Stock Broker Advantages

By Chris Thompson

There are tons of stock brokers on the market but who's the best? Here's a summary of the more popular options and what I think of them.

Etrade is one of the earlier players in the discount brokerage and practically invented online brokerages. The user interface is amazing and the commissions are on the higher side in this day and age.

TD Waterhouse acquired Ameritrade to make TD Ameritrade. They also changed it to green but that's about all the changes they made. The online user interface still looks like it's from the 1990s when everything was based on command lines. I would recommend other options over this one any day.

Charles Schwab have been cleaning up in the last year or so, especially with the troubles of Etrade. Honestly, I've been thinking about moving my money to Charles Schwab as well since they offer everything you'd want.

TradeKing is the stock broker that I use after years with Etrade. While I've made a lot of money with Etrade, I just don't want any problems with it going bankrupt. TradeKing also offers commissions at half the cost of Etrade.

Zecco used to offer everyone free stock trades but if you don't have $25,000 or trade 25 or more times a month, you need to pay $4.50 per trade. Options are $0.50 per contract which is a good price though, and it also has Zecco Forex where you can trade currencies.

Sogotrade is a relatively new player and it plays the angle of cheap trades. With $3 per trade, it's hard to beat unless everything is just free. Sogotrade also ensures trading accounts for up to $5 million.

WellsTrade is Wells Fargo's self trading platform offering. The user interface is lacking and the logistics of trading is a little weird but if you have $25k with them, trading is free (actually, up to 100 trades a year). It's not for the frequent trader but for retail investors, it's a great option (who can say no to free?).

Bank of America basically has the same offering as Wells Fargo. It matches them with the free stock trades with the same conditions ($25k minimum to qualify for the free trades). I wouldn't be surprised that they will change something though after they set their feet and start integrating with Merrill Lynch though.

OptionsXpress is known for its options trade. Instead of charging you per option like most firms, this company has a set pricing. They also claim to have no hidden fees so it might be a good option (no pun intended). - 23221

About the Author:

Is it really OptionsXpress or Option Express? Find out in this review by Stock Trading Brokers.

The Forex Megadroid Review You Need

By Aaron Roberts

Forex Megadroid Review

This Megadroid review looks at the expert advisor program that says it's seeing into the immediate future with an astonishing 95% accuracy. Artificial intelligence is one thing - but reliably predicting the future is really another. So how does the program measure up in practice? And can it really forecast the ups and downs of the currency markets?

How This Thing Works

This forex software has taken well over 30 years to develop and was finally been launched in early 2009. It uses a sort of market adaptive intelligence to make it flexible enough in achieving a very high rate of accuracy in a turbulent market setting.

The criticism thrown at most automated forex software by many traders is that the robots can only make money if the markets are consistent. The old style of robot that was based on inflexible rules was not able to cope with major changes in the patterns of market fluctuations.

However, the new market adapting intelligence, as you might guess from the name, allows a new generation of forex robots to learn from these changing patterns so that they can adapt to a certain amount of inconsistency in the markets and refine their trading rules to fit. This gives your funds a much better chance of surviving when things become more than usually volatile.

Of course were not talking about longer-term predictions here. Megadroid attempts to see market movements only 2 to 4 hours ahead of time.

How about the results

These are still the early days, and the software has only been out for six weeks, but the reports from traders on foreign currency exchange trading for alms seem to be very very good. People are reporting that they're seeing 90% or higher successful trades.

The software needs to win on five trades for every loss, so a ratio of 90% would really make for good profits. Remember though this doesn't mean that your first five trades would necessarily be winners. You could have several losses at the beginning which would eat into your trading capital. The more experienced currency traders know this and realize that it's part of the game.

Some users have reported an amazing 10% to 20% increase on their life accounts over a 30 day period which is indeed a very amazing track record.

Any Disadvantages?

Some people reported that the software didn't make as many trades as they would've liked at first. People were only seeing three or four trades a week. That meant that they would have to have put in larger amounts of money to earn more cash more quickly.

But maybe a more long-term approach would be better here. If only the software could teach beginning currency traders some patience that could be good for everyone.

Anyhow, the most recent version seems to have addressed that particular issue with 10 or more trades per week being reported. - 23221

About the Author:

So what is the verdict on Forex Megadroid Review...? You'll have to go here to check out what I really think about this forex software.

Forex Trade at a Glance

By Bart Icles

Foreign Exchange, Forex, or just plain FX are the names used to describe the trading of the currencies of the countries around the world. By far, the Forex Market is the largest trading market compared to stock or futures trading market and other investment portfolios. Majority of Forex trading is based on speculation done by individual and institutional speculators which is roughly about 85% of the market, with the remaining 15% of trading for goods and services. Forex trade transactions amount to more than USD 1 - 3 trillion on average in a daily basis.

The main purpose of the Forex market is to help facilitate the trade and investment of various investors of the world by providing the means to exchange one currency to another.

Forex market business is termed as an OTC (over the counter) market, and is facilitated by "interbank" marketing such as email, fax, or phone. For a trade to be consummated there has to be two parties directly involved by way of telephone or electronic networks. Forex Trading is not conducted by a central exchange, nor by one ruling central body but through the many trading centers spread across the world. These are in Sydney, Tokyo, London, Frankfurt, and New York. With a trading system so designed, the Forex market is able to operate non-stop in all days of the weeks except Sundays.

In essence, a currency trade is when there is the simultaneous buying and selling of one currency to another currency - usually for one that it is paired against. This currency combination is termed as a cross, e.g. the EURO/USD, or the GB/Japanese Yen. Currencies that are most commonly traded as known as the "majors" like the EURO/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, and the GBP/USD. The USD is currently ranked as the top traded currency in the world, followed closely behind by the Euro, Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling, Swiss Franc, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Swedish Krona, and so on.

Some common yet important Forex trading terms to remember are the spreads and Pips. Spreads means the difference between the price of a currency that any trader can sell at (Bid) and the price a currency can be bought at (Ask). A Pip is the smallest increment by which a cross price changes. In Forex trading a trader may often encounter a 3 Pip spread when trading majors. This spread is seen when comparing the bid and ask price of a paired currency. An example would be: EUR/USD quote is with a bid price of 0. 9876 with an ask price of 0.9879 = USD 0.0003 or 3 pips. - 23221

About the Author:

The best traders follow their forex charts and don't force trades. Also, we feel that the ability to use the forex trading platform with some skill greatly enhances a trader's success.

The Truth About Forex Signals

By Bart Icles

Anyone who trades in the foreign currency exchange market knows that learning the ins and outs of forex trading demands a lot of time and effort. Indeed, lots of aspiring traders find more failure than success in the forex market because they have taken learning about forex trading for granted. These people realize too late that learning more about the market contributes a lot to one's success in forex trading. One of the most common things that people leave out when they are trying to learn more about forex trading is forex signals.

The forex market is one of those trading places where you do not need to be physically present in a certain trading hub. You can participate in the forex market merely by sitting in front your computer. In fact, once you begin trading, you will realize that you need to spend a considerable amount of time in front of your laptop or desktop as you keep an eye on forex signals. But what exactly are forex signals?

Forex signals are primarily used in the technical analysis of the changing actual conditions of the forex market. There are lots of companies who provide information on different forex signals. The data they supply to forex investors are often based on various combinations of economic, social, political, and demographical indicators. These indicators or signals prove to be valuable in identifying major trends, entry points, and exit points - things that forex investors act upon.

There are numerous forex signals that you can use to help you in making trading decisions. A couple of these forex signals are volatility and momentum. Volatility and momentum are in reality indicators that are often used in reinforcing forex signals supplied by other sources. When taken together, they will form what investors usually refer to as reliable sources from which information on the actual behavior of the forex trading market can be taken.

If you are unsure of your trading decisions or skills, you can seek the help of forex signal service providers as they can sometimes take matters in their own hands and do the trading for you.

Remember that forex signals are vital pieces of information when you are participating in forex trading. You should always see to it that you are able to take different kinds of signals into consideration and at the same time, you must be able to wisely choose which forex signals to use. Take note that there is no guarantee that the information that forex signals give you are 100% accurate. What forex signals give are hints on how the forex market normally behaves. - 23221

About the Author:

A forex trading system is powerful when coupled with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning forex trading systems takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Opportunities With Gold Investment.

By Klaus Moeh

In the past few months, it wasnt really possible to believe that the price of gold would go up to $1000 per ounce and above. But when it did, it was a sheer surprise. We are not expecting the price of gold to go up even further and there are countless reasons for the rise in price of gold. Gold is very much in demand in many countries like China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and there isnt any probability of the price to fall. Gold is used in all these countries as jewelries and ornaments also apart from being a potential investment vehicle so they buy gold and sell gold often.

The price of gold and oil are ever-rising today. The price of oil is almost $100 now and is likely to rise even more; $150 mark is expected by ace economists. During the economic crisis that prevails in the global market today has further led to the astonishing fall in the price of US dollar, which is expected to dip down further in the coming days.

And, all these condition have defiantly brought in golden opportunities for investors trading gold.

As the global market is highly volatile and there is inflation and energy crisis everywhere, gold is likely to be a hedge.

The value of gold will definitely rise along with the value of other precious metals like silver and platinum and this in turn will increase the demand for gold bullion because it is internationally accepted and supplied limitedly.

As all these probable factors are likely to remain the same without any respite, the value of gold will increase continuously. Therefore, gold investments made as stocks will always be profited. Investment in undervalued gold stocks can fetch better returns.

As the market has been witnessing a very high gold price recently, some corrections are likely to be made. If the value can be brought down to $900, it would definitely allow more and more investors to enter the market. However, buying gold jewelry will not be wise; rather one should invest in gold bullions. Gold can also be purchased through mutual funds and ETFs. There are myriads instruments available for investments in gold these days and the investors now have a wider choice as well.

Though there are still chances that the US economy will raise, its unlikely to affect the value of gold to a great extent. Therefore there must be a moderation maintained when it comes to investing in gold or any other investment tool. Excellent investment opportunities are also on the cards as some small companies are almost done with their gold projects. But the investor must obtain a thorough knowledge of the whereabouts before he invests and trade gold for profits - 23221

About the Author:

gold bullion investment and how to earn return when you buy gold can be obtained from Atlantgold.com