Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Prized Franklin Mint Silver Coin Collection

By George Hugo

The Franklin mint Corporation is a private company which was established in the 1960s in Pennsylvania. It produces one of the most famous coin like collectibles known as the Franklin mint Silver coin.

The founder was the visionary Joseph Segal who promulgated many Franklin Mint productions under the corporate banner. Majority of Americans consider it a staple American brand and source for choice items preferred by the lower income classes in America.

The first item off the production line was the privately minted gold and silver commemorative medallions. Over the years the company launched more items for the collectors and buyers interested in Franklin mint collectibles.

However in the 1960s there was a shop in pleasing the value of Silver in the global market and it was removed from circulation in the domestic market. At this point casinos were using the silver dollar in slot machines but now the silver dollar was costing more than its actual value.

To its credit the Franklin mint silver coin became the first official replacement of the US silver dollar coin to be used as slot machine tokens.

The Franklin mint factory in Pennsylvania had a production facility that could manage production of large quantity of coins, theme based medallions, and ingots. Those interested in Franklin mint collectibles could subscribe to a shipment plan and receive unique collectible items as per the plan.

Although Franklin Mint silver coins are the most popular of all the company's productions, silver was not the only medium used by the company. In fact the company ventured into producing exclusive coin-like collectibles out of various precious and semi-precious metals.

These extensions to the range are often theme based and used the classic are masterpieces to create different appealing designs. Some of the products even feature renowned and popular personalities.

When compared to the price of silver these Franklin mint coins of were reasonably priced and were an instant success with collectors.

The Mint went onto enhance the value of the collectibles by crafting beautiful wooden cases in custom packing along with fancy elegant packing that further enhanced the presentation of the product. Special certificates were also issued for the individual pieces and established the authenticity and charm of the pieces.

Introducing the above mentioned features had the impact of raising the purchase price of Franklin Mint coins. As the company was introducing these features to make their products silver prices began to rise.

The company then had to make use of pewter and bronze to make their products more affordable for the masses. But naturally pewter and bronze did not have the same appeal on the collectors as did silver and hence the new line of collectibles did not become as popular as Franklin Mint silver coins. - 23309

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Benefits of Stock Market Scans

By Michael Swanson

If you are one of those people who hate to work in a boring office job then you might find that making money from home is more appealing. If you can make money in your own time as well, then this is even better. Doing something like stock trading is an option. It is risky though, which is why you should also download and use stock trading software to make your business successful.

The stock trading software will help you to manage your finances effectively, because it will give you the data you need to make the best stock trading decisions. It will do all the analysis for you. It will find the trends and it will let you know when to buy and sell.

Once you have been using the stock trading software for a while you will start to pick up how the trading works. You might even come up with some trends on your own. You can always use the software as back up to check your analysis, but this means that the software is actually a great learning tool. You might find one day that you don't need the software any more.

When you look for software there are a number of different things you should look for. One of the major things when it comes to stock trading software is that it should have live updates. There is no point in having software that only updates once a day. By then everything will have change and you will be using out of date information.

With software you will also need to make sure that you can download it easily and quickly. You will normally get a download link that you need to click on after you purchase the software. Choose a company that is reputable and you will get the software to use right away.

The software will do everything technical for you. You just have to place your money into the stocks as indicated. This software will give you a way to make money easily and instantly. - 23309

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Technical Analysis - A Forex Training Guide

By Bart Icles

Being a beginner in the forex trading world can be very challenging. If you are looking forward to participate in actual trading, you might end up frustrated when you learn that you will still need to invest most of your time knowing more about the different factors that affect the market. Learning the basics is gruelling but this is the only way for you to effectively start a successful career in currency trading. In fact, a forex training on the basics of the market is not a guarantee for success, it merely makes it easier for you to understand the market and accept potential frustrations. One important thing that you will need to learn more about is technical analysis. This is a very important topic to know more about, especially if you are planning to participate in day trading.

To start, technical analysis is an effort to calculate currency price movements through an analysis of various market data. These data include volumes, historical price trends, open interests, and a lot others. Technical analysis is pretty much based on a historical principle, where there is always a possibility that things will recur over time. One should take note that although technical analysis involves an evaluation of actual data, it still cannot guarantee an absolute forecast of how things will turn out to be in the future.

If you think that indicators generated from a technical analysis will help you understand what will most likely happen to market prices over a certain period of time, you are more likely to be correct. Technical trading hinges heavily on charts and graphs. If you are looking into participating in day trading, it can be wise to invest on at least one charting or graphing software that can help you better read, understand, and plot data for your own reference.

Typical indicators involved in a technical analysis include simple moving averages, relative strength indices, moving average convergence or divergence, parabolic SAR, and Fibonacci numbers. You can find a forex training course on such factors in many online resources.

You might think that there is security in technical analysis because it takes into account historical market trends. However, you must remember that engaging in forex trading based on technical analysis alone can be risky because not everything that has happened in the past will happen the same way in the future. On the other hand, you cannot disregard a forex training on technical analysis, especially if you believe you will be making more short-term decisions than mid- or long-term calls in your forex career. Still, using a balance between technical and fundamental analyses appears to be the safest way to make investment decisions. - 23309

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What Are Stock Indexes? (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

Modified capitalization weighting involves adjustments to the capitalizations of the various component issues of the Nasdaq-100 index. The NDX contract at the CBOE is based on Nasdaq-100 as is the MNX. The Nasdaq-100 is a modified capitalization weighted index.

Frank Russell Company is one of the leading global investment consultants. It is also involved in performance measurement, analysis and investment management. Russell 2000 is the well known benchmark for small capitalization sector. Several Russell Indexes have become benchmarks for specific areas of investment management.

Russell 3000 Index as the name implies includes 3000 issues and is adjusted for certain factors such as cross holdings and the number of pairs in hands. These 3000 companies represent 98% of the US investable equities.

Russell 3000 is further split into subsets like Russell 1000 Index. It covers the top 1000 about 92% of the value of the entire 3,000 stock index. The Russell 2000 Index is the smallest 2000 companies in the Russell 3000 Index.

From the business point of view, the Wall Street Journal is probably one of the most perfect business franchises. A franchise that is very hard to duplicate. The net worth of most of its readers is in seven figures. Dow Jones is the publisher of this journal.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) comprising 12 smokestack companies made its debut in the year 1896. Over the year DJIA became an important business barometer and grew to encompass 30 large industrial companies.

The DJIA is still one of the worlds best known stock measures. It consists of 30 largest and most liquid blue chip stocks in the US. The average is maintained by the editors of the Wall Street Journal.

The DJIA unlike the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 or Russell 3000 Indexes is a price weighted average. Recently Microsoft and Intel were added to the DJIA. The highest price issues hold the most influence over the average.

A 1 percent move in a $90 Microsoft (MSFT) stock would have a greater impact than a 1 percent move in a $30 Intel stock on DJIA as compared on the S&P 500. ETFs exit on many Dow Indexes like the DJIA, the Dow Jones Global Titan Index, the Dow Jones Total Market Index, and various sector indexes.

Wilshire serves over 400 organizations in over 20 countries representing over $2 trillion in assets. Wilshire flagship index is the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index.

It represents the broadest index for the US equity markets. Over the years, it has increased to 6500 issues representing the increase in the number of companies in the US.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) database contains nearly 25,000 securities. This database covers equities in 50 countries and one of the advantages of MCSI and its foreign indexes is consistency. MSCI calculates nearly 3,000 indexes daily and services a client base of over 1,200 worldwide. - 23309

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The Basic Facts Of Currency Exchange

By Jerry Barr

Forex is the name given to the foreign exchange market. This market exchanges currency between nations permitting companies in one country to pay for goods and services in another. This helps world trade and investments. If you are traveling to Europe, you go to your bank and exchange bucks for euros so you have money to spend on your trip. Your bank bundles this exchange with others and then exchanges the dollars for Euro Bucks through currency exchange.

The forex market has no physical location and is open for business twenty-four hours a day between Mon. morning in New Zealand thru Friday night in Asia. The average trading volume is over 3 trillion dollars a day. Profit markups are relatively low.

Traders on the forex market include central banks, enormous banks, companies, governments and currency investors. Tiny speculators do not trade in the particular currency market, but essentially trade through derivatives called futures contracts. Futures contracts are not legal in all nations, particularly emerging countries. Futures contracts account for roughly 7% of the total trading volume.

The smaller investors don't trade in the actual currencies, they trade in derivatives, sort of like the commodities market. Tiny investors make up about 7% of the total trading volume.

The market is divided into tiers, with the ten traders who do the most trading in the top tier. These are the big world banks. The margins here are tiny and the rate between the bid and ask prices are available only to this select group. This accounts for roughly 53% of the trade volume. The following tier of financiers includes large hedge funds, investment banks and global corporations.

Lots of the transactions, about 70%, are of a speculative nature. That is, they are done in the hopes of earning a return rather than an exchange for practical use. Average financiers can only gain access to this market thru a foreign exchange foreign exchange broker. Until fairly recently, their were very few restrictions on the practices of the brokers. There is an ongoing effort to break down and eliminate brokers who take trades that are in clash with the best interests of their clients.

Forex is a high hopeful market. During times of market doubt, traders will jump to historically "safe" or stable currencies like the Swiss franc. This drives the rate of exchange up for the franc in comparison to other currencies.

There are many types of derivatives with assorted levels of risk available to little investors. The most typical derivative is the futures contract which is often for three months. It is comparable to futures contacts traded on the commodities market. The spot contract is a futures contract for a brief period of time, usually 2 days. The forward contract helps limit risk as the money is exchanged on an agreed on date in the future. One type of forward contract is called a swap, where the 2 parties exchange currency for an agreed upon period. The safest derivative is the currency exchange option. Somewhat like a stock option, it gives the holder the right to exchange currency for a formerly agreed rate at a fixed upon date, but the holder has no need to make the exchange.

The forex market can be lucrative and has far more liquidity than other investments. Backers wishing to enter this market should check with other investors to locate a credible broker. Its wise, as with any investment stradegy, to do you homework and learn as much about the market as possible. It could be a awfully equitable investment for the clever trader and you can get your money when you need it. - 23309

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