All About Free Money Market Fund

By Craig Lipper

A tax free money market fund is a great way to balance your portfolio especially if it is equity heavy. In current economic scenario, there is a lot of uncertainty. Therefore, it makes sense to park some money in debt funds like government securities and money market funds.

A money market fund is usually a mutual fund which invests its assets in short term debt instruments like cash or cash equivalent securities. These funds are usually used as short term investments until the time you have found a suitable option to invest your money. This is particularly good option in recent times when the investors are waiting for the markets to bounce back. Once the Bull Run starts, investors can take out this money from money market funds and invest them in equity funds or other high yielding avenues.

There are many kinds of money market securities like Certificate of deposits, U.S. Treasuries, repurchase agreements, commercial paper etc. The money market funds come in two types which are taxable funds and tax free funds. As the name implies, the taxable funds are taxed when they get matured while the tax free money market funds are not.

At an initial look, no-one will decide to buy a taxable fund because to tax related reasons but the fact is that tax free funds have fewer yields than taxable funds. When comparing these funds, it is necessary that investor convert the tax free yield into equivalent taxable yield. The formula for this conversion is Taxable Equivalent Yield = Tax-Free Yield / (1 - Marginal Tax Rate).

There are a variety of tax free money market funds existing in market today. Most of them have similar returns so there is not much difference between them. A few names from good and reputed fund houses are Fidelity AMT Tax-Free Money Fund (FIMXX), Vanguard Tax-Exempt MMF (VMSXX), American Century Tax-Free MMF (BNTXX), and T. Rowe Price Tax-Exempt Money (PTEXX). - 23159

About the Author:

The author suggests articles on various topics related to personal finance including best tax free money market funds and money market certificates.

Play With The House's Money With Covered Calls

By Maclin Vestor

Great Gamblers actually have a lot in common with great investors. They know excellent money management is the key to success. Their view is that as long as their money is on the table, it belongs to the game. Their Goal is often to get their own money off the table quickly, so they can play with the house's money. In the investment world, a Covered call trading strategy is a good way to play with the house's money. However, there are many different viewpoints. One is that you just find a good stock, and then if it trades options to just sell calls against it until the stock pays for itself. However this is a very limited viewpoint that doesn't explain what a "good stock" is.

If you are typically a growth and momentum investor, you are generally relying on accelerating earnings and sales growth and price momentum and buying momentum to take over as the stock is bid higher. If you identify a good buy point this will NOT make a good covered call strategy.

The reason is, the premium on the option is generally based on recent volatility, and stocks that set up for a buy point typically consolidate as buyers take profit, sellers try to battle this stock back and buyers and sellers reach a stand still, then buyers gain momentum, and soon right near the buy point the buyers begin to take control. Sometimes the sellers will give-up, and cover their shorts, and the buyers will come in full force. This means that right before the buy point the stock's premium is fairly low, and it's not until after the stock breaks out that the price of the premium will be reflected based upon this volatility. In addition, this strategy is generally based on price appreciation. If you sell options on these stocks, you will limit your gain, and you will most likely not increase your potential very much. Generally the best strategy would be to sell out of the money options at your price target. However, generally this will net you a very small amount unless you are buying a lot of shares, and your fees per trade and per contract are very low. Even then, this is just adding a very small premium onto your shares, and usually isnt worth it as much. Instead, you may be better off learning to BUY options if this is your strategy.

On the other hand, If someone is not a momentum trader, and is going to buy stock s perhaps that just received upwards earning guidance, or if they have a strategy where they expect mild price appreciation, or if theyre just index investors, then perhaps a covered call strategy would work well. If you expect a mild price appreciation, you can sell out of the money options, and still gain from price appreciation up to the strike price, while also collecting a premium. Say you Identify a stock that is starting an upward or sideways channel, You are following a trend, you would want to identify the peak of that trend at expiration, and sell a call option near that strike price. This will allow you to adjust price targets, receive the capital appreciation gains, and also collect a premium.

Now generally covered call strategies are better for value investors, or even contrarian investors. You want a stock that you can own for a very long time, but is one that you dont anticipate any short term price appreciation. You can just collect premiums by selling at the money call options, or if you expect the stock to actually decline slightly at the moment, you can sell in the money options, hoping that the stock declines out of the money, and that you dont have to be assigned on your call. This way you can own the call and write another call option month to month, collecting income.

There are other strategies such as just collecting the maximum premiums that are available. This may be a bit dangerous since these are stocks that people expect to make big moves, and those moves arent always up. The price of a call and put are directly correlated, so just because a covered call will yield you a high percentage yield, doesnt mean it is worth it. It is generally associated with higher risks, and most likely, if the stock does go up, it will be a big move, you will be limited in only being able to collect the premium, and you could potentially lose everything if the stock tanks to zero. However, if you do enough research, seeking some of the top yielding covered call options is a good strategy, that can sometimes have you yielding around 10% a month. In addition, you may decide to use this to find stocks that are ready to move, and just buy the stock outright, avoiding additional costs associated with the option (such as the time premium and extra brokerage fees), and still allowing you to profit from the gains. Or perhaps you want to identify the stock and just buy out of the money calls.

Ultimately its up to you to pick a strategy you understand, and learn as much as you can, taking whatever courses you need to and educating yourself so that you are prepared to make money in a way that works for you. - 23159

About the Author:

Maclin Vestor teaches about varioustrading systems and teaches you how to buy stock that works for you.

Forex Secrets Revealed Right Here

By John Eather

If you are interested in making money on the Forex trading system, then there are a number of things you will need to take into consideration. With the right type of Forex secrets, you will be able to higher your chances of making money on the system. However, you should take note that nothing is guaranteed, this system is all about risk. As you read this article, you are going to come across some forex secrets that you should take to heart.

When we first tried out forex trading without using any secrets years ago, we failed. We just jumped right in there without even giving it a test run. Yes, we lost money and that totally scared us away. When we learned these forex secrets (we're about to list them below), we started trading again. Yes, our chances of getting more money went higher.

When you are looking into the trade system, you should only do it if you have enough money to lose. Yes, we said lose. Chances are, you were so focused on winning money that you forgot that you could lose. A good rule of the thumb would be for you to only put money towards the system that you could afford to lose and forget about even getting money back. If you get money back, then that will be a good surprise.

It just goes with the says, 'don't go counting your hens before they even hatch out of those eggs!'

Speaking in tiredness and greed, that is one thing you could get away from when you turn to an electronic trading system. The electronic trading system will monitor everything on the forex market. There is even software out there that can do the job for you. In the end, these may seem like boring secrets, but they really are good. Start your forex trading as soon as possible. - 23159

About the Author:

Want to find out more about forex secrets, then visit John Eather's site on how to choose the best forex trading robot for your needs.

Currency Trading Courses - What Is The Big Deal?

By Sebastian De Fontana

Good currency trading courses are critical for turning beginning traders into professionals. Choosing the right course is very important. Below are some guidelines.

Many people would give anything to be able to make a living sitting in front of their computers all day or all night trading currencies. It is a fantasy lifestyle being able to have the freedom to work for yourself with the potential of financial freedom. It takes just a small amount of money to open a trading account, as the broker will lend you most of the trading capital you will need. This allows you the potential to make huge percentage gains on your money if your trading decisions are correct. If they are wrong however, your loses can be staggering. This is the reason it is critical to prepare yourself with the best education you before you begin trading.

Many people are in a hurry to get started trading with real money as soon as possible. This is one of the main reasons for failure. They will let a computer program trade for them for fear of not being able to do it themselves. These computer programs do not normally work. If they did work every person alive would be using them to make money. You must become educated about the markets and techniques that work and be willing to make your own decisions. The only way to do this is to increase your knowledge. Without it you will not succeed.

The first thing you should do in preparation for trading in the currency market is to take a quality currency trading course. Many of your competitors have and may still be taking courses to maintain their skill level. You will be at a major disadvantage to them if you are not taking top courses to build your level of skill also.

Currency trading courses should be carefully chosen. The higher the quality of the class the sooner you will be trading and the more success you will have. A lot of people offer courses so be sure to select one that is appropriate for you. It should be lead by a qualified person who is actively trading now. Markets change so it is crucial that the instructor is using the most up-to-date strategies and tools. In taking a quality course you can avoid making some of the mistakes other less educated traders make. Fewer mistakes can save you money and heartache. It will also help you be prepared to trade successfully much quicker than if you try to teach yourself.

Currency trading is a money losing proposition for most traders. Only 5 traders out of 100 are successful. The other 95 are losers.

The best currency trading courses will help you gain the knowledge of how the markets work so you will be able to develop profitable trading strategies that work over and over again. Most will let you practice real-time trading so you get a feel for what it is really like to be a trader. You will be able to ask questions about the trades that didnt work and get constructive feedback. You will also be able to raise your level of confidence as you reach a higher number of successful trades. As your trading success increases you will be better prepared to start trading in the real market. Confidence in your abilities is a big part of a good trading strategy.

In the final analysis, choose a currency trading course that will help you develop a high level of confidence and a disciplined approach to developing your strategies and making your trading decisions. With these tools you should be a huge success. - 23159

About the Author:

You REALLY need to be reading as much as you can on currency trading courses if you want to make money.

How To Make A Mini Forex Trading Account Work For You

By Bart Icles

Many potential forex investors are in the notion that they need to shell out a big chunk of their money in order to invest in the forex market and in order for them to be able to earn big. This is a very erroneous notion. As a matter of fact, millions around the globe are now taking advantage of the liquidity of the forex market and are not really putting a big chunk of money into their forex trading accounts. As a matter of fact, millions of forex investors are doing their forex trading activities with a mini forex trading account and are comfortably earning through it without needing to spend a lot.

What is a mini forex trading account? As its name implies, a mini forex trading account is a forex account that only trades with minimal amounts. In fact, with as little as 250 US dollars alone, a forex trader can already do forex trading like any other normal forex trading account. The advantage with mini forex trading accounts is that they present minimal losses since a trader would not be investing too much in it.

Think of mini forex trading as a business. You can start small in it, with little capital, and eventually, once you have learned the ropes, you will be able to reap bigger profits since you already know the ins and outs of it. Because of the type of leverage that a mini forex trading account offers, which is usually approximately 200:1, a lot of people are really being encouraged to do it because the worse that could happen is to lose your capital, which is not really a very substantial amount, anyway.

If you want to become a big player in the forex market, then test the forex market first with a mini forex trading account. It would be the wisest move for anyone who wants to engage in forex trading since it doesn't require a lot of money to start with and, at the same time, it has very good leverage possibilities. It has a very minimal risk margin as well. It will also be able to allow the forex investor to develop the necessary skills in forex trading with a real account which, in turn, gives him or her the experience and the exposure that is really needed in order to be successful in normal forex trading.

A mini forex trading account has the potential to increase your profits exponentially. As long as you have the right knowledge and the right amount of discipline in trading, you will surely go a long way into forex trading success. - 23159

About the Author:

Learning to trade in forex starts with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning forex trade 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.