Archives: 2009 April

Hoping and praying that the stocks that you just bought will go up is not the best strategy to use, however it is the one very often used by the average Joe stock trader who is stock trading internet. The only salvation they have is that in bull markets most stocks will go up.

Statistics show that in a bull market about 75% of the stocks will follow the general trend and go up, and in a bear market 75% will also go down. Trading with the trend is the best way to trade as 9 out of 12 stocks will follow the trend and give you the best chance of making gains on your stock purchases.

But what if you own some good stocks and don’t want to sell when the market is clearly going down, or about to go down?. There are a couple of tactics that you can consider, both of which involve the use of options, CALL options and PUT options. There is the widely known strategy called Covered Calls, and the much lesser known one called the Married Put.

Buying mutual funds in the Philippines is a trend that a lot of investors follow today. This investment opportunity is popular due to the fact that it offers several advantages over other traditional investment options. If you want to join the bandwagon and invest in mutual funds but dont really know what it is about, then its time for you to be familiar with some general things about the said investment opportunity.

In laymans explanation, mutual funds can be understood as a fund which has an asset base jointly put up by different shareholders which is then invested into several diverse investment vehicles. A fund manager is designated to do all the decision-making regarding the kind of investments the fund will be put into. Invariably, he sees to it that the funds investments will gain maximum returns for the shareholders.

Mutual funds earn income in two ways. One is when the value of security assets increase which is commonly termed as capital gains. The other one is through the interests and dividends earned from the other investments of the fund. Upon earning income, it will then be divided among the shareholders according to the number of shares owned.

Before you initiate the buying process for a new property, you should get a Building surveyor London to survey it. The survey will bring to your attention several factors that an untrained eye would find difficult or impossible to detect. If there is any work that needs to be completed, this will be evident.

It is not a legal obligation to have a survey conducted on the house you intend to buy, but common sense suggests that it is definitely worth the expense. Certainly, it is not worth getting a survey done until you have decided on the property that you want to buy.

A property survey will in most cases save you a lot of money simply because the surveyor London will identify any structural problems and inform you of the likely cost of repairs to bring the property up to full standard.

The s4eller of the property may have had a Home |Condition report conducted while fulfilling his or her obligation in completing a Home Information Pack. Although a Home Condition Report is fairly basic, it will still contain several details about the property that can give a signal as top whether it is still worth pursuing. Getting your own survey done by your own surveyor London will offer the best guidance though.

Fixed rate mortgages, also known as FRMs are a type of home loan that locks in a particular interest rate for the duration of the term of the mortgage. Whereas other types of mortgages have interest rates that fluctuate over the course of the term based on economic factors (like: adjustable rate home loans) fixed rate mortgages offer a guaranteed rate that will not change for however long the term of the loan is set for. Variations of fixed mortgages such as mortgages that offer a fixed rate for a percentage of the term (often 50/50) have recently gained in popularity as they offer the potential to renegotiate for a better interest rate.

It should be noted that though your interest and principal payment amounts will not change over the course of the mortgage term, payments may vary slightly. This occurs because of any additional costs typically held in escrow for the home and can include: home insurance, any fees (such as condo fees) and of course property taxes.

Key factors that characterized fixed rate home loans are: fixed rate of interest, this includes the loan amount, length of the mortgages term and compounded interest. It is with these factors that you may successfully calculate your average monthly payment amount.

Interest Rates … Interest Rates … Interest Rates.

They have dominated our newspaper frontage, television time and party talk for the last 18 to 19 months. And we have been lulled into the belief that a lower interest rate is automatically better than a higher interest rate. Yet many of us are fast learning that this is not always the case. What we see is NOT what we, always, get.

Recently, newspaper advertisements and online advertisements in particular were grabbing the headlines with statements similar to the following:

“2% above base – nothing lower around”

“Fantastic Fixed Rate of 3.93%”

“2.01% – Best Mortgage Rate Available … Anywhere”

You would be right to think the above advertisements are simply based on real-world ads. (We don’t wish to infringe on anyone’s copyright or upset any lender inadvertently!) But it is worth remembering that the rates shown are very close indeed to those offered recently; interest rates that are designed to stop us dead in our tracks and pay attention.

The interest rate is primarily a headline grabbing device. The rate being promoted is real, of course, but the lender’s criteria to achieve that rate will often prevent many borrowers from ever getting it.