Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Applying for Loans

By Sara Ferguson

After choosing the loan you want, you have to complete an application form. The application asks for details of your existing financial commitments and income. The lender uses this to assess whether you can afford to take on the loan and repay it. If you are married, both you and your spouse must be named on the application form: The lender insists upon this.

The lender also contacts credit reference agencies to obtain a copy of your credit file. Your credit file indicates whether you have any outstanding county court judgments against you, are bankrupt, or have a history of defaulting on debts.

Lenders also use credit scoring, enabling them to work out what category of borrower you are, according to your personal circumstances. This enables it to work out what APR to charge you: The higher risk you appear, the higher the APR will be.

When the lender is happy with the result of its checks, it offers you a loan. It usually takes only a few hours or days to process an application, depending on the lender. If the lender isnt happy with its findings, you may be refused a loan.

As well as being a great place to search for a loan, the Internet also provides the easiest way of applying to borrow cash. And because fewer administration costs are involved, lenders tend to offer a lower APR if you apply for your loan online rather than via the post, in person at your local branch, or over the telephone.

If youve had difficulty repaying credit in the past, you may have a bad credit history. This history is unearthed when you apply for a new loan and the lender runs a credit check on you. As a result, your application may be turned down.

Its not only people with bad credit histories who are refused credit. If you dont have a credit history because youve never had a credit card, loan, or mortgage before, the lender wont be able to figure out whether you are a good risk or not. How can the lender tell whether you are going to make your repayments every month if you havent done this before? If youre self employed you may also find it more difficult to get credit, or if youve changed jobs recently. And moving around frequently doesnt look good either.

If any of these apply to you, dont give up just yet. A number of lenders specifically target people with bad credit histories or those who have difficulty getting a loan. If you apply to one of these lenders, you increase your chances of success but you also have to pay a higher APR " because you are perceived as being higher risk. This could be more than twice as much as the cheapest loan on the market, so the extra cost can be considerable.

Even if you do pay a higher APR initially, you may not always have to pay over the odds. Once you build up a payment history, it has the same effect as rebuilding your credit history (or creating a new one). This will go on your credit file, so when you apply for credit in the future it will count in your favor and you should be able to qualify for a standard loan with a lower APR.

Alternatively, if you are having difficulty getting an unsecured loan and are a homeowner, you can opt for a secured loan. Because the lender has the added benefit of security " in other words an ultimate claim to your property if you default on your repayments " it is more likely to consider lending you money. - 23309

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Traders Profiles (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

Can you be a scalper? Yes, forex scalping is something that many of us do. Forex scalping is best suited to the time when the market is ranging. Scalper is a workable profile for a small retail trader. However, you should be able to view the overall trend of the market to gauge whether you are trading with or against the prevailing trend.

A scalper might use a 10 minute chart to follow the market, a 1 hour chart to determine the long term trend and the 5 minute chart to time the entries and exits for each trade.

However, sometimes you might not want to close the trade at the end of the day as the trade is in profit and you are expecting more profits if you continue with the trade overnight. There is a rollover cost if you rollover your trades overnight. Be sure if you want to day trade, you know your broker policy on rollovers and the rollover cost for you.

A position trader is always for the lookout for big market moves that can get him/her 100-500 pips per trade. He/she might use a 1 hour chart to track the market, the 15 minute chart to time entries and exits and 1 day charts for trend determination.

The longer you hold the position, the more you are at risk of getting the market surprises that no one can predict. A market surprise can be a sharp change in direction or volatility often occurring as the result of a major surprise announcement. A position trader is always for the lookout for big market moves that can get him/her 100-500 pips per trade. He/she might use a 1 hour chart to track the market, the 15 minute chart to time entries and exits and 1 day charts for trend determination.

If you aim for a 1/3 risk/reward ratio, a Guerilla will risk 5-10 pips per trade, a scalper will risk 15-20 pips per trade, a day trader will risk 25-30 pips per trade and a position trader will risk 40-50 pips per trade. Each profile requires different scales of charts and time frames but also indicators and money management parameters.

Always keep in mind that in forex trading a 10 pips move up or down can easily occur within seconds or minutes very quickly without any reason or rhyme. No two traders can be exactly alike. Even if two traders use the same charts and technical indicators they might interpret them differently.

Do you want to become a good trader or a bad trader? Always keep in mind that in forex trading a 10 pips move up or down can easily occur within seconds or minutes very quickly without any reason or rhyme. No two traders can be exactly alike. - 23309

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Penny Stocks - Stocks Ready To Soar

By Marco Davies

You should know that the Penny stocks are ordinarily proposed by a concern that has been established for less than three years and has under 5 million dollars net assets, or a concern that has a minimum of 3 years of operating time, and has less than 2 million dollars in net tangible assets or a company has 6 million dollars gross income for three years. There is a mature marketplace for the penny stocks, all the same these shares have very determined liquidity. This is merely one of the causes of the penny stock market's volatility, nevertheless these markets remain very popular.

Penny shares, are now and again also termed as 'micro cap', are low valued shares normally traded in the over the counter market. Nearly all of the stocks and shares are obtainable for a penny that is why these are known as penny stocks.

OTCBB: Over The Counter Bulletin Board furnishes complete information for more than three thousand stocks including as they happen, quotations display, last sale price and volumes. These stocks are ordinarily not dealt with in any of the national stock exchanges. The OTCBB digitally furnishes as it occurs quotations for home as well as international stocks and shares, plus it displays previous days dealing processes in DPPs. There are in excess of two hundred market makers are documented at the Over The Counter Bulletin Board with OTC bulletin boards preferred to pink sheets.

Pink Sheets: Pink sheets is issued and maintained by Pink Sheets LLC and it displays bid and wanted cited terms of various penny stocks. Companies named in pink sheets are the most high-risk as the majority of the businesses easily meet the minimal requirement for listing, even though penny stocks at pink sheets are thinly bought and sold. A great many businesses pay brokers] for dealing these penny stocks and thus some brokers|agents] employ deceptive activities to trade the stocks and shares and cheat funds from individuals.

In a number of the cases, only a couple of market makers are in reality engaged in a limited penny stocks and obtain and trade these particular sureties only. Handling a market maker is desirable, as the market maker not simply sells the particular stocks or shares but it in addition buys the stocks or shares. About two hundred and thirty market makers are accredited by the Over The Counter Bulletin Board and these market makers purchase and trade stocks and shares on a frequent basis. It's in addition preferred to observe that a broader amount of market makers are around for unique stocks as the less market makers there are around, will often determine or control the unique stocks. In such a case the investment funds in the specific penny stock is high-risk as these few market makers can determine the terms of the stocks and shares and thus can maintain a wide spread between the buying and selling terms of the stock. Recently some of the market makers were found to be involved in dishonest activities.

There is a seasoned market of penny stocks that are bought and sold at Over The Counter Bulletin Board and pink sheets. Over The Counter Bulletin Board is governed by the rules of the SEC of the U.S.. - 23309

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Why You Should Buy Gold

By Garrett Strong

When you are trying to figure out how to buy gold or why you should buy gold, it is important to note several things. First, inflation is rearing its ugly head and governments won't stop until the dollar is completely devalued. Second, we are in the midst of major bailouts, layoffs, Ponzi schemes, and sky high unemployment.

It's important to be invested in gold right now. The gold price was at a low of $250/oz in 2001. The price of gold is over $1,100/ounce today. A one ounce gold coin has risen by over 400% in the last 8 years. Do you know of any other inflation proof investments that have experienced 400% returns?

Even if your paper investments made significant returns, the dollar has fallen in value dramatically and the paper bubble has begun to burst. If you want proof then simply look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average. When the Dow is priced in gold it tells a completely different story. As the dollar falls, gold rises in value.

You might be asking how the Dow could possibly be doing bad, but price it in gold and you will see. Even if the Dow got as high as 20,000 or higher, the value of your dollars would be crashing at a greater rate.

The USDX compares the dollar to a basket of other currencies around the world. The dollar has already fallen below 76, and many prominent economists are calling for the dollar to go much lower. Get out of dollars now before it is too late. The USDX is on a one way track to 65, and from there many economists believe it will go to 40.

This is the real world and this collapse of the dollar is really happening. Gold and silver will be your hedge against inflation. The dollar as the world's reserve currency is coming to an end. In fact, the dollar may not even be around in five years.

This is the greatest bull market that the world has ever seen. Fiat paper currencies are being inflated all around the world, and we are in the middle of some very bad economic times. The unemployment rate is growing and our dollars are being evaporated into thin air.

A $7,000 gold price is not out of the question over the next few years. Some economists believe it has to go this high to compensate for inflation. The dollar is only being propped up by our faith in it, and that is why our government doesn't want you buying gold.

Gold bullion and silver bullion are smart investments. It may be difficult to afford silver bars or gold bars. If that is the case, you can buy American Gold Eagle Coins or American Silver Eagle Coins.

God bless. - 23309

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Forex Trading - Tips To Understand Forex Lots

By Mark Green

Do you know exactly what a forex lot is? If you trade Forex you need to understand all of the language and terms exactly. Lots are the base unit size of any given forex transaction. You may have heard "I will take 5 lots of the euro against the British pound". In general, one standard lot is equivalent to 100,000 units of the base currency.

You may remember that the base currency is essentially just the first currency of a currency pair, for example in the EUR/USD currency pair the base currency is the EUR and the 'quote' currency is the USD; this means that you if you buy 1 lot (100,000 EUR) you will pay for it in USD and if you buy 5 lots of the Euro as stated earlier, you would pay for 500,000 Euros using the equivalent amount of British pounds.

You may remember that the base currency is essentially just the first currency of a currency pair, for example in the EUR/USD currency pair the base currency is the EUR and the 'quote' currency is the USD; this means that you if you buy 1 lot (100,000 EUR) you will pay for it in USD and if you buy 5 lots of the Euro as stated earlier, you would pay for 500,000 Euros using the equivalent amount of British pounds.

Why do we need to know this? If you have a 10,000 dollar account with your forex broker, they may give you leverage of 100:1 (for every dollar in your account you may trade 100 dollars worth of any currency in the forex market) you can gain full control of a maximum of 10 lots of any base currency in the market. If you have a micro account but want to control lots 100,000 units in size, you will definitely need to increase the amount of money in your account. Do not make the erroneous decision to use large leverage to control lots greater than permissible for your account type as the risk just isn't worth it.

When you start out trading the forex market, begin with a small number of lots. The best size is between 1 and 3. After you gain some experience you may find that this is sufficient to be a successful trader in the market. Once you become more experienced, and possibly have 10,000 dollars and above in your account, you can increase the size of your lots and the number of lots to trade in accordance with your trading and risk management strategy. - 23309

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