Etf Trading Strategies: The Secrets To A Successful Trade
There has been many books written and a lot has been said about etf trading in general. There are also a number of books that talk about etf trading strategies but there is probably no one complete book that describes etf trading from A to Z. The knowledge however you get from these books can help you become a better etf trader by helping you hone your etf trading strategies. You also get to learn a lot especially from the mistakes from others.
ETF trading strategies is all about trading using the right combination of technique and mindset. There are so many things you can learn which will help you apply them to your own eft trading strategies. So having multiple sources of good information is imperative.
Learning from other people’s experience is good because it will save you a lot of money, and time when it comes to developing a winning strategy. The best way to learn is from stories of other people’s success as well as their mistakes. Your job is to go and use what they tell you to develop your own unique trading style which can be adapted to the every changing etf trading market.
The market is constantly changing as each participant in the market changes their methods as well as their objectives drive the change in the market. There are times when the entire market may follow a trend and then there are times when trading against the trend will have its advantages. Sometimes trading with very strict set of profit targets will do the work for you.
Traders who have been trading for a while will begin to develop their own personal form and style of trading. This will largely be based on their experience as well as the markets they have chosen.
The ETF trading strategies you come up with needs to be designed in a way that makes it so flexible that you can would it to your taste and requirements. You also need to be able to accomplish this as soon as possible before the market takes another turn.
When the markets change so do our etf trading strategies in order to adapt and cope with the ever changing market climate. Market patters and conditions mostly change without notice and don’t have a set of predictable patters. So over a period of time you might still not be able to formulate a set of rules or stats which will help you read the future and make profitable trades.
The market will change as it has always changed but your sense of the market should keep you ahead of the game. So come up with a strategy that you can really use and mould to your advantage.
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Stock Investing 101
What would make a stock rise so much? The whole point of investing in stocks is to choose one that has the greatest chance of a rising share value. Don’t we all look for a stock that we could buy for $10 and later on sell for $300 per share? Well, how can we proceed to accomplish such a feat?
So if the company does well, its stock will go up in price and if the company does poorly its stock will go down in price. Buying a stock is essentially buying a small piece of the company and its future potential for growth and profits.
Now why does the stock goes up and down with the performance of the company. Actually the real force behind the stock rise and fall is the market place. The marketplace is in fact buyers and sellers, individuals and organizations that want to buy stocks or sell them.
If there are more buyers of the stock, its value will go up and if there are more sellers in the market, the stock price goes down. This buying and selling of stocks can only take place in exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and over the counter markets like NASDAQ.
Now it doesn’t mean that if the company does well and is showing good profits and earnings, its stock price will go up. Sometimes you will find that the company does well and is posting good quarterly earnings but still its stock price goes down. What’s the reason behind this?
In reality the price of stock depends on the investor’s expectations. The price of a stock goes down because there are more sellers than buyers. So why is it so? The stock price does not go up or down just based on the company’s present performance. Stock price goes up and down because of what the buyers and sellers expect will happen with the company in the near future.
This was what can happen in the short term. In the short term no one can really predict the behavior of the market with a degree of accuracy. However, the performance of the stock and the performance of the company over the long term have a logical relationship. In the short term, the behavior of the stock price is irrational and it can behave in crazy and illogical ways.
The bottom line is don’t worry about the short term gyrations of the stock price. Focus on finding companies that are strong, well positioned in the right industries and have solid fundamentals like a good management, good product, good service, growing industry, rising sales, increasing profits and so on. Picking a stock doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Understanding the company’s industry and the overall economic environment is critical to stock picking process. Sometimes the industry and the economy matters more than the company.
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MLPs (Part I)
If you are interested in investing in companies that are involved in the production, transformation and distribution of commodities, than one of the best ways to do so is through investing in the Master Limited Partnership (MLP).
The shares that an MLP issues are called Units and the investors who own them are known as Unit Holders. MLPs are public entities that trade on public exchanges. An MLP issues shares that trade on an exchange just like a company stocks that trades on an exchange. You can invest in an MLP by buying its shares on an exchange.
Right now there are not many MLPs in the market. You will only find 3-4 dozen MLPs listed in the different stock exchanges. When you invest in an MLP, you are essentially investing in public partnership. There are tax advantages to investing in MLP. Unlike regular corporations, an MLP is only taxed once. Now most of the MLPs trade on the New York Stock Exchange. A few MLPs also trade on the NASDAQ and the AMEX. Tax exemption on MLPs gives them certain benefits that other companies in the same industry lack. There is a tax exemption on MLPs. You must be curious how this tax advantage works out. Because of
Congressional Legislation, any MLP that derives 90% or more of its income from the production, distribution and transformation of commodities qualifies for this tax exempt scheme.
Since an MLP has got the tax exempt status it will only have to generate only $1.54 for each dollar that you invest in it. Suppose you invest $1 in the stocks of a regular corporation and you are in the 35% tax bracket. Corporate tax is 30% of its before tax income. This means that for each dollar that you invest you need to get at least $1/ (1-0.35) =$1.54 just in order to breakeven. So the corporation will have to generate $1.54/ (1-0.3) =$2.2 for each dollar that you invest in order to return you $1 after tax profit. In most cases, the majority of these GPs in MLPs are other corporate entities setup with the specific purpose of running an MLP. This tax advantage gives an MLP competitive advantage as compared to other corporations when competing for assets. This means a huge advantage for an MLP. Now an MLP is run by a General Partner (GP).
The role of a GP is very important in an MLP. You as an investor in the assets of MLP might have a very limited role or say in its running. You can think of yourself as a sleeping partner in the MLP. In most cases, the majority of these GPs in MLPs are other corporate entities setup with the specific purpose of running an MLP. This tax advantage gives an MLP competitive advantage as compared to other corporations when competing for assets. This means a huge advantage for an MLP. Now an MLP is run by a General Partner (GP). But you don’t have to worry much about the GP. Most GPs do a good job of running the MLP as it is in their financial interests. GPs know that if they don’t make sound management and investment decisions, most of the investors my eventually deicide to divest themselves from the units of the MLP. Now you must know as a limited partner in an MLP, you have limited voting rights. This means when you invest in an MLP, you are giving away the keys of ownership to the GP. This means you are out of the decision making in an MLP.
An MLP is obligated to distribute all available cash back to its unit holders on a quarterly basis, so you will be getting a quarterly income from your units. Secondly as the MLP expands and grows overtime, its units may give you capital gain as well. Investing in MLP units can give you quarterly cash flows as well as appreciation of the unit price.
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Commodity Exchange Traded Funds
Many people are not aware that commodities as an asset class has a lot of potential especially in the 21st century. It is being predicted that the 21st century belongs to the commodities. If you are interested in investing in commodities than you can invest in a commodity mutual fund!
Just buy the shares of the commodity mutual fund and let its NAV appreciate before you can sell for a capital gain. This is the simplest way for you to get involved in investing in commodities as the mutual fund portfolio management will be done by a professional manager and you have to do nothing.
ETFs started off some three decades back but became highly popular as investment vehicles in such a short time. Now, you must have heard about the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are really hot investments these days.
ETFs have many benefits. They trade like stocks but have the diversification advantages of a mutual fund. Now the good thing about investing in ETFs is that they give you the diversification benefits of a mutual fund with very low fees something like 0.7% as compared to 2-4% of the mutual fund. Driven by the growing demand of commodities by the investors many financial institutions are now offering Commodity ETFs.
So how about investing in commodity ETFs? Unlike a mutual fund whose net asset value is calculated at the end of the day and the shares of mutual fund cannot be traded during the day, you can go both long or short on ETFs all the time. Something you cannot do with a mutual fund! ETFs have the added benefit of being able to trade like stocks giving you the powerful combination of diversification and liquidity. Trade your ETF shares just like you trade your stock shares. Anytime go long or short!
ETFs are mostly constructed to mimic some market sector index. Sector ETFs are a hot investment right now. Now, you can find thousands of ETFs in the market on different market sectors, stock indexes, currencies, commodities and so on. This diversification plus liquidity benefit makes an ETF a better investment tool as compared to the mutual fund and the stocks.
The first Commodity ETF in US was launched by Deutsche Bank in the start of 2006. The Deutsche Bank Commodity Index Tracking Fund is listed on AMEX and tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index. This index is based on a basket of six commodities: light sweet crude oil, heating oil, gold, aluminum, corn and wheat.
Now, every month a new ETF gets launched. There are a number of Commodity ETFs that track individual commodities like crude oil, gold and silver. Do your research on Commodity ETFs, you may find a good investment. This ETF invests directly in the commodity futures contract. Now one of the downsides of investing in this Commodity ETFs is that it can be fairly volatile as it is based on commodity futures contracts that get rolled monthly. Another downside to this Commodity ETF is that it is based on a basket of six commodities only.
Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading !
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Master Limited Partnership (Part II)
The reason MLPs exist is to distribute all available cash back to the MLP unit holders. As said, this has to be done on a quarterly basis. The following factors are considered before determining the amount of cash distributed to each individual investor:
1) How many units you hold as an MLP investor. 2) The incentive distribution rights created for the GP. 3) The difference between the total cash flow and the cash flow ploughed back into the MLP for futures growth.
You must do your due diligence while making your investment decisions. There are always pros and cons of each investment vehicle! So once you decide to invest in commodities, you have many investment options like mutual funds, stocks, ETFs as well as MLPs.
Investing in MLPs is quite simple. Since an MLP is a publicly traded entity. You can simply invest in an MLP by calling your broker and telling him or her how many units of a particular MLP you are interested in buying. So investing in an MLP is just like investing in stocks.
There are not many MLPs registered in US. Something like 50 MLPs is being publicly traded in the United States. Out of these 50, 40 are energy MLPs meaning that they are involved in the storage terminals, pipelines, transportation, refining and distribution. Majority of MLPs trade on NYSE with a few trading on NASDAQ and AMEX! So you don’t have to do your research from a long list of MLPs. MLP sector is growing.
Moreover, investing in pipelines and other energy infrastructure offers steady cash flow streams for an MLP. You only need to remember this 90% of the income that comes to an MLP should come from the production and distribution of commodities for these MLPs to have the tax exempt status.
So when you invest in an MLP, you should look for answers to the following questions: 1) What’s the historical payout of the MLP? 2) How much is the cash flow? And so on. If your brokerage firm has published some research on the MLPs, you can reference that.
Don’t forget there is always some risk involved in any investment. The more return you demand, the more risk you will have to take. Now investing in MLPs do come with some risks like most of the infrastructure is like pipelines and drilling rigs that are vulnerable to natural disasters and earth quakes like the Hurricane Katrina, so any such event can have a negative impact on your investment.
Another factor that you need to take into account is the liquidity of your investment. Since the MLP is fairly small at this moment, there can be liquidity issues in withdrawing your investment from an MLP. These are some of the risk that you can face while investing in an MLP. There is another risk related with the management. You don’t have much say in the management of the MLP. Running an MLP is basically a GP show. If you are not satisfied with the performance of the management or its policies only thing that you can do is to withdraw your investment from that MLP.
Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading !
Holidays And The Markets
October is the month in which the most infamous crashes historically took place. The party starts in December and continues in the early part of January with some hangover effect. So what is the January Effect?
New Year is the end of a year and the beginning of a new year. This is what makes the January Effect so special. There is usually a rally in the stocks in the first few days of January. There are various reasons behind the rally. Most of the people are trying to pay their taxes at that time of the year. The companies are trying to show a good performance at the end of the year by cleaning their balance sheets. The January Effect can be quite a rally but much depends on the strength of the economy, how good December was and is there any catalyst to move the markets. There is usually a significant rally in the early part of January that actually sets the tone for the rest of the month and sometimes for the rest of the year. New Year is party time. People are in exuberant mood. Everyone wants to forget the past year and start the coming year with high hopes and good expectations. This is what is so special about the January Effect. So what is this January Effect? January Effect actually starts in the mid December and tends to favor small stocks. The most profitable period as measured statistically has been found to start from December 31st and end around February 28th with an average rate of return of 6.6% on smaller stocks.
Now, you must know this fact that the January Effect is not guaranteed every year. The best example is the year 2007 when the market became bearish and didnt start to look to bottom out until March 2008. Now January Effect may happen or may not happen but the turn of the month that is the last day of the month and first five days of the next month form a very good seasonal pattern.
But the end of each month tends to be good for trading. Turn of the month is a very good seasonal pattern that actually holds up more often than not. Chances are you are going to make some profit if you buy stocks at the last day of the month and hold them for the first five days for the next month. This can be a good swing trading strategy. At the end of the fifth day you move your money back into the money market funds.
This system works because the pension funds tend to put new money to work during the holidays and the overall tendency of the market to rise improves. You can do the same on the holidays. Move your money in on the day before the holiday and sell it on the day after the holiday.
The holidays and those times when people traditionally take vacations often lead to higher prices. Fewer traders lead to lower trading volume which in turn tends to exaggerate price moves. People start to feel happy when the holidays approach and buy stocks before they run off to celebrate Christmas, the fourth of July, the Labor Day and so on. After the party the reality sets in the stocks are usually sold off.
Thats because these days fall within the most bullish time period of the year, winter! The three days before the New Year Eve and the first three days trading days after the New Year are your best holiday bet for making money. You must learn these patterns in the market that you can use to make good profits when the end of the month comes and when the holidays come. Nothing is guaranteed. But if you follow these patterns you will definitely find something in them.
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Investment in Mutual Funds
There are, of course, various ways that you can use the money that you have worked for and investing in a mutual fund is just one of the ways. Furthermore, the many different mutual funds have many interesting options for you to examine. However, you will also need to sort the wheat from the chaff in mutual funds in order to decide which are most suited for your requirements.
At the moment, you will probably find that Janus, Fidelity Funds and the Vanguard Group are among the best mutual funds available. The first thing to do is look how the funds compare with each other. There are many articles to provide you with the information you need for choosing the best mutual funds.
Before you invest in a mutual fund, you will need to understand what a mutual fund is and how it could be of help to you. Basically a mutual fund is an investment company and this investment company pools the money of its investors together. It then uses this money to buy different kinds of stocks and bonds.
Every investor owns a percentage of the various stocks and bonds that are in the portfolio equal to the amount he put in. The professional fund managers in the corporation try to keep the clients’ portfolio growing by investing in rising stocks, shares and bonds. Although, I have over-simplified this, I hope that it helps the novice to understand how mutual groups work. However, if you need further information, you can get it from the Internet or from a trusted financial adviser.
The best way to look for the right mutual fund is to be methodical. There are just so many mutual funds on the market, that it is very difficult to know which are the best mutual funds to invest in. You can look at the columns in the Morningstar to see which of the mutual funds are performing well. This preliminary research will help you see the direction the mutual funds you are interested in are heading.
Once you have chosen a few of the best mutual groups to investigate further, you should see what sorts of funds are being offered. As some of these funds have hidden charges, it pays to understand what these funds are really. You will find this information on the Internet, in the financial press or you can ask someone to clarify the details for you.
Even though almost all of the mutual funds offer reasonably good investment opportunities, there are always risks for potential clients. Therefore, you should give the matter of investing your money in mutual funds some serious thought. The bottom line is that no matter how exceptionally the best mutual funds are performing today, tomorrow is another day, so take your time and invest your money carefully.
If you are interested in Investing in Mutual Funds or investing in general, please visit our web site entitled Investing in Mutual Funds
Different Stop Loss Orders
Risk management is an important part of any trading decision. One important way to control your trading risk is by setting stop loss exits. A stop loss exit is a practical tool used in risk management. However, there is an art of developing the right stop loss exit strategy.
On the one hand, you dont want to get too liberal with your stops that you never lock in a profit. On the other hand, you dont want to set too tight stops that you constantly get bumped out of the market.
Entry and exit for each trade is very important. Your exits must be carefully coordinated with your entries. The topic of setting stop loss exits generally falls under the heading of trading systems. This is a trading skill that you can only learn with experience.
How many stop loss types you can use in trading? There are a variety of stops that you can incorporate into your trading system. The following sevens are the most valuable:
1. Initial Stop: This stop is identified before you enter the market. This is the first stop set at the very beginning of the trade. The initial stop is also used to calculate your position size. It is the largest loss that you are going to take in the current trade.
2. Trailing Stop: Trailing stops develop as the market develops. The trailing stop lets you lock in profit as the market moves in your favor.
3. Resistance Stop: This is a form of a trailing stop used in trends. A resistance stop is placed just under the countertrend pullbacks in a trend.
4. Three Bar Trailing Stop: Every trend is bound to reverse at some price. Many traders cant anticipate a trend reversal and lose the unrealized gains when there is a sudden trend reversal. This stop is used in a trend when the market seems to be losing momentum and you anticipate a reversal in trend.
5. One Bar Trailing Stop: This stop is used when there is a breakaway market and you want to lock in profits. When the prices have reached your profit target zone, use this stop after three to five bars move strongly in your favor.
6. Trendline Stop: Use this stop when you are riding an uptrend or a downtrend. You always want to get out when the prices close on the opposite side of the trendline. Use a Trendline Stop placed under the lows in an uptrend or on top of highs in a downtrend.
7. Regression Channel Stop: Stops are placed on the outside of the lows of the channel on uptrends and outside the highs of the channel in downtrends. A regression channel forms a channel between the highs and lows of the trend and usually represents the width of the trend channel. Prices should close outside the channel for the stop to be taken.
If you find yourself being stopped out too frequently or if you seem to be getting out of the trend too early then most probably you are trading with a fearful mindset. Try to overcome your fear and place your stops at reasonable places in the market.
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Euro Currency (Part I)
EU has emerged as a major global political and economic power block in recent decades. The European Union consists of fifteen member countries that include the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and the United Kingdom.
All these above countries share the common currency Euro except Denmark, Sweden and United Kingdom. These 12 common currency countries constitute the European Monetary Union (EMU). These 12 countries share a single monetary policy dictated by the European Central Bank (ECB).
EMU has a highly developed and efficient fixed income, equity and the futures market. The EMU is the worlds second largest economic powerhouse after the United States. This makes EMU the second most attractive investment market for domestic and international investors.
Historically US assets have had solid returns. As a result, United States absorbs something like 70% of the total foreign savings. In the past, EMU had difficulty in attracting foreign direct investment or large capital inflows. The primary reason was the United States.
However, with the EMU beginning to incorporate even more members in Eastern Europe, Euros importance is expected to increase. Induction of new members will further increase the size of EMU. The capital flows to Europe is expected to increase as well.
EMU is in fact a trade driven and a capital flow driven economy. Trade is very important to the national economies within EMU. Demand for Euro is expected to continue rising with foreign central banks expected to diversify their Euro reserve holdings even further away from US Dollar. In fact Euro provides a hedge against US Dollar reserves. If the EUR/USD pair goes up, it means US Dollar is losing value and if it goes down, it means US Dollar is gaining strength.
EU exports comprise almost 20% of the world trade. While EU accounts for only 17% of the world imports! Because of the size of the EMUs trade with the rest of the world, it has significant power in the international trade arena. Unlike United States, EMU does not have large trade deficit or surplus.
The formation of EU allows individual member countries to group as one entity and negotiates on an equal playing field with the United States. United States is the largest trading partner of EU. International clout is one of the primary reasons in the formation of EU.
Leading import sources for EU are United States, Japan, China, Switzerland and Russia. Leading export markets for EU are the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Poland and China.
Manufacturing, mining and utilities account for around 20% of the EU economy while services account for more than 70% of the EU economy. EU is primarily a service oriented economy. While outsourcing most of their manufacturing to Asia, large numbers of EU based companies concentrate their research, design, innovation and marketing part of the activity in EU.
It is important for most of the countries to hold large amounts of reserve currencies to reduce exchange rate risk and transaction costs. Most international trade transactions involve the British Pound, the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar.
Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try Strignano’s Forex Signals free. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot Trading System!
Planning For Retirement With IRA’s
Retirement plans have special tax advantages, but they also suffer from tax regulations. Two benefits would be that you are able to get a tax break if you contribute to a retirement plan and you are also able to have your retirement income grow tax free. The regulations include things such as limits on annual contributions, frequency of contributions, and the total size of each contributions. Before jumping into a specific IRA plan it is wise to weigh your options in order to find the plan that is right for you. There are two basic categories to choose from; you can either go with an IRA or an employer-sponsored plan.
IRAs are very popular because they are so easy to setup and also easy to maintain. A person does not need employer approval to open an IRA and you can contribute as much as you want to the account, as long as you do not exceed the annual limits). Below are the three main types of IRAs.
Traditional IRA. With this type of IRA you are able to let your assets grow on a tax-deferred basis. This is advantageous because you will not have to pay taxes on your assets until you withdraw funds from your account.
The amount that you can contribute is dependent on statutory limits, your age, and your earned income. The maximum you can contribute is equal to your earned income. Earned income is income from wages and self-employment. Investment income is not considered earned income. There is also a catch-up provision for those that are 50 years old or older. This provision allows you to make larger contributions than normal. Additionally, your spouse can use some of your income to contribute to his or her account. However, if you have reached age 70 at the end of the year of your contribution then you are no longer allowed to make contributions.
Before contributing to a traditional IRA, be sure you wouldn’t be better served by contributing to another IRA type, such as a Roth IRA, or to an employer’s 401(k) plan.
One factor that may affect your decision is the deductibility of your contribution. Your income level and other factors will determine if your contribution to a traditional IRA will be fully deductible. If neither you nor your spouse is eligible to participate in an employer-sponsored plan, your contribution is deductible no matter how much income you earn. But if you or your spouse is eligible, your tax deduction for making an IRA contribution may be reduced or completely eliminated depending on your adjusted gross income (AGI).
For those that are not able to make a deduction contribution, making a nondeductible contribution is a viable option. You will still be able to enjoy tax-deferred growth on your retirement account. Additionally, if you wait until you are age 59 you can withdraw your funds and only be taxed on earnings.
Roth IRA. You are able to contribute the same amount to a Roth IRA as you are able to contribute to a traditional IRA. The real difference between the two is their eligibility rules, such as the lack of an age limit with respect to contributions. This disregard for the age limit is only applicable if you meet the earned income requirement.
The total amount of your annual contribution to IRAs can never be larger than the defined limit. That being said, if you are eligible you can contribute all of your income to a traditional or all of your income to a Roth IRA. You are even allowed to split your contribution between the two different IRA?s.
It is important to keep in mind that you are not able to claim a deduction for your contributions with a Roth IRA. However, you are able to withdraw all IRA earnings without tax after you reach age 59. This only applies if you have had the account for at least 5 years.
Traditional IRAs also have required minimum distribution rules that must be followed, Roth IRAs do not have such restrictions.
If you already have a traditional IRA you may be able to convert a portion, or even all, of your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. You will have to do a cost-benefit analysis to see if the benefit from the conversion will outweigh the added tax obligations that result from changing the plan.
Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA. A SEP IRA provides self-employed individuals a way to make more significant retirement contributions than would be available to them through a traditional or Roth IRA. Funds are treated, for tax purposes, the same as IRA funds; you may claim a deduction for your contributions, and distributions will be taxed. But the contribution limits can be much higher.
This data is distributed for informational purposes only; Doeren Mayhew is not rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinions and assumes no legal responsibility. Contact Doeren Mayhew for more information.