Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Woodstock Real Estate Has Homes For All Incomes

By Jennifer Giraldi

About 30 miles north of Downtown Atlanta resides a wonderful city named Woodstock. Not to be confused with the legendary music festival which recently celebrated it's 40th anniversary, this Woodstock is the thriving suburban city with a small town feel located in the Northern Atlanta metropolitan area. This city was once just a small town that had a pretty simple real estate market that just serviced first time home buyers and middle class families. However over the last decade things began to change. There are now Woodstock homes for sale to entice just about any type of home buyer.

Recently, Woodstock real estate is divided into three main categories. The first time home buyers, who are either single or newly married. Next would be the middle income families with children, and middle aged couples who live in medium sized four to five bedroom homes. And finally we have the retirees who desire active adult communities.

Over the last 5 years Woodstock has had an appealing real estate market for first new home buyers. Adults who grew up in neighboring suburbs such as Dunwoody, Kennesaw and Marietta, figured out really fast that their money could go much farther. Over the last decade, lower property tax, sales tax, and association dues have helped fuel the growth within this demographic.

With plenty of well built, affordable housing, first time home buyers have flocked to this city.Neighborhoods such as Brookshire, Kings Gate, and The Woodlands, offer a great example of Woodstock homes for sale. The city now has greater appeal to the 20-30 year old market by offering condos, townhomes, and lofts. These new offerings are located in the Downtown historic area properly named "Downtown Woodstock".

Families of all shapes and sizes also love Woodstock, Ga real estate. The Woodlands provide many homes priced from the low 200s to the high 300s. Vast green space with wooded nature trails, creeks, and more, make this community one of the most sought after family neighborhoods. The area also has a good amount of luxury homes available. Golf course homes within Bradshaw Farms, and Towne Lake Hills, are also very popular housing destinations.

Retirees from surrounding states and areas are now finding Woodstock to be a special place to settle. Maintence free communities such as Cottages of Woodstock offer great homes for an affordable price. Many of these new communites are modeled after some of the great developments in Florida. Why move to Florida now, when you can have the same type of home and amenities right here in your own back yard? - 23309

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Trading Spot Forex - What Are The Advantages?

By Jane MacRae

Trading spot forex is actually trading in the world's currencies. The principle behind it is simply - you purchase one currency when it is low and sell another when it is high. And, you make a profit with the balance.

Spot forex trading has become more and more popular amongst all types of investment options out there. Many people, even those who are new to investing, find that forex trading is a better choice for them than playing in the stock market or futures market, and there are good reasons for that.

* More Affordable Capital Requirement

Unlike other forms of investing, where it seems like you already have to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest if you want to have any hope of making a profit, trading spot forex is accessible to smaller, individual investors.

There was a time when forex trading seemed to be dominated by large multinational banks and major financial institutions. In that climate, it is easy to see why smaller investors did not feel they could even begin to compete.

Over the years, however, this situation has changed. Now, almost anyone with any amount of capital can enter the forex market. You simply play with whatever amount you feel comfortable.

* East to Learn and Manage

Forex trading has been around for many many years already. Due to its historical evolution, the practice in the forex market is very much standardized by now. This, together the modern technologies available to investors today, has made the operation of forex trading very easy to learn and use. WIth an automated trading system, you can constantly monitor the market, make quick transactions and get complete stats any time you like. Whether you are eating, sleeping, or running errands, you can still be making money .

* An Exciting Market

The forex market only takes short breaks and is live 24 hours a days and 5 days a week. There is always something happening, and new money-making opportunities and systems never cease to turn up. In this exciting market, you can hardly stay inactive. You should keep in mind, though, focusing is just as important to your success as being responsive to new events.

* Affordable Cost

Aside from the lower capital requirement for entrance, the transaction fee for forex trading also tens to be lower compared to stock trading. This is also the case for charges by forex brokers.

As you can see, trading spot forex has many advantages, and these advantages have led to its increasing popularity. Regardless of how much you are willing to invest and regardless of whether you have any prior experience, you have a good chance of success in this huge market. - 23309

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Tips for Trading Symmetrical Triangles Short with CFDs

By Jeff Cartridge

The symmetrical triangle is sometimes referred to as a wedge. It is a very well known and easily recognized chart pattern that has been used by many successful traders over the years. A symmetrical triangle is formed when the price action is contained within two lines. The top line slopes down while the bottom line slopes up towards the top line. The angle of the two lines is similar giving rise to the name symmetrical.

Symmetrical Triangles Can Be Traded Short

Symmetrical triangles provide no clear breakout direction, but 45% break out to the downside making it possible to trade on the short side. Just 44% of these breakouts are profitable and on average the profit per trade is only 0.33% over a period of 9 days. The symmetrical triangle is not one of the best chart patterns when it breaks to the downside, but applying some filters can make this pattern more attractive to trade.

Refine Your Entries

When you look at the performance of a symmetrical triangle in bearish market conditions you will see the results were stronger than they were in more bullish years. The market, sector and stock should be in a down trend or consolidating to make the best profits.

Very few trades break down at the start of the pattern, but those that break in the first 30% of the pattern should be avoided. Another key to picking successful short breakouts from symmetrical triangles is to look for a turning point up from the lower boundary that fails to reach the upper boundary and then falls away. This is not a prerequisite, but does produce better trades.

If volume supports a symmetrical triangle breakout then the profitability of the trades improves. For volume to support the breakout, volume when the stock is going down should be greater than volume when the stock is going up. A close lower than the previous day, before the breakout, results in better trades.

Short Trading Symmetrical Triangles Can Be Profitable

You can improve your trading results by using a series of simple filters that have been outlined here. This select group of symmetrical triangles delivers an average profit of 1.58% in 9 days and is profitable on 47% of the trades. Overall this makes symmetrical triangles attractive to trade on the short side.

Note: Statistics for this article have been provided by Patterns Trader after analyzing over 60,000 chart patterns on the Australian market from 2000 - 2008. - 23309

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The Cheapest Stock Discount Trading Fees

By Charles Benedict

Stock broker commissions are becoming cheaper and cheaper. The choices are also expanding so look for competition to continually bring prices down. This is good for us, but there are so many choices to choose from. Here are a few you might want to look into.

OptionsHouse made a splash with their less than three dollars stock trade. If there is a cost that's as close to nothing as possible, this is the broker that you should choose.

Zecco came out with free stock trades, but then it changed its rules again and again. These days, you only get 10 free trades if you have more than $25,000 in assets or if you trade 25 times or more a month.

OptionsXpress must be making a lot of money off customers because their trading commissions are highest of the bunch. It's $14.95 for most people and $12.95 for high volume traders. Pretty expensive right?

Wells Trade is totally integrated with Wells Fargo so it's easy if you are a Wells Fargo customer. If you have $25,000, you get 100 free trades. Otherwise, it's $19.95 so only use this option if you have the funds.

The highest rated deep discount stock broker is TradeKing. The commission is $4.95 a trade and continues to be one of the cheapest per trade price out there.

I love Etrade because of their user interface. Even though the stock commission is $9.99 and $12.99 in some cases, it is still at the top of my list of recommended stock brokers.

Scottrade thrives on their customer support, and it also has the most branches. The stock commission is $7 a trade and it's middle of the road in terms of prices.

TradeMonster is relatively new but they are endorsed by Guy Adami and the Najarian Boys on Fast Money. People love OptionsMonster (which they also own) so I would check it out just based on that alone.

The highest end stock broker in this list is Charles Schwab. While stock trades are $12.99, they do offer a 2% cash back credit card which makes up for some of the stock commissions.

TD Ameritrade isn't that great but it works. The less than ten dollar trade was a first of its kind. They also advertise no hidden fees although there's a fee if you transfer your account away from them. - 23309

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Discover Why Typical Covered Call Writing Strategies Don't Work In A Declining Stock Market

By Marc Abrams

Many websites and e-books on investment training strategies promise you incredible things. Writing Covered call options on stock is one of the most popular trading strategies taught today. These websites promise that you can earn up to 10% monthly returns using that very strategy. Sound good? Read on.

Under the right circumstances, impressive monthly returns can be achieved by selling out-of-the-money covered call options. This strategy has been successfully used by me. However, it is not without its disadvantages. The public has not been properly educated by the website and e-book marketers. This strategy is marketed as having low risk and being conservative. They leave you holding the bag when it all goes wrong.

Selling out-of-the-money covered calls works when the stock market is going up in value. Additionally, when the stock market is neutral (not going up or down by any meaningful amount), this strategy also works well. I don't know about you, but when was the last time the stock market traded sideways for any length of time?

We are currently in the midst of an extremely volatile market. We have recently seen swings in the Dow as much as 200 points in either direction on any given day. Hardly a profitable market for an out-of-the-money covered call writer. Once that stock you are holding starts to decline, so do your profits. I can assure you that profits can evaporate very quickly. I have seen stocks fall from $10 per share to $1 per share over night! There is never enough premium on an option sale to cover that kind of decline.

The key to out-of-the-money covered call writing is to select stocks that will get called. Many so called experts do not want the stock to get called. They want you to keep the stock so you can sell a covered call option on it the next month. This strategy is flawed. You need to select stocks that are trending up in value, hence, a rising market. Those stocks will make you the most money. If the stock gets called, I know I ended up making my maximum anticipated return.

What happens if the stock goes way up in value? The stock simply gets called away if it rises up past the strike price and stays there through expiration. Isn't that what you wanted in the first place? Because you did not participate in those gains you may feel like you left money on the table. If you feel that way just buy the stock outright and don't sell covered call options on it. Why not just let the stock get called away, take your profit and move on? Then look for stocks to buy and sell calls on for the next month.

Remember, selling out-of-the-money covered calls can provide an excellent source if income in a rising stock market. However, this strategy is less than ideal in a stock market like the one we find ourselves in today. There are, however, other strategies that will offer significant protection in a volatile or declining stock market. - 23309

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