SDB Finance Information

Finance information for you

Archive for category Investing

Department of Land Legislation in Thailand extent the private advantage

Feb 22

Posted by admin in Investing, Real Estate

Control Condominiums small size specified must be higher than 3 stories they Eeuaun Ab extracted semi-detached to foreigners.

From the current operators of real estate development or condominium. Condominium out a furiously competitive market bang And the beginning of the condo development has become increasingly small. The latest is 22 square meters per unit. Director-General, Department of Lands

Proposed the concept of prevention of exploitation of real estate clients. By accelerating the November draft. Condominium Act 2008 enclosed stalls condo. Smaller with the height to more than 3 layers.

Up to Mr. Anuwat. Methi Wiboon adulthood. Director-General, Department of Lands Disclosed in this issue. Currently drafting the Land Department has changed. Condominium Act BE 2008, especially the issue of a particular form of condominiums that are defined more clearly. To prevent future problems of living space in the development of the legal structure of the housing that is not fair to consumers.

This is because the current expansion of the condo. Aluminium for housing was growing very There are currently condominium units, and a hundred thousand to 7.5 in Bangkok with over 200,000 units, and are likely to grow as ever-increasing demand.

If government agencies are not configured. Clear and concise and then. Future Suites (Con Condominium), perhaps the greatest ever smaller. And finally, may Will be made in a manner similar to the bathroom would be the dormitory. He has been modifying the legal framework to be more evident, such as building area within the room must have at least 30 square meters have bathrooms. A kitchen and bedroom to the building height from the ground floor at least 3 or more rooms are considered part of the minimum that should range from 10 rooms or 20 rooms or more.

By defining the form of condominiums. The original legislation has not been defined. Results in the past, some operators Eeuaun living space to house the law. Twin sold as condominiums to foreigners. Need to prevent problems in the future. The draft of these will need to be completed as soon as possible. Council of State to consider And proposed to the Council of Representatives for further consideration. It shall remain in their positions for 1 year, 6 months.

“This Act an amendment to protect not only in terms of unit size only. But also to close the gap in the law regarding the form of the buildings. Because the past, some operators rely on the legal gaps that are not there. Details of the image.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Why Women Make Better Investors than Men

Feb 14

Posted by admin in Investing

Being involved with a company that trains people how to actively trade in the stock market. I get to see first hand the success or failure of our clients. Eighty percent of our clients are male. But I?d wager that eighty percent of the successful stock traders are women.

Based on this experience, I began to wonder why is it that women tend to be better investors than men. I thought about it over and over, and I could not ignore the facts. Women make successful investors.

But why? I think it comes down to three simple words: EGO, EGO, EGO. The one thing that most men have in common is a big ego. Men tend to let their egos make their decisions for them. They hold when they should sell. They buy in for fear of missing out on that one big opportunity. In other words, they invest not to get the best deal out of the market but invest so that they look good (or not look bad).

Usually when people think of investing, they think of taking chances and risks. But the truth is that investing has much more to do with emotional intelligence than most people realize. Emotional intelligence is the ability to think objectively about a situation and not get too emotionally involved in it. Women, in general, possess a high emotional intelligence.

This quality makes women great investors. Rather than investing according to what will make them look good, women will invest according to a plan?not according to what mood they are in or whether they will be ?right? or ?wrong”.

Investing is not about being right or wrong. It’s about making money. Women are able to put their egos aside in ways men have trouble doing. This ability to set their ego aside makes women great investors.

Need proof? Ask yourself this: if a man and a woman are lost on a trip, who is more likely to stop and ask for directions? Women are more likely to ask investment questions until they completely understand the concepts. Men, on the other hand, can be too afraid to ask the necessary questions because he may look bad doing so. Women tend to come to investing with a mind to learn. And when they learn, they execute solid plans. Men can be heard saying they ?know that a company is good?, whereas women can usually tell you why the company is good.

As more and more women turn to investing, I think we will see this trend of women outperforming men. A woman’s ability to put her ego aside already gives her the upper hand in investment strategy.

And because women on average still get paid less than men (a situation that needs to change-pronto!), women can use their inherent advantages to invest more and work less. So men can go out, work hard, and earn a lot of money, whereas women can invest more, work less, and earn a lot more money.

Tags: , , , , ,

No Comments

Take Charge of Your Investment

Feb 13

Posted by admin in Investing

Never before has trading been so interesting until this time. The reason for that is the internet. The internet enables us, ordinary people, to take part in this activity that some time ago was only done by professionals. Before, we have to hire someone to do the trading for us?now, we can do that for ourselves. The internet made that possible. And the fees are lower than before. Because of competition, we don’t have to have a lot of money to get started. We can open a brokerage account online just like opening a checking account. What’s more, most online brokerage companies do not set an account minimum, inactivity fee, and other tabs most conventional brokerage companies charge. By conventional I meant the bricks and mortar brokerage firms.

Having worked in a conventional brokerage company gave me the insights of how the brokerage works. I’m going to tell you in a nutshell:

If you are working with a broker, who may also be called a financial adviser, planner, or rep (short for representative), that broker is licensed to do transactions with you but she does not manage your money. She passes your money to money managers.

Some financial reps work for a particular money manager, some are independent. If your financial rep is independent, then she is the kind of rep money managers compete for. Now, the financial rep has to choose among the money managers, supposedly for who will have the highest yield for your money depending on what you want for it ? whether it’s income, capital preservation, growth, etc. Here, there’s a gray area because of this thing I call the YTB factor ? the yield to broker. Because of the financial reps? freedom to choose among the money managers, she can choose whether to wok for you or for herself. Money managers don’t pay the same commissions. Your financial rep may pass the business to the one who pays the highest commission. Your money may not be working hard for you but working hard for your rep.

Brokerage firms don’t care for small money. They care for big accounts. Why? Because only in big accounts do they reap profits. High performing managers have high account minimum and they pay high commissions. Small accounts have no place in the deluxe sophistication of conventional investing.

But even if they are the big guys of investing, these money managers cannot guarantee the return of your investment. In every paperwork you sign, in any advertisement you see, you will notice that there’s always the clause your investments are not FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insured or guaranteed. Gain or lose, the money manager is off the hook.

No money manager has had a phenomenal performance even how good they are. It’s the economy that calls the shot. If the times call for a recession, then there will be a slump in the market no matter what. Because money managers are big, their actions are easily detected by today’s market indicators. We, individual investors, can dodge the bullet because we are small.

There are many resources now that we can access to be educated in the matter of investing. The internet is giving us the option to take charge of our finances. With the information and tools that abound us, we can now actively trade and not pay someone to do it for us. Be it stocks, futures, or forex, if we would teach ourselves, we can be trading on our own in no time. This is an opportunity that technology is handing us and there is no excuse to be left out.

Tags: , , , , , ,

No Comments

Texas Auto Insurance Quotes

Feb 7

Posted by admin in Investing

In Texas, the law mandates that all vehicles must carry a full insurance policy. To ensure public compliance, the government has implemented strict guidelines for insurance carriers to follow. Insurance rates should in no way be inadequately priced and discriminatory. The Texas Department of Insurance polices all these insurance providers. The department approves or disapproves insurance rates proposed by these companies.

Free Auto Insurance Quotes

To know the ballpark figure of insurance policies, ask your insurance broker to prepare a comprehensive rate review of all insurance carriers. But first, you need to provide your broker with some vital personal information. The data you provide can greatly affect the rate or quote you will receive. Be honest with your answers if you want to get as close to the real quote as possible.

You will first be asked your age. Normally, male drivers under the age of twenty-five and unmarried female drivers under the age of twenty-one are given the highest rates. This may be because of statistics indicating that younger people are more likely to be involved in vehicular accidents.

The second factor that may affect your premium rating is your record as a driver. If you have a clean record, the insurance company may give you a better deal. On the other hand, if your records reflect a traffic violation that resulted in property damage that amounted to at least $1,000, the insurance company may charge you extra or give you a mandatory surcharge.

Another aspect that makes a difference in insurance rates is the type of car you drive. Luxury cars fetch the highest rates; and at the same time, older cars that are more difficult to repair may also be given a similarly high rate.

There are still other factors that are taken into consideration when computing your auto insurance premium. The key to getting the best quotes is to shop around and compare prices and after sales services.

Tags: , , , ,

No Comments

8 Rules For ETF Success

Jan 31

Posted by admin in Investing

Managing a global ETF portfolio does not have to be rocket science. Follow these eight steps for a successful global ETF portfolio.

1) Liquidity First: Before you even think of building an investment portfolio, you should set aside about six month of income in a ?rainy day? account. This could be put into a money market fund or U.S. Treasury securities. Having this money set aside will ease your mind and allow you to be more open and creative with your global portfolios.

2) Separate Portfolios: you should separate your core conservative portfolio from your growth portfolios. With the core conservative portfolio, your top priority is capital preservation and growth is a secondary consideration. Your growth portfolios are more speculative with capital growth as the primary goal.

3) Really Diversify your Portfolios: You need positions in your portfolios that are likely to offset each other as unexpected events and market movements become a reality. This is not accomplished with different sectors ETFs or a mix of small cap, mid cap and large cap ETFs. Rather the goal is to have some investments that are on both sides of risks.

For example, if the US dollar declines, have some investments in precious metals or denominated in other currencies such as Switzerland or Australia or Singapore ETFs. If inflation heats up have some investments that hedge this risk such as timber, gold or Treasury inflation protected bonds (TIPs). If political events or policies in one country take a turn for the worst, it is helpful to have investments in other well developed countries to offset any loss of value.

4) You get the idea, spread your risk and avoid having one ETF account for more than 5-10% of your core portfolio. Be Careful what Countries You Pick: You need some guidelines to help keep you from getting carried away and having too concentrated a position in a particular country or region.

In particular, take a good look at the following: 1) the stability and overall political and corporate governance, 2) the legal environment, respect for contracts, low levels of corruption, due process and rule of law, 3) the macroeconomic environment including fiscal discipline and currency strength, and 4) political risks that could affect financial markets.

Keep in mind that the quality of the countries you choose to invest in is the primary but not the only factor. The price or valuation of a country’s stock market is also extremely important. Oftentimes the best time to buy into a country’s stock market is when it is beaten down but there are signs that its economic and political problems will sharply improve. If you have a long-term perspective, you might consider annuities specially structured for ETF portfolios.

5) Minimize Company Risk by using our “Buy Countries, Not Stocks” strategy that helps you minimize company risk. Instead of trying to pick the best three stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, why not just minimize company risk by buying the Japan iShare ETF (EWJ) that tracks the Nikkei 225 and spread this risk amongst 225 Japanese companies. Or you could hedge your bets and do both.

6) Monitor ETF Country and Company Exposure: Be careful to look under the hood of ETFs to see where your money is going. For example, let’s look at the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF. It invests in 26 different countries so it is natural to think that you will get broad exposure to all 26 countries. You would be wrong: 50% of your investment in this fund is going to four countries: South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan and China. In addition, incredibly, 7.5% is going to one company, Samsung Electronics of South Korea.

The same is true for the MSCI Europe, Asia and Far East (EAFE) index. It contains 21 developed countries but 48% of the money you invest would go to just two: Japan and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile less than 1% would go to Singapore and Ireland! Country specific ETFs such as the new China iShare (FXI) can also have a fair amount of concentrated risk. Although the China iShare tracks a basket of 25 companies, the largest 5 companies account for nearly 50% of your exposure.

7) Cut Losses with Trailing Stop Loss Policy and ETF Put Options: We have all been there. You buy a stock or fund and it appreciates in value rapidly. Then it stumbles and begins to decline. What do you do? Should you buy more, let it ride, or sell?

Save yourself a lot of pain and agony by following a simple rule. If a position ever falls more than 20% from its high, sell it immediately and reassess the situation. And if you invest in an ETF with a sizable downside risk, why not spend a few hundred dollars to purchase a put option as an insurance policy?

8) Rebalance Your Portfolio: At least annually, you need to make some changes so that you are not overly exposed to countries that have higher risk factors and volatility. One way is by selling some shares of your winners and increasing exposure to under performers. This accomplishes another goal, locking in gains and taking some money off the table. Remember, only a fool holds out for top dollar especially in the more volatile emerging market countries.

Building your portfolios with low-cost, tax-efficient ETFs is a smart strategy but don’t set it on auto pilot.

Carl Delfeld has over twenty years of experience in the global investment business with a strong background in Asia.

- Author of global investor primer “The New Global Investor”
- President of the global investment advisory firm Chartwell Partners
- Publisher of the Chartwell Advisor ETF Report and Asia-Pacific Growth
- Columnist on global investing with Forbes Asia: Global Gambits
- Former U.S. Representative to the Executive Board of Asian Development Bank
- Chairman of the global economic strategy think tank ChartwellAmerica
- Asian specialist with the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and the U.S. Treasury
- Former member of the U.S. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee
- Former investment executive with Robert Baird & Company and UBS
- Graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy with economics scholarship from U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission
- Exchange student at Sophia University, Japanese Ministry of Education Fellow at Keio Universi

Tags: , , , ,

No Comments

What is Swing Trading?

Jan 28

Posted by admin in Investing

Swing Trading takes advantage of brief price swings in strongly trending stocks to ride the momentum in the direction of the trend.

Swing trading combines the best of two worlds – the slower pace of investing and the increased potential gains of day trading.

Swing traders hold stocks for days or weeks playing the general upward or downward trends.

Swing Trading is not high-speed day trading. Some people call it momentum investing, because you only hold positions that are making major moves.

By rolling your money over rapidly through short term gains you can quickly build up your equity.

How does Swing Trading work?

The basic strategy of Swing Trading is to jump into a strongly trending stock after its period of consolidation or correction is complete.

Strongly trending stocks often make a quick move after completing its correction which one can profit from.

One then sells the stock after 2 to 7 days for a 5-25% move. This process can be repeated over and over again. One can also play the short side by shorting stocks that fall through support levels.

In brief a Swing Trader’s goal is to make money by capturing the quick moves that stocks make in their life span, and at the same time controlling their risk by proper money management techniques.

What are the advantages of Swing Trading?

Swing Trading combines the best of two worlds – the slower pace of investing and the increased potential gains of day trading.

Swing Trading works well for part-time traders ? especially those doing it while at work. While day traders typically have to stay glued to their computers for hours at a time, feverishly watching minute-to-minute changes in quotes, swing trading doesn’t require that type of focus and dedication.

While Day Traders gamble on stocks popping or falling by fractions of points, Swing Traders try to ride “swings” in the market. Swing Traders buy fewer stocks and aim for bigger gains, they pay lower brokerage and, theoretically, have a better chance of earning larger gains.

With day trading, the only person getting rich is the broker. “Swing traders go for the meat of the move while a day trader just gets scraps.” Furthermore, to swing trade, you don’t need sophisticated computer hook-ups or lightning quick execution services and you don’t have to play extremely volatile stocks.

We believe that the Swing Trading method is a better way for the individual investor to attain superior investment results through short-term trading in the stock market. This trading strategy has been carefully designed for the needs of the individual investor who does not have the resources that institutions and professional money managers may have.

How to Swing Trade?

To fully understand what swing trading really is, you first need to understand what up/down trends are.

Up Trend: Simply put an uptrend is a series of higher highs and higher lows. In other words, an uptrend is a series of successive rallies that extend though previous high points, interrupted by declines which terminate above the low point of the preceding sell-off. Often the high of the last “swing” in the trend will serve as support for the next low. These areas are circled.

Down Trend: Simply put a downtrend is a series of lower highs and lower lows. In other words, a downtrend is a series of successive declines that extend though previous low points, interrupted by increases which terminate below the high point of the preceding rally. Often the low of the last “swing” in the stock’s trend will serve as resistance for the next high. These are circled.

Long Swing Trades: Once an uptrend has been identified a swing trader looks for buying opportunities in that stock. This can be identified when the stock experiences a minor pullback or correction within that uptrend. The swing trader then activates a trailing buy-stop technique. If prices break out above the trailing stop loss, you will be stopped out and long in the trade. If prices decline, your buy-stop will not be touched.

Short Swing Trades: Once an downtrend has been identified a swing trader looks for selling opportunities in that stock. This can be identified when the stock experiences a minor rally within that downtrend. The swing trader then activates a trailing sell-stop technique. If prices break down and fall below the trailing stop loss, you will be stopped out on the short side. If prices rally, your sell-stop will not be touched.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments