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    • Best Way to Get Your Ex Back
      • Maybe you said something stupid. Or you did something that was really dumb. Now you and your significant other have broken up. So what’s the best way to get your ex back? Seriously re-examine what led to the break up. Very often a small incident is blown so out of […]

    • Ways To Make Money Online
      • Niche profit classroom It has become a training program that many people find much more than helpful. It’s a program that was created to help people understand the secret methods to earning revenue online through niche marketing. And with all of the other programs being introduced to people looking for […]

    • How To Find Your Wells Fargo Routing Number
      • As one of the largest banks in the United States, Wells Fargo has more than 13,000 ATMs and 5,400 branches across the country. So if you’re a Wells Fargo customer and you’ve recently moved, it can be a little difficult to find the routing number associated with your account. So what’s that number for? Well, without it you can’t make transactions like direct deposits or fund transfers, so it’s definitely very, very important to know it. In fact, looking for the Wells Fargo routing number, as well as that of any bank, can be a hassle, especially for people who have never used it. But don’t worry, today you will learn how to do it. Simply put, there are three easy ways you can find the routing number associated with your Wells Fargo bank account: In a list of routing numbers by state. On a personal check. By calling customer service. Option #1 – List Alabama 062000080 Alaska 125200057 Arizona 122105278 Arkansas 111900659 California 121042882 Colorado 102000076 Connecticut 021101108 Delaware 031100869 Florida 063107513 Georgia 061000227 Hawaii 121042882 Idaho 124103799 Illinois 071101307 Indiana 074900275 Iowa 073000228 Kansas 101089292 Kentucky 121042882 Louisiana 121042882 Maine 121042882 Maryland 055003201 Massachusetts 121042882 Michigan 091101455 Minnesota 091000019 Mississippi 062203751 Missouri 113105449 Montana 092905278 Nebraska 104000058 Nevada 321270742 New Hampshire 121042882 New Jersey 021200025 New Mexico 107002192 New York 026012881 North Carolina 053000219 North Dakota 091300010 Ohio 041215537 Oklahoma 121042882 Oregon 123006800 Pennsylvania 031000503 Rhode Island 121042882 South Carolina 053207766 South Dakota 091400046 Tennessee 064003768 Texas 111900659 Texas – El Paso 112000066 Utah 124002971 Vermont 121042882 Virginia 051400549 Washington 125008547 Washington, D.C. 054001220 West Virginia 121042882 Wisconsin 075911988 Wyoming 102301092 Option #2 – Finding the Wells Fargo routing number on a personal check This is another extremely easy way to look up the routing number of Wells Fargo, as well as any bank, and all you need is to have your checkbook handy. In fact, this is why most HR departments request a voided check to set up direct deposit, since they want to be able to get the necessary information from the check itself, avoiding any inconvenience that might be caused by, say, providing the wrong number. As you can see in the image, the ABA routing number is the nine-digit number at the bottom left of the check. In this sense, the routing number for Wells Fargo, as well as any bank, will always consist of nine digits, never more or less, and you can confirm that yours is correct by looking it up in the table above or by using the American Bankers Association’s routing number lookup tool. Something we find curious is that you can confirm the validity of the format of any ABA routing number with just the number itself, but this is something we’re going to teach you how to do later. The check number is the last set of numbers, as well as the shortest. In truth, this number is of minor importance, as its only function is to help you keep track of your checks and transactions. Option #3 – Contact Wells Fargo to get your routing number In this case, there are two ways to do this: Through a form on their website, in which you’ll need to enter information such as the type of account and the state where you opened it. In fact, we have obtained the numbers in the table above using this tool. If you don’t remember what state you were in when you first opened the account and don’t have a check handy, you can call Wells Fargo to ask a customer service representative for your ABA routing number. The phone number is 1-800-869-3557 and they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. FAQ What is the Wells Fargo routing number? The Wells Fargo routing number is a unique nine-digit number that is usually found on the bottom of a check and identifies the financial institution where it was issued or printed. The routing number, also known as an American Bankers Association (ABA) number, is used to maintain an account and transfer money from one account to another. As mentioned above, the ABA routing number for your Wells Fargo account will depend on the state in which you opened the account. To find the one that applies to you, all you have to do is take a look at the table below. Why are there so many Wells Fargo routing numbers? After looking at this table you are probably wondering, why does Wells Fargo have so many routing numbers? Well, that’s because the bank, over the course of its history, has merged with and acquired other smaller financial institutions, in the process maintaining the original financial infrastructure and simply building on top of it. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in the mid-19th century, so they’ve had plenty of time to acquire other banks over the years. What is Wells Fargo? Wells Fargo & Company is one of the world’s most successful U.S. multinational banking and financial holding companies. Founded in 1852, Wells Fargo offers numerous services and products to make financial life easier for its customers. In this sense, and as we have mentioned, knowing the routing number associated with your bank account is of utmost importance, since having it speeds up the process of making banking transactions such as fund transfers. How do routing numbers work? As we have seen throughout this article, routing numbers are a very important component of the overall banking system. To better understand how they work, let’s explore how they originated, how they work, and their importance. The American Banking Association initially created routing numbers to make check processing more secure and manageable. It was a way to uniquely identify the payor bank, and was used to assure the person receiving a check that they would get the money promised from the payor bank. The first Federal Reserve digits were added to each bank’s routing number. The Federal Reserve routing symbol identified the type of institution and the Federal Reserve district where the account was opened. Routing numbers were later used in electronic check cashing networks in the 1960s, which helped speed check processing. Why is the routing number important? The Wells Fargo routing number is an extremely important code, as you need it to be able to perform different banking transactions. If you want to send money, you need to use your bank’s branch information, as well as verify that the information is correct. In this order of ideas, it is necessary that you know the name of the state where you opened the account, as well as the type of account. Routing numbers are also vital for IRAs, prepaid cards and savings accounts, and can be used to identify financial institutions when making other transfers, such as bill payment, check processing and Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposits. In fact, the American Bankers Association (ABA) usually manages the official routing number registry.

    • Best Credit Repair Companies
      • It seems that hurting your credit is entirely too easy than it should be. Having your credit damaged can happen from a series of events and life happenings and it is important to know that it does NOT always mean you have been irresponsible or careless with your finances. However, let’s admit it, sometimes that is the reason. Either way, here are a few tips on how to begin repairing your credit and building it back up to a respectable level. If you don’t have one, get a credit card. Better yet, get two! However, be responsible! Use them for small purchases and then pay them off immediately. Do not spend money you don’t already have. Maintain the mind set you are BUILDING credit, not USING it. For example, use one card for exclusively gas purchases and use the other for food. Pay them both off once a week. Another benefit other than gradually building your credit again are the awards or points you can earn with your credit card. If you pay them off and never have to pay interest, it’s like getting free money in a sense. Just make sure to pay them off regularly, not just the minimum payment due. Pay down your existing credit cards. To be brutally honest, credit bureaus don’t like to see a card have more than 30% of it’s credit availability used. So with your current cards, try your hardest to pay them off, if that’s a bit too much to take on right now, then at least get them to 30% balance or less. If you have multiple cards, start paying down the card with the balance closest to the credit limit on the card. Make sure to check your credit report. Go over it and if you find any errors make sure you report and dispute them to the credit bureau and reporting agency. You will want to especially look for late payments that are incorrectly listed for any of your accounts. Also make sure that the amount that is said you owe is indeed the correct amount. Now that we have gone over a few thing you SHOULD do, let’s quickly go over what you SHOULDN’T do. Do not ask a creditor to lower you credit limit, do NOT make a late payment and don’t apply for more credit if you already have plenty. Many people find that when they need to buy a house, car, or another big item, it is important to know how to repair credit. There are many reasons that credit can need to be repaired. This can be because of late payments, not having enough credit or because of collections or judgements. The great thing about this is that it can be repaired with a bit of effort. The first thing that needs to be done is to order your credit report. You can not begin to fix something that you know nothing about. A credit report can normally be obtained for free by contacting each of the three credit reporting agencies. Some of them offer one free report per year. Once receiving the report. Find the companies that you owe money to, or that you have late payments with. Once you have a credit report, you need to call each company and see if they will work out a payment plan with you so that you can pay off any debt that you may have. Also, it is a good idea to start making on time payments on all the accounts that you have. Ask the credit agencies if they can report that you are making on time payments. This will help your credit score go up. Try to pay down any existing credit cards so that you only have used 30 percent of the limit. Carrying high balances on credit cards will make your credit score go down. Carrying low balances will make your credit score higher. Establish lines of credit with companies that will report on time payments to the three major credit reporting agencies. Always make sure that you keep the balances low and always make the payments on time. By following these steps on how to repair credit, you will be well on your way to having the credit to buy that new item. Always remember that credit card repair is a process that can take at least 6 months to a year to see good results. Be patient and continue to pay down debt and make on time payments. How to Repair Credit History If you find that your credit scores are below par then you’re not alone. In the past few years many are finding themselves unable to pay their bills, resorting to default and even bankruptcy. Statistics show that there are almost 50 million people with this problem. Before you do anything drastic know that there are ways that, with a little time and elbow grease, you can repair your credit scores. To begin with you need to find out exactly where you stand concerning your credit scores and creditors. You’ll need to start by checking with the three main scoring companies, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. While it may seem odd to deal with three different companies it’s important that you do so. Many creditors will only report to one or two of them. Each one has a different criteria as to scoring and a different credit rating for you. A surprising fact is that creditors fail to report payments or you’ve mistakingly been docked for someone elses bad credit due to improper reporting by a creditor or one of the three credit report agencies. Sorting through your credit scores will be your first step. Once you’ve sorted through your scores, you’ll need to make arrangements with your creditors to pay down your balances. In many cases debtors today are taking a percentage of what you owe due to the large amount of debts they are now processing. This is especially true with credit card companies. Do not cancel any credit card before paying it off. This will go against your credit rating in that it will show you still owe on a cancelled card. Scoring agencies consider this a cancellation by your credit card company and not by you. This will lower your rating. If you find that you have too many creditors to pay separately it may be in your best interest to consolidate your debts into one payment. If you don’t wish to do it yourself there are credit counselors that will contact your creditors for you and arrange payments. Make sure the counselor you deal with is reputable. Maintain a good relationship with each creditor and keep continuous watch over your credit scores. Be sure that every step of the process is recorded to the three main scoring agencies by all creditors. In this way you’ll be able to repair your credit history without resorting to drastic measures. With the high unemployment rate, huge number of foreclosures, and people not being able to pay their credit card bills, it is no wonder that many people have sustained significant damage to their credit rating. This does not mean that it is impossible to improve your credit, but you will have to take a few steps to repair credit history, so that when you are in need of financing in the future, you will be able to easily find financing that means your loan needs. A first step in repair credit history is to see exactly what your history says about you. Request a copy of your credit reports and make sure that you review it to make sure everything is accurate. If you find something that does not seem quite right, you do have the right to dispute it. Once you know exactly what your credit history says about you, you can take the next steps needed to improve your credit rating. One of the steps that you will need to do to start to improve your credit history is to being to pay all of your bills on time. When payments are made late on your accounts, your credit rating takes a huge hit, so it is vital to make all payments on time. In order to improve and repair credit history you will also need to lower the number of accounts that you have open. Limit yourself to only a few accounts and ask that the other accounts be closed out. If you have balances on all of your current accounts, see of your can consolidate them to your credit account that has the lowest interest rate. If you have recently filed bankruptcy and are trying to repair your credit a great way to do so is to get a secured credit card so that you can start to reprove that you can be trusted again to use credit. You may also want to consider asking a family member to cosign a small loan for you, as a way to jumpstart your credit. Completely repairing your credit history may take a few years, but by taking the correct steps you can slowly improve your credit rating monthly. Consider the aforementioned steps a great place to start on those repairs. Credit Repair Company No matter what the reason is that your credit is so damaged, from default on credit and unsecured debts, to a default on a personal loan or a car note, having a credit repair company help you get your credit back in line, is a great way for any debtor to revive their credit score. Choosing to use the services of a professional company, and employing the use of a credit repair company to assist you in starting the repayment process, is the best way for a debtor to get their bills paid, minimize their overall debt amount owed, and start raising their credit reports slowly but surely. When you hire a credit repair company to assist you on the repayment of debts, they are going to wor with you, and the creditors you owe, in order to set up a repayment plan, in order for you to make the payments, in a reduced amount, and start paying of loans that you may be in default with. The services of a credit repair company are similar to a loan consolidation company. But, a credit repair company will not work to consolidate all of the loan amounts you owe, but rather, they will just do the negotiating work with each creditor, and try to set up the repayment plan with each individual creditor. Most creditors are willing to work with these credit repair companys, rather than with a personal debtor, due to the fact that the credit repair company is aware of the way the financial world works, and knows that if a debtor defaults, or simply does not repay the money, there are only limited actions which the creditor can take from them. And, if the debtor were to file for bankruptcy, rather than hire a credit repair company, the creditors would not get any money at all once the bankruptcy went through. For this reason, creditors will work with the companies a debtor hires, so that they can at least get back a portion of the money owed to them, rather than get nothing at all. It is similar to a settlement, but does not work in the same manner legally. So, if you are looking to rebuild your credit, and raise your credit score, you are going to want to hire a reliable credit repair company to help you work with creditors, and start on the repayment process. How Do I Repair My Credit? No one likes having bad credit. It can get you turned down for apartments, insurance or jobs. You will also pay higher interest rates on loans, if you can get them at all. With some time and effort, you can repair your credit. There are only three full proof methods to fixing your credit: have mistakes corrected, have the creditor make changes or wait for time to pass. The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how credit information is reported and used by companies. It also details procedures for disputing incorrect information and how long accounts remain on a credit report. Under this Act, you are guaranteed an annual copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies free of charge. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com for information on how to get your reports. Once you have all three reports in hand verify that the information on them is correct. Any incorrect information should be disputed. Send a letter to each agency explaining the incorrect information. A sample dispute letter can be found on the Federal Trade Commission’s website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre13.shtm. Include copies of documents supporting your side of the dispute. The agency then has up to thirty days to investigate all disputed claims. Once their investigation is concluded, they will send confirmation of their findings. If the agency sides with you or is unable to verify the accuracy of the account, the report will be corrected and you can request an updated copy. If they side with the creditor, you still have the option of adding a short statement to your credit report explaining the situation. In some cases, you can negotiate with creditors for removal of bad reports. If you have an outstanding balance on an account, the creditor may be willing to remove the report if you pay the balance in full. If the report is accurate, you may have no alternative but to wait. Bad reports will fall off seven years and 180 days after they become delinquent. Exceptions to this rule include bankruptcies and taxes. Bankruptcies are reportable for 10 years and taxes are reportable for up to seven years after they are paid in full. While you are working to fix errors on your credit report, start rebuilding good credit by paying your current bills on time. Timely payments have the greatest impact on your credit score and can go a long way to getting your credit back on track. Free Credit Repair There are plenty of companies out there that will advertise that they will complete free credit repair for you, but the truth is that these claims are normally just scams. There are many fraudulent companies that claim that they will completely clean up your credit report and recognizing them from the legit credit repair companies can be hard to do. Those companies that are offering free credit repair only complete it for free until there services are completed and then they will request payment. The fact is that while there are some legit companies that offer credit repair, you can actually do your own free credit repair. The first step in this is to obtain a copy of your credit reports from all three major credit reporting agencies. Once you have the reports go over them with a fine tooth comb to ensure that you catch any inaccuracies. If you do notice any errors, you as a consumer do have a right to dispute the errors. You will also want to make sure that anything that should be off by now is off. Bankruptcies should be off of your report after 10 years and repossessions and charge-offs should be gone after 7 years. After checking the accuracy of your credit report the next step in completing you own free credit repair is keep the accounts that you have current and make sure that you are never late on a payment. If you have any past due accounts, contact the company to arrange a way to bring them up to date. You also need to work to pay down the debt on accounts open and always start paying off the debt that has the highest interest rate on it. Do not open any new lines of credit during your period of credit clean up either as this may make it seem to creditors that you are desperate for credit. Take your time and make sure that you clean your credit up properly. You didn’t trash your credit rating overnight and you need to remember that you are not going to be able to clean it up overnight. If you do choose to go with a company to repair your credit, make sure that you do your homework and are dealing with a reputable company. Regardless of how you clean up your report, make sure that it is completed so that when you need financing in the future you will have no problem getting it. Credit Repair Help If your credit is in need of a bit of repair then you need to take care of this before it’s too late. If you have a FICO credit score of 620 or lower this pertains to you. While the three major credit scoring agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax have different criteria for scoring it is essential that you maintain above the collective 620 mark. Credit cards, or lack thereof, are the main concerns of low scoring. If you don’t have any sort of credit then it’s important that you get some. It may be advisable to have a low amount credit card and build credit from there once you are able. Showing that you are making regular payments on a card promotes good credit scores. If you have limited funds then it’s recommended you take out a secured card. A secured card means that the issuing bank gives you a credit line equal to your secured deposit with them. If you find you have too much credit you may be having a hard time making payments. If this is the case you may want to consolidate into one payment plan, or make arrangemnts with your credit card companies to lower your payments until you can resume a regular rate. Another way to consolidate, maintain, and repair credit is through an installment loan. This will help consolidate your payments into one and actually improve your credit scores. Under no circumstance should you cancel a credit card before paying it off. This may seem like a good way to stop any further charges, but in reality you are causing yourself more grief for a number of reasons. A credit card cancellation will show on you credit scores as a cancellation by the credit card company and not by you. This means it is implied that they forced cancellation. It won’t stopped your payments and skyrocketing interest. While you don’t have use of the card you still have accruing card debt. Understanding how your FICO score works will also help if you need credit repair. FICO rates your: Payment history and revolving debt and, to a lesser extent, length of credit history, types of credit, and any recent searches for credit. However, the last item of recent credit searches may mean that you are still applying for credit elsewhere and is the worst thing you can do when trying to repair credit. It’s not as hard as you think to repair credit With the current state of the economy, having a great credit score is a rare commodity. You may have lost your job, your home, and your livelihood. If you’re like many people, your credit may have been hit the hardest. To get back on track, you will want to take the time to repair your credit. If you want to repair credit, the most obvious way is to repay your creditors. To get started, make a list of those to whom you owe money, either in writing or on a spreadsheet on your computer. Include their name, contact information, your account number, and the amount you owe. Be sure to include any late fees. You can find this information on your most recent statement. If your account has been charged off, you can find the information on the documents you are receiving from the collection agency. Once you have compiled all the information, you will want to decide how you are going to tackle repayment. Some suggest paying one company at a time so you can put all your money toward that debtor and pay it off quickly. Others recommend paying a set amount to each creditor. Still others recommend credit consolidation so you will only have one bill to pay each month. Which path you choose will depend on your current financial situation, how much you can afford to pay, as well as your goals for credit resolution. If you are uncertain of how to proceed, you may want to consider contacting a financial opportunity center. The center can help you repair credit that is in a bad state. Many offer credit analysis, dispute resolution, budgeting skills, and some even offer financial education workshops. If you can find one through a non-profit agency, you may not have to pay for their services. Otherwise, there may be a small fee, but the result will be well worth it if you can use them to repair credit and get your life back on track. Most importantly, don’t become discouraged. It may seem like it’s going to take a lifetime to repair credit that’s gone bad, but there is always hope. If you budget, set goals, and work hard to achieve them, you will arrive at a place of financial success.

    • Prepaid Credit Card NZ
      • Owning a prepaid credit card is a solution to not having to carry around large amounts of cash all the time. Also for people who’s credit score is not high enough, this will provide the owner of the card an excellent alternative to enjoy most of the benefits that any other standard credit card holder would enjoy. Unlike the standard credit cards that are available on the market today,prepaid credit cards don’t require a credit check to obtain one. Another nice feature is that you can only withdraw up to the amount that you have on the card.This makes it impossible to overdraw and avoids late fees as well because you will never receive a statement or invoice from the company. Since these cards are widely accepted at any ATM machine, you have the ability to withdraw cash anytime as long as there are funds in your account.Of course, if there is not enough money in the account to cover the withdrawal, the machine will simply will automatically reject the transaction without any charge to you. Prepaid credit cards are internet friendly.Many people buy a prepaid credit just for that reason only. Even if they have a standard credit card that they can use to make purchases online,they would much rather use a prepaid card instead to minimize the potential loss and also to protect their identity in the event of possible fraud.The most that a thief can get is the actual balance of whats on the prepaid credit card.By using a regular card it is quite a different story however.Usually the credit limits are set much higher than a typical balance amount that is found on a prepaid card.So in the event that any misuse should occur,the owner of a standard card stands much more to lose.Nevertheless,it always pays to be safe rather than sorry. Prepaid credit cards can be purchased just about anywhere now.This includes at any major grocery or department store.You can even buy a prepaid card online if you choose to do so.It’s fees vary however so be prepared to do a little shopping in order to get the best value. How do these cards work? These cards offer an excellent and low risk solution to all those who have non-existent or poor credit history. First, you will have to apply for a prepaid credit card UK from the credit card companies. Most of the credit card companies in the UK will issue these cards if you can confirm your address and identity. You will be provided with a card that can be used anywhere as a normal debit or credit card. Aside from this, you are using your own funds and there is no risk of getting into debt. There is not interest or charges to be paid to the card company. Above all, unlike usual credit cards, a prepaid credit card UK prevents the holder from overspending while shopping as they can’t buy more than the money that is in their account. Finding the Best Prepaid Credit Card A lot of companies claim to offer the best prepaid credit card, so it may be hard for a person to figure out fact from fiction. There are so many options out there that it can also be difficult to sift through all of them. With that in mind, it takes a lot of research and careful reading of the fine print to find the absolute top choice. Prepaid credit cards are becoming more and more common, but that means that there are plenty of bad options out there too. A person that makes the wrong decision could end up dealing with many, many fees and other issues. Of course, that is the last thing anyone wants. Fortunately, finding the best prepaid credit card is not an impossible task. Enough time and effort will result in a smart decision. The best cards will offer low fees, easy money transfers, and unlimited card use. Still, these features are not always the easiest things to find. Many cards sport hefty fees coupled with difficult card-loading procedures. Nobody should own a card that is a hassle to use, load, or own. In any case, great cards will also offer security measures so that a person cannot have his or her card stolen or used without permission. Anything less than that constitutes a poor card rather than the best prepaid credit card. With all of the options out there, a person will need to be careful when reading about great deals and whatnot. It is always smartest to read the fine print on all cards – no matter what the advertisements might say. Plus, reading up on some reviews on the Internet can help someone make a final decision. Without a doubt, this is the best course of action for finding the best prepaid credit card. Too many people make the mistake of choosing the first option that comes along, but this can lead to lost money due to fees and lost time due to the hassle of using the card. For the most part, there are some great options out there, but there are plenty of other bad ones too. Which prepaid credit card? If you have really poor credit, and are trying to rebuild your score, you may want to consider which prepaid credit card is the best one for you to apply with, and obtain a credit card from. A prepaid credit card is one of the best options for people who are trying to rebuild their credit. Whether you have filed for bankruptcy and are trying to show creditors you are making the payments on a card; or, whether you have defaulted on a few loans, and just need a steping stone to start rebuilding the credit score, a prepaid credit card is reallly a great choice to consider. There are several companies which offer these cards, and for this reason you have to really consider which prepaid credit card company is the best choice for you. These cards will typically offer a minimum which is based on the amount you put into the card. For example, if you have 2,000 dollars which you send the company when you first get the card, this is going to be your credit limit. And, the rates of interest are going to typically be a flat rate, which is pretty consistent among all companies which offer prepaid cards. But, there are some companies which will offer a higher credit limit to some people, especially after you have been with that company for a while, and have show good repayment history. So, when you are reviewing the terms of the credit card companies, and considering which prepaid credit card is the best for you, these are things which you must consider when you apply for the card. So, other than rebuilding your credit, this might be the only credit card you are going to be able to get for a while. For this limit, the people who apply for these prepaid cards really have to set aside the time, and determine which prepaid credit card is right for their financial needs, and which ones will give them the credit limits they need. So before you choose the first prepaid card which is offered to you, especially when you are looking to rebuild your credit score, you really must take the time to determine which prepaid credit card is right for you, and which card is going to give you the higher limits, the best interest rates, and ultimately what you need in the credit card. How To Get An Online Prepaid Credit Card When it comes to finding the right card for yourself, if you don’t have good credit; a great alternative is available which allows for you to get an online prepaid credit card without a hassle. Many credit cards have limits and add problems when money is completely gone. Prepaid cards don’t have this issue and are treated much like credit cards. They are usually accepted in every location that accepts most major credit cards and they are sold in many department stores, gas stations, and local shops all across the country. Prepaid cards can also be used to make online purchases as well, just like credit cards can. On many sites that offer the ability to sign up for these cards, there are offers like direct deposit and social security benefit transfers that can be applied. A lot of the time when a person signs up for a card, they can use it on the same day through online merchants and similar services. Taxes can be filed and transferred to your prepaid credit card as well and usually is offered as a free addition to many of their other services. Customization is also possible if you get your card through a major bank. Some of the customization options could be the ability to choose which design and color you want your card to be as well as registering for an account to manage your expenses online without a need to request a paper copy of your statement each month. There are some prepaid cards that can only be used once. This is a security measure that some banks have when issuing a prepaid credit card because of the high risk of fraud. Most prepaid cards however can come with or without prefixed PIN numbers that can be used in most credit/debit machines that require you to input a PIN number. Registering for a prepaid credit card usually starts with your basic information. There is no need for information about your income, bill stubs or payment stubs, and anything related to your personal life. Generally, prepaid credit cards will expire quicker than monthly payment credit cards and usually have a limit on design options for the card, where credit cards usually have a multitude of options that the prepaid credit cards don’t have. Prepaid credit cards are in fact more secure than normal credit cards because if it is stolen, the bank or issuer can stop any transactions from happening and in many cases faster than normal credit cards. Finding a Free Prepaid Credit Card Obtaining a free prepaid credit card is not the easiest thing in the world, but it is not impossible either. Of course, the actual plastic cards are always free. However, these cards always have associated fees and charges that must be paid for the card to remain activated. Each provider sets its own rates for the card. Still, there are ways to obtain a free card that has little to no fees. These options are usually offered by banks and other financial institutions so that a person can rebuild or build credit. Most cards that are offered in stores do feature fees though. To find a free prepaid credit card, a person will need to do plenty of research to find the perfect choice. There are relatively few free cards out there. Some cards will be advertised as free and no-fee, but a person will need to read the fine print to find out if that is actually the case. Also, it is important to note that some options can become free if a person uses it frequently or loads a certain amount of money onto it right away. Obviously, a free card is a luxury that anyone should be on the look out for. A free prepaid credit card is definitely nice, but a person must remember that he or she is responsible for loading money onto the card. He or she must make sure that the issuing company does not charge any fees for putting funds into the associated account or using the card in various situations. Otherwise, a person could soon find out how costly a “free” card can end up being. Most people who use a free prepaid credit card are happy with it, but everyone is bound to have a different experience with these credit cards. That does not mean that a free prepaid credit card cannot be useful for everyone though. In fact, it is a good idea to carry one around in case of an emergency or other situation. Obtaining a free option is not that difficult with enough research, so a person should be able to have a positive experience with these items. Prepaid Credit Cards For Canada A poor credit rating is the primary cause for rejection when seeking a credit card. In today’s society, many businesses opt to run cashless transactions because of its accounting easy and transaction speed. A credit card meets these needs and more. They can be used in making virtually any kind of purchase as well as booking reservations for flights or hotels. For individuals who cannot apply for a credit card as a result of having a poor credit rating, the best option would be to acquire a prepaid credit card. For parents, one of the benefits of getting a prepaid credit card Canada offers is its ability to allow them restrict and control their children’s spending. Otherwise called secured credit cards, the prepaid credit card Canada provides is quite similar to the conventional credit card. The only major difference is in its credit limit – which is a bit lower than that of the conventional credit card. The credit limit is subject to meeting the security deposit requirements. The prepaid credit card Canada offers is not to be mistaken for a prepaid debit card. The debit card draws funds from the cash in the account associated to it while a credit card enables you make purchases on credit. The process of setting up of a prepaid credit card is similar to that of a savings or checking account. Your prepaid credit card account is set-up by making an initial deposit into the account. Upon making the deposit, you are given a credit card that allows you to transact and make purchases in the same manner as a conventional credit card. The prepaid credit card Canada offers is special in the sense that it helps secure your spending. The spending power on the prepaid credit card is protected so as not to run a debt on the account holder.The amount of credit available on the card is subject to the amount placed as an upfront payment. Invariably, this would act as a security deposit. If you happen to be battling a bad credit rating or simply wish to control spending, you’d find it wise to apply for a prepaid credit card. No extra fees, bills, interest, balances It can become a very stressful task to even have to maintain having a credit card and with the already built up stress of life, the last thing you should worry about is the hassles and stress brought about by owning a credit card. Your company may suddenly decide to lower your interest rate or raise your bill out of no where, which leads you to have a lot more unnecessary problems on your plate! Unfortunately the stress and hassle of owning a credit card is a hard to avoid problem that many are facing. Yet through all of the problems many people maintain a credit card because carrying around cash is just not a good idea and they need it to pay certain bills. But now you can have a credit card with all of the advantages of not having to carry around cash and make payments and purchases easily but without all of the constant rising bills and suspires fees. The only way to get these advantages without all of the disadvantages is to maintain a prepaid credit card. A prepaid credit card is exactly what it sounds like. You have a card and you simply load whatever money you want onto it. Once you have gotten all of the money that you have loaded onto your card then you can begin making your purchases and paying your bills. You will use it just like any other type of credit card. You can use it at any store or any website that accepts credit cards. Once you have your prepaid credit card your life will become a lot easier. You will have all of your cash accept it will be safely on your own credit card in which you control the balance. You will not have to worry about the fees, interest and other common known problems that come along with having a credit card. Making your purchases and paying your bills is going to become much less of a stressful task thanks to prepaid credit cards. The What And When of Prepaid Credit Cards There are many people around the world who are not able to secure a proper line of credit for some reason or another. Banks are tightening their requirements for an individual to qualify for credit cards. At the same time, more retailers and other establishments are becoming credit card friendly. How does a person take advantage of the credit card revolution, if they are unable to secure a credit card? Simple, the use of prepaid credit and debit cards is now acceptable. The world is changing to a more cashless place. People want to be able to carry their money around without having to worry if their wallet or purse is stolen. They need to be able to recover their financial situation pretty quick. The prepaid credit and debit card offer this type of protection. It is easy to call up the company issuing the card and put a stop payment request. There are also limits to which can be recovered on a traditional card, but the protection is greater on prepaid credit or debit because the potential loss is limited the amount the person has on the card anyway. Even people with credit cards are finding it more convenient to carry prepaid debit and credit cards along with them instead of cash. Carrying cash can be sloppy and less likely to be budgeted properly. The prepaid debit and credit card allows a person to set a budget, feel safe carrying it, and only spend that amount. There are no overdraft fees, no minimum balances, and the card is protected. The prepaid debit and credit card is simply one of the best investments people can make today when it comes to ways to reduce spending and save a person’s credit. While the prepaid credit and debit do not report to the credit agencies, they act to save credit ratings by preventing spending slips that actually cause negative ratings in the first place. There is no reason to not carry at least one prepaid debit or credit card, especially on vacations that require extra cash on hand. Many people have found the convenience of prepaid cards during vacation to be a life savior. They have found them also to be quite effective for handing out allowance to their children. There is no better way to force children to budget their money than by making the card do it for them, while they track their spending patterns. Prepaid debit and credit cards are great financial tools. Places where you can Purchase Prepaid Credit Cards in the UK All those who have a checking account in a bank can avail a prepaid credit card UK. These prepaid credit cards are quite similar to the usual ATM cards but, they are enclosed with a Visa or Mastercard logo. The biggest advantage of these cards is that they are even available to all those who have a bad credit score. These prepaid credit cards are also termed as credit builders as they act as credit repair tools for all those who have a bad credit score. Aside from this, a prepaid credit card UK also provides you an instant access to electronic cash. With prepaid credit cards, users are not borrowing any money, but are using their own funds for buying or making transactions. You can buy a prepaid credit card UK from many banks and agencies, who are offering them for purchasing various products, for payment of bills, as phone cards and so on. When a person uses prepaid credit card UK for making any purchase, the amount that was initially deposited in their account is reduced according to the amount that was used for purchase or according to the cash withdrawn at any ATM. Once the amount that was deposited in the account of the prepaid credit card holder is consumed, the user will have to deposit more money for availing the services. Without any money in the account, the card holder will not be able to make any payment or buy things using a prepaid credit card UK. Usually, some fee is associated with new prepaid cards. However, many companies offer exciting deals and discounts to all those who opt for such cards.

    • Best Pet Insurance NZ
      • Never before have our pets had such a great opportunity to get top notch health care. Just as advanced medical technology has helped so many millions of humans it helps to improve the quality of living for our pets too. The MRI, ultrasound, chemotherapy, and alternative therapies are costly procedures. When we love our pets as we do we will do whatever it takes to get them well again. We don’t want them suffering in pain nor do we want to lose them earlier than we have to. Senior cats are prone to diabetes and liver problems. Cats and dogs who are outdoors a lot are more likely to get into accidents and have bone issues. If one lives in the suburbs the cost of medical services will be higher than in the countryside. As with humans top quality pet care is not inexpensive. Before long your pet bill will reach the thousands. There is a solution to this. The answer is pet insurance. Which pet insurance is the best you might wonder. Each pet owner needs to ask why they are considering insurance. Most people get it because they want their pet to be covered when they start getting chronic health issues as they age. One of the better known brands which is a pioneer in pet insurance offers four different types of coverage. Depending on the age and breed of one’s pet a suitable coverage can be established. Each one offers different degrees of coverage for accidents, illness, dental and special coverage. The enrollment is within 48 hours once approved. Pet insurance is a relatively new opportunity for pet owners to optin in to. Our pets live longer and by doing so will also start to feel the pain of aging. We don’t need to put them down as was the course of action fifty years’ ago. Today we can have them around longer and still offer them a quality standard of living. Some programs guarantee that once they have accepted your pet they will never stop insuring the animal due to old age. This is reassuring and well worth investigating. Pet Insurance Reviews When you are choosing a pet insurance policy for your pets, you are going to want to make sure that you find the best rated companies, the most coverage in a policy, and that you really find the insurance that will cover any kind of treatment or operation your pet may need. So, when you are deciding upon which company to go with, and what amount of coverage you have to buy when deciding upon a pet insurance policy, you are going to want to get the best pet insurance reviews, from other pet owners as well as vets, in order to know you are really choosing the best possible insurance and coverage policy for your furry friends. For many people, their pets are a part of the family. And, when you are considering treatment options for them, you are going to want to make sure they are fully taken care of, in the event they become ill, need treatment, or even when they are just going in for a checkup, that they are able to visit the best vets available to them. So, you must make sure that you find a pet insurance policy which is going to give you all of these things, and which will allow you to choose the best vets for the treatment which your pet may eventually need. So, before you choose the pet insurance which you think is the best out there, you are going to want to get the best pet insurance reviews, in order to make sure that you are in fact choosing the best insurance. You want to compare policies, companies, and overall what the insurance you are purchasing has to offer in terms of care, and what is included under the policy rate. Just like an insurance plan for you and the family, you want to make sure your pet’s insurance covers medical trips, co-pays, medication, hospital stays, and any other treatment they may have to undergo, due to a condition they might be facing. Therefore, when you are considering which of the insurance companies to go with, and which insurance plan you are going to choose for the pet insurance coverage, you are going to want to read up, and find listings of the best pet insurance reviews. You can find these reviews online, or by asking other pet owners, and even asking your own personal vet for suggestions. Pet Medical Insurance Most pet owners consider their pet(s) as family members, and will seriously consider pet medical insurance. Responsible pet owners will make every effort to assure their pets will enjoy good health throughout their lives, and into their old age. Since vet fees are increasing on an average of 10% every year, most pet owners are aware that pet medical insurance is a wise consideration. Selecting pet medical insurance is much the same process as finding medical insurance for ourselves. Like ours, choosing pet medical insurance can also be complicated, which is why comparison shopping is highly recommended. Fortunately there are many on-line sites to help pet owners select a pet medical insurance plan that is most suited to their pets, and to their budgets. Pet medical insurance plans generally offer coverage for standard and preventative medical procedures, as well as protection against many unexpected costs related to illness and injury. It is very important that consumers study, and compare the various options offered by pet medical insurance companies. Pet medical insurance plans work much like our own medical insurance plans, in that a monthly fee is paid for continuing medical insurance coverage for your pet. If at any time your pet becomes ill, or is injured, your insurance company pays the agreed upon percentage of coverage, per the plan that you selected. Fortunately, pet medical insurance is not as expensive as our own medical insurance. Many pet insurance companies also offer various discounts. Some important questions that should be addressed when selecting a medical insurance plan for your pet are: Can I use a Vet of my choice? Are cancer treatments covered? Will premiums increase as my pet grows older? Does policy cover hereditary and congenital defects? If my pet has an ongoing condition, will the coverage be for life, or will the policy expire? How are claims made, and how difficult is the claims process? Are claims subject to annual limit, or per condition basis? Are any fee discounts or perks available to my pet? Our pets offer us unconditional love, affection, and trust. They are entitled to the best care that we can provide. Pet medical insurance is a decisive measure that can be taken to achieve peace of mind in knowing that our pets are assured of the health care they deserve. Getting The Cheapest Pet Insurance Pet insurance can be expensive, but there are a number of ways to get the best value for the cheapest price. With an ever-increasing number of companies offering insurance plans, tailoring a plan to your budget and needs is easy. Get quotes from several different companies and compare. Adjusting deductibles, co-pays and types of coverage will help you save money on individual plans. Premiums vary greatly from company to company. Quotes provide an easy way to look at different plans side to side to see which ones provide the best benefits for the lowest cost. Check with organizations you are a member of to see if they offer insurance discounts to their members. This is a great way to get extra value from your annual memberships. Most plans offer different deductable and co-pay rates. Premiums can be cut significantly by increasing the deductable, co-pay or both. Higher deductibles and co-pays may increase out-of-pocket and upfront costs. Determine if the money saved in premiums is worth the extra out-of-pocket costs. The number one way to get the cheapest pet insurance is to purchase a plan tailored to your needs. If your dog is young and healthy, you don’t need the same coverage as those with older animals suffering from chronic conditions. Research what is covered under each of the prospective plans. Comprehensive care plans pay for routine care, such as vaccinations, neutering, dental care and prescription drugs. These types of plans are much more expensive than catastrophic plans that only cover major medical issues. Investigate the cost of routine care in your area before deciding on a plan type. There is no need to pay the extra premiums if routine care is inexpensive in your area. Lastly, check out the reputation of the company offering the plan. Low fees become very expensive if reimbursements are slow or nonexistent or if you have to fight over what is and isn’t covered under the plan. Get referrals from friends, and then do your own research. Also, use the internet to search out reviews and opinions of plans you are investigating. Comparison shopping, adjusting deductibles and co-pays, and only getting the coverage you need, are the best methods for getting the cheapest price on a pet insurance policy. Which Pet Insurance Is Best? Pet insurance helps you pay for unexpected (and in some cases, preventative) costs at the vet. Many pet lovers are investing in pet insurance, with the rising cost of advancing veterinary care and the state of the current economy. Diagnostic tools, such as MRIs, and extensive procedures, like kidney transplants, are now available for pets whereas years ago certain conditions proved fatal for pets and such procedures were not available. Having pet insurance can save you a lot of money in the long run, especially if you have an older pet. When shopping for pet insurance, you should consider the following: Is wellness care covered? Check-ups and vaccinations are key to keeping your pet healthy, and your pet insurance plan should offer some assistance. Also, are congenital and hereditary conditions covered? Genetic problems, like epilepsy, cataracts, and heart disease are just a few of the very many conditions your pet can develop over time, no matter how proactive you are with preventative care. The pet insurance plan you choose should cover these conditions. Also, ensure that your policy will provide long-term coverage and that the premiums won’t increase if your pet comes down with a life threatening condition. Find out if there are per-condition limits in your pet’s policy. When it comes to your pets health, you can be too careful. A very important step to take when considering pet insurance is learning how long the company has been in business and if it pays it’s claims. You don’t want to invest too quickly in a fly-by-night company that won’t keep it’s promises. Shop around too – get quotes from different companies, and then talk it over with your vet to get their professional opinion. The internet is a great place to start when researching pet insurance companies and costs. Consider the fees and ensure that you can afford the premiums – and that the coverage will be adequate. Ask if there will be any discounts if you enroll multiple pets. Finally, before you sign anything, educate yourself about the pet insurance companies’ clauses on deductibles and surcharges. Make sure you are getting everything you need before you buy pet insurance! Coverage for Your Pet Pet insurance has become a must have item for serious pet owners. Policies vary as much as animals vary but they all have some common features. Owners pay out of pocket for all services and reimbursement is made according to the terms of your policy. Policies even from the same company can have varying terms, conditions and reimbursement amounts. Pre-existing ailments are not typically covered by pet insurance policies, but some insurers cover pre-existing conditions. Some insurers have a time limit after which they will cover pre-existing conditions and some will never cover pre-existing conditions, even if your pet lives 15 more years. Luckily, there are no PPOs or HMOs in the pet world so you are free to choose your own veterinarian. Services covered vary widely. Some policies cover wellness visits, immunizations, heart worm medication and other such services, while other policies only cover major medical expenses. Review your needs and purchase insurance accordingly. Insurers, both human and pet, have a term called “reasonable and customary” charges or “allowable” charges. This means while you may purchase a plan and choose 100% reimbursement plan, when you receive your reimbursement it may be significantly lower than the amount you actually paid. The same is true with the 80% reimbursement plan. The insurer will pay 80% of the allowable charge, not 80% of the amount you paid. There are many companies offering pet insurance. Some support animal rescue services, such as ASPCA Insurance Coverage, which is also Pets Health & Hartville brands, some are related to pet suppliers, such as Purina Care and PetCo and some are simply insurance companies such as Pet First Healthcare. Pet first healthcare is a plan which lets you create the plan that will work best for you and your pet. They have a comprehensive list of 22 exclusions, but they allow you to purchase a rider if there are services you feel are necessary to your pet’s health. Embrace Pet insurance is an exception to the “reasonable and customary” charges information above. Embrace does not use a fee schedule. They simply reimburse you a portion of your veterinarian’s charges which simplifies things for the pet owner. There is no guess work, just reimbursement. Insurers, both human and pet, have a term called “reasonable and customary” charges or “allowable” charges. This means while you may purchase a plan and choose 100% reimbursement plan, when you receive your reimbursement it may be significantly lower than the amount you actually paid. The same is true with the 80% reimbursement plan. The insurer will pay 80% of the allowable charge, not 80% of the amount you paid. All insurance plans have various limits for each incident of care, yearly charges, and wellness care. Study these carefully to make sure you are covered in the event of a catastrophic accident. Some insurance plans will cover chronic conditions and conditions related to certain breeds. Not all insurers do, so if you have a full blooded dog and that type of dog is prone to certain conditions, such as hip dysplasia or arthritis, check with the insurer to make sure the illnesses your pet might have will be covered. The dog doesn’t even have to have a history of the illness for the insurer to deny the claim if it is a common breed illness. This would be frustrating to pay insurance premiums for your best friend only to find out in his golden years that his illness will not be covered because it is common for his breed. Evaluating Pet Insurance Costs The cost of pet insurance is a significant factor when choosing an insurance plan. More importantly, a pet owner should look at the value for their cost. Premiums should not be viewed as the sole cost of an insurance plan. Several important elements to consider are premium cost, types of coverage, pre-existing condition clauses, claims and out-of-pocket expenses. Insurance works by charging premiums based on projected expenses plus profit. Expenses are calculated according to mathematical formulas that are determined by type of pet, breed, age, life expectancy and a number of other factors. Premiums also vary according to the type of coverage that an insurance company offers. Plans that cover routine health expenses and chronic care will be considerably more expensive than major medical coverage. Insurance companies are betting on their customers never needing to use their major medical coverage, so premiums for this service are much lower. Some companies have pre-existing condition clauses. Any treatments for conditions that are deemed pre-existing by the insurance company will not be covered under the insurance plan. This can be costly for the pet owner if their pet rarely sees the vet for any other condition. The details of the pre-existing condition clauses vary from company to company, so the pet owner should check with the insurance company as to the specifics of the plan. Each company has its own procedures for reimbursement of claims. Before purchasing a plan, pet owners should understand how claims are handled and who to contact in the case of a dispute. This information should be in writing and available prior to purchase of the insurance plan. Even with insurance, there will be out-of-pocket costs. When evaluating an insurance plan, pet owners should look at these extra expenses. Verify if the plan has a deductible or lifetime limits, or both. Out-of-pocket expenses can add up quickly and cost pet owners more than what their insurance is worth. The Internet is an invaluable resource to investigate prospective insurance companies and plans. Customer reviews and insurance company websites can be used to determine if the value of the plan is worth the costs. Questions about premiums, plan coverage, pre-existing condition clauses and claims handling as well as expected out-of-pocket costs can be used to determine which insurance plan has the most value for a pet owner’s needs. What Exactly Is Lifetime Pet Insurance? Lifetime Pet Insurance is basically an insurance plan that will keep your pet securely insured for pretty much their entire lifetime. In the long run, this type of insurance plan can work out wonderfully for any pet you may own. Unfortunately, what most people fail to see when they sign up for this type of insurance plan for their beloved pet is that with an insurance plan, you can expect it to last anywhere from six to eight years which isn’t very long for any animal to be protected with this type of insurance plan. In most cases, many insurance companies will have a cutoff limit especially for most dogs which is in the timeframe of six to eight years despite their possible or pre-existing health problems. In this case, for the Lifetime Pet Insurance plan you can expect to avoid a large amount of annual and premium monthly raises as well as preventing your pet from getting dropped unnecessarily. The first thing that every animal lover and owner needs to keep in the back of their mind. When it comes to finding the perfect insurance plan for your pet, you’ll need to consider the costs of the insurance policy your planning to purchase. With many pet insurance plans you can expect many insurance companies to offer an array of policy options for you to choose from. Many of these options can be extremely pricy but with the Lifetime Pet Insurance plan, you won’t need to worry about the unnecessary added expenses that you will receive from other pet insurance companies. Today, you can expect many dogs and cats living much longer than expected. By having a lifetime insurance policy plan, you can ensure your pet with a lifetime of coverage and protection for the rest of their life by treating their life long conditions that they might face in the long run. This plan is highly recommended! The next thing to consider in on the topic of lifetime limits. These lifetime limit policies do indeed have limits so you’ll need to make sure how long these limit policies last before you plan on buying. One of the best ways to do this is to try to receive at least three quotes from three different insurance plans and compare them to see which plan will work perfectly for you and your pet.

    • Cheap Car Insurance For Young Drivers
      • Finding a car insurance for young drivers can be a costly affair. Of course, auto insurance companies consider drivers under the age of eighteen to be at-risk drivers, which means that they are more likely to cause an accident or be involved in one. That makes insuring younger drivers cost more money than someone with a solid driving history. A person with three years of driving experience with no accidents will receive much cheaper insurance than a new teen driver. Fortunately, there are plenty of auto insurance companies out there and many of them offer discounts to new drivers that can cut costs greatly. Many individuals can name some of these discounts with ease. For instance, good student rate reductions are usually available from the major providers. There are even price cuts available for younger drivers that do not drive very much. Car Insurance for young drivers might be expensive under normal circumstances, but that does not mean a person cannot get a reasonable rate through available discounts or other methods. On top of that, the abundance of auto insurance companies means that there is plenty of competition out there, so these businesses have to offer competitive rates or they could fall off the map and lose customers. Do everything possible to acquire a lower rate Companies offer plenty of discounts for teen drivers, so it is just a matter of asking about these items. For the most part, any rate can be lowered with enough research, work, and negotiation. Car insurance for young drivers does not need to make a teen or parent break the bank by any means. Plus, a young driver’s rates will decrease after a few years of driving. Teens really are involved in the most accidents, so these companies need to protect their earnings by charging this demographic more for coverage then the others. It is just something that drivers will need to accept, but that does not mean a person cannot obtain a fair price on this coverage. Whether you are a parent adding a young driver to a policy, or you are a young driver buying your own auto insurance policy, finding car insurance young drivers, can be a pretty expensive policy to purchase. So, when you are a young driver, and you need to find an affordable policy rate, you really have to take the time to shop around, to get quotes from several insurance companies, and to find the best savings which are offered, so that you can find something you are capable of affording. You are also going to want to ask for discounts, which many insurance companies will offer on car insurance young drivers policies, such as the good student discount (which most, if not all companies will offer). So, when you are shopping around for a policy, you are going to have to start by getting quotes, from as many insurance companies as possible. You are going to use the internet, you must call companies, and do the work to get in touch with all companies you are interested in purchasing a policy from, in order to compare the rates you are given, and to really find the lowest rates for your insurance premium. There are several companies which will offer decent rates, especially if you are getting added onto your parent’s policy, and therefore, you are going to want to let the company know you will be an add on driver. This can really help you find the lower rates, rather than purchasing a policy just for yourself. Additionally, you want to ask for ways to save. Many companies offer the good student discount to young drivers. So, if you get good grades and keep a certain GPA, companies will give a discount on the policy. The idea is that the students who do well in school, and pay attention in class, are also more likely to pay attention and be more careful when on the road. So, make sure to ask for this discount when you are calling for quotes. You also want to ask if you can get discounts by staying accident and ticket free. Many companies will offer these discounts, after you have been driving for six months, one year (or any time period), and you stay accident free. You will see the rates drop over time. So, even for car insurance young drivers, there are ways to save, if you take the time to get the quotes and find the savings. Cheap Car Insurance For Young Drivers A few simple steps will help reduce the cost of insurance for your young driver. Most insurance companies offer discounts for students who meet a few qualifications; such as, completing driver’s education, good grades, type of car driven, and location of school versus home. A driver’s education class is an easy way to reduce insurance costs for young drivers. A driver’s education class teaches the student proper driving habits, how to drive, and what things to avoid when driving. Most drivers education classes allow the student to take the drivers test when they have completed all the coursework. Insurance companies love to see a young driver that has completed a drivers education class. Proof of completion is usually required to receive available discounts on insurance. Young drivers with good grades may be eligible to receive cheap insurance. Insurance companies will require the faxing or sending of a report grade, as proof of exemplary grades. Grades need to be in the 3.0 GPA and above range to receive the cheapest price on car insurance. Good grades can knock anywhere from 10 to 30% off standard rates for young drivers. The type of car that young drivers operate will make a difference on whether their car insurance is cheap. Insurance companies look for a few key items to decide whether the car is eligible for discounts. Safety records of the vehicle, number of airbags, and seat restraints are considered before offering a young driver cheap car insurance. A sports car will be more expensive to insure than a sedan. Insurance companies take into consideration, how far the young driver will be driving to school or work on an average basis. The distance that young driver travels plays a key role when offering a discount for cheap insurance. A young driver whose daily commute is only a matter of a few blocks or miles; compared to a young driver with a longer commute, will pay significantly less for car insurance. Don’t be afraid to check with multiple car insurance companies A willingness to change to a different insurance company will help guarantee finding cheap car insurance for your young driver. Unfortunately, if you happen to be a young motorist, this can more difficult to obtain than with more older, experienced drivers. Why so? This is because young drivers tends to be more reckless drivers than most older drivers, who tend to be more conscientious. It is a well-known statistical fact that in the United States young drivers often account for the large number of auto fatalities in the nation. Most of the youthful drivers are in the 16-25 year-old age range. So little wonder why many car insurance companies are reluctant to offer car insurance to young drivers. Yes, it can be very difficult to obtain car insurance young, or at a young age. This doesn’t just pose a hardship to them, it also presents such to their parents as well, as many states requires that young drivers be under their parent’s car insurance plan until they are at least 25. Young, people do you relaize the financial hardship that your parents have to incur when you drive irresponsibly, because they’re going to have to be the ones who are going have to pay higher auto insurance premiums because of it. Therefore, it encumbers young drivers to learn the responsibility of having car insurance young. If you are going to eventually have your own car insurance in the future, you’re going to have to demonstrate that you can be a mature, responsible driver while you are still young. What some ways you can do this? You can demonstrate to your parents that you will be a more responsible driver by respecting your parent’s curfew, or the times they want you to use the car and when they want it to be brought back home. Second, you can learn to be a safer driver by consenting to take a Driver’s Ed course, which will remind you of your responsiblity to be a safe or safer driver. Once you are willing to comply with these above standards, you will gain the trust of not only your parents, but also of your parent’s car insurance company, which will significantly cause their premiums to go down. Yes, you as a young motorist can learn to be a more maturer, responsible motorist, but that depends much on you and your willingness to comply with the above directives. Learn to gain the trust and respect of others today by being a safer driver. There are numerous insurance companies Insurance companies sometimes put a lot restrictions on young drivers as a result getting an affordable and reliable car insurance young drivers is not easy. Contact several insurance companies by phone and get a free quote from them. This service is free of charge and by giving all your information you will be able to know approximately how much the monthly premiums will be. Sometimes, insurance companies offer many discounts and ask the company about the discounts you might qualify for some of them. There are discounts for new car buyer, good student discount, and low income family discount. Know the basics Do not hire an agent to do the insurance paperwork for you, because they charge a lot and they are not really helpful. If you have no language problem you can do this by yourself. Having a good driver record is the most important factor if you want to get cheap car insurance. Try to maintain your good driver record by following traffic rules while driving. If you have too many tickets it means that you car insurance will be really high. For young drivers this is particularly a case because according to the statistics young drivers break the traffic rules more than adult drivers. Getting car insurance for young drivers is not easy because most of the time insurance companies put really high rates. There is a high possibility that a young driver will be involved in an accident more often so consequently the insurance is higher. On the other hand, if young drivers maintain a good driving record they will be able to get car insurance easily.

    • Top 10 Private Jet Charter Companies
      • Everyone would like to travel in luxury and on their own schedule. Private jet charter flights offer this opportunity. However, you may be new to the whole issue and need some help understanding the arrangements, costs and other issues of flying a private jet charter. The following is a set of questions and answers that will introduce you to this exciting travel possibility and will help you to make arrangements online. A private jet charter flight is a trip on a jet where you purchase all the seats on the plane, and the plane travels to your choice of destination and on your schedule. There are pros and cons for both commercial flights and private jet charter flights. When you fly a commercial airline it is almost always going to be less expensive than the other option. It is even possible to find tickets that are less than $200 on a commercial flight, depending on your destination. While you might pay as much as $2,000 to fly internationally on a commercial flight, it is almost always going to be cheaper than the charter flight. During inclement weather, a commercial plane that is larger may be able to take off while the smaller charter is grounded. While this is so, the charter plane is smaller and can be accommodated at even small airports. While the commercial flight will be cheaper, it has a lot of disadvantages when compared with the charter flight. When you fly commercially, there are long lines, layovers and other issues that eat up time. For instance, getting to a particular airport might take a long time. For most busy people, all of this can be a colossal waste of time. The scheduling of fights can also be an issue. Since you have to conform to a particular schedule, you may have to alter your calendar to fit it in. There is simply no room to conduct business on a commercial flight. Besides being uncomfortable, the flight crew can also overhear your private discussions. With respect to amenities, a commercial airline offers very little. Nowadays, you are lucky to even get drinks and a snack. Many times, because you are separated from your luggage, it can get lost. There are many luxuries that come with charter flights, and you can even have your transport drive you directly onto the tarmac. Finally, the image that comes along with a private jet can’t be beat when you are trying to impress others with your company. So, while a commercial flight is cheaper, charter flights save you time and hassles and can make travelling an enjoyable, luxurious experience. What is Private Jet Rental? Air charter brokers are much like travel agents that arrange all of the details of the trip. Sometimes a broker can save you money. There are various reasons that you might want to use a broker. Brokers have access to a large group of companies and know all of their details. They can help match the company to your particular needs. They can establish relationships with multiple carriers in multiple locations to deal with any transfers from company to company. They can help you out if you need to make last minute plans because of weather or personal scheduling needs. They have access to all of the safety and other information about the company that you choose. They have knowledge of FAA operational regulations and restrictions and make sure that the company is following them. They have knowledge about all of the necessary paperwork. This covers insurance issues, for instance. How do you choose a broker? Brokers are not regulated, although your state may have laws that they have to comply with. You need to select a broker that has knowledge of the whole area. Common errors are, for instance, if the broker arranges for you to go on a longer route than is necessary, costing you time and money. You should also check out the publication by the NBAA called Best Practices for Air Charter Brokering. It is a helpful guide. Using a qualified broker can cut down on the time it takes to make arrangements. A qualified broker will have all the knowledge necessary and the paperwork ready to deal with your trip. How is the price set for your flight? Those who fly privately nowadays have a lot of choices with respect to pricing. It has been noted that many companies are trying to bring the prices down. For instance, instead of paying an hourly rate of $2,500 you might find a package for the same amount per month. Since the recession, flight hours have been down on charter flights by 20%. The range is pretty wide for the hourly rate. It can be anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000 an hour. Companies charge different amounts, based on the size of the plane. A light jet costs less than a mid-size jet, and a heavy jet costs more than a mid-size jet. A light jet typically seats 6-8 people and has about 2-3 hours of range. Midsize jets can seat nine people comfortably and have about 3-4 hours of range. Heavy jets seat up to 14 and have a range of 7-9 hours or more. All of the amenities that come with the flight are charged for separate from the cost of the flight. You should always find out if there are any hidden costs or fees on the bill for your flight. You might be surprised with a bigger bill than expected. Can you find big discounts on charter flights anywhere? Articles on the internet claim that, in certain cases, you can fly on a private jet for the same cost that you would pay on a commercial airline. Websites have sprung up that are offering last-minute deals on unused inventory. Others are changing the cost structure of private plane travel to make it more affordable. The majority of these cheap offers are last-minute deals. Not everyone is able to make their plans at the last minute, however. Other companies are offering deals where you pay a certain price per month for unlimited flights to a certain location. These flights are more expensive than the last-minute deals. Apparently, the Northeast markets, California and the Northeast-to-Florida routes tend to have the most last-minute deals on them. A good idea is to do your search through a broker, as they have the most complete information on flights available. What Are Empty leg charters? An empty leg charter flight is a way to save money. What is meant by an empty leg is that there is an empty plane after it serves customers on a flight. The trip back to the home airport is empty. The savings is dramatic on these flights and can even be discounted by up to seventy percent sometimes. There are disadvantages to empty leg flights. Your scheduling for the flight is dependent on the initial flight. Therefore, you lose some of the flexibility that you would ordinarily have with a charter flight. You are also at the mercy of the prior flight. If it becomes delayed or cancelled, then you might have to make alternative arrangements. Also, the airport that you fly from or to may not be the best choice for you. In these ways, empty leg charters are somewhat like commercial flights. You can find empty leg flights through a carrier that you are familiar with. Most charter companies will have these flights available. Working through a broker is one possible way of getting these flights. The broker will be familiar with the routes of carriers and can help you locate a good flight. One thing you should know about empty leg flights is that their availability comes and goes with particular seasons and events. For instance, if there is a Super Bowl in a particular city, then there are probably going to be a lot of empty leg flights out of that city. Empty leg flights, since they save on total fuel usage and its effects on the environment, are a wise option if you care about environmental issues. It is true that you will need to be more flexible to take these flights, but the savings is a big plus. How to Pick a Private Jet Rental Company? To pick a company that does charter flights, you should not merely look them up in the phone book. Instead, use the web to locate directories of FAA authorized charter operators, brokers and their locations. You can also look at the various aircraft that they offer. Be wary of brokers that serve only as travel agents for other companies. This will needlessly add to your cost. If you wish to use one of these services for extra help, then do so. The next step is to validate the charter company. You should verify the claims that they make in their advertising. Make sure that they have FAA documentation, proper insurance and third party audits. If you can, visit the company. You can learn a lot about a company by meeting with its representatives. Look for good customer service. There should be one person who is in charge of your trip. Make sure they are helpful and responsive. Next, select an aircraft. Many times, a company will have pictures of their fleet on hand to peruse. Next, check up on your pilot. Check specifically what the minimum hours for flying a particular plane are. Different plane require different pilot hours. Generally speaking, every captain should have at least 5,000 total flight hours and three hundred hours in the specific plane. Finally, find out how much it will cost. Make sure that you get a clear quote. Nothing should be left vague to surprise you at a later time. Nonessentials like catering might be left up in the air, but everything else should be clarified. Do Jet Card Programs Exist? Jet card programs offer debit-style cards that contain benefits that usually only come with part ownership of a jet. They give you one-way pricing, guaranteed access to a specific model of jet and concierge service. Also, card programs may offer roundtrip discounts, peak and off-peak rates and refundable deposits. Cards are only used when you are going to be flying regularly during the year. They are typically sold by both charter operators and brokers as well. All good card programs use auditing services that check planes and flight crews to ensure that they adhere to standards even higher than those of the FAA. The following variables apply when purchasing a card program: Two types of cards are available. You can purchase them by the dollar amount or by the number of hours that you want. The cards that go by the dollar amount are good for people who want access to the whole fleet of planes. Hourly rates vary with the aircraft category. Hourly cards are good for people who use only one category of plane and want to keep tabs on their available flight time. There are cards which restrict you to one type of aircraft, whereas others allow you to select from a whole fleet. The ones that are restricted to one type of plane sometimes charge a fee if you want to switch the type of plane you wish to fly. All cards have peak travel times when there may be added costs to fly. You might face other restrictions as well. You should keep in mind that a card with more flexibility generally will cost you more money. What must be kept in mind is that most jet cards have an expiration date. After this date, usually all of your money or hours will expire. Also, occasionally there are added costs to fly that are not included in the card. Be careful about this. Will the competition amongst companies increase? A note on private jet companies is the future with regard to competition amongst companies. Is the market expanding? If that is the case, then you can expect the fares to reduce. It is true that the expense level is high with respect to these flights, but there is definitely room for reduction of fares. Business travelers are increasingly flying to distant places, which is fueling a revival in the private jet industry. The most demand is for planes that can do the longest flights that can go up to 13 hours. This kind of flight requires an ultra long range plane that can fly for that range of time. The internet has brought people together from far flung places in the world. However, business many times must be conducted face to face. In some locations, commercial airline travel is not even available. While the market for these long distance flights has grown, the market for short distance flights hasn’t changed much. This being the case, the near future doesn’t seem to hold any hope of there being more competition amongst carriers. This is the case, even though if one looks on the internet, they will see a vast array of companies that offer private jet charter service. Types of private planes It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the different kinds of planes that these carriers fly, so you will know which option to choose. First, there are light jets. These jets aren’t as spacious as other private jets, but they save you the most money if you are going to be only travelling a short distance. Light jets have low engine sounds and can reach speeds of up to 500 miles per hour. Mid-size jets are more spacious than light jets. These jets are able to fly from coast to coast. Super mid-size jets are able to do transcontinental flights. These planes are allowed to take off and land at both smaller airports and larger ones as well. These jets contain all of the amenities of larger private jets. They have spacious cabins and entertainment systems. Heavy jets are the largest of the private planes. They have the capability of flying long ranges. Sometimes these jets have places for you to sleep. Usually, these jets have flight attendants. Turbo prop planes are usually smaller than the other ones mentioned here. They can comfortably hold between five and eight passengers. They can fly for up to four hours at a time. These planes can handle short, rough runways that larger jets cannot. These planes also are able to have gear that will allow them to land in many different kinds of environments. Luggage space and restrictions for Private Jet Rental Space is limited on private jets, but there are no formal rules about how much you can take like there are on commercial flights. Obviously, as a plane gets larger, there is more space to bring along all of the extra things that you wish. Access to the luggage area varies depending on the type of plane. This should be kept in mind if you have any items that you wish to have access to during the flight. Access can be from within the main cabin, through the outside of the plane, or both. Space is also constrained by how many people are on the flight. The range of the aircraft is dependent on how much weight it is carrying, so the pilot needs to know how much weight from baggage there is. To give you an idea about how much space there is for luggage on a plane, a very light jet can have up to 71 cubic feet of space. This is surprisingly quite a bit. You should make sure to resolve any issues you have with baggage before the day of your flight with the charter company. This will make sure that you don’t have any delays on your flight. Amount of Luggage You should always plan ahead of time with your carrier how much luggage will be allowed. The rule of thumb, however, is that you can bring one suitcase and one carry-on, just like on commercial flights. It always helps if you bring soft luggage. That way the crew can fit more in the compartment. With respect to your children, it is a good idea if you bring things that will entertain them on the flight. This will keep both your children and the crew happy. When we say that pets are allowed, of course we mean in the cabin alongside of the passenger. Check for larger animals like big dogs about any size restrictions. With respect to seat assignments, there is no restriction on these flights. You can sit wherever you choose. However, if you are a guest of someone else, then you should ask them where to sit. While some people may want to dress up in a way befitting of luxury, there are no real restrictions on what you can and cannot wear on these flights. As with commercial flights, alcohol is permitted to be consumed on these flights. If you are sick, then the rule of thumb is that you should only fly if you would fly in the same condition on a commercial jet. It is advised on some websites not to buy a jet card. With respect to prices, restrictions, aircraft type or positioning charges, using the regular service will give you the best option. Since there is a higher level of service on a private jet, don’t forget to voice your needs. Most likely, the crew and staff will accommodate your needs. Typical questions include: I have odd size baggage to take. Is that possible? I have dietary restrictions. Can you help me? I have a special privacy need. Could you accommodate me? With respect to pets, many pets actually enjoy the flight. Many pets benefit from their owner’s calming presence. Pets typically fly free with many charter companies and no documentation is needed for domestic flights. With respect to how far in advance you should book your flight, the best time is four to seven days in advance. That way, aircraft availability is more known. Safety and private jet charter flights There are several questions that you need to ask a carrier about safety issues. First, ask about the experience level of the pilots and how often they retrain. To save money, many carriers hire pilots that only satisfy the minimum requirements of the FAA. You don’t want a pilot who is just gaining their experience from your flight. Some carriers try to save money on the copilot. You have to ensure that everyone on the flight crew has the adequate amount of experience. You should pursue a carrier that has strict requirements about the amount of time that the pilot has to have flown. The best situation is where both pilots assigned to your flight have at least 5,000 hours of flight experience. Both of them should have the ability to be the captain, if something were to go wrong. Also, the best operators will require that the pilots attend simulator training for emergencies at least annually. The most important thing for your safety is that the company have an excellent safety record. This is where the auditing of a third party evaluator comes in. A third party evaluator will have stricter standards than the FAA does. You can determine the safety record of a carrier in a few different ways. First, you can call the FAA’s local Flight Standards District Office and ask them about any accidents or incidents that the carrier might have had. Second, you should request a third party report from Wyvern, the leader in safety reports. Their report will cover both the information regarding the pilot and the safety record of the carrier. Third, ask the carrier what their safety rating is and if they have had a third party evaluation. A successful audit by an expert organization is key to determining the safety of the carrier. Pets and children on charter flights There is more flexibility when travelling with pets and children on charter flights. With respect to pets, most carriers will allow on the flight any pet that does not violate any legal restrictions. Of course, this assumes that there will be room for the size of your pet on the plane. With respect to pregnant women, the guidelines for flying on a charter flight are usually the same as they would be on a commercial flight. Most airlines do not allow on their flights a woman who is 36 weeks pregnant. They usually require a certificate from a medical doctor after 28 weeks of pregnancy. There might be some flexibility in the rules on a private charter if the doctor is willing to let the woman fly. What is true is that the whole experience of a private jet is more comfortable for a pregnant woman. She won’t have to wait in line, and they can more cater to her needs on the flight. Taking a baby on board a private jet also has some advantages. There are usually no restrictions on the type of liquids and food that you can bring on board. You should remember that a baby needs a passport to travel to another country. The rules for when a child needs their own seat on the plane are also the same as commercial airlines. Up until the age of two, they can sit on your lap. After that they will need their own seat. As children get older, their needs change. Due to the flexibility and luxury of private jets, all of their needs can be catered to. What does the experience of a private jet charter feel like? The experience of flying on a private jet charter is a pleasure from beginning to end. Your flight experience starts at the private airport. When you arrive, you are greeted by a guard that checks you off on his list. You are usually allowed to park in a lot that doesn’t cost anything and is very close to the airport building. You can relax in the lounge by your hangar and have a snack. Usually you won’t have to wait for a long time to board your aircraft. When the plane is ready, you simply walk outside and get on. There are no lines, no security and usually a friendly staff member will help you with your bags. Pilots on these planes are usually friendly and will make small talk with you. The interior of the plane is usually spacious and has an entertainment system. When you reach your destination, there are no lines either. You simply exit the plane and go to your preferred mode of transport. With respect to turbulence and bumpiness, pilots say that big planes handle it better than small planes. However, they will also tell you that the main thing that causes bumpiness is what the weather conditions are, not the size of the plane. Etiquette on private planes Most people have questions about the etiquette of private jet travel. There are a few differences from commercial travel. What about tipping the crew? On a commercial jet, this question would never arise. However, on a private jet, while it is not deemed necessary to tip, you can if you have had a particularly great experience on the flight. The common amount ranges from $50 to $100. How long should you arrive before the flight? Since the plane is hired just for you, you might have some leeway here. However, you are generally asked to arrive fifteen minutes before your flight. If you have any problems getting there, by all means you should call ahead of time. How fast will your trip be? Not only will your trip be shorter because you have no lines or security or walking around the airport, but also the plane will fly faster than a commercial jet. Private jets can travel up to 100 miles an hour faster than a commercial jet. The truth is, however, that this probably is only a benefit for the busy businessman. A family that is trying to enjoy the private jet experience would probably want to prolong that experience. What kind of amenities are available on a private jet? The first thing to say about amenities and luxuries on board a private jet is that the sky is the limit. Unlike commercial flights, you the passenger are the one that makes the plans ahead of time for whatever luxuries you want. Typically, the price of the fare includes a crew that includes a flight attendant. For extra luxury, you can hire other personnel, room permitting. You may want to hire a mixologist or a masseur as well. With respect to the food available for these flights, the sky is also the limit. Some carriers send menus ahead of time to their passengers, with a wide assortment of meals and desserts. Another option is to have a restaurant cater the affair. When you order from a restaurant, make sure that it is within reasonable driving distance to the airport. Also, you might be restricted as to your ability to heat or reheat food on the plane. Make sure to keep this in mind. You should ask your carrier if there is a bar on the plane. Many times there is even a full bar that serves snacks as well. If not, consider hiring a mixologist for the flight. You should also ask what kind of office setup there is on the plane if you need to conduct business there. Many carriers will have a phone and fax available on the flight. You should be aware of the fact that you can probably use your cell phone on the flight, but you are restricted from its use when travelling over the middle of an ocean. Most carriers will have an adequate entertainment center on board, so you can watch movies or tv and listen to music. Hire a private jet to escape winter delays? Let us say that you are stranded at the airport in the winter. Many times this can happen, laying you over for even a number of days. Let us say also that if you don’t get a sooner flight, then you will miss an important meeting or affair. There have been winters when thousands of flights have been cancelled. When flights are cancelled, it can also take a number of days before you can catch a rescheduled flight. Driving or even taking a train may take longer than you can afford. For those willing to pay a high price, a private jet can offer a solution. Private jets many times have an advantage in travelling before and after storms. The smaller airports from where private jets fly don’t have the same issues that the larger airports have during a storm. A lack of gates or security screeners or gate agents can put down a larger airport. The smaller airports don’t have this problem. When this situation happens, you can sometimes even share a plane with others who are in the same predicament. You can share the plane with other families to defray the high cost. Being able to take a winter flight on a private jet just may be the thing to save you from missing your important engagements. What is the difference between flying first class and flying on a private jet? Some of this has already been covered in prior sections. However, it should be mentioned again that it is nearly always the case that a private jet will be more costly than flying first class on a commercial jet. What is true, though, is that many times it is worth it. If you are a businessman, it is hard to conduct business meetings, even in first class. A private jet affords more privacy, and you are more in authority when you are chartering your own flight. What was not mentioned before is that private jets offer something that no commercial flight could ever offer. This is the ability to switch destinations in midflight. While this is not necessarily possible on every carrier, the possibility still exists on some. What should be mentioned is that sometimes you actually get more personal space in first class. The room is limited on a private jet and many times the seats are narrower. What is true, though is that the flexibility, service and lack of hassles always makes the private jet the more enjoyable and useful option. One more thing that was not mentioned before is that there are only about five hundred airports available nationwide that allow commercial jets, whereas there are about five thousand airports that allow private jets. In conclusion, private jets offer a luxurious, quick and expensive way to travel. For business people who have a harried schedule, it is many times imperative that they travel on a private jet. This is for reasons of prestige, speed and privacy. One thing that also needs to be mentioned that has not been mentioned so far is that private jets can increase productivity for a business person. The space and accommodations as well as the privacy allow them to complete their work on the plane. Many times office equipment is present on these flights as well. The most important questions that you should pursue with your carrier are those that relate to the safety of the plane and the pilot. All told, flying on a private jet is just as safe as flying on a commercial airline. Finally, many times, at a great price, you can use a private jet to get you out of sticky situations. When winter weather cancels flights, many times the charter jets are still operating. Make The Right Impression If you are in business and need to entertain clients, it is important to give off the right impression. Treating them to a private jet communicates your prestige and status and gives them a luxurious experience that they will never forget. Everyone knows that it is the impression that we make even more than the ideas that we come up with that impresses people. This is why you should definitely consider a private jet. When Oprah wanted to treat her staff to a vacation, one of the things that she did was charter a special jet for them to travel in. What is the case also is that if your firm uses private jets, they come off as being more professional, efficient and prestigious than other firms. While there is definite prestige in using private jet charter flights, there is always the option to actually buy a plane for your company. Nothing says prestige like your logo emblazoned on the side of your plane. What must be remembered also is that prestige is not the only issue for the businessman. Most business people carry on a harried schedule and simply don’t have the time to wait around in airports. Also, the greater speed of the private jet saves time as well.

    • How to win the lottery guaranteed?
      • Most of us spend our lives working a boring job, with almost no chance of getting ahead. Often we struggle to even pay our bills, let alone save enough money to retire comfortably. There is a way to break the cycle and change your life with one winning lottery ticket. Winning the lottery is very unlikely, but not impossible. Here are some things you could do to improve your chances. Make your odds better First, play the games with the lowest number of balls if you want to win more often. The 5 ball games are the best, while the 6 ball games are a distant second. Do not play the 7 ball games if you want to win. Odds of having a winning lottery are much greater with the lower ball games. Lottery games with lower amounts of numbers are always better. Some have 60 numbers, and some might have 35. The games with 35 have much better odds. Do not ever play games where the winning numbers are generated by a computer. There is no way to tell if everything is on the up and up. Preferably the numbers should be chosen from ping pong balls in a barrel. Never let the store where you buy your tickets pick your numbers for you. Relying on a system where you pick certain numbers is a better way to beat the odds and to end up with a winning lottery ticket. One of the best and easiest ways to improve your odds is by concentrating on one game at a time, and buying as many tickets as possible. The more tickets you have, the better your odds are. These are just basic things you can do to improve your odds. There are tons more you can add later if you get serious about winning lottery. There are systems out there that have proven to improve your chances of winning. Lottery system Here is a lottery system that can help you gain the best odds of winning. There is no way to be sure 100% that you will win the lottery, but this simple system can maximize your chances. There are no guarantees, but having an advantage over all other players is a big plus. First, it is a very good idea, especially if you do not have that much money to spend, to play as a team or a pool. There are always better odds the more tickets you buy, so joining a pool of players to buy a bunch of tickets instead of just one increases odds tremendously. If the odds of winning are 1-in-20-million, then with a pool buying 10 tickets the odds improve. Try not to pick too many numbers that are 31 or under. As you may or may not know, most people pick their birthdays when choosing numbers, and if you do happen to win you would have to split your winnings between a number of people. It is always better to try to be the sole winner to maximize your winnings. If you have a lottery budget each week, such as $20, keep the small winnings and add them to your next weeks budget. This way each week you can end up increasing your odds of winning, and thus possibly hitting a big jackpot over time. This part of the lottery system is very important, and can be the catalyst that can bring you over the top. Mid-week lottery draws are much better than weekend draws. The reason for this is that the winnings are usually the same, but only a fraction of the people play the mid-week lotteries. The last part of the lottery system is the easiest to implement. Always look for the games with the best odds. Even if the winnings are not as big, do not be fooled. Better odds mean your returns will be better. It is all about the odds. With this lottery system you give yourself a much better chance of winning than the rest of the general public. Sticking to this plan should eventually bring you at least some modest winnings, and hopefully bring you that big jackpot you have always worked toward. How can i win the lottery guaranteed? There are no guarantees when it comes to winning the lottery, but you can improve your chances. Every lottery chooses the winning numbers randomly, whether with ping pong balls or with a computer. This means there is no sure way to pick the correct numbers. Often there are trends that certain lottery magazines ask you to follow, but because these trends change from day to day, and the numbers chosen are truly random, this is not really a good idea. Random numbers means random numbers.Logically, this means you should choose numbers randomly. Picking numbers out at the moment you buy your tickets is probably the best way to do this; the first numbers that come to you will probably be the best ones. Following one of these methods to choose your numbers is a good way to improve your odds. There is no way to guarantee a win, but making your odds better is definitely important. There is no reason to play the lottery in a lazy manner; i.e. letting the computer picking your numbers and praying for a win. The lottery is like anything else in life; with a little knowledge your chances of success are much better. Avoid this three mistakes There are many pieces of advice when it comes to how to win a lottery, but many people make mistakes that can easily be avoided. First, do not rely purely on luck and pick better numbers.The lottery is not only about luck, it is also about probabilities. Second, it is not necessary to be good at math to win the lottery. This is a huge mistake, and many people do not even attempt to play because of it. The methods that help to win the lottery do not take math skills; they are often very easy to understand after reading them once or twice; almost all of these methods are available online if you just do a simple search on Google. The third mistake that people make is thinking that just by buying more tickets their odds will improve and they will win. Just buying more tickets without knowing what else goes into it will not win you the lottery. Buying more tickets can improve your odds, but only if you do other things along with it. While there are no known methods that guarantee a lottery win, there are many methods that can improve your odds significantly. Doing a little bit of research online can help you gain advantages that the rest of the playing public does not have. You may not win the big jackpot, but you will win the small pots a lot more consistently. Tips to win lottery games To win lottery games, you need to first understand that they are games of probability. Now, the probability of getting all numbers correct in a single drawing is very small. That’s a fact. For most lotteries, the chances of winning are one in at least a hundred million. 1. Pick hot numbers. Most state-run lotteries have websites where you can look up previous drawings. Some of these go back a few years. The longer, the better. If you want to win lottery games, one thing you can do is see which numbers seem to get drawn more than others. Statistically speaking, all the numbers should be drawn the same amount over time. But if you look at what actually happens, you’ll see that some numbers tend to get drawn a lot. Stick to picking “hot numbers” to raise the odds that you will win lottery games. 2. Avoid cold numbers. Just as some numbers get drawn a lot more than they should, other number rarely if ever get drawn. These numbers should never be picked if you plan to win lottery games. There’s always the chance that one may be drawn. But you are better off selecting a number that has been drawn 20 times over the past year as opposed to one that has been drawn just once. 3. Never pick all-odd or all-even numbers. When picking numbers, we sometimes just pick whatever comes to mind. If you look back at numbers that were drawn, you’d be hard-pressed to find a time when all-odd numbers or all-even numbers have come up. To win lottery games, you’ll need to make sure that you don’t do this. 4. Pick pairs. For those that study ways on how to win lottery games, an interesting trend is discovered. Again, based on mathematics and probability, every number should be drawn the same number of times. However, along with some numbers being drawn more than others, there’s also the mysterious event of some numbers being drawn together with certain others. So almost every time a 3 gets drawn, so does a 9. It’s unexplainable, but it happens. To increase the chance to win lottery games, you’ll need to study past drawings and try to identify any “winning pairs” that you see. 5. Dreams. It’s amazing to think about how many people win lottery games by getting the numbers in a dream. This has nothing to do with mathematics. There are stories of people going to bed and then asking God, or angels, or spirits, to give them the numbers to win lottery games. And guess what? There have been numerous cases where they got exactly that. If you want to win lottery games, in doesn’t hurt to ask for the numbers the next time you go to sleep. Just be sure to have a pen and paper handy to write down the numbers when you wake up. When it comes to the ability to win lottery games, there are no guarantees. The odds of winning are miniscule. That being said, there are a few things that you can do to improve your chances. You can learn a lot about the lottery you want to win just by looking at past drawings. And if nothing else be sure to meditate on your desire to have the winning numbers sent you you while you are dreaming. Like the famous New York lottery motto of the 1990’s states: “Hey, you never know?”. What would you do first? So many people have thought about what they would do. Would you quit your job right away? Or would you stay working? What would you buy first? If you won the lottery, maybe you would buy a car first. A Lamborghini? Ferrari? Cadillac? Rolls Royce? Or maybe one of each. Would you tell your friends and family right away or would you wait? Some people love the idea of telling their friends and family and sharing the wealth. Many people would like to buy homes for their elderly parents, or send their kids to the best colleges, or buy cars for all their friends. But people also worry about all the people who would come to them asking for money. So many lottery winners talk about how their mailboxes get jam-packed full of letters, some from people they don’t even know, asking for money for various things. What would you do? Would you give everyone money? Or would you keep it all to yourself? A lot of people find that it would be very difficult to have to deal with so many people asking them for money. And there are also people who prey on lottery winners as well, people who scam them and try to take their money. You have to be very careful with your money, or you could finds it gone almost more quickly than you won it. But it sure is nice to dream about it. The sky certainly is the limit. You could buy a yacht, and sail it around the world. You could travel all around the world, staying in the best hotels. You could go to the grocery store and buy anything you wanted, and not have to worry about if you have enough money to pay for it. Sometimes it’s the little things about having a lot of money that are the most appealing. What are the chances to win? There are scratchers as well. But the main lottery games are the ones where they have a series of numbers that are drawn every week or every few days. They spin the wheel and then the little balls roll out into their slots and as the numbers line up, you get to see which numbers are the ones that win that day’s lottery. The Lottery is purely a game of chance. No one knows what numbers will be chosen. What that means is that every number has the exact same chance of being called every time the lottery wheel is spun. It never changes from week to week. For example, here is a situation that may help you understand. Say you have a quarter. You flip the quarter and it comes up either heads or tails. That means that your chance of getting heads is 1 in 2, or a 50% chance. The chance of getting tails is also 1 in 2, or 50% chance. Let’s say that you flip the quarter three times and you get heads each time. The next time you flip the quarter, what are the odds you will get heads? Think about that for a moment. Okay, it’s a trick question a little bit. The odds of getting heads is exactly the same every time, no matter how many times you did (or didn’t) get heads before. Does that make sense? It is the same way with the lottery. What are the chances that the number 44 will get chosen? Well, the chances are the same as they are every time the game is played. Every time the lottery is played, everything sort of zeros out and the chance of getting one number or the other is exactly the same. You have to find what is lucky for you Your kind of luck or what is lucky for you may be different than what someone else thinks is lucky for them. You can use what you think is lucky or maybe you want to see what is lucky for others and see if it works for you. First, and most obviously, do you have a lucky number? Do you have more than one lucky number? Most people at some time in their lives have lucky numbers. Maybe it was the number of your baseball jersey when you were playing little league. Maybe it was a number that helped you win a prize when you were a kid. Maybe it is a number from your childhood phone number. Perhaps you just like some numbers better than other numbers. It’s all about what you find to be lucky. Another decision you need to make is if you are going to use the same number every week or a different set of numbers every time? Whichever you choose, the odds are the same. Some people pick a set of numbers and never deviate from them. Week after week, they play the same numbers over and over again. There is a story that maybe you have heard, about the man who played the lottery faithfully every week for many years. He played the exact same numbers every time. One week, he didn’t make it to the store in time to get his lottery ticket. Well, wouldn’t you know it, that week of all weeks in the history of the lottery, this man’s numbers were all picked. Can you imagine how devastating that was for him? So make sure you decide how you’re going to play. There always seems to be strange and interesting stories that surround the lottery. There is also the story of the woman who managed to win the lottery twice – the odds of that are beyond astronomical. How did she do it? Did she have more luck than anyone else? Were the stars aligned in her favor? No one really knows, but if you get a certain “feeling” about numbers, it is good to play them. Some people also save their fortune cookie fortune slips, because on the bottom of them there are usually lucky numbers. Some people play those numbers as their lottery numbers. Other people are not so sure of their own luck, so they go to psychics and ask them for lucky numbers and then play them in the lottery. Of course, the question always is, if the psychic is so good at picking lottery numbers then why doesn’t he or she pick themselves lucky numbers to win the lottery? And if they pick losing numbers does that mean they are a bad psychic? Maybe, maybe not. Go with your instinct The best way to win the lottery is to go with your instinct, because it is the only tool you have in playing the lottery that can put you ahead of anyone else. Go with your gut. There are some people who dream about numbers, and when they wake up they write their dream numbers down. This is how they win the lottery. They keep a journal of all their dreams, and try to remember if any numbers show up in their dreams. The numbers don’t have to be actual numbers, necessarily. If you dream of numbers of things, for example, seeing three boats, you can write down the number three as possibly being one of your lucky numbers. Or, you can see what numbers you notice throughout the day as you go about your business. Maybe a number will catch your eye from a license plate, or from a billboard, or from a book you are reading or a receipt. Some people will keep track of what their total comes to at stores and use those numbers when they play the lottery. Some people will spend the day asking other people what the first number that comes to their mind is. Then they write it down until they have enough numbers to write in the lottery ticket. Other people just try to guess numbers really fast, before they have time to really think about them, and see which lottery numbers come out. Try it, you might be surprised what numbers come out. Another method of playing the lottery is choosing different numbers every time. Some people don’t like to use the same numbers always, and shake it up a bit by choosing a fresh set of numbers every time. Pray to win? A lot of people rely on prayer. Prayer is a wonderful thing to do in any situation, and the miracles that come from praying are pretty amazing. One of the best things about prayer is that it certainly doesn’t hurt anything to do it. It’s totally harmless. You can pray to win the lottery to whatever being or deity you worship and see what happens. Sometimes people take their lottery tickets to be blessed, or they have certain items that have been blessed at home and they keep their lottery ticket there, near the blessed items. Numerology You can also use numerology to pick your numbers. The study of numerology goes back centuries. Numerology is a study of numbers that attributes certain properties to certain numbers. Many people learn numerology and use it when they are picking lottery numbers. There are also a ton of “lucky number generators” all over the web. These programs are ways that people can pick random numbers to put on their lottery tickets. The programs are just computer programs that randomly generate a series of numbers. They come out with a different set of numbers every time for every person. Truly, the world is a strange and mysterious place. No one really knows for sure what makes someone more lucky than another person. So much of life is about being in the right place at the right time. It is a big mystery. Some people are able to tap into their feelings well enough to realize when they are feeling more lucky than other times. Some people believe they have “lucky” days and “unlucky” days and only play the lottery or pick their lottery numbers when they are having a lucky day. Some people use their intuition to guide them, and just do what feels right and what feels lucky. They get the lottery paper and move their finger or pencil over the numbers, and they pick a number if they get a certain feeling or jolt when their finger or pencil is over a certain number. This is how they pick their numbers. Whatever method you choose – good luck to you!

    • How to cure panic attacks fast?
      • If you want to know how to get rid of panic attacks, consider these physical means of getting rid of a panic attack. A traditional method of getting rid of panic attacks is to sit squat on your haunches and to bend your head down. The rush of blood to your head as well as the uncomfortable position diverts your brain from panic mode to discomfort which usually puts the brakes on a panic attack. In trying to learn how to get rid of panic attacks, remember that your panic attack is a physical expression of a mental disorder or of a stress response. Trying to get rid of a panic attack by trying to talk yourself out of it won’t work. Learning how to get rid of panic attacks means learning about panic attacks what they are and what causes them. During a panic attack, your mind is not in control but your emotional physical response is in control. You need to learn physical methods of aborting a panic attack. Another method that is similar in intent is to take a paper bag and breathe into it which keeping the bag’s front end shaped like a small cone. Breathing into the bag should extend it, let the air out and resume breathing into the bag until your panic attack ends. Of course, if you are in a place where finding a bag or sitting squat is not feasible, like driving a car, you can still get rid of the panic attack by holding your breath. Count mentally to 10 and exhale. Do the exercise until your panic attack ends. If you are at home and get a panic attack, you can do a very simple action. Get a glass of water and sip it slowly. Do not drink the whole glass of water. Drink it slowly, sip by sip. Your panic attack will end. Ending a panic attack means aborting the physical response caused by a mental situation. You can’t reach your mental control until you acknowledge your physical symptoms and try to treat them. How to avoid panic attacks If you are a very anxious person, and have ever had a panic attack, you are all too familiar with the shortness of breath, and the other problems which show up when you have a panic attack. So, if you are looking for themes and ideas on how to avoid panic attacks, here are a couple of things you must do, in order to avoid the panic attack and, in order to stay calm when a stressful situation comes up. The main reason people become anxious or have panic attacks, are due to stress, therefore, eliminating stressful sitautions you face on a daily basis is one of the perfect solutions on how to avoid panic attacks. You must live a stress free life. No matter what is bothering you, what financial burdens you have, or any other issues which cause stress in your life, you must turn them into a positive, rather than a negative. For those who are constantly anxious, you must set the mood in your home, work, and surrounding life, to live a happy and stress free life. Getting away from the things which make you anxious, is the only real way to avoid the panic attacks you get. So, making sure to remain around positive people, eliminate the stress in your life, and get away from negativity all around you, is the best way for you to avoid panic attacks. So, if you feel a panic attack may be coming on, think of positive thoughts and energy. One of the best things to do when thinking about how to avoid panic attacks, is to re-adjust your mind. You are the person which causes stress in your life. So, you must re-adjust your thinking, and the way you see things in life, in order to get rid of the panic attacks. End Panic Attacks If you want to know how to end panic attacks forever, there are several different steps in which you should be aware of. Panic attacks are serious and can be extremely debilitating. They can keep you from performing well at work and at school. They will also hinder your love life and the quality of time spent with your friends or family. Depending upon the severity of your panic attacks, it might even be tough for you to walk into a store during normal business hours and buy groceries, for fear of being around a large number of people. If this sounds like you then pay close attention. There is no reason why you can’t end panic attacks forever. The first and most proven method is to see your doctor. They will know exactly what is wrong and can help you treat the disorder in several different ways. The first would be to recommend that you see a counselor in hopes of discovering exactly what began causing these attacks in the first place. Often, the source can be found from some blocked out childhood event and the attacks can be treated by getting to the bottom of that original issue. If this does not help, it is likely that the doctor or psychiatrist will start you on a course of anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication. Another helpful way to treat the disease is through holistic methods. Meditation and acupuncture can help to relieve the symptoms of your panic attacks. Through these methods, you will be able to learn relaxation methods which can be used when to prevent the onset of panic attacks. These will help in the long-run and can even help to keep you off of medications which might have unfavorable side effects. Whichever method you choose to end panic attacks, just know that there is help out there for you. Dealing With Panic Attacks The first step in dealing with panic attacks is to understand what is causing them. There are a variety of circumstances and habits that can lead to an attack. Smoking, large amounts of alcohol or the withdrawal from alcohol, too much caffeine, prescription medications, illegal drugs and stress can all bring on an attack. When the cause is understood, dealing with panic attacks is easier. Panic attacks are characterized by an extreme feeling of anxiety which usually lasts a few minutes, but can last longer. They may involve shortness of breath, a racing heart, nausea, dizziness, hot flashes and a feeling of being out of control. Trying to fight off these feelings will only make the attack worse. If the attack is being brought on by a stressful situation, don’t focus on the problem, or worry about the situation getting worse. Focus on a positive outcome. Breathe slowly and remind yourself that the panic attack will pass and the situation that brought it on will be resolved. Professional counseling and/or medications may be used if the panic attacks are severe and do not subside when outside triggers are removed. A counselor will focus on positive thinking, breathing exercises and confronting the fears that bring on the attacks. There are several measures that can be taken to avoid panic attacks, or lessen their severity. Getting plenty of exercise, including relaxation exercises, may help. It is also important to eat a balanced diet, avoiding foods high in sugar, fat and caffeine. When dealing with panic attacks, remind yourself that you won’t die from the attack. The less you fight it, the quicker it will pass. This may seem difficult, but if you practice this technique, and breathe slowly, the attacks will be shorter and you may even be able to eliminate them. What to do about panic attacks There are quite a few things you need to know to help with panic attacks before they can not be managed without medication. Panic attacks need to be handled as soon as possible by your doctor because you need their help in order to control your panic attacks. Panic attacks are unsafe to your health because the attacks lead to phobias and depression, which is followed by the need of medication. Needing medication can lead to medical treatment and then substance abuse. First of all you need to eat healthy because those of you who have panic attacks and eat healthy are known to recover from panic attacks faster than those who do not eat healthy meals. The second thing you need to remember when you are experiencing a panic attack is to take long, deep breaths to slow down the fast pace of your breathing. Inhale through the nose and then exhaling through the mouth. Close your eyes, without tightening them and count to ten slowly and remember to keep doing your slow, and deep breathing. After you have done the breathing exercise think of something that is soothing to your mind. Things like beautiful vacation environments, a day at the spa, and any other things that will help you calm down your mind. The last methods that will help with panic attacks are to focus on something to take your mind away from the panic attack, which is called a distraction technique. Your body is known to tense up during a panic attack so you are required to relax your muscles by changing the position of your body from whatever position you where in when the panic attack occurred. Panic attack can last anywhere from 15 seconds to 30 minutes or longer if you can’t get the attack under control. You know that you are having a panic attack when you start to hyperventilate, your body starts shaking and trembling, you have pain in your chest and sweating. Some people experience one or all of these symptoms that make you think you are dying. How To Cope With Panic Attacks Learning how to cope with panic attacks certainly can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many routes to be taken for calming the attacks and keeping them at a minimum. Half the battle is discovering what it is that triggers the panic attacks. This is different for everyone but I think it’s safe to say that stress and anxiety is a major contributor. Once you learn what is causing the problem you can efficiently learn techniques or in some instances medication that can help you learn how to cope with panic attacks. One way is to try to introduce a regular regimen of relaxation techniques, such as yoga or meditation. Completely relaxing the mind and body can directly lessen the chance of experiencing an attack. Also try to remember to keep your stress at a minimum. Not sweating the small stuff and avoiding potentially stressful situations can also help with relieving symptoms. I agree, easier said than done. Cutting out caffeine and sugars or keeping them at a low can also help with relaxation. If you find that these suggestions aren’t helpful or working for you, working with your physician, you may also be able to control the attacks with medication such as Ativan or Xanax. Otherwise known as tranquilizers, they can be very helpful in assisting with panic attacks and the symptoms that occur. There are some down sides to using prescription medication for help though. Some of these may include feeling sleepy, clumsiness, dizziness, and should be used carefully depending on day to day life. The important thing to remember is that there are options to put your life back on track. Learning how to cope with panic attacks isn’t the easiest thing you’ll ever do but it certainly will make life easier once you do. Getting Rid of Panic Attacks Anyone would love to be able to get rid of panic attacks, as it can be a frightening experience. As with any other psychological problem, seeing a good therapist may help you to get rid of panic attacks. This is not the only way to alleviate yourself of the panic attacks. There is the possibility that the doctor could decide to give you medication to stop the panic attacks. As you progress with your therapy you should be able to notice what will trigger a panic attack. When the discovery is made you need to make sure to avoid the triggers. Once you see the doctor for therapy and medication, there are several things that you can do on your own to relieve your panic attacks. Some of the things you should avoid are caffeine, alcohol or illegal drugs. They will bring on an attack, or make one that you are having be even worse. These items will only exacerbate your problem. Another thing you can do in conjunction with your therapy is to learn how to manage your stress. Too much stress can cause a multitude of psychological problems. Right in line with this treatment is plenty of exercise. Exercise will alleviate your stress and make you feel much better. Finally, when you feel you are going to suffer a panic attack, make every attempt to relax. This can and must be done. Take deep breaths, if you tense up it will only make things worse. This is a time when you should be giving yourself positive information and trying to block out any negative thoughts that are trying to come out. Many people believe that a natural approach to treating panic attacks is much better than taking medications. Also, try to surround yourself with positive non controversial people.

    • How to become a Forex broker?
      • What are the risks to trading in forex? The two distinguishing factors of forex trading are the unregulated nature of the exchange and the high degree of leverage. These two factors contribute to the risk of forex trading in different ways. First of all, the fact that the market is mostly unregulated means that finding a legitimate broker is an additional barrier. The futures market is usually regulated, because futures contracts trade on open exchanges, but these are less useful to individuals than the spot and forwards markets. So it is critical to examine different brokers and make sure that they do not appear to be scams and that they have good reputations. Otherwise, traders run the risk of losing their money to a scam or just poor management of the brokerage. The second risk is more important. Finding a trustworthy broker is not that hard- it just requires some time investment. On the other hand, being able to manage highly leveraged positions is a skill in itself. Wagering on a position with a ratio of 250:1 means that if you are wrong, you will owe someone else two hundred and fifty times your original bet. You can never lose more than your margin, which is the total money that you have invested in your brokerage account, but it is very possible for a single bad bet to wipe out an entire account. For that reason, it is good practice to set stop limits or loss limits on your account. Most brokers have an easy way to set these up. You pick a set level of losses, and if your losses reach that amount, the broker will close your positions. That way, you effectively limit what you can lose on any single position, even taking into account leverage. How much money should I invest in forex? The combination of the high degree of uncertainty in returns from forex, along with the large leverage ratios, means that until you know the market well and understand how to trade without taking on too much risk, it is a good idea to limit initial investment in forex. This is particularly true for people who are not working in finance and are just trying out foreign exchange as a side job, secondary to a main career. The exact amount depends on the brokerage options. Some brokers offer different kinds of benefits based on how much money you put into your account. This might take the form of additional chart tools or more detailed information about trading strategies, or a reduction in trading fees. Think carefully, though. For a beginner, taking even small positions in a highly leveraged environment can lead to potentially large losses as a percentage of your total investment. There is no point depositing thousands of dollars into a brokerage account, only to lose it on a few bad trades. So start small, both with individual bets and with the total amount of money in the brokerage account. On the other hand, it is a good idea to take advantage of some of the brokerage account benefits for depositing certain amounts when those benefits are significant. One way to get started without risking real money is a demo account- this is a trial account that some brokerages offer, which lets you see the trade interface and experiment with some trading without risking any real money. You won’t be able to make any gains, but you won’t have any losses, either. It’s a good way to get the feel of how forex brokers and forex trading works without having any skin in the game. How does investing in forex differ from other kinds of financial markets? Aside from size, one of the major differences between forex and other markets is that forex runs for five days straight every week. This is because the forex market operates according to which major financial exchanges are open, and the variation in time zones means that there is always trading happening somewhere. Second of all, forex trading, at least for individuals, happens faster and with more intensity. Most people and institutions adopt some variation of buy and hold in markets like stocks or bonds. They just want a relatively safe investment that they can count on, whether it be for retirement savings or a low-risk flow of income. Occasionally, institutions devise complicated financial products like special derivatives. These are obscure and complicated, and often few people in the world really understand them. A notable example is the credit default swaps and mortgage-backed securities that contributed to the financial collapse of the late 2000s. The forex market has no such complicated products. The closest to a complex product forex gets is an options contract, and that is simple relative to the mysteries of proprietary trading products at big banks. That makes forex much more accessible than individuals who want to take an active role in day trading. It is also easier to build a relationship with a broker. Many brokers in other markets prefer to deal with banks and other large clients, but forex brokers are used to having individuals as their clients, so they are welcoming of individuals and expect them to constitute a large proportion of their customer base. How is forex similar to other markets? First of all, day trading on forex and day trading in other markets, like binary options or equities, are similar in the sense that they are based on trying to make rapid gains on short-term price movements. In forex, as in other markets, the price of an asset is the most important statistic. The basic means of analysis between different markets are remarkably similar. For example, the methods of technical analysis apply just as well to stocks as they do to currency pairs. Of course, the techniques need a little bit of tweaking and adaptation to apply to different assets, but that applies to bonds and other markets as well. It is to be expected that different assets need different approaches. Yet the basic ideas and motivation for technical analysis works for any asset. Fundamental analysis does not work quite as well in the area of forex, because the assets are less likely to react in price to underlying changes in economic conditions. Changes that are significant enough to shift a currency’s price dramatically and for a prolonged period are also hard to anticipate- they signal a large and unexpected event. While the forex spot market does not have an open exchange, that is also true of many bonds. Bonds and related financial products are not traded on open exchanges the way stocks are. Similarly, bonds operate on informal networks of telephone connections between traders and brokers, just like the forex market. Finally, foreign exchange is a confluence of all different kinds of financial entities, from individuals to banks and governments. That is true of all financial markets- people, businesses, and governments with a stake in finance are all heavily involved in all kinds of financial markets in one way or another. They could be buyers, sellers, facilitators, or regulators, but no financial market is completely dominated by just one type of trader. The possible exception is the forex futures market, where few individual traders bother to exchange currency. Why is the forex market so large? One of the most striking aspects of the forex market is its size. With about five trillion dollars in value changing hands daily, it dwarfs any other financial market. The reason for this size is twofold- first of all, the importance of the forex market means that the largest players in finance, big banks and governments, are heavily invested in currency exchange. On top of that, the fact that forex is truly international means that those major players from every nation large enough to have its own financial industry gets into forex. For banks, forex is less about trying to make money and more about foreign investments. Whenever a bank or other financial institution, like a hedge fund, wants to make an investment in a different country, it needs to first convert its money to the currency of that country, and then make the investment. For example, suppose that an American hedge fund wants to invest in a German healthcare firm. It has to first buy some euros, then use those euros to purchase stock in the German company. Therefore, the hedge fund’s bet on the German company’s stock is also a bet on the euro. Banks use the futures market to set up contracts to protect themselves against the risk that devaluation of the euro will hurt their investment. Governments often try to manipulate the price of their own currency. That requires a lot of transactions in the forex market- either buying their own currency using foreign ones, or selling their currency for foreign cash. Either way, the presence of big governments and banks from all over the world means there is always a lot of money flowing through forex at ay one time. How is George Soros connected to forex? George Soros is a famous financier who made quite a lot of money in foreign exchange. He has used his money to influence national governments to change their economic policies just by threatening to short their currency. In fact, he was partly responsible for damaging the Bank of England and the British pound in the early 1990s. During that time, the euro did not yet exist. However, the countries of Europe were trying to find a way to integrate their national currencies to ease trading across countries. They created the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a collection of currencies that would have fixed exchange rates. The British pound and the German mark had been roughly equal in value prior to the creation of the ERM. However, George Soros and other forex investors realized that England’s high level of spending and high inflation meant their currency was too weak to survive a fixed exchange rate with other European currencies, and Germany’s difficulty in post-Cold War reunification would make it hard to use the mark as a reference currency for the Exchange Rate Mechanism. So Soros and smaller currency traders began to short the British pound, despite the British government’s desire to keep the price of the currency stable. After enough pressure, the British government became unable to support the pound’s price in relation to the mark, and they were forced to withdraw it from the ERM. This is because the government needed to buy pounds in order to keep the price up, and eventually this became unaffordable. Soros made about a billion dollars when the price of the pound collapsed, and the British government was forced to rein in inflation and spending to keep its economy under control. What is the best way to find a good forex broker? The best guide to whether a broker is both legitimate and a good deal is reputation, especially for a beginner trader. Early on, you might not know enough to decide whether a certain bonus or fee structure is truly a good deal. The best source of information about forex brokers is online communities of traders. Some websites do reviews of brokers, but these may be biased. Be careful that the review site is not affiliated with a particular broker. Likewise, some review sites just write positive reviews for every broker out there, because they want to get credit for referring people to those brokers. So try to find honest reviews who do not ask you to click on a certain link to register for a reviewed broker, sprinkle lots of links in their review, and sound like an advertisement. Forums are good places, because they are less likely to have fake reviews and information. This is because it takes more effort to fake forums posts and profiles than simple reviews. Forums also have the advantage of numbers- there can be many people who support a review with their own personal experience with a broker. It takes seconds to make a blog and fill it with fake reviews, but it is harder to fake a discussion. One good feature to keep an eye out for is a demo account. This will let you get an inside look at the trading interface as well as experience forex trading itself without risk. Be sure not to hand over any money or bank account information to a broker until you are absolutely sure that they are legitimate. Having a trustworthy broker is much more important than getting a slightly larger bonus or slightly lower fees. Is investing in forex worth it? It’s hard to predict if forex is a good idea for any individual person. Certainly it is true that investing household money in traditional retirement funds is usually a safer road to returns. However, stocks are currently overvalued. Many leading financial analysts expect that the next several years will not have the same gains in the stock market as there have been in the past. That makes forex relatively more attractive. Despite the risks, it might be easier to extract profits from the forex market than by hoping the stock market continues to make record-breaking returns. Stock markets never last forever. On the other hand, with forex, it is always possible to make money, because that market does not depend on any underlying trend in corporate profits or the economic situation of one country. To the contrary, there is always money to be made in forex, no matter what the news is or whether the global economy is doing well or poorly. There is always an angle in forex. On the other hand, that comes with increased risk as a result of the large leverage ratios. It might be worth the time and effort to get to know forex and then decide whether it merits more investment. After all, while it is a risky venture, it is impossible to get any return without some risk. At least the forex market doesn’t change very much. The basic principles of working forex are constant. In stocks and bonds, economic changes can always upset the apply cart and turn winners into losers. On the other hand, forex is beyond the reach of any one government or regulating body. Governments can regulate parts like the futures markets that take place on exchanges, but the rest is neutral territory.

    • Forex Brokers Australia – All You Need To Know
      • What is foreign exchange trading? Foreign exchange trading, or forex trading, is the practice of buying and selling different currencies to make a profit. Forex traders try to exchange currencies that they believe will lose value for ones that they believe will gain value- this is called taking a long position on the currency they expect to rise. The opposite can also happen- traders can sell currencies they expect to decline in value. This is called taking a short position or “shorting” that currency. Every transaction consists of taking a long position on one currency and a short one on another, although the trader might be principally interested in one or the other. The forex market is unregulated and takes place internationally over both phone and computer networks. It exists outside the authority of any particular country’s financial authority. The foreign exchange trade is enormous- trillions of American dollars’ worth of currencies change hands every day. The market is the largest and most liquid in the world. It runs all through the day- traders exchange currencies in every major financial market in the world, and it is always daytime in at least one financial hub. The major participants in this market include both banks and other financial institutions as well as individuals. Sometimes, governments also enter the forex market in order to affect the exchange rate of their own national currency. All traders in the forex market must operate through an intermediary called a broker, who is the person who actually executes the trade orders. The forex market is highly volatile and sensitive to economic and political information, although its size means that it is difficult for any individual entity to make a difference in the price of a given currency pair. What is a foreign exchange broker? A foreign exchange broker is a person or organization who executes trades in the forex market. The trader, who could be the representative of a bank or government or just an ordinary individual, transmits orders to the broker. This might take the form of a phone call to the broker or instructions from the trader’s computer interface. Many brokerage firms that cater to individuals use this second form- they create a Web-based trading interface for their customers. The customers use the interface, sometimes called a trading platform, to create orders and positions. Then the brokerage firm executes the orders. Usually, brokerage firms charge fees to the customers. That is the way they make money, because they don’t profit from the trades themselves. The broker might providee resources for learning about forex trading or video tutorials, but they do not trade in the market themselves- they are purely an intermediary. Brokers can make things easier for the customer by creating templates for deals and trades, educating customers about the market, and allowing potential traders to make demo accounts to test out the trading interface. It is difficult for regulators to examine forex brokers, because they can operate internationally with little to no oversight. This means that selecting a legitimate broker is an important part of starting to trade on the forex market- there are brokers that scam customers or perform fraud. Generally, the trading community reviews brokers, providing an informal kind of policing. While most large brokers are scrupulous, it never hurts to be cautious. The broker can offer a variety of services to help the trader make decisions, like charting, trading tools, and software. Because the forex market is unregulated, it is technically possible for traders to enter the market without a broker. However, the brokers add value to the trader’s experience through the additional services they provide. What currencies do people trade? Participants in the foreign exchange market can buy any currency using any other currency, as long as they can find someone willing to make the deal with them. Similarly, they can sell any currency for a different one, provided they can find someone who wants to buy the currency they are holding. There are a few pairs of currencies, called the majors, that see the most trading action. They generally include the U. S. dollar and one other significant currency. For example, U. S. dollar/euro is one major pair, U. S. dollar/Japanese yen is a different major, and U. S. dollar/Great British pound is a third: all of these have the dollar as one element of the pair. Because so many people are so interested in these currencies, there are lots of buyers and sellers for these pairs. That is the definition of a liquid market- there are lots of people looking to make a deal, so it usually will not take long for a particular trader to find someone willing to trade with them. On the other hand, the markets for these currencies are so big that aside from tiny, rapid fluctuations, the prices of currency pairs is not volatile. Even huge central banks find it hard to alter the exchange rate of their own currency. Some nations try to actively manipulate the price of their currency. For example, China tries to weaken its yuan so that its exports will appear cheaper to foreign importers. For several years, Argentina fixed its currency to be equal in value to the U. S. dollar. But the effort and cost of such operations is enormous. For individual traders, it is enough to say that it is impossible to change the major pairs’ prices. If the market is not volatile, how do traders make money? Price movements in currency pairs, especially the majors, tend to be stable. To make money from trades, traders need to take advantage of the small fluctuations that currency prices experience. But if the changes are so small, how do they allow traders to make money? In other markets, like the stock market, asset holders make money by purchasing assets when the price is low and selling them when the price is high. In the foreign exchange market, prices don’t change very much. Traders make money through a process called leveraging. Leveraging entails making financial transactions using loans. For example, a trader could put in $100 of their own money and borrow $1,000 on top of that for a total investment of $1,100. This is much larger than the amount of money that the trader could have put into a deal with just their own money. Because the amount of borrowed money is 10 times larger than the amount of the trader’s own money, the trader has a “leverage ratio” of 10:1. That ratio says he has invested ten dollars of borrowed money for every one dollar of his own money. In the foreign exchange market, it is common to see leverage ratios between 100:1 and 250:1. These ratios are much higher than the leverage ratios in other financial markets, but without them, it would be difficult to make any money in foreign exchange trading. The use of leverage opens up the possibility of large losses- in the event that the trade winds up losing money, the trader needs to pay back all of the money they borrowed from their own pocket. That is the downside to leverage- it amplifies risk as well as return. Is it possible to predict price movements? It is quite a difficult task to attempt to predict how the price of a currency pair will move. In the short term, such as over a period from a few seconds to a day, the price will move almost randomly. Tiny bits of news or information will affect the market for different currencies. Over longer periods of time, the price moves in reaction to larger events and pieces of news, such as economic information, the outbreak of war and disease, or similar events. These can affect the price of currency in both the affected countries and others, because investors will try to rebalance their portfolios and take advantage of the information. The difficulty of predicting prices lies in the complexity of the interactions between currencies, as well as the challenge of deciding how information will affect the general foreign exchange market. In addition, these changes can happen very fast- the market reacts almost instantly to new information. These factors all mean that short-term prediction of price movements is quite difficult. In addition, the fact that there are so many people and institutions in the market trying to make money with the same information makes it hard to take advantage of price movements even when they do occur. The high leverage ratios of most foreign exchange transactions means that a losing trade can result in a lot of lost money, even if the price movement in the wrong direction but small. On the other hand, the potential for gains is similarly high. Traders who successfully use leveraged positions to take advantage of price movements can make much more than they would if they were risking only their own money without adding in borrowed money. What is fundamental analysis? Fundamental analysis is one of two ways of trying to understand asset prices. Fundamental analysis uses the fundamental traits of an asset to understand the determinants of its price. For example, a fundamental analyst looking at a stock would think about the company’s profitability, its business model, its competition, and how well it is likely to perform, and then decide if the company is going to increase its profits in the future. If so, the stock is also likely to increase in price, reflecting the value of the company. Fundamental analysis concentrates on the underlying influences that should cause a price to move. Generally, people who use fundamental analysis are interested in holding assets like currencies for a long period of time, because they believe that the basic factors that determine the asset’s price are more important than short-term fluctuations. Fundamental analysts try to find an asset that they believe will experience growth, and then hold onto that asset for years at a time. This is sometimes called a “buy and hold” strategy. For forex traders, fundamental analysis might not be as useful as other methods of asset pricing. Generally, people in the foreign exchange market try to benefit from the short, small fluctuations in price, which fundamental analysis considers unimportant. However, entities like large businesses, banks, and governments might be interested in the long-term price of currency, so it is important to consider what the goals of those market participants are. Knowledge of the entities in the market makes it easier to anticipate where the market might move next. Keep in mind that both price increases and price declines can lead to profits, depending on whether you are taking a long or short position on a given currency pair. By understanding the motivations of other traders, you will be better able to predict the overall market. What is technical analysis? Technical analysis is a way to predict the prices of assets. In contrast to fundamental analysis, which focuses on the fundamental aspects of the asset, technical analysis involves studying the past movements of the price. This includes chart analysis, trend analysis, and pattern recognition. Technical analysis is better suited to examining the short, rapid fluctuations in a currency’s price than fundamental analysis. Instead of using the underlying characteristics of the asset as a guide to pricing, technical analysis uses its price alone as an indicator. For example, technical analysis might involve looking at when a stock’s 15 day moving average price moves above its 50 day moving average price. That could signal that the stock’s price is due to rise. However, this analysis has nothing to do with the company that issued the stock. In the world of foreign exchange, technical analysis would involve looking at the charts of a currency pair’s price and its historical price data, rather than thinking about the economic and political situations of the countries that own the currency. The advantage of technical analysis is that it is useful to trying to make money from short-term fluctuations in an asset’s price. That is exactly the situation for the foreign exchange market: the high liquidity and low volatility mean that fundamental analysis and long-term strategies won’t bring in much money, due to how stable prices are in the long run. Stocks are generally expected to rise in price over time: currencies are not. The downside, however, is that technical analysis can be difficult to do well. There is no one system that will guarantee correct predictions of price movements, so it is impossible to use a technical analysis strategy and expect sure returns. What are charting tools? Charting tools or chart tools are the primary tools in the technical analysis kit. They involve examining the chart of an asset’s price and using that information to predict its price. This can be done alone or with the aid of computer analysis. Furthermore, charting tools might take the form of a specific cutoff rule, like the moving average rule described above, or just a gut feeling based on historical trends. The underlying commonality is that as a form of technical analysis, charting tools do not consider the role of an asset’s underlying features. For example, a currency trader using charting tools to think about price movements is not interested in the currency’s home nation’s economic situation- he just looks at the charts. This strategy and these tools have particular value in the forex market, because of the fact that big price movements are so rare. Political or economic events large enough to change the price of a currency by a large amount are just so rare that it is more worthwhile to think about chart movements and other short-term perspectives. Some brokerages provide some charting tools to traders for free or as a premium service in order to help them make gains. It is also a good idea for forex traders to do some reading about technical analysis and chart tools before starting out. Some brokerages provide information about these topics in videos or tutorials, but there is also a lot of good information available on the Internet. Even if you do not plan to use chart tools yourself, it can be good to develop a basic familiarity due to the fact that so many other traders in the market will be making use of them to make decisions. It always helps to know what other traders are doing. What kinds of forex markets exist? There are three different foreign exchange markets. The first is the spot market. Currently, this is the one that has the most activity. The spot market contains currency deals that simply trade on the current price of currency pairs. In other words, the spot market takes place in the moment. Two traders agree to exchange one currency for another based on their price as of when they write the deal. It is the most basic and intuitive market for foreign exchange. The second market is the forwards market. In the forwards market, traders write contracts to purchase or sell a currency pair at a predetermined price and a predetermined time. The terms of these contracts can be quite flexible- the date at which the deal in the future will be executed as well as the price is completely up to the traders. Because each is unique, these contracts are not traded on public exchanges. The third foreign exchange market is the futures market. Like the forwards market, the futures market involves contracts to buy or sell a currency for a predetermined price at a certain time. The unique element to these contracts is that the time horizon is fixed in advance. For example, traders in the futures market might sell 60 day contracts on the USD/EUR pair at a certain price. Because these are “cookie cutter” contracts with fixed time horizons, they can be traded on public exchanges. Large companies and banks often use the futures market as a way to hedge against interest rate risk. Most individuals do not use the futures market, because the forwards market is more flexible. The futures market does not have any advantages for someone who is looking to profit from forex compared to the spot market or the forwards market. How do future and forwards contracts help me make money in forex? In the spot market, making money from trades involves a belief that a currency pair’s price is going to change in a certain direction in the future. For example, if you believe that the U. S. dollar is going to strengthen against the euro, then you should exchange euros for dollars now, and then when the price of dollars increases, sell them for a profit. Thinking about contracts and futures involves the same kind of analysis- you expect that the price of a currency will move in a certain direction. However, instead of buying the currency now and holding it until the price changes in the proper direction, a forward-looking contract involves making an agreement to buy or sell a currency at a certain price in the future. For example, suppose that once again you expect the dollar to rise against the euro in one week. Rather than buying dollars now, you could write a deal in the forwards market to buy the dollar a week from now, but at its current price. To make it more concrete, say that now a dollar is worth 0.75 euro, and you expect it to change to 0.77 euro. You write a contract to buy dollars at the price of 0.75 euros in one week. If the dollar is indeed worth 0.77 euro, or even more, a week from now, you will make money. First you buy dollars using your contract at the agreed-upon price of 0.75 euro. Then you immediately sell them on the spot market for the new, higher price. You have made money based on the difference in the price of dollars now and the price of dollars a week from now. It is similar to how you buy dollars, hold onto them, and then sell them when the price increases in the spot market, except that you do not actually own the dollars until the contract executes. Furthermore, most forex brokers offer ways to set up forwards and futures contracts, but they might have a different fee structure compared to spot market deals. Consider the fees carefully when trying to use these contracts. Many large institutions use contracts to protect themselves from changes in currency prices, but it is also possible for individual investors to make money from those very same currency prices using contracts.

    • New Zealand will keep its borders closed throughout 2021 due to the pandemic
      • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has signaled that authorities may maintain border closures through 2021 and linked the decision to the progress of the coronavirus vaccination campaign, which has yet to get underway. Ardern stressed that a sufficient number of people must be vaccinated before the borders are reopened and added that this “will take time,” before adding that the first covid-19 vaccine will be approved by the authorities in February. He also described as “unwelcome” the case of coronavirus detected on Sunday in the country, the first in the last two months, and stressed that it is proof that coronavirus is a “complicated virus,” but stressed that the government is prepared to deal with the situation. For his part, the minister in charge of the response to the pandemic, Chris Hipkins, has revealed that the vaccination campaign will start with front-line workers against the coronavirus, according to the newspaper ‘The New Zealand Herald’. “These brave people have been protecting our country from this pandemic for the past year and protecting them and those who live with them is a priority for us,” she said. Ardern detailed that this process will take two to three weeks, after which the next phase will follow. First community case in more than two months New Zealand authorities on Monday confirmed their first community case of coronavirus in more than two months, according to TVNZ. Chris Hipkins explained that it was a 56-year-old woman who had been infected with the South African variant, although he assured that her closest contacts had tested negative. The woman, who had returned to New Zealand on December 30, tested positive after two weeks under quarantine and had tested negative on two previous occasions. So far, no further local infections have been reported, so the authorities believe that the source of the infection could be in the isolation facilities themselves. In this regard, the authorities were trying to rule out whether the virus had spread through the ventilation system of these facilities. Health Minister Ashley Bloomfield said that some 15 people were being traced as possible contacts of the infected woman. The confirmation of the case led Australia to immediately suspend the opening of borders for a period of 72 hours. Thus, all persons arriving in New Zealand since January 14 must either isolate themselves or remain at home until they test negative. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has asserted that she has “confidence” in the systems and protocols in place and has accepted that it is up to the Australian government to “manage its own borders”.

    • Spain: The Andalusian countryside rises
      • Agricultural organizations and cooperatives reject the decree approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers, which brings forward the planned cut to Andalusia for 2023 in the CAP. The Andalusian countryside will resume the mobilizations that took place last year, and that were paralyzed by the pandemic, due to a new controversy that has its origin in the decision of the Minister of Agriculture, the Cordovan Luis Planas, to implement this year a change in the distribution of European funds that will be a new blow to this sector in this community. Yesterday’s Council of Ministers approved a royal decree that brings forward to this year the so-called convergence of European aid from the CAP which was to enter into force in 2023, which involves a redistribution of funds that will especially harm Andalusia, the main Spanish agricultural community with 34% of Spanish farmers or 40% of Spanish exports. Specifically, this redistribution towards aid more linked to the area -single payment- than to the historical aid to production that will regulate the years 2021 and 2022, coupled with other measures, may involve “losses of almost 50% for Andalusian agriculture”, as explained by the president of Asaja Andalucía, Ricardo Serra. That is, just under 600 of the 1,500 million euros received by farmers and ranchers in the community in direct aid from the CAP. Until now, Andalusia received slightly more than the average of Spain per hectare (226 euros compared to 144 euros of the national average) thanks to its productivity and competitiveness, achieved after their investments to renew the sector. However, this has not really translated into a higher income per farmer, which, according to data from the Board, stands at 5,000 euros in Andalusia, compared to a national average of 6,500 euros per farmer – in some communities, up to 10,000 euros. This is largely due to the small size of Andalusian farms, with an average of 17.5 hectares compared to almost 50 hectares of the national average. “The production system of the Andalusian countryside has a much more familiar and social model, which creates jobs, which fixes population and is also demonstrating its quality,” explains the secretary general of COAG, Miguel Lopez. The Minister of Agriculture of the Board, Carmen Crespo, yesterday lamented the approval of a decree that considers that “punishes the good farmer, those who have invested in innovation and in making their productions sustainable”. The Andalusian representative insists that the EU is not demanding a sudden convergence of the common agricultural policy (CAP) as the one being promoted by Minister Planas, and stresses the unanimous commitment of the agricultural sector and the Board for a “slower and gradual” convergence that allows farmers and ranchers to adapt to the new framework in a couple of years. The Andalusian Agricultural Interlocution Table, formed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, Asaja, COAG, UPA and Agrifood Cooperatives of Andalusia, sent a few days ago a letter in which unanimously demand to continue applying the current model of convergence and strongly rejects the unilateral decision of the ministry to accelerate the current process, “breaking the climate of dialogue and consensus with which to address the discussions of the future model of the CAP”. The Andalusian Government has regretted that it is trying to impose a hidden flat rate, through an accelerated process of convergence. In this regard, Crespo has pointed out that, while the ministry now recognizes that 1% of farmers will lose more than 20% of direct income support in the first year, says nothing about the losses they will suffer in the second year or those who will no longer enter 15%, 17% or 19%. “This abrupt convergence is going to cause a transfer of funds between farmers with which we do not agree,” he stressed. Agricultural organizations and cooperatives denounce that this rule, “very harmful to the social and professional model of agriculture, has been made behind the back of the sector, in full pandemic, with total lack of transparency and without disclosing any data”. Therefore, they announce “forceful mobilizations as soon as covid allows it, ready to reverse this situation”. For the Andalusian agricultural sector, the approval of this rule is “a serious damage to the social and professional model of agriculture, which is key to the Andalusian economy, and will generate irreversible damage to a productive system that distributes wealth, which generates 90% of agricultural employment, manages the territory and is the one that fixes population in our region”.

    • Tips How to Avoid Debt
      • You wait in line at the grocery store or other retail outlet, including a gas station, and when it’s your turn to pay, out comes the credit card. Actually if you stop to think about it, when is the last time you ever saw any person reach in their pockets and pay with “cash?” You remember cash, don’t you? It’s those green pieces of paper with the pictures of dead presidents on the front. And if you live anywhere close to a college campus that has a grocery store nearby, all you need to do is stand in line with the college-age kids, and watch when they pull out a credit card from the “Bank of mom and dad,” to buy gum or candy bar or 6-pack of soda, and get $20 bucks cash back to pay for gas later on. And now you know why most everyone has a debt problem in this country. Sometimes you’re the cake; sometimes you’re the frosting. You won’t have to look far or long online to find suggestions and tips on how to avoid debt, or at the least, a do-able map or primer on how to keep debt at a minimum. They’re like moss on a Mississippi tree stump; everywhere! Some are enticing, some are free, and some cost money. However, in this financial blog perhaps you will find that it’s possible to get on the “avoiding debt train to solvency.” And with a dash of diligence, a spoonful of patience, and a wheelbarrow full of equanimity you can succeed. Tip #1 – If you currently have a bank used for savings and/or checking contact them immediately and ask for a debit card even though you may already have a credit card with their name on it. If you don’t have a checking account, get one pronto. Once received, take all your credit cards that are still in effect, get a freeze-proof container, and put them in the freezer hidden behind the meat. From that day forward only use the debit card which is essentially cash, since the money you spend comes out of your checking account. This takes discipline, but it works. Tip #2 – Pay off as much debt as you can and don’t just move it around to another source. Start with the “nickel and dime” stuff you owe that has a balance less than $1,000. Save your payment receipts, too. Tip #3 – Stop opening new accounts you don’t need. Adding accounts is a “killer” on your credit and FICO scores. Tip #4 – Only buy what you need. Especially when it comes to groceries and clothes. Nobody needs 10 pair of shoes. Food prices have skyrocketed so you don’t need to buy groceries every other day. Have a yard sale on stuff you don’t need, and apply the money to your debt. Tip #5 – Give yourself a $100 weekly allowance and become inventive how it’s spent. Finally, take stress out of your life. How to Avoid Getting Into the Debt Trap – 5 Lessons Credit and debt are a way of life for some people until they become trapped and unable to manage their bills. It is widely encouraged that a person should obtain a few credit cards to begin building their credit record and history. A good credit history is useful when financing a major purchase, such as a vehicle or home. Unfortunately, paying down accumulated debt can easily become a problem. Learning how to avoid getting into the debt trap and ruining that credit record is a skill to master. There are many methods suggested; actually managing debt is not always easy. Debt Lesson #1 Avoid spending more than your income. Emergency expenses always seem to crop up just when the monthly income has been all spent. A simple answer is turning to credit cards. The better answer is to plan ahead and save up a small fund just for emergencies. Debt Lesson #2 Just when you reach your credit limit, lenders have a sneaky way of trapping you by suddenly raising your credit limit another couple hundred dollars. Before long, you may reach that limit, but as long as you continue to make minimum payments, they are likely to again raise your limit. Debt Lesson #3 If you only make minimum monthly payments, it could take many years to repay your debt. With high interest rates, you might end up paying many times the original bills. Debt Lesson #4 Avoiding the debt trap is not easy. It requires careful money management, planning and discipline. There are many strategies for repayment of debt. One popular one entails paying off the smallest debt in full first and then putting whatever payment that was used for that debt onto the payment for the next larger debt, until all are paid off. Another strategy calls for first paying off the bill with the largest interest rate. Some debtors get a consolidation loan to pay off all debts and to start fresh with one larger debt that might have a lower interest rate. These larger loans may have an overall lower payment, but you still will be paying more money over a longer period of time. This is not the best solution either. Conclusion Use a budget and stick to it. Plan out a month or two in advance to include all income and payments due; apply any extra amounts to one of your debts. Perhaps you need to find another income source and use that money just for quickly reducing your outstanding debts. Do not take on any new debts. Open no more credit accounts and definitely no payday loans at sky-high interest rates. Do not make any new charges on existing accounts. Operate on a cash basis for all current expenses. Use your budget and an envelope system to parcel out your income for each expected expense area. When you use plastic, it just is not the same as handing over your hard-earned cash supply. Use coupons for groceries, shop the sales and cut corners whenever possible. Little things help reduce your overall debt load. Once all debt is repaid, you can start using credit again, but carefully. Only charge what you can repay in full and never use credit for everyday expenses, like food. Being debt free is possible if you stay out of the traps along the way.

    • Refinance Your Mortgage: When It Makes Sense
      • The economy seems to be on somewhat of a roller coaster, but that could mean good things for most homeowners. The ability to refinance your home may become an even more attractive offer than it ever has in the past. Refinancing your home is a great way for you to lower your monthly mortgage payments, decrease the overall cost of your loan, and possibly pay off your mortgage faster. When people refinance their homes, they usually get a much better rate than they got with the original mortgage. Most people will refinance at a fixed rate like a traditional 30 year mortgage, but with better rates. Other people like to try the adjustable rate mortgages. These mortgages have a fixed rater for a certain time period, and when the time period expires the rate will change. These mortgages can be a little risky for some people, so if you are very conservative than you may not want to try this loan. These lower rates will obviously lower your monthly mortgage payments, and possibly give you a little more breathing room each month. When you decrease the interest rate, you will also decrease the cost of your loan. The amount of total interest that you will pay for your home will decrease with the lower rate. This means that you will save a substantial amount of money over a number of years. The best way to pay off your mortgage faster is to refinance your home with whichever of the aforementioned options you like the best. You will soon find that your monthly payment is lower than you were paying. Now, all that you have to do is to continue making the same payment each month that you were making. All of the extra money that you are now paying will come directly off the balance of your mortgage. You can keep paying the same amount of money and pay your loan off faster. Before you refinance, make sure that you understand all of the terms and conditions. You must also be certain that you are comfortable working with the lending company that you choose. If anything seems suspicious or they do not fully answer your questions then you should probably look for a company that will support you better. It is a proven fact that most homeowners do not keep their original mortgage for more than five years. Most of the time the interest rate is too high, or there are some other financial obstacles in the way. These people tend to start searching around for better rates with fewer obstacles when they finally begin to feel settled into their new homes. The original loan rates are usually pretty standard for first time buyers, but refinance rates are usually so much better. When you refinance your home, you are basically having one company buy out your original mortgage. They, in turn, give you a new mortgage with better rates. This means that they will make some money and you will be happy with the company because they will be saving you some money. There are a variety of refinance options that are available, and there are some newer ones out on the market. The most traditional refinance loan is the fixed rate loan. This will give you a set payment for the amount of years that you take out the loan. For most people, this is probably a rate that will be for 30 years. Many people will have the option to change the number of years. Generally speaking, the fewer years that you take the loan out for directly corresponds to a lower interest rate. If you have the ability to still make the payments for fewer years than you can save yourself a lot of money in interest over the life of the loan. There are also adjustable rate mortgages. These mortgages give you exceptionally great rates for a set period of time. When the time expires, your rate will likely change based upon the market at the time. These rates are especially good for people that will not be in their homes for a long time and they are just looking to pay as little as possible until they can sell their home. Many people also take out one of these adjustable mortgages for a few years, and then they refinance again with the same type of loan. This could be a good option if you can avoid paying closing costs every time you refinance. When you refinance, you will likely get a lower rate which means your monthly payment will drop, and so will the accrued interest over the life of the loan. Mortgage Refinance Rates – Increase your Savings with Low Mortgage Refinance Rates Mortgage refinance means exchanging your current loan for a new one with a much better rate, because it works out to be much cheaper than your existing loan. This can help in revitalizing your financial condition as you would be now be paying much lesser amount every month than you were paying earlier. Though you may try your best to get the best possible mortgage rates, but due to the volatile and unpredictable markets, you may end up with a deal where you may have to pay more than what is necessary. The moment you feel that this is happening with you, you can opt for a remortgage with the best possible mortgage refinance rates in order to rescue yourself from an expensive loan deal. Actually the process of evaluating the best mortgage refinance rates usually depends upon the financial condition of a person. Therefore, it is better for you to seek a professional advice of a financial expert. They understand your individual requirements and also have a vast experience regarding the volatile markets and the way they behave from time to time. Due to this, they can select a most profitable and suitable mortgage refinance deal at best mortgage refinance rates. Mortgage refinance also helps you in liquidating any equity that has accumulated over your house where you are living since long. This provides you with a much needed extra cash that you can use as per your preferences. Various advantages of a mortgage refinance deal are: You can get a much lower mortgage refinance rates due to which you can lower your monthly repayment amount over the entire term of the loan. Whenever there is some financial emergency such as vacations, wedding or other requirements, you can opt for mortgage refinance with the lower mortgage refinance rates in order to get extra money flow and savings on your monthly repayments. You can use the extra funds that are released due to the remortgage deal for paying your credit card debts, car loan or other outstanding amount. The process for applying for a remortgage deal with the best mortgage refinance rates is not that difficult. You can begin by enquiring from your existing creditor as you can always negotiate with them for a much better mortgage refinance rates according to existing market realities. Aside from this, there are numerous mortgage brokers, banks, financial institutions and credit unions that can help you in getting the best deal. You can even use a mortgage calculator for working out the costs. Why refinance a mortgage? There are various reasons why you should refinance your home loan. It is true that the mortgage interest rates keep on fluctuating. Many homeowners get adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) other than the fixed-rate ones. The fluctuating nature of the adjustable-rate mortgages forces people to refinance the mortgage and change to a fixed-rate mortgage where they will enjoy a lower mortgage interest rate. The purpose of refinancing is actually to pay off your first mortgage so as to reduce the mortgage rate plus other monthly payments. You can also refinance your mortgage to pay off your first loan and get more cash from the same lender. The third purpose of refinancing is actually to pay off your first and second mortgage hence reducing the mortgage rate and other payments that you make monthly. Refinancing is actually important It will give you the freedom of managing your funds. Mortgage refinancing will lower the interest rate you were supposed to repay your home loan with and thus have extra cash to cater for other expenses. Refinancing will pay off the remaining balance of the existing mortgage hence keep you stress free. It is worth to note that mortgage refinancing is not an easy process. There are certain factors that you should consider before making up your mind to refinance a mortgage. It is good to consider the duration of time you are going to live in your home and also how much you can afford to repay the loan monthly. These two factors will assist you in your plan to refinance your mortgage. Why do people prefer mortgage refinancing? It should be noted that people refinance their mortgages for different reasons. Some engage in mortgage refinancing so as to take advantage of the lower interest rates currently prevailing in the market. You may find that you are paying too much in terms of monthly instalments hence decide to refinance your mortgage. Sometimes you may find that the interest rates are rising in the market. Suppose you have an adjustable-rate mortgage and you foresee interest rates rising, you can switch to the fixed-rate loan which is actually a form of refinancing. The adjustable-rate mortgage might be causing you stress. Suppose you were attracted to the ARM because the rates were lower at that time and now they are rising, you can refinance it in order to relieve your financial strain by paying a lower interest rate. Mortgage Refinance Calculator Mortgage refinance calculators are one of the best creations on the web. They offer future and current home owners the opportunity to see how they can best use their money with their mortgage. People that are looking to buy a new home really need to take the time to sit down online and run the numbers through these calculators. There is so much that these online mortgage calculators can do. The most basic of all the calculators will at least give you the ability to figure out your basic payment per month, and then break that down into the principal and interest. This will give you a good idea about where your money is going. You will also be able to figure out how much interest you would pay over the life of the loan. Some of the more sophisticated calculators will allow you to put your mortgage rates, taxes, and any other fees. The calculator will then be able to figure out your monthly payment, interest, and additonal monthly fees down to the penny. This is probably the best type of calculator online because you can pinpoint so exactly. Another great feature of these calculators is how you can use them to compare rates. This is how they are frequently used by people trying to refinance or find the best rate. The online calculators quickly determine the principal and interest based upon various interest rates. For example, if you had a $100,000 mortgage and you wanted to get the best rate possible, the mortgage calculator could tell you exactly what you would pay per month. Most lenders have options that go with their mortgage programs, so you can actually input all of the necessary information and then be able to make the best decision possible for your situation. Getting a mortgage or refinancing your current mortgage can be a very stressful situation. Dealing with all of the money hassles can be so overwhelming. The best thing that you can do to help yourself is by getting all of your financial information together first. Then, you need to get to a calculator and put the information in it. This will give you the best chance to save the most money on your home loan. When is the best time to refinance your mortgage? If you get a chance to refinance your mortgage and get to do so at a lower interest rate, wouldn’t you just love that? This could solve so many problems and the instalments that you have to pay would decrease in terms of money and life would become easy. However, it is important to realize that just because you heard a neighbour talking about refinancing, you should not jump and grab the first opportunity that comes your way. This is an important decision and there are several things that you need to pay attention to so that you can make the right decision and actually do something that benefits you. You need to properly think about the decision, make sure that your timings are right and then put it into action. If you decide to rush into refinancing, you can actually encounter a great loss since you might refinance your mortgage to get a fixed-rate loan and yet the interest rates for the adjustable-rate mortgage are decreasing. Therefore, shop around in order to make a coherent decision on refinancing. When you take out a mortgage you are basically making your life easier because you don’t have to pay all the money at once. However, if you choose to for multiple refinancing, you can effectively lower the advantage and benefit that you get from the financing you were getting earlier. It takes money to close the financing, and if you keep on moving from one type of financing to the other in search of a lower one, you might be losing money rather than saving it, and that is far from an ideal situation. But does this mean that you should abstain from refinancing altogether? No, there are certain advantages of Mortgage refinance. What you need to remember is that this refinance will reconstruct your loan and provide you mortgage at a lower rate. It can also serve other purposes like debt consolidation, and can help you out if that is what you are looking for. You can benefit from mortgage refinancing if you think carefully, and plan out your things so that you can get the maximum benefit from the refinancing. One thing that you should know is that before you can go for refinancing, you will have to pay the closing costs of the earlier financing that you took. It is important that you see how long it will take to recover those costs, and whether it is beneficial to refinance.

    • Avoiding Foreclosure and Keeping Your Home
      • A lender issuance of a home foreclosure notice is a trauma not easily forgotten financially and emotionally. It’s an experience not for the faint of heart, but it is possible to recover from foreclosure and get a fresh financial start if you will address the causes that got you into trouble in the first place. Foreclosure happens for various reasons. Unemployment, income crisis and job loss are a few easily recognized. Time will heal all wounds but you’ll need to begin creating a future financial environment so that the next parachute that drops on your front porch has your name on it. All foreclosures will involve a lawsuit by a bank, Mortgage Company, or other lien holder type whose only interest is in recapturing and satisfying a debt you imposed on them. In essence retaking ownership of the property via legal means or selling the property to pay off the debt. Note: once the lender has a foreclosure notice tacked on your front door you may stall and forgo the inevitable for a few months before the auction by declaring bankruptcy, but it won’t last forever. The real solution for a homeowner is to get lucky by selling under a pre-foreclosure listing which you have the right to do under your name and ownership. This is a good deal for an investor because the home is still lived in and not trashed. The lender can still take away the home, but will have to use legal proceedings to do so.

    • Mystery shopping is a two billion dollar industry
      • Mystery shopping is a two billion dollar industry online right now and is growing every year. The fact is that more and more companies are hiring outside of their business to see how their company is running. They hire employees from agencies online who come to their websites and evaluate how the transaction took place. The information that these companies gain can help them improve their companies performance and attract new customers. The way that the mystery shopping program works is that you sign up with an online agency that will put you in touch with companies looking for help with their business. Once you are hired on to do the job you may be asked to visit the storefront in person or online and rate your experience. You will be given the funds you need to make a purchase so you do not have to worry about laying out your own cash. You will visit the establishment and pay close attention to many things. Your employer may want to see if you were approached by any employees for help, they may want to see if all the items in the store were clearly marked and they may also be concerned how you were treated at the register. You may be asked to evaluate how fast you were helped and if the employee was courteous to you. The online transactions work the same way where you would basically rate how your purchase was in the storefront and report back to your employer.

    • What is CFD Trading?
      • What is CFD Trading? CFD stands for Contract For Difference, and it is a method that individuals use to trade on the future value of a commodity that they do not actually own. That might sound technical to some people, but when it’s broken down into its component parts, CFD trading is a practice that makes some sense. Commodities, Trading & Futures Understanding the terminology for CFD trading is key. It all begins with commodities. A commodity is anything that can be bought or sold. Whether it’s gold, lumber, pork bellies, anything that has value is considered to be a commodity. A CFD is a contract that deals with the future value of a commodity. For instance, say that the price of gold is $50 for a troy ounce. A CFD might say that the holder will be paid the difference between that value, and the value that gold is being traded for on a certain date in the future. When that day comes, if the value of gold is more than $50 then the seller of the contract has to pay the buyer the difference between the $50 and the current value on the contract. However, if the value on the date the contract is due is less than the value on the date it was drawn up, then the buyer pays the seller the value difference. Betting On The Market A CFD doesn’t require that people who are using them actually own the commodity that the contract is trading on. So, if someone had a CFD regarding gold prices, then that person doesn’t have to actually own gold in order to trade the contract. The CFD is, essentially, a contract that states the holder is betting on the way a price of a commodity will go. To put it a different way, one does not have to own a sports team in order to place a wager on the Superbowl. CFDs are not an option that is good for everyone. They’re relatively high risk, and the turnaround time for them is quite quick compared to a lot of different investments. This can be an issue, especially for individuals that will end up paying on the difference for a contract because the value of the commodity it’s for has since gone down quite low. This is why typically only wealthy and experienced traders use these items with anything that approaches some regularity. A Featured Investment With A Twist What is CFD trading anyway? Well, CFD trading is contract for difference trading. In other words it is gaining profit from the difference on a market from opening to closing time. Contract for difference or CFD trading is one of the many investment strategies available today. Just one trade will allow you to access a multitude of stocks, bonds and commodities. Your account allows you to make an assessment rather the stock will rise or fall and your accuracy determines your profit. If the stock does what the investor projected then the investor gains a profit. Should the stock do the opposite of what the investor projected then that investor will experience a financial loss. Difference: Now there is an interesting twist to the contract for difference(CFD). The difference is the investor does not own the asset being traded because that asset is produced from the foundational or underlying asset. So it’s not the asset that you are trading. It is not the asset that you are interested in. Instead it is the performance of that asset that your focus is on. The performance will have to mirror your projection rather rising or falling for you to make a profit. Benefits: Investing with contract for difference requires less of an investment. This is always an attractive feature. Contract for difference provides a higher leverage than regular trading. Contract for difference can experience great open market trading platforms and arenas. Traditionally there are few fees for trading contract for difference. There are some trades that mandate a daily limit. The contract for difference does not have a mandated daily requirement. Disadvantage: Contract for difference is not a very regulated investment. The lack of regulation alone make obtaining a reputable broker require quite a bit of savvy. The higher the leverage the more pronounced the loss will appear. Overall: When looking for a inexpensive investment that is easy to manage, understand and track the contract for difference may be the answer. Remember that it lacks structure and therefore requires scrutiny in some aspects in order to be successful. How CFD Trading Can Benefit Traders All types of companies are now benefiting from CFD (contracts for difference) trading. In fact, CFD trading has become a popular buzzword among the traders these days. Since its inception in the mid 1990s, CFD trading has gone through lots of innovations and developments with time. Now, it’s a major investment instrument that can be used by companies to their advantage. It also offers wide range of opportunities from commodities, stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and even indices. Research is important in CFD trading, because to earn profits traders should know how price of certain asset will behave in coming days. This requires special skills in projection and analysis. Consistent Practice Can Ensure Success in CFD Trading There’s a saying that practice makes a man perfect. While this is true, but nobody has elaborated on how people should do this, more so when it comes to big financial trading, such as CFD or Contracts for Difference. Let’s have a close look at few important things that investors and traders should know to make profits with CFD trading. Opening Your CFD Trading Demo Account The best way to practice CFD trading skills is by opening a demo account. This is important for all those who have just started in CFD trading and are interested in gaining practical knowledge and experience in financial trading. There is nothing too complex in this as they have to simply open their account with a provider and then they have to choose some sample assets for trading. In the account interface, they will find few options, or “buttons” that can be used to fine tune their trading journey. Aside from the above, these CFD trading demo accounts will guide you on all the right things that you should do and will also explain all you should know in running a position. It similar to opening a social networking or email account, but it helps you in earning profits. Further, another advantage of opening your demo account is access to the lessons you can learn from. Of course, you won’t have to pay anything, so you can test your skills. If this works, then it’s good, but if it fails then you won’t lose anything. Therefore, as a trader you no long have to worry about losing any money for testing something new in the market. What Is The Significance Of Crafting A Case-plan For Cfd Trading? A tried and tested way to practice your skills in CFD trading as a trader is to work according to a case-plan. It’s set of actions that a trader should do under some situations in the market. These are set of actions that have already been tested several times and can get predetermined results when market forces create certain conditions. You won’t have to do any hands-on battle actually in the filed, but you can definitely sharpen your skills by learning about CFD trading. You also learn to think ahead of market trends, which can ensure your long term success. You also get a vision, because without a vision, you’d be trading without any goal. CFDs: A Dynamic Young Trading Market Although Contracts for Difference are still a young market, their popularity is growing rapidly, particularly among warrant traders and hedge fund managers. That is, they are popular with smart traders. It’s worthwhile to understand what they are and why CFDs have moved from an institutional trading tool to the retail market. As already mentioned a Contract for Difference, or CFD is a hybrid of options and futures contracts that is traded much like common stock through a CFD broker. Like other derivatives and financial securities, CFDs are mathematical abstractions. In this case, two parties agree to trade on the change in the price of an asset between the current time and at a future date. Usually, the two parties are described as buyer and seller, but that is something of a misnomer. Since their gain and loss profiles are the same, they are effectively just trading partners. For example, if a buyer agrees to pay a seller the difference between the price of a particular asset today and at some future date and the price goes up, the buyer pays the seller. If the price goes down, the seller pays the buyer. That is, one party is long and the other is short. If that sounds just like trading in the stock market, it is. So, what’s the fuss all about? Benefits Of CFD Trading Like most forms of financial innovation, at its base, it’s all about transaction costs. In this case, if a government like the UK imposes a tax on transfers of common shares, a clever finance guy creates a derivative that mimics the returns without transferring any. Low transaction costs: The CFD broker makes money on margin interest, which is loaned at a premium as well as on the spread. Do your homework. Research CFD brokers to make sure that they have a good reputation for filling winning orders. Hedging: Traders can be both long and short simultaneously, just like stock traders, but at a much lower cost. Leverage: Margin is readily available from 1%-10%. Trading on margin magnifies small gains even on carefully hedged positions. Losses add up too, of course, so follow the usual rules on disciplined, prudent risk management. Broad Access: CFD traders take positions on thousands of publicly traded securities. Transparency: CFD contracts closely track changes in the underlying asset. CFD means contract for difference brokers. And usually these are the guys that inform you of recent activities that are going on in the market. Now the biggest thing that they work with you on is the research on the market fluctuations and what is happening. And their in-house trade personnel can aid you in trading ideas and suggestion. But the number one thing they will not do is tell you what to do exactly. They may give you advice and point you in the right direction, but at the end of the day the choice is yours. Now one of the main reasons that people will choose these guys over traditional brokers is, as I stated above, you do all of the work. If you want to add something or take something away, you are the one that controls this game plan. If you want trade something in the market you let them know and they will work with you. They merely act as the executor of your plan. The first call you will receive from them is a “getting to know you’ call. They will also find out from you how much you know and how best they can enhance your knowledge of the market and how it works. They may also ask you to get involved with a CFD platform trial just so you can better understand what is going on. The conversations after that will just be him or her letting you know of anything going on in the trade world that you should know about. Other than that it is your ball and it is up to you when and how you want to play it. Millions of people know that CFD trading can be a highly profitable option in the long run. However, it is important to follow some basic guidelines before trading CFDs. CFD Broker Benefits So, what are the benefits of CFD trading? Let’s have a close look at some major benefits of trading in CFD markets. Margin Trading: The main feature of CFD trading is that it allows investors to buy or sell instruments by investing a small capital as investment. Therefore, with the help of this instrument, they can have a high leverage. Investment Diversification: CFD trading is also helpful to the big companies and investors because it offers them a perfect opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio. They can accomplish this because they will only need a small amount of their capital to invest in other baskets. Investment diversification has been a challenge for investors and companies, because of the requirement of capital and they usually end up missing some opportunities. With CFD trading, it won’t be the case. Flexibility: Aside from offering a chance to diversify and reduce their risks, CFD trading also offers complete flexibility to all types of investors. As small amount of money is required as investment in CFDs, they can trade and invest in wide range of opportunities and earn more by spreading their risks. Hedging: Lastly, CFD trading is one of the best tool for the investors to hedge their risks that they might face on some instrument. This is a real possibility now as investment portfolio of traders is now more diversified than ever. A Reputable Broker Is Important It’s very important to have a reputable CFD broker by your side when making initial foray in CFD trading. A large portion of your capital during CFD trading will go towards meeting the requirements of your broker. Therefore, you should make your selection wisely. Few things that you should look out for are margin needs specified by different brokers, brokerage commission, trading system used by them, and their customer support. Aside from that, you should also consider the experience and reputation of CFD broker as this will not only ensure a good service, but your chosen broker will also provide you valuable tips that will help you trade better. You should also check the asset range CFD brokers can handle. This is very important because not all brokers can handle all assets. Some brokers can handle stocks, shares, or indices, which means they won’t be able to handle CFDs on commodities in a proper way. There are few brokers who have a rich experience in handling commodities such as crops, gold and so on. When considering brokerage commission, you should also look at the hidden costs. Mostly, the commission you pay to your CFD broker is a percentage of total trade you do with him. With time, as you increase volumes and your broker is comfortable feeling that you are a regular trader with him, he will start offering competitive rates to you. In the beginning, you cannot do much negotiations, but you must ensure that your chosen broker is not charging you much higher than the norm. Similarly, you should check that margin requirements are at the minimum, as otherwise you may have to invest huge amount of money to trade CFDs and that won’t get you the benefit of leverage that’s so unique with CFD trading. The interest you’ll have to pay for the money you borrow for CFD trading is also important and it’s better to negotiate for a lower rate in the beginning because this will help you in keeping your costs down. How To Choose A CFD Broker Hiring a broker to handle your CFD, or “Contract For Difference”, trading can be extremely beneficial for your financial portfolio. It can also save you from trying to learn how to trade a CFD when you could be doing better things with your valuable time. A professional broker will be able to use their fiscal training to skillfully choose the necessary derivatives based on the closing and opening price of the asset that is being traded in the marketplace. Below are some key factors you can use to choose the right broker for you. CFD Broker Reliability: Before you look at the CFD broker’s resume and background, examine their character. Are they reliable? Do they promptly call you back when you have a question? Do they keep accurate and professional financial records? The right broker will not only have experience with CFDs but will also have integrity when dealing with their clients. They should also be willing to patiently explain the answers to your questions about trading contracts for differences. It’s important that you trust the broker you are working with in addition to having confidence in their financial competency. Proven Experience: Next you should consider the broker’s experience and track record with CFDs. Did they recently get licensed and join a brokerage? Or have they been a broker for decades and are highly regarded in their field? Aim for a qualified person who has an academic background in finance and a technical background with CFDs. Their experience will help keep your investments safe while they are navigating the trading floor. CFD Broker Asset Range: Lastly, ask potential brokers what range of assets they typically handle. One broker may only have experience in stocks, while another broker may only work with commodities. Only hire a broker that has experience trading what you’d like to invest in.

    • Trading Tips for Newbies
      • The bad news is that if trading were easy everyone would be doing it. The good news is that if you consider yourself to be savvy, but are new to the trading market, there are now places to go to get great tips. You can also get a feel for the market without risking your own money. The Foreign Exchange Market or FOREX is a great way to get your feet wet while learning the objects of the industry. There are many sites that let you take a test run at buying and selling without risk. You don’t lose anything but time. However you might gain the knowledge you need in the trading business. Make sure you sign with a reputable company that has a good track record. You may just be trying things out at first, but you don’t want to be fooled into believing you’re better than you really are through disreputable tactics. A quick search of internet FOREX trading review sites will give you a good idea of where to go. Another type of “sample” trading can be found with the trade of Binary Stocks. Unlike FOREX trading which just covers world currency, the binary market deals with all types of trades that are available on the open market. It’s a relatively new market, but there are already many sites to chose from so pick wisely. Above all, make sure you try test trading for a while to get the feel before plunging into trading for real.

    • Benefits of Online Trading at the Forex Market
      • In the past, an investor would need to call his or her broker to make a trade. Now, an investor with a computer and Internet access can trade with ease. Not only that, an investor can make trades with their smart phone applications. Online trading has exploded in the past 15 years as more people are comfortable with making their trades online. Of course, with trading online, an investor must choose a broker wisely. Before looking for a brokerage house, a trader must define what they need in an online brokerage. Some investors may need to trade options while other investors will want to trade currency. When a trader knows what he or she wants, the trader can decide which brokerage company to choose. Of course, one must do a lot of research when choosing a brokerage company. Sadly, a lot of investors will simply choose the cheapest broker. In reality, a trader should consider more factors than just price. When a broker has low fees, the trader can receive unfavorable trades and end up spending more money. A solid brokerage house should offer multiple ways to trade such as via phone apps and via the website. Once an investor narrows down the choices, he or she should research the brokerage firm’s ratings. There are plenty of websites where a potential investor can read reviews about all of the online brokerages. One should take reviews seriously; though it should also be remembered that people with unpleasant experiences are going to be more vocal. In the end, online trading is a powerful tool for an investor. When an investor can trade using the Internet, he or she can save money and make trades quickly. When taking the time to research the brokerages, a trader should not have trouble finding a solid online brokerage house. Online trading is the way to do trading in our day and age. Without a computer and an internet connection, your trading experience will not be up to par. Online trading is made extremely simple by online brokers such as Scottrade, Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and many more. It is very simple to create an online account in which you can do virtually any type of trading all the way from daytrading to planning for your retirement. Online Trading is a perfect opportunity for those who want to be hands on with their investments. It allows them complete control over what they invest in and how long they invest in it. Companies like Scottrade not only have amazing platforms for trading, but they also have amazing platforms for market research. Any experienced trader knows that market research is the key to a healthy portfolio, and online trading firms offer top of the line research tools to their users. When deciding what online brokerage firm to go with there are a few different things you can look at. The first thing everyone wants to look at is how much is the cost per trade. Scottrade is the industry leader at just 7 dollars per trade. After asses this initial cost, you want to look at the added benefits as well. How is the customer service? Are there physical offices in your area? Do you have the option to trade with a margin account? These are just a few of the many things you want to look at when you are deciding what online brokerage firm is going to be the best fit for you as an investor. Online trading is the way to go for any investor that wants to have easy access to and control over their portfolio. All someone needs now to become an investor is a laptop and internet connection and the correct online brokerage firm for their needs. Trading in foreign exchange markets (Forex) is a potentially lucrative option for traders that can lead to significant profits. Forex trading tends to have certain district characteristics associated with it that makes it particularly well suited to online trading, which will be the focus of this article. Problems with Forex Trading Before Online Trading Before the advent of online brokers, currency trading was conducted through currency houses that were set up to help companies to hedge their specific currency risk. Specific currency risk involves the difference between the functional currency and the currencies that the company makes money in. A functional currency is the primary currency of the company and typically involves the currency where the company raises money, repays debt, or pays out distributions to shareholders. Since a company may have operations in foreign currencies where foreign currencies are earned, there is a risk that declines in these foreign currencies could lead to the inability for the company to meet the fiscal demands in the functional currency that the company reports in. Forex currency trading was designed to hedge these risks by these companies to protect themselves from these currency declines. As Forex markets further developed, individual investors sought out these markets as new lucrative opportunities to make money. Before online brokers were developed, trading in Forex markets required the assistance of a professional FX trader which led to higher costs to conduct a trade. As such, Forex trades were expensive to conduct and were only done with large balances. This lead to an illiquid market that prevented the smooth transition into and out of currencies and, as a result, led to large jumps in the relative value of currencies. Online trading cut the transaction cost of foreign currency transactions by eliminating the professional trader and allowing individuals direct access to these Forex markets. This increased the volume of Forex trades conducted and make the market more liquid. In addition, online trading allowed individuals to take out more leverage (margin) on their account balances and allowed more individuals to prosper as a result of Forex currency trading. Margin is particularly important with Forex trading as foreign currencies tend to fluctuate very slightly and therefore a significant amount of leverage is provided to traders who are looking to trade in these markets. Online trading has revolutionized Forex trading and has allowed many new traders to gain access to these markets. As a result, trades are conducted at lower cost and in increased frequency which allows more individuals to participate in the benefits of Forex trading. Benefits of online trading at forex markets Foreign exchange (Forex) markets have become more accessible than ever to individual traders thanks to the proliferation of online brokerage accounts that provide access to foreign exchange markets. This has provided a large increase in trading options investors and online trading of Forex markets has become increasingly popular in recent years as a result. Trading in Forex markets has given investors access to different trading strategies than were utilized in the past and provides opportunities for both speculation and hedging currency risk on other assets held by an individual. There are many reasons that people trade in Forex markets using online trading. Online trading of Forex positions provide investors with a way to hedge currency risk. Currency risk is the risk that the currency where you primarily hold assets will depreciate, generally due to inflation of another currency. Since most individuals have the majority of assets in their home or functional currency, they are exposed to a large degree of currency risk in their personal accounts. To limit this currency risk, individuals can purchase foreign currency using Forex markets online trading accounts. Other individuals own foreign currencies for speculation in addition to purely hedging concerns. Speculation provides traders with the ability to obtain a significantly higher return than they might otherwise be able to obtain purely by trading in their home market. Since Forex currencies are not as volatile as equity positions tend to be, investors trading in Forex markets using online trading can generally utilize a significantly higher amount of leverage in their trading than they would otherwise be able to. Leverage is much more common in trading Forex amounts using online trading than other types of investments. This leverage allows investors to amplify their returns significantly. Online trading has provided more access to international currency markets than ever before. What individual investors are able to do with tis access is dependent upon their individual trading experience and expertise. However, generally speaking, the access provided to individual investors in Forex trading through online trading accounts has greatly expanded the types of Forex trading strategies that can be used by online traders. Further, the increase in participants in Forex trading markets has led to more liquid markets that benefits all traders and which has also helped to limit volatility. As such, the proliferation of online trading accounts that trade Forex currencies his thought of as a boon to many parties.

    • Benefits of Online Trading at the Forex Market
      • In the past, an investor would need to call his or her broker to make a trade. Now, an investor with a computer and Internet access can trade with ease. Not only that, an investor can make trades with their smart phone applications. Online trading has exploded in the past 15 years as more people are comfortable with making their trades online. Of course, with trading online, an investor must choose a broker wisely. Before looking for a brokerage house, a trader must define what they need in an online brokerage. Some investors may need to trade options while other investors will want to trade currency. When a trader knows what he or she wants, the trader can decide which brokerage company to choose. Of course, one must do a lot of research when choosing a brokerage company. Sadly, a lot of investors will simply choose the cheapest broker. In reality, a trader should consider more factors than just price. When a broker has low fees, the trader can receive unfavorable trades and end up spending more money. A solid brokerage house should offer multiple ways to trade such as via phone apps and via the website. Once an investor narrows down the choices, he or she should research the brokerage firm’s ratings. There are plenty of websites where a potential investor can read reviews about all of the online brokerages. One should take reviews seriously; though it should also be remembered that people with unpleasant experiences are going to be more vocal. In the end, online trading is a powerful tool for an investor. When an investor can trade using the Internet, he or she can save money and make trades quickly. When taking the time to research the brokerages, a trader should not have trouble finding a solid online brokerage house. Online trading is the way to do trading in our day and age. Without a computer and an internet connection, your trading experience will not be up to par. Online trading is made extremely simple by online brokers such as Scottrade, Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and many more. It is very simple to create an online account in which you can do virtually any type of trading all the way from daytrading to planning for your retirement. Online Trading is a perfect opportunity for those who want to be hands on with their investments. It allows them complete control over what they invest in and how long they invest in it. Companies like Scottrade not only have amazing platforms for trading, but they also have amazing platforms for market research. Any experienced trader knows that market research is the key to a healthy portfolio, and online trading firms offer top of the line research tools to their users. When deciding what online brokerage firm to go with there are a few different things you can look at. The first thing everyone wants to look at is how much is the cost per trade. Scottrade is the industry leader at just 7 dollars per trade. After asses this initial cost, you want to look at the added benefits as well. How is the customer service? Are there physical offices in your area? Do you have the option to trade with a margin account? These are just a few of the many things you want to look at when you are deciding what online brokerage firm is going to be the best fit for you as an investor. Online trading is the way to go for any investor that wants to have easy access to and control over their portfolio. All someone needs now to become an investor is a laptop and internet connection and the correct online brokerage firm for their needs. Trading in foreign exchange markets (Forex) is a potentially lucrative option for traders that can lead to significant profits. Forex trading tends to have certain district characteristics associated with it that makes it particularly well suited to online trading, which will be the focus of this article. Problems with Forex Trading Before Online Trading Before the advent of online brokers, currency trading was conducted through currency houses that were set up to help companies to hedge their specific currency risk. Specific currency risk involves the difference between the functional currency and the currencies that the company makes money in. A functional currency is the primary currency of the company and typically involves the currency where the company raises money, repays debt, or pays out distributions to shareholders. Since a company may have operations in foreign currencies where foreign currencies are earned, there is a risk that declines in these foreign currencies could lead to the inability for the company to meet the fiscal demands in the functional currency that the company reports in. Forex currency trading was designed to hedge these risks by these companies to protect themselves from these currency declines. As Forex markets further developed, individual investors sought out these markets as new lucrative opportunities to make money. Before online brokers were developed, trading in Forex markets required the assistance of a professional FX trader which led to higher costs to conduct a trade. As such, Forex trades were expensive to conduct and were only done with large balances. This lead to an illiquid market that prevented the smooth transition into and out of currencies and, as a result, led to large jumps in the relative value of currencies. Online trading cut the transaction cost of foreign currency transactions by eliminating the professional trader and allowing individuals direct access to these Forex markets. This increased the volume of Forex trades conducted and make the market more liquid. In addition, online trading allowed individuals to take out more leverage (margin) on their account balances and allowed more individuals to prosper as a result of Forex currency trading. Margin is particularly important with Forex trading as foreign currencies tend to fluctuate very slightly and therefore a significant amount of leverage is provided to traders who are looking to trade in these markets. Online trading has revolutionized Forex trading and has allowed many new traders to gain access to these markets. As a result, trades are conducted at lower cost and in increased frequency which allows more individuals to participate in the benefits of Forex trading. Benefits of online trading at forex markets Foreign exchange (Forex) markets have become more accessible than ever to individual traders thanks to the proliferation of online brokerage accounts that provide access to foreign exchange markets. This has provided a large increase in trading options investors and online trading of Forex markets has become increasingly popular in recent years as a result. Trading in Forex markets has given investors access to different trading strategies than were utilized in the past and provides opportunities for both speculation and hedging currency risk on other assets held by an individual. There are many reasons that people trade in Forex markets using online trading. Online trading of Forex positions provide investors with a way to hedge currency risk. Currency risk is the risk that the currency where you primarily hold assets will depreciate, generally due to inflation of another currency. Since most individuals have the majority of assets in their home or functional currency, they are exposed to a large degree of currency risk in their personal accounts. To limit this currency risk, individuals can purchase foreign currency using Forex markets online trading accounts. Other individuals own foreign currencies for speculation in addition to purely hedging concerns. Speculation provides traders with the ability to obtain a significantly higher return than they might otherwise be able to obtain purely by trading in their home market. Since Forex currencies are not as volatile as equity positions tend to be, investors trading in Forex markets using online trading can generally utilize a significantly higher amount of leverage in their trading than they would otherwise be able to. Leverage is much more common in trading Forex amounts using online trading than other types of investments. This leverage allows investors to amplify their returns significantly. Online trading has provided more access to international currency markets than ever before. What individual investors are able to do with tis access is dependent upon their individual trading experience and expertise. However, generally speaking, the access provided to individual investors in Forex trading through online trading accounts has greatly expanded the types of Forex trading strategies that can be used by online traders. Further, the increase in participants in Forex trading markets has led to more liquid markets that benefits all traders and which has also helped to limit volatility. As such, the proliferation of online trading accounts that trade Forex currencies his thought of as a boon to many parties.

    • Are the stock markets a reflection of our economy?
      • Most corporations are doing well despite Corona. That’s why investors are right to speculate on higher share prices. And it’s not just China that’s helping. For months, not only perplexed investors have been asking how it can be that the stock markets rush from one record to the next. Despite Corona and the renewed economic downturn. Despite the second worst economic slump in post-war history, with gross domestic product falling by a good five percent. But the courageous investors in the first wave in the spring, when the stock markets were far lower than they are now, as well as the stragglers in the second wave in late fall, have probably done a lot right. The companies are delivering what investors speculated on early on with rising share prices. After the specialty chemicals group Covestro and Deutsche Post, which even raised its annual forecast shortly before the end of the year in view of the flood of parcels, Europe’s largest chemicals giant BASF has now also presented strong preliminary figures. In the final quarter, sales increased by eight percent compared to the previous year. It should be noted that this is a comparative period when the pandemic did not even exist. This is more than remarkable and deserves attention, especially because BASF is a typical early indicator for the future development of the economy. With its basic chemical products, the Ludwigshafen-based company supplies companies in virtually all manufacturing sectors worldwide. These companies only place orders if they have sufficient signals that they can process the plastics they purchase, for example for building car seats, or chemical ingredients, for example for creams and foods, and sell them to their end customers. If BASF’s earnings and share prices rise, future economic production and stock market performance are good – so goes the wisdom on the international financial markets. Measured against this, things do not look bad for 2021. BASF’s share price has risen by 75 percent since the spring crash. Despite company-specific problems that led to a billion-dollar write-down in the past fiscal year and will probably result in the first net annual loss in post-war history. Strong business in China in particular is boosting BASF and just about all listed companies. Earnings in the Far East, where the pandemic is largely a thing of the past, are offsetting the impact of the Corona pandemic in Europe. BMW, for example, reported a slump in sales of a good eight percent in 2020 for its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, and as much as 13 percent. However, the Munich-based company sold 777,000 cars in China. That was seven percent more than in the previous year. Like Daimler, BMW now sells every third car in China. At Volkswagen, the figure is even a good 40 percent. No other large market is growing so rapidly. Special economic conditions are providing an additional boost, as Infineon is likely to prove. The semiconductor manufacturer can hardly satisfy the high demand for its high-tech products anyway. Now there are rapidly increasing orders from carmakers, who are installing more and more chips. Investors are aware of this trend, which is why the Infineon share is reaching new record highs almost daily and is now 65 percent higher than it was exactly one year ago, before the pandemic and the crash on the stock markets. Weaknesses are virtually nowhere to be seen in most listed companies. In this respect, it was right to bet on a rapid recovery. So far, there are no signs that it will fizzle out quickly – even though the economy is threatening to slip back into recession in the first quarter. Retail, catering and tourism are experiencing their worst crisis of the post-war period. But this broad domestic market, which is highly visible to everyone every day and on which many millions of jobs depend, is not reflected in the breadth of stocks. There are no companies in the Dax that are based in the struggling sectors. Either the major stock market groups generate most of their sales in boom regions such as the Far East and America. Or they are profiting from pandemic-related booms like Deutsche Post and Infineon or the future Dax climber Hellofresh with its cooking boxes delivered to the doorstep. In this respect, the high stock market prices and the struggling economy are not a contradiction in terms. The decisive factor remains the selection of promising individual stocks with strong positions in growing foreign markets.

    • New Zealand’s apple export season starts
      • New Zealand truly produces some of the highest quality apples in the world, enjoyed both domestically and even more internationally. New Zealand’s apples are in such high demand that they are sent to over 100 countries worldwide during the export season, which traditionally runs between February and September. Apples have become so successful for this South Pacific  industry in 2022. MSC – an expert in transporting apples No matter where they are sold on the planet, and given that New Zealand is 12,000 miles from some of the main export markets, MSC recognizes the trust that is placed in them when shipping this perishable premium product long distances. As a world leader in global container shipping, MSC has developed a solid expertise in the transportation of perishable cargo. Building on global coverage, they have been helping New Zealand exporters for years, with a local presence of 25 years in 2021, offering global service with local knowledge.

    • A third party would be life-threatening for Republicans
      • The ex-president is making many Republicans nervous with his announcement that he will “somehow come back.” Now there is even talk that he could form his own party. The Democrats in particular would benefit from such a split. Before Donald Trump left Washington on Wednesday, he gave a short speech. And he ended with a remarkable sentence: “We will be back in some form,” he said. Since Trump often speaks of himself in the pluralis majestatis, that can be roughly translated as, “I’ll be back in some form.” To Trump’s supporters, that sounded like a promise. To many Republicans in Washington, on the other hand, it sounded like a threat. They are especially nervous about the word “somehow.” Since January 20, the Republicans have found themselves in a position they have not known for a long time: in triple opposition. They already lost their majority in the House of Representatives in Washington in 2018. Since Wednesday, they are also rid of the White House, there sits no longer Trump, but the Democrat Joe Biden. The same applies to the Senate. In this chamber of Congress, both parties hold 50 of the 100 seats each. But because Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has the deciding vote in the event of a stalemate, the Democrats are the de facto new majority faction. Democrat Chuck Schumer has replaced Republican Mitch McConnell as Majority Leader. To change that, Republicans need to win elections. The question is, which Republicans? The party may look united, but in reality it is deeply divided. And that’s because of Trump. Trump is still extremely popular with the party base There are quite a few representatives of the party in Washington – McConnell is one of them – who attribute both the defeat in the presidential election and the loss of the Senate majority to Trump. Had the latter tempered his strident right-wing populism somewhat, educated, affluent, white voters in the suburbs would not have voted for Biden in droves on Nov. 3, the theory goes. And if Trump hadn’t spent weeks after the defeat spreading the lie of fraud and engaged in a kind of cold coup, Republican Senate candidates wouldn’t have lost in the Georgia runoff. In other words, if Trump hadn’t been so much Trump, Republicans would be in a better position now. Trump’s role in storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 has given his critics even more ammunition. They hold the president partly responsible for a mob of his supporters attacking the House that day. On the other hand, Trump remains extremely popular with the party base. That explains why a large part of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives went along with his lies of stolen election victory until the end. Representatives must stand for direct re-election every two years. If they oppose Trump, they risk being seen as not loyal enough by party activists at home and being replaced by a more right-wing candidate in the party’s internal primary. Trump knows that this influence on the party base is his most important tool to discipline the party leadership. His phrase on Wednesday – “I’ll be back somehow” – was probably also an attempt to show his critics in Washington the tools of torture. For that same morning, the Wall Street Journal had reported that Trump had spoken with confidants about forming a new right-wing party, which he plans to call the “Patriot Party.” Moreover, in his last hours in office, Trump pardoned his former chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who is the subject of a fraud trial. For the Republicans, a “Patriot Party” would be a life-threatening threat The U.S. has a majority voting system that actually leaves room for only two parties – one on the right, one on the left. Should Trump be able to found a third party and use it to attract a significant portion of conservative voters, the right-wing camp would be split. The Republicans’ chances of winning majorities again soon would drop drastically. “Nothing better could actually happen to the Democrats,” says therefore also a Democratic party official. “With Trump, half the Republican Party left for Florida on Wednesday.” In other words, without the voters Trump can mobilize for the Republicans, the party is struggling. It is unclear whether Trump actually wants to found a new party. That would be laborious and expensive, and its success doubtful. But in the end, there is only one way for Republicans to permanently remove Trump from politics and break his hold on the party: “They have to convict him in the impeachment process in the Senate,” the Democrat says. Removing Trump from office may have become moot. But a guilty verdict would mean he would never be allowed to run for political office again. There is speculation that McConnell would be willing to take that drastic step. In addition, however, at least 16 other Republican senators would have to vote against Trump.

    • Little story of the great seed robbery
      • If you imagine the age of industrialization, you probably think of coal or steel, maybe even cotton. But probably less so of rubber. Yet rubber production was one of the most important industries around 1900. What the price of oil is to us today, the price of rubber was back then. At the beginning of the 20th century, the raw material for the rubber produced worldwide came almost exclusively from rubber trees in Brazil and the Congo. Hevea brasiliensis is still the most important supplier of the necessary raw material. The name of the tree already hints at the place where this story begins: in the Brazilian Amazon. There, rubber was used by the indigenous population long before industrialization, for example to make balls. With tires comes the rubber boom When the bark of the rubber tree is damaged, a milky liquid known as latex runs out. The liquid can be collected in containers and then processed into rubber. The name “rubber” comes from an indigenous language of Peru and means “tears of the tree”. This name was adopted by the Frenchman Charles Marie de La Condamine, who was on a scientific expedition in the Amazon region from 1735 to 1745. At that time, rubber was not yet particularly important in Europe. This changed with two inventions: vulcanization and the pneumatic tire. In 1839, Charles Goodyear transformed rubber into elastic rubber by heating it with sulfur and a few other substances, and in 1888 John Dunlop patented the air-filled bicycle tire. At the beginning of the 20th century, rubber was then ubiquitous: not only tires, but also many everyday objects were made of rubber – from hoses and seals for industry to shoe soles or balls. The greatest demand for rubber was in the automotive industry. Henry Ford introduced assembly line work with the “Model T” and made the car an affordable mass product. It would have been even more affordable if it had not needed tires: On a $1,000 car, the set of Goodyear tires cost $400. The rubber boom made the Amazon region one of the richest areas in Brazil. The rubber there was not obtained in plantations because the trees had to be spaced apart. A maximum of two trees per hectare was allowed, otherwise there was a risk of infestation with the fungus Microcyclus ulei. Therefore, it was also called wild rubber. The second large area where rubber was extracted was the Congo in Africa. There, the Belgian King Leopold II established a cruel forced labor system that went down in history as the Congo Abomination. Henry Wickham as a biopirate The colonial powers – especially England – recognized that rubber was becoming increasingly important for them. In order to take cultivation and processing into their own hands, the rubber trees were to be located in their own colonies. Ideally in plantations that could be managed more efficiently than the wild rubber trees. The only thing is that no rubber tree actually grew in Asia until now. This is where Henry Wickham comes in. The director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in London commissioned the English South American traveler and explorer to bring rubber tree seeds to England. As non-fiction author Joe Jackson writes in his book “The Thief at the End of the World,” Wickham knew the Amazon region quite well. However, exporting rubber seeds from Brazil was illegal, so after collecting for a year in 1876 and eventually amassing 70,000 seeds, Wickham misdeclared them and brought them to London. There, the seeds were allowed to sprout and shipped to Singapore. Few of the plants survived the crossing, but there were enough to grow them there for plantations. From wild rubber to plantations After some time, huge plantations were established where the trees could stand much closer together than in Brazil – because in Southeast Asia there was no threat of fungal attack. In 1898, 22 years after Wickham’s act of biopiracy, the time had come: for the first time, rubber from Malaysia could be sold. The other colonial powers soon followed suit, and more plantations sprang up in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. Within just a few decades, the ratio turned completely around: Whereas in 1905 99.7 percent of the world’s rubber came from wild rubber farms, by 1922 it was only 6.9 percent. All the rest was obtained from plantations in Southeast Asia. Synthetic rubber and the world wars The First World War led to a significant break in the history of rubber. Many countries, especially the German Reich and the USA, became painfully aware during the war economy of how dependent they were on rubber imports. Attempts were therefore increasingly made to produce rubber synthetically – which succeeded in 1926 with styrene-butadiene rubber. However, the costs were far too high for mass production. The National Socialists had no other choice, since they were cut off from imports, and had large quantities of the starting material for the war called Buna (butadiene and sodium) produced. They also forced concentration camp prisoners near the Auschwitz concentration camp to do this, at the Auschwitz III Monowitz camp. One of the few survivors of this camp was the writer Primo Levi, who wrote about his time there in one of his books (“Is This a Man?”). Styrene-butadiene rubber is still the most important synthetic rubber today. But even if there is now a wide variety of alternatives with other chemical compositions, natural rubber has not had its day – it is used not only to produce condoms, but also, for example, countless car tires or mattresses. Millions of tons of “tree tears” run down the trees for this purpose, mainly in Southeast Asia. Henry Wickham’s seed theft continues to have an effect to this day.

    • Understanding Forex Trading
      • If you want to fully understand the forex system you should know the basics first. This includes the exchange of standard foreign currency along with the best way to do it. You can end up making a lot of money if you know how to use the system to your advantage, but this takes time and practice. Many people lose a lot by not knowing the details involved though the risks can be minimized. If you do not understand the best practices involved you should consult with an expert in the area. They can provide advice on how to maximize your return on investment while saving time in the process. The market will naturally fluctuate depending on certain factors, and these can include global economic crisis along with more subtle situations. In order to make the most from this type of trading you should be aware of trends happening around the world. Even the most basic knowledge of these event is better than not being aware at all. If you understand the value of the currencies you use and perform the right trades when you stand to make the most money you will inevitably come out ahead. The forex market can be complex with the number of options available to you but with practice you can succeed. Start with a demo account from a broker listed at http://bestfxbroker.net/ and learn fx trading by doing. Use Forex Trading to Your Advantage Most individuals never learn all there is to know about the forex market, but if you want to increase your earnings you should understand as much as possible. Factors that influence your profitability include the actual currency being used when trading and the price others are willing to pay for it depending on certain market conditions. There are people who can assist you with these trades and inform you on the best practices used when dealing with the inherent fluctuations that exist. Any upfront cost you pay for their assistance is likely going to be paid off by the money you make. For certain trades that involve more complex conditions you should research everything there is to know about the circumstance. This includes situations such as stock prices for companies directly influencing the market and the price they are willing to pay for certain currencies. Most of the money that is made in the forex industry comes from standard exchanges that take place everyday. For this reason you should understand how the experts do it and the tactics they use. You can learn a lot about this system if you take the time to study it in depth, at https://www.investopedia.com you can find a lot of material.

    • How to choose the best Forex Broker?
      • The foreign exchange market, or Forex, is the largest exchange market in the world (Lien, 2014) with an average daily volume in the trillions. The forex market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, with an average of $2,000 billion traded daily . Rather than having a central market, such as the NYSE where a record of every transaction is kept, forex trading occurs as over-the-counter (OTC) between individual traders. Banks are the primary market makers and have relationships with other banks and online retail brokers . Each organization’s relationship is individually valued based on their capital and creditworthiness. The Forex market is open for 24 hours a day, five and a half days per week , allowing currencies to be traded almost continuously. Forex brokers make the market accessible for investors who are new to the market. Brokers are able to offer investment strategies, excellent trading platforms or online education opportunities for investors. The relationship between investor and broker is a simple one. The client, or trader, pays the seller, or broker, a fee (a fixed commission or bid/ask spread on the traded asset) to access the Forex market . The broker’s job is to make their client money. New investors in the Forex market often need the expertise of a Forex broker to encourage them to make trades that they might otherwise deem as too risky. The more money the investor makes, the more money the broker makes. Investors must take a hard look at the commission structure of the broker to ensure that they are not paying for advertising, a middle man or other items that benefit larger investors and penalize the smaller investor. As with the NYSE, individual investors, investment brokers and financial institutions are free to trade on Forex. Like trading stocks, investors need to be well versed in platforms, regulations and financial regulations regarding Forex trading. Many investors choosing to enter the Forex market do so with the help of a Forex broker. Prudent investors do a considerable amount of research prior to signing an investment contract with a Forex broker. Brokers who work for financial institutions with large trade volumes and have strong financials receive access to superior prices and provide better execution of transactions. Brokers who have ties to ten banks’ price quotes is able to pass an average bid and ask price offering a more competitive spread to investors than a broker who only has ties to five. It would be wise to investigate which banks the broker has ties to, in that some banks are more competitive in the Forex market than others. Every Forex broker has different types of accounts that vary in deposit amounts, lot size, how commission is paid, leverage, rollover interest policy which affect the risk level of every investment. Investors must search for a broker that has the ability to meet their risk level while maximizing their investment. It is recommended to compare the best forex brokers on the market, before you open a real money account with them. Before working with a broker, Forex investors should investigate brokers by reading posts regarding other investors’ and traders’ experiences with the broker. The sole job of a Forex broker is to bring the investor into the Forex market and act as the liaison between the Forex market and the investor’s money. As with any business, there are good brokers and bad brokers. The trick is to learn how to ferret out the bad ones. Every good Forex trader shares similar traits. They encourage open communication in every step of the process. Every investor has their own level of comfort with communication. Some investors want to be constant communication with their broker, while others are comfortable with conversations that occur on a weekly or monthly basis or when there is a major change in position. The broker should have experience in the Forex market. This should go without saying, but too many investors decide to sign up with a friend of a friend because they are new to the business. The broker’s job is to make money for both the investor and themselves. Good Forex brokers execute transactions on time, hold an investor’s trading capital, provide an investor with a good trading platform with real-time pricing and will train the investor to use the platform. The broker should also provide their own analysis and provide guidance on Forex trading The choice of a Forex broker is intensely personal since the investor is entrusting a piece of their financial future in an OTC market that is not a tightly regulated as other financial markets. Research is key to finding the best Forex broker. Is the Broker Regulated? In the United States, reputable brokers are members of the National Futures Association (NFA) and are registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Futures Commission Merchant and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer. The NFA is a self-regulatory group for the futures market in US and develops the protocols and programs to help members meet all regulatory responsibilities for foreign currency trading. The CFTC is an independent agency that regulates the futures and commodity markets in the US. The CFTC also lists the capital available for all its members on its website and updates it monthly. US regulations require that investment firms in the Forex market must have a minimum of $20 million in capital to operate within the US. When meeting with a broker, ask to see their membership number for NFA and their CFTC membership. Brokers’ websites should clearly state their NFA number and their membership in CFTC. While it is possible to trade in the US without membership in the NFA and CFTC, brokers with membership in these entities have meet the standards set forth by both agencies and are held to a high standard. This is particularly important since brokers are not required to keep investors’ funds separate from the firm’s operating capital. In the United Kingdom, there are no restrictions placed on where currencies can be traded online. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the regulatory agency for Forex trading in the UK. Since London is a major Forex trading center, many brokers are FCA licensed and offer GBP trading accounts as well as several banking offers that appeal to UK Forex investors. Australia is loosely regulated, despite Sydney being a major financial trading city for Forex. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) offers licensure and regulation for brokers who wish to comply with their regulations. Canadian investors can freely trade in Forex without strict regulations and few restrictions. The Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada (IIROC) does have the authority to enforce all regulations and laws imposed upon Canadian traders by Parliament. European traders have virtually no restrictions regarding their access to online Forex trading. The EU is, however, one of the most highly regulated areas for Forex trading. Nearly every broker offers trading accounts with both EUR and GBP accounts and has the option to make deposits in euros, pounds or the dollar. What Type of Accounts Does the Broker Offer? Each broker generally offers four types of accounts. Leverage is a loan that is offered to margin account holders by their brokers and is expressed as a ratio between total capital available to an investor to the actual capital in an investors account. As an example, a broker can offer a client with a $1,000 account a position valued at $50,000 using a 50:1 leverage. Leverage is an advantage for traders with winning positions since it allows investors to maximize their profits. Conversely, a trader can lose their entire portfolio since leverage works the same way with losses. Investors with limited capital should consider using a broker that offers high leverage . Investors with capital can work with a broker who utilizes a variety of leverage options. Brokers should explain leverage completely prior to establishing an investor’s account. Most Forex accounts have a minimal initial deposit, often as low as $50. However, most accounts require a $250 minimum deposit. These low initial deposits make leverage accounts appealing to new investors. These small accounts are often referred to as mini accounts. A standard account allows investors to trade at various leverages and requires a minimum initial deposit of $2,000. Premium accounts are those which hold significant amounts of capital and allow various levels of leverage and often offer concierge type services to investors. Most brokers have their own requirements for deposits and withdrawals. Accounts funding can be done by wire transfer, personal or business check, bank check, PayPal or online by credit card or ACH payment. Withdrawals are generally made by wire transfer or check. Brokers can charge a fee for deposits, withdrawals or both. Brokers are paid through commissions paid on accounts and their spreads. Brokers using commissions can charge a fixed percentage of the spread. There are brokers that charge no commissions and make their money by utilizing wider spreads between the bid and ask price of forex pairs . The wider the spread, the harder it is for the investor to make a profit. The more popular Forex pairs, EUR/USD and GBP/USD, generally have a tighter spread than those currencies traded less frequently. What Types of Currency Pairs are Offered? Despite the wide variety of currencies available for trade in the Forex market, there are certain currencies that undergo the majority of the trading. US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) The Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) US Dollar/Swiss Franc (USD/CHF) British Pound/US Dollar (GBP/USD) While brokers may offer any combination of forex pairs, most brokers offer these four since they are the most popular. Brokers can also offer trades in gold, silver or oil. What Type of Customer Service is Offered? Since trading occurs around the clock, the broker’s customer service team should be available around the clock as well. Account holders should be able to talk to a live person, rather than an automated attendant. Use the initial phone call to gauge the broker’s commitment to customer service. Wait times should be minimal and calls should be returned promptly. Brokers should be able to provide complete answers in easily understood terms. Many investors are comfortable using the internet for customer support. Investigating email turnaround time and live chat support with questions gives investors a good idea of how valued their business is. It is the broker’s job to communicate with their investors at every step of the investment process. They should communicate that orders are being executed per their investor’s orders as well as in times when the market is undergoing negative changes that can drastically affect a client’s account. The broker must know the fundamentals of Forex investing and it is their responsibility to ensure they educate their clients on the finer points of Forex investing. Prior to signing with a broker, utilize each type of customer service. Asking questions, particularly if the answer is already known, is a good way to judge not only the knowledge of the customer service staff, but also their level of patience. Brokers should be able to provide information on spreads, leverage, regulations, and deposit and withdrawal procedures. They should also explain the financial stability of the investment firm and balance sheets to show solvency. The broker’s length of time in the business and their trade volume should also be disclosed. Ask how the orders are executed; manually or electronically? What is the minimum trade size? Finally, ask about any consumer protection policies the broker has in place. Do they carry error and omissions coverage? Is there coverage in place in the event the brokerage is charged with fraud or bankruptcy? What is the Trading Platform Like? The trading platform is the software investors use to manage their account. Investors monitor their accounts and should receive real-time updates throughout their session. A good trading platform offers ease of use and is visually pleasing . Often the difference between a good Forex broker and a great one is their trading platform. Technical and analysis tools should be readily available and easy to access. Analysis should come from more than one source and should be current. Real-time charts and news should be included. Trades should be simple to enter and exit. Buy and sell “buttons” should be clearly marked. Upon requesting a buy or sell, the platform should confirm the investor’s intention. Some trading platforms offer a “panic button” that allows investors to close all their open positions . Some investors want to customize their investment home page, allowing them to have specific data available upon logging into their account. Taking advantage of the investment firm’s demo account allows investors to utilize the various functions of the trading platform, except for executing an actual order. This allows potential investors to check integration and security features without actually investing funds. One caveat: The only item that cannot be verified in demo mode is the speed of deposits and withdrawals from the account. While this should be addressed when discussing customer support, there is no way to verify this until the account goes live. However, the demo account should give potential investors a visual image of how smoothly each type of transaction occurs. The most popular trading platform among both brokerage firms and individual investors is the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform. The MT4 platform compiles the hundreds of free indicators that are available on the web and allows users to import trading robots . Because it is free, the majority of brokers use this platform. MT4 is popular in the US, while ACT Forex is the most commonly used platform in Europe. ACT Forex looks and acts very similar to MT4. Who Executes the Broker’s Orders There are two ways Forex brokers can execute their orders. If the broker uses the Dealing Desk, or market maker, method, they are responsible for creating the pricing and executing the orders. In this method , the broker takes the trade, then tries to find a match for the order with another investor. The spread is generally fixed and are higher than the average variable spreads. For example, if there is 2 pip spread in the US/JPY market, but the broker only offers it as a 4 pip spread, the broker is taking the 2 pip difference has commission. These brokers make their money by buying at a lower price and selling at a higher price, which allows the broker to earn money on both ends of the transaction. Brokers using the dealing desk method generally do not charge any other fees. Orders placed with a dealing desk broker rarely leave the broker’s own liquidity pool, thus never reaching the interbank market. This can be a positive since the orders become self-sustainable . Many brokers place restrictions on orders during economic news or events since this is an essential time to trade. Dealing desk brokers generally offer fixed spreads as commission. If the broker does not use a Dealing Desk, then they are a true broker, allowing investors access to the interbank marketplace. The broker uses the Electronic Communications Network, or ECN, to match an investor’s trade with others traders electronically. This allows the broker to look at the streaming prices of several banks, which are competing for the broker’s investment dollars. As an example, an investor wants to bid a EUR/USD at 1.4056 and there is no match, the investor’s order goes unfilled . The ECN charges for each trade, which is their commission. This eliminates any increase in the spread as broker compensation. Generally, the spreads are tighter, but there are transaction fees involved. These types of orders are executed by the banks, not the broker, alleviating trade restrictions due to economic news or events. Some brokers use straight through processing. In this type of brokerage, every investor’s order is completed electronically and instantly forwarded without any broker intervention. The order is processed on the interbank market. Is There a Minimum Deal Size? For smaller investors, minimum deal sizes can be an issue. Some brokers only permit trades in standard lots. A standard lot is 100,000. An investor with a $5,000 account value does not have much investment flexibility in terms of money management. As a general rule, the better the “resolution” an investor has when calculating a deal size, the more accurate the money management calculations will be. Investors with small account balances should look for brokers that offer investors deal sizes as small as a single unit to provide investors with the greatest flexibility for choosing the size of their trades and positions . Take note of the spread for small transactions. Often brokers use smaller deals to improve the spread for large account holders. Fractional Pips? A pip is the smallest price change any particular exchange rate can make and are generally priced out to four decimal points . The smallest change for the majority of exchange rates is 1/100th of one percent increase or decrease. In Forex trading, profits and losses are determined by calculating the number of pips gained or lost. Most Forex brokers round prices up or down to the nearest pip. There are now some brokers that offer Fractional Pip-Pricing. Fractional Pip-Pricing adds and additional decimal place to the pip, creating spreads that are more accurate. Low Spreads? The spread broker’s offer is calculated in pips. Since Forex brokers generally do not charge a commission, the spread, or difference in the purchase price and selling price, is how brokers make their money. The difference in spreads varies just as the difference in commissions charged by investment brokers. The lower the spread, the less money the broker makes. The tighter the spread is, the higher the chance of market volatility. Be aware that low spreads are generally offered only to investors with large accounts. Investors with micro and mini accounts are generally not afforded a tight spread. Good brokers publish their spreads or will provide you with documentation when asked. Prior to signing, research the typical spreads for the common currency pairs (EUR/USD, for example) as well as any more unusual currency pairs that pique the investor’s interest. Many brokers offer low spreads only on common currencies and investors lose money on the less common currency pairs. Margin Rules? Margin accounts allow investors to borrow to increase their potential return on investment. Forex investors use margin accounts when they want to invest by using the leverage of money they borrow to control a larger position, creating a larger return . Margin accounts are managed by the broker and are settled each day in cash. These accounts are simply short term loans made by the broker to the investor. The margin is the leverage the investor accepts. Prior to placing a trade with their Forex broker, the investor must deposit funds into a margin account with the broker. This amount is individually agreed upon between each individual investor and their broker. Investors trading in $100,000 currency units or more generally have a margin percentage of 1 – 2 percent. This allows them to open a margin account with $1,000 – $2,000. The remaining amount is provided by the broker. Interest is not directly paid on margins. However, if an investor fails to close their position before the delivery date, the account is rolled over. Interest can be charged, depending on the whether the investor’s position was long or short and what the short-term interest rates of the underlying currencies were at close. Investors trading with “borrowed” or leveraged funds must accept the level of risk the broker is willing to take, rather than the level of risk they are comfortable with. This allows the broker to buy or sell at their discretion. This poses a problem for investors with smaller cash accounts. In the event the position an investor holds sharply drops, the broker has the right to liquidate the position on a margin call even if there is enough cash to cover the loss in the investor’s account. What Type of Analysis? There are two basic types of strategies in Forex investing; technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis in Forex values the entire country. It is extremely complex and is generally used to predict long term trends. There are several currency indicators used in fundamental analysis such as non-farm payrolls, Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), the Consumer Price Index (CPI), retail sales and durable goods . Fundamental analysts also review economic meetings involving interest rates, inflation and any other issue that can affect the value of a country’s currency. If a broker uses a fundamental analysis strategy, their platform should provide real-time access to the release of these reports. Technical analysis involves analyzing price trends in currency markets. Forex technical analysis must consider the around the clock nature of the markets when analyzing data. The most common forms of analysis are the Elliott Waves, Fibonacci Studies, Parabolic SAR and pivot points . Some analysts combine these reports to create a more accurate picture. The most common combination is the Fibonacci Studies and Elliot Waves, while others track trades to locate comparable buying and selling situations. Positive Rolls? Rollover is interest that is earned or paid on a Forex position that is held overnight . The rollover amount is dependent upon the difference in the interest rates between the currency pairs and varies daily with the movement of the prices of the currencies. A Negative Roll occurs when an investor sells a currency that is paying a higher rate of interest. The investor is responsible for paying the difference in the interested. By contrast, a Positive Roll occurs when an investor purchases a currency that pays a higher interest rate, allowing the investor to collect the interest. Nearly all brokers charge the Negative Roll, but not all brokers offer Positive Rolls. One Forex strategy known as the “Carry Trade” is a benefit of the Positive Roll and high leverage amounts. For instance, if an investor purchases the USD/JPY, they can earn a positive roll. The investor is simply borrowing the Yen at a low interest rate to buy the Dollar at a high interest rate . Is Hedging Available? Hedging allows investors to hold both buy and sell positions in the same currency pair at the same time. Hedging is not insurance against risk since it is possible to be on the low side of both positions. If the brokerage does allow for hedging, a stop-loss order should be placed on all hedged positions to moderate the risk . Spot contracts and foreign currency options are the foremost methods of hedging currency trades. Spot contracts are the typical trade made by a Forex investor. They have a short-term delivery date of two business days so they are not effective for hedging purchases. Foreign currency options are the most popular method for currency hedging. The foreign currency option gives the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a currency pair at a particular exchange rate at some point in the future . Hedging strategies generally have four parts. A risk analysis is done to identify the type of risk the investor is taking in the current or proposed positions. Then the broker identifies the repercussions of taking the risk without hedging and looks at the level of risk in the current Forex market. The broker then looks at the risk tolerance of the investor to determine how much of the position should be hedged. Risk tolerance should also include how much the investor is willing to pay to eliminate the additional risk. If foreign currency options are used, the broker must decide which Forex hedging strategy is most effective for this investment. Once the strategy is implemented, the strategy must be monitored to ensure risk remains minimal. Does the Broker use the Spot Market or the Forwards and Futures Market? When speaking about the Forex market, most investment professionals are referring to the spot market. The spot market has always been the largest Forex market. It is the “’underlying’ real asset” on which the forwards and futures market is based . The forwards and futures market is popular with large investment companies that need to hedge their risk out to a future date. The spot market buys and sells currencies at current price, which is determined by simple supply and demand principles. When the transaction is final, it is known as a “spot deal.” In the spot deal, both parties receive their desired currency amount at the mutually agreed upon exchange rate. Once the position has closed, a cash settlement is paid in two business days. The forwards and futures markets do not actually trade currencies. Instead, contracts representing claims on a particular type of currency for a particular price are written with a future date for settlement. In the forwards type of contracts, the parties involved determine the terms of the agreement. Futures contracts are bought and sold based on a standard size and settlement date on a public commodities market, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange . Every futures contract is written specific to the trade. The exchange on which the contract is written acts as counterpart to the trader and provides clearance and settlement. Are Margin Calls Available? Margin calls are in place to ensure that investors cannot lose more money than the balance in their account. These calls are in place to protect both the broker and the investor in the even the market worsens. Most margin calls are executed in real-time and automatically close a position immediately so the market can no longer move any further against a trade. Margin requirements vary among brokers and often depend on the size of the investor’s account. Typically, brokers will contact the investor and request that more money be deposited into the margin account. Alternately, brokers can either close the position or request the investor to close the position to limit risk exposure to both parties. What is the Broker’s Commission Structure? Three types of commission are used by Forex brokers; the fixed spread, the variable spread and a percentage of the spread. The spread is the difference between the price the market maker is willing to pay for a currency compared to the price they are willing to sell and an investor a currency; the bid price and the ask price. To understand how the spread commission types work, look at the following example. An investor is following his/her account online and sees the following quote: “EURUSD – 1.4952 – 1.4955” . The spread is three pips, or the difference between the bid price and asking price. If the broker is paid on a fixed spread of three pips, they will always offer a spread of three pips regardless of market conditions. A broker who is paid on a variable spread will have a pip spread as low as 1.5 or as high as five pips, depending on the currencies traded and market conditions. Brokers working on straight commission generally charge a very small fee, generally a percentage of one pip, then have a larger market maker, such as a bank or other large commercial institution, actually execute the transaction. These commission generally amount to $2.50 or $3.00 per $100,000 traded . Often commissioned brokers provide investors access to an exceptional proprietary trading platform that investors using a fixed or variable spread broker do not. Investors should be aware that there may be a middleman involved who also receives a commission from every transaction. If an investor is referred to a Forex broker by another individual, the person who referred the investor often receives a commission for the referral, often on every order executed. Some brokers charge advertising expense in their commissions. Good brokers consider advertising a business expense and do not charge the investor. Stop Loss Policy? Typically, Forex brokers do not fill a stop until a minimum of three points is met. For example, an investor who orders a stop loss at 1.2150 will not have their stop honored unless the market trades at a minimum of 1.2147. If the broker trades on the market at 1.2155 and their rate is 1.2150-1.2153, the investor is stopped at 1.2150. Often the low trade may actually be 1.2155 and unscrupulous brokers to run a “low ball” rate and run every investors stop. This means the brokers’ buy at 1.2150 from the investor and sell to the bank at the current market price of 1.2155 . Investors who use an order book of stops have the ability to use the stops to offset an undesirable market position or to obtain a favorable position. Forex brokers that do not offer concurrent offsets of their investors’ transactions with the Banks are market makers and have the fiduciary responsibility to treat every investor’s transaction with honesty and integrity . Brokers must take each stop seriously. When looking for a broker, investors must be sure that the broker is not creating a scenario in in which they can clean out an investor’s account. Capital Market makers, or liquidity providers, are the institutions that provide the liquid capital for the Forex market. The market maker connects traders and brokers to create the marketplace. The partnership provides increased liquidity and drives down spreads which reduces the cost of trading . Market makers buy and sell only from their own clients. In exchange they profit from the bid-offer spread which helps expedite trades and lowers trade costs. The market makers in Forex are generally the big banks and other financial institutions in each country. A broker must have three vital items in place prior to beginning their trades.  A trading platform A technically sound back office A bridge interface that establishes a connection with the Forex market The bridge interface allows brokers to receive price quotes from the market makers. Brokers use the Application Protocol Interface (API) to send instructions to the market maker and, in return, the brokers receive quotes. Large brokers generally have connections with several market makers which provide flexibility on pricing. Small brokers generally work with a single financial institution. Size is not indicative of success. There are hundreds of market makers and every broker interacts with only a small percentage of them. Requote Some investors see very tight spreads, often as low as 0.9 pips. However, to take advantage of this spread, they must obtain a requote from their broker. Some brokers will “requote” an order every time the market changes in the investor’s favor. Remember that tight spreads improve the investor’s profit, so the tighter the spread, the greater the profit. A good broker will offer a no requote policy and allow the investor to utilize an investment with a tight spread. Alternately, the broker should openly state they offer the tightest spreads available, but they will agree to requote during times of extreme market volatility, breaking economic news that affects the currencies involved or any other important announcement that can affect the currencies’ value.

    • On this sunken continent lived the ancestor of all penguins
      • New Zealand is the only part of the now sunken Zealandia that still protrudes from the sea. Researchers have now found fossils of a penguin species there that suggest: Millions of years ago, the ancestor of all tailcoats waddled across this eighth continent. New Zealand seems to be a true penguin paradise. Three species of these fascinating creatures are native there all year round: the yellow-eyed penguin, the crested penguin and the pygmy penguin, the smallest penguin in the world. But the tailcoats were not always so mini in the southern hemisphere. About 60 million years ago, a giant penguin as big as a man is said to have lived in New Zealand. No miracle thus that researchers of the Massey University encountered there now an age-old representative of the penguins. They discovered on the North Island of New Zealand about three million years old fossils of a previously unknown and unfortunately already extinct species. They named this representative of the crested penguins Eudyptes atatu. The scientists assume that it is a hitherto missing link between the prehistoric and the still living penguins. The research team wrote an article about their findings on the science portal phys.org. Crested penguins have been around New Zealand for millions of years A surprise! Because until now, this genus, which now lives in the isolated wilderness of Fiordland and Stewart Island, was thought to have been native to the South Pacific island region for just over 7000 years. At the time, New Zealand was part of the continent Zealandia. It sank into the ocean about 50 to 35 million years ago – except for New Zealand. The prehistoric continent had an area of a good two million square kilometers and, according to the researchers, was probably home to all the penguins still living today. The fossil finds – including skull and wing bones – have finally allowed researchers to establish a link between modern tailcoats and their ancestors. The eponymous word of the newly discovered species, E. atatu, comes from the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It means dawn and is thought to refer to the beginning of our knowledge of the crested penguin genus. Zoologists led by scientist Daniel Thomas compared the fossils they found with bones from crested penguins still alive today. They found that E. atatu looked quite similar to modern species. For example, it probably also had a yellow feather stripe over its eyes. But it probably had a slimmer beak, indicating that it fed differently. Today, the diet of crested penguins includes mainly small fish, krill, and crustaceans. E. atatu may be either a direct ancestor or a closely related species of modern crested penguins. To find out more, the researchers compared the data of the species. Their conclusion: E. atatu is not an ancestor, but a sibling of today’s crested penguins. And from its ancestor, also living in Zealandia, all modern penguins are very likely descended. Researchers believe that this ancestor – as mentioned at the beginning of this article – evolved about 60 million years ago, was the size of a human and weighed about 100 kilograms. Depending on the season, up to 13 species of penguins live in New Zealand. This makes it the country with the most of these waddling birds. Not only that, but more than a third of all 80 native seabird species are found nowhere else in the world.

    • Valve finds new eSports home
      • Valve CEO Gabe Newell is considering hosting future Dota2 and CS:GO events only in New Zealand. In addition, several games are currently in development. The New Zealand TV station 1 NEWS had Valve owner and company founder Gabe Newell as a guest and elicited some explosive information from him. According to this, the Valve boss is currently in talks to host future eSports events in New Zealand. New Zealand – New eSports Home of Dota2 & CS:GO? In the house of Valve, one deals with the idea of hosting future Dota2 and CS:GO events only in New Zealand, as long as the Corona pandemic prevails. The considerations are becoming “more and more realistic,” according to Newell. As a result, Valve is considering hosting Dota2’s The International and all CS:GO major tournaments in New Zealand to provide optimal security for players and staff. Newell himself, as well as many of his staff, have already moved to New Zealand for the start of the pandemic. They are currently discussing whether to even move the company’s headquarters from Seattle, Washington, USA, to New Zealand. Many of these ideas can be traced back to the low Corona cases in the country. Since the first Corona wave in March 2020, New Zealand’s case numbers have been at a consistently low level. Only two to six people a week contract the virus on the island southeast of Australia. “For me, it’s hard to imagine setting up a personal eSports tournament anywhere else in the world right now other than New Zealand,” Newell explains. New games in development at Valve When asked if Valve has any new games in development, Newell replied, “We definitely have games in the works that we’re going to announce – it’s fun to release games.” He said the release of Half-Life: Alyx has led to more single-player games being developed again at the company. As is known, the Valve boss did not reveal which games these will be and when an announcement can be expected.

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