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How Do GMAT Scoring Algorithms Affect You?
Recently, I used my extensive experience in this arena to help design the GMAT Exam Simulator software distributed by Upstart Raising to GMAT Preparation providers and tutors worldwide.
How To Impress Any Woman
I've learned a secret to impressing women that I'm going to share with you. It's a secret that probably not 1 in 1,000 men know or will ever figure out on his own. The reason that most men will never figure out this particular secret is that it's too obvious.
Secrets to Quadrupling Your Google Adsense Profits
I've been reading a few forums and blogs about Google Adsense tips lately, and thought it would be helpful to consolidate as many as possible in one place without the comments.
Confidence Is Money
There is no greater asset for an entrepreneur than an absolute conviction that you know what you're doing. If you don't feel sure of yourself, why should anyone else trust you?
Choosing a Business Identity
A rose by any other name may still be a rose, but what you name your business will affect how the market perceives you. A business name that may seem catchy or cute can often translate into something misleading or ineffective.
The Way of the Spare Room Entrepreneur
Being a spare room entrepreneur is more than just a way of making a living, it is a way of living your life. It isn't an easy way to live. In the past, being in business independently was the norm, and people typically worked and lived in the same place.
Rick Redmont Bases Trading on Wyckoff Theories
Off-floor trader Rick Redmont gained his first experience trading stocks as a college student during the bull market of 1961. "I had $10,000, which turned into $20,000. I followed the Chartcraft point and figure book-but it didn't really matter what you bought.
Tom DeMark Relies 100% on Market Timing
Trader and consultant Tom DeMark has invented dozens of proprietary technical indicators over the years and relies strictly on the technical principles of market timing for his research and trading. In fact at one point in his career, DeMark went through the CFA program (certified financial analyst), but chose to never complete it.
Tom Bierovic Uses Discretion on Top of His Rules
Off floor trader Tom Bierovic, trades according to a set of rules he has developed over the years, but uses his own discretion on top of these rules. Bierovic believes he was lucky because he was introduced to the futures business at a very young age. His father was a trader at the MidAmerica Exchange and Tom would plot daily and weekly bar charts of the agricultural contracts for his allowance money.
Choosing a Trading System That Actually Works
I believe a good trading system should be considered for inclusion in one's portfolio in order to potentially enjoy superior returns. Finding a good trading system, however, can be a very difficult process.
Linda Bradfore Raschke Focuses on Technicals
After spending six years trading on the floor, first at the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange and then at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Linda Bradford Raschke shifted gears and moved to an off-floor office in 1987. After trading her own money for several years, she moved into the money management side of the business in early 1993. Raschke, along with her partner Rick Genett, manage about $25 million.
Grant Noble Reads Mass Media for Contrarian Signals
Futures trader and author Grant Noble looks to the mass news media in order to garner signals of major market bottoms or tops. Only, he looks to the media with a contrarian perspective.
Angelo Reynolds Scalps in the Eurodollar Pit
As a trader in the Eurodollar futures pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Angelo Reynolds cites mental toughness and courage as two of the necessary factors to successful pit trading. "I knew I always wanted to be involved in the markets," Reynolds said.
Glenn Neely Bucks Traditional Elliott Analysis
Glenn Neely locks horns with traditional Elliott wave theoreticians and has developed his own approach to trading the markets, which he calls NEoWave Theory. Neely first encountered the Elliott wave theory back in the early 1980's while he was working off-shore in the oil industry.
George Lane Still Trading Off Stochastics at Age 75
George Lane completed his 47th year of trading in December 1996 and is still going strong. After many years of trading in the grain pits in downtown Chicago, Lane has shifted to screen trading during his "retirement" in a small community about 80 miles south of Chicago.
Key to Day-Trading: Have Your 'Team' in Place
Day-trading is a very serious business; if you don't have all the right ingredients in place before you begin trading, you're dead. One of the most important aspects of the day-trading business is your "team:"
Lee Gettess Focuses on Controlling Risk
Trader Lee Gettess focuses on risk control as a major factor in determining his success in the commodity markets. However, it wasn't always that way. Gettess received his introduction to the commodity futures markets via a telephone call from a broker.
Cynthia Kase Relies on Proprietary Technical Indicators
Trader and consultant Cynthia Kase relies on a series of proprietary technical indicators that has developed for her trading signals. Kase makes her trading decisions strictly based on these technical indicators and doesn't rely on fundamental analysis at all.
Ben Warwick's "Event Trading" Keys in on News
While many traders focus either on technicals or fundamentals as they develop their trading strategies, trader Ben Warwick focuses on a market's reaction to news. Warwick has developed his own method of trading, which he calls it "event trading."
Persistence Pays Off for Joe Stowell
According to independent trader Joe Stowell, persistence and courage are two key characteristics necessary for success in trading. Persistence certainly has paid off for Stowell, who traded part time off and on for 20 years, before leaving his job as a school teacher to trade full time.
How an Options Specialist Prepares for the Market Opening
At 6:45 a.m. the traffic already is building on the expressways that feed into downtown Chicago. From inside your car, the only real difference between winter and summer at this time of day is that in summer the sun is already up. In the dead of winter, traders only see the sunshine on vacation.
Larry Williams: Training Key for Trading, Running
Trader and marathon runner Larry Williams sees parallels between successful trading and successful marathon running. Williams, who recently completed his sixteenth marathon run, pointed to "pain and agony" as being two of the obvious similarities between trading and long-distance running.
Gary Wagner Uses Candlesticks to Measure Sentiment
Japanese candlesticks offer a "mathematical expression of psychological market sentiment" to trader Gary Wagner, who utilizes these Eastern technical indicators in conjunction with Western tools to actively trade for himself.
Day-Trading: Not What You Think
The day-trader is a cross between an extrovert and an introvert with both characteristics in balance. The introvert aspect is depicted by the disciplined workaholic with a reclusive concentration. The extrovert aspect is depicted by an aggressive, competitive, self-motivated individual striving to be the best in a selective profession.
Fundamental Versus Technical Forecasting
Just before we get started I want to introduce you to fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis concentrates on the forces of supply and demand for a given security. This approach examines all the factors that determine the price of a security and the real value of that security.
How To Think Like A Winning Day Trader
What makes the best traders successful? Are they "lucky"? Have they discovered some "secret" indicator? No. They've learned the truth about trading. Trading success is a simple as 1-2-3.
Easy Way to Cut Losses
I have successfully given up two unhelpful behaviors, one was smoking which I stopped 10 years ago; and the other was drinking alcohol, which I gave up last year. Most people these days agree that smoking is a bad habit, but equally most people still consider drinking to be perfectly healthy in moderation.
What is Paper Trading?
Over the years I have trained many traders and I always advise that they spend at least three months paper trading before they go live with real money. Now even though I advise this I have never had a student actually do it. They all give up on paper trading after a few weeks and go live.
Understanding Foreign Currency Pairs
Trading the forex market has many benefits over other financial markets, among the most important are: superior liquidity, 24hrs market, better execution, and others. Traders and investor see the forex market as a new speculation or diversifying opportunity because of these benefits.
Forex Building Blocks that Works
Day trading the foreign currency market is definitely one of the more challenging endeavors an aspiring trader can pursue. The higher degree of leverage available in this market can increase profits, but it equally accelerates losses as well.
Should I Override the Forex Strategy?
Today was a perfect day to test your discipline: We went long at 1190.00 and the reversing order was placed at 1192.25. Prices moved up to 1192.00 and reversed. One hour later we tried to reverse at 1191.00. Again prices moved up to 1190.75 and reversed.
Richard Rhodes' Trading Rules
I must admit, I am not smart enough to have devised these ridiculously simple trading rules. A great trader gave them to me some 15 years ago. However, I will tell you, they work. The rules are simple. Adherence to the rules is difficult.
Forex Trading for Beginners
Did You Know? A number of years ago I did a survey of over 1,000 people who had replied to adds I placed in local newspapers advertising various stock market information. This is what I found out:
John Murphy's Ten Laws of Technical Trading
Which way is the market moving? How far up or down will it go? And when will it go the other way? These are the basic concerns of the technical analyst. Behind the charts and graphs and mathematical formulas used to analyze market trends are some basic concepts that apply to most of the theories employed by today's technical analysts.
Arthur Hill on Goals, Style and Strategy
Before investing or trading, it is important to develop a strategy or game plan that is consistent with your goals and style. The ultimate goal is to make money (win), but there are many different methods to go about it.
Maintain Your Perspective
Every minute more than 150 Million Dollars change hands in the electronic index futures markets like the e-mini S&P and e-mini NQ. You can win or lose thousands of dollars in a few minutes; the futures markets can make you rich in a few weeks or months or wipe out your account with no mercy.
Why Watch Market Indicators?
A common and effective way to gain perspective on stock price fluctuations is to compare the movement of your stocks to that of indices or market indicators. About 100 years ago, as the number of individual stocks grew, the need to measure how the stock market performed became obvious.
How to Make Money Shorting Stocks in Up and Down Markets
Now I am very much aware that many market players do not like to short stocks. This bias against the short side of the market is totally understandable, especially given the fact that the widespread reluctance is garnered and perpetuated by the various exchanges and the other powers-that-be.
Avoiding Mistakes in Forex Trading
A difficult challenge facing a trader, and particularly those trading e-forex, is finding perspective. Achieving that in markets with regular hours is hard enough, but with forex, where prices are moving 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is exceptionally laborious.
What Are Commonly Traded Securities
Stocks -- When you buy stocks you essentially own a little share of the company you just bought. The more shares you buy the more of the company you own. When the company whose shares you have bought makes a profit you will receive that profit in the form of dividends.
The Flaw In Our Emotions
As humans we have a natural tendency to try and influence our surroundings and events we take part in. This is one reason as a species we have succeeded but it is also one of the fundamental flaws we all have when trying to achieve success as a trader.
The Trend is Your Friend
We traders have to try to achieve a state of impartiality. We have to accept that we will have losses as readily as we will gains. Reaching a stage where you can comfortably accept losses, in the knowledge that your method of trading will produce profits in the longer term, is the state we have to aspire to. Trading is not an exact science.
Who Trades The Markets
Let's just clarify what is meant by the term trader, sometimes called retail trader or day trader. This is an individual who trades the financial market whatever they may be using their own money. They may or may not be dependent on the results of their trading for their income. This does not include professionals who work for institutions or who manage other people's money.
Momentum Trading
One of the most basic and widely used indicators is that of momentum. Before I go on to tell you how we can use the momentum indicator to trade with, I want to explain the difference between a leading and a lagging indictor.
The Mastery Of Self Trading
We do everything for a reason. The reason behind any act is, for the most part, unconscious. If we want to change a behaviour we need to identify the reason, the underlying objective, and examine it. We need to examine it to determine whether this objective, this assumption, supports us in what we want to do now.
High Low Breakout Technique
This technique can be used for any market that has a decent daily range. If you look at any chart, what do you see? You should see a succession of bars that are doing one of three things.
Intraday Trading Tactics
In this lesson I want to discuss intraday tactics that you should be aware of when you start to trade intraday. By intraday I mean very short time frames such as 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute charts. This will apply to traders who actively trade and probably trade frequently during the course of the day.
Where To Place Your Trading Stop
Many traders have a problem defining where they should place their stop loss. They have no problem entering a trade but often have a problem defining where they should take profits or cut their loses. In this lesson we will cover some of the popular methods of choosing a stop loss.
Understanding Stochastics
The foreign exchange markets move when some force makes one currency either more or less valuable than another. The cumulative purchase and sales of a currency cause it to move up or down and to become more or less valuable in relation to other currencies.
Anticipating the Market and Execution
I divide trading skills into two distinct elements: anticipating the market and execution. The anticipating part is reading the market, whether through charts, systems, technical indicators or intuition. Anticipating/reading the market is the trading skill that most of us focus all our energy on, and it is the subject covered by most trading books and seminars.
Day Trading Strategy
A market that is trending up should have higher peaks and higher valleys. The majority of bars should also have higher highs and higher lows. In a down trend the market should have lower valleys and lower peaks and the majority of bars should have lower lows and lower highs.
Option Trading: Thinking "Outside the Box"
Wouldn't it be great if we could buy an option with five months left until expiration and sell an option with 2 months left until expiration for the same price? You couldn't lose. Well we can't. I love options spreads so much I realized something very important. We can buy a spread that has a lot of time value left at almost the same price as we can sell one with less time value left.
Stopping Yourself on Forex
I read on a bulletin board a traders comment that on his first outing trading the E-Mini S&P 500 he lost on each of his trades. He noted though, that had he had a wider stop each of his trades would have been profitable and that therefore he would be trading with a wider stop in future.
What is Simple Moving Average?
This is the most widely used and is simply calculated by adding up a set of values and dividing the total by the number in the set. This is the average. Movement of this average is effected by adding the next new value of the set and subtracting the first value of the set and again dividing by the same number of values in the set being studied.
What is Support and Resistance
It is very important to understand the concept of support and resistance. In up trends, every time price drops to the up trend line and then resume their advance, the trend line has acted as support to the price up trend. Support can also be found at prices of previous support or resistance.
What is Moving Averages
A market that is trending up should have higher peaks and higher valleys. The majority of bars should also have higher highs and higher lows. In a down trend the market should have lower valleys and lower peaks and the majority of bars should have lower lows and lower highs.
Exiting a Losing Trade
A market that is trending up should have higher peaks and higher valleys. The majority of bars should also have higher highs and higher lows. In a down trend the market should have lower valleys and lower peaks and the majority of bars should have lower lows and lower highs.
Forex Bid/Offer
Normally when you look at your charts you only see one price and that price is the bid price. Some types of charting software are capable of displaying the offer price but most commonly the price you see is the bid price.
Yin and the Yang of Markets
I am reading a fantastic book on trading, first published in 1924, by Richard D. Wyckoff, titled 'How I Trade and Invest in Stocks & Bonds'. Although most of the examples in the book pertain to stocks, the insights into the nature of trading are relevant no matter what instrument you choose to trade.
Why Does Technical Analysis Work?
Technical analysis describes different ways of predicting the future of the stock/futures market based on its history. Unfortunately, technical analysis is not an exact science. Many prominent scientists label it as "voodoo science".
Understanding Forex Trends
Trend is the easiest and the most difficult thing to understand. The difficulty arises because of the time factor. Whenever we talk of trend it has to be related to the context of time.
Building a Forex Trading System
About two weeks ago I got an email from a trader explaining his trading method and asking me for some advice on how to improve on it. On the surface of it, there wasn't much to his approach but he had been trading profitably for a few years and that got me interested.
Profitable Trades for Beginner
Once you are in a profitable trade, the next challenge becomes when to take profit. Optimizing profits is the other main aim of trading, besides limiting losses.
Forex Envelopes
What we are going to show here is the use of Envelopes, which form trading bands. The particular trading bands we are going to use will be based on exponential moving averages. This will help us form a method to trade. This is basically an intraday strategy, which works well on the 10min/15min time frame.
Forex Pip Auction Game Problem
Here are 4 fail-proof ways to solve the Pip Auction Game problem, and to guarantee that you're not going to play it again. You have heard this before, and it's true, but until now you still have not lived by this rule. You should never risk more for pips than they are worth. You should cut your losses short.
What is the Best Business Opportunities
Did you know that more and more business opportunity seekers worldwide are discovering the powerful profit potential of Foreign Exchange trading? In this business, there are no employees to hire, no advertising, no products to stock, no downlines to fill -- just you, an Internet connection and a computer.
Change Over Days - Day Trading
I read somewhere that when Michael Jordan was making an advert that required him to miss the basketball hoop a number of times; he just couldn't do it, he couldn't not get the ball in the hoop.
The "M" And "W" Trading Pattern
The "M" and "W" trading pattern is a great little pattern that occurs with enough frequency for you to add it to your trading tool bag.
The Basics of Currency Trading
Currency, like other commodities, are traded in futures contracts. Simply, these are contracts to deliver a fixed amount of a particular currency, in a given month in the future, at a price agreed upon and paid for today.
How to Choose an Online Forex Firm
Forex is a special kind of the world financial market. Trader's purpose on the Forex to get profit as the result of foreign currencies purchase and sale. But, what to look for in an online Forex Firm:
Understanding Rectangles on Forex
The rectangle contains price movement between two points in a rectangular shape to which we add lines to signify the upper boundary and lower boundary. These lines should be horizontal.
Buying and Selling Currencies
Trading opportunities in the forex market deserve serious consideration as a diversification strategy for your portfolio.
What is Currency Markets?
The currency market includes the Foreign Currency Market and the Euro-currency Market. The Foreign Currency Market is virtual. There is no one central physical location that is the foreign currency market.
How to Make Consistent Forex Profits
One of the mistakes I consistently made in my early years as a trader was to try to make too much money in relation to my trading capital.
How to Be a Highly Skilled Forex Trader
Trading, like any endeavor, any skill, is learnt through doing. We learn through trial and error, through having experiences and evaluating and learning from those experiences; and of course, our learning is accelerated if we have the support and advice of someone who is further along the path of development.
Is Forex Investing a Risky Business?
The spot forex market is unique to any other market in the world, as trading is available 24-hours a day. Somewhere around the world, a financial center is open for business, and banks and other institutions exchange currencies, every hour of the day and night with generally only minor gaps on the weekend.
How to Make Consistent Profits Futures Trading
The issue of direct access is an important one and it becomes more important the more short term your trading is. The market can change from a state of seeming paralysis to one of shocking volatility and activity in a flash.
How Forex Trading Works
Forex, as you very well know, is the largest financial market in the world. Unlike many other markets, the international forex market is open 24 hours a day. Its daily turnover is well over US$ 1.2 trillion. This turnover is more than the combined turnover of the world's major stock markets on any given day.
Developing Forex Trading Skills
At some point, if they last long enough, all traders discover that successful trading is not the inevitable result of a good trading strategy or system. If all we needed was a good system or indicator we would all be successful traders. Yet clearly we are not, far from it, there are very few traders making their living consistently from the markets.
The Best Places for a First Date
The first date is your opportunity to make a positive impression and in order to make a good impression you must be prepared. Perhaps the biggest decision to make beforehand is where to take your date.
The Cycle Of A Trend
In this lesson we are going to look at the different stages of a trend and how it can help you position yourself for a trade. It is commonly accepted that there are four stages of a trend. These stages make up a cycle and each cycle has smaller cycles contained within them.
Bollinger Bands Revealed
Bollinger bands are an integral part of just about every charting system I have ever seen but many traders are unfamiliar with how to use them. In this lesson we will cover the basics of Bollinger bands and one particular technique which I have found to be very reliable.
How to Be a Successful Forex Trader
Just what does it really take to become a successful trader in today's markets? To answer that question adequately one must first understand the mind of a successful trader and what his/her thought processes are. Today's markets have changed dramatically just in the past few years and those changes are due to a variety of different factors.
Forex Trading Basics: Supply and Demand Fundamentals
The objective of currency trading is to exchange one currency for another with the expectation that the market rate or price will change such that the currency pair you have bought has appreciated in value relative to the currency you have sold.
How to Lose Money on Forex
I read somewhere that when Michael Jordan was making an advert that required him to miss the basketball hoop a number of times; he just couldn't do it, he couldn't not get the ball in the hoop.
Glossary of Forex Terms and Commonly Used Expressions
Forex is one of the fastest growing areas for news traders to get started. The main reason for this is the low entry level (only a few hundred dollars for mini accounts) and the fact that it is fairly straightforward to trade.
The Dow Theory
You will hear a lot about the Dow Theory as you travel through your trading career. Dow himself never actually used the phrase. That came later as analysts began to use the term.
Forex Basics: Relative Strength Index
Relative Strength Index was developed by J.Welles Wilder Jr. and introduced in his book 'New Concepts In Technical Trading Systems'. It is one of the most popular technical tools around.
Fundamental of Technical Analysis
Chart is lines of graphics that sketch the market movement in a certain period where the x-axis is the time and the y-axis is the price.
Naked Options
Now let's look briefly at the result of selling naked calls. In this scenario, the call writer simply sells the call and does not own any of the underlying stock to cover the short call. If the stock plummets, the call writer is very happy and relieved.
Forex Basic: MACD
Moving Average Convergence-Divergence (MACD) was originally constructed by Gerald Appel an analyst in New York. Originally designed for analysis of stock trends, it is now widely used in many markets.
Forex Basic: Symmetrical Triangles
Symmetrical chart patterns can be found in almost any market and any time frame. They normally signify some indecision in the market and as the pattern develops it is common to see a decrease in volume.
A Different Type of Moving Average Cross
Virtually every trader has dabbled with or experimented with some sort of moving average. What I want to introduce you to in this lesson is a different sort of moving average cross method, which I have found to be very good at identifying short term trend changes.
Foreign Exchange Day Trader
I received an email from a prospective buyer of my online trading course. His question (below) caused me to think about the wisdom of pursuing trading as a worthy venture.
Responsibility in Forex Trading
An email in response to my article prompted me to consider the significance of taking responsibility in trading. There is a natural tendency for most people, in any area of life, to not take responsibility for results and behaviours that appear negative.
Why 10% of Traders Go Bankrupt?
I was thinking about an article I read some time ago that 90% of traders who ever trade lose their account and that 10% actually go bankrupt. If the first number doesn't scare you then the second definitely should.
The Joy of Options
Owning stock has only two, maybe three, possibilities. The stock goes up. Or the stock goes down. Or, as a third possibility, it does a little of both. If you buy a stock, all you want it to do is go up.
Buying and Selling Options
Now, let's consider stock and stock options for a moment. Consider the ubiquitous XYZ Corp., currently trading at $95 per share on 2/1/03. If you pay $4 per share for a March call on 100 shares of XYZ at the $100 strike price, you have acquired the right to buy 100 shares of XYZ for $100 per share, any time before the third Friday in March.
The Anatomy of an Option
Any time you read anything about options, it is incumbent upon the author to provide a brief introduction. This article is no exception.
Forex Basic: What's a Spread?
Very simply, a spread is a position in which options are bought and other options are sold. Having said that, there are dozens of ways to combine options to create simple or exotic trading positions.
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