Boosting Your Investment By Trading Commodities Online

Commodities trading deals with agricultural products, such as wheat, malt, sugar and corn, as well as metals, such as gold and contracts based on the purchase and trade of these goods, as opposed to the stock market which deals with all types of financial instruments, such as stocks, government securities, interest rates and indexes.

With the advent of technology, both stock and commodities trading are now traded online. For purposes of discussion, we will focus on commodities trading online.

The industrial revolution ushered in new technology that include more effective tools, a number of which are capable of creating more food. This new efficiency demanded more agricultural storage, transport, and more competent circulation of produce.

At first the markets could handle the rising demand for food, but as volume grew, the commodity markets with uniform pricing and delivery became progressively more significant. A system was then developed to cope with the hoarding of goods that happen during harvest times and with the scarcity that occur before the harvest.

With the new system, buyers could arm themselves from price irregularity by closing a deal for a certain commodity that is fixed at a particular price before they have a need for it. The contract based on this system is now known as futures.

The place where all these agricultural products as well as contracts based on the agreements between buyer and seller are being traded are called commodities exchanges.

Prior to the electronic age, there are certain places designated as commodities exchanges, however, these are now conveniently available on the net. Online trading are also referred to as screen-based or electronic trading.

In online commodities trading, customers send, buy or sell orders from their computers to an electronic marketplace offered by the exchange. There is no need to have brokers act in behalf of the customers, as brokerage approvals to trade are generated electronically. The online trading screen now takes the place of the trading pit.

An advantage for online commodities trading is price transparency since the top five current bids and offers are posted on the trading screen, in full view of all electronic market participants.

As with any investment though, an uptick in a certain commodity where one places his money could generate for him huge earnings but a drop in prices would provide the same loss. For example, assuming prices for meats would go up in the succeeding three months, a meatshop owner decides to place an order for one cow from a cattle raiser who sells it for $5.

This is to be delivered to the meatshop owner three months from when the deal is closed. They both sign a contract.The following day, cow prices rose to $6. The cattle raiser in this case loses $1 while the meatshop owner gains $1.

There are various trading sites available for online commodities trading. A minimum fee entitles an investor to create an account that entitles him to researches and technical analysis on listed companies, apart from actually trading online. Most have help desks and other tools necessary to assist an investor in coming up with the best possible judgment.

Online trading is great way to boost your investment without having to get out of the house and dressing the part. However, you must realize that commodities and the stock market in general live on volatile market conditions and therefore easily influenced by even the slightest economic and political changes. Click carefully.

World Trade Center: View from Jersey City

The original World Trade Center was a complex of seven buildings, comprising of 13.4 million square feet of office space (almost 4% of Manhattan's entire office inventory). All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks: 1 WTC, 2 WTC (North and South Towers) and 7 WTC collapsed; 3 WTC (Marriott Hotel) was crushed by the collapses of 1 WTC and 2 WTC; and 4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC were damaged beyond repair and later demolished.

The concept of a World Trade Center complex originated with Nelson and David Rockefeller in the 1950s as an attempt to revitalize lower Manhattan. The initial proposed site on the East River was later moved to the lower west side. The complex towers were designed by Minoru Yamasaki with Antonio Brittiochi in one of the most striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of Le Corbusier, as well as the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies.

In 1966, construction began under the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey with a groundbreaking that razed 13 square blocks of low rise buildings, some of which predated the US Civil War. In December 1970, tenants moved into One World Trade Center. Tenants first moved into Two World Trade Center in January 1972, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 4, 1973.

Although the towers became a New York icon, they were not without their flaws. Initially conceived as a complex dedicated to organizations directly involved in "world trade," they failed to attract the anticipated clientele, instead housing various governmental organizations initially. It wasn't until the 1980s when an increasing number of private companies--mostly Wall Street firms--became tenants. The trade center's "superblock", which replaced a more traditional, dense neighborhood, was regarded by many critics as an inhospitable environment that disrupted the intricate flows of traffic typical of Manhattan.

Still, the Towers had their admirers. For those who deemed it cold and sterile, there were just as many who appreciated its sheer immensity. Each of the twin towers had 110 stories. 1 WTC (the North Tower, which featured a massive 360 ft high TV antenna, added in 1978, and the highest restauarant in the world--"Windows on the World) stood 1,368 feet (417 m) high, and 2 WTC (the South Tower, which contained the observation deck) was 1,362 feet (415 m) high. The length and breadth of the towers were 208 feet (63.4 m) x 208 feet (63.4 m). When completed, 1 WTC became the tallest building in the world, unseating the Empire State Building, and 2 WTC became the 2nd tallest. This was a briefly held title, though, as the 1450 foot Sears Tower was already being constructed. On any given day, some 50,000 people worked in the towers with another 200,000 passing through as visitors.

What the towers lacked in architectural aestheticism, they made up for with engineering innovation. Faced with the difficulties of building to unprecedented heights, chief engineer Leslie Robertson employed an innovative structural model: a rigid "hollow tube" of closely spaced steel columns with floor trusses extending across to a central core. The columns, finished with a silver-colored aluminum alloy, were 18 3/4" wide and set only 22" apart, making the towers appear from afar to have no windows at all. Also unique to the engineering design were its core and elevator system. It was the first to use sky lobbies--floors where commuters can switch from an express elevator to a local elevator. The local elevators were stacked on top of each other within the same shaft. Worried that the intense air pressure created by the buildings' high speed elevators might buckle conventional shafts, engineers designed a solution using a drywall system fixed to the reinforced steel core.

Forex Trading info: Start Learn. All About Forex Trading

Forex trading, short for foreign exchange trading, involves the buying and selling of the many currencies of the world. It does not operate via a central exchange site, like traditional stock market trading, and may, thus, fully function a 24-hour basis.

When compared to other exchanges, the forex trading market is the largest in the world, even beating the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by over a hundredfold, in terms of daily trading volume, most of which are conducted by private entities and individuals.

Because of the absence of a central exchange, forex trading happens between two parties directly. Buyers and sellers communicate and trade via the phone, the Internet or other communications networks worldwide.

In addition, trading forex is also speculative, meaning, they are based on expectations on whether a certain currency would rise or fall, depending on current market conditions. It is risky business, but the returns have often proved themselves worth the risk.

Basic forex trading

Forex trading involves the buying and selling of two currencies at the same time. This combination is often dubbed a cross, because it occurs between two moneys; for instance, the US dollar/Japanese Yen. The highest traded currencies in forex are the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the UK pound — the "majors".

Trading normally occurs in the spot market, which is the largest because of its volume. Here, trades are made and completed directly and on the spot. You don’t have to wait too long to settle.

Advantages of forex trading

1. No 4pm trade closing time.

When you’re trading forex, you have 24-hours to do so from Sunday night to Friday night. This opportunity allows you to retract your moves and react immediately when a currency suddenly goes up or down. Breaking news are vital to forex trading.

2. Very liquid.

It is easy to convert your trades to cash in the forex market, especially if yours involves one of the majors. The high liquidity helps ensure that spreads are narrow and prices are stable throughout the period.

3. Strong potential for profits

This is particularly true with falling currencies. Because forex trading involves two currencies, when one rises, the other naturally falls. When a currency depreciates, it could be the perfect time to buy into it so that you can sell it for a hefty profit when it’s its turn to appreciate.

4. The higher the currency’s liquidity level, the cheaper it is to trade it.

This is why most forex trading patrons opt to trade majors, because they have the highest liquidity. In addition, forex trading is also more attractive to some money movers because of the absence of a commission. Thus, currencies are actually traded for their real merits and not because they come with misleading incentives.

There’s a lot more to learn about forex trading and the above merely scratches the surface. To be able to further understand what forex trading is and how it can help you grow your coffers, it is advised that you speak to an expert who more likely has all the answers to your questions. Or, yet, ask somebody who’s already had experience with forex trading.

Individual Investor Tips

Let’s face it. We as individual investors are very afraid right now. Did you notice all the articles from us personal finance bloggers about the market throughout the year and the lack of them right now? Part of it is because we all want to cover the thanksgiving spending etc etc, but it is also because many of us don’t even want to think about our investments! If March or August of 2007 was a fearful time for individual investors, now is many times worst!

So, what is our investment advice now? What should we do in these times when people are telling us that the decline just started because all the mutual fund investors (the general public) will start selling once they receive their quarter statement and realize that their investments returned nothing for the past year?

Instead of giving some general advice, let’s break it down to different types of investors so the advice is more specific. There are three types of investors: passive investors, stock pickers, and short term traders.

Passive Investors - I hope this includes most of us because it takes a considerable amount of time to invest in stocks. We buy low cost index funds and have a long time horizon. For us, we shouldn’t care about volatility and we should buy more shares right now. Even better, we should setup automatic investing so we keep investing whether the market goes up or down. If you are very unemotional about your investments and have a VERY LONG time horizon (5 - 10 years+), you may want to look at the financials but buy the ETF that looks at the whole sector instead of buying a specific stock because you are a passive investor.

Stock Pickers - Many of us fall under this category. We use a portion of our money to buy into certain stocks because we feel like we can outperform the market. Those of us that buy individual stocks should move into defensive stocks. Just think of all the companies that people would still buy from no matter what the economy does. P&G is a great example because they sell many day-to-day products like soaps. These types of companies aren’t exciting in bull markets but they deliver the necessary consistency that people can count on in a bad economic environment. Now is not the time to bottom pick financial stocks. Even though they may seem very cheap to you, it may just keep going down in the short to midterm. Just wait till these stocks seem to keep going up to jump back in but there is no reason to get in at this point.

Short Term Traders - Well, I’m just going to state the obvious for you guys since you probably shouldn’t be trading if you don’t know this already. I would either see which stocks/sectors you can short or just sit and do nothing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing nothing. Sit with your cash and just wait till there is a bull run again. Whether it is 3 months or 6, you can just ride is out!

Mixture - In the real world, almost all of us fall under a mixture of all 3. If we are smart, we will try to separate into 3 different portfolios and follow the strategies accordingly because it will be impossible to not get confused!

Now is a fearful but interesting time. What we do during these volatile times is much more important because we can really destroy our portfolio and wealth by acting inappropriately. Whatever you decide to do, not losing money should be number #1 on the list. To help that, the first thing we need to do is stop investing based on headlines.

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