mortgage companies and real estate agents in those local areas! This can be a very profitable business venture because real estate agents are always on the hunt for warm leads. You can even apply this to any other business where leads are sought after.

Don’t let drawbacks discourage you!! All of these strategies are viable and the most commonly used ways to make money online. You just have to have believe that you can be successful-besides what business doesn’t have its drawbacks? See you at the top!!!

Commercial Real Estate refers to the property that has potential to generate extra income for the owner of real estate. Commercial real estate generally includes office buildings, retail properties, apartment units, condos and raw land. Every property that can produce revenue for the owner is known as commercial real estate. It doesn’t include habitable real estate like houses or apartment buildings.


Commercial Millions – Commercial Real Estate Investing …





In 21st century, large number of people is generating income with commercial real estate. Commercial real estate business is based on certain principles. These principles are generally same for property owner, developer as well as for commercial real estate agent. Commercial real estate agent helps you to identify the best features of commercial real estate agent. Real estate agent enables you to make a finest deal of commercial real estate. Commercial estate agent is helpful to both buyers as well as tenants.


You should choose best commercial real estate as per your requirements. Choose your property at best location that has great future. Commercial real estate at good location will offer more benefits in the coming days. You’ve to choose finest piece of land that you can use efficiently. You may select commercial real estate nearby high traffic areas that can be easily used for full-service restaurants, hotels, stores or other shopping malls.


Investment in commercial real estate business is the best way to get more revenues. Always keep in mind that a right time investment is the best opportunity to earn more profits. You should consult financial advisors that will provide help to find the best commercial real estate. Investment in commercial real estate is good for large as well as small-scale businessmen.


Buyers should check the reputation of commercial real estate provider. Before any type of agreement or purchase, they should check rate, terms & conditions, and other essential aspects of commercial real estate for the best deal.

There are many ways to buy a home, even if you have bad credit and little or no money to put down. A few of the basics are sweat equity, seller carry-back, rent-to-own, and community programs.

There are many ways to buy a home, even if you have little or no money to put down. Here are a few of the basics:

1. Sweat Equity

Sweat Equity is a way to get a home by trading work for equity in the house. This could be used for a down payment or for purchase later. This is a great technique if you are handy with tools, yard-work, and paint.

Look for fixer-uppers in neighborhoods you are interested in. Many times these homes will have a hard time selling and the owner is ready for just about any offer. You will find these houses ranging from just needing a little “cosmetic” work like landscaping or painting, to totally trashed out houses in need of some serious renovation. If you are into repairs, this is a great way to get a home for a good deal.

If you are not skilled at repairs and renovation, be careful about fixer-upper homes. They could end up costing you quite a large amount of money to pay others to fix.

I also recommend getting a home inspection so that you know what exactly you are in for before you begin.

2. Seller Carry-Back

Look for a home with an assumable loan. Instead of buying out the owner’s equity, ask the seller to carry back a second mortgage for the rest of the money owed. If you can get the seller to carry all of the rest, you can get the home for no money down.

3. Offer an Object for the Down Payment

Offer something other than cash (land, a car, a boat, or valuable collectibles) to the seller instead of a cash down payment. This is why it is important to listen to sellers. Find out what they want and need. Maybe you have (or can get) just what they need. For instance maybe they wanted to use the down-payment to buy an RV and it turns out that you just happen to have one you don’t need. Offer that vehicle as a down-payment, and it saves you from coming up with the cash.

4. Offer Services for the Down Payment

Offer your services or expertise to the seller in lieu of a down payment. Some examples include $10,000 worth of auto services if you’re a mechanic, dental work if you’re a dentist, desktop publishing services if you’re a designer, artwork if you’re an artist or legal work if you’re an attorney.

5. Foreclosures

Look for foreclosure properties that require little or no down payment. Some lenders and government agencies will let you buy a foreclosure with no down payment if your credit is good and they’re anxious to have the home occupied, or if you have skills (carpentry, landscaping or even painting) that you can use to increase the home’s value. Distressed properties – assume with little or no down to save foreclosure.

6. VA or Other No Money Down Loans

Look for conventional loan programs such as VA or FHA that require little or nothing down. VA loans have helps countless veterans get into their homes. There are often programs available to first time buyers or people who are distressed (such as with Hurricane Katrina) that will help people get into a home with little money down. You usually will have to qualify for the loan with the bank, though.

7. Find an Investment Partner for Equity Sharing

Look for an investment partner who’ll put up some or all of the cash in an equity-sharing partnership. You make the monthly payments and the two of you split the eventual resale profits.

8. Wrap-Around Financing

Wrap-around financing is where you assume a seller’s VA Loan by doing a new Contract for Deed. Since this contract is flexible and does not have to follow the old loan, you can ask the seller to carry not only the loan amount, but the rest of the purchase price of the house, letting you get in with little or no money down.

9. Rent-to-Own or Lease-Option

This is really is one of the best ways to get into a home of your own when you can’t get a bank loan. Remember that you may still have to get a loan down the line. If you have a lease-option for 5 years, at the end of that time, you will need to purchase the house, so you can use the time to fix your credit, or use one of the other options that are discussed in our book to purchase the house at that time. You can always try to negotiate another 5-year lease-option if you need more time.

10. Government and Community Down-payment Programs

There are many community and non-profit organization programs out there to help people get into homes of their own. Many of these do no require any money down.

There are some organizations and programs that will pay for some or all of the down payment for you. Generally these are for lower to moderate-income individuals, but these days that includes a lot of people. You also usually have to be able to qualify for an FHA loan (which is somewhat easier than a conventional bank loan.) If you have been unable to get into a home because you don’t have enough money for a down payment, then maybe one of these programs will be for you.

Offshore investment is an expression heard often, but not necessarily understood by the masses. Here is a breakdown of the definition of the phrase and some generalizations concerning it.


Investing Tips : About Offshore Investment Accounts




First of all, the term “offshore” indicates something being foreign or outside of the domestic territory of one of the G8. The G8 (Group of Eight) refers to the annual summit of the government heads of the eight most prominent nations in the world. These eight nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Offshore investing, or alternative investing, is conducting financial business outside of the investor’s home country, which is usually one of the G8 nations.


By having anything from a foreign bank account or credit cards to more intricate offshore financial dealings, such as trusts and multi-level investments, investors gain access to varieties of international trade.


Many large financial institutions have offices in popular offshore locations to capitalize on the increased interest in this type of investing. Studies calculate that about half of the world’s money is offshore from the location of the money holder. This is largely due to the fact that the primary offshore investors are the world’s wealthiest individuals and corporations.


The number of offshore investors has grown rapidly in recent years due to several factors. First and foremost, the introduction of the world to the Internet has enabled people to gain knowledge and invest outside of their own region. They are no longer intimidated by offshore investing and consider it a possibility because of the instant communication between nations afforded by the Internet.


The ever-expanding diversity of investments has also attracted more buyers. These new types of investments, coupled with the jurisdiction and regulations options available through offshore banking, make it an appealing choice indeed.


With all the options out there, how can investors and brokers make the best decisions regarding their money? The Internet offers a vast source of information regarding offshore investment opportunities and probabilities.


There are also countless financial advisors specializing in international investments. Financial institutions realize the huge business that is in offshore investments and they have made that available to their clients as well by hiring special consultants for this purpose.


Elevated taxes can be a real detraction from the accumulation of profits. The typically lower taxes of smaller countries are the biggest incentive to invest offshore, since the offshore investor is usually wealthy and living in a higher tax area, such as the United States.


Of course, seeking higher returns on their investments is another common motive for people exploring offshore investing. Also at issue is the currency in which to keep the assets, and the strength of that currency rate.


Traditional investment specialists may frown on offshore banking because it is less regulated and less predictable. The risk and unknown factor involved turn some would-be investors off, although many individuals that pursue offshore investments have made their fortunes by taking similar risks elsewhere.


Reasons for choosing to invest offshore are plentiful and may involve more than just taxes and returns. Other considerations include a higher level of confidentiality due to the offshore nation’s government policies or legal protection offered by offshore investment approaches, like trusts and different kinds of corporations.

Learn key tools that will make you a negotiation expert in commercial real estate.

In commercial real estate you are constantly going to be using negotiation skills. Your negotiations skills will be put to use, not only in the process of creating an offer and working to get it accepted, but also with your contacts, brokers, buyers, sellers, engineers, and lenders. In any situation where there are more than two interests, you can rest assured that negotiations must take place in order to satisfy everyone’s goals.

Many people are afraid of negotiation, usually due to lack of experience. Once you begin practicing your skills, it will get easier for you, and may even become fun! Negotiation is filled with tactics and problem solving that are used to yield the best results for each party. Being a good negotiator is very important to this business.

There are different negotiating styles that work for some people, and not others. For example, some find success with a very strong, even intimidating approach in negotiation. I prefer to use a straight forward approach. I am prepared, informed and persuasive. I am confident, as I have anticipated the questions and concerns the other party may have, and will answer them, as needed. This helps me to clearly and confidently negotiate terms. As a result, closing deals is often easy and fun. It is true that different styles should be used in different situations, so study others who negotiate and develop a style that works best for you!

In commercial real estate, as in most businesses, it is best to yield to an agreement that is win-win, meaning both parties are satisfied with the results at some level. If the strongest concerns of each party are addressed and a solution results, the agreement is of mutual benefit to both parties.

If you are not familiar with negotiation, I suggest that you take a class, purchase a book, or find a seminar that covers the basics of negotiation. There are many generic tips and tactics that will sharpen your negotiation abilities, and make it easier for you to get what it is that you want out of an opportunity.

In commercial real estate, there are specific negotiation tactics that can be written into contracts. Many of these tactics require some creativity and are specific to certain situations. Don’t be afraid to get creative; after all, this is where commercial real estate gets really fun! You’ll be surprised how you don’t have to have everything figured out when you put a property under contract!

In commercial real estate, it is always a good idea to write a letter of intent before actually purchasing a property. In residential real estate, a letter of intent is usually not necessary, but in commercial real estate, I consider it a necessity.

The letter of intent should be clear, concise and not in legal format. It should appeal to the owner as a direct, personal letter, explaining your purchasing intentions with the property. Many people put in terms, closing dates, length of due diligence, and so on in the letter of intent. Negotiation can take place here, without any money being permanently spent by the buyer, or a deal completed. It can open a dialogue between you and the buyer, and start negotiations early in the game without anything being set in stone.

Another tactic that can be written into the letter of intent is known as an option contract. This option contract is a good way to investigate the property; you then have time to begin putting together a deal to make sure it is feasible. You can offer a certain amount of money to tie up the property in order to do some initial research, and not even mention closing a deal yet. This is a great option that can allow you to decide to move on with a property and begin negotiating, or simply move on to the next opportunity in a short amount of time. The option can be as simple as 15 days to do some preliminary work with $15,000 at risk. At the end of the 15 days, you may option for a full due diligence period and continue with the purchasing process.

When negotiating an offer, and you still have some questions left unanswered that will be unveiled during the due diligence, you can always write an item subject to or contingent upon the ability for you to do to the property what you intend. For example, if you are purchasing raw land zoned R-1, single family housing, and the broker mentions that the city would be supportive of rezoning the property commercial, which would greatly increase the return on investment, then you could write in the contract that you will purchase the property if you can get the property rezoned to commercial. This is done often, and works with many different variables that could affect the use of the property.

Writing in contingency clauses can be a great way to protect your interest and make sure that you end up with a property set up properly with a favorable exit strategy.

As we all recognize, seller’s have specific needs that need to be met. A buyer may really want to take the opportunity that the property would provide, but realizes that he or she may not be able to satisfy all the needs of the seller up front. A negotiating tactic that would work here would be for the buyer to satisfy the seller’s needs in two or more parts.

The buyer could set up two dates to pay the seller- with money in the beginning, and then money at the end of a certain period. This would allow the buyer to take the profit that he made from the property, and give the seller his money. As long as you satisfy the basic, up front needs of the seller, he or she may be willing to accept these terms, and you are on your way to fulfilling another opportunity!

As there are many other negotiating tactics that you will create to satisfy the requirements to make a solid deal, there is a really great tactic that allows you to continue to invest money into commercial real estate without paying taxes on capital gains! This option was made possible through the Internal Revenue Service tax section 10-31, better known as the 10-31 Exchange. This allows for sellers to use the profit from the sale and reinvest it in another commercial property without paying one cent in taxes! Can’t get much better than this for investors!

There are investors who are strictly involved in 10-31 exchanges, and it is a great way to keep the cash flow moving from one property to another with the benefit of full profits and no taxes. Sometime this tactic is a great choice and should be added to the contract when it can be optimized.

As you can see, the negotiation tactics in commercial real estate are there to protect your interests and maximize results. Be creative with these negotiations, and always be confident when walking into a deal. Be prepared, informed and persuasive. It is also necessary for you to keep your emotions at bay and your ego out of negotiations. You have to be prepared to walk away from any deal that cannot be made to fit your needs.

Always make an effort to sharpen your negotiating skills, and finely tune the tactics you use to increase your bargaining power. Having a few extra “tricks” up your sleeve will enable you to make a deal in your favor and get the results you want.

Ever wondered what you could do with a commercial mortgage? Well, to be quite candid, there is a plethora of ways to make use of a commercial mortgage. Such a mortgage can be used to finance many different types of properties, so let’s take a minute to review these properties. Of course, not all commercial investments are created equal. Some inherently involve more risk than others. As a result, some banks and financial institutions that offer commercial mortgages may or may not offer a product that finances one of the following. As always, it will be up to you to shop around and find a commercial loan broker that offers a commercial mortgage package that fits your needs.

Apartments – Great investment opportunities exist with apartments. Apartments serve as a great form of securitization for a commercial mortgage. They also prove to be great income properties, as apartments that are managed well can bring in positive cash flows at the same time as equity is being created.

Health Care Facilities – A commercial mortgage can also be used to finance health care facilities. Such an investment provided two distinct advantages. First, you are investing in a traditional business that has a growing market and customer base. Second, you are also making an investment in land and facilities that will appreciate over time, creating positive equity for you. Investing in this type of property and business is not so far fetched when you realize just how accessible a commercial mortgage really is.

Industrial – Though industrial spaces are neither glamorous nor thrilling investments, they are certainly valuable. Most lending institutions will offer some sort of commercial mortgage that allows for investment in industrial spaces. Such an investment typically proves to be a solid investment since industries are always growing and this type of space will always be needed.

Manufacturing – If you are interested in expanding your business and increasing your manufacturing capacity, a commercial mortgage may be the way to go. You can use a commercial mortgage to finance the expansion of your manufacturing facilities and thus grow your business in the process.

Warehouse – Not very many businesses can continue to grow and prove successful with no room for inventory. If you find your business is ready to take it to the next level, and you are short on warehouse space a commercial mortgage can help you as well. Many large lending institutions have a commercial mortgage designed to finance warehouse expansion, so don’t hesitate to contact your commercial loan broker today if you are ready to expand.

Retail Structures – Even retailers need financing to build new stores, increase their accessibility, and grow their business. When retailers are ready to fund a new project, they turn to a commercial mortgage as well.

Office Complexes – Office parks and buildings are financed the same way as all the others, with a commercial mortgage. Office complexes also prove to be great investment properties for investors in the real estate market, as the risk of vacancy in office complexes is much less than that of retail spaces.

You might have noticed a trend while you read this list. Indeed, a commercial mortgage can be used to finance just about any kind of commercial property. So when you are in the market for a commercial property, go visit your commercial loan broker.

Bankruptcy does not need to chain you to bad credit for the next seven to ten years. This article outline 5 easy steps to rebuilt your credit after bankruptcy.


Bankruptcy Myths – Bloomberg: Your Money



Bankruptcy often is the last ultimate solution for many debtors who have unbearable debts. With filing a bankruptcy, you will get rid of your debts instantly and relief you from the harassing call of your creditors.


Although bankruptcy has many undesirable consequences such as your bad credit record will remain on your credit report for 7-10 years, but with a little work, you can improve your credit even before these negative records expire. Here are five easy steps you can take to rebuild your credit.


Step 1: Get to know your current credit status
The first step to rebuilding your credit is to look at exactly where you stand. Order all your three credit reports from those three national credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. You can order these reports online, it easy and secure.

Print each report and review it closely. Try to understand the information listed in your credit reports and highlight any negative records or inaccuracies that are damaging your credit score.


Step 2: Check the expiration dates
By law, your bad credit record will remain in your credit report for 7 to 10 years, but the exact expiry date might be different among these 3 reports. Your bad record will still remain at your credit report although you have pay off your old debts and discharge from bankruptcy.


Look up the exact date of each of bad records including judgments, liens, charge-offs, late payments, bankruptcy filings, and collection records. You will likely see a major improvement in your credit score when these records expire.


Step 3: Request For Correct On Any Inaccurate Records
If you find inaccurate records, fraudulent accounts, or records that should have expired on you credit reports, you have the right to send a separate dispute letter to each of the credit bureaus to correct your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion records. The bureaus will initial a 30 days investigation to see whether your requests are valid and if so, they will correct the inaccuracy in your credit report.


Just one note, don't try to dispute any of the positive information listed in your credit reports and it is a waste of time to attempt to dispute these records. Disputing positive information may actually harm your credit scores.


Step 4: Start to create good credits
Since there is no way to remove your bad record from your credit report, the best way to improve your credit score is to add good credits and building up your credit from there. You can easy do this by open up a new credit card from banks like Orchard Bank (Orchard bank has credit card plan designed specially to help people rebuild their credit after bankruptcy).


Use this new credit card responsibly and make the monthly payment timely; with this you are building new history of good credit behavior on your credit report. Over time, you may want to open additional credit card accounts or obtain a loan to boost your credit score even higher.


Step 5: Monitor your progress
Subscribe to a credit card monitoring service or get a credit card monitoring software and use it to track your credit score progress closely. Your credit score should improve steadily as you continue to use credit responsibly and add new positive information to your credit reports.


Summary
Bankruptcy does not need to chain you to bad credit for the next seven to ten years, but you have to be proactive in order to recover and rebuild your credit.

While you might presume anyone with ‘money in offshore accounts’ is involved in some scurrilous business affairs, the truth is that anyone can use this form of investment as a totally legitimate way to defer or reduce your tax payments.


Trillion Stars Presents “Is Offshore Banking Legal?”



Locations for offshore accounts can be held in banks in British waters – the Channel Islands or Isle of Man for example, or you could look further afield to the Republic of Ireland or Luxembourg. As with other investments, there are different ways to send your money abroad, with different levels of risk attached.


Some of the benefits include current accounts with higher levels of interest – check out the high street banks, many of which offer offshore instant access accounts. These are a relatively safe way to invest. There are also ‘notice’ savings accounts which can yield exceptionally high rates of interest.


You may choose to put money into an offshore investment fund, which is similar to the normal onshore type, only you usually find that you pay a performance related fee to your fund manager. This could mean that they have more incentive to make sure your money is working hard for you. Check investment companies like Schroders and Gartmore for this type of fund.


Money funds are a high risk form of investing – your funds will be pooled with those of other investors’ and used to buy international currency at wholesale rates. Your shares will be exposed to the vagaries of international exchange rates, and this can be a nerve-wrackingly unpredictable way to invest abroad.


More and more people are choosing to buy property abroad – whether as future dream retirement home or as profit making venture. In Eastern Europe and the Middle East you can pick up property for remarkably low prices – developments and agencies advertise in the property sections of newspapers, and websites abound. While this could prove a sound long-term way of investing, there are numerous things to take into account – the stability of a country’s economy, complicated legal agreements and the cost of travel to and from the property are major factors.

Different countries operate wildly different property law, and you will need to get sound advice on all the implications before buying abroad. Check things like inheritance law – for example, in France, there are obstacles to simply leaving property to named recipients in your will. If you do buy abroad, you will probably find it useful to open a multi-currency account.

To be a successful real estate investor, you will need a competant team to help you out. We’ve brought together all the people you’ll need to help you with all the issues you’ll face while investing.


There are several important things you need to be successful in real estate investing, one of which is a great team. I’m going to talk briefly about who should be on the winning team:


1. Your Mentor – every successful entrepreneur needs a good mentor. A guide. By training under the watchful eye of one smarter then us, we can only get smarter. Start at your local investment club


2. Mortgage Broker – you want someone who has the experience of working with other investors. They need to be creative and smart!


3. Real Estate Attorney – it is really important to have someone on the team who can go through contracts, and who knows the legalities of all your moves.


4. Escrow Officer(USA) or Property Solicitor(UK) – having a good one on the team helps to close deals that much quicker. You always want people looking out for YOUR interests.


5. Accountant – Preferably a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). Your numbers guy should also be well aware of the ins and outs of real estate. Come tax time, this is the man to help you through the write-offs!


6. Insurance Agent – It is always better having an insurance rep that is looking out for you when things hit the fan.


7. Contractor – The good contractor seems like the hardest one to find, but can often make or break your profit margin. You want someone who gets things done on time and under budget!


8. Supportive Family & Friends – Having the support and backing of loved ones is important in any endeavor.


Other Optional Team Members:


9. Realtor – someone keeping an eye out for you


10. Property Manager – someone to watch over your investments


11. Great Handyman – Someone to take care of the little things that come up on a daily basis.


Assembling the team will not happen overnight, but once together, they will give you the backing and help you’ll need to make your real estate investing dreams come true.

This article is one which looks at the advantages and weaknesses of trading using the hedged, grid trading system to trade volatile markets.





We will look at how money can be made by breaking a number of trading truths or principles; * cut your losses and let your profit run and * there is nothing to gained by entering into buy and sell deals at the same time.


The hedged grid trading system uses the principle that one should be able to cash in at a gain no matter which way the market moves. No stops are therefore required at all. The only way this is logically possible is that one would have a buy and sell active at the same time. Most traders will say that that is trading suicide but let’s take some to look at this more closely.


Let’s say that a trader enters the market with a buy and sell active when a currency is at a level of say 100. The price then moves to 200. The buy will then be positive by 100 and the sell will be negative by 100. At this point we start breaking trading rules. We cash in our positive buy and the gain of 100 goes to our account. The sell is now carrying a loss of -100.


The grid system requires one to make sure that cash in on any movement in the market. To do this one would again enter into a buy and a sell transaction. Now, for convenience, let’s assume that the price moves back to level 100.


The second sell has now gone positive by 100 and the second buy is carrying a loss of -100. According to the rules one would cash the sell in and another 100 will be added to your account. That brings the total cashed in at this point to 200.


Now the first sell that remained active has moved from level 200 where it was -100 to level 100 where it is now breaking even.


The 4 transactions added together now magically show a gain:- 1st buy cashed in +100, 2nd sell cashed in +100, 1st sell now breaking even and the 2nd buy is -100. This gives an overall a gain of 100 in total. We can liquidate all the transactions and have some champagne.


There are many, many other market movements that turn this strange “buy and sell at the same time” activity into gains. These will be covered in future articles and are covered in a free grid trading course which is available at the expert-4x.com website for those traders whose curiosity has been aroused.


There will be more on the hedged grid trading articles to be issued regularly. Please watch this site.

Each one of us does not have the expertise or the time to build and manage an investment portfolio. There is an excellent alternative available – mutual funds.

A mutual fund is an investment intermediary by which people can pool their money and invest it according to a predetermined objective.

What is a Mutual Fund?


Each investor of the mutual fund gets a share of the pool proportionate to the initial investment that he makes. The capital of the mutual fund is divided into shares or units and investors get a number of units proportionate to their investment.

The investment objective of the mutual fund is always decided beforehand. Mutual funds invest in bonds, stocks, money-market instruments, real estate, commodities or other investments or many times a combination of any of these.

The details regarding the funds’ policies, objectives, charges, services etc are all available in the fund’s prospectus and every investor should go through the prospectus before investing in a mutual fund.

The investment decisions for the pool capital are made by a fund manager (or managers). The fund manager decides what securities are to be bought and in what quantity.

The value of units changes with change in aggregate value of the investments made by the mutual fund.

The value of each share or unit of the mutual fund is called NAV (Net Asset Value).

Different funds have different risk – reward profile. A mutual fund that invests in stocks is a greater risk investment than a mutual fund that invests in government bonds. The value of stocks can go down resulting in a loss for the investor, but money invested in bonds is safe (unless the Government defaults – which is rare.) At the same time the greater risk in stocks also presents an opportunity for higher returns. Stocks can go up to any limit, but returns from government bonds are limited to the interest rate offered by the government.

History of Mutual Funds:

The first “pooling of money” for investments was done in 1774. After the 1772-1773 financial crisis, a Dutch merchant Adriaan van Ketwich invited investors to come together to form an investment trust. The goal of the trust was to lower risks involved in investing by providing diversification to the small investors. The funds invested in various European countries such as Austria, Denmark and Spain. The investments were mainly in bonds and equity formed a small portion. The trust was names Eendragt Maakt Magt, which meant “Unity Creates Strength”.

The fund had many features that attracted investors: