Money and Markets: Free Investment Email Newsletter » Investments and Styles

Investments and Styles

Adam Shafer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:24 +0000

In today’s fast-paced global economy, there is a wide variety of investment vehicles to suit the individual needs of each investor. Knowing what each of these styles has to offer is the best way to diversify and tailor your portfolio accordingly. Click on any of the following to learn more.

Bear Market Protection

Sometimes, the best measure of success is not how well you do in a bull market, but how well you cope when the market is down. [more...]

Bonds

Bonds are tradable instruments (debt securities) issued by companies or governments to raise capital that guarantee payment of the original investment plus interest by a specified future date. Bond certificates act as evidence of a debt on which the issuer promises to pay the holder a specified amount of interest for a specified length of time, and to repay the loan on its maturity. [more...]

Currencies

To investors more familiar with the trading of stocks, futures and options, currency trading may seem like a strange and exotic process. For one thing, currency trading does not take place on a regulated exchange. Nor is it controlled by any central governing body. Also, there are no clearing houses that guarantee trades. Instead, it is based on credit agreements. [more...]

Dividends and Stocks

If there’s one thing that most blue-chip stocks have in common, it’s that they pay dividends. In fact, if a company pays a dividend, it’s generally a good sign because it often means its profits are such that it can afford to do so. [more...]

Dollar

There’s no denying that in recent years the value of the U.S. dollar has declined against those of foreign currencies. But while the dollar’s slide has eroded your purchasing power when it comes to imported goods or an overseas vacation, there is an upside: If you own assets abroad, you’re more than making up for that loss of purchasing power. [more...]

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are investment holding companies that track an index, but whose shares can be bought like any stock. ETFs bundle the securities that are in an index, but unlike mutual funds, can be handled like any normal stock. For example, an investor can short sell an ETF. [more...]

Interest Rates

Interest rates play a pivotal role in the course that the economy takes. The slightest deviation in the Federal Reserve’s policy in regard to rates can send stock markets soaring or plummeting. [more...]

International ETFs

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are investment holding companies, whose shares can be bought like any stock. However, unlike U.S. stocks that get only part of their earnings overseas, International ETFs buy only foreign stocks. They are traded like stocks on U.S. exchanges, which bypasses any and all hassles of dealing with foreign exchanges. [more...]

Large-Caps

Large-caps are companies with a market capitalization exceeding $10 billion and, therefore, perceived to be the safest and most reliable stocks.

However, risk exists throughout the market, even among blue-chip stocks, and with reduced risk comes reduced growth potential. Nevertheless, large-caps appeal to more conservative investors looking for modest gains and income through quarterly dividends. [more...]

Mid-Caps

Mid-caps are companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. Mid-cap stocks are a popular investment because these companies are primed for potential growth, while at the same time having already gone through some of the growing pains which small-cap stocks have yet to experience. [more...]

Mutual Funds

A mutual fund is a financial intermediary that allows a group of investors to pool their money with a predetermined investment objective. The pooled money is invested into specific securities (usually stocks or bonds) by a fund manager. By investing in a mutual fund, you are buying shares of the mutual fund and become a shareholder of the fund. [more...]

Options

An option is a contract giving an investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy (”call”) or sell (”put”) a fixed amount of shares (usually 100 shares) of a given stock or index and commodity at a specified price within a limited time period – usually three, six, or nine months. [more...]

Small-Caps

Although definitions may vary among brokerages, small-caps are companies with a market capitalization of between $300 million and $2 billion. These smaller companies have a greater chance for growth but also more volatility. [more...]

Stocks

Simply put, stocks are shares in the ownership of a company. When you own stocks in a company, it represents a claim on the company’s assets and earnings. The more shares of company stock you acquire, the more of an ownership stake you take in the company – and a larger portion of its profits. [more...]

Stocks

Kilani — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:39:17 +0000

In an age of online trading, owning shares of stock is easier than ever. What’s challenging is choosing the right stocks to meet your investment objectives. For example, if you’re a conservative investor looking to generate income, you’ll want to focus on long-term investment in blue-chip stocks that pay high-yield dividends. On the other hand, if you’re an aggressive investor who can tolerate risk for the potential of higher short-term gains, you may prefer to own more speculative stocks.

In either case, an informed investor is most likely to succeed in a volatile market. To learn more about stocks, click below.

Dividend Superstars

Every month, learn what our income investment expert and former Standard & Poor’s editor Nilus Mattive considers to be the best dividend-paying stocks in the world. He’ll show you companies that have been delivering higher and higher payments for decades. High-growth firms that are happy to share their good fortune with you … and stocks with eye-popping yields that will trump even the fattest Treasury bond yield.

Money and Markets

Money and Markets is a free, daily investment e-newsletter delivered directly to your desktop before the market’s opening bell. Dr. Martin Weiss and his team of renowned analysts are constantly scouring the globe for red-hot investment opportunities. Discover the latest investment news, views, and insights on what’s moving and shaking the global economy. Find out what you need to do now to potentially protect and grow your money. Geopolitical trends, Asia-tech, gold, silver, oil, natural resources, interest rates, real estate, ETFs, and more – it’s all covered in Money and Markets.

Safe Money

Dr. Martin D. Weiss began writing and publishing guidance for investors more than 30 years ago. Today, he is one of the nation’s leading providers of information for investors. And in this power-packed, straight-shooting monthly publication, you can count on unbiased information that will cut through the Wall Street spin to give you specific recommendations to protect and grow your wealth in both rising and falling markets.

Small-Caps

Kilani — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:38:30 +0000

To learn more about investing in the best small-cap companies, click below.

21st Century Superpower Trader

This service provides recommendations on using international ETFs to scoop up huge profits from global market moves. The strategy it uses has beaten the S&P 500 by SIX TO ONE for 16 long years. And it offers you the most favorable risk/reward ratio available on every international ETF recommended.

Options

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:58:28 +0000

If you buy a call option, you’ll benefit from the stock’s price going up. If you buy a put option, you’re banking on the stock’s price going down by an amount that will provide a profit when you sell the option.

Call and put options can be placed on most publicly traded companies and offer investors an alternative to simply buying shares of stock, which will only produce returns if the stock goes up. To learn more about options and companies that provide the best current investment opportunities, click below.

Money and Markets

Crisis Opportunity Speculator

Mike Larson’s service uses the leverage of put and call options to help you profit from today’s turbulent markets. He believes that in every crisis, there are profit opportunities, and his goal is to identify them for you.

Mutual Funds

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:57:44 +0000

A mutual fund is a financial intermediary that allows a group of investors to pool their money with a predetermined investment objective. The pooled money is invested in specific securities (usually stocks or bonds) by a fund manager. By investing in a mutual fund, you are buying shares of that mutual fund and become a shareholder of the fund.

Mutual funds are cost efficient and easy to invest in. By pooling your money in a mutual fund, you can purchase stocks or bonds with much lower trading costs than if you tried to do it on your own. But the biggest advantage of mutual funds is diversification. You spread your money across many different types of investments. When one investment is down another might be up, thus significantly reducing your risk.

Money and Markets

Mid-Caps

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:56:51 +0000

Mid-caps are companies with a market capitalization of between $2 billion and $10 billion. What makes these companies a popular investment is that they have outgrown the challenges faced by small-cap companies, but are still primed for potential growth. They have quality management in place, have refined their products or services, and have distinguished their brand. Therefore, they are better prepared to maintain and improve their market share. To learn more about investing in quality mid-cap companies, click below.

Dividend Superstars

Safe Money

Large-Caps

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:56:08 +0000

Large-caps are companies with a market capitalization exceeding $10 billion and, therefore, perceived to be the safest and most reliable stocks.

To learn more about investing in large-cap stocks, click below.

Money and Markets

Dividend Superstars

International ETFs

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:55:23 +0000

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are investment holding companies, whose shares can be bought like any stock. However, unlike U.S. stocks that get only part of their earnings overseas, international ETFs buy only foreign stocks. They are traded like stocks on U.S. exchanges, which bypasses any and all the hassles of dealing with foreign exchanges.

Also, unlike international mutual funds, you can check the value of every ETF you own in real time at any moment of the trading day, and you can get in or out almost instantly. International ETFs are also inexpensive to buy, own and sell. They require a small brokerage commission, but never an entry or exit penalty. You never pay marketing fees, there are no minimums, and you never pay taxes on your paper profits.

With more than 100 international ETFs to choose from, investors can benefit from their diversity. There are a wide range of global ETFs from several firms that fall into a handful of major categories, including country-specific, regional, international sector, and foreign currency ETFs.

To learn more about international ETFs, click below.

21st Century Superpower Trader

Interest Rates

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:53:52 +0000

Interest rates play a pivotal role in the course that the economy takes. The slightest deviation in the Federal Reserve’s policy in regard to rates can send stock markets soaring or plummeting.

As the central banking system of the United States, the Fed implements monetary policy by targeting the federal funds rate with the goal of controlling inflation. This is the rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans of federal funds. The Fed also sets the discount, which is the interest rate that banks pay the Fed to borrow directly from it. Both rates influence the prime rate, which is usually about 3 percentage points higher than the federal funds rate. The prime is the rate at which most banks price their loans to their best customers.

Lower interest rates stimulate economic activity by lowering the cost of borrowing, while higher rates slow the economy by increasing the cost of borrowing.

If you’d like to know more about interest rates and how they can affect your wealth, click below.

Money and Markets

Crisis Opportunity ETF Trader

This service enlists the power of a time-tested sector rotation strategy to keep you invested in the ETFs with the most profit potential at any given time. It focuses on inverse and double-inverse ETFs, which RISE in value when selected sectors decline.

Crisis Opportunity Speculator

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

Kilani — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:52:58 +0000

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are investment holding companies that track an index, but whose shares can be bought like any stock. ETFs bundle the securities that are in an index but unlike mutual funds, can be handled like any normal stock. For example, an investor can short sell an ETF.

Since ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, they can be bought and sold at any time of day. Their prices will fluctuate in real-time, just like any other stock’s price, and you will need a broker in order to purchase them. ETFs have other advantages over mutual funds: For one thing, they are more tax-efficient. And since they track indexes, they have low operating and transaction costs associated with them. Also, there are no sales loads or investment minimums required to purchase an ETF.

To learn more about this innovative investment opportunity, click below.

21st Century Superpower Trader

Dividend Superstars

Every month, learn what our income investment expert and former Standard & Poor’s editor Nilus Mattive, considers to be the best dividend-paying stocks in the world. He’ll show you companies that have been delivering higher and higher payments for decades. High-growth firms that are happy to share their good fortune with you … and stocks with eye-popping yields that will trump even the fattest Treasury bond yield.

Money and Markets

Safe Money

Crisis Opportunity ETF Trader