Attitude Is Almost Everything

I often play a little game with myself when I have to go shopping; to the post office or on other errands.

Sometimes I will just go about my business and make little comment or eye contact with the person serving me. Other times I will smile and talk to the person. Ask them how they are. Even make a joke!

The difference is incredible. And it is amazing what affect it has on both them and me.

If I take the effort to engage the person in a conversation and make eye contact - almost without exception their face lights up, they smile and are friendly back to me. And best of all, I feel much better.

Instead of it being just a chore, it can make the whole experience more enjoyable. And the only difference is my attitude.

Now what does this have to do with you trading the stock market?

Well, I believe that in trading your success is almost completely determined by your attitude.

If you don’t believe me, play the game I just described.

And then ask yourself, If I can affect my experience so dramatically through a minor change of my attitude in one small area of my life, surely changing my attitude in my trading will have a similar effect.

Just try it.

Look at the stock market with a negative attitude [such as the market is out to get me!. And then review the same information with the view that the market is a wonderful source of financial freedom.

Do you notice a difference?

Do you think the second view is more helpful? Do you think it might give you greater confidence and motivation? And less fear?

Now don’t get me wrong.

I am not saying that positive thinking is all you need for success. Clearly you need the necessary skills and experience to achieve anything in any area of your life.

But having the right attitude and beliefs is absolutely crucial. Because it is this that determines which actions you will take. And when.

You see the reality is that, without a positive attitude, you cannot be come a successful trader. Period. No question.

So give it a go.

Have a look at your attitudes to the stock market and trading and see if they need review.

What have you got to lose? Maybe just some limiting beliefs and attitudes that are restricting your success.

And by the way - try my little game some time!

Be nice to a cashier or a waiter or a bus driver and see what happens. Maybe even try it on someone close to you!

You will be amazed. And so will they!

David Chandler

Ordinary People Making Extraordinary Profits!

For free mini-course on stock and options trading click the following link: http://www.StockMarketGenie.com

Or visit our blog at: http://stockmarketgenie.blogspot.com/

The above comments are offered for educational purposes only. We are not providing you with financial advice. We are simply sharing with you what has and hasn’t worked for us personally. If you wish to trade or invest in the stock market you should obtain advice from a registered licensed advisor.

10 August

Mutual Funds A Secure Investment

Mutual funds are a collection of stocks and/or bonds invested in different securities, which include fixed market securities and money market instrumentals. It facilitates investors to put their money under an efficient investment management. There are three types of mutual funds namely, income funds, growth funds, and balanced funds.

The basic principle underlying mutual funds is to pool in money with other people to convert it into funds. Mutual funds generally buy shares in stocks wherein an experienced fund manager performs the task of selecting, purchasing and selling off the stocks himself. Certificates are then issued to the shareholders as a testimony of proof of their partnership and participation in the emoluments of funds.

There are particularly three ways in which you can make money from a mutual fund. They are:

1. Benefits can be earned from the commission on stocks, and interests on bonds. All the income received all round the year is paid by the funds in the form of a distribution.
2. The fund will have an outstanding benefit provided the funds sell high priced securities. Most of the profits are given back to the investors in a distribution.
3. The value of the fund?s share automatically increases with an increase in the value of unsold high priced fund holdings. Accordingly, you can always sell shares of your mutual fund for profits.

Many people find investing in mutual funds an attractive option to that of dealing directly with the stock market because it is comparatively safe. In fact, these days, mutual funds have become the first preference of many investors. Mutual funds provide a balanced and better approach compared to conventional stock market alternatives. It has an added advantage of investing in several distinct sectors and firms, so, if one company suffers losses, the others may be rising. Investing in mutual funds, therefore, minimizes the loss-bearing risk of monetary assets.

In a nutshell, here are the salient points of the advantages of mutual funds:

1. Cost-effectiveness of investing in mutual funds: The main advantage of investing in mutual funds is the efficient management of your finances. Investors buy funds because they lack the competence and time to manage their own portfolio. It is a cost effective method, especially for a small investor because it is expensive to get a manager to manage individual investments.

2. Diversification: Compared to individual stocks or bonds, mutual funds diversify the risk of bearing loss. The basic intention being to invest in a diverse number of assets in order to overcome the negatives of loss making stocks or bonds by the profits reaped by others.

3. Economy of Scale: The transaction expenses are relatively low as a mutual fund is bought and sold in large amounts of credits.

4. Liquidity: Mutual funds provide the opportunity of converting shares into cash at any point of time.

5. Simplicity: It is easy to buy a mutual fund. Most companies have their own automatic purchase plans, and the minimum investment rates are very small.

Therefore, investing in mutual funds is certainly a secure investment as the chance of loss is spread out, and the opportunity for gains are numerous. At the same time, it is both cost-effective and an investment that gives great future returns.

The days of depending on government largesse in meeting old age financial requirements are growing dimmer by the day. Hence, investing in mutual funds can be a wise choice, especially for those who plan for an early retirement and hope to enjoy a secure senior citizenship.

Joe Kenny writes for the UK Loans Store offering UK secured loans and offer more information on UK bad credit loans and other loan topics available on site.
Visit Today: http://www.ukpersonalloanstore.co.uk.

5 August

Basics Of Stock Market

Financial markets provide their participants with the most favorable conditions for purchase/sale of financial instruments they have inside. Their major functions are: guaranteeing liquidity, forming assets prices within establishing proposition and demand and decreasing of operational expenses, incurred by the participants of the market.

Financial market comprises variety of instruments, hence its functioning totally depends on instruments held. Usually it can be classified according to the type of financial instruments and according to the terms of instruments? paying-off.

From the point of different types of instruments held the market can be divided into the one of promissory notes and the one of securities (stock market). The first one contains promissory instruments with the right for its owners to get some fixed amount of money in future and is called the market of promissory notes, while the latter binds the issuer to pay a certain amount of money according to the return received after paying-off all the promissory notes and is called stock market. There are also types of securities referring to both categories as, e.g., preference shares and converted bonds. They are also called the instruments with fixed return.

Another classification is due to paying-off terms of instruments. These are: market of assets with high liquidity (money market) and market of capital. The first one refers to the market of short-term promissory notes with assets age up to 12 months. The second one refers to the market of long-term promissory notes with instruments age surpasses 12 months. This classification can be referred to the bond market only as its instruments have fixed expiry date, while the stock market?s not.

Now we are turning to the stock market.

As it was mentioned before, ordinary shares? purchasers typically invest their funds into the company-issuer and become its owners. Their weight in the process of making decisions in the company depends on the number of shares he/she possesses. Due to the financial experience of the company, its part in the market and future potential shares can be divided into several groups.

1. Blue Chips

Shares of large companies with a long record of profit growth, annual return over $4 billion, large capitalization and constancy in paying-off dividends are referred to as blue chips.

2. Growth Stocks

Shares of such company grow faster; its managers typically pursue the policy of reinvestment of revenue into further development and modernization of the company. These companies rarely pay dividends and in case they do the dividends are minimal as compared with other companies.

3. Income Stocks

Income stocks are the stocks of companies with high and stable earnings that pay high dividends to the shareholders. The shares of such companies usually use mutual funds in the plans for middle-aged and elderly people.

4. Defensive Stocks

These are the stocks whose prices stay stable when the market declines, do well during recessions and are able to minimize risks. They perform perfect when the market turns sour and are in requisition during economic boom.

These categories are widely spread in mutual funds, thus for better understanding investment process it is useful to keep in mind this division.

Shares can be issued both within the country and abroad. In case a company wants to issue its shares abroad it can use American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). ADRs are usually issued by the American banks and point at shareholders? right to possess the shares of a foreign company under the asset management of a bank. Each ADR signals of one or more shares possession.

When operating with shares, aside of purchase/sale ratio profits, you can also quarterly receive dividends. They depend on: type of share, financial state of the company, shares category etc.

Ordinary shares do not guarantee paying-off dividends. Dividends of a company depend on its profitability and spare cash. Dividends differ from each other as they are to be paid in a different period of time, with the possibility of being higher as well as lower. There are periods when companies do not pay dividends at all, mostly when a company is in a financial distress or in case executives decide to reinvest income into the development of the business. While calculating acceptable share price, dividends are the key factor.

Price of ordinary share is determined by three main factors: annual dividends rate, dividends growth rate and discount rate. The latter is also called a required income rate. The company with the high risks level is expected to have high required income rate. The higher cash flow the higher share prices and versus. This interdependence determines assets value. Below we will touch upon the division of share prices estimating in three possible cases with regard to dividends.

While purchasing shares, aside of risks and dividends analysis, it is absolutely important to examine company carefully as for its profit/loss accounting, balance, cash flows, distribution of profits between its shareholders, managers? and executives? wages etc. Only when you are sure of all the ins and outs of a company, you can easily buy or sell shares. If you are not confident of the information, it is more advisable not to hold shares for a long time (especially before financial accounting published).

Dr. Goldfinger
http://www.financegaes.com

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4 August