Online Investing Guide
This is a short article about high yield investment program, for more information about HYIPs you can download the FREE Online Investing Guide.
First you need an e-currency account like Alertpay, Libertyreserve, Perfectmoney, Solidtrustpay (online payment systems). You will use these payment processors to invest and withdraw your profits. Each payment system comes with its own features, Alertpay gives you the possibility to withdraw your money directly in your bank account but Libertyreserve is in an offshore jurisdiction so you will not pay taxes for your profits kept in their payment processor.
HYIP is an acronym for: High Yield Investment Program. As obvious from its name, a HYIP it is an investment program where you get high returns (higher than your local bank accounts offer). This high yield comes with high RISK.
These are usually online investing programs which claim to use your invested amount in Forex, Offshore Trading, Commodities, etc and give away a portion of their profit as a high interest to its investors. Some of the HYIPs even work out the invested amount in other HYIPs and share the profit with you.
HYIPs are online programs (websites) and they may provide a postal contact address where their office is located. You invest in these HYIPs online through their websites using an e-currency.
HYIPs will pay back interest to you on a daily/weekly/monthly basis as per their policies for a specific time period into your e-currency account.
You don’t have to do any kind of activity in return of interest money from them. Thus investing in HYIP means a passive income source where you just invest and sit back & relax while extra money is flowing to you.
Investors are discussing these programs on different forums such as Collective Investments Forum. Is good to create an account on these forums and participate at discussions because you can share your opinion about a specific investment program but, more important, you can read different opinions about a HYIP before deciding to invest in it. In this way you can find out if a program is paying its members or not. You can join a forum at no cost at all so it is a FREE way protect yourself against Scams.
If you want to find out how to make money investing in HYIPs and what is the best investment strategy you can download the FREE HYIP Manual.
Investing in HYIPs is very risky and you must know that investing in HYIPs is illegal in some countries or states. Before investing please check with your local laws to and understand that we cannot be held responsible due to your lack of understanding of laws in your country and area. We do NOT endorse any investment fund. This article is for information purposes only.
Still Sticking With Dividends, But BP, BAC, C, GE Cost Dividend Investors $38 Billions
Latest News about traditional investments.
The speed of the Financial sector dividend decline, from 30% of the S&P 500 in 2007 to 9% now, appears slow compared to BP. The BP suspension (the largest decrease that I can find) has unnerved dividend investors who now need to more closely examine potential liability issues (call in the lawyers). In addition to environmental issues, medical and consumer products, plant and working conditions, as well as services need to be added to the list.
But dividends are having a great first half of the year, with 10 issues initiating a cash dividend. I am still looking for 5.6% 2010 payment increase over 2009, with another surge (dependant upon the economy) in announcements near year-end.
As for companies not being able to pay or increase dividends, Q1 has set a new record for S&P 500 Industrial cash and equivalent levels at US $837, a 25.9% increase over the US $665 billion of Q1 2009. It is the sixth consecutive quarter of increasing cash, and speaks to not just the improvement in cash-flow, but the unwillingness of companies to commit large amounts of capital for projects. The value is sufficient to fund corporate growth, buybacks, dividends and M&A, if companies choose to spend it.
See file for specific issue data and history
SP500_AND_BP.xls
Original source for this article: Business Week
BP’s Battered Stock: Can Investors Clean Up?
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Warren Buffett says: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” But sometimes it is very difficult to follow this advice, and the current situation for BP’s (BP) stock shows why.
While images of oil-covered birds and tar balls washing onto formerly pristine beaches may give some investors pause, the market, as always, is trying to focus on what the stock is worth given current information. The oil giant’s stock fell more than 50% from Apr. 20, when the massive oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico, to June 9. Since then, some investors have been getting greedy, pushing shares up 15.8% from their low.
The decision to buy BP stock makes some sense. Even after downgrading the stock on June 10, Standard & Poor’s equity analysts peg BP’s 12-month target price at $58. On June 9, Morningstar lowered its “fair value estimate” for BP shares from $56 to $40. Both those estimates are still well above June 11′s close of $34.
But is it even possible to assign a price to BP shares at this point? I’m skeptical because all the usual ways we value stocks seem to not be working.
1. We don’t begin to understand the true impact of the current situation.
The best example is the news that scientists now estimate the oil well is spewing 20,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil per day. That’s up from a May 27 estimate of 12,000 to 19,000 per day. In other words, we really have no clue how much oil ultimately will end up in the ocean — and what the final cost of the cleanup will be.
2. We don’t know BP’s true financial strength.
The Atlantic’s Daviel Indiviglio does some of the math on the possible impact of the oil spill on BP’s finances. Even taking into account BP’s costs so far, the company still might be making a profit of $9 million per day, he calculates.
I’d add that valuing BP’s businesses based on financial metrics was already difficult before the spill. The price of oil is highly variable, which means that predicting BP’s future prospects is very difficult. According to Bloomberg, this is the quarterly free cash flow for BP over the past 7 quarters (starting from the first quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2008): $3.4 billion, $1.6 billion, $3.1 billion, $1.5 billion, $755 million, -$143 million (yes, that’s negative), $7.1 billion.
3. History is no guide.
Morningstar’s Jeremy Glaser points out that markets reacted very differently to the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989:
Exxon stock was trading at a little more than $11 a share before news of the Valdez crash March 24, 1989.The stock steadily fell during the coming weeks, bottoming out at $10.44 on April 11, a fall of less than 7%. Exxon’s share price was then able to quickly make up ground and keep increasing, ending 1989 7% above where the stock was before the accident.
4. This is becoming a political issue.
As British research firm McCall, Aitken, McKenzie & Co. noted June 9:
There remains a chance that the political fervor in the U.S. (and elections are happening now) will whip up to a point where BP gets red carded. [In soccer/football, getting a red card means you've been ejected from the game.] It would be foolish to dismiss that as an impossibility. The fines and penalties due are commercial financial calculations but as we have been saying for several weeks, this is beyond ‘business.’
Adding to the complicated political math, British Prime Minister David Cameron is sticking up for BP, saying it must remain “financially strong and stable.” He is due to tell President Barack Obama that on June 12.
If the BP oil spill is now “beyond business,” the spill’s long-term impact is impossible to calculate. And with the company’s prospects as clear as oil-fouled seawater, investors may not want to make any moves just yet.
Original source for this article: Business Week
Another Fun Week Produces An Offical Market Correction
Latest News about traditional investments.
The market opened the week with little action and sectors trading on their own merits. Tuesday, however, is when the turmoil began, and grew as the week progressed. The accumulating concerns over growth, currencies and debt, combined with current statistics on jobs, the impact of the falling Euro, and new potential financial regulation, to over whelm investors, institutions and hedge funds. In comparison to the Flash Crash, selling was controlled, but the lack of both new money stepping in to buy and little bottom fishing, was no match for the selling, with the market declining 3.90% on Thursday. Friday saw the market open lower, but quickly reversed itself within the first hour and half, as some buyers came back into the market, and the day ending with a 1.50% gain. It was an encouraging close, given that investors typically close out positions over the weekend, and therefore depress prices near the close, but in this case the last half-hour of trading saw the market go up. The damage however was done, and the week ended off 4.23%, with only 39 issues advancing. The loss of 10.65% from the April 23 high now classifies this as the first official correction of the current Bull market, which began on March 9, 2009 (a correction is defined as a 10% decline from the previous high, based on the close). The expected slower growth and stronger US Dollar continued to push down oil, which closed at US $70, a 20% decline from the $87 April month-end close. The lower oil cost will help keep US inflation low, and keep product costs lower (especially for imported Euro component parts), as well as keep gasoline prices down for consumers. Gold, one of the traditional alternatives in declining markets, pulled back to 1178, after running up to 1231 last week, as U.S. Treasures emerged as the flight-to-safety preference. Other news served more as background items, sometimes sparking market reactions, including a poor first-time jobs claim report, an FDIC report that 10% of U.S. banks are classified as troubled, an escalated estimate of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill’s economic and ecological damage, and the likelihood of additional regulatory limits on banking activities. There were positive items as equity analysts increased their 2010 earnings estimates, corporate capital expenditures picked up, and surveys showed that more companies planned to hire this year. Uncertainty, appreciation for risk, and protecting profits, however, ruled the market this week, and most likely will continue to do so for a while.
see file for full details and data file
SP500_20100521.doc
Original source for this article: Business Week
The Stronger Dollar Worries Stock Investors
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Since Nov. 25, the euro has lost 16.3% of its value against the U.S. dollar. Since just Apr. 14, the euro has dropped 7.2%.
While talking to strategists and portfolio managers, I’m detecting growing concern among U.S. stock investors about the strong dollar.
The problem is two-fold: First the impact on the U.S. economy and second the effect on reported corporate earnings.
Bruce Bittles, Robert W. Baird’s chief investment strategist told me the strong dollar “will be a headwind for earnings and perhaps the economy as it cuts into exports.”
A weak dollar makes U.S. overseas exports more competitive, while a stronger dollar could hurt exports. For example, if the dollar is weak, sales of Caterpillar (CAT) construction equipment in Germany will net the company more in dollars when those euros are brought back home.
During the greenback’s consistent downtrend from 2002 to 2008, the weakening dollar again and again boosted year-over-year comparisons of overseas cash flow and earnings for companies like Caterpillar. The dollar bounced around wildly in late 2008 and 2009, but now many worry the dollar has strengthened for good, as much of the developed world lags the U.S. in its economic recovery.
U.S. large-cap companies get a big share of their revenue from overseas. Not all companies actually disclose how much of their sales come from abroad, but Morgan Stanley estimated in March that the S&P 500 receives 31% of its revenue from outside the U.S.
Smaller U.S. companies are less exposed to foreign markets. Maybe that’s one reason why the small-cap Russell 2000 is up 3.2% since the beginning of April, while the large-cap S&P 500 is down 1.1%.
Original source for this article: Business Week
Stock Decline: It’s Not Just About Greece
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As the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 9.2% today — the biggest intraday decline since Oct. 19, 1987 — cable news channels were showing protests in Athens. The video gave the impression that the stock decline and the Greek fiscal crisis were directly linked.
Not so fast. Many suspect there was some technical problem that spooked the markets and sent stocks diving, then dramatically rebounding this afternoon.
“We’re due for a correction, but nothing of this magnitude,” says Gary Wolfer, chief economist at Univest Wealth Management. “What occurred here is unfathomable and it must have been some technical problem.”
[UPDATE: Indeed, Bloomberg News is reporting that a NYSE Euronext spokesman says "there were a number of erroneous trades" during the market's steep drop.]
But even if there wasn’t, U.S. investors have reasons other than Greece to be skittish and so ready to sell. At its peak this year, the stock market “was very fully valued,” says Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds. Stocks were priced to reflect an optimistic scenario. Investors know, Webman says, that “when people have underestimated bad news in the past, they got socked in the stomach.”
Indeed, stocks have been on the decline for two week. Even before today, the S&P 500 was down 7.3% since Apr. 23. Greece’s woes aren’t enough to be the only driving force behind this big market correction.
“Greece is not such a big share of the global economy to justify the concern,” says Michele Gambera, head of quantitative analysis at UBS Global Asset Management. Instead Greece is one contributor to a lot of uncertainty in fixed income markets. In the last year, Gambera says, there was a “dash for trash,” as investors bought up riskier assets in anticipation of a worldwide economic recovery.
“Maybe we are having a pause here, an assessment of [whether] we’ve gone too far into risky assets,” Gambera says.
By the logic of some market bulls, the Greek and European problems are just that — European problems. “The Euro problems are the Euro problems,” Wolfer says. Even if it spreads from Greece to other debt-ridden European nations, trouble in Europe might push more assets toward the safe haven of U.S. government debt. That could help stimulate the U.S. economy by keeping U.S. interest rates lower for longer.
Once bullish investors realized the stock market was crashing, they jumped in and started buying again. These are not the gloomy days of Fall 2008 or March 2009, when investors were so depressed that almost no one was buying stocks.
The danger, as always, is that market panic spreads, creating more market panic and spreading further. Fear creates fear. That’s how the 2008 financial crisis happened. Luckily, the vast majority of investors don’t yet believe Greece’s problems warrant that level of concern.
Original source for this article: Business Week
An Unforgiving Market Finds a Prize IPO
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Lately the IPO market has been very difficult to impress. Apparently a Nobel Prize helps do the trick.
For months, investors in the initial public offering market have complained about the quality of the new equities making their debut. Against that backdrop, today’s successful IPO for Financial Engines (FNGN) stands out.
Financial Engines was founded in 1996, by William Sharpe, a co-winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for “pioneering work in the theory of financial economics.” (Sharpe developed the “Sharpe ratio,” a measure how much investors are compensated for taking on risk in investments.) His company provides low-cost, online financial advice and manages retirement funds in employer-sponsored plans.
On Mar. 16, Financial Engines became the first IPO of 2010 to price above its initial offering range — out of 26 U.S. IPOs since the beginning of the year. The stock was initially estimated to sell for $9 to $11 per share, but premiered at $12. Then, when it began trading, the stock climbed higher all morning, eventually closing at 17.16, a 43% one-day return.
Of course, Sharpe’s prize isn’t the only thing that caught investors’ attention. Financial Engines is profitable and growing rapidly.
For example, the company:
• Saw revenues grow 19% in 2009, to $85 million.
• Reported net income of $5.7 million in 2009, its first profitable year.
• Saw its assets under management jump from $1 billion in 2004 to $25.7 billion last year.
• Provides services or runs retirement plans at 760 plan sponsors, including 116 Fortune 500 companies, for about 7.4 million plan participants.Executives believe much more growth is possible. Financial Engines’ prospectus reads:
As the burden of retirement investing shifts to the individual, we believe that there is an increasing need for assistance and guidance on how to maximize retirement wealth.
If Financial Engines stands out so much, it’s probably because so many other IPOs in the last four months have fallen short.
Scott Sweet, managing director of IPO Boutique, tallies up the complaints: Private equity firms going public “with enormous debt loads.” Unlike the profitable Financial Engines, companies “not making any money.” IPOs that are inferior alternatives to competitors already on the market with long track records.
Over and over again, companies have been roundly rejected by investors. To take one example, Crude Carriers (CRU) — a transporter of crude and fuel oil by ship — went public on Mar. 11 priced at $19 per share, the low end of its predicted range. It closed on Mar. 16 at 18.07, offering its initial investors a 4.9% loss in four trading days.
Maybe the brokers that bring IPOs to market have learned a lesson. Sweet notes that several promising IPOs have filed recently. He says:
Underwriters are tired of having to slash virtually every deal below the original filing range to garner any interest. [They] have retooled and said, ‘We’re going to bring better-quality companies’ [to market].
Among those promising IPOs that could be heading to market, Sweet mentions video game renter Gamefly, prepaid debit card provider Green Dot, Tesla Motors and CBOE Holdings. Financial Engines proves that investors aren’t out to reject all IPOs — just those that don’t meet their high standards.
Original source for this article: Business Week
Four Weeks Down, But Limited Damage
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The index posted its fourth week of market losses, an event not seen since March 2009. However, this week’s damage was a minor -0.72% (Monday was up 1.43%, with Tuesday was up 1.30%) and the cumulative four weeks of damage was 6.88% (7.31% off the 1/19 high), compared to the 16.01% in March, and today ended with a field goal, as the market moved up slightly (0.29%) in afternoon trading. U.S. volatility (and damage) was much less than global, as concern over sovereign debt was added to the concern over the pace of growth.
With over 75% of the Q4 EPS in the bottom-line is good, relative to where we are in the recovery cycle, but non-financial sales still lag, and until they pick up, hiring won’t pick up. Dividend increases continued throughout the week, with more positive news expected next week. February is the busiest month for increases (fiscal over, annual being printed and share holder meeting coming up), but there are still issues that are straining to pay their dividend (didn’t make it in ‘08 or ’09), and we expect some negative news to start late in the quarter.
Its time to look at the long term whole picture, not just the trader’s notes. Look to the basic fundamentals – earnings, balance sheets, production and capacity, as well as balance sheets and business models. When these items come back in style and become relevant to investors, short-term tick by tick trading based on each news items or stat will diminish (but still exist, risk vs. reward), and investors will return to the market.
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Original source for this article: Business Week
The Different Types of Business Plans
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Business plans are also called expansion, strategic, internal , operational, growth, annual, product and feasibility plans. There are also many other names, bottom line, these are all Business Strategic Planning. In all these different varieties of business plan, the plan matches your specific situation. For example, if you’re developing a plan for internal use only, not for sending out to banks or investors, you may not need to include all the background details that you already know. Description of the management team is very important for investors, while financial history is most important for banks.Some of these specific case differences lead to different types of plans:
- The most standard business plan is a start-up plan, which defines the steps for a new business. It covers standard topics including the company, product or service, market, forecasts, strategy, implementation milestones, management team, and financial analysis. The financial analysis includes projected sales, profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and probably a few other tables. The plan starts with an executive summary and ends with appendices showing monthly projections for the first year.
- Internal plans are not intended for outside investors, banks, or other third parties. They might not include detailed description of company or management team. They may or may not include detailed financial projections that become forecasts and budgets. They may cover main points as bullet points in slides (such as PowerPoint slides) rather than detailed texts.
- An operations plan is normally an internal plan, and it might also be called an internal plan or an annual plan. It would normally be more detailed on specific implementation milestones, dates, deadlines, and responsibilities of teams and managers.
- A strategic plan is usually also an internal plan, but it focuses more on high-level options and setting main priorities than on the detailed dates and specific responsibilities. Like most internal plans, it wouldn’t include descriptions of the company or the management team. It might also leave out some of the detailed financial projections. It might be more bullet points and slides than text.
- A growth plan or expansion plan or new product plan will sometimes focus on a specific area of business, or a subset of the business. These plans could be internal plans or not, depending on whether or not they are being linked to loan applications or new investment. For example, an expansion plan requiring new investment would include full company descriptions and background on the management team, as much as a start-up plan for investors. Loan applications will require this much detail as well. However, an internal plan, used to set the steps for growth or expansion funded internally, might skip these descriptions. It might not include detailed financial projections for the whole company, but it should at least include detailed forecasts of sales and expenses for the new venture.
- A feasibility plan is a very simple start-up plan that includes a summary, mission statement, keys to success, basic market analysis, and preliminary analysis of costs, pricing, and probable expenses. This kind of plan is good for deciding whether or not to proceed with a plan, to tell if there is a business worth pursuing.
Original source for this article: Successful Investments
Don’t get fleeced with the rest of them
Latest News about traditional investments.
Some stories just have to be repeated. Like the one from Sweden that tells of a collapsing floor during a Weight Watchers weigh-in. As twenty or so dieters filled the room to measure the fruits of their effort, the floor beneath them rumbled then failed.
Priceless irony.
It proves Americans, especially us East Coasters, aren’t the only ones with size-management issues.
As the markets sink under their own weight today, I cannot help but think much the same is taking place on Wall Street. The equities market can only hold so much fat before it gives up support and comes crashing down.
I rarely use technical analysis as a primary analytical tool, but I will use the help of charts and lines to back up my opinion and help find out exactly where trouble may lie in the road ahead. Just like we don’t drive by staring at a roadmap, we can’t invest solely on the charts. But when you’re lost, there’s nothing like a quick glance at a map.
When I wrote to TFN Strategic Trader members this morning, I told them to watch the action of the S&P 500 closely. The key index hit the pivotal 1,150 mark yesterday and almost immediately turned the other direction.
It is a sign that investors need to prepare for a correction. We are seeing the front end of the action today as the markets give up more than 1% of their value.
If you are a frequent reader of Notes, the action is no surprise.
Only an economic fool believes massive government spending, bailouts and increased regulations will lead to a sustained rally.
There is no way current valuations will hold unless we get two things, more jobs and more credit. Everywhere I look, companies are begging for loans and laying off more employees.
Get this. Over the last decade, for every dollar this country saw in GDP growth, we took out $6.02 in additional credit.
Now that that credit has dried up and, even worse, has left massive holes in corporate balance sheets, there is no way we are going to realize higher valuations until we either restore credit or shake out all the marginal players.
According to the front page of my local newspaper, the latter is happening quicker and quicker. Just today we lost another major employer and a local restaurant. Even worse, a local school district is figuring out how to close a $200 million budget gap now that it has raised taxes as far as it legally can.
It’s the same kind of story all over the country.
It’s evident that investors are pulling their money out of stocks and putting it back into the safety of the Treasury market today as the yield on the 30-year plunged by double-digit proportions. As much as investors hate America’s borrowing habits, Uncle Sam remains one of the strongest protectors of assets.
Until that changes, we aren’t going anywhere.
*** Don’t think the news out of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) is any indication that we are on a path to recovery. This bank and its Wall Street brethren are raking in profits as the markets re-inflate after the credit bubble collapsed.
In fact, they’d love to see it pop once again as they hedge away their risk and profit no matter which way the market swings.
As long as they are covering all sides of the trades and have Washington chasing its regulatory tail, we are going to see these financial smartypants raking in huge profits and walking away with mouthwatering bonuses.
But their profits don’t say anything about small-town America’s ability to prosper. Instead, Wall Street’s profits show how volatile and dangerous it is to be trying to make a buck in this country.
If JPMorgan is making money, somebody else is losing it.
That’s why it’s great to be a contrarian investor. We don’t get fleeced with the herd.
Original source for this article: Contrarian Profits
