What You Will Need to Follow This Tutorial

Before you can walk through the steps for drawing and analyze trendlines for your stock picks, you will need to follow a few initial steps to prepare for this tutorial. A trendline analysis is a rather straightforward process to complete, but it does require that you have the right data in front of you before you can draw the analytical lines.

Select Your Stocks Through Fundamental Analysis

It is unreasonable to plan to draw trendlines on dozens or hundreds of stocks, so you must first make a few stock picks to analyze more carefully. A fundamental analysis of stocks will help you to determine which stocks to purchase, and a technical analysis of trendlines will tell you when to buy the stocks. Therefore, the first step in the process is to use a fundamental analysis process to pick the stocks that you want to draw a trendline for. Consider what your driving factors are for narrowing down the options that you want to complete a fundamental analysis on.

Determine Your Timing Interval

The creation of a trendline takes any two or more points on an earnings or stock price graph. A straight line is drawn between these points, and this line should not curve or bend in any way. As an investor, you may be well aware that the graph of a stock price can look significantly different if you zoom into the stock prices based on a single day’s numbers versus if you zoom out to prices over the course of several days or weeks. Your trendline data points should take into account how long you plan to hold the stock. Keep in mind that investors who choose companies that are fundamentally weak usually hold a stock for the short term. Long holds are typically desired for companies that are fundamentally strong. If you plan to sell the stock within a few days, for example, you may want to look at a five-day chart to create your trendline.

Select Your Points

Many investors who draw a trendline for a specific stock will look at a detailed analysis of prices as they move throughout the day over a specific interval of time. Therefore, there will not usually be a minimum of two points. Instead, there may be hundreds of points that all go generally upward or downward in a trend or visible fashion. When selecting your points, however, you want to pick the troughs or low points when you spot an upward trend. If you spot a downward trend, the points you select should be peaks or high points over the time frame.

Consider Using a Software Program for Easier Drawing and Analysis

Drawing and analyzing a trendline can seem easy, but you can draw dozens of trendlines on different stock picks based on different timing intervals before you make a decision about when and how to trade. With this in mind, it may be a time-saving measure for active investors to carefully select a software program that is designed specifically for this purpose. There are several affordable options available to consider that each have different benefits and features. For example, some will take into account your desired time frame and will instantly create graphs of trendlines for side by side analysis This is a timesaving feature that may help you to make better stock investment decisions.

Trendlines – Step-by-Step Instructions

If you have decided to draw trendlines for stock analysis on your own, you may be wondering what it takes to draw and analyze these lines. You can walk through these step-by-step instructions to understand the basics of this process.

Walk Through the Fundamental Analysis Process to Pick Your Stocks

Initially, you should pick a handful of stocks that you may be interested in investing in. Each investor has different reasons for choosing to invest in specific companies. For example, you may want to diversify your portfolio into the biotech sector, so you may only be looking at biotech stocks today. A fundamental analysis of each of the companies is necessary as a first step because this type of analysis tells you which companies are strongest and are worthier of your investment. Pay attention to the price per earnings ratio, company management, market saturation, growth plans for the future, company debt and other factors. Keep in mind that a weak company does not necessarily mean that you should not invest in the company. Some investors will profitability invest in weak companies with a short-term hold. Determining if a company is weak or strong from a fundamental standpoint can tell you which companies are more well-suited for the length of hold you had planned. Your analysis of how strong or weak a company is also will be important later when you analyze the trendlines of the stock prices.

Choose Your Points Carefully

Based on your investment plans as well as your fundamental analysis of the company, you can better determine the time frame of stock prices that you should be analyzing. All stock prices have their highs and lows when you look at the prices over a specific time interval. However, through a basic visual review of the graph for the time interval you have selected, you can determine if the stock prices have an upward or a downward trend. For an upward trend, you will pick two or more points that are valleys or the lowest dips in stock prices. For a downward trend, you will pick two or more of the highest points. The best trendline will incorporate three or more points into a line rather than relying only on two points. The more points you can incorporate into your line, the more accurate your analysis will be. Remember that connecting different points that are farther away from each other can alter the slope of the line. It may also make it impossible to connect some points in between the endpoints you have selected.

Draw Your Trendline

After you have selected the uppermost points to connect in a line for an downward trend or the lowermost points to connect for an upward trending line, you can connect the points in a line. The line should be straight rather than curved or bent. There may be cases when a stock price trends upward and then downward or vice versa over the time interval that you have selected. When this happens, you should analyze both trends on either side of the significant peak or valley. Keep in mind that a stock that has been steadily trending downward and has only recently started to trend upward requires special analysis to determine if the stock will continue to trend upward in the future. When this happens, it is also important to research why the trendline changed directions. Therefore, the analysis of your graph is open to some interpretation.

Know How to Analyze the Graph

Generally, a trendline that has more points is determined to be a more reliable predictor of what prices may do going forward. In addition, a trendline that has a steeper slope upward or downward is a riskier investment than one that has a more gradual slope. Therefore, you need to analyze the slope of the line, the number of points used to create the trendline and the timeframe that was used to determine how you should use the data that you now have. You also need to consider how evenly the points are spaced. When the slope of the line is heavily dictated by two or more points closely clustered to together or very far apart, the validity of the line many be in question. In some cases, you may have one or two sharp drops below the line that you did not want to use in your trend line analysis. You may have a justified reason for not including these points in your analysis. However, generally, a reliable trendline will not have any points that break below or above the line.

Avoid Manipulating the Graph Based on Wishful Thinking

As you might imagine, it is easy for investors to manipulate the analysis of trendlines to justify their emotional impulses to buy or sell stocks. For example, an investor who may be looking for a justifiable or quantifiable reason to sell a stock that has only recently started to decline in price may narrow the trendline time frame to a very short period of time. As an investor, it is important that you remember the fundamental rules regarding the analysis of trendlines. These include the need to select points that are reasonably spaced apart. You also should be particularly weary of trendlines that were drawn with peaks or troughs that were disregarded for a specific reason. Remember that the most reliable trend line does not have any breaks in it. In addition, take note that stock prices do move regularly. Because of this, it is important to continue to monitor stocks carefully that seem to have a changing trendline direction. The slope and direction of trendlines can change rather dramatically over a rather short period of time. If you decide to act based in part on a trendline, you should act quickly.

Determine When and How to Act Based on the Trendline Data

A trendline is an excellent analytical tool for investors to use when trying to time investment activity. However, this is a tool that also can be misused easily because it can be manipulated. If you want to better analyze the data and know when and how to act based on trendline data, you must also take into account the trough and peak analysis and other relevant analytical factors. Furthermore, it is important to note how far above or below the trendline the price closed at. The farther away the closing price of the stock is from the trendline, the more likely you are to be seeing a change signal in the trendline. Remember that change signals in trendlines are more ideal for investment activity, and you should study how to read and analyze trade signals in order ot be a smarter and more profitable investor.

As you can see, drawing a trendline seems rather straightforward, but it is easy to use bad points or to analyze the data incorrectly. Understanding more about how trendlines are accurately drawn and analyzed can help you to become a savvier investor. Remember to always take a trend line analysis into consideration with other analytical details so that you can form a more well-rounded decision. Avoid solely relying on this form of analysis to make your decision. Please leave your comments about the article in the space provided below, and share the article with your fellow investors if you believe it would be helpful to them.

Unfortunately, making good financial decisions is easier said than done, and it is easy for you to lose all your life savings if you don’t know what you’re doing. Therefore, the first investment you should make is in your education: learn how to read the market along with the specific direction a financial asset is taking.

how to spot a downtrend and how to trade it

Taking the first step in your education, we will discuss how to spot a downtrend plus what to do when you see one. Honing this ability will help you minimize your losses when the market takes a dive, and if you get really good at spotting downtrends, you can make huge profits off of it.

what you will need for this journey?

Before beginning our financial journey, we need to take a few things along with us: we need to familiarize ourselves with the lingo used by financial analysts as well as the tools they rely on. Not only will this facilitate matters for us, it will also help you in all your future excursions.

Another thing you need to know is that there are two main roads we can take: that of fundamental analysis and that of technical analysis. Fundamental analysis studies the asset itself and tries to compare the asset’s inherent value with its market value, whereas technical analysis is more concerned with the market price of the asset and how that’s changed over time. Throughout this article, we will be focused on technical analysis. Nevertheless, you should also explore fundamental analysis and learn how to combine both approaches

1. Important definitions:

a. technical analysis:

Technical analysis tracks the history of price movements in addition to the volume of trade, while completely disregarding the underlying asset. The main idea is that the price of an asset should ideally reflect all the relevant information about said asset. Moreover, prices of assets tend to move in what’s known as a trend. For example, if a price is going up, it will probably keep going up for a while before changing direction. Over and above, trends tend to be predictable, due in part to the fact that a main determinant of price is how investors and traders react to fluctuations and new information. These reactions aren’t that hard to anticipate, thanks to historical records.

b. Time period:

Seeing as technical analysis studies the price movements of an asset over a period of time, it comes as no surprise that we need to first define our period of time. For example, we could study how the price of an asset changes every day versus how the price of the same asset changes every hour. In the first scenario, our time period is a single day, while, in the latter scenario, our time period is an hour.

c. Price point:

A price point is basically the price of an asset at a moment in time. For any given time period, technical analysts hone in on four special price points:

i. Opening price: at the beginning of a time period, the price of an asset is recorded and dubbed the opening price.

ii. Closing price: at the end of a time period, the price of an asset is recorded and dubbed the closing price.

iii. High price: during a time period, the highest price an asset reaches is recorded and dubbed the high price.

iv. Low price: during a time period, the lowest price an asset reaches is recorded and dubbed the low price.

Let’s take a look at an example:

(Click the image to see it full size)

Suppose that we have been studying the price of gold over a time period of a day. On the 27th of March, an ounce of gold cost 1247.20 dollars at the beginning of the day, which is the opening price. Conversely, at the end of the day, an ounce of gold cost 1258.8 dollars, which is the closing price. During the day, the highest price an ounce of gold attained was 1264.2, which was the day’s high price. On the other hand, the lowest price an ounce of gold hit that day was 1247.20, which was the day’s low price.

If you’ve been paying attention so far, you’ll have noticed that the opening price and the low price of gold was the same that day. This shows that on march 27th, the price of gold kept increasing that day, and the demand was higher than the supply.

d. Trends:

It is not particularly easy to agree on a definition for trends, but, all the same, here it goes: A trend is the general direction in which an asset’s price is headed. Naturally, the price of an asset rarely skyrockets in a single direction. Instead, the price of an asset tends to move up and down, with the general direction being consistent for a period of time. Bear in mind that this applies to any publicly traded security or commodity, including the Forex.

Trends can be divided in one of two ways: direction-wise or time-wise.

When it comes to directions, trends can go in one of three ways:

• An uptrend is when the price of an asset is generally increasing. It is usually marked by the fact that each high and low is higher than the one preceding it.

• A downtrend is when the price of an asset is generally decreasing. It is usually marked by the fact that each high and low is lower than the one preceding it.

• Sideway/ horizontal trends is when the price of an asset is generally neither increasing nor decreasing. In this case, an asset’s price might fluctuate, but its average price is more or less constant.

(Click the image to see it full size)

On the other hand, analyzing trends according to their time length gives you three possibilities:

• A short term trend is one that takes place in less than a month.

• A medium term trend is one that takes place in a time frame between a month and three months.

• A long term trend is one that takes place for longer than a year.

You should bear in mind that the longer the trend, the more significant it is: it can be more trusted, and a reversal of this trend is a much more meaningful than the reversal of a shorter one. Also, each long trend consists of medium trends, which in turn are made up of short trends. It is for these reasons and more that trend analysis plays a huge part in technical analysis. If anything, the whole objective of technical analysis can be summed up in one notion: forecasting trends with a high level of confidence.

e. Position:

Let’s agree that a position is where an investor situates themselves relative to a particular asset. This will be made much clearer through the use of examples:

• An investor who’s secured a buy position intends to buy a specific asset at a particular price.

• An investor who’s secured a sell position intends to sell a specific asset at a particular price.

• An investor who’s secured a long position intends to bet on the asset. They plan to buy an asset and hold onto it for a period of time till it appreciates in value.

• An investor who’s secured a short position intends to bet against the asset. They plan to sell the asset today for its fair market value. Afterwards, when the asset depreciates in value, the same investor will purchase the asset at the reduced price, and their profit will be the difference between their sell price and their later buy price.

2. Important tools:

Having gathered some important definitions, let’s move on and construct a few useful tools:

a. Charts:

Our current focus on historical data compels us to consider ways of presenting this information in a more concise and digestible form. This is where compact visual representations, a.k.a. charts, come in.

There are numerous kinds of charts, but, for our purposes, we will focus on candlestick charts only.

The vertical axis of a candlestick chart represents the prices, while the horizontal axis denotes the time period. The horizontal axis could display how the asset changed price over a period of hours, days, weeks, months, or years, depending on the set time period.

However, the true value of a candlestick chart lies in the amount of information each candle gives off. Each candle is composed of a body and a wick and has a unique color that gives off a particular meaning hence giving you all the price points you could possibly need. To elaborate further, I’ll explain each aspect separately:

• The candle’s color symbolizes whether the price of the asset appreciated or depreciated over the time period of the candle. Assets that appreciate in value are usually symbolized by a body that’s colored green or left empty. On the flipside of the coin, assets that depreciate in value are marked by a candle body that’s colored red or black.

• The candle’s body represents the opening and closing price of the asset over the time period. If a candle has a green body, meaning that the underlying asset increased in value, then the bottom of the body represents the opening price and the top of the body represents the closing price. Naturally, the opposite would be true had the candle had a red body.

• The candle’s wicks represent the high and low prices of the time period. Needless to say, the upper wick represents the high price, regardless of the color of the candle. The same applies to the lower wick.

Besides giving off all the necessary price points pertaining to a time period, candlesticks tend to form patterns that can allude to future price movements. For example, a doji, which is a kind of candlestick, may signify something, yet a hammer can be screaming something else entirely. Moreover, groups of candlesticks can give off their own meanings also: a bullish engulfing and a rising sun are two completely different patterns, but they may have similar implications.

Nevertheless, you don’t have to worry about all of this; I will not ask you to remember any patterns or to memorize any shapes. Rather, I’ll give you a simple rule of thumb for you to follow:

Try comparing the body of a candle with its wicks. If the body is much larger than the wicks, then this signifies the certainty the market has in the value of the asset. As a result, it is a safe bet that whatever trend the asset is experiencing will continue. Conversely, wicks that are much larger than the body exhibit uncertainty, and there is a large possibility that a current trend will reverse. Of course, there are several shapes that go beyond this simple breakdown: a candle could have a long lower wick, a relatively small body, and a non-existent upper wick (in which case the candle is called a hammer). This type of candle may signify something unique, depending on the context. Yet, for all intents and purposes, our simpler rule of thumb will serve us just fine.

b. Support and resistance levels and trend lines:

When the price of an asset fluctuates, there is always method to the way in which this fluctuation happens. The price usually exhibits a certain sense of constraint that can be identified through support and resistance levels. In other words, a support or resistance level is a line which the price has been unable to break, despite trying more than once. So, a support is a line that prevents the price from dropping beyond a certain limit, and a resistance stops the price from rising above a certain limit.

The significance of a support or resistance line can be attributed to its predictive capabilities: when you see the price of an asset approach a support or resistance line, you can bet that the current trend is bound to reverse. In addition, should the price break through this support or resistance, the line’s role will be reversed. To put it in more solid terms, a support level that is broken becomes a resistance level, and the opposite tends to be true.

(Click the image to see it full size)

So “how do we identify support and resistance levels?” I hear you say. Well, there are several methodologies:

• By drawing horizontal lines that touch the price chart in more than one place, we can discern support and resistance levels. Interestingly enough, round numbers tend to play a big role in this exercise; history tells us that round numbers tend to be excellent support and resistance levels. This may have something to do with our innate psychological dispositions plus our affinity for round numbers.

• Another tool is the use of Fibonacci retracement levels, but we won’t really delve into them here.

• You can also find support or resistance levels by drawing trend lines. Trend lines are lines that aren’t necessarily horizontal but confine the price chart one way or another. You can draw them by finding several reversal points that lie on the same straight line. Furthermore, you can draw a channel should you be able to draw a support trend line along with a resistance trend line.

(Click the image to see it full size)

Obviously, all of this seems good and well, but how can we have any confidence in these support and resistance lines? After all, we are the ones who draw them. Now seems the perfect time to introduce the concept of IRATE criteria, which are used to judge the dependability of a support or resistance line. IRATE stands for indicators, round numbers, age, and tested. You don’t have to know all of these criteria, yet it doesn’t hurt to at least understand most of them:

• Indicators:Momentum indicators, or forex trend indicators, give us clues about how strong a trend is as well as how likely it is to continue. Some examples of indicators are moving average crossovers, oscillators, and double Bollinger barrels.

• Round numbers:As mentioned earlier, round numbers usually play excellent support and resistance levels. Therefore, you should have much more faith in a support level at 50 dollars than another support level at 47.23 dollars.

• Age: Just as longer trends are more significant than shorter ones, older support and resistance levels are more significant than newer ones.

• Tested: When we ask ourselves how tested is this support or resistance level, we are trying to investigate how many times this level was able to halt the progress of the price. The more times the support or resistance level held firm, the more faith we have in it.

c. Other useful tools:

Having answered fundamental questions such as what is a trend? What is a trend line? How to identify a trend’s performance? How to draw a trend line? We can now build off of this information in numerous ways:

• We can choose to adopt trend following strategies, where we patiently wait and see where the market is heading and then ride that wave. This is known as using trend trading systems, and it is a valid way to play the market.

• For the more diligent among us, there are numerous chart patterns that derive their shape from their trend lines: head and shoulders, double top, and triple top, to name a few. Each chart pattern produces a market trend signal, if you will, that notifies traders of the next direction the current trend will take.

d. A platform to observe your assets from:

Apart from the knowledge, you will also need the technical tools that will enable you to observe your investments in action. If you choose to invest in the forex market, then I suggest you look for a good platform to trade on as well as monitor your money, such as Meta Trader 4. Conversely, if you choose to invest in the stock market, you’re better off depending on a reliable website like stockmarketwatch.

Time to go on your journey:

It hasn’t been an easy journey so far, but now that we have all the prerequisite information to start targeting downtrends, let’s take a look at what actually needs to be done:

1. Define your objectives:

Before you embark on your hunt, you need to be clear on a few topics:

• How much money do you have? How much of it are you willing to risk?

• How much risk are you willing to expose yourself to?

• Do you want to invest in a few assets or do you want to play the general market?

• How important is it for you to beat the general market?

Answering these questions may require you to include your significant other in the discussion.

2. Begin your search:

Depending on the objectives you’ve stated in the previous question, you can either choose to follow the progress of a few assets or choose to closely monitor the general market. In both scenarios, keeping a watchful eye is only part of the equation; you need to know what to look for.

I will suggest a strategy called price action trading, where you trade based off of the price itself. It is a simple strategy that is suitable for every beginner:

• Start by drawing the main trend lines. This should give you a much clearer view of where the asset is headed. You can try drawing horizontal support and resistance levels or more oblique trend lines. You should just remember the IRATE criteria in all cases.

• Pay attention to each individual candle, and try to figure out what it is telling you.

• Bear in mind that a single signal on its own is not nearly as potent as a group of signals taken together. It’s the same difference between judging a painting from just looking at the corner part versus taking the whole painting into consideration. Consequently, the more signals you are able to incorporate, the more of a holistic picture you’ll see.

(Click the image to see it full size)

3. Identify the downtrend:

There are two types of downtrends to look out for:

• The first is the continuation of an ongoing downtrend.

• The second is the reversal of an uptrend.

Each type of downtrend can be identified in different ways:

• When an asset is in the middle of a downtrend, it isn’t that hard to spot. The trick is to know whether this downtrend will continue on for a while. Therefore, you have to answer questions like is the price close to its support levels? Do the candles display any sense of uncertainty in the market? If the answer to either one of these questions is yes, then you’re better off letting this downtrend go as it might reverse soon.

(Click the image to see it full size)

• When an asset in the middle of an uptrend, you should ask yourself very similar questions to the ones above: is the price close to its resistance levels? Do the candles display any sense of uncertainty in the market? If, and only if, the answer to both these questions is yes, then the asset is probably about to reverse and experience a downtrend.

4. Trade the downtrend:So how do you get started:

In this article, we’ve covered a lot of ground, which should give you the ability to start trading right now. However, there is a world of difference between understanding something and being able to apply it in real life. Hence, what you need now is practice.

My advice for you is to start small and experiment. You can start by looking for cheap stocks to buy, like penny stocks. Although penny stocks are usually unstable investments, think of them as practice for the real thing instead: finding trending penny stocks is no mean feat, and it can prepare you for bigger game. Pretty soon, you’ll be spotting stock trends like a pro.

Another thing to be wary of is how volatile the market can get. It happens. The trick is to have a system and stick to it. So long as you don’t panic, you’ll be fine.

In this tutorial, you’ve learnt the basics of technical analysis as well as how to spot a downtrend and trade it. These skills can prove instrumental when investing your money, especially when it comes to timing your entry or exit.

Please let us know what you think, and if you have anything to add, feel free to do so in the comments.

What I want to answer here, however, is not whether you can write, but where and how to make money from your writing. There are many opportunities, some of which are really good earners.

Writing Jobs

You can chose to write for yourself and your own projects, or for someone else. Here, in the first section, I will cover the latter part; writing jobs, where you write for someone else. There are lots and lots of opportunities out there.

Write Per Hire

Most straightforward way to make money by writing (and by anything else, isn’t it?) is to write for someone and get paid for the job done. That isn’t the best way, but it’s the easiest because it doesn’t require a genius mind to find some writing work. Your options include but are not limited to:

• Paid blogging. There are lots of blog owners looking for quality writers. Check Problogger’s Job Board and you’ll see many open positions for professional bloggers. No, you don’t need to go into some office and work from 9 to 5 and yes, you will get paid for your writing.
• Getting freelance jobs. You can find a lot of writing projects on sites like Guru, Scriptlance and Elance. For more similar sites check Freelance Switch’s Monster List Of Freelance Sites.
• Writing for experts site. Sites like About.com and EHow.com are looking for expert writers for various topics and offer either a revenue share or fixed rate. The big advantage to write for such site as opposed to writing for your own blog or websites is that they already have huge auditory and good SE ranks. So it’s likely that a guide you write for About.com will make you more money than if you write the same guide on your blog. The experts that are accepted on About.com are paid $925+ monthly.
• Other writing per hire. You can also write for people who publish non fiction books and e-books – it’s common that some will just do the market research and invest some money and will outsource the content research and writing. You can make some money as a writer for newspapers and websites too.

On the writing per hire market supply exceeds demand which makes the prices low. There are cheap writers with decent English who will work for $2 – $3 per hour, so if you want to be paid well you need to find a way to distinguish yourself from the crowd.

With this method depending on your writing quality and talent you can expect to earn between $2 – $3 and $20 – $50 per hour (more if you are very good and productive).

Write your blog

A way to get better payment for writing gigs is to get known for your writing by establishing your own blog. But that’s not all – having a blog, of course, is also a direct method to earn alternative income. In my opinion, it’s one of the worst methods to make money for most people but regardless of that, some really talented (or just lucky) bloggers manage to make a lot more than living from it.

If you want to make money by writing your own blog, just good writing skills will not help you enough. You will need to put significant effort in networking with other bloggers, SEO, and advertising. You will probably need to write some posts that you don’t enjoy so much – like plenty of lists and controversial stuff – just to get some noise around your blog.

Writing a blog allows you to make money by advertising, PPC ads like Adsense, selling text links or selling affiliate products. Very often the bigger profits from blogging come in an indirect way. For example, as suggested in the beginning, your blog could bring you lucrative writing contracts (but that only if you are really good).

For more information on professional blogging better check Problogger.

You can expect to earn from $1 to $100,000 monthly or more – it all depends on how popular your blog will become. Unfortunately, the chances to earn $1 are much bigger

Write for your websites

Similar to managing your blog, you could write for your content websites and monetize them with advertising or affiliate marketing (that’s what most people understand as “make money online” anyway). The difference is that static or semi-static websites do not need to be updated constantly like blogs. Your focus will be more on providing useful and accurate information rather than on controversial and “hot” stuff.

Typically content sites are more “niched” and require serious search engine optimization work. The best thing about making static websites is that you can write 10-20 articles on a topic once and then enjoy the passive income for years. That’s at all not as simple as it sounds however – driving traffic and achieving good SEO positions is hard and becomes harder every day as competition grows. If you are planning to earn alternative income by writing mediocre or recycled content, most probably you will be disappointed.

After you create 4-5 static content sites you can expect to earn between $50 and $5,000 monthly depending on how good your writing and SEO work is and how lucrative the niches you have chosen are.

Write to sell

Finally there is more entrepreneur-ish approach to writing for alternative income. Instead of writing per hire for someone or writing for free and trying to earn from advertising like everyone else, you can try to sell your writing as a product. You can write and produce an e-book, paid report or self publish a paper book and sell copies yourself. Such a project requires more than just writing of course – you need to research the market for projects in demand, do the content research unless you are already an expert in the topic (and probably even then) and finally pack and promote the product.

The big advantage of writing to sell method is that you write once and sell many times. Recently this approach often evolves to selling access to information via membership sites. This model can be better than writing a book or e-book because you can start selling access even before you finish the entire product. You can monitor first users’ feedback and improve your site based on it. And the best thing, in terms of making money, is that when selling access you would typically charge a subscription fee rather than one time fee. If you think that means recurring income, you are right.

Everyone can make some money writing. The main question is how much you can make and whether it will justify the effort. The best way to understand that is to go ahead and try.

The Possible Glory of Gold

Many analysts are closely watching the prices of gold, and for good reason. Colin Cieszynski recently noted that the abandoned Trump healthcare bill has caused jitters across the markets; resulting in a slight (albeit perhaps short-lived) currency rally. While this would normally be counter-intuitive regarding bullish gold prices, other factors need to be considered. Notably, the levels of United States are predicted to jump from 77 per cent to an unsustainable 150 per cent over the next 30 years. Furthermore, political uncertainty in other major economies such as the United Kingdom will likely drive gold prices moderately higher. As this yellow metal already gained 7 per cent during Q1, further positivity is likely realistic. 

Industrial Commodities Set to Surge

The World Bank has predicted a sizeable surge in the prices of industrially backed commodities during 2017. The reasoning behind this observation is quite simple. The strengthening demand for energies and metals is quickly outstripping the present supply. There are two important takeaway points here which should be highlighted:
• Oil is set to rise to approximately $55 dollars a barrel; an increase of 29 per cent when compared to 2016.
• The price of metals is expected to increase by 11 per cent; a revision of the 4 per cent highlighted in October 2016.

Copper could be poised to make massive gains, as large economies such as China continue to demand larger amounts for industrial necessities. Some believe that the target of $2,600 dollars a tonne is perfectly reasonable. Still, this has yet to materialize.

Could Black Gold be a Golden Investment?

It is always wise to examine predictions surrounding oil, as this commodity tends to be a relatively accurate barometer in regards to economic performance in general. There are two factors to take into account. First, OPEC hopes that crude will top off at $60 dollars a barrel by the end of 2017. Considering that WTI crude is currently trading at just over $51 dollars, such a rise would be beneficial for investors.

However, we must also take into account plans within the Trump administration to emphasize fracking and to further stress the development of fossil fuels (in direct contrast to his predecessor). While it can be difficult to predict how many of these promises come to fruition, it is not altogether unreasonable to imagine that some short-term rallies within this sector will become possibilities soon. 

The Bottom Line

Commodities are predicted to perform moderately well throughout the remainder of the fiscal year. Should instability and uncertainty continue to impact short-term market sentiments, it would be wise to closely monitor these potentially valuable strategic options. 

Millions of people got their first taste of financial disaster in 2008, when the Great Recession happened. It’s been close to a decade since then and therefore people who have recovered may have forgotten how bad it was. Even people who lost everything in 2008 barely think about the situation.

The Great Recession should always garner attention in life. Think about what you lost in those years. This can include jobs, houses, stock and hard-earned savings. Now, your financial situation might be slightly better. But think about whether your money will be safe against another recession. Can you face another Great Recession, and survive?

Emergency Cash

Financial preparedness refers your ability to survive the unexpected that can take your wealth away. These “unexpected” situations include personal ones, like getting laid off or larger narratives that are out of your control, like a market-wide financial crisis.

Here’s how you can protect your personal finances against the inevitable:

Have an Emergency Source of Funds

In addition to savings, everyone must have an emergency source of funds. If your car suddenly breaks down, or the roof caves in, or if you suddenly get ill, you will need quick access to money. You may be able to dip into your savings accounts, but this is not ideal in a scenario like emergency house repairs. For these small but very significant expenses, you need to keep an emergency fund ready. Invest in this fund as much as you would in a retirement account. An emergency fund will be your first line of defense against a personal financial crisis.

Invest in Gold

If the economy tanks tomorrow like it did during 2008, what will happen to your retirement account and investments like stock? They will plunge in value overnight, leaving you poorer than 24 hours ago. You may not want to anticipate such a scenario, but you do need to be prepared for it. The best way to save money when the currency value goes down is to invest in gold or any another precious metal. Gold prices go up when currency value goes down. In a case of a serious crisis, having gold in your investment portfolio can hedge your losses. You can consult with special brokers like Lear Capital precious metals on how to get your hand on some gold to save your money in the future.

Have More than One Source of Income

Don’t cross your fingers and hope to keep your job forever. It’s hard to predict what will happen in the future. Do not take your primary source of income for granted. There’s always a possibility of losing it, so you better have a secondary source of income to be properly prepared. You can earn part-time money with many things. You can take on a second job on the weekends, freelance from home or run a small one-person business in your spare time. Whatever you do, it should be able to help you in case of a sudden job loss.

Try one of the above tactics to be financially prepared as well as mentally and physically for the future. Emergency cash as a liquid source at the bank, gold with a broker, or extra income sources will help you ease your mind and be ready for the future.

Since Trump has become the new president, people have begun to wonder how his policies will affect the economy. Investors especially have a vested interest in this as they feel it could affect their investment strategy. But is there any real cause for concern? Not according to research from Fidelity Investments.

Fidelity Investments reviewed the performance of 3,000 of the largest US stocks while under Democratic and Republican presidencies. They found that the stocks on average increased 12.2 per year under Democratic presidents, while they rose 11.8 percent on average per year under Republican presidents.

This suggests that planning your investment strategy dependent on who is the president is probably not a great idea. However, there certainly some policies that will affect specific stocks more than others. Here are some ways you can use Trump to your advantage when investing:

Financial Companies

One of Trump’s intentions is to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. This policy was designed to restrict commercial banks from undertaking investment activities, and it restricted the growth of these banks. By reinstating this policy, it would cause large banks to be broken up, affecting their profitability and stock price. However, it would benefit smaller regional bank stocks.

If you’re a trader that wants to take advantage of falling prices in financial firms, you can do so through derivatives. These includes purchasing call options for financial stocks, or short selling financial CFDs through a firm like CMC markets.

Health Care Businesses

Trump’s reforms the Affordable Care Act could disrupt the healthcare industry, especially insurance companies. It’s too early to tell whether these changes will affect insurance companies in a positive or negative way, so you may want to reconsider investing in these stocks.

However, since Trump favours less regulation, this could benefit stocks that deal with pharmaceuticals.

Defense Companies

Trump has often made statements about strengthening the military, while at the debates and on his campaign trail. This would suggest that Trump is looking to increase military spending.

An increase in spending would be positive for defense companies that produce military equipment and parts, such as airplanes, weapons, and vehicles.

Businesses Who Export Goods

Trump has made many statements on wanting to renegotiate existing trade deals with the help of Congress. If successful, however, the renegotiation of trade deals could mean losses for companies that export large quantity of goods overseas. The new trade deals could make US goods more expensive to buyers overseas, and in turn lower demand for US exports.

Bonds

Although the rates set by the Federal Reserve has been at close to zero for many years now, other factors might cause bond yields to increase. Trump has said that he wants to cut taxes and increase infrastructure spending. This is likely to be funded through the sale of government bonds, which will increase bond yields, and lower the value of bonds.

The volatility of bond prices and yields means that an investor looking for a yield is probably better off with a stock who pays high dividends.

Gold

Generally speaking, gold’s value increases when there is volatility on the stock market and other asset classes. Gold’s price increased when Trump won the election, but has returned to normal levels after the stock markets restored their balance.

Since the price of gold has fluctuated throughout Trump’s campaign, it is best to restrict the amount you invest in your portfolio and treat Gold as an insurance policy of sorts.

Energy Companies

Trump has stated he is in favour of relaxing restrictions on energy companies. Gas and coal companies could benefit from this as the regulations would remove restrictions on fossil fuel usage. Also, oil companies could benefit from the reduced regulations on drilling.

Conversely, renewable energy companies who use solar energy and other environmentally friendly generation practices could be affected by this policy.

Conclusion

Although this may be an uncertain time for investors, as we are waiting to discover how markets will react to Trump’s policies, you can limit your downside by not taking large risks in any one sector or company. In fact, if you have a long term investment strategy, instead of a short term trading goal, then you should probably stick to your existing investment plan.

As the dust settles from the election and the news headlines die down, it will be clear what the fundamentals are. From there, investors will be able to see how to take advantage of Trump’s policies while investing.

Property debt funds

Investment strategists argue that there’s an opportunity for 2017 in real estate. They strongly believe that it might be better to remain on the debt side of things, rather than focus on the physical assets. There’s a reason behind the shift, namely real estate prices that have risen a lot since 2009. The HSBC has been an important part of the journey; the company has been purchasing properties for its clients in the cities of London and New York, which are prime real estate markets.

Nowadays though, the better deals might be in debt and they center mostly on developers enthusiastic about re-financing or building high quality properties. Knowing the ins and outs of the market, as well as understanding debt has made experts believe that there’s great potential in real estate debt.

Direct investments are still attracting high-end investors

Clients who are income focused and defensive are still fond of private property debt funds. That’s mainly because they have the ability to invest in bonds, and buy or sell bonds because they generate higher profits and have more potential. However, not all investors are defensive. Residential and commercial real estate in the US remains interesting, but only because the potential returns are less “sophisticated” than they used to be 5 years ago.

Asian investors have turned their attention to distress properties in major European cities, due to the equity and debt investment potential of these cities. Furthermore, these investors are also fond of real estate in Australia and Japan as well, even though they’re very wary of the currency overview. Most investors are attempting to have a balanced range when it comes to single asset purchases; their goal is to watch out for a more sensible and plain debt, and stay away from risks.

Bank loans are replaced by real estate debt funds

Private debts funds are an excellent form of investment because banks have become more cautious about loans since the 2008 global financial crisis. Tighter capital regulations have left them with no choice. Also, there’s a shortage of mortgage-backed securities in the commercial property environment. This factor alone has been helping the lending market quite a lot in the recent years. The situation is better known as “capital scarcity” that apparently has become even scarcer amid the present volatility in the realty market at a global scale.

Fund surges and fundraising efforts

Back in 2014, there was a surge in funds as nearly $25 billion was gathered at a global scale. According to a private equity business known as Preqin, the amount slide back to $14 billion in 2015. The market’s size varies from one year to another, and it usually depends on one big fund. There’s a shift happening in the property debt fund environment. Officials are currently originating loans as opposite to raising cash to take down legacy loan portfolios.

Banks are an important part of the loan business, but then again they’re not the most important. For the most part, banks play a key role in the financing part of a loan. In layman’s terms, private debt funds are better known as originating loans as they have the ability to set the terms for other lenders in the same group. Banks no longer have monopoly over lending terms, because now there are many institutions that aren’t banks that can offer better deals to savvy investors.

Investors might also consider investing in debt funds as a means to purchase high-quality, but rather illiquid bonds; which might require up to 10 years to have any value.

By Fredrick Cameron and PropertyTurkey.com!

Many young investors today want to invest in their 20s but they don’t know how to do it. Contrary to popular belief, youngsters do think about retirement. This basically shows that they care about the future too, not just about the present. Here are 10 amazing tips to help 20-somethings to start investing in the future now.

1. Gym membership

The United States spends a lot on healthcare expenses – about $2 trillion annually. The number could have been very different if people paid more attention to their general health. Getting fit at 20 prevents costly health concerns later in life. Don’t you think that it’s worth paying $10/week on a membership card, since it won’t break the bank and it will help you save thousands on health bills by the time you retire?

2. Fine wine

Fine wine is one of the most stable forms of alternative investment. You only need 5 years for your wine case to increase in value and become worthy of being traded on the acclaimed Wine Stock Exchange. When stored in proper conditions, chances are that you might make a few extra thousands. Both Burgundy and Bordeaux wines are extremely popular, and even if you won’t make money with your wine, you can always drink it.

3. Social media tactic

Recent studies have shown that Americans between 18 and 34 years old spend on average 3.8h/day interacting on social media sites. Having the simplest social media tactic might help you identify your brand, your proposal, and the people you need to meet to monetize your strategy. It is important to have patience, as well as be capable of understanding that several years may be required to build an online presence.

4. Self-insurance

Youngsters in their 20s most likely don’t have that many items to insure. However, this is the perfect time to protect the things that matter to you the most – tablet, phone, TV, laptop, car, etc. This way your business will be safe and in case of loss, you can quickly get them back. But this can only be done with proper insurance. Another great tip is to consider wage insurance as this will cover all your bills throughout unemployment and unpaid sick leave.

5. Retirement plans

It may seem impossible to put money aside when you’re 20 and save it for retirement. Nevertheless, there are incentives you can take advantage from. For example, you can benefit from a company-sponsored 401 (k) where co-contributors are rewarded. There will be companies to give you at the very least half. Self-employed individuals must build their own fund, so that they don’t have to work for a lifetime to live comfortably by the time they reach 60.

6. Stock investing

Investing in stocks doesn’t have to cost a fortune, unless of course, you can afford to spend. Get to know the industry a bit better before spending any cash, and then search to invest in stocks that are stable – Disney, Coca-Cola, etc. This will allow you to buy/sell your stock without consulting with a broker.

7. Crowdfunding

Even though the crowdfunding has increased a lot in popularity over the years, the concept it still worth taking into account. Artists, business people and politicians used crowdfunding platforms to kick start their projects and turn an idea into a company with great potential.

8. Steer clear of debt

Believe it or not, debt has a lot to do with making investments in your 20s. The higher your debt the fewer cash you have to invest, especially if you’re fond of the stock market. If you’re also compelled to pay interest on your debt, it’s even worse because it will grow and affect your income. Mitigate debt and find ways to make some cash on the side without taking foolish risks.

9. Invest in index funds

If you’re committed to investing in your 20s, you should do it smart. Rather than jump in stocks, you should consider solid index funds, which essentially are stock baskets that keep track of a certain index. Two of the best examples are S&P 500 and NASDAQ. This approach permits you to invest with and not against the market.

10. Invest in real estate

Last but not least, we have real estate. Buying a home comes with many perks. But you can’t spend more than you can have. There are many things you can do when investing in real estate – rent, flip, sell, etc. However, if you don’t know the market, ask for guidance to be sure that you’re doing things right.

By Fredrick Cameron and WineInvestment.com!

With investments yielding poor returns and more and more retirees not having fixed pension plans to fall back on – it should come as no surprise that many are starting to trade. Contrary to popular belief trading doesn’t have to be a time-consuming and stressful activity, but instead is one that you can engage in at your own pace – making it perfect for retirees who have a bit more free time on their hands.

If you want to get into trading all you really need is a computer and an internet connection. Assuming you have that already (which you probably do), you can then follow these steps to get started:

1. Choose a trading platform

Shopping around for a trading platform may seem confusing at first, but it is worth taking a bit of time to do so. It is important you find a platform that you feel comfortable using, and also to look at the markets and types of trades that you can get into with it.

1. Carefully budget your capital

As a retiree with a fixed amount of capital it is important that you carefully consider how much of that you want to budget for trading. Do not under any circumstances risk your entire life savings, but instead portion out a small amount (i.e. 5% or 10% at most) as the total capital you will use. Out of that you should start by using much less, and only trade with larger sums when you are comfortable doing so.

1. Pick a market and learn about it

The most important thing about trading is to understand the market that you’re trading in. Nowadays there are so many options and you could choose to trade on the forex market or in equities or commodities, or even using financial instruments such as CFDs. Regardless of what you choose, you should try your best to learn about its ins and outs.

1. Try mock trading

Before you actually begin to risk any part of your retirement funds, you should try placing mock trades to see how you do. Some trading platforms will allow you to do this using virtual currency, or you could simply track your performance manually. In either case it should give you a bit of ‘hands on’ experience with trading and let you see whether or not you want to try the real deal.

When you do feel that you are ready to start trading – remember to always be safe. As a rule of thumb you should be careful never to risk too much, or hold onto a losing position for too long. Essentially so long as you’re making more than you would from a fixed deposit, you’re doing well.

Assuming you feel ready to embark into trading, you should definitely check out ETX Capital. With its trading platform you will be able to trade on numerous different markets with ease, and also take advantage of its other features to help improve your trading.

Most trading signal services are scams and fake their results.

Because of that, the research of a good signal service includes a lot more than comparing price/results. The most important thing to do is to ensure that they really achieve the advertised results.

So, why Millennium Traders?

I am too far from that I have found the top of the best. Millennium Traders surely have their disadvantages, but here are the reasons why I have chosen them for the first review in SharkInvestor:

• I was able to personally verify that their trading is successful. (You can do it too)
• They show the performance of each individual moderator and they show dollar – value, clearly saying that your percentage results will depend on your own trading choices
• They offer several types of trading signals
• There are big discounts if you join quarterly, semi-annually or annually
• There is a free trial
• The performance is rather good, but still reasonable. Please check their performance page/li>
• They have excellent responsive support

Millennium Traders definitely are not the cheapest signal service I’ve seen, but you get what you pay for. So let’s see what exactly they have to offer.

The Trading Rooms

Most of the Millennium Traders’ signals are organized in the form of chat rooms where the moderators send buy, sell or watch signals to the members. There is a sound coming with the signals, so you don’t really need to watch the screen all the time.

The Stock Trading Room has currently 3 moderators and provides day trading signals mostly between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM US ET. The membership costs $249 monthly and $1500 yearly. There is an option to get a free month if you invests in a featured broker.

The Futures Trading Room provides live real time future calls at the same time – between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM US ET. Just like the stock trading room, it is priced between $249 and $1500 depending on the subscription term.

The Forex Trading Room is open 24/7, but mostly active between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM US ET. The prices are the same as the stock and futures trading rooms and the performance is amazing. There is a great deal if you decide to open an account with some of their featured brokers – you can get the signals completely free.

Day Swing Trades is another chat room providing up to five stock picks every day. The picks are posted before 8:00 AM EST. The prices are the same as for the above rooms.

The Weekly Swing Trades sends stocks picks only once per week, on Monday before 8:00 AM EST. This service has the lowest prices – $79.90 monthly, $203 quarterly and $480 annually.

Millennium Traders offer also one-to-one trading education for $750 but reviewing it is not a subject of this article.

How To Get The Most Of It?

Many people subscribe to trading signals in the wrong way and then are happy if hey can break even. I’d like to give you some tips which will help you achieve greater return on your investment:

• Subscribe for a trial first. See if the thing works for you and if you can be online at the time when the signals come
• Subscribe for only one service at the beginning. It’s tempting to go for the triple or double subscriptions because of the better price. But do that only after you are comfortable with the overall service and you have some experience.
• Subscribe for one month or a quarter first. After you pass the trial, try the real stuff for a month or three. This time will be enough for you to decide if you want to go further and purchase annually subscriptions (or some of the combined subscriptions).
• Make sure that you actually trade. Sounds simple, but many don’t do it. If you only watch the signals and don’t perform trades, you won’t earn any money. Do trade.

I wish you success with Millennium Traders. Please post a comment here once you start trading for real with them.