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Buying Property In Cyprus

Nov 11

Posted by admin in Real Estate

If you’ve been thinking about buying property in Cyprus, then you will want to read this article. In it, I will discuss some things you need to know about to fully evaluate whether or not buying property in Cyprus is a smart move.

When most people think of Cyprus, they think of class and a high standard of living. In fact, Cyprus is one of few Eastern Mediterranean destinations that offer a high quality standard of living on par with the United States and Britain. English is widely spoken in Cyprus, there are excellent facilities for education and health, and a variety of shopping opportunities.

In fact, Cyprus has quickly became the fifth most popular foreign destination. With over 300 days of sunshine annually, a low flat tax rate of 5%, and a lower than average cost of living, it’s no wonder many people have become interested in buying property in Cyprus.

In addition, recently there’s been a lot of new property construction. This means there is a lot of new property on the market that can be bought, usually at a very good price. Consider the fact that some people who purchase property two years ago in Cyprus have seen the value increase over 20% each year! And it appears that prices are not going to level out anytime soon.

Most investors are purchasing two bedroom properties, because they are the easiest to rent or sell.

When purchasing property in Cyprus, it is important that you’re familiar with the legal and tax structures, as they may be different from your residing country. It is a must that you understand the laws and regulations, to make sure you do not do anything which could jeopardize your investment.

Buying property in Cyprus offers both an excellent investment opportunity and a perfect spot to relocate, or visit for a prolonged period time. Just make sure to follow the advice, and take these facts in this article into consideration.

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Everyday Items Make Great Investment Options

Nov 5

Posted by admin in Investing

These days, I find the newspapers highly infested with classifieds on profitable business opportunities with consumer food products. Mushroom and fish trading are flourishing business opportunities, along with a lot of other items like soybean, palm oil, sugar 11, rubber etc. These days, when recession is the single most dominating phase of the current economy, you cannot probably thinking of making investments in the conventionally high investment options like diamonds, gold, silver, or crude oil. A wiser option would be to trade with products of everyday usage. Just weigh the advantages for yourself. They don?t require high investments and the demand for these products is very high, rather more than the supply. Products like soybean, cocoa, wood etc. which were not very popular a few years ago are selling like hot cakes. Kudos to all those health and environmental researchers who are discovering the extra ordinary worth of these apparently ordinary products ! Let?s take a binocular view at these products one by one.

organic farming Mushrooms

A rich source of anti-cancer, anti-viral and immunity boosting substances; edible mushrooms are a hot business option these days. Apart from edible uses, mushrooms are used for other purposes such as dyeing natural fabric. Mushrooms, for business, are very easy to cultivate. You just need a 5-6 ft tub where you can grow them. There are many mushroom trading companies asking people to cultivate mushrooms at home so that they can buy them from you once you grow them. So you needn?t be worried about your products not getting sold. They?ll supply you the cultivation infrastructure if you want. You can start by installing a unit in your own house. Place on your terrace, in the balcony or in the garage and grow them. A little bit of supervision and timely care is all that is required to make your mushroom business a thriving one.

Organic Farming

With the pro-environmental endeavors and growing awareness of the harmful effects of chemical substances, organic farming seems to be a lucrative business option. If you have about a minimum of 10,000 sq. ft area of land at your disposal, you can start off with cultivation of?? organic vegetable and fruit crops. As no expensive chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used, and the plants are grown using only natural fertilizers like animal manure and compost, your investment will not burn a hole in your pocket. You can join organic farmer?s associations that will market your products at good profits.

Soybean

soybeansSoybean, a legume, popularly used in Asian cuisines (specifically Chinese) is fast gaining significance in the Western cuisines, as well, for its nutritive and medicinal worth. With the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) certifying soyfood as the official cholesterol reducer, the demand for this, otherwise less known bean, has increased manifold. According to the FDA,?25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.?

No wonder soybean trading seems to be one of the most profitable inexpensive business ventures that you can contemplate. Investing in Soybean Futures is going to fetch you some good returns in the near future. For the uninitiated, a Futures is a contract in which a buyer agrees to buy your product at a future date at the prevalent market price on that date.? The Chicago Board of Trade, The South African Futures, Exchange and Dalian Commodities Exchange are some of the major Soybean Futures contractors. According to the Soyabean Market Review the average market price of South Dakota Soybean as on the 7th of August 2009 was $10 .78 /bushel, a marked increase by 64 percent from last week prices. The encouraging growing trends in market price should coax you into investing in the soybean business. The prices follow a trend, rising in summer months and falling in the monsoons. Though a flourishing business proposal, soybean trading follows a bumpy path from the months of July-November, with a high demand in the summer months interrupted by natural adversities, such as floods or draughts.

Rubber

?Bend it like rubber? is a saying with good reason. Today, rubber finds diverse use in both its natural and synthetic form. Natural rubber, made from latex extracted from the rubber plants, is put to a lot of use. Household accessories, window profiles, hoses matting, anti-vibration mounts used by the automotive industry, are only some of the uses of this commodity that finds. Rubber tires are one of the most important products of rubber without which mobility could have come to a halt. Children use rubber erasers and pencils. Its elastic property is put to good use by the textile industry.

I can go on and on about the uses of rubber, but what I want to impress upon you is that investing in natural rubber trading can be a lucrative business option for you because you?ll simply have a big flow of customers. Produced mostly in Malaysia, India, China and other Asian countries, rubber Futures can be signed with Asian companies. You can sign with non-Asian companies too. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) trades on rubber Futures.? You can check out the latest quote prices on this website. The Singapore Commodity Exchange and the Bangkok Commodity Exchange are other platforms for you to sign up rubber Futures.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Investment Performance Risk & Return : Deciding Which Are The Best Investments

Nov 2

Posted by admin in Investing

When may people look to invest, they simply look at the annual rate of return, however performance also needs to be seen in terms of risk ? reward and comparisons need to be made in terms of how the investment is doing against others in its sector and how it compares to investments in other sectors.

This requires a bit of time, but is time well spent in terms of getting the best investments for you and how to combine them for optimum risk to reward.

Below you will find some ways of assessing the performance of an investment.

Use the tools below and you will be able to choose your investments better and maximize rates of return. Draw downs and Peak to Valley Draw Downs

This is one of the most important areas for investors to look at. Although past performance is not a guide to future results it gives an indication of losing periods, their size and recovery.

A drawdown is simply a fall in value for an investment and gives an indication of downside losses that investors should be comfortable with. A peak to valley shows the worst period of return of an investment and is the one investors, should be prepared to expect.

Drawdowns, every investor hates them but all investments have them, so pick investments with drawdowns your comfortable with and always assume your worst drawdown is ahead of you.

Standard Deviation

The volatility of an investment is denoted by a statistical measure known as the standard deviation of the return rate.

Without going into complex mathematics, Just think of standard deviation as being synonymous with volatility. standard deviation therefore is applied to the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investment’s volatility (risk).

The higher the standard deviation the more volatile the investment. Low standard deviation would be present in such areas as bank deposit accounts and bonds and high standard deviation in higher risk products such as leveraged futures and FOREX accounts.

Sharp Ratio

This risk-adjusted measure was developed by William F. Sharpe, by calculating standard deviation and excess return to determine reward per unit of risk.

The higher the Sharpe ratio, the better the fund’s historical risk-adjusted performance.

Sortino Ratio

Similar to the Sharpe ratio and looks to differentiate between harmful volatility from volatility in general by replacing standard deviation with downside deviation in the calculation.

The Sortino Ratio is calculated by subtracting the risk free rate from the return of the portfolio and then dividing by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio measures the return to “bad” volatility.

This ratio allows investors to assess risk in a better way than simply looking at excess returns to total volatility; it considers how often the price of the investment rises as opposed to how often it falls.

The bigger the Sortino Ratio is the lower the chances of large losses occurring.

Benchmarks

Benchmarks are a way of comparing investments so you can make meaningful comparisons within sectors and across sectors. Two benchmarks are normally used:

1. Benchmark for Correlation Values: The benchmark that the fund has chosen to run correlation values such as alpha, beta, R and R squared.

2. Benchmark for Graphing: The benchmark that the investment has chosen to graph itself against as a comparison.

Beta

Beta is the measure of a fund’s volatility relative to the market. (most fund managers correlate themselves to the S&P 500). A beta of greater than 1.0 indicates that the fund is more volatile than the market, and less than 1.0 is less volatile than the market.

For example, if the market rises 1% and a fund has a beta greater than 3.8, the fund will rise, on average, 3.8%. For a fund with a beta of 0.5, if the market rises 1%, the fund will rise on average, 0.5%.

The relationship is exactly the same in a falling market. (Note that investments can have a negative beta, as well meaning that on average they rise when the market falls and vice versa.

A little research can pay big dividends

A little research using the above on your investments can pay big dividends in getting an investment portfolio that’s right for you and could give you better growth to drawdown.

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The Proposed Income Trust Taxation – Impact to Canada and Investors Around the World

Oct 28

Posted by admin in Investing, Taxes

On October 31, 2006, the Canadian government gave a rather nasty surprise to the market by imposing a new tax on income trusts. Existing trust will be taxed starting from 2011, for new one the effective date is as early as 2007.

The Toronto stock exchange dropped 2.6% and the S&P/TSX Income Trust Index plunged 12%.

What is Income Trust?

It is an entity that is required by law to distribute almost all its income to shareholders as dividends. Because of this the entity pays almost no income tax to the government. This tax-efficient structure is becoming more and more popular in Canada, at the expense of the government (decreasing tax revenue).

REIT, a product popular to retail investors, is a major form of income trusts.

Immediate impact

  • Energy and Telecom among biggest hit: Many of the biggest income trusts are in the energy mining sector (e.g. Canada Oil Sand Trust. Penn West Energy Trust). For the telecommunications sector, stock price of two big trust-conversion candidates, Telus and BCE, had double digit drop leading to an overall 9% drop in the telecom subindex.
  • Foreign investors may be scared away: As income trusts are very popular among foreign investors, the surprise announcement may trigger an exodus of capital away from Canada. This will affect both the stock market and foreign exchange. (CAD/USD dropped >1% yesterday).
  • Bank/insurance sector benefits: Investors will likely reshuffle the capital towards banks and insurance companies, which give relatively high dividends and do not usually have trust structure.

Long-term impact

  • Only slightly negative to investors: Apparently the Canadian government is closing a loophole as the Australians have done in the 1980s. While losing the tax-free advantage, the income trust companies are not worse off than their non-trust counterparts.

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3 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Tax Deductions

Oct 26

Posted by admin in Taxes

Hundreds of tax deductions that could be filed and claimed go unaccounted for each year. Unfortunately, it is just because people do not realize that they can take them that they do not. Yet, there are many ways in which you can insure that you are getting the most from your filing status, your business and you personal situation. Getting the most out of your tax deductions is all about knowing what is available.

Here are some tips to help you find the best tax deductions out there.

- Get in the know by making sure to take full note of any changes in the tax code that affect you. Not sure how to do this? Take the time to check out the IRS website. There you will find a wide range of links to help you to know what is available. This is also an excellent resource when it comes to finding information when it is tax time.

- Plan ahead. If you know that you can invest a certain amount of money per year into your savings untaxed, make sure that you take full advantage of it. Knowing what to do and how to save is the best way to get the most bang for your buck. If you have any sort of investment account, realize the tax benefits of it and take advantage of them.

- Hire a professional. There is no doubt that having a professional accountant can help you to get the best out of tax deductions. You will find that you can save yourself money as well as find tax deductions you had no idea existed. Another benefit is that they are responsible for knowing the latest about taxes and will be able to help you to plan for next year as well.

Whether you go to the local tax preparation company or you get the latest tax software version, taking steps to get the best tax deductions out there will likely save you money in the long run time and time again.

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Expense Ratios Are Nonsense

Oct 1

Posted by admin in Finance, Stocks Mutual Funds

One of those investment counselors says, ?I will take your money and make you a profit every year, but I have a very hefty fee. For every
dollar I make you I will charge you a dollar?.

?How much will you make for me??

He replies, ?Because I invest in the stock
market I am not sure what each year will be, but
I have a real time track record that I have
doubled my clients money every three years. If
you start with $10,000 you should have $20,000
three years from now.?

?In other words out of the $20,000 you make
with my money you get half? That seems like an
awful lot.?

Mr. Money Manager asks, ?Does it make any
difference how much I make if I can double your
money??

Here we are computing a 50% expense ratio.
Who cares as long as he doubles the money? When you
talk to brokers when buying mutual funds one of their
pet talking points is that a particular fund has
a very low expense ratio. Who cares? The only
thing that is important is the final return.

Does it make any difference if a fund has a
3.5% expense ratio or a 1% expense ratio if the
3% fund makes more money? Of course not.

This is part of the Wall Street mystique
designed to confuse clients. Whatever mutual
fund you choose it should be one that has the
highest return. When it is no longer going up it
should be switched to a better performing fund
that is why you should only buy no-load funds.
Full service brokerage companies do not want to
sell no-load funds.

Commissions are expenses, but brokers don?t
talk about that. Do NOT pay commission. Brokers
will tell you that load (commission) funds are
better than no-load funds. Not true. Get up and
walk away from that broker. He is lying. Be
careful of certain types of mutual funds that
will have several classes of the same fund some
of which have hidden commissions. Don?t be
afraid to ask. To be absolutely sure call the
mutual fund company. They all have toll free
numbers.

There is only one way to make sense out of
expenses and expense ratios and that is the
performance of the fund in relation to all other
funds. First eliminate commissions. All other
expenses are apportioned over the year. One
other nasty charge funds have started adding is
redemption fees. Most are 2% and run out for
long periods of time. These are added to
discourage selling; no other reason.

There is only one thing that distinguishes
a ?good? fund from any other. It is going up while
the investor owns it. If it doesn?t you should
not have it. When it starts down it should be
sold and this has nothing to do with expense
ratios.

There is only one reason to own any equity
and it has nothing to do with expenses. It must go
up.

Copyright 2006

Al Thomas\’ best selling book, \”If It Doesn\’t
Go Up, Don\’t Buy It!\” has helped thousands
of people make money and keep their profits
with his simple 2-step method. Read the first
chapter and receive his market letter for 3
months at no charge at
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why
he\’s the man that Wall Street does not want
you to know.

Writen By : Al Thomas

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When And How To Invest In Bonds

Sep 30

Posted by admin in Stocks Mutual Funds

If you\’ve been considering making an investment but aren\’t exactly sure what you should invest in, you might want to consider making an investment in bonds. An investment that is usually grouped together with stocks, many people aren\’t overly sure what bonds are or how they operate? a lack of understanding that can cause some people to overlook a potentially lucrative investment opportunity.

If you\’re one of these people and have been wondering exactly what bonds are and how you should invest in them, then read on? the information below was designed for you.

Defining Bonds

The first thing that you need to know before investing in bonds is exactly what bonds are. Bonds are a type of loan certificate issued by governments, states, and some corporations for a period of time greater than one year, as a means of raising money? when you buy a bond, you are for all intents and purposes loaning that amount of money to the issuer.

Bonds generally pay an interest rate to the purchaser, building interest until the bond matures at which point the original investment is repaid along with the interest that has been accrued along the way.

Researching Bonds

The history of bonds can be researched in much the same way that the history of stocks can be, though there isn\’t as much potential for great profits or losses in the bond market due to the bond\’s nature.

Information that can be gathered on bonds includes the issuer of the bond, the date issued, and the date that the bond is set to mature. Some other information may be available as well, depending upon the method used to research the bonds.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bonds

Since bonds are considered to be a type of loan, there is a bit more security in bonds than in stocks in the instance that the issuer suffers financial setbacks or goes under. Since they are generally being repaid with interest, there is not the same fear of sudden loss of value that is associated with stocks. Bonds are also considered to be a debt of the issuer, and bondholders are given the same priority on the issuer\’s income as other debts in the case of financial problems.

Unlike stocks or equities, however, bonds do not convey any portion of ownership or control in the issuing agency or company.

Choosing Potential Investments

When looking at bonds to potentially invest in, you should take into consideration the issuer, the interest rate that is being paid on the bond, as well as the date that the bond was originally issued and the date when the bond is set to mature. Ideally, you would want to invest in bonds that have good interest rates over a longer period of time, though this means that your investment won\’t mature until that time has passed.

Choose your potential bond investments based upon this criteria in order to find the bonds that will pay out the most to you upon maturation? some shorter-term bonds may also be chosen if you\’re wanting to try and reap some profits in less time, however.

Deciding to Invest

When making your final decision to invest in bonds, you should make sure that you can afford to invest in a longer-term investment than you may be used to.

Some bonds may take several years to mature, at which time your investment will pay off? just make sure that you understand the patience involved, and you\’re sure to get the most out of your bond investments.

You may freely reprint this article provided the following author\’s biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

Writen By : John Mussi

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