Creative Blogs

You’ve probably read these statements before, but it is very important that you re-acquaint yourself with the truths that they convey:

* Different investment fads may come and go, but only one form of investment always goes up in value over the long term. That form of investment is real estate.

* Long term investing in stocks CAN show increases in value. Just look at the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies. To deny their success is foolishness. BUT, in most cases buying and selling stocks is risky and does not guarantee a long term increase in value. Any sudden change in tastes or technology can cause a sure winner of a company to cease to exist in months if not weeks. For example, just how many buggy whip manufacturers are there? There used to thousands.

* The population of the country is continuing to grow. They all need places to live. Barring an economic disaster, most people will have the money to either buy or rent their own apartment or house. Therefore, demand for real estate will ALWAYS increase. Increased demand ALWAYS means an increase in prices.

* There is only so much land available to be developed. In the future, much of the undeveloped land will be protected and preserved to help combat expected pollution and environmental challenges. Less land available to build on will mean higher prices in the future.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to invest in real estate. The simplest way is to own your own home. Getting your finances under control will enable you to buy instead of rent. As you pay down your mortgage, the value of the house will increase. When you decide to sell, you’ll find yourself with more money than what you paid for it.

If you already own your own home, and your finances are sound, there are a number of different ways in which to invest in real estate available to you. Buy a foreclosed property, or a property about to be foreclosed. Buy a distressed property and “flip” it. Find a distressed owner (one who is being forced to sell), and buy the property from them with no money down. Then rent the house out and pocket the profits.

Investing in any form has a degree of risk. So does real estate investing. Some areas are seeing house prices fall, and the number of houses in foreclosure has gone up. This is just a temporary situation. As we’ve already seen, in the long term, real estate MUST go up in value.

Before you do anything, you need to educate yourself on the different methods of real estate investing, and their pros and cons. Armed with knowledge and a good well-thought-out plan, you should be able to succeed. Good luck!

Diamonds are costly treasures. The majority of people in the market for one are looking for a good stone that is still a bargain. These days

August 7th, 2007

No MagicT has nothing to do with mushrooms, it’s short for “Magic Trough”.

The unique TrendSensor Trading System I have developed is comprised of about seventeen modules, including seven particularly powerful indicators or chart patterns. MagicT combines price pattern and a responsive indicator to reliably deliver buy signals early in the new, strong rally that normally follows a precipitous decline fueled by panic and fear.

In case you’re interested in the technical stuff, MagicT combines times series analysis of volatility with a statistical measure of an overly prolonged trend, and simple chart patterns to confirm the reversal back up.

Paste the URL below into your browser and you’ll be taken to a chart of the DAX Index (Germany) covering 14 years, two bull markets and a bear market. The 16 buy signals are the work of MagicT and you’ll see 15 of them are nicely nestled near the bottom of market troughs (low points).

www.trendsensor.com/Charts/DAX-LT-MagicT.png

The first buy signal in 2002 ain’t great, but the other 15 really nail the lows in the DAX, including most of the precipitous slides south.

I chose to show the DAX because it’s primed to trigger a MagicT signal again soon, and it has more historical signals than most markets - 16 in 14 years. Many markets only serve up a MagicT buy signal once every two or three years. So the fact that right now I can identify 14 global stock markets or sectors that are primed to trigger a MagicT buy signal is remarkable and bullish. A few of these may not fulfill all the signal requirements within the time frame allowed, but there are 10 markets that appear very likely to throw MagicT buy signals within the next week or three. These 10 markets are evenly split between Europe and USA:

* Europe: ATX (Austria), BFX (Belgium), CAC40 (France), DAX (Germany) and FTSE100 (UK).

* USA: BIX (S&P Banking Sector Index), HGX (Philadelphia Housing Sector Index), NYA (NY Composite), SPX (S&P 500) and SXX (Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector).

Yes, the last really attractive buying opportunity for a long time is about to unfold in the US markets. I’m a bit peeved that my systems didn’t throw a short signal leading into the recent decline - but after this next push higher they may get a second chance.

All my trading signal clients will be onto this rare opportunity - and you’re invited check out my free 5 week trial offer: get on board before MagicT rides into town!

In order to apply for a credit card that is going to benefit your current lifestyle you must examine the reasons why you are applying for a card in the first instance and secondly consider what you would like to gain from having a credit card. Look at your income and what you will be using the card for before you apply for any credit card; e.g. if you are a student your borrowing needs will differ greatly from those of someone in regular employment, and you may not benefit from the regular advertised bonuses of standard credit cards.

Secondly, it will be beneficial to examine financial comparison sites on the internet that specialise in comparing different credit cards on offer. Viewing these websites will allow you to compare the credit cards of your choice, such as Mint, MBNA or Capitol One. Websites of this nature are excellent for presenting the facts in a straightforward fashion and are invaluable when choosing credit cards. Sites such as these also give detail of introductory offers and some even have customer reviews available.

After some simple research you will build up an idea of the type of cards on the market, and the type of card that will be of most value to you. There are many different types of card, each aimed at different people with different needs; there are reward cards, credit cards and even pre-pay cards. As already briefly mentioned, you will need to look at how you are going to make monthly repayment - ideally above the minimum fee - and your particular spending habits; i.e. if you buy a lot of petrol you would be missing out by getting a card that rewards on shopping.

If this is your first application for a credit card this is the golden rule of how to make credit cards work for you. If you’ve never had a credit card before remember it’s always better to spend a little often and pay even slightly over the minimum to improve your rating credit rating companies such as Experian don’t look at how much you pay, but assess how you use your card to purchase goods and since any reward programme is dictated by the card company, none of whom reward - either with bonuses or points- any customer who only pays the minimum every month. Although this method of paying off the loan is only extending the length of time it takes you to pay off your debt and is a costly way of borrowing money, and as such means you pay more on the initial loan, you still won’t qualify for any bonuses for paying this way or even improve your credit rating.

Many credit cards offer a 0% period on such things as balance transfers and purchases. Customers have taken to changing credit cards at the end of the special offer and subsequently taking advantage of the introductory period offer on the new card. A few years ago this ‘card hopping’ was a good idea; unfortunately credit card companies have take action to prevent this. Swapping cards immediately after the benefit period expires will have a negative effect on your credit rating. In order for this to not be the case you will have to wait for a period of time before applying for a new card.

Most credit cards have an enticing introductory offer of some description whether it is 0% interest free on purchases or balance transfers but even these alluring offers can sometimes disguise hidden handling fees which can end up setting you back a small fortune. Once these offers have run out you can sometimes find yourself in hot water. Remember to check out the APR once the introductory offer has run out making sure that it is ideally no more than 16.9%, as this is the market average. You really need pay no more than this rate unless you have exceptional circumstances, such as CCJ or a bad credit rating, and even then paying over the odds can be avoided.

Investment can be fun and interesting way to teach your kids about investments. If you are a teacher, you could set up a student investment club for your students. Likewise, parents can do the same for their children. Kids can learn about finances and decision making, to prepare them well for later life.

In order to start a student investment club you should actually want to invest. You, as the adult should start the club and provide guidance to the children. Both adults and children can learn a lot from student investment club.

1. Begin with a simple goal - to provide kids with limited ability to search and select stocks to invest. Ensure that younger kids have their parent’s permission to participate. Come up with weekly or monthly goals for investing.

2. Write rules and stick to them. Investment clubs need rules and regulations and the student investment club is no exception. This helps to establish order and ensure that things are handled properly. Write the rules in plain language that can be easily understood by the age group.

3. Limit investment threshold. Children have limited funds to invest. Hence, the investment limit should be rather low. You must seek parent’s approval of the investment limit. The amount of money the children have to invest will determine your investment stock choices.

4. Make investments fun. The idea of investments can seem somewhat a dreary subject. Spice it up by allowing kids to invest in companies that they know or have heard about. Think about popular toy or video game companies, food or restaurant companies or clothing companies. Investing in a stodgy company they never heard of and don’t know the nature of business will make the club boring and kids will lose interest quickly.

5. Encourage kids to use their own money. When appropriate the students will learn better when they use their own money. Whether it’s from their allowance or from a part-time job, using their own money will force kids to be more interested in the investments.

6. Invite guest speakers to speak at meetings to make it more exciting for the children. Source for professionals in tax, accounting, finance and banking from your local community who is willing to contribute to your club.

7. Divide students into smaller groups. If you have a large group of students, it may be wise to have them form smaller groups. Allow them to form a “corporation” for investing and even let them name their company. Have them choose a president and then let them vote on investment choices.

8. Track the performance of the club investments by using charts and graphs. Keep updated with market trends. You should set a certain day of the week which you will use to review investments with the children.