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Stock trading

Some of us use the terms stock 'investing' and stock 'trading' interchangeably. Trading also requires investment. But if you look closely, the two terms ' trading' and 'investing' will appear in different lights and with different connotations.

While trading is a quick and transient process, 'investing' implies a long-term process that involves patience and perseverance. We more often use the phrase real estate investment rather than real estate trading, because real estate implies 'buying and holding' the estate for some appreciable span of time. Real estate cannot be traded like shares in day trading. Similarly we do not say 'day investing'. We say day trading. Trading involves buying and selling within a short span of time. The element of wait is inherent in investment. You invest in the education of your children.

Though stock trading appears to be an alluring option for making quick money, most people fail to achieve their objective of becoming rich in short time. Rather than making money such people end up with losses.

It must, however, be noted that the reasons for failure to make money do not lie in the nature of stock trading itself. They lie with the traders. Stock trading, or, for that matter day trading is a full time business. It is not gambling. Stock trading is a very unpredictable business. If it could be predicted by rules, everybody would follow them and become rich. Of course, there are some basic rules, which must be learned and followed to start trading stock. But ultimately it is like the game of cricket. The players do not know which side, at which angle or at what speed or height the ball will come. The successful cricketers develop intuition to deal with the approaching cricket ball.

As in case of any other business or game, you need to learn the ins and outs of stock trading. Stock trading needs investment of time and money to gain knowledge, skills and experience. These intellectual assets cannot be acquired over night. These virtues are necessary to evolve a quick and strategic intuition to deal with the sudden developments like the rises or falls in share prices, It must be noted that intuition comes in where the rules fail to work.

In order to be a successful stock trader, you need to have a killer instinct and an eye of a hawk. You need to be disciplined and resourceful. You need to learn to anticipate the trends and think ahead of time. Stock trading cannot be done on borrowed knowledge or tips and tricks of the experts, gurus and pundits. You need to develop your very own skills and responses to emergent trading situations.

Stock investing

As said earlier, stock investing implies long-term process. You have specific goals to achieve. While the traders try to 'time' the market by buying the stocks when they think the market has reached its lowest or selling them when it has peaked, the stock investors are usually not moved by such fluctuations. It must also be noted that since the market fluctuations are unpredictable, quite a lot of traders suffer losses. Billions of dollars are lost every year by the market' timers' who get the things done the wrong way.

Stock investors, on the other hand, wait patiently for weeks, months and sometimes even years to achieve their goals. It has been observed in a study on the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 between 1926 and 1987 that the S&P 500 returned, on average, about 9.44% during the 62 years from 1926 through the end of 1987. It was, therefore, established that "the overall direction of the stock market has always been up and it is likely to continue in that direction unless something very scary happens in the world."

There are some time tested strategies to build up solid stock portfolio;

Always buy the stock of well-managed companies and hold them for as long as they keep growing.

Set aside some amount for regular investments and do not be affected by short-term market fluctuations.

Try to always buy when the market is at its low.

Reinvest your earnings to gain the benefits of compounding.

Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your investment in at least 8-10 stocks.

Start investing now. Do not wait for a better time to come.

Open an account with Sogotrade

If you are new to Sogotrade:

Online stock trading investment

Bollinger Bands are techniques that are created in the 1980s by John Bollinger. They are plotted lines that represent an upper and lower trading range for a particular market price. It is a guide for traders to see how the future market would go. Each of the line is the predictable range of the moving average. So, the currency pair is expected to trade within these limitations.

Bollinger Bands are used to determine when to buy or sell the market share. For example, buy a market share between the upper line and the lower line, which is unexpected, may not be a good deal. Normally the price will trade within the expectations (below the upper line and above the lower line). The directional trend is still useful to the traders even though a price is out of those limitations as those lines will widen accordingly.

Key features of Bollinger Bands:
1. A move starts when a line tends to reach the other line.
2. When the price is unstable, a sharp move will easily happen when the lines meet at an average level. Remember, the longer the unstable price takes, the higher the possibility a breakout may happens.
3. The current trend is usually maintained although there is a breakout as those lines will widen accordingly.
4. The top or a bottom (no matter inside or outside the lines) indicates the trend of market changing.

Configuration and Confirmations
To have a better result, withdraw two standard deviations from 20 periods simple moving average. However, there can be a variety of periods and standard deviations. A correct selection will provides a better and correct estimation.

See the chart of the EUR/USD pairing at Learn Forex Charts. Most of the prices are remain within the lines. However, there are some breakouts, especially in a narrower range. Even though breakouts do happen, some breakout tends to restore within the lines range in a short while. If those breakouts represent a real market shift, the Bollinger bands will automatically widen accordingly.

Most of the time, Bollinger Bands are used with the Average Directional Index (ADX), RSI and Stochastic indicator

Sebastian Litrell
Professional Forex Trader
Learn Forex Trading

Support and resistance materialize in two different forms. These levels can be horizontal, revealing a precise price at support or resistance exists. Alternatively, support and resistance can be diagonal levels.

Diagonal support and resistance levels are common in the forex market, especially when a pair is trending strongly in either direction. Diagonal support and resistance levels are identical in concept to horizontal support and resistance levels. The only difference is that diagonal support and resistance levels follow a pair's movement higher or lower.

Diagonal support is a price at which a pair stops going down within the context of moving higher. The lows for each period, or over the course of multiple periods, tend to move higher. It's a price lower than the current exchange rate below which a pair isn't moving. Think of diagonal support as an escalator moving up, steadily lifting the price of a pair. It's a price level below which you can place a stop.

A pair might be moving higher, but along the way it pauses and pulls back to catch its breath. Each time it pulls back, the buyers step in at increasingly higher prices. They start buying, equalizing or overcoming the sellers. The buying causes the price to stop going lower and start moving even higher.

Diagonal resistance is a price at which a pair stops going up within the context of moving lower. The highs for each period, or over the course of multiple periods, tend to move lower. It's a price higher than the current exchange rate above which a pair isn't moving. Think of diagonal resistance as an escalator moving down, steadily forcing the price of a pair lower. It's a price level above which you can place a stop.

A pair might be moving lower, but along the way it pauses and bounces higher. Each time it bounces higher, the sellers step in at increasingly lower prices. They start selling, equalizing or overcoming the buyers. The selling causes the price to stop going higher and start moving even lower.

Diagonal support and resistance levels often form on the same chart in the same timeframe. The formation is known as a channel. The competing buyers and sellers who are behind the support and resistance, respectively, are disagreeing within the context of a directional move either up or down.

There are ascending channels and descending channels. In ascending channels, buyers are willing to let the pair fall only so far before stepping in and buying at higher and higher prices. Meanwhile, sellers are willing to let the pair run higher by only so much before stepping in and selling at what they perceive to be an overvalued price. The overall move is higher, but it's in a stair-step fashion.

By contrast, in descending channels, sellers are willing to let the pair rise only so far before stepping in and selling at lower and lower prices. Meanwhile, buyers are willing to let the pair fall by only so much before stepping in and buying at what they perceive to be an attractive price. The overall move is lower, but it's in a stair-step fashion.

You can use the various forms of support and resistance for identifying entry points, determining exit points for profit, and pinpointing exit points from losing trades. You might use support levels as references for stop losses if you are already in a trade. You might use resistance levels as references for stop losses if you're short a pair.

No matter how you use them, the concepts of support and resistance are incredibly important to understand. Identifying these levels will become second nature as you gain increasing levels of experience in the forex market.

Visit http://www.fxpnf.com to learn how to objective identify diagonal support and resistance levels with the use of forex point and figure charts.

Stock market is indeed one of the trickiest places to invest in. People who invest in stocks are never cent percent sure of their returns. It could result in moderate to massive profits or huge losses as well, in some cases.

One of the latest methods to invest in stocks and shares is online trading. The stock market has been witnessing rapid advancements in the recent past and this is probably the main factor which has been prompting a lot of people to try online stock investing by opening their accounts online.

Every individual who indulge himself in the daily gamble of stock markets, wants to make maximum amount of profits without having to put a large amount of money at stake. This is one of the main reasons why every individual keeps trying to device latest methods of cheapest stock trading.

Nowadays, people prefer using the internet immensely in order to secure best deals and make instant profits while dealing in stocks online. One of the safest methods to indulge in cheapest stock trading is to deal with shares online. A person can keep a constant check on the rise and fall of shares purchased by him online and instantly sell them off whenever they reach the highest limit possible. This method is one of the easiest and most convenient methods to profit from trading online.

The scope of online trading industry is extremely vast and is advancing at a rapid pace since it was first launched. It comprises two groups i.e. online discount brokers and trading software platform providers. There could be innumerable companies which deal in either of the categories and manage to earn a huge amount of profit by providing low-cost commissions and payment for investing in their stock trades and other related investment activities.

In order to get best results and indulge in cheapest stock trading, it is advisable to study the stock market closely before placing bets and ones private fortune in any kind of shares and other related investments. An individual who is able to grasp the prevailing stock market and current trends, and is able to place his bets on realistic grounds, stands a better chance of earning handsome amount of profits as compared to a person who is likely to invest in shares and stocks without gaining considerable information about the related company.

With increasing competition, a lot of corporate companies have already started providing additional services to the original ones in order to attract maximum number of investors for their companies. Some of the services provided by these companies include free stock research, free checking and automatic bill paying.

Investing in stocks and making profits out of it is a kind of art which cannot be mastered overnight. It requires an individual to constantly monitor and keep himself updated with all the latest happenings in the stock market. Only after a person is confident of his skills of making profits out of small bets should he consider investing in bigger shares.

Open an account with sogoinvest
If you are new to sogoinvest: Online stock trading investment

If you study finance or have a career in a finance related field, chances are you have had some interaction or knowledge of the foreign exchange trading market. The sheer volume of trades in the foreign exchange market makes it the single largest financial market in the world. This is not a market for the timid or occasional trader. This is a very competitive market with players from global financial giants, retail currency traders, and governments of most countries in the world. To stay competitive in this spirited market you need to learn about forex currency trading.

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it looks. The huge amount of information resources available regarding foreign currency trading can be daunting. For people who are new to the field, it's extremely difficult sorting the good information from the bad. Before relying on forex information you've found, determine if the source of the material is reliable.

You certainly don't want to bother with the sites that appear as search results simply due to search engine optimization. The major firms in the currency exchange industry provide on their sites a number of charts, graphs and other forms of analysis of foreign exchange information. These are international monetary corporations which maintain their good reputations by providing correct data and explanations. As you start to learn about forex currency trading, you will want to make their sites your initial locations.

If you are not just a student of finance curious about the foreign exchange market; and you foresee yourself earning a living trading forex, a structured course in foreign currency trading becomes inevitable. There are reputed financial institutions such as investment banks, stock exchanges etc. who have tied up with the leading universities and colleges in creating such structured courses in foreign exchange trading.

It would be wise if you don't restrict yourself to these structured courses alone. You can test yourself in order to obtain a certification in foreign exchange trading after you learn about forex currency trading. These certifications will also assist you in getting a job in financial institutions which specialize in currency trading.

There are prerequisites that must be met before you are ready to learn about forex currency trading. You must be firmly grounded in the basic principles of economics and capital markets.

If you are studying finance or are already working in the financial field, you must learn about forex currency trading to keep up with your competitors. Saying that is one thing, but it's much more difficult to actually do. The volume of data out there about this trade is enormous, and it can be confusing. To be certain of the credibility of forex information make sure that your information comes from a reputable source. If you foresee yourself earning a living trading forex, a structured course in foreign currency trading becomes inevitable. Financial institutions have tied up with universities and colleges to create structured courses in foreign exchange trading.

Commodities are all the rage today among traders and investors. The multi-year rallies in crude oil, gold, natural gas, silver, copper, wheat, and other commodities is casting a spotlight on the sector. But did you know that you can play the commodity bull market via the forex market?

The countries that export large quantities of commodities are enjoying tremendous rallies in their currencies. The reasoning for this phenomenon is quite simple. Consider the following scenario.

A refiner in the United States needs some crude oil to turn into gasoline and diesel. This refiner can't find any oil for sale in the United States, so it turns north and looks for a supplier in Canada. It just so happens that a driller in Canada is sitting on hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil that it needs to sell. The U.S. refiner contacts the Canadian driller and arranges for payment and transportation of the crude oil. In order to complete the sale, the U.S. refiner needs to convert his U.S. dollars into Canadian dollars. The transaction is the equivalent of selling U.S. dollars and buying Canadian dollars.

This transaction is taking place in many different forms all across the world as countries that need commodities are buying from countries that produce the commodities. The commodity producing countries are seeing an unprecedented demand for their currencies.

One of the major players in the global commodity boom includes Canada, which is a resource rich country. Canada is a major supplier and producer of fossil fuels, including crude oil and natural gas. Additionally, the country exports a lot of timber, wood pulp, aluminum, and fertilizer.

Another major force in the global commodity boom Is Australia. The country exports a tremendous amount of metals, including gold, iron ore, coal, wheat, and wool. Neighboring New Zealand, although small in terms of GDP and population, is also a major force in the global commodities trade. New Zealand is a major exporter of food products, specifically dairy, meat and fish. New Zealand exports most of its commodities to Australia, the U.S., Japan, and China.

Norway is emerging is a major force in the global commodities boom because of the country's rich oil deposits. Norway exports over 3 million barrels of oil per day, mainly to the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden.

With the prices of crude oil, natural gas, and food rising, you can now see how currencies like the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, and Norwegian krone are strengthening. As the prices of these commodities continue higher, so too will the currencies of the countries that export these commodities. It's due to the simple principles of supply and demand. The demand for the currencies of countries that export commodities increases due to the foreign exchange that must take place in order to trade these commodities.

The trends in commodities and the commodity-related currencies are far from over. You can learn how to identify these trends, and profit from them, right in the forex market. By simply knowing which countries export what commodities, you can join the commodity bull market and profit.

Visit http://www.fxpnf.com to learn more about how to accurately measure supply and demand in the forex market and how to profitably trade commodity currencies.

Forex trading has brought many people from the poorhouse to the penthouse. However, this is an exception and not the rule. Not because the currency market does not offer a genuine and realistic opportunity to make incredible wealth. It sure does! The problem is that so many traders rush in to trades thinking they have enough knowledge. If you are going to really make it in the forex market then you need to follow proven trading strategies in order to make consistently big gains.

It has been said that 95% of forex traders lose their trading capital in just the first year. What a shame! Why? Because this stuff is not rocket science. You do not need to be a genius or have special knowledge to make it in this industry. You simply need to learn to trade without emotions and steer clear of all forex traders' biggest enemies: Fear and greed. I can assure you that if you have done this then you are ahead of 95% of the traders. There are only two things that remain and we will look at the below.

First, you need to practice trading on a demo account before you put any of your own trading capital up front. Learn how the market works and see if you trading style and methods are effective.

Secondly, you need to have a good software program that provides reliable and winning trade signals. You have to really be smart in choosing the right program because many of these programs purport to be right all the time and want to charge you an arm and a leg. I have included a couple of programs that I know are very effective and priced well below the majority of forex trading programs on the market. The links are below.

Good trading ahead. Stay focused and remember to trade unemotionally. Avoid the forex killers: Fear and greed. Success awaits.

Make a Killing Trading Forex! Forex Killer is the place to visit.

See what a Forex Trading Robot can do for you! Forex Robot is a must.

Australians own more shares per capita then any other nation on the planet, with more than 54% of our population owning shares.

Until recently, most share investors bought shares and let them sit in the bottom drawer. With improvements in technology and an increased awareness and responsibility for financial planning, thousands of people are becoming share traders, buying and selling shares on a regular basis. And you can see why!

Over the past couple of years, certain company share prices have risen well over a 1000%, some over 5000%! So the temptation is extremely strong to start trading shares, rather then just sitting on them, especially when most of our blue chip companies have recently fallen in value.

Well, what goes up, must come down and most of those companies that skyrocketed over the past 18 months have not only run out of steam, but have come screaming back down, producing staggering losses for investors who have held on.

Now, I'm sure I'm not telling you something you don't already know. However, it is amazing the number of people who still view the market as a free lunch, and do not practice safe trading strategies. They expect every share trade they do to provide excellent returns and then panic when their trades go against them.

Successful share traders all around the world have different trading strategies and systems, however they all agree on one basic principle, keep your losses small and let your profits run!

Throwing darts at a dart board as a share selection technique might sound a ridiculous way to choose share investments, but highlights the fact that choosing shares to buy is not as important as managing each trade once you've entered the market. Most traders enter trades based on rumours, tips and chat lines, which are really no better than using the dart board. However you choose to enter the market, be sure to adopt a strict STOP-LOSS strategy.

STOP-LOSS

A stop-loss is a predetermined point at which you will exit the trade, even if you are in a losing position. Many traders place a stop-loss 5% below the value of the shares when they purchase them. This means that they should not lose anymore than 5% (excluding slippage and volatile market movements) of the value of their share trade.

As the share price rises, ratchet up the stop-loss so that it is always 5% below the value of the shares. The 5% level is indicative only. You must determine your own level of risk for each share trade you make.

The best traders in the world know the power of a disciplined trading approach that incorporates stop-losses into every trade. For example, if you made 20 trades, and out of those 20 trades, 10 were losses, you can still make money. How can you make any money when 50% of your trades are losses? Well consider this. Let's say, as an example:

10 trades lose the maximum of 5%

3 trades make a profit of 5%
2 trades make a profit of 10%
2 trades make a profit of 15%
2 trades make a profit of 20%
1 trade makes a profit of 30%

Overall, our portfolio would rise 4.25%, as the higher returning shares cancel out the losses, leaving the balance as profit. This is the reality of trading. Accepting losses AND wins, but keeping the losses small, and letting the profits run.

The other aspect to successful share trading is excepting reasonable returns. As most share trades last between two weeks and two months, our 4-5% return is pretty good. It certainly beats bank interest rates, when considered over a yearly period. However, many novice traders try to make every trade the BIG score. In fact, one popular technique is to place all the available investment capital onto one or two different shares.

This is gambling. In this case, you're much better off at the casino, as you won't pay tax on any winnings. This is not a sensible or recommended trading approach. Successful traders spread their capital over 10-20 separate trades to minimise the risk and allow for losing trades.

Daniel Kertcher is a licensed stock market educator. Daniel has trained many people from North America, Australia and Europe in various trading systems. Join his trading mail list http://www.platinumpursuits.com and read more about him at his personal website http://www.danielkertcher.com

The forex market was once the domain of lending institutions and government banks, but now it is open to all types of investors and forex trading is considered to be one of the most lucrative forms of trading that is known to mankind as of today.

More than $2 trillion is traded on a daily basis in different currencies and if you are interested in making money from the forex market, you should not let go of this amazing opportunity.

This brief beginner's guide to forex trading will help you avoid pitfalls and show how you can benefit from currency trading.

If you have forayed into stock trading, then you are aware of the research it takes to familiarize yourself with the thousands of companies listed on the stock market. A stock investor has to spends hours each to select the most profitable stocks with the least amount of risks. However, forex trading just focuses on foreign currency exchange rates and that is what you have to learn and master.

When you indulge into forex trading, you are either buying or selling a pair of foreign currencies. A pair is two currencies which are compared by pip, or a common denominator between the values of the two currencies. A bid is placed by buyers and this is the price which buyers are willing pay for the currency pair. An asking price refers to what sellers are willing to take when they sell their currency pair.

A simple example to illustrate this would be if you want to buy Euros with your US dollars. This means that you are buying the EUR/USD currency pair. The rate of the pair will increase or decrease depending on what the buyers are willing to bid, and this will in turn determine your loss or gain.

The increase or decrease in pips is dependent on the country's foreign exchange rate. This rate, in turn, is affected by the interest rate, unemployment rate, inflation, and other national events.

Many forex trading firms allow investors a leverage of 100:1. This means that you can invest $1,000 of your own money but can trade up to $100,000. Just a one pip increase can actually double an investor's money but a similar decrease can wipe out the investor's entire investment.

When trading in forex, you do not have to pay any brokerage or commission fees. You can easily trade 24 hours a day using your home computer as the forex market works non-stop.

About Author: Pauline Go is an online leading expert in finance industry. She also offers top quality finance tips like:

Guide For Top Mutual Funds By Category, penny stock trading tips and best intra day trading techniques for forex

If you are into foreign exchange trading, you should be aware that there are different online forex trading software available in the market to help you carry out daily trading initiatives. Such software are not actually necessities, but they are recommended and are really helpful for traders and investors. In investing, there is always a need for trading and investment tools that would help make the initiative gain productivity. In forex trading, helpful software are must-haves.

Forex trading is different from stock market trading in that forex trading can be done 24-7. That is because global currency exchange markets are scattered all around the world. Thus, anytime of the day, you could actually trade currency. Forex trading can also be a source of easy and fast income and revenues, but that is if you would be wise and resourceful enough when making important trading decisions.

What is an online forex trading software? This computer program is designed and made to ultimately help investors and traders trade currencies better and more accurately. What to expect in online forex trading software? Of course, initially, you should access and use such software through the Internet. For beginners, there is a running demo account that is offered free of charge. The demo account facilitates testing and practicing trading.

The software also facilitates other investment functions and instruments like charts and tickers. As an additional feature, such trading software also provides streaming news that investors and traders should read and understand before investing their money. Online connection of such software enables the program to include and roll out the latest and most reliable information and news about currency trading.

Most of all, a good currency trading software is popularly used in the market and is widely known for providing users reliable services and information. Recommendations from experts and actual users would very well provide you proper and effective guidance in your choice of software to use. You should learn from the experience of other actual software users if you do not want to meet hassles in the course of action.

When choosing a currency trading software, decide whether you like a client based or a Web based software. Client based is software that can be downloaded and retained into the computer, while Web based requires operating online. Whatever your choice is, be sure you would pick the online forex trading software that would be the most useful to you.

Learn everything about forex trading from Davion's wildly popular blog to learn how to trade forex - from mastering the basics of foreign exchange trading to discovery of new trading tips, strategies, tools and more. Also, read this informative article about 6 forex trading terms you need to know!

Trading In Stock Can Be A Smarter Choice!

It is often recommended by experienced people in trading stock that it is highly perilous to a new investor to invest in the stock trading market. To some an extent it is true also but it is similarly risky to the experienced person also. Just the strategy to be always imprinted in the mind of the investor is that you should be very active and should be very alert while trading stock.

Nevertheless, investment in trading stocks can be highly commanding and beneficial. With an undersized cost and clear jeopardy, you can manage an enormous sum of stocks. Latest technology like Internet has made it very easy for the investors of stock market to be in steady contact with the stock market and be informed for all the ups and dons in the stock market. The Internet provides the stock investor with all the minute details of rise and falls of the stock trading market.

Online Trading in Stock
To be in flow with wave of stock market stock trading companies and online stockbroker has made it possible for everyone. These days from desktop at home or office one can easily access the stock trade market. Numerous companies offer tempting alternative and choices for online purchase of stocks stock trading companies and online stockbrokers. The most vital and advantageous thing in the deals with trading online stocks is that online stock brokers have a very nominal commission in stock market trading as compared to long-established traders of the trading stock market. Sometimes the companies even have zero commission schemes or very low commission margin schemes to lure the customers to their stock trading companies on each day trading.

Vital points to be always kept in mind
Whenever trading online one must be very careful while selection of stock trading companies in which you are investing. The company chosen for the online trading stock should be highly regarded, trustworthy and decorous in its status. This is necessary because reputed companies are sure to give good guidelines toward the online stock market. These companies always keep their investors updated about the latest information of trading stock details. These online stock trading company and online stockbroker informs the investor with all the minute stock terms and prices, the diverse stock types and numerous tools, which helps the investor in trading stock online. The solitary thing requisite of these online stock trading companies is to have an online account to initialize their investments.

Advantages of online trade account for trading stock
The major benefit by possessing an online trade account is that the investor is updated with trading information within seconds and can always keep an easily by simply logging in from any part of the world. There is another liberty that the investors enjoy is the choice to invest. There is no limitation or bond for investment here you can always invest according to your desire or comfort. It is also up to the investor to choose the trading stock of his choices. There are many tools available on the company website enable the information to the investor for the top buyers and losers in the days trading for the day, which is very helpful to the investor in briefing him with the same. The rest information can be effortlessly searched in the same website.

All these informations are readily available on the online stock trading company website and the rest is guided in the same. All the details and brokerage expenditure are straightforwardly mentioned in website and any nonprofessional can follow it. You never need to learn it from someone just a mere zeal can make you comfortable in using the same. Although there is, a peril involved in online stock trading but still online trading stock is the finest way for independent investors in the world with varied range of high profit.

stock trading is a sure way for getting higher returns on your online investment.

My wife is a psychotherapist, and I'm a leadership coach (former therapist). We're in our fifties (her) and early sixties (me, although everyone swears I don't look like it), and you'd think we were in our mid-twenties.

We have these lives that defy our ages.

Five years ago we moved to a new town after turning loose three kids to succeed in the world. We gave up everything we were used to in order to start new careers (those mentioned above). We moved to an unfamiliar culture -- east coast, smoking, pentecostal, hyper, crowded -- from being westerners -- laid back, casually dressed, big sky. It was one hell of a switch.

We tell each other we "went off to college" to earn our informal degrees in midlife change. Don't get me started on how this isn't mid-life... it's only midlife if I'm going to live to be 124.

This return to school includes having an economical rancher instead of a ranch. No eating out hardly ever. Drinking cheap booze instead of the good stuff. Working way too many hours and doing work that absolutely requires the energy we had at twenty-five. The only thing that isn't the same is we don't have sex twice a day and stay up late while doing all that.

We talk about how tired we are sometimes, how we really aren't twenty-something. I pine for a more relaxed life where I fish every day, don't work much at all, have time to sleep late, maybe write a book. After all, aren't I at the age where I get to do that?

Nope.

Both of us are spiritual people. Not religious people, spiritual people. We believe in the God-ness (the alrightness) of everything. We even go to church, but not because we are into this religion or that. We just want to celebrate our connectedness with others.

In our spiritual selves, just between us and all-that-is, we have seriously committed ourselves to being of service, to making a difference, to bringing some love to this sore and scared world.

I'm finding out that means there is no such thing as "retirement". There is youthful service, no matter the age. There is the joy of major leaps and small gains; there is no such thing as "age-appropriate" behavior.

Shop until you drop? No. It's serve until you stop, sliding into home plate, glad and full of love, ready to find out what's next. It's stay excited about each day. It's treasure what you've got.

We have four grand-babies now, and a fifth on the way. That's a lot of wiggle in a room. My wife loves the puppy pile. I hyperventilate at some point and go fishing with a friend. But in the back of my mind, whether I'm fishing or working, I'm full of gratitude for this life I have.

I may be sixty-something, but I love my twenty-sixty year-old life. It's warm and full, and it's mighty alright.

See more of Doug Hickok's stories at http://www.ChurchofMightyAlrightness.typepad.com

In last few decades, people have witnessed the highly booming economy of online trading in stocks. No more those black coat gentlemen who vowed their elite ness with their snob looks are seen on the street of the stock exchange. Internet trading has opened thousands of opportunities for the layman to invest. Also, shifting the trend from savings to investments has got a revolutionary change in the stock market.

It is to be noticed that every coin has two sides and same applies to trading online. Unlike other businesses it is risky and calculative. Hence, the mediocre in form of stock brokers and brokerage firms emerged so as to provide access to stock exchange to each investor. Common features of online trading are the speed and easy access. Also, the availability at competitive prices has also provided another opportunity to the traders.

The black side of online trading is the fear of fraudulent activities that can eat whole of the investments. Also, being online, the frauds are tough arrest. Hence, prevention is better in this case. Thereby, here are some tips that may help any trader to avoid catastrophic situations while trading online.

Do not trade with unregistered stock brokers or market intermediaries : non-registration with the stock exchange is the first sign of fraud. Any sensible service provider always follows the market rules, hence get registered with NYSE, NASDAQ or corresponding stock exchange. You may also come across some sub-brokers that may not be registered and offers extravagant services to the traders. Such people must be avoided as they induce investors to invest money at low cost and end up taking all the investments with them.

Do not leave your transaction slip with the intermediary : leaving the transaction slip with the intermediary is way too risky. Any fraudulent transaction may be added by the intermediary resulting in huge losses. Hence, avoid such mistakes.

Do not get overwhelmed by false advertisements or hyped declaration of growth of companies: companies need their share prices to rise and most of the times there are hyped performance levels discussed in the reports. Hence, do not trust blindly and invest huge amounts in the shares. The 2% rule must be followed and make sure that you integrate your investments.

Do not follow other's investment strategies : be an individual and know the type of investor you are. Imitating other investor's may prove hazardous. Plan your investments and develop individual investment strategies. However, utilising other's experience and tips proves favourable but following them blindly is dangerous. Utilise online reports and statistical data available about the companies before investing in stocks to make your own investment strategy.

Do not pay sac to any promise of guaranteed returns : stock trading is way too risky and fluctuating. People promising assured returns are certainly involved in frauds. Many traders invest with mediocre who make false promises of assured returns and end up losing handsome amounts. Never invest heavy amounts to one stock. Integration is the best way to avoid huge losses.

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Light boxes are quickly becoming the next trade show craze. There is something magical about back lit graphics that works really well in the trade show environment. Although I haven't seen anything on the order of an entirely back lit display, I have seen hundreds of kiosks and towers set up to be used as light boxes. Kiosks and towers give your company a great point at which to begin conversation, and the lightbox only adds power to the demonstration.

The primary difficulty with light box kiosks is getting electricity to your kiosk without leaving an unsightly cord in the middle of your trade show booth. This is really easy if you have purchased trade show flooring, but it can be incredibly difficult if you have not. The last thing you want is to have your booth staffers tripping over an unsightly cord while they are trying to present information to attendees. If you have no way to hide the electrical cord that will be running from behind your booth to your kiosk, you should at least align your kiosk with one edge of your exhibiting space instead of having it directly in front of your booth.

There is no denying the impact of light box kiosks at trade shows. They give off a friendly glow that visitors can't seem to resist. Lightboxes work especially well at larger trade shows where attention is harder to get. The draw of the light can bring visitors from distant booths to take a closer look at the products and services you have to offer.

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Here are the keys to being a smart forex trader.

• Don't React: It's funny how many people don't dictate what needs to be done, but rather react to what happens. If you lose money on a trade, don't react and make another trade. Dictate your course. Learn to live with the lose and look for the next profitable trade.

• Detach From All Trades: Don't have any invested outcome of the trade. You're going to need to become an emotionless machine that just makes calculated moves. Emotion is a very deadly characteristic that can eat up a lot of your profits.

• Get the right broker: Having the best broker you can find is important. You need a broker that is reliable, has been around for a while and has a good rep from the forex community. The best place to learn about them is on forex forums which you'll hear the good, bad and ugly about various brokers.

• Don't Be Too Bullish: If you have a bullish attitude with regards to where your trades are going, you're going to lose in the long term. Often this attitude occurs when one encounters a bullish result in a trade. Keep your bearings and understand what normal and too bullish are.

• Use Automated Software: Software like Forex Killer can help you out greatly. The software will dig through all the currencies you want, searching for trends. A trend is very profitable because it is a way of predicting where a currency will be heading in the future. If you can predict an exit, you'll know there is profit to be made.

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If you want to catch the big profits by forex trend following you must incorporate breakout trading in your forex trading strategy. Here we will look at why the concept works and give you a FREE proven system.

What is a breakout?

A breakout is one that penetrates resistance or support to make a new high or low.

Why are they so good to trade?

The fact is that most big trends develop from new market highs or lows and this can be seen on any forex chart. How do you spot good ones to trade? Not every breakout of course develops into a trend - so you need to spot valid ones.

A valid breakout normally consists of 3 or more tests in two separate time frames. The more tests the better and the more time frames and wider they are apart, the more valid the breakout is likely to be. Why don't all traders make money with them?

Most traders don't bother with breakouts because they want to wait for the pullback.

They think they have missed part of the move and want to wait for a "better price" - on valid breakouts, prices don't come back and the trader misses the move. Other traders buy breakouts without confirming price momentum - but you must confirm them!

How do you confirm momentum?

Simple - just look at some momentum oscillators (we don't have time to discuss them here in detail simply check our other articles) and if they support the breakout go with it. When you do your stop it's obvious - just below the breakout point.

Despite the fact that breakouts work, most traders simply can't buy new highs and lows - but if you do you can make some great profits. You need to be patient though - good breakouts don't come around every day and you also need to confirm the move.

If you do the above, you can make money with breakout trading, sure its simple but don't be deceived - many of the world's top forex trading systems are based on breakout methodology.

A Simple Breakout System

Here we will give you a free breakout system which you can use right now.

It was developed by trading legend Richard Donchian back in the 70s to trade commodities but it works great on currencies here it is:

Close short positions and reverse to a long position when a price exceeds the highs of the previous 4 weeks - reverse long positions and take a short position when a price falls below the lows of the previous 4 weeks.

Well you can't get simpler than that!

Test it and you will see it works as forex markets trend well.

The downside is of course when markets trend sideways the system will get chopped and incur losses. To cut drawdown You can alter the rule to:

Enter trades on the 4 week rule - but exit the position on a shorter time period and go flat. 1 or 2 week cycles are commonly used; you then look to re enter on the next 4 week signal. The beauty of the above as a currency trading system is its simplicity, making it very robust and profitable. Also consider this it's been used by Richard Dennis and many other trading legends so look at it!

If you want to make bigger profits from forex trend following, you need to incorporate breakouts in your forex trading strategy. You can use a non mechanical one based on the above guidelines above - or you can use a simple but powerful mechanical system like Richard Donchian's 4 week rule.

Make breakouts part of your forex education and you will enjoy bigger profits from forex trend following.

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In developing a personal Forex trading style it is likely a trader will experiment with numerous technical indicators over time but eventually end up with just a handful of favorites which are used on a daily basis.

The use of trendlines is taught in just about every training course out there and popular opinion seems to suggest they should take a reasonably prominent place in any successful Forex trading style.

This article begs to differ. Yes, trendlines can be useful but in my opinion they are superseded by horizontal lines.

What is the difference?

Trendlines are simply lines drawn across the lows of bars or candles in an uptrend, or lines drawn across the highs of bars or candles in a downtrend.

One Forex trading style may use the Tom DeMark method of drawing trendlines which gets very specific by joining the most recent low with the previous lower low (looking left on the chart) and then extending the line forward (looking right on the chart) for an uptrend.

For a downtrend join the most recent high with the previous higher high (looking left on the chart) and then extending the line forward (looking right on the chart). These trendlines then give indications of a breakout once they are broken.

Horizontal lines are simply lines drawn across highs and lows on a chart marking support and resistance.

Why are horizontal lines superior?

The ideal Forex trading style is simple and easy to use and it helps if the charts we are studying are clear and reasonably uncluttered.

Drawing numerous trendlines can obscure what is really happening with price action. True, some traders just draw trendlines across main highs and lows and ignore the mini swings. Nevertheless, trendlines have to be constantly re-drawn and updated as price action continues.

On the other hand, just putting in a horizontal line on key levels of support and resistance is simple and easy to see. They have great significance on the higher time frames, especially the 4 hour or the daily charts.

Of particular value is marking the previous day's high and low and watching price action around those levels. It is possible to catch 10 to 20 pips often as price tests the previous day's high or low and pulls back. Of course, the probability of a successful trade becomes higher if the previous day's high or low also coincides with other factors such as a Fibonacci level or pivot point.

Why are horizontal lines probably more significant than trendlines?

When developing your Forex trading style it is very important to look beyond candles. Trading is much more than that. The successful trader understands what is going on behind the scenes. Candles and price action is simply an outward manifestation of what is happening across the desks of thousands of traders across the globe who deal with billions of dollars worth of flows and orders.

A previous high or low in price action, especially on the higher time frame, means that the bulls or the bears won the battle in that trading session. If a number of traders committed a large amount of equity to a currency at a certain price, then obviously that price point is going to be fiercely defended in the future by those traders.

So horizontal lines drawn across levels of support and resistance mark very real points at which we can expect a reaction from price.

Trendlines on the other hand tend to be more speculative in my opinion. Watch price reaction at horizontal lines of support and resistance as opposed to trendlines and you will notice that price respects key levels of support and resistance more often than trendline levels.

Should trendlines be included in your Forex trading style?

That is an individual matter. They can certainly be helpful in offering confirmation of a trade after taking into consideration other factors. But to trade on trendlines alone can be very risky. On the other hand, it is possible to trade almost entirely on what support and resistance tell you at certain times when key levels are being tested.

Generally though, a successful Forex trading style will combine a number of factors. My favorites in order of importance are:

1. Support & Resistance levels on the higher time frames
2. Fibonacci retracement and extension levels
3. Pivot points
4. Candle patterns
5. 200 EMA (Exponential Moving Average)

If you are in the process of developing your own Forex trading style you may arrive at a different priority list. Why not experiment with horizontal support and resistance lines and trendlines and decide for yourself which gives the most reliable indication of price movement?

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As the forex markets are improving day by day so are the trading systems being developed and upgraded on a daily basis. In recent years, automatic forex trading systems have seen a big boom. It is said that now at least one-thirds of forex trades are carried out through automatic trading systems.

Automatic trading systems have their positive as well as negative aspects. They help you in keeping a round the clock eye on the ever changing forex rates. It do happen rather regularly that a forex trader or investor is sleeping in Virginia while major forex deals are being traded in Australia. Automatic online traders, in this case, will automatically trade your options in the world market even if you are not aware of such opportunities. The software does it all for you in the automated trading systems.

On the contrary, many automatic forex trading systems can make your life a hell. Crooks find their ways in every activity and forex trading is not safe from them. There are now many automatic forex trading softwares which have some inbuilt faults which may result in big losses for even well experienced forex traders. One must not totally rely on machines for his fortunes, as some people say.

These days many catchy automatic forex trading systems are advertising themselves to be the simplest and high profit generators. One must be aware of them as profits in forex trading depends on the shrewdness of the trader with an ever watchful eye on the global trends. So in the end I would say you can opt for some secure automatic systems but don't let them control your trading. Let them be just your friends and advisors and not masters.

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