The Dbottino Weblog

The first two charts below are same period weekly charts of the Nasdaq 100 to Nasdaq 100 Volatility Index and the Nasdaq 100. Over time, the Nasdaq 100 will rise, while its Volatility Index will trade in a range. So, the ratio will rise over time. Also, there’s generally a negative correlation between the Nasdaq 100 and its Volatility Index, i.e. when the Nasdaq 100 rises (or falls), its Volatility Index will fall (or rise). Currently, the ratio suggests either an end to the cyclical bull market or a severe correction to increase volatility sometime next year.

Over the final year of the 18-year structural bull market, in 1999-00, the ratio rose and stayed above 50, which was well above the 100-week MA (blue line), and climbed to over 80. At that time, the Nasdaq was in a mega-bubble. However, a structural bear market started in 2000 (the previous structural bear market was from 1965-82) and in 2002, the Nasdaq began a cyclical bull market. Currently, the ratio is extreme enough, in the 120s, to indicate more potential Nasdaq downside than upside within the next six months, and that the bull market may be about over.

The catalyst for the end of the bull market may be rising long-bond yields, which may cause a contraction in the housing market. Consequently, consumption growth would slow, perhaps enough to slow GDP growth substantially, while mortgage defaults would rise. However, over the second half of December, instutitions may keep the market high for end-of-the-year window dressing. Nonetheless, volatility may also pick-up, because of uncertainty about the strength of the holiday sales season. Moreover, economic data and oil prices should contribute to volatility.

Monthly and quarterly economic reports next week are: Monday–None, Tuesday–PPI, Building Permits, and Housing Starts, Wednesday–Revised GDP and GDP Price Deflator, Thursday–Personal Income, Personal Spending, and Leading Indicators, Friday–New Home Sales, and Revised Michigan Consumer Sentiment. Also, weekly data are: Tuesday–Retail Sales, Wednesday–Oil Inventories, and Thursday–Unemployment Claims. Financial markets will be closed a week from Monday, December 26th, for the Christmas holiday.

The third chart is an SPX weekly chart, which also suggests the market is near a top. There are three major resistance levels around 1,280, i.e. the weekly upper Bollinger Band, the monthly upper Bollinger Band (not shown), and the upper line of the rising wedge. These levels work together to provide stronger resistance. A key support level is the 20-day MA, currently at about 1,262, and rising, which SPX rose above and held throughout the two-month rally. Also, the previous four-year high at 1,246 is major support.

Charts available at www.PeakTrader.com Forum Index Market Overview section.

Arthur Albert Eckart is the founder and owner of PeakTrader. Arthur has worked for commercial banks, e.g. Wells Fargo, Banc One, and First Commerce Technologies, during the 1980s and 1990s. He has also worked for Janus Funds from 1999-00. Arthur Eckart has a BA & MA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He has worked on options portfolio optimization since 1998.

Mr Eckart has developed a comprehensive trading methodology using economics, portfolio optimization, and technical analysis to maximize return and minimize risk at the same time and over time. This methodology has resulted in excellent returns with low risk over the past four years.

Why is it that the older and richer people become, the more conservative they are with their money? Have you ever done or know someone who has made an investment that promised a 10% interest or profit per month? Everyone wants to make above average profits. It is amazing how many people will send their very hard earned money across the world to Nigeria or to Boca Rattan, Florida on the promise of a telephone acquaintance to make them much richer. People give their money to complete strangers in hopes of making more money.

All good investment advisers will tell their clients “If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.” Professionals only make very high returns in areas they personally know very well. This, for them, is a business investment, not a passive investment like stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Real estate and business investments are considered active investments. People who are employed by others do not usually make active investments, because they just do not have the time to watch a business investment, where big profits are always possible (as well as big losses.)

People with small amounts of money come to me all the time and ask: “What can I do with $1,000 that will give me a big return?” Here is the answer. When I was a 21-year-old lad working for my father, I had money in the bank, I owed securities (stocks) and my income was a fixed salary. I saw many opportunities to make money all around me, in the business. My father, like so many employers, wasn’t interested. Besides I was trying to figure out how I could make money for me.

At the time, 1971, we had high inflation and prices were going up on many things. My father used metal rings to seal containers, nuts and bolts, paint, and other industrial supplies. I watched prices starting to go up and it appeared that they might even double on finished products that were made from steel. Since the company used these products all the time, buying bigger orders meant buying much more then you needed and having to store it so it didn’t get stolen. I used to buy 2 years supply of bolts at a time. Knowing the price was going up, I bought a 4-year supply. Rings took a lot of space so we would buy 3 months at a time. The problem with new rings, being bought and laying around, in storage, was that the workers, taking the easy way out, would take new rings out of the warehouse, instead of cleaning the old rings, which saved the company a lot of money.

My father didn’t want to have a years worth of rings around, even though we both knew the price was going to continue going up. We came up with an idea. I would buy, with my own money, the extra inventory, the amount above the companies normal order size. My investment inventory would be stored in a separate locked area in the warehouse. When the company needed more rings or bolts, it would buy them from me at the then current market price. I made $1,500 on my $5,000 investment in just six months. That was a 30%, no risk profit in just half a year. Now I was hot.

When I got married, and I used more toilet paper and toothpaste than I did before, I decided that I should repeat the process that I learned as a boy. When I was a boy toilet paper was 10 cents a role. If you do not know what it is now, take a look. I bought 5 cases of toilet paper and put it in the garage. I knew that paper prices were going up. I not only got the increase in price, I got close out quantity discounts by the case. Do you know that dog and cat food by the case is 10% off? Then if you wait for when Friskies has a sale or close out, then buy large cases; you cannot believe what you will save. If you can get a distributor or wholesaler to sell direct to you, another 20-33% is possible. You might check the price at Costco. It may be cheaper than what the wholesaler will sell it to you for.

You only buy items that you know you will use yourself, personally. You are not buying for resale. You are buying a two-year supply of things you know you will use, for sure. Toilet paper is one of them. (Make sure you try the brand out, to see that you will like it.) Smart and Final has many things in bulk. Compare prices at Costco, Smart and Final, the 99-cent store, and if you can find the distributor that the 99-cent store buys from in Downtown LA, you will really be buying cheap.

First step. Make a list of everything you buy on a regular bases. List non-food items, bathroom items and dry or canned food items. Do not buy food the rats can get into. Grains must be in steel drum with bags. You will be shocked at how much 20 lbs of rice will cost you compared to a one pound bag, about a quarter of the cost or less. Do not buy clothing, because of change of styles and weight. You can buy men’s socks and underclothing when you see a real close out at 80% off. Men wear the same style all their lives and their weight tends to be constant. Do not do this for children or woman. Things change too fast.

Second step. Price shop so you will know what are the good prices and bad prices. Do not buy yet, just price shop.

Third Step. Decide how much inventory you want to have, how much money do you have to spend and how long it will take you to use it all up. Where are you going to put it so that it will be safe and dry? Not a public storage place, please. The rent will eat up your volume buying profits, real fast.

Fourth Step. Look for close outs so you can buy cheaper than the best price you planned on and then have fun buying.

Hidden Bonus: There are also non-profit advantages to this program that you should be aware of. In case of an economic depression you have food. That means if you loose your job, you still eat. Your unemployment check can then go towards the rent, gas in the car, car payments, and fresh food. You will already have most of the toilet items and other things you will need, until you get a job.

In case of a natural disaster or a teamster strike you will have your well-stocked private supermarket with those needed items. The IRS closed down Howard Ruff, a newsletter writer in the 1970’s. They attached all of his bank accounts, and locked the front door of his store. Howard had 12 children, no income and no money in his pocket. He did have big food storage, which fed his family while he took a month to decide what his next move was going to be. He was able to think his problem out without panicking because his family was fed, and he could postpone his mortgage, utilities and other bills for a few months, before he had big troubles.

So be smart. Invest in a food storage program. Only buy what you will use, and do use. Buy in quantities that you will use up in 2 years. Do not buy a 5-year supply of anything. Shop for the best price, and then wait for a better deal than that. Then you have made a safe and profitable investment, while at the same protecting your family from emergencies.

About The Author

Willard Michlin is a real estate and financial distress consultant. He can be contacted at his Ventura, California office by calling 805-529-9854 or by e-mail at kismetrei@earthlink.net. See other article by Willard at http://www.kismetgroup.com

kismetrei@earthlink.net

While I tend to favor iShares an investment tool because of the wide menu and country specific options they provide investors, I have to say that I am increasingly impressed with the new and fast-growing Powershares family of ETFs and will be adding two of them to portfolios this month. Powershares also address one weakness of iShares which is that they track indexes that market cap weighted.

In other words, the weighting of a company in a particular ETF is dependent on the value of its outstanding shares. This means that the bigger companies tend to affect the ETF’s performance much more than the smaller companies. Of course, big doesn’t always mean better. Powershares essentially creates its own indexes based on rules-based quantative analysis that they refer to as “intelligent indexes”.

This seems to me to be more useful than blindly following market cap weighted indexes. There are two Powershares that I particularly like at this point. The first is a biotech Powershare (PBE) that contains 30 biotech companies. If its holdings were weighted by market cap, two companies, Amgen and Genentech would account for more than 60% of its holdings.

Instead your exposure is spread among 30 different companies with no company accounting for more than 5% of the total. 30% of your exposure is to large cap companies, 26% is to mid-cap companies and 43% is to small cap companies. The biotech Powershare is an aggressive position so don’t get carried away. I think it is a smart play on the tremendous opportunities for capital appreciation in the biotech industry which is showing some momentum after trading sideways since early 2004. The annual fee is only 0.60%.

The other Powershare that I like is the International Dividend Achievers Powershare which contains 42 ADRs traded on U.S. exchanges. I am usually not a big fan of ADRs since they usually trade at a premium to the underlying security but they do offer some comfort to investors since they meet U.S. reporting requirements and can be easily purchased on U.S. exchanges.

The ADRs in this Powershare have to pass a stiff test: five fiscal years in a row of increased dividends.
Again the top holdings are no more than 5% of the total index and so you get great diversification. One problem with the most widely used international index, the MSCI Europe Asia & Far East Index (EAFE) is its concentration in Japan and the United Kingdom which account for almost 50% of the total index.

Meanwhile exposure to promising countries such as Ireland and Hong Kong are less than 2%. Last year, the Powershares index beat the MSCI EAFE index by 7% and companies in the index averaged a 29% return on equity. The index is re-balanced quarterly and has an annual fee of 0.50%. Right now 67% of the companies in the index are large cap, 20% are mid-cap and 13% are small cap companies.

For an unconventional approach that challeges market cap indexing, tap into the Powershares edge.

Carl T. Delfeld
President& Publisher
Chartwell Partners
http://www.chartwelladvisor.com/

Carl Delfeld has over twenty years of experience in the global investment business with a strong background in Asia.

• Author of global investor primer "The New Global Investor"
 • President of the global investment advisory firm Chartwell Partners
 • Publisher of the Chartwell Advisor ETF Report and Asia-Pacific Growth
 • Columnist on global investing with Forbes Asia: "Global Gambits"
 • Former U.S. Representative to the Executive Board of Asian Development Bank
 • Chairman of the global economic strategy think tank ChartwellAmerica
 • Asian specialist with the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and the U.S. Treasury
 • Former member of the U.S. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee
 • Former investment executive with Robert Baird & Company and UBS
 • Graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy with economics scholarship from U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission
 • Exchange student at Sophia University, Japanese Ministry of Education Fellow at Keio University

It’s safe to say that anything that seems to be too good to be true probably isn’t, but that doesn’t stop scam artists from trying out their ploys on unsuspecting cell phone users. Many more people are finding unsolicited text messages on their phones, offering stock tips that will make them rich, but are these messages really designed to help the phone user out?

While email messaging can be filtered with junk mail filters, text messaging isn’t able to do so. Scam artists are finding this mode of communication most effective in getting their scam to someone who might think that it’s well-intentioned. Because the cell phone user believes that their number can only be used by those that they have sanctioned, they initially believe that the information is coming from a truthful source.

The scam is known as the ‘pump and dump’ whereby the scam artist gives the victim misleading information about a stock (this is the pump part). When enough people have taken this information and used it, the demand for the stock then goes up and thus so does the price. The scam artists will then sell the shares that they purchased in this same company, lessening the price and leaving the victims with worthless stocks.

A stock tip scam is easily identified when a person takes the time to use their common sense. If a person should receive a tip about a stock that will rise in price and value significantly, that may be an indication of a scam. The text message may also include a low priced stock (often fifty cents or less) that can be more easily targeted. These identifiers along with a pressure filled message and approach are almost definite signs of a scam on stocks.

It’s always smart not to take the advice of anyone that you have not requested information from. Unsolicited advice is something that can be misleading in an attempt to fraud the recipient of the message.

While it might seem simple enough to ignore the message, a person can also report the source in order to possibly stop the text messages to everyone else. These messages can be forwarded to the NASD via email. Other possible ways to block the transmission of such messages is via the government’s Do Not Call list. More than one number can be registered so long as the person has a working email address.

Some text messages may include options to opt out of further messages, so a person can also complete those forms to be left out of the next round of stock tips. Other people find that avoiding chances to opt into third party offers on websites that they have visited is a great way to cut back on the unsolicited messages. Leaving a false phone number is another way to avoid receiving these kinds of annoyances.

There are laws that are in place to prohibit this kind of scam, but vigilance is the best defense as is using common sense.

Joel Arberman is the Managing Member of Stock Aware, LLC. We publish a free investment research and analysis newsletter and offer investor awareness services. Learn more at StockAware.com.

If you’re reading this right now you probably have been broke, are broke, or know someone who is struggling with being broke. The pain and suffering of being in this state is truly awful. Being broke causes thoughts of despair, feelings of failure, desperation, struggle, lack and need. Being broke prevents us from reaching our potential, from living our lives freely. Being broke prevents us from being wealthy.

How is this possible? Like attracts like. Being broke attracts more experiences of being broke. It is a vicious cycle, once that can very easily be transformed once we understand the fundamental laws of how our mind and spirit interact with the universe.

It is your underlying state of BEING, in this case, being broke, that creates the resultant thoughts and feelings in your mind. As a package, this whole message is broadcast to the universe, which in return gives you more of the same: experiences of being broke.

One of the laws of manifestation is that we must BE before we can DO, and DO before we can HAVE. Of course modern society has twisted this all around. Being broke is a powerful message we are sending to the universe and ourselves. We are in a state of BEING, and it is broke. This will inform our actions to act in ways to continue to be broke, and we will continue to have this condition of being broke in our lives.

Your life experience is an outer reflection of your inner reality. All the thoughts and feelings you hold, consciously and unconsciously, are what create the experience that is your life. Your past created your present, and your present is creating your future.

It can be hard to understand that we are responsible for what we experience. I remember being unhappy, and then experiencing events that I perceived as causing me to be unhappy. Then I would say to myself, I am unhappy because of this… no wonder I am unhappy. I was trapped in my own vicious cycle and had no idea it was me who was responsible for my experiences of unhappiness.

To break the cycle I first needed to know what was broken in order to fix it. It was the message I was sending out. I found there was a very simple way to fix it.

If I notice one day that I am unhappy, and understand that BEING unhappy is the cause of my continuing experience of unhappiness, it is that day that I can choose to change. All I need to do to break the cycle is: choose to be happy. It doesn’t take anything from outside myself to be happy. All I have to do is gain awareness, pause, and pull up from within myself the state of being happy, replacing the unhappiness. We all have this capacity.

Choosing is an exercise of free will. You can choose BE happy, healthy, wealthy, whatever you desire. Take a moment and just BE happy. It is possible for anyone to do and a very powerful exercise once you have done it and understood it. If you are being happy, you will do things that make you happy, and you will attract happy experiences into your life. Being happy is the first step towards living a happy life. It seems almost like a riddle, but understanding it unravels the secrets of life.

If you find yourself broke, look within. You’ll find you feel broke, and are in a powerful state of BEING. The awareness of this gives you the choice. You can choose your state of being. Imagine what it is like to feel wealthy. Take that feeling and hold it, you are now BEING wealthy. This is how to break the vicious cycle of being broke. By BEING wealthy, you are now transforming the signals you are broadcasting. You are emanating wealth and the laws of cause and effect have no choice but to bring to you what you already are. Now your actions will begin to bring to you the wealth you feel inside.

By being conscious of your states of being, you can choose to change them. The positive results will return to you without fail, following the natural laws of the universe.

Carina MacInnes is an author and entrepreneur offering a free e-course by her favorite mentor, with incredible wealth secrets – receive it now: milliondollarsecret@robotreply.com For a powerful way to increase both health and wealth in your life, see her site here: http://imagineacai.com

As you know, we’re now well and truly in theInformation Age. It began about 10 years ago. In fact,many economists say it began in 1989, with the Fall ofthe Berlin Wall (and the start of the World Wide Web).

To understand who will become wealthy in theInformation Age, first we need to understand how theInformation Age differs from the Industrial Age (bornabout 1860, died about 1989).

In fact, let’s get a complete overview and go back tothe Agrarian Age.

In the Agrarian Age, society was basically dividedinto two classes: the landowners and the people whoworked on the land (the serfs). If you were a serf,there wasn’t much you could do about it:land-ownership passed down through families and youwere stuck with the status you were born into.

When the Industrial Age arrived, everything changed:it was no longer agriculture that generated most ofthe wealth, but manufacturing. Suddenly, land was nolonger the key to wealth. A factory occupied far lessland than a sheep farm or a wheat farm.

With the Industrial Age came a new kind of wealthyperson: the self-made businessman. Wealth no longerdepended on land-ownership and the family you wereborn into. Business acumen and factories were creatinga new class of wealthy person. But it still requiredenormous capital to build a factory and start abusiness.

Then came the World Wide Web (in about 1989) andglobalization. Suddenly, everything changed again.

Factories (or real estate) were no longer necessary torun a business. Anyone with a website could start abusiness. The barriers to wealth that existed in theAgrarian Age and the Industrial Age were completelygone. People who could never have dreamed of owningtheir own business were making millions from theirkitchen table.

Of course, the Information Revolution didn’t beginin 1989.

It began in 1444 when Gutenberg invented the printingpress in Mainz, Germany.

But the printing press (newspapers, magazines,paperbacks) belonged to the Industrial Age, not theInformation Age.

The printing press is a ‘one-to-many’ technology. TheInternet is a ‘many-to-many’ technology. And that waswhat changed in 1989.

The Industrial Age was about centralization andcontrol. The Information Age is aboutde-centralization and no control. No government and nomedia magnate controls the Internet. This is thecrucial thing to understand about the Information Age.

As we moved from the Agrarian Age through theIndustrial Age to the Information Age, there’s been asteady collapse of the barriers that kept one section ofsociety wealthy and the other section poor.

In the Information Age, literally anyone can becomewealthy.

So now that we have a clearer picture of how theInformation Age differs from the Industrial Age, let’sask that question again: ‘Who will become wealthy inthe Information Age?’:

(1) People Who are Self-Taught

To explain this better, let’s go back to the AgrarianAge and the Industrial Age, and the Transmission ofSkills.

In the Agrarian Age, skills were passed on from fatherto son. If you wanted to learn how to be a blacksmithyou had to be a blacksmith’s son. If you wanted tolearn to be a stone-mason, you had to be the son of a stone-mason.

With the coming of the Industrial Age, all thischanged. You could go to University and learn whateverskills you wanted. Knowledge was freely available.

But in the Information Age, the Transmission of Skillsis changing once again.

The skills necessary to succeed in the Information Ageare not being learnt from our parents (as in theAgrarian Age), nor are they being learnt in schoolsand colleges (as in the Industrial Age). Children areteaching their parents computer skills. And many ofthe entrepreneurs who start hi-tech Internet companieshave never been to college.

The millionaires (and billionaires) of tomorrowprobably won’t have a college education. They will behigh-school drop-outs, self-taught people.

(2) People with New Ideas.

Again, it’s the people who are able to think outsideof the existing structures who will become wealthy inthe Information Age. Often, it’s just a Simple Ideathat launches people to success in the InformationAge.

Take Sabhir Bhatia, for example – the man who inventedHotmail. Bhatia was a computer engineer working inSilicon Valley. He had no previous businessexperience, whatsoever.

But one day, while he was driving back from work, afriend called him on his cell phone and said that hehad an idea: What about starting a free, web-basedemail service? Bhatia knew this was the idea he’d beenwaiting for. He told his friend to hang up immediatelyand ring him at home on a secure line.

Three years later he sold Hotmail to Microsoft for$400 million.

(3) Writers

The third group who will become wealthy in theInformation Age are Writers.

In the Industrial Age, Writers depended on largepublishing Houses to get published (remember that theprinting press is an Industrial Age technology – it iscentralized and controlled). And the Publishing Housestook the lion’s share of the profits.

In the Information Age, Writers are doing their ownpublishing – and keeping most of the profitsthemselves. Indeed, Writers are flourishing on theWeb – mainly through eBooks and Ezine Articles.But even if you don’t write eBooks or Ezine Articles,if you own a website, you are a Writer.

Why?

Because the Internet is basically a written medium. Itfavors writers, people who are able to communicateeffectively through the written word. Remember, it’snot the graphics on your website that sell, it’s thewords you use.

In the Information Age, we’re all Writers!

————————————————————
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
————————————————————

These days there can be a lot of ways to make extra money. Buying and selling real estate, getting a second job or opening up a brick and mortar business operation are among the most popular options.

But many of those traditional business options might require a heavy upfront investment or start up capital on your part, as well as paying an increasingly high interest rate on any loans.

Day trading stocks online on the other hand can offer you freedom and easy liquidation of your funds. You don’t have to tie up your initial seed capital for months or years. You can buy and sell stocks on the same day and put your potential profits back into your cash account with out making a trip to the bank and waiting in a long line.

Another good possibility of day trading is that You don’t need a lot of money to start making money, unlike the majority of conventional businesses.

But here is the first thing you MUST DO if you want to aspire success in day trading : You have to PREPARE YOUR SELF, just like you would in order to accomplish goals in other areas of your life.

Day trading is similar to any other business operation in the sense that every successful venture owes its success to the method used to conduct its business. In other words your day trading results depend in large part on your strategies and method. So never attempt to trade stocks with out using and practicing clear strategies on how to buy and sell stocks.

At the end of the day online stock trading is all about picking the best stock opportunities and following your buy and sell signals with ease and simplicity. Once you learn to master your trading decisions, you can aspire to produce consistent profitable results.

Stress Free Traders helps day traders & investors choose stock trading opportunities in a practical way every day at http://www.StressFreeTraders.com

We live in a litigious society. If you own a business, own rental property or practice a profession, you have a one in three chance of being sued this next year. Aside from real estate, large cash balances in your bank account or a healthy investment portfolio will leave predatory lawyers foaming at the mouth.

So how do you protect your cash, stocks and mutual funds?

As in any effective asset protection plans, privacy or more specifically, financial privacy is the key.

The entire litigation process is predicated on the plaintiff’s ability to collect. It costs a great deal of money in attorney’s fees, court costs, etc. to pursue a court case. If they don’t think you have assets to take, chances are they won’t be interested in suing you in the first place. In other words, do you own anything of value that would make it worth their time and effort to sue you?

Cash in bank accounts, stocks or mutual funds in a brokerage account are relatively easy to reach, giving the plaintiff’s attorney the green light to file their claim.

So how do you not own these assets but still maintain control over them? The answer is by setting up a private corporation to be the owner of the assets while you anonymously maintain control of them. Of the many different legal entities available, private corporations are ideally suited for this purpose.

Why corporations?

Under the law, a corporation is an artificial “person”, completely separate from you. Because it is an independent entity, a corporation’s liabilities and taxes are separate from the people who own and operate it. This is the reason why almost all successful people choose to incorporate. It permits you to keep you and your liabilities separate from your assets.

However, it is only in a state like Nevada or an offshore jurisdiction such as the Bahamas that you can set up a corporation so that, while you own and control your corporation, your identity and ownership can remain completely private. Since the ownership of the corporation cannot be traced to you, your enemies will not be able to take your assets within your corporation.

Once a private corporation is formed, a bank and/or brokerage account can be established for the corporation and your cash and investment holdings can then be transferred out of your name to the corporate account.

You will still retain your personal checking account to pay for your day-to-day activities but the bulk of your assets is now out of your name and will not show up if an attorney conducts an asset search on you. This strategy will not only lower your lawsuit worthy profile, it will also dwarf any collection efforts if you lose a future lawsuit.

Carlos Lee, MBA, is the senior consultant for Asset Protection Consulting Group.

Visit Asset Protection Consulting Group to learn more about how to bulletproof your assets against future lawsuits.

Deciding to consider refinancing of mortgage for home loan is a major determination. Next key issue involved is to find ways to get profitable quotes for mortgage from banks. A thorough research of prevailing market rates is essential to obtain competitive quote from mortgage firms. Being familiar with current trends enables one stand a better chance of bargaining for lower interest charges. Mortgage rates usually increase or decrease in accordance with securities in Wall Street. A careful overview of market trends helps one save considerably on interests.

Comparing different loan schemes from a particular mortgage vendor and also form different vendors would facilitate one to choose the most profitable scheme. Among major tools available in market for evaluating dissimilar loans programs is the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Laws of the state make it mandatory to expressively disclose APR while marketing their mortgage rates. This is for the benefit of borrower and to prevent them from falling prey to lower advertised rates, and find out if there are any hidden fees and upfront costs involved later.

Personal meeting with lenders, bank officials’ and mortgage professionals’ help in getting a competitive interest quote for your loan. Being well prepared with entire documentary evidence in support of your financial situation before meeting the people at bank enhances chances of receiving lower interests. Presenting documents to support your favorable credit history would tempt bank managers to provide you with lucrative mortgage quotes. Papers essential to obtain fast and lucrative loans rates include:

• Verification of employment status and proof of income sources.

• Previous paid credit card bills and other similar statements to show history of genuine payments in past.

• Purchase contract of the house if it is available.

• Bank details such as address of bank and your account numbers are important. Also previous 2-3 months statement of current and savings account are required.

• Tax returns of last two years provide excellent proof of your financial position and hence should always be carried along while visiting the mortgage professional.

• Entire information about other existing debt like car loans, student loans, retail credit cards or furniture loans, if any are required to acquire mortgage deal.

• Presenting any gift vouchers received from relatives and friends would encourage bank managers to have increased faith in your paying capabilities. Such gift letters ensure that money acquired through gifts belongs to the recipient and the recipient does not have any liability on such financial assets.

• Self-employed individuals may present their previous year’s balance sheets and other tax statements.

Another good deal is about initially locking the specific rate of interest at time of proposal that would be charged. The process of loan approval might take some time and during such a time interval there might be fluctuation in rates of interest. Getting mortgage quote fixed at time of application relieves one from falling prey to chances of higher charges being imposed at time of loan approval.
Interest rates charged by bank also depend upon factors as amount of loan required, time period of loan, down payment, discount points, adjustable rates, closing stocks and so on.

Mansi gupta writes about mortgage quote. Learn more at www.mortgage-quotes-source.com

Convertible bonds are bonds issued by corporations that are backed by the corporations’ assets. In case of default, the bondholders have a legal claim on those assets. Convertible bonds are unique from other bonds or debt instruments because they give the holder of the bond the right, but not the obligation, to convert the bond into a predetermined number of shares of the issuing company. Therefore, the bonds combine the features of a bond with an “equity kicker” – if the stock price of the firm goes up the bondholder makes a lot of money (more than a traditional bondholder). If the stock price stays the same or declines, they receive interest payments and their principal payment, unlike the stock investor who lost money.

Why are convertible bonds worth considering? Convertible bonds have the potential for higher rates while providing investors with income on a regular basis. Consider the following: 1. Convertible bonds offer regular interest payments, like regular bonds.

2. Downturns in this investment category have not been as dramatic as in other investment categories.

3. If the bond’s underlying stock does decline in value, the minimum value of your investment will be equal to the value of a high yield bond. In short, the downside risk is a lot less than investing in the common stock directly. However, investors who purchase after a significant price appreciation should realize that the bond is “trading-off-the-common” which means they are no longer valued like a bond but rather like a stock. Therefore, the price could fluctuate significantly. The value of the bond is derived from the value of the underlying stock, and thus a decline in the value of the stock will also cause the bond to decline in value until it hits a floor that is the value of a traditional bond without the conversion.

4. If the value of the underlying stock increases, bond investors can convert their bond holdings into stock and participate in the growth of the company.

During the past five years, convertible bonds have generated superior returns compared to more conservative bonds. Convertible bonds have generated higher returns because many companies have improved their financial performance and have their stocks appreciate in value.

Convertible bonds can play an important role in a well-diversified investment portfolio for both conservative and aggressive investors. Many mutual funds will invest a portion of their investments in convertible bonds, but no fund invests solely in convertible bonds. Investors who want to invest directly could consider a convertible bond from some of the largest companies in the world.

About the author: Tony Reed is the author of " Upside potential with convertible bonds", please visit his website Bonds trading & Bonds market for more information.

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