Why Gold Keeps On Rising

By Thomas Pline

An additional role gold plays is for purchasing power. Gold is used during production but the majority of the demand for gold comes from the use as a reserve.

The major exchange for gold although located in London is traded in us dollars with transactions taking place 24 hours a day over different time zones.

Gold is known as what's called a neutral as it is not tied to any country in particular so the price of gold is not under the influence of government. Gold is an important mover of the forex market.

As a reserve the price of gold is tightly tied to the behavior of other non related investment alternatives like bonds, equities and currencies. The price of gold tends to appreciate time of political or monetary instability and low liquidity. Other events such as natural disasters can also affect the price of gold.

While the equity markets have been highly unstable over the last several years making both great gains and tremendous loses during the crisis the price of gold has been rising the whole time making large gains. Adjusted for inflation the price of gold is actually much higher than it was during the early 1980s highs.

In a strong upward trend since April of 2003 when gold was trading at $330 an ounce it is now as recently as December 2009 gold trading at $1,150 which is more than three fold.

Gold is bought and sold by many traders all over the world in the currency market largely as a speculative play as traders try t profit from small and large price movements. Since gold is used largely as a reserve the price is subject to many factors which cause the price to fluctuate.

Investing in the short term to earn more than other types of investments can be very risky. As always do your research and be prepared to also manage your risk. - 23305

About the Author:

Want to find out more about forex, then visit Forex Review's site on how to choose the best forex signals for your needs.

Looking For Real Estate Investments At State Run Auctions

By Hubert Miles

State real estate auctions sell off real estate that has been seized, abandoned, or forfeited. The Department of Treasury has been designated as the state department to handle such auctions. Usually, they conduct approximately 100 auctions a year.

The money raised from these auctions help your State Government to fund police, fire, and rescue operations. When you attend one of these auctions and place a winning bid a legally binding agreement is forged between you and the Department of Treasury.

To participate in a Department of Treasury auction, you must be at least 18 years of age or older. You can not be a State employee. Contractors, subcontractors and vendors or their representatives also can not participate. Before the auction you will need to complete a bidder registration form and it must be approved prior to auction. Properties are sold "As Is" so you will need to inspect the home prior to the auction if you want to know what condition it is in.

Other rules and regulations may be required as each state sets rules independently of one another. Contact the Department of Treasury in your state to find out what additional regulations may be in place. When you contact them find out what you'll need to do prior to the auction date to get approved. When you get approved you'll be assigned a bidding number and you'll need this number to place your bids.

In Closing

Most importantly have fun at the auction. Even if you don't place a bid, you'll gain valuable experience. If you do participate and are successful, you'll like score a very valuable piece of property which should be yield you a good return on investment. - 23305

About the Author:

Hubert Miles is the founder of Waterfront Houses USA, an internet advertising service that provides Riverfront Real Estate and River Real Estate in the US and Canada.

How To Enjoy Dallas Custom Homes

By Harry Backbacksac

If you do not want to know about Dallas custom homes then this is not the article for you. When it comes to building your own home this can be such a big hassle and it can also be very time consuming, lets not forget that it can cost a lot of money. This is something you should consider before building your own custom home.

The most important things to look for when it comes to building a home is property. You should make sure that zoning will allow you to build the home that you want on that particular property. You also need to make sure that the property is not conservation protected and that it is not wetlands. If you get property that is wetlands then your home will most likely flood a lot resulting in more expenses.

Something to look for when you are building your own home is whether you have the money to afford all the bills that are going to incur. You will not only have to get supplies for the outside shell of your home, but you will need to make sure and get supplies for the inside. You will need drywall, paint, wall paper (if you wish), carpeting ( if you want), all your appliances for your kitchen and lets not forget all the flooring.

When it comes to picking out property you should always make sure that you get property that already has a septic system with it so that you do not have to pay more money to get one put in. You should always make sure you are not buying wetlands and that the zoning laws in that area will allow you to build in that particular area.

The first thing you should do is decide whether the property is going to be the right thing for you and if your wanting to keep the property forever or if you are going to sell it off within a few years. If you are going to sell it off real soon then I would not advise building someone on it that is too expensive because you just might not get out of it what you put into it.

Once you decide on the property that you want then you can look up the details on the property like the previous owner, the zoning in the location, tax records and the sale price. One of the main things you need to remember to look at is to make sure there is no lien against the property. If there is a lien then you should not buy it because then you will end up paying for the remainder of the money that is due on the lien.

If you are building this on your own you will have to have all of these things done. If you are having someone else do it you will still have to have most of it done only you wont have to have a building permit, the company that is building for you will have to have one. Make sure this is what you want before you go ahead and do it so that you wont have to worry about extra expenses if you decide you do not want it later on. - 23305

About the Author:

Palladium Custom Homes is an incredible new company creating gorgeous Dallas Custom Homes. If you're looking for a builder with fresh ideas and solid workmanship, look no further. Find out more about Palladium Custom Homes today.

How to Find a Profitable Managed Forex Account

By Brendan Wilson

Investing in any market or asset class is a serious business and requires serious consideration and due diligence. Here are some vitally important points you need to take into account when deciding on where to invest in any managed forex fund.

The Managed Forex Company

The company you invest with is perhaps the most critical factor. The company needs to able to provide a good, honest and responsive level of service. They should be able to provide you with a point of contact and be able to address your questions and concerns swiftly and transparently.

Starting Balance

At the start of the investment process you need to make an honest assessment about just how much risk capital you have to invest in a managed forex account. Do not be tempted to over extend yourself or borrow money to invest. Risk capital by definition is money you can afford to lose without it effecting your lifestyle. Be realistic about how much you can invest and find a suitable managed account provider whose starting capital requirement is compatible with your own. Not always easy but you will need to look.

Historical Performance

There is no doubt that the first thing you usually look for in a managed account provider is their results. It is tempting to look for the highest monthly profit figures you can find and go with them. But like everything in this world if the figures look too good to be true then they probably are. Getting long term sustainable profits simply isn't compatible with getting big monthly returns. No matter what the provider tells you, big returns equals big risk. Making 50% a month and then losing it the next month isn't a sustainable approach to investment eventually the draw down will get you, almost like one of the laws of physics.

Fees and Commissions

Before you invest you also need to make sure you know exactly what the costs are in terms of commissions and fees you have to pay. Typically you will be asked to pay a commission consisting of a percentage of profits gained, anywhere from 15-50 percent of new profits. On top of this percentage it is possible you may have to pay an annual fee based on a percentage of the balance as well as a fee based on turnover or volume. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of what the fees are, how they are applied and whether or not they are based on rewarding actual performance or simply based on the volume of trading. Obviously you want to make sure that the money manager has some incentive for good performance rather than for simply making large numbers of trades, otherwise known in the industry as "churning". I would suggest a performance fee of up to 30% based on achieving new profit highs is reasonable.

Absolute Control of Your Funds

A key consideration when investing in managed forex is to have complete control over your funds at every stage of the process. Always deal directly with a registered and regulated broker who operates in a well recognized jurisdiction. Reputable managed account providers will always offer this type of functionality as well as providing you will an "LPOA", or Limited Power of Attorney", that effectively gives the money manager the power to effect trades on your brokerage account, but not give them any authority to deposit or withdrawal any funds. In other words you have absolute control over your own funds at all times.

Capital in Trade

Choose a well funded provider who has sufficient capital under management to make it viable for a professional trader to actually trade. Smaller funds or money managers simply won't be able to attract the right kind of trading talent if they do not have sufficient capital under management. Whilst this alone isn't sufficient to give any guarantees it is a powerful indicator as to the overall viability of a particular provider.

Trading Style and Money Management

Give some serious consideration to the trading strategy employed by the forex managed account provider. Satisfy yourself that their trading style and their money management is consistent with your own risk tolerance and make sure that the provider does actually trade according to the guidelines they stipulate. Often you will see providers claiming to risk 1% per trade and actually using 10 or 20% risk per trade whilst trying to recover from losses. This is a very dangerous practice so make sure you are aware of the methodology used and that they comply with it.

The Broker

The broker you or your provider chooses is also a critical component in the overall managed account process. Make sure you do your due diligence on the broker in question, and ensure that their spreads and commissions are reasonable and that the broker is able to execute trades and withdrawals in a timely and efficient manner. - 23305

About the Author:

For more information regarding Managed Forex Performance. Brendan is also associated with Managed Forex Performance. Managed Forex Trader provides information and services to people interested in investing in Forex this can be viewed at Forex Managed Funds.

Best Penny Alerts Review - Penny Stocks Newsletter Alerts

By Ronald Cornwell

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What Are the Benefits of Signing Up with Best Penny Alerts? Traditionally, anyone who wanted to make money with penny stocks trading will need to have many years of experience trading them, and probably also have lost a lot of money in them. By joining this service, I was able to start making income with their expert analysis and recommendations without having to do the hard work myself.

This is helping me to save a lot of time and effort from having to do my own stocks research in the penny stocks market.

How Does the Best Penny Alerts System Work? It is a service that allows anyone, regardless of their trading experience, to start learning and profiting from penny stocks trading at the same time starting from the time they sign up. This service is provided by professional trader David Roy. His system is capable of detecting buy, stop loss and take profit levels for 1,000s of undervalued companies and provides an instant alert whenever their prices fall to or below the recommended buy prices.

Is It Really That Easy to Make Money with Best Penny Alerts? After my many personal years of trading experience, making money from penny stocks is definitely not easy. Just like trading other financial instruments, it requires analysis into different factors that affect the fundamentals and technicals of the various stocks.

Luckily, Best Penny Alerts has been programmed with all the analytic tools, deriving the final deduction about the stocks before sending them out to members. - 23305

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