Stock Market

Stock Market TIps

2007-09-10T03:44:00.000-07:00

QP Stock Tips uses proprietary software to find stocks that appear to have the potential to provide a profit of 15% or more in the near future. Then our staff, who has extensive stock trading experience, carefully reviews the highlighted stocks before a final decision is made regarding which of these stocks have the characteristics required to be included in the Tips Log. After using the tools and playing the games in Beat the Market you too may develop an eye for spotting stocks that have the potential for explosive gains.

All tips are released after the market close. On a BUY tip we recommend you consider buying the highlighted stock soon after the stock tip is released at a price that is not more than 5% above the price shown when the tip is given. The Tips Log includes handy links for stock charts and additional information from a couple of internet sources for all tips listed, but you may also want to do further research on the stock before investing.

A SELL tip is released when we believe the risk / reward ratio is no longer sufficiently in our favor to continue holding a stock that was previously highlighted as a BUY. Never forget that when you sell one stock the funds released provide an opportunity to buy another stock.

The percentage gains and losses of our tips will be tracked through the Closed Tips log. All prices shown are for statistical purposes and will reflect the closing prices of the stocks as of the last day of trading previous to when the BUY or SELL tip was given. Someone trading stocks based on these tips may experience a more or less favorable price in the actual marketplace depending on when they actually buy or sell the stock. No commissions are computed for our historical gain/loss record. This has become less of a factor in real trading due to the low commission prices of the discount brokers, but nevertheless will affect your actual results in the marketplace.

You may choose to receive email alerts when a tip is released or choose not to receive these or any other emails from our service except those that are administratively necessary, e.g., lost password, etc. Visit the “My Account” area of QP Stock Tips for details.

If the email alert is chosen you will be notified when a Buy or Sell tip has been released. For those who are anxious to trade you may want to simply check the Tips Log before the market opens each day to ensure you don’t miss a tip due to a delayed or lost email alert message.

Stock Investing Tips & Ideas

2007-09-10T03:28:00.000-07:00

Stock Investing Tips & Ideas

Learn how to invest in the Stock market. If you are a beginner or an expert, you can find free basic and advanced trading tips and ideas on stock investing in this site.

Before investing in the stock market, you'd better learn some tips about how to invest in the market. In other words understanding of the market is required.

Beginner Investing Tips and Ideas
(How to Begin):

To begin investing in the stock market, you must choose a stock broker. A stock broker performs transactions in financial instruments on a stock market as an agent of their clients.

Do you know? many people trade in the stock market with the same chance, but few percent of them make money in stocks. Many of these people, who don't earn enough return, have enough information about investing in the stock market. They make common mistakes and you should avoid them by having a high level of market understanding.

There are two analytic methods for investing in the stock market, technical and fundamental analysis.

Technical analysis is based on prices and volume. Technical investors believe price and volume interpret every thing in the market. They study charts for forecasting of future stock price or financial price movements.

For learning technical analysis academic knowledge isn't required, with every level of knowledge you can learn it.

Fundamental analysis is a stock valuation method that uses financial and economic analysis to predict the movement of stock prices.

Advanced Investing Tips and Ideas:

Learn more Technical Tips:
you can learn about Fibonacci Sequences, Elliott Wave Theory, Dow Theory and other stock trading strategies.

Stock Market Risk:
What's your understanding and Perception of risk? How do you recognize risk? Is risk Quantifiable? How to manage risk?

The concept of risk and managing it is a complicated part in investing money.

Automate your Trading:
You can learn and use trading software to automate your stock investing strategy. Many investors use stock trading software to control their emotions and to enable them to focus on their stock trading strategy.

There are many other advantages of using trading software and systems, such as saving time and managing your risk.

Enjoy Making money in stocks. We hope you improve your understanding of the stock market by reading and learning these Tips and Ideas.

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Is There Any Safe Haven In The Event of a Global Economic Collapse?

September 6th, 2007 01:46 PM

What can you do in the event of a global economic collapse? The answer is not much after the fact, but you can do plenty before the collapse.

World Banks

2007-06-08T05:16:00.001-07:00

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A central bank is a financial institution established by a national government for the purpose of regulating the monetary policies of that country.

There is no standard terminology for the name of a central bank, but many countries use the "Bank of Country" form (e.g., Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Russia). Some are styled national banks, such as the National Bank of Ukraine. In many countries, there may be private banks that incorporate the term national. Many countries have state-owned banks or other quasi-government entities that have entirely separate functions, such as financing imports and exports.

In some countries, particularly in some Communist countries, the term national bank may be used to indicate both the monetary authority and the leading banking entity, such as the USSR's Gosbank (state bank). In other countries, the term national bank may be used to indicate that the central bank's goals are broader than monetary stability, such as full employment, industrial development, or other goals.

Central banks have a wide range of responsibilities - from overseeing monetary policy to implementing specific goals such as currency stability, low inflation and full employment. Central banks also generally issue currency, function as the bank of the government, regulate the credit system, oversee commercial banks, manage exchange reserves and act as a lender of last resort.

Functions of a central bank (not all functions carried out by all banks):

implementing the basis of monetary policy
monopoly on the issue of banknotes
the Government's banker and the bankers' bank ("Lender of Last Resort")
manages the country's foreign exchange and gold reserves and the Government's stock register;
regulation and supervision of the banking industry:
setting the official interest rate - used to manage both inflation and the country's exchange rate - and ensuring that this rate takes effect via a variety of policy mechanisms.

A typical central bank has several interest rates or monetary policy tools it can set to influence markets.

Marginal Lending Rate (currently 4.25% in the Eurozone) A fixed rate for institutions to borrow money from the CB.
Main Refinancing Rate (3.25% in the Eurozone) This is the publicly visible interest rate the central bank announces. It is also known as Minimum Bid Rate and serves as a bidding floor for refinancing loans (In the US this is called the Discount rate).
Deposit Rate (2.25% in the Eurozone) The rate parties receive for deposits at the CB.

These rates directly affect the rates in the money market, the market for short term loans.

Open Market Operations

Small economies with little control over users of their currency, and the US which due to the use of its currency worldwide also has little control, and the EU which can't easily control policies of all national banks, tend to employ open market operations rather than Chinese-style reserve rulings.

Through open market operations, a central bank influences the money supply in an economy directly. Each time it buys securities, exchanging money for the security, it raises the money supply. Conversely, selling of securities lowers the money supply. Buying of securities thus amounts to printing new money while lowering supply of the specific security.

The main open market operations are:

Temporary lending of money for collateral securities ("Reverse Operations" or " repurchase operations", otherwise known as the "repo" market). These operations are carried out on a regular basis, where fixed maturity loans (of 1 week and 1 month for the ECB) are auctioned off.
Buying or selling securities ("Direct Operations") on ad-hoc basis.
Foreign exchange operations such as forex swaps.

All of these interventions can also influence the foreign exchange market and thus the exchange rate. For example the People's Bank of China and the Bank of Japan have on occasion bought several hundred billions of U.S. Treasuries, presumably in order to stop the decline of the U.S. dollar versus the Renminbi and the Yen.

All banks are required to hold a certain percentage of their assets as capital, a rate which may be established by the central bank or the banking supervisor.

Another significant power that central banks hold is the ability to establish reserve requirements for other banks. By requiring that a percentage of liabilities be held as cash or deposited with the central bank (or other agency), limits are set on money supply.

In practice, many banks are required to hold a percentage of their deposits as reserves. Such legal reserve requirements were introduced in the nineteenth century to reduce the risk of banks overextending themselves and suffering from bank runs, as this could lead to knock-on effects on other banks.

To influence the money supply, some central banks may require that some or all foreign exchange receipts (generally from exports) be exchanged for the local currency. The rate that is used to purchase local currency may be market-based or arbitrarily set by the bank.

There is a difference between two types of central bank: the autonomous and the semi-autonomous.

The autonomous bank is politically and financially independent. Its Governor is appointed for a period which is longer than the periods of the incumbent elected politicians, so that he will not be subject to political pressures. Its budget is not provided by the legislature or by the executive arm. It is self sustaining: it runs itself as a corporation would. Its profits are used in leaner years in which it loses money (though for a central bank to lose money is a difficult task to achieve).

Prime examples of autonomous central banks are Germany's Bundesbank and the American Federal Reserve Bank.

The second type of central bank is the semi autonomous one. This is a central bank that depends on the political echelons and, especially, on the Ministry of Finance. This dependence could be through its budget which is allocated to it by the Ministry or by a Parliament (ruled by one big party or by the coalition parties).

The upper levels of the bank - the Governor and the Vice Governor - could be deposed of through a political decision (albeit by Parliament, which makes it somewhat more difficult). This is the case of the National Bank of Macedonia which has to report to Parliament. Such dependent banks fulfil the function of an economic advisor to the government. The Governor of the Bank of England advises the Minister of Finance (in their famous weekly meetings, the minutes of which are published) about the desirable level of interest rates.

Central banks are usually made up of a board of directors or governors who have periodic meetings to discuss their country’s economic outlook and set monetary policy. The board members in the United States are appointed by the President and are accountable to Congress. They enjoy a degree of independence from political considerations such as what policies are popular with the electorate.

The inner workings of most central banks are shrouded in secrecy; the policy-making meetings are closed to the press. In the United States, high-ranking members of the central bank rarely give press interviews.

The central bank has a large research staff which investigates current topics in the economy and monetary policy and sometimes does historical analysis. Their reports are closely followed and carry great weight in the economic community and often make terrific analytic stories for a central bank reporter. Try to follow the central bank’s research as closely as possible and line up interviews with research economists on their areas of expertise.

Many central bank research departments put out periodic forecasts on major economic indicators. These are important stories because a forecast can also be seen as a target and can indicate what the central bank sees as the most desirable levels for inflation, growth and employment.

A central bank reporter should closely follow the statements and speeches of key central bank officials for any hints on the direction of policy or assessments of the economy. Whenever possible, try to obtain exclusive interviews with officials or economists at the central bank to learn more about the inner workings of this powerful institution.

Two of the earliest central or government-sponsored banks are the Riksbank of Sweden, which was founded in 1668, and the Bank of England, which began in 1694. The Riksbank, which did not acquire its present name until 1867, did not originally function as central banks do today. It started as a public bank but one with a unique relationship to the Swedish state. The Swedish parliament in fact had sole governing rights over operations of the Bank of the Estates of the Realm, as it was then called. The Riksbank evolved, like many central banks of other countries, because the national government was its biggest customer.

The Bank of England was created solely to finance England's Nine Years' War with France. Instrumental in the creation of the bank was William Paterson (1658-1719), a man familiar with banking practices on the European continent. Paterson received financial backing for his plan to create a national bank from a group of wealthy London merchants. These merchants feared that their Protestant king would accede to Catholic France because of a lack of funds in the English war chest.

Paterson arranged a loan to the government to finance the war effort and the merchants who subscribed to the loan incorporated as the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. This was the first bank to be capitalized by public subscription and was granted special privileges including handling of the government's financial accounts. The bank's charter went into effect on July 27, 1694, and the bank opened for business a few days later.

The United States was one of the last contemporary economic powers to found a central bank. The central banking authority in the United States is the Federal Reserve System, which wasn't founded until 1913.

The world's newest central bank is the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB was created to serve as the independent bank of the European Union.

World exchanges

2007-06-08T05:15:00.001-07:00

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Stock exchanges were born in the 15th century in Burgundy’s main trading centers of the north, now Belgium. They were called bourses, from the Latin bursa or purse—three of which were on the crest of the Van der Beurse, a family of financiers in Bruges.

The Beurse mansion was a popular meeting place for Italian bankers who traded bills of exchange. Invented by Francesco Datini, a 14th-century Italian merchant, the bill of exchange was an essential instrument for banking and international trade as it covered both the lending and transfer of funds in different currencies between Europe’s main trading centers. Although it amounted to credit, the bill of exchange did not bear interest rates, hidden in exchange rates, thus allowing bankers to get around the Church’s ban on usury.

The first liquid financial instrument, the bill of exchange was instrumental in creating the first security market—complete with gold fixing—in the Beurse mansion as early as 1409. Bruges, therefore, earned the title of the city hosting the first organized market.

North Italian bankers, including the Medici, dominated lending and trade financing throughout Europe and brought the bills of exchange to all major trading centers, usually harbors or cities hosting trade fairs. These bankers were known as Lombards, a name that was synonymous with Italians in the Middle Ages, in reference to the 36 duchies then ruled by the Longobards. They were so influential that, to this day, many financial centers of Europe have streets named after them.

Bruges’ role as a leading international trade center relied on its access to the sea via the Zwyn canal. But silt eventually closed Bruges’ harbor and the city lost its economic prominence to the port of Antwerp, where merchants ran an exchange in 1460. In turn, when Antwerp’s role declined amid political turmoil, Amsterdam—where the first stocks were traded as opposed to securities—emerged as the new financial center of the 16th century, soon followed by London and Lyons.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, created in 1602, became the first official stock exchange when it began trading shares of the Dutch East India Company. These were the first company shares ever issued.

By the early 1700s there were fully operational stock exchanges in France and England, and America followed in the later part of the century. Stock exchanges became an important way for companies to raise capital for investment, while also offering investors the opportunity to share in company profits. The early days of the stock exchange experienced many scandals and stock crashes, as there was little to no regulation and almost anyone was allowed to participate in the exchange.

Major world exchange markets:
AMEX - American Stock Exchange
BOVESPA - Sao Paulo Stock Exchange
CBOT - Chicago Board of Trade
CHX - Chicago Stock Exchange
CME - Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Commodities on the Web - List of the commodities
LIFFE - London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange
London Stock Exchange -London Stock Exchange
Nasdaq
NYMEX - New York Mercantile Exchange
NYSE - New York Stock Exchange
SBF - la Bourse de Paris
SES - Singapore Exchange
SET - Stock Exchange of Thailand
TSE - Tokyo Stock Exchange
TSE - Toronto Stock Exchange
LSEX - London Stock Exchange
CBOE - Chicago Board Options Exchange CBOE
PHLX - Philadelphia Stock Exchange

Today, stock exchanges operate around the world, and they have become highly regulated institutions. Investors wanting to buy and sell stocks must do so through a stock broker, who pays to own a seat on the exchange. Companies with stocks traded on an exchange are said to be 'listed' and they must meet specific criteria, which varies across exchanges. Most stock exchanges began as floor exchanges, where traders made deals face-to-face. The largest stock exchange in the world, the New York Stock Exchange, continues to operate this way, but most of the world's exchanges have now become fully electronic.

Stock indexes list

2007-06-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

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An index is a formula for measuring changes in a variable that has a base (beginning) date and value. There are two main varieties of indices: Laspeyres and Paasche. Laspeyres indices (e.g., CPI) involve base-period quantities as weights while Paasche indices (e.g., GDP deflator) involve current-period quantities as weights.

Indexing is big in the USA. Many investors invest in funds which track certain indices, believing the return to be higher, the costs lower, and the risk less pronounced than actively-managed traded funds.

In the UK, the important indices all relate to companies trading on the London Stock Exchange - FTSE 100, FTSE 250, and FTSE All-Share, for instance. In America, there are many more exchanges and many more indices based on the companies listed on them. Some indices are confined to particular exchanges:

Wilshire 5000 Equity Index

This index, created by Wilshire Associates of California, is the widest of them all. It covers over 7,000 US companies listed on the NYSE, Amex and NASDAQ exchanges.

S&P MidCap 400

The S&P MidCap was created as an index for companies that had progressed beyond the risky small-cap stage but which had not yet graduated to the S&P500. Size is, of course, relative: the average market capitalisation of companies in the S&P400 is about $3 billion!

S&P 500

The Standard & Poors 500 Composite Index shows the change in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks listed on the NYSE, Amex and NASDAQ exchanges. It is dominated by industrial stocks, but also includes utilities, financials, energy, technology and transport companies.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA)

The DIA is made up of 30 actively-traded large-cap stocks, including household names like Coca-Cola, Boeing, IBM, McDonald's and so on. Although the number of stocks in it is low, the companies are so large that it represents about 20% of the total market capitalisation of all US stocks.

NASDAQ indices

NASDAQ also has two main indices: the Composite Index, which covers all the 5,000 American and foreign stocks listed on the exchange. And the 100 Index, which covers the largest and most actively-traded non-financial stocks listed on the exchange.

AMEX Indices

There are two main indices for stocks listed on the American Stock Exchange: the Composite Index (XAX) and the Major Market Index (XMI). The latter is a price-weighted average of 20 blue chip industrial stocks.

New York Stock Exchange Indices

The NYSE is the oldest and largest stock exchange in the USA, with more than 3,000 companies listed. Its Composite Index is a market value-weighted index which covers all the companies listed on the exchange.

Stock Market

Stock Market TIps

Stock Investing Tips & Ideas

Stock Investing Tips & Ideas

Beginner Investing Tips and Ideas (How to Begin):

Advanced Investing Tips and Ideas:

World Banks

Open Market Operations

World exchanges

Stock indexes list

Wilshire 5000 Equity Index

S&P MidCap 400

S&P 500

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA)

NASDAQ indices

AMEX Indices

New York Stock Exchange Indices

Beginner Investing Tips and Ideas
(How to Begin):