Do I really want a structured settlement company?

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An individual who receives a large cash award can take the services of a structured settlement company and avail the cash in a variety of ways. The settlement amount is paid by a defendant in litigation and it takes a long time for the beneficiary to acquire the total amount. A structured settlement company, in its capacity as a third party financial service provider, can help those who receive substantial amounts of money by offering them the money in a short period of time.

A plaintiff who is to obtain a monetary award from a court in the form of a structured settlement may be in need of immediate cash to cover medical expenses or the cost of litigation. This may not be possible with a structured settlement; structured settlement companies can help in such situations by offering a lump sum for either the entire amount of the settlement or a portion of it.

Structured settlement companies also offer the option of equity annuities that provide protection to the principal which earns an interest as per a guaranteed minimum or in relation to the stock market. Structured settlement companies are also capable of offering manageable access to large amounts of cash to those who win lotteries and sweepstakes. It is in the interest of the beneficiary to do a background check on the structured settlement companies they are comparing; one should go for a company that offers the most competitive rates and has a reputation for ethical dealing.

All said and done it is important for an individual to first understand whether he actually needs the service of a structured settlement company. This is because these companies operate at a profit and the lump sum offered by them is less than the amount of structured settlement sold. Also, structured settlements are guaranteed and tax-free. This is not the case with a lump sum payment, which once in the hands of an individual may be difficult to manage.

One should take the help of an attorney while evaluating structured settlement companies; attorneys help with the paperwork that can include Structured Settlement Agreement, Annuity Applications, and Qualified Assessments.

Online Investing: How Your Appetite For Investment Risk Can Affect The Way You Invest

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If you are doing an online investing, you must address a key principle – the investment risk assessment principle. If you want to achieve success in the online investing efforts and make sure to possess a portfolio that provides you with steady rewards, you must completely recognize the risks and check how they relate to your portfolio structure. In addition to looking for maximum rewards from the online investment you must do complete investment risk estimation. So many investors fail to identify or measure the risk involved, instead they look for the maximum rewards. This is one of the biggest faults on the part of both new and experienced investors. So while investing online, structure your portfolio around maximum amount of reward with the minimum amount of risk.

Although there is no fool proof to always make profits from online investing on the Internet yet certain steps can be taken to manage risks. First of all it is seen that many online investing opportunities follow a pyramid scheme. In this system it is seen that the people who invested first has an improved likelihood to earn more than the people who follow. Secondly online investing has risks associated with it, which are not found offline.

Now days approximately every one can open an investment site using a legal or illegal script. It becomes almost impossible to trace the scammer but now there are some ways to check which are still not very common.

Basically when you evaluate your risk management for an online investing using three simple steps. These steps involve recognizing the risk , measuring the risk and managing the risk. These steps help to make you understand your own personal risk tolerance. This risk directly affects risk appetite for your investments.

Now comes the main question – What is investment risk and what should be your appetite for such risk? As everyone knows, low risk online investing is steadier with a lower return on investment but more expected movement. However, it is the people who can endure high risks can expect a much-elevated rate of return but they can incur high losses also. So they must be able to bear both acute highs or extreme lows, depending on the market trends and their personal decisions.

All investments cannot be categorized solely into high or low, black or white. There can be diverging levels of reasonable risk investments where you can land. So in online investing as you diversify your portfolio, you must diversify your risk levels. So as a rule of thumb that is followed in online investing, after you recognize the appropriate risk altitude for most of your investments, you should assign some funds to both somewhat upper and lower levels of risk. So branch out you risk levels in online investing. In order to accomplish these strategies, identify your personal risk tolerance level before putting online your first dollar. You can hunt for proficient investment directive and there are many trustworthy stock brokers as well as investment planners offering their analysis. Their expert analysis will decide your risk tolerance level. After this they will help you to find the investments most appropriate to your individual objectives. Your investment risk is linked to your personal investment goals.

As a first step, bear in mind the amount of money to be invested and also foresee
your future funding offerings. Also recognize your target objective, the amount of money required and the time left to arrive at your goal. These include – Are you saving for your home, or education for your children or a marriage? Or, Are you preparing for retirement? All these issues will, to a large extent, persuade your investment risk decision.

For example, if you have invested in the stock market and it is dipping at slow pace, what will be your online investing strategy? You’ll sell immediately, or wait and watch for investment to ride out of the storm? A low risk tolerance and you’ll sell; a high-risk tolerance and you’ll wait for your money ride out of the dipping market. This does not depict your financial goals but your risk tolerance.

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5 Tips for Investing in Penny Stocks

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Investing in penny stocks provides traders with the opportunity to dramatically increase their profits, however, it also provides an equal opportunity to lose your trading capital quickly. These 5 tips will help you lower the risk of one of the riskiest investment vehicles.

1. Penny Stocks are a penny for a reason.
While we all dream about investing in the next Microsoft or the next Home Depot, the truth is, the odds of you finding that once in a decade success story are slim. These companies are either starting out and purchased a shell company because it was cheaper than an IPO, or they simply do not have a business plan compelling enough to justify investment banker’s money for an IPO. This doesn’t make them a bad investment, but it should make you be realistic about the kind of company that you are investing in.

2. Trading Volumes
Look for a consistent high volume of shares being traded. Looking at the average volume can be misleading. If ABC trades 1 million shares today, and doesn’t trade for the rest of the week, the daily average will appear to be 200 000 shares. In order to get in and out at an acceptable rate of return, you need consistent volume. Also look at the number of trades per day. Is it 1 insider selling or buying? Liquidity should be the first thing to look at. If there is no volume, you will end up holding "dead money", where the only way of selling shares is to dump at the bid, which will put more selling pressure, resulting in an even lower sell price.

3. Does the company know how to make a profit?
While its not unusual to see a start up company run at a loss, its important to look at why they are losing money. Is it manageable? Will they have to seek further financing (resulting in dilution of your shares) or will they have to seek a joint partnership that favors the other company?

If your company knows how to make a profit, the company can use that money to grow their business, which increases shareholder value. You have to do some research to find these companies, but when you do, you lower the risk of a loss of your capital, and increase the odds of a much higher return.

4. Have an entry and exit plan – and stick to it.
Penny stocks are volitile. They will quickly move up, and move down just as quickly. Remember, if you buy a stock at $0.10 and sell it at $0.12, that represents a 20% return on your investment. A 2 cent decline leaves you with a 20% loss. Many stocks trade in this range on a daily basis. If your investment capital is $10 000, a 20% loss is a $2000 loss. Do this 5 times and you’re out of money. Keep your stops close. If you get stopped out, move on to the next opportunity. The market is telling you something, and whether you want to admit it or not, its usually best to listen.

If your plan was to sell at $0.12 and it jumps to $0.13, either take the 30% gain, or better still, place your stop at $0.12. Lock in your profits while not capping the upside potential.

5. How did you find out about the stock?
Most people find out about penny stocks through a mailing list. There are many excellent penny stock newsletters, however, there are just as many who are pumping and dumping. They, along with insiders, will load up on shares, then begin to pump the company to unsuspecting newsletter subscribers. These subscribers buy while insiders are selling. Guess who wins here.

Not all newsletters are bad. Having worked in the industry for the last 8 years, I have seen my share of unscrupulous companies and promoters. Some
are paid in shares, sometimes in restricted shares (an agreement whereby the shares cannot be sold for a predetermined period of time), others in cash.

How to spot the good companies from the bad? Simply subscribe, and track the investments. Was there a legitimate opportunity to make money? Do they have a track record of providing subscribers with great opportunities? You’ll start to notice quickly if you have subscribed to a good newsletter or not.

One other tip I would offer to you is not to invest more than 20% of your overall portfolio in penny stocks. You are investing to make money and preserve capital to fight another battle. If you put too much of your capital at risk, you increase the odds of losing your capital. If that 20% grows, you’ll have more than enough money to make a healthy rate of return. Penny stocks are risky to begin with, why put your money more at risk?

Ways to Help You Invest

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Copyright 2006 Emma Snow

Everyone knows the importance of setting aside savings. Whether it’s for retirement, emergency funds or saving for the family vacation, it is something that we should all be doing. Yet sometimes this isn’t as easy as we would like and at the end of the month our money is spent without setting anything aside. The financial services industry has become aware of this and has created tools to help us save. If you have difficulty saving, these tools may be your best way to ensure you have savings for whatever comes.

Direct Deposit

Of all the tools to help you save, direct deposit has been around the longest. Direct deposit is when your employer deposits your paycheck directly to your checking, savings, retirement or brokerage accounts. Many times an employer can deposit your check to more than one account. If this is the case, to help you with your savings, you could split your check up by how it will be used. Spending money could go into your checking account, investment money into your brokerage account, retirement into an IRA or 401(k) and a percentage into a savings account. This way you don’t have to actually move the money into savings, investments or retirement yourself, it is done for you automatically at the beginning of the month. Setting up direct deposit is usually just a matter of completing a form at your workplace. For many people, money that goes directly into savings is forgotten and therefore less easily spent.

Automatic Investments

When direct deposit isn’t an option or you just want another choice, automatic investments is a good way to help you save. With this, your paycheck goes into one account and then you setup times during the month when money is taken from this main account and put into other accounts such as IRA’s, investment accounts and/or savings accounts. This is something you schedule in advance and takes place on a monthly basis. This way, you don’t have to remind yourself to do it. This is very similar to direct deposit but where your bank or financial institution is doing the work for you instead of your employer.

This could also be used if your direct deposit limits you to one account or only allows you to split up your check by percentages. If this is the case, you can direct deposit your paycheck into the account where you have setup automatic investments and then have dollar amounts go into different savings accounts. This is helpful for depositing into accounts like IRA’s where you can only invest a certain dollar amount each year and you don’t want to go over your limit.

Tax Return Money

When tax season comes, consider saving your tax returns instead of spending them. This is an especially good idea for those who have a difficult time saving on their own. You can deposit your tax return directly into a savings account and start yourself a little nest egg. If you worry about your ability to keep it in that savings account, consider putting a lot of it into an account where you cannot get it out easily, such as an IRA, a CD or an investment with redemption fees when you take it out too quickly.

If you don’t have any issues with keeping your savings intact, instead of determining where your tax return money should go, you should
instead determine why it is not coming to you in the first place. The IRS website has a calculator that will estimate your federal taxes and tell you what exemptions are appropriate so you can break even on your taxes each year. Doing this will give you more money each paycheck which enables you to start saving immediately instead of waiting for tax time. This also allows you to earn interest on that money for a longer period of time.

Investment/Savings Credit Cards

Credit cards that actually help you save money? For people who use a credit card for convenience and rewards and not for the ability to carry a balance, this is a great opportunity. Recently, a few cards have come to the market that offer investment or savings points when you make purchases. Fidelity Investments, Motley Fool and American Express are some of the first companies to offer these types of Credit Cards. The way they work is for every dollar in purchases, you earn points to put toward investments or savings that you choose. Once there are enough points to reach a threshold (determined by the card), the points are redeemed as cash and deposited to an investment account, retirement account or savings account that you have designated ahead of time.

Workplace Savings Plans

Many employers now offer workplace savings plans. These come in many shapes and forms, not just 401(k)’s but 403(b)’s, 457 plans, Roth 401(k) plans, etc. To contribute to a workplace savings plan, money has to come from your paycheck since they are employer sponsored plans. Your employer asks you to indicate what percentage of your paycheck should be deposited to your retirement savings account. Once this is done, that percentage will come out of your paycheck each time and go directly into your retirement account. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to retrieve money from your retirement account while working for that employer so this is a great savings tool for those who have a hard time setting aside money. Workplace savings also is good as it lowers your overall tax burden for the year, giving you even more savings.

Automatic Increases

The last way to help increase your savings is to use an automatic increase program on your workplace savings plan. Not all employers offer this; contact your human resources or benefits department to see if it is an option. These programs facilitate saving for retirement by automatically increasing your retirement savings each year. You generally choose what percent you want to increase the savings by as well as the date. When the chosen date comes, a larger percentage of your paycheck starts going into your workplace savings account. You can have it take effect right after annual salary increases each year making it less noticeable in your take-home pay.

If saving money isn’t one of your stronger qualities, these savings programs can help. Savings is the best way to avoid financial ruin. Having money set aside for an emergency, job loss, car and home repairs, or any unexpected expenses prevents you from having to take loans to cover these problems. In addition to liquid savings, retirement savings and college savings are long-term goals that often get overlooked or procrastinated. Taking advantage of one or several options from above is the first step in creating a healthy financial future for you and your family.

What You Need To Know In Furnishing Residential Rental Investment Property

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For first time real estate investors who purchase residential property, there is always a dilemma over whether to furnish their residential rental investment property and if so what types of basic amenities to provide. This article therefore will cover the two basic types of rental arrangements that will come up if you should want to rent out your residential investment property.

The first type of rental available is an unfurnished investment property. These tenants are the type that will come with their existing furniture and want to move all of it into your property. The problem therefore is what to do with your existing furniture. Sometimes this can result in the owner of the investment property have extra sets of furniture, like I have seen personally myself due to their tenants not liking their choice of furniture. Note that however most landlords do provide the basic amenities like washing machine, dryer and a television. If you are providing those movables, remember to list them clearly with the brand and type in the rental agreement that you sign with your tenant.

The Second type of property is fully furnished property. The thing to note here is that people will always differ from you in terms of furnishing and type of drapes used in the property. Thus one of the best ways to save money in case the existing tenant does not like the furniture that you provide is to get the furniture from IKEA which is relatively cheap to get and also easy to move to your investment property. Not only that, but remember that as long as you spend a certain sum in IKEA, you can get them to do interior designing for your property which is a real time saver, since when you are investing in your property you will be busy looking at the legal work, the mortgage and other things associated with the investment property.

There are also property management companies that have a certain way by which they furnish their apartments and might even furnish the property for you in exchange for a fee. It is submitted that this might be better as it might allow them to market your property with a higher rental. The reason for this is that these property management companies group their rental properties in terms of furnishing and size to determine their rentals so you might want to take a look at their brochures.

In conclusion, at the end of the day, if your investment property is already furnished nicely, you might want to hold out until a tenant that likes your style of furnishing appears so that you can save on the trouble of moving your furniture. Otherwise unless you like furnishing property and are blessed with a good sense of fashion sense, it will be best to leave the furnishing to the professionals.

Where Real Estate Investing and Speculation Collide

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Some uninformed folks would describe someone who rehabs distressed property as a "speculator" or even a "property speculator." Don’t be fooled! There is a VAST CHASM of difference between rehabbing and property speculation.

Let me explain. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of speculation where business is concerned is:

"Engagement in risky business transactions on the _chance_ of quick or considerable profit."

"A commercial or financial transaction involving speculation."

While all investing…in anything… has some element of risk to it, I want to highlight a key difference between speculation and investment. When you speculate, risk is higher and by the nature of the word speculation, more risk than usual is implied.

So, in that context speculation doesn’t fit what I advocate at all. I’ll explain further, but first let me illustrate the difference between investment and speculation in real estate rehabber terms from something that happened to me just this week.

I got a call; a "hot" lead from my wholesaler. The property was located on the fringes of a hot area of my town called Riverside. Riverside is an area where historic homes are being bought at inflated prices and fixed up very nicely! Put simply, properties in Riverside at in demand. Well, that’s in the heart of Riverside, but this house was on the distant edge of that part of town.

The house was 934 square feet. Great area, yadda yadda. My wholesaler needs $81,900 and he was the house’s "repaired value" will come in at around $120,000. He continually repeated something he heard from an appraiser about values "around" Riverside being a great investment over the coming years.

I agreed to go and take a look. Before I did, I do some of my own checking. From the tax records available online, I learned that the house was built in 1942, just changed hands last year for $72,000 and was of wood construction with asbestos shingling on the outside.

It didn’t look good when I looked at the numbers. IF…and in my mind a big if…the appraisal came back at $120,000, then the 70% I can get a hard-money mortgage for is $84,000. So, my mortgage would only cover a portion of my closing costs, but none of the rehab. In addition, a few months ago, I bought a property a few blocks away for $38,000. I’m just not seeing the value in this property BEFORE I look at it.

When I looked at the property, it had some things going for it. It looked to be in pretty good shape and was on a corner lot. In truth, it needed $10-12K rehab. One negative is that it was square and there is no porch under the roofline to easily add square footage for increased value. The neighborhood is fair but two things jumped out at me:

– There is a couple of very old apartment buildings on the street. Normally this would not bother me in the least, but these will prevent the yuppie crowd from rushing into the area in a buying frenzy.

– Every other house within sight was also very small and of simlar construction. This means the houses on this street are not the architectural gems in the historic and sought-after areas of Riverside.

If the money situation would have been better, that is to say, if this was a better investment, I would buy, Buy BUY! If the spread allowed me to buy and rehab it with little or none of my own money, I would have.

But, if I bought this house and rehabbed it with considerable out-of-pocket investment,
I would be speculating on the area, and I had my doubts.

Of course I didn’t buy it, but if I had, that would be speculating!

So, how would I define speculating?

– Speculating involves taking on more than usual risk.

– Speculating involve banking on values that aren’t there today, and aren’t projected to be there based on NORMAL conservative appreciation rates.

– Speculating is banking on external or environmental factors to make you money.

***External and Environmental Factors (that pertain to property) are factors that are not part of the property itself such as neighborhood, infrastucture, city, the paper mill down the road, rental demand, etc. ***

What is investing, but not speculating?

– Buying property that you are "safe" in, meaning you could rehab it and sell it in the short term and make money.

– Buying property that will make you money based on what you bought it for, current environmental factors, and conservative appreciation rates.

– Buying property such that hope is not part of the strategy!

One of the key factors in STAYING a successful real estate investor is strict adherence to your investment strategy and criteria which are tied closely to your investment goals.

A good real estate investor does what works over and over again and does not take on more and more risk as they go. Smart investors only ventures into other, uncharted investment areas (e.g., single family homes to commercial property) after careful investigation.

I think I can safely speculate that the most successful real estate investors incrementally decrease their risk as they gain experience. Not the other way around.

Option Pricing with Better Trades

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Option pricing is a mystery to most traders. They struggle to comprehend terms like implied and historical volatility or intrinsic and time value, or the "Greeks" (Delta, vega, theta, gamma, rho…). These terms are intimidating and my experience suggests that at least half the folks you hear talking about them do not really understand very much about them. It is important to at least be intellectually honest about it and know what you don’t know. It is also a good idea to debunk your vocabulary and get what you do know (or think you know) right. And because it is easy to get a head ache from trying to read and comprehend the myriad of equations and models generated from minds of multi-degreed scholars speaking a language only they seem to understand, it is comforting to know you do not have to learn a whole lot about the technical math soup. It is however, mandatory that you gain some working skills in how to recognize and flow with the option prices or you will get whipsawed and shredded by them.

It is not unlike the engineering, manufacturing, physics and computer technology that goes into a modern car. Any 10 year old can start it and drive down the road or off a cliff. The skill to use it correctly is mandatory but the technical wizardry to understand and construct it is not.

So option pricing must be understood in order to trade with any consistency. One major point is that option pricing is not static or consistent. The pricing structure is a moving target because the interaction of the market and the Market Makers constantly adjust the pricing.

Price comes from the floor… Models come from laboratories and do not dictate where the price will go. Rather, they try to predict it.

Historically, the idea of options is not new. Ancient Romans, Grecians, and Phoenicians traded options against outgoing cargoes from their local seaports. Modern techniques derive their impetus from a formal history dating back to 1877.

* 1877- Charles Castelli wrote a book entitled The Theory of Options in Stocks and Shares.
* 1900- Louis Bachelier is recognized for the earliest known analytical valuation for options. His work interested a professor at MIT named Paul Samuelson.
* 1955- Samuelson wrote an unpublished paper titled, "Brownian Motion in the Stock Market."
* 1956- A. James Boness wrote, "A Theory and Measurement of Stock Option Value". His work served as a precursor to that of Fischer Black and Myron Scholes.
* 1969-1973- Fischer Black and Myron Scholes introduced their landmark option pricing model

No one discovered the "mother lode" but rather successive scholars added to the work of predecessors. Black and Scholes were noted with the Nobel Prize because of their leap forward and the remarkable accuracy of their model. Since 1973, other scholars have expanded the Black and Scholes Option Pricing Model.

* 1973- Robert Merton relaxed the assumption of no dividends.
* 1976- Jonathan Ingerson went one step further and relaxed the assumption of no taxes or transaction costs.
* 1976- Merton removed the restriction of constant interest rates. The results of this evolution are alarmingly accurate valuation models for stock options.

Ok, you think that is boring you should read some of the papers and equations (I have and it was not fun).

Modern option pricing techniques
are among the most mathematically complex of all applied areas of finance but they have reached the point where they can calculate, with alarming accuracy. Most of the models and techniques employed today are rooted in the Black and Scholes model. One notable major advance is the Cox, Ross, Rubenstein binomial model widely used in more volatile stocks. In fact the brainiacs currently have 7-9 different models out there trying to out do each other. Here is the basic idea…

Option Pricing Model: A mathematical model is used to calculate the theoretical or fair value of an option. Inputs to option pricing models typically include:

* the price of the underlying instrument (stock): Fixed
* the option strike price: Fixed
* the time remaining till the expiration date: Fixed
* the volatility of the stock: Fixed
* the risk-free interest rate (e.g., the Treasury Bill interest rate): Fixed

The historical accuracy of the prediction is quite good but short term variations to the price models can and do "Kill" traders on a regular basis. In the long run the models are cool but they are THEORECTICAL and subject to CHANGE!!!!! The difficulty is that the vast majority of option traders do not have the knowledge or even the viewpoint to see the variation when they come. Nor are they able to reflect anomalies in the price structure when they look at an option chain to get a price.

This is one of the reasons I so dislike Prescriptive Option Strategies. The prescription dictates how to make the trade. It dictates buy/sell, strike price and which month. Well that’s just fine if the market stays constant and the price structure does not move. Ok… so "hey market, I am going to trade now… could you please just stay calm and act really normal and don’t do anything rash until I am through? Thanks, that would be real nice of you." Somehow I don’t think it works that way. The real problem with most option traders is that they don’t know what they don’t know.

For example; today, with the stock at support and moving up it may or may not be a good idea to buy a call option. It may or may not be a good idea to trade the In the Money strike price. It may or may not be a good idea to trade the next month out. The pricing composition will reveal hidden potholes if you can read it. If the prescription can work, great! But if the pricing landscape is significantly off, you may have a prescription for disaster. Ignorance may be bliss but it is expensive.

Market Makers

One major area of misunderstanding is market makers. The market maker takes a risk by pricing and selling an option. The response by the market to the offering causes the market maker to make adjustments to the price. They have two goals… make as many traders as possible and try to make some money on most of the trades. They have two tools to try and make this work; the bid / ask spread and the cost of time. The market maker is taking the risk by entering into a contract with risk. They lay off that risk ASAP by either buying the same option (sell a 45 call and buy a 45 call) or buying stock to deliver in case of exercise. They neutralize their risk and collect a small premium for the transaction. If the buying and/or selling pressure, (coming from brokers and/or traders) starts to change they respond by pricing to meet the market action. They don’t know you, or stock you. They need you and don’t care if you make money or not. They just want your order flow. Many myths abound about market makers and you need to understand them and their motives. (See last newsletter: "Those Darn Market Makers")

Volatility

Option pricing is most sensitive to volatility. The theoretical option price is derived using a historical volatility, usually 12 months. The model pricing reflects that time frame. Short term option trading and pricing
is being done in an environment that is subject to current market whims and conditions.

The current climate can be very volatile and the long-term picture can be quite stable. That throws the pricing model off dramatically, but it is a tip to savvy traders. If the short term is more volatile than the historical, the prices will be pumped up and become expensive and unstable. Extra time value is pumped temporarily into the option to reflect the current conditions (higher perceived volatility). If the price action calms down or stabilizes, the "Fluff" can be drawn back out very quickly. For example, rising prices calm the market and reduce fear and volatility. The typical option trader does not see this and then feels violated and cheated when their stock moves in the direction of their trade and they don’t get the expected profit in the option. The market breathes a sigh and the volatility shrinks taking their profit with it.

An irony in the discrepancy between theoretical/fair value and the actual price is that the actual price is feeding the 12 month volatility and constantly adjusting it. Today’s erratic volatility will be smoothed into the ongoing, ever-adjusting, 12-month moving volatility number.

Next newsletter, I will introduce the X Factor Options Trading Graph and show you how to put all this stuff into a picture format. Pictures are easy to digest a lot of data (e.g. stock charts). My students often say, "Trading options without X Factor is like trading stocks without a chart".

Options can seem simple as long as you don’t learn too much. But they can seem overwhelming if you try to learn too much. There is a happy medium. The ten year old does not have to become a manufacturer to start the car, but he does need some practice and maturing to get behind the wheel. Stay tuned.

See you in the free web seminars and I hope to see you in my "Trades Forge" 2-day trading camp.

Ryan Litchfield with Better Trades

Uranium Facts For The Natural Resource Investor

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Investing in uranium is looking toward the future. With fossil fuels fizzling out, the world needs reliable sources of energy. The price of uranium has moved surpisingly fast over the last year with the scare of oil and natural gas shortages. Also, analysts report a severe uranium shortage over the next ten years. Lets take a look at what uranium is and how it is/will be used. I have always heard "buy what you know", so hopefully you will know a little more about uranium after reading.

Uranium can be found abundantly on the planet. Uranium is formed when stars explode, expelling the heavy element. Uranium-238, the most common form of uranium found on earth has a half life of 4.5 billion years, which explains its large quantity (around 99% of the world’s uranium). Uranium-235 makes up a little more then half of the remaining 1%. Uranium-234 makes up small amount left.

The most important form of uranium is uranium-235, which possesses some very useful characteristics. Uranium-235 can undergo “induced-fission”. Induced fission is when a free neutron is used to bombard the element, causing it immediately to destabilize and split. During this reaction a large amount of heat is given off. This heat, through various means, can be harvested into power. This is process is commonly called nuclear fission. Over 400 nuclear fission generators exist in the world today in major countries such as the US, China, Russia and Germany. Nuclear power planys fired up in 1959. The number is growing dramatically as countries are expanding their power grids. Demand for uranium and uranium enrichment increases as more nations decide to add nuclear power to their power creating arsenals.

Discuss with your investment advisor the pros and cons of adding uranium stocks to your portfolio. I have several precious metal and natural resource mining stocks in my portfolio which have done well over the last year. I am definitely going to add a uranium mining company to my list of stocks.

The Basics of Real Estate Investing

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Real estate investing may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but some people who have already tried investing in real estate know that it can be highly profitable and lead to much better quality of life. There are several keys to making significant profits in real estate investing deals. And when the deals are profitable, you will certainly be well on your way to success.

For real estate investing newbies, don’t be afraid of the challenges and pitfalls you may encounter along the way. There is definitely a lot to learn, but in the long run after you have gained some experience, you’ll hopefully become a master at closing profitable real estate deals.

There are 5 core skills that are necessary for building a real estate investing business. These will be the key factors in creating a profitable real estate investment portfolio.

These are the 5 core skills of real estate investing:

1) You must learn when and where to find the right kind of sellers.

2) You must learn the art of being a master negotiator when it comes to closing your real estate investment deals.

3) You must be able to quickly and accurately analyze each real estate investment deal so you’ll know exactly when to proceed and when to pull the plug.

4) You must become an expert in all areas of real estate investing and understand such terms as lease options, cash sales, wrap mortgages, short sales and other terminology common in the real estate investing trade.

5) You should totally understand the meaning and concept of investing in real estate, including all of the financial risks and benefits.

Now is a great time to consider investing in real estate. There are great potential rewards and the effort you put forth can yield enormous monetary returns on your investment.

Your confidence level will grow when you’ve gained some experience and closed on your first few real estate deals. But, don’t stop there…

Continue to learn about real estate investing and to develop your investment skills. In a short time you may find yourself managing a profitable and growing portfolio of investment properties.

Continue to follow your real estate investing "game plan" and always keep an eye out for the hidden investment opportunities. The opportunities are definitely out there and with a little knowledge and desire can be yours for the taking. So, why not get started in what might be a new and exciting (and profitable) career today?

Lance Armstrong Partners With American Century

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American Century Investments is collaborating with seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong to motivate investors to take a more active role in planning a secure financial future.

Via a multifaceted campaign featuring Armstrong and the slogan "Put Your Lance Face On," American Century is encouraging investors to take action and approach their financial decisions with the same focus, drive and determination that helped Armstrong triumph over the challenges in his life.

"Lance has used his focus, discipline and incredible determination to achieve great success in sports and to overcome personal challenges, and we think these same attributes make successful investors," said William M. Lyons, American Century president and chief executive officer. "We also believe there are great similarities in the compelling personal stories of our founder, Jim Stowers, Jr. and Lance. Both are cancer survivors who are using their success and fame to improve the lives of others."

To assist investors in the attainment of their long-term goals, American Century – in cooperation with the Lance Armstrong Foundation – is introducing the LIVESTRONG Portfolios. Carrying the moniker that evokes the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s mission of empowering people affected by cancer, this series of mutual funds simplifies investing while supporting the foundation. American Century is making an annual payment to the Lance Armstrong Foundation based on investments in the LIVESTRONG Portfolios. Investors in these portfolios bear no portion of this expense.

"I’m very excited about this new relationship with American Century Investments," Armstrong said. "This is a wonderful match given my interest in improving lives through better health and fitness and American Century’s commitment to financial well-being. Working with American Century, I hope to motivate and inspire investors to make every financial decision count."