For anyone new to this page, you will probably not realise that FOREX or Foreign Exchange trading is the means by which I am generating my personal income, having “retired” from the construction industry for good as a result of a mental illness in late 2003.
Having always had an interest in stocks and shares and the workings of the markets, 2004 was a year of self education and retraining. I am particularly indebted to Rob Walton who introduced me to the intricacies of technical analysis and in particular to currency trading.
No doubt there are many of my friends who think they should have kept me in the mental clinic permanently! There are others who perceive it as more stressful than what I used to do - believe me it’s not. Yet others see it as a “get rich quick” gambling scheme and yet others that I will be following in the footsteps of Nick Leeson and my family will be living in a rented house pretty soon.
FOREX trading is a very misunderstood subject because all the aforementioned points of view sadly have some truth to them. However, those who know me best will know that I don’t take on projects with a view to failure and the fact that I haven’t dropped this one within the past 12 months should tell you something (yes, I hear you..... that they should have kept me locked up !!)
What I can tell you is that following the path of FOREX trading is NOT an easy path and it is paved with traps for the unwary. You will
* have to unlearn many things you previously thought to be true
* need to develop your mental thought processes and discipline to new levels as well as manage risk effectively
* learn a whole new vocabulary including long and short, highs and lows, support & resistance, double tops & bottoms, pivots as well as Fibonacci mathematics and Bollinger bands
* take an immense amount of your time in reading and practicing
* have to learn how to accept loosing money
* go though psychological states that you never believed were possible, from ”this is just so easy” (it is when you know what you are doing!) to ”my head hurts” to ”why did I ever get involved with this, no-one can possibly make any money in reality”.
* have to get used to the glazed expression that comes on your friends faces when you try and explain to them what you are doing!
There are a number of steps to becoming a FOREX trader and they are outlined below. Please take the time to read it because if you are going to succeed it is important that you have your feet firmly on the ground and have some idea of what to expect. The following text is reproduced with the permission of SoulTrader of http://www.simpleforexsystems.com
My experience to date personally and in discussion with other traders confirms its accuracy.
Step One: Unconscious Incompetence.
This is the first step you take when starting to look into trading. you know that its a good way of making money because you've heard so many things about it and heard of so many millionaires. Unfortunately, just like when you first desire to drive a car you think it will be easy - after all, how hard can it be? Price either moves up or down - what's the big secret to that then - lets get cracking!
Unfortunately, just as when you first take your place in front of a steering wheel you find very quickly that you haven't got the first clue about what you're trying to do. You take lots of trades and lots of risks. When you enter a trade it turns against you so you reverse and it turns again .. and again, and again.
You try to turn around your losses by doubling up every time you trade. Sometimes you'll get away with it but more often than not you will come away scathed and bruised You are totally oblivious to your incompetence at trading.
This step can last for a week or two of trading but the market is usually swift and you move.
Step Two - Conscious Incompetence
Step two is where you realise that there is more work involved in trading and that you might actually have to work a few things out. You consciously realise that you are an incompetent trader - you don't have the skills or the insight to turn a regular profit.
You now set about buying systems and e-books galore, read websites based everywhere from USA to the Ukraine. and begin your search for the holy grail. During this time you will be a system nomad - you will flick from method to method day by day and week by week never sticking with one long enough to actually see if it does work. Every time you come upon a new indicator you'll be ecstatic that this is the one that will make all the difference.
You will test out automated systems on Metatrader, you'll play with moving averages, Fibonacci lines, support & resistance, Pivots, Fractals, Divergence, DMI, ADX, and a hundred other things all in the vein hope that your 'magic system' starts today. You'll be a top and bottom picker, trying to find the exact point of reversal with your indicators and you'll find yourself chasing losing trades and even adding to them because you are so sure you are right.
You'll go into the live chat room and see other traders making pips and you want to know why it's not you - you'll ask a million questions, some of which are so dumb that looking back you feel a bit silly. You'll then reach the point where you think all the ones who are calling pips after pips are liars - they cant be making that amount because you've studied and you don't make that, you know as much as they do and they must be lying. But they're in there day after day and their account just grows whilst yours falls.
You will be like a teenager - the traders that make money will freely give you advice but you're stubborn and think that you know best - you take no notice and overtrade your account even though everyone says you are mad to - but you know better. You'll consider following the calls that others make but even then it wont work so you try paying for signals from someone else - they don't work for you either.
This step can last ages and ages - in fact in reality talking with other traders as well as personal experience confirms that it can easily last well over a year. This is also the step when you are most likely to give up through sheer frustration.
Eventually you do begin to come out of this phase. You've probably committed more time and money than you ever thought you would, lost 2 or 3 loaded accounts and all but given up maybe 3 or 4 times.
Step 3 - The Eureka Moment
Towards the end of stage two you begin to realise that it's not the system that is making the difference. You realise that its actually possible to make money with a simple moving average and nothing else IF you can get your head and money management right You start to read books on the psychology of trading and identify with the characters portrayed in those books and finally comes the eureka moment.
The eureka moment causes a new connection to be made in your brain. You suddenly realise that neither you, nor anyone else can accurately predict what the market will do in the next ten seconds, never mind the next 20 mins. You start to work just one system that you mould to your own way of trading, you're starting to get happy and you define your risk threshold.
You start to take every trade that your 'edge' shows has a good probability of winning with. When the trade turns bad you don't get angry or even because you know in your head that as you couldn't possibly predict it it isn't your fault - as soon as you realise that the trade is bad you close it . The next trade will have higher odds of success because you know your system works.
You have realised in an instant that the trading game is about one thing - consistency of your 'edge' and your discipline to take all the trades no matter what as you know the probabilities stack in your favour.
You learn about proper money management and leverage - risk of account etc etc - and this time it actually soaks in and you think back to those who advised the same thing a year ago with a smile. You weren't ready then, but you are now. The eureka moment came the moment that you truly accepted that you cannot predict the market.
Step 4 - Conscious Competence
You are making trades whenever your system tells you to. You take losses just as easily as you take wins You now let your winners run to their conclusion fully accepting the risk and knowing that your system makes more money than it looses and when you're on a loser you close it swiftly with little pain to your account
You are now at a point where you break even most of the time - day in day out, you will have weeks where you make 100 pips and weeks where you lose 100 pips - generally you are breaking even and not losing money. You are now conscious of the fact that you are making calls that are generally good and you are getting respect from other traders as you chat the day away. You still have to work at it and think about your trades but as this continues you begin to make more money than you lose consistently.
You'll start the day on a 20 pip win, take a 35 pip loss and have no feelings that you've given those pips back because you know that it will come back again. You will now begin to make consistent pips week in and week out 25 pips one week, 50 the next and so on.
This lasts about 6 months
Step Five - Unconscious Competence
Now we’re cooking - just like driving a car, every day you get in your seat and trade - you do everything now on an unconscious level. You are running on autopilot. You start to pick the really big trades and getting 100 pips in a day is becoming quite normal to you. This is trading utopia - you have mastered your emotions and you are now a trader with a rapidly growing account.
You're a star in the trading chat room and people listen to what you say. You recognise yourself in their questions from about two years ago. You pass on your advice but you know most of it is futile because they're teenagers - some of them will get to where you are - some will do it fast and others will be slower - literally dozens and dozens will never get past stage two, but a few will.
Trading is no longer exciting - in fact it's probably boring you to bits - like everything in life when you get good at it or do it for your job - it gets boring - you're doing your job and that's that.
You can now say with your head held high "I'm a currency trader"
FACT : 90%+ of traders loose money trading FOREX.
I quote from Dr Alexander Elder’s excellent book, Trading for a Living
“Brokerage records indicate that 90 out of 100 people trading today will probably be gone from the markets a year from now. They will hit rock bottom, crumble and leave. They will try to forget trading as they would a bad dream.”
The £64000 question is : Are you prepared to put in the time and effort necessary to put yourself into the <10% group who make money? There are no shortcuts.
That’s the long and short of it folks (couldn’t resist using that pun!) If I’ve put you off already, excellent. FOREX is not for you and you’ll save yourself money and frustration. If you are still fascinated, on the FOREX Info, FOREX Books and FOREX Tips links, you will find more than enough information and books to set you on the path to success.
I’m no FOREX expert or super trading guru but everything provided on these pages has at different times assisted me on my way. If I haven’t found the material helpful, or well written, it’s not on my page! I wish you every success on your trading adventure.
My philosophy is one of Trader help Trader. Much of what I have learned is by others giving their time and knowledge free of charge. If there is any way whatsoever that you think I can help you, please contact me. However, please do remember :
DAY TRADING involves high risks and
YOU CAN LOSE a lot of money.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Forex Trading
FOREX information - to help you become a better trader
Trading on your own is a very lonely pastime, particularly when things are not going your way. An excellent means of getting support is to join one of the many online forums that are available. One of the best ones is to be found at :http://www.spreadtrade2win.com/forum/
You cannot trade FOREX real time without having a good charting package with a real time data feed. The good news is that you do not need to pay money for one as they are available free of charge. One of the best supported packages is METATRADER and version 3.84*can be downloaded free by visiting the following website which will also provide you with a free real time datafeed :-
http://www.admiral-invest.co.uk/?p=420
*Note that there is a Metatrader 4 being beta tested (Dec 2004) but it is not on general release yet and currently has a limited number of 3rd party indicators available although some of the better ones are on the above forum now.
What do all the indicators do? How do they work? One of the best site available online with this information is CHARTFILTER where you will find not only explanations on indicators, but also other technical trading stuff including chart patterns, candlesticks etc. There is a wealth of free information to be found on this site at :-http://chartfilter.com/indicators.htm
Forex Trading Tips
TIP 1 Read both the books by Mark Douglas which cover trading psychology BEFORE you read or do anything else. If you don’t, I’ll say I told you so when you hit a failure barrier and don’t know why.
TIP 2 Stop loss policy - you MUST have one and practice, more practice and even more practice at sticking to it. It will not be easy but it is an essential discipline to profitable trading.
TIP 3 Trading plan / system. Again, you MUST have one! Then you must practice sticking to it. Do not try and second guess or trade against your indicators - wait until they give you a concise signal before acting on it.
TIP 4 TRADE WITH THE TREND. DO NOT trade against the hourly trend of the market unless you are VERY certain the market has turned. Check this by watching a long term moving average (say 80 SMA on 15 minute chart)
TIP 5 Learn to sit on your hands and not trade! It’s better to wait for good quality trades than take a mediocre one and loose money. A day of no trades is better than a day with one loosing one. If you don’t like the market, just walk away. It will always be there later.
TIP 6 Don’t set yourself false targets and expectations. Trading is not an EXACT science and if you do you will only become frustrated by your failure to meet them. Take what the market gives and be satisfied. Greed will kill you as a trader, both mentally and monetarily. .
TIP 7 The market is rarely your friend in a trade that goes against you. Cut your losses quickly and accept them as an inherent part of trading. You will not be able to trade without some loosing positions. Manage them well!
TIP 8 Try hard not to get out of profitable trades too early. Try operating a trailing stoploss of say 15 to 20 pips behind the trade (on 5 minute timeframe) and maximise your good trades by letting them run. Be patient!
TIP 9 Ensure you fully understand how to generate and use pivot points and camarilla points on your trading platform. These are crucial decision points for daily trading and you will struggle without them.
TIP 10 DO NOT overtrade your account. Read up on money management in trading to make sure you fully understand why this is important and develop a strategy which fits with your personal trading capital. NEVER risk wiping out your account because believe me, it can happen. I’ve done it twice myself!
TIP 11 Learn about FIBONACCI levels and how to apply them to your charts.
TIP 12 Keep your trading system simple. Do not have too much information on your trading screen. It is unnecessary and will only cause you to be confused and delay you making your trading decisions.
TIP 13 Always think in terms of probabilities. Trading is all about thinking in probabilities NOT certainties. You can make all the “right” decisions and the trade still goes against you. This does not make it a “wrong” trade, just one of the many trades you will take which, through probability, are on the “loosing” side of your trading plan. Don’t expect not to have negative trades - they are a necessary part of the plan and cannot be avoided.
TIP 14 Ensure that the candle is fully formed on the timeframe you are trading BEFORE you enter your trade. Trade what you see, not what you would like to see.
The Top 10 Things You Should Know Before You Blog
It's been widely covered that weblogs are a viable way to build brand awareness and establish an individual's expertise in a particular area. "For a small business, [a weblog] is a perfect low-cost positioning-yourself-as-an-expert tool," notes Debbie Weil, the publisher of WordBizReport and Debbie's Blog, as well as author of an upcoming book on corporate blogging for Penguin Portfolio (2006). But what hasn't been covered is how to actually take the leap?
In essence, when you begin to blog, you're publishing your own work. You're making a statement to an enormous audience that will shine a spotlight on your company and your credibility as an expert. With so much at stake, building a weblog into your marketing arsenal can seem intimidating.
To help lessen the anxiety you might feel about blogging, we went out to three experts in the field to uncover the top 10 things you should know before you blog. These tips should help better prepare you for writing and maintaining a weblog for your business.
1. A weblog is a two-way conversation, not a top-down communication medium.
As a boss, you're in a natural leadership role -- generally, you talk and people associated with your company listen. When you're blogging, the dynamic is different. Your audience is infinitely larger, and the conversation you start will take on a life of its own. "You need to ask yourself, 'Am I willing to engage people without controlling the conversation in a top-down kind of way?'" says Paul Chaney, president of Radiant Marketing Group, a business blog consulting firm. Readers will build on your thoughts, and, gasp, may even criticize them. You need to be able to accept feedback in stride. Besides, a little criticism might lead to a topic you might want to discuss in a future posting. Even better, it could lead to such tangible outcomes as better solutions, products, and strategies for your business.
2. It takes time to blog, maybe more than you're willing to devote.
Consistency and frequency are the keys to building an audience on the Web. If you're using a weblog to build brand recognition or establish yourself as an expert, you need to be sure that you're blogging frequently. "I advise business owners to blog at least twice a week," says Anita Campbell, a former CEO and editor of the daily blog Small Business Trends. "If you don't do it at least twice a week, the blog can quickly look stale," she adds. This is not to say you have to sit down to write 500-word posts two or three times a week. "Better a couple of sentences three times a week than one blog a week," suggests Weil.
3. Find out what others are saying about you and your business.
Get a head start on your weblog by first discovering what others, maybe even competitors, are saying about your industry, your business, even you. "Get the pulse of what is being said to determine whether you can speak to that particular issue or put forth a message that can set you apart," suggest Chaney. "If you're in a competitive space where other companies are blogging, you can monitor that and then come up with a strategy that's more intelligent than just throwing stuff out there," he adds. Chaney suggests using blogpulse to search the most up-to-date listings of weblog postings about your company and industry.
4. Yes, you do need to be able to write.
But you don't have to be Ernest Hemingway. "If you can write a coherent e-mail, you can write a blog entry," Weil says. Pay attention to proper grammar -- you don't want to sound illiterate, and try to have fun with it. "The writing style should be informal, as if you're speaking to someone in an e-mail," Weil suggests. And if you don't feel like you have a distinctive voice, just give it some time. It will emerge eventually.
5. Practice can make perfect. Or, at least make you more comfortable with blogging.
Some owners might shudder at the thought of writing so publicly. But it doesn't have to be "show time" right out of the gate. You can experiment before you go public. Put comments on others' weblogs or do a weblog behind the scenes. "Open up a Typepad account, use it for free, and don't make it public," suggests Weil. Keep it private for a while or put it behind a firewall. "Get at least ten entries in there and have colleagues comment on them," she adds. Feedback from people you trust can help build your confidence. Likewise, the exercise could reveal you just don't like doing it. Better to learn this now rather than after you've made your blog intentions public.
6. Some topics are verboten.
Remember, you're blogging for your business, so stay away from anything that could throw prospective and current customers into a tirade. Campbell generally advises against blogging about the following topics: sex, race/ethnic bias, religion, politics, and too much patriotism. The patriotism one is especially sensitive because of the global nature of the Internet, according to Campbell. "Anyone can come to your website from any country," reminds Campbell. "While you can be patriotic, you don't want to do it at the expense of someone else's nationality."
7. Be sure to know your keywords.
Blogs can help customers find your business when they are searching on Google or other sites. Therefore, it's important to know: What words do customers most often use to find you via the search engines? What words show up in competitor or industry blogs on a regular basis that help place them high in Google's index? Knowing which words to drop into your posts on a regular basis will help boost your search rankings. "Small businesses get more search engine benefit from blogs than larger businesses," Campbell says. After all, your marketing budget probably is a fraction of what GE will spend this year. Writing frequently and dropping keywords into your posts to help boost your search standings can go a long way for a business owner on a tight marketing budget. But don't overdo it. Readers will see right through any obvious attempts at self-promotion.
8. It will take longer than you think to build awareness -- and a following.
Don't expect your weblog to be an instant hit. Traffic to it and building a following will take a while to develop. "You will find you need to give at least a three- to six-month commitment, updating routinely [to get noticed]," Chaney says. And Weil suggests at least one year. Whether its three months or a year, you need to be committed for the long haul, regardless of feedback, or lack thereof, from readers. "You're not going to be found after a couple of weeks," says Weil. It will take at least several months before the major search engines and other bloggers and websites find you.
9. Know your confidentiality limits. "Don't write anything you don't want your competition to know about," Campbell says. When you're blogging, it's easy to get caught in the moment and share your coolest ideas and best strategies. But you need to think of your weblog as any other writing communication you do for your business. Before you write, ask yourself whether your topic will compromise your position in the market, or compromise your position as leader of your company. If an employee or competitor shouldn't hear it, then it shouldn't be in your weblog.
10. Know why you're blogging.
Sounds like common sense, but stating why you've decided to start a weblog can quickly put into perspective what you expect to get from it. "You shouldn't be doing it just because it's the latest trend," Chaney says. You need to determine how the weblog will serve your organization: Will its primary purpose be to build brand awareness? Do you want to establish yourself as an expert in a field to better highlight your company's expertise? Will it be used to simply alert people to company news and information? Are you more interested in using it as an internal vehicle for updating employees? Knowing what you're setting out to do with your weblog will help define what you'll write about -- and keep you focused on your primary effort.
Once you know the ropes, blogging is easy -- and fun. It's an opportunity for you to establish meaningful conversations with potential and existing customers. And it offers you a instant platform to share your knowledge and expertise with the world at large.
http://www.inc.com/articles/2005/07/blogging.html
Saturday, July 21, 2007
How To Install WordPress
WordPress is well known for its ease of installation. Under most circumstances installing WordPress is a very simple process and takes less than five minutes to complete. The following installation guide will help you, whether you go for the Famous 5 Minute Installation, or require the more detailed installation guide.
Click this url http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress
Confirm Forex Momentum With Heikin Ashi
Investors and speculators are always looking for an edge in determining the strength and direction of trends. The Heikin Ashi application is one tool that may be able to provide this edge. Similar to the Ichimoku charts, the Heikin Ashi has been a relatively unknown tool that has recently seen a rise in popularity, even though it has been accessible since its introduction almost two decades ago.
In addition to showing the relative strength of a trend, the application also notes key turning points in price action and reacts much like a moving average. Incorporating the overall session activity in a single candlestick (open, close, high and low), the charting tool also "smooths" over erratic fluctuations in the currency markets and omits spikes that may be sparked by volatility or jumps in price. This allows chartists to obtain a clearer picture of what's going on in the market and to make a more informed trading decision. Let's take a look at how the Heikin Ashi is calculated and how it can be applied to forex trading. (For more insight, read Heikin-Ashi: A Better Candlestick and Trading Without Noise.)
Defining the Heikin Ashi
Before we get into the actual application of the Heikin Ashi, let's dive into some logistics involving the real meaning behind it. Usually a type of candlestick chart, the Heikin Ashi is available on some charting packages as a separate indicator. This allows investors or speculators to make a side-to-side comparison between the standard candlestick and the Heikin Ashi, allowing for a more cohesive interpretation. In Figure 1, the chartist can see that the two are very similar but offer different perspectives, as the Heikin Ashi indicator disregards market noise and concentrates on the smoother trend of the underlying price action in the euro/U.S. dollar.
Source: FX Trek Intellicharts
Figure 1: A nearly identical interpretation (top: price action, bottom: Heikin Ashi)
The reason the Heikin Ashi tends to be smoother is because instead of using a simple low and high of the session to calculate individual candles, the Heikin Ashi takes the prices per bar and averages them to create a "smoother" session. This is key because the currency markets tend to offer traders more volatility and market noise in the price than other markets. Here is how each candle is constructed:
* Close = (Open Price + High + Low +Close) / 4
* Open = (Open Price of the previous bar + Close Price of the previous bar) / 2
* High = [Maximum value of the (High, Open, Close)]
* Low = [Minimum value of the (Low, Open, Close)]
By plugging formulas into each individual session to construct consecutive candles, the chart continues to be reflective of the underlying price action, isolating the price and excluding currency market volatility and noise. The resulting picture gives the trader a more visually appealing perspective, and one that can help in identifying the overall trend.
Now that we've established how the candles are calculated, here is how to interpret them:
* Positive candles (blue) containing no wicks: There is strong uptrend momentum in the session and it will likely continue. Here, the trader will have a hands-off approach to profits while strongly considering adding on to the position.
* Positive candles (blue) containing shadows or wicks: Strength continues to support the price action higher. At this point, with upside potential still present, the investor will likely consider the notion of adding to the overall position.
* A smaller candle body with longer wicks: Similar to the doji candlestick formation, this candle suggests a near-term turnaround in the overall trend. Signaling indecision, market participants are likely to wait for further directional bias before pushing the market one way or the other. Traders following on the signal will likely prefer confirmation before initiating any positions.
* Negative candles (red) containing shadows or wicks: Weakness or negative momentum is supporting the price action lower in the market. As a result, traders will want to begin exiting initial long positions or selling positions at this point.
* Negative candles (red) containing no shadows or wicks: Selling momentum is strong and will likely support a move lower in the overall decline. As a result, the trader would do well to add to existing short holdings.
The Heikin Ashi will still take some time to master; however, once this is accomplished, the Heikin Ashi will act to confirm the overall trend of the price action. Now let's see how it is used in market opportunities.
Improve on Opportunities
With a smoother picture, sometimes a more simplified one, a speculator can improve on trading the overall trend by combining the Heikin Ashi with multiple indicators. As with any other chart application, it's better to find an indicator that works well with your individual trading style when adding on the Heikin application. This will not only help traders to establish a directional bias, but it will also clear up entries, support and resistance and offer further confirmation of the trade becoming profitable. In Figure 2, the chartist is looking at a prime example using the Australian dollar/Canadian dollar currency pair.
Source: FX Trek Intellicharts
Figure 2: A pivotal turn confirmed by Heikin Ashi
Taking a look at the price action, the Australian dollar weakened enormously against a rising Canadian dollar, hence the downtrending channel. Reaching the psychological 0.8300 support, the cross pair presents an opportunity to the speculator. Not only is the AUD/CAD pair testing the support trendline at the 0.8300 level, the potential bottom coincides with the lower channel trendline. Confirming the strength of such a barrier, we overlay the Heikin Ashi and focus on the two dojis that have formed on the chart. The presented signal gives us the best confirmation in this example, as the trade is calling out a long position in Figure 3.
Source: FX Trek Intellicharts
Figure 3: Two dojis scream out a probably long
Signaling a potential turn in the price action, the dojis set the trade up nicely. Next, an entry point must be established. At this point, the best entry afforded, according to industry theory, is a break above the high of the session at Point A in Figure 3. This will set the long buy order at 0.8400 with a corresponding stop 2 points, for example, below the low of the session, at 0.8328. Theoretically, the trade is looking to profit, not only on a retracement test of the upper trendline, but a potential break. That's where the profits lie as the break above would create a longer term advance. The idea coincides with what is being viewed on the Heikin Ashi. Over the course of the next month, with the stop fully intact and untriggered as the price never trades back, the long position remains profitable until the creation of another doji near mid month's time. Taking into account the close of the session - including the doji, which is precisely set at 0.8554 - the trade has already profited by 154 points. Looking back, this is more than sufficient, as the risk/reward ratio is well above the 2:1 minimum prescribed. Subsequently, a trailing stop would be perfect at keeping profits close while letting potential unfold in the coming weeks.
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Breaking It Down
Let's take it down a notch and look into the steps of another example. Here, we'll reference a textbook example in the New Zealand dollar/Japanese yen currency pair. Taking a look at the overall price action, we see consolidation in the month of July on the longer term daily chart. Applying the stochastic oscillator, we see a golden cross form (Point B), suggesting a near-term uptick in Figure 4. (For more insight, see Getting To Know Oscillators - Part 3: Stochastics.)
Source: FX Trek Intellicharts
Figure 4: Point B shows trigger on golden cross
1. Identify support or resistance: Although not a full requirement, this helps to establish a viewpoint where a directional bias can be established. This will likely help in isolating points of entry, assisting with stop placement and risk assessment. In the example, there is ample support that is coming in at the 69.25 figure, offering a great opportunity for a long trade.
2. Overlay the technical indicator: The stochastic oscillator assists in suggesting bidding support as both indicators begin to form a golden cross. The cross at Point B confirms the trade bias and isolates the point of entry.
3. Confirm with Heikin Ashi: Obtaining the entry point off of support and the technically bullish crossover in the stochastic, the trader can confirm the strength of the nascent trend by using the smoother based candles. In the visual example at Point C, the chartist can see that the doji is indicative of the shift in momentum as sellers begin to exit the market. Simultaneously, the following longer bodied candle signifies a stronger uptrend in buying.
4. Place Entry Order: Now, with the directional bias confirmed, the trader will do well to place the entry 5 to 10 points above the doji session high. Although the order can actually be placed at the high or any other position in the session, the placement in this case is in order to capitalize on a breakout of price action (Point D). As a result, the entry is placed at 69.90. Placing the corresponding stop 5 points below the support will ensure a viable test. Should the level be broken to the downside, the previous trade is negated on overriding selling momentum. However, in this case, our indicators confirmed the directional bias, profiting 360 points before topping out for the first time two weeks.
Source: FX Trek Intellicharts
Figure 5: Point B shows trigger on golden cross
Conclusion
As you can see, although still somewhat new to the currency market analyst, chartist or trader/speculator, the Heikin Ashi is a viable tool that can help to confirm the momentum of a trend. Additionally, similar to the moving average, the smooth calculation helps in isolating market opportunities by removing the noise that will almost always lead a trader astray and clog up the technical perspective. As a result, by using this application and keeping in mind its longer term uses and advantages, any participant in the currency market can apply and reap the benefits of such a simple tool while keeping a finger on the detailed pulse of the market.
Stock-Picking Strategies: Introduction
When it comes to personal finance and the accumulation of wealth, few subjects are more talked about than stocks. It's easy to understand why: playing the stock market is thrilling. But on this financial roller-coaster ride, we all want to experience the ups without the downs.
In this tutorial, we examine some of the most popular strategies for finding good stocks (or at least avoiding bad ones). In other words, we'll explore the art of stock-picking - selecting stocks based on a certain set of criteria, with the aim of achieving a rate of return that is greater than the market's overall average.
Before exploring the vast world of stock-picking methodologies, we should address a few misconceptions. Many investors new to the stock-picking scene believe that there is some infallible strategy that, once followed, will guarantee success. There is no foolproof system for picking stocks! If you are reading this tutorial in search of a magic key to unlock instant wealth, we're sorry, but we know of no such key.
This doesn't mean you can't expand your wealth through the stock market. It's just better to think of stock-picking as an art rather than a science. There are a few reasons for this:
1. So many factors affect a company's health that it is nearly impossible to construct a formula that will predict success. It is one thing to assemble data that you can work with, but quite another to determine which numbers are relevant.
2. A lot of information is intangible and cannot be measured. The quantifiable aspects of a company, such as profits, are easy enough to find. But how do you measure the qualitative factors, such as the company's staff, its competitive advantages, its reputation and so on? This combination of tangible and intangible aspects makes picking stocks a highly subjective, even intuitive process.
3. Because of the human (often irrational) element inherent in the forces that move the stock market, stocks do not always do what you anticipate they'll do. Emotions can change quickly and unpredictably. And unfortunately, when confidence turns into fear, the stock market can be a dangerous place.
The bottom line is that there is no one way to pick stocks. Better to think of every stock strategy as nothing more than an application of a theory - a "best guess" of how to invest. And sometimes two seemingly opposed theories can be successful at the same time. Perhaps just as important as considering theory, is determining how well an investment strategy fits your personal outlook, time frame, risk tolerance and the amount of time you want to devote to investing and picking stocks.
At this point, you may be asking yourself why stock-picking is so important. Why worry so much about it? Why spend hours doing it? The answer is simple: wealth. If you become a good stock-picker, you can increase your personal wealth exponentially. Take Microsoft, for example. Had you invested in Bill Gates' brainchild at its IPO back in 1986 and simply held that investment, your return would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 35,000% by spring of 2004. In other words, over an 18-year period, a $10,000 investment would have turned itself into a cool $3.5 million! (In fact, had you had this foresight in the bull market of the late '90s, your return could have been even greater.) With returns like this, it's no wonder that investors continue to hunt for "the next Microsoft".
Without further ado, let's start by delving into one of the most basic and crucial aspects of stock-picking: fundamental analysis, whose theory underlies all of the strategies we explore in this tutorial (with the exception of the last section on technical analysis). Although there are many differences between each strategy, they all come down to finding the worth of a company. Keep this in mind as we move forward.
http://www.investopedia.com/university/stockpicking/
FOREX-Dollar rises as US jobs data beat forecasts
The European Central Bank kept rates on hold at 4 percent but suggested it would raise borrowing costs again in coming months to fight inflation. The dollar is losing its allure to yield-hungry investors as rates rise overseas.
Many traders remain bearish on the dollar, but with sterling already at 26-year highs and the euro also just short of record peaks against the dollar, some were locking in short-term gains.
"Sterling and the euro have both had a pretty good run, and what we're seeing is that with the Bank of England and ECB out of the way, people are taking some profits," said John McCarthy, director of foreign exchange trading at ING Capital Markets in New York. "The medium-term trend, though, is unchanged."
Sterling was down 0.2 percent at $2.0123, retreating from a peak of $2.0202 hit shortly after the BoE rate rise.
The dollar was up 0.10 percent at 122.85 yen . The Japanese yen, the world's lowest-yielding major currency, also hit another record low of 167.29 per euro, according to electronic trading platform EBS.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday that he he did not intend to sway the market's expectations about the future path of monetary tightening in the euro zone.
Analysts took this to mean that futures prices indicating a two-in-three chance of an ECB rate hike by September, and a dead certainty of a rise by October, were on the mark.
"The ECB is not going to raise rates in the next month or so, but they will definitely hike them again before the end of the year," said Busch at BMO.
In contrast, the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates on hold until the end of the year, with futures pricing in a one-in-ten chance of a rate cut.
The day's biggest winner was the New Zealand dollar, which climbed 0.45 percent to US$0.7842 after hitting US$0.7881, the highest since the currency was floated in 1985.
FOREX-Yen falls to record lows, eyes on US jobs data
The yen fell to record lows versus the euro on Friday as the market continued to focus on the search for higher yield, while the dollar held the previous session's gains ahead of a key U.S. jobs report.
Analysts said the yen remains weak because robust risk appetite continues to encourage investors to sell the low yielding currency in carry trades to fund purchases of higher yielding assets.
Markets are looking to U.S. non-farm payrolls data due at 1230 GMT for more clues on the outlook for Fed monetary policy.
Analysts said weak data could lead to a shift in sentiment on the relatively risky carry trade which would help the yen recover.
"The carry trade continues but if the payroll numbers come in much lower than expected, this could lead to concerns about the U.S. economy, risk appetite coming off and demand returning for lower yielding currencies like the yen," said Gavin Friend, currency strategist at Commerzbank Corporates and Markets.
The dollar held onto gains against the euro and sterling, staying off 2-month and 26-year lows respectively, after U.S. service sector data on Thursday calmed talk of a possible Federal Reserve interest rate cut this year
By 1150 GMT, the euro was up 0.2 percent to 167.51 yen, just below an all-time high set earlier in the session at 167.61.
The dollar was up 0.3 percent at 123.24 yen , off last month's 4-1/2 year highs at 124.16.
The dollar was flat on the day versus the euro at $1.3595, holding most of the gains made in the previous session that took it away from 2-month lows of $1.3660 and further from April's record trough hit at $1.3682.
The greenback rose broadly in the previous session after the Institute for Supply Management's services index for June climbed to its highest level in a year, defying forecasts for a small decline.
STRONGER PAYROLLS?
A report on Thursday from private employment services company ADP Employer Services pointed to strong jobs growth, leading market participants to believe the Labor Department's jobs data at 1230 GMT will be stronger than forecast.
In a Reuters survey, economists' median forecast was for 120,000 new jobs to have been created in June compared with 157,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate was seen unchanged at 4.5 percent.
Sterling was steady at $2.0098 after touching $2.0207 on Wednesday, its highest level since 1981 . The Bank of England raised rates on Thursday, as expected, to 5.75 percent.
The Canadian dollar rose to its highest level this week at C$1.0516 per U.S. dollar after data showed Canada added more jobs than expected in June, backing expectations of a rate hike.
Sentiment on the Canadian dollar is also supported by oil prices going to an 11-month high above $75 a barrel.
"Strength in the oil price is benefiting oil exporters like the Canadian dollar and the Norwegian crown," said Paul Mackel, currency strategist at HSBC.
Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui reiterated on Friday that the central bank will conduct monetary policy appropriately by closely watching economic and price conditions, offering no fresh clues on the timing of its next rate increase.
The market widely expects the BOJ to hold steady on rates at a policy meeting next week, but to raise them to a 12-year high of 0.75 percent from the current 0.50 percent in August.
Review of Two Forex Analysis Software Packages
The most profitable stock traders often act on inside information, or information about the market that the average investor doesn’t know or even have access to. This isn’t true of the forex trading market. All the information needed to analyze the market and make well-researched trades is available to anyone. The problem is having the time to gather enough information, analyze that information and turn it into profitable trades.
That’s where forex trading software comes in. It is designed to follow trends in the market and recognize when a favorable position is likely to occur.
That doesn’t sound so hard. And, in fact, it isn’t. You can learn which trends to watch for and gather all the information yourself. The trouble with doing it manually is that the amount of data needed to track trends of every currency pair is voluminous! You can cut it down some, spend full time at it and still miss some important profitable trends. Having software do it for you is a huge assist.
Another good reason to use these forex trading analysis tools is to learn how the forex market works. Charts and analyses will lay out the trends the software is tracking. When it makes a recommendation, you’ll see what happened in the market to make the software foresee a significant jump coming. In this way, you’ll gradually increase your knowledge and learn how to make a greater percentage of wise trades.
Here are two good forex trading software packages at different price ranges. Choosing either one will be of great benefit. Of course, the more expensive one is superior by far, but your budget may dictate where you start.
TRADING SOLUTIONS
Trading Solutions is one of the most comprehensive forex trading tools on the market. It is very customizable and the incredible in-depth analysis given is second to none. Here are some of its features:
- Flexible charting tools - Easy-to-use interface - Customizable spreadsheets - Step-by-step wizards - Advanced technical analysis - Comprehensive signal analysis
It’s pricey at $995, but it’s worth it, if you can afford it. Plus, you get a free trial. Give it a try and see if your trading success improves during the trial period. Perhaps you’ll find a way to dig up that purchase price!
LAZY TRADING
At $79, Lazy Trading is a much less robust tool for forex trading. But it could be the right tool if you’re a beginner and just can’t afford a more complete software analysis package.
It’s a simplified version in most ways. It still does all the hard work by retrieving the forex data and analyzing and finding the trends. However, it won’t present the detailed charts and in-depth analysis that Trading Solutions does. Instead it just displays a simple text recommendation saying if you should trade and if so, what you should trade. If you still find all the graphs and stats confusing, this will work for you as you learn. If you’re experienced at forex trading, this one will surely be lacking the detail you’ll want.
No matter which forex trading software package you choose, you should see a substantial increase in favorable trades in your account by using it.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Forex Trading
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell
How to trade forex online
Major improvements in forex trading have transpired over the last decade. Originally perceived as a “high-risk, high-capital market,” new technological advancements and better financial education have made it a viable, wealth-building investment vehicle for small traders.
For people who are interested in online forex trading, the Internet provides a wealth of information on the subject. But sifting through the available information may prove daunting and you need time to get acquainted with the jargons, as well as the technical indicators used for analysis.
Mark So, chief forex trainer of Businessmaker Academy, offers a simplified guide to help new and veteran traders make the most out of this investment medium with reduced risks. So gives pointers and explains how you can profit in online forex trading:
What is online forex trading?
Online forex trading is about buying or selling of currencies through the Internet. It is similar to online stock trading but instead of investing in a company’s performance through stocks, you invest in a country’s economic performance which is measured in a big way by their currency. In essence, online forex trading is about using your money to invest in money.
Unknown to most people, the forex market is the biggest financial market in the world with an average of approximately $1.9 trillion changing hands on any given day. It is where banks, investors, and speculators exchange one country’s currency with another. Although modern forex trading has been around since the early 20th century, it was not easily accessible to individuals due to the high capital requirement and cumbersome technology. It was only well after the ’90s when the computer and Internet revolution made it possible and more convenient for small investors to invest in forex.
Why should you look into online forex trading?
Open 24-hours a day, five days a week, trading opportunities are much more frequent. With online forex trading, you have the freedom to trade on your own in real time without “middlemen,” making your trade faster and more efficient.
Although there are substantial risks involved especially if you are not equipped with proper financial education and discipline, you can conservatively gain about 3 percent to 33 percent a month on your capital through online trading forex. This allows you to earn dollars even while you are in the Philippines without the hassles of day to day business operations that normally concern many entrepreneurs and corporate executives.
What do you need to start trading forex online?
Entering the forex market no longer requires substantial capital but you do need practical education to know how to do it. Today, many online brokerage firms offer a forex “mini” and even “micro” accounts with very low investment requirement. This means that instead of the $10,000 capital requirement of some local brokers, you can now trade with a capital of less than $500. You will also need a computer and Internet access to trade forex online.
Is online forex trading risky?
Online forex trading carries as substantial level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Before deciding to invest in foreign exchange, you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could get high returns on your trade but you could also sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment. Therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.
Like in many investment instruments, your best protection is financial education. There are effective tools and techniques that you can use to gain and secure profits, as well as safeguard your investment. Take the time to learn about these by researching, attending seminars, getting financial advice from experienced traders or consultants.
Where can I learn more about forex trading?
There is a wealth of information online and there are also book available on the topic. In the Philippines, Businessmaker Academy offers several courses for online forex trading featured in their fortune forex seminar series.
These seminars will be held at 1503A West Tower, Philippine Stock Exchange-Ortigas, Pasig. Pre-enrollment is required. For more information, call 687-4445, 687-4645, 687-3416 or log on to www.businessmaker-academy.com
Forex Technical Analysis - Do You Really Need It?
The object of trading in the foreign exchange (FOREX) market, as in any other market, is to maximize profits. Various tools and strategies have been developed for achieving this objective. Traders using indicators to determine how, when and what to trade are said to be relying on “technical analysis”. Can these magical tools help the trader win in every trade executed?
Some of the names given to technical analysis tools like, fibonnaci lines, stochastics, parabolic SAR, bollinger bands, and oscillators give the immediate impression that this type of trading can be intimidating. At first glance, you might even be tempted to think that perhaps an engineering degree is a prerequisite for participation. This, of course, is not accurate. As with most unfamiliar disciplines, all that is really needed is a competent instructor who can motivate students to capture and retain nuggets of knowledge while developing individualized ability to exercise appropriate judgment and requisite skill in a given application. On the slippery road to expertise, an unrelenting commitment to practice that which is learned marks the difference.
It is true that many traders participate quite profitably in the FOREX market without utilizing technical analysis at all. So then, if these tools are not an absolute necessity for making a profit in FOREX, why do some traders insist on spending bundles of cash to sit under the tutelage of a guru who extols the golden virtues of technical trading? Quite frankly, it is a matter of individual taste and preference.
This author is unaware of any credible studies which conclude that technical traders have more successes in FOREX than nontechnical traders. Ultimately, what all traders dream of is the ability to predict the direction of the market with a high degree of accuracy. A crystal ball, however, is typically not one of the trading tools you will find arsenal of serious traders. Rather, tools such as those delineated above will serve at least as a guide in helping you understand how the market has behaved over a certain time frame. You, as the trader, will then come to an eventual decision, based on the tool’s interpretation of the historical movement, about which way the FOREX market may move next.
Due to the generous number of technical analysis tools and the various methods of applying them, it is difficult to say which ones work consistently better then others. They all bring something unique to the table of the trader’s potential success. This certainly is not saying that they are all without fault. Even if the proper steps in the technical analysis are religiously adhered to, losses are inevitable. Such is the nature of the market. Then too, there is something inherently exciting about winning when someone else is losing in the same “zero sum” game. It somehow makes us feel smarter than the next trader.
One effective approach to trading the FOREX market would be to use a combination of technical analysis and fundamental or nontechnical analysis. For example, when an particular economic news report is about to be released, you might weigh the likely impact which the report will have on the price of the currency pair being traded and then consider the application of the indicators in light of the expected impact.
Trading decisions are made like many other decisions, i.e. on the basis of information available. Therefore, it can be generalized that technical traders prefer and have a need for more information on which to base their decisions. To others, however, only basic information—as long as it is substantive and reliable—is all that is needed to make decision on a trade.
Some traders, over a period of time, develop something akin to a sixth sense about trading, allowing them to recognize profitable setups and avoid potential traps. This can be done with or without technical analysis. This sense will result in minimizing the importance of certain external information which may have been previously relied on.
You must remember not to be afraid to allow your trading style and methods to evolve as need be. If it works for you, that is all that matters.
How To Set Up Your Wii
1) Remove the Wii from the box
2) Remove the AV cable and the AC adapter
3) Remove the stand plate, vertical stand, sensor bar and sensor-bar stand
4) Remove the Nunchuk and Wii Remote
5) Choose your location near the TV for your Wii and set it up vertically or horizontally
6) Connect the AV cable and the AC adapter to the Wii
7) Plug the AC adapter into a power outlet. Connect the AV cable to the input on your TV. Connect the yellow cable to the video input and the red and white cables to the audio inputs
8) Get out the remote control and put in the batteries
9) Turn on your Wii
10) The onscreen instructions will appear and you will be required to choose your language, location, time of day, etc.
How to set up your Wii Control
The Wii Remotes do not automatically bond with you Wii console. You will have to tell it to do so. The remote controls and arrives with your console is prebonded, but any additional Wii Remotes you purchase will have to be synchronized with your Wii in order to work smoothly with your console. There are two ways to accomplish this: the Standard Mode and the One Time Mode.
Standard Mode
To use the Standard Mode for connecting additional Wii Remotes to your Wii system permanently follows these steps:
1) Press the power button on your Wii console to turn it on
2) Remove the cover for the batteries on the back of the Wii Remote
3) Press the Sync button inside the cover
4) Open the door located over the SD card slot and on the Wii console
5) Press the Sync button inside that compartment
6) When the LEDs on the remote stop blinking, your synchronization is complete
One Time Mode
The One Time Mode does just that and allows your Wii Remote to work with a Wii other than the current synchronized remote. This is handy when you are at a friend's house. Follow these steps:
1) Press the Home button on the Wii Remote that is already synchronized with the Wii Remote that you intend to use
2) Select the Wii Remote Settings option
3) Select the Reconnect Option
4) Simultaneously press 1 and 2 buttons on the remote that you want to sync to the Wii console
5) When the lights stop blinking and your remote vibrates your remote has temporarily synchronized with that particular Wii console
6) The attachment of the remote should be shown on the screen as well
iPhone Tips and Tricks: How to Get the Most Out Of Your iPhone Experience
1. If you tap once at the very top of the screen when you are on the internet, it will take you back to the top of the window rather than having to scroll all the way back up. A nice time saving feature.
2. If you set the font to the smallest size, you can read more in the internet window. An advantage of this is that when you want to click a link, you can pinch (expand) that area and the link will come up very large, making it much easier to click.
3. Rather than posting the full address of internet sites in bookmarks, you can post the equivalent RSS address instead into Apple's RSS reader and save that as your bookmark. This way you can quickly see if there's anything interesting on your favorite site rather than downloading the whole homepage.
4. If you are writing something and the iPhone flags a word as misspelled that you know is not misspelled, cancel the correction 3 times and the word will be put into the dictionary. If you write a lot, this feature is quite useful!
5. The magnifying glass is a nice iPhone tool when you are typing an email or any other text. If you tap once and hold, a magnifying glass will pop up showing you a zoomed in view of your words and cursor. You can now easily place the cursor wherever you want. This makes editing your writing very easy.
6. You can move icons around, but not on the home screen. You have to go to the ipod section. Go to iPod > More > Edit. Now you can drag your icons all around. This can also be done in the phone section.
7. To reset your iphone, hold down the right button and the "home" front button for about 6 seconds. To power it back on, push the top button. This is different than a regular shutdown, which can be done easily by holding the sleep/wake button for 6 seconds.
8. If you get a lot of spam e-mail or other unwanted e-mail, pay attention to this time saving feature. Add a link to Yahoo mail in Safari bookmarks. From there you can check 'delete all' to remove all unwanted e-mails. This is much easier than deleting hundreds of spam e-mails one at a time.
I hope you found these iphone tips helpful. If you have an iPhone and have been wondering how best to fill it up with music and movies, check out Top iPhone Downloads for the latest reviews of iPhone download sites.
Grab That Photoshop CS Tutorial
The Adobe Photoshop CS
Many people are aware that there are computer programs responsible for making fabulous pictures. However, they do not know everything there is to know to get around such technology. As such, it is best to be familiar with the Adobe Photoshop CS.
The Photoshop CS is the better version of the Adobe Photoshop program. This has more advanced features that you cannot find in other versions. This is the best way to organize your pictures and make those precious albums. With this software and your computer, you can make as many projects with your images.
The Adobe Photoshop CS Tutorial
Of course, it is not enough that you have the Photoshop CS program installed in your computer. It is equally important that you get to know how to use it and maximize the benefits it brings. There is no need to worry if you feel like you do not know much about Photoshop CS. Just get the proper tutorial and you can surely move your way around the program.
Tutorial Centers
You can find centers in your locality that can give a crash course or a specialized program that can provide Photoshop CS tutorials. You can enroll for a series of session so that you can be trained to do Photoshop CS as well for other programs. You even have the choice to join a class or get a personalized training.
Self-Help Tools
There are also self-help tools that you can buy. You can go to the bookstore and find a material that can give you Photoshop CS tutorial. You can choose to read books to learn. You can also get those releases in cassettes or CD so that you can listen through the instructions. Choose this option if you are more comfortable of studying on your own than getting a tutor.
Go Online
The online community also offers a wide range of choices for your Photoshop CS tutorials. There are web sites that can let you download e-Books with instructions and tutorials in PDF format. You can read the explanation from these together with illustrations so that you can easily identify the commands in the program. You can even choose to get an eSeminar. This setup is just like a classroom method, only you do things through the computer.
You can also choose to explore some sites in their forums and discussion boards. You can ask members for advice and most of them are willing enough to give their help. This serves as a peer-to-peer discussion where specific questions can be answered directly. Try exploring too the site of the manufacturer. They often provide help to their clients to help you enjoy the program you purchased.
Conclusion
Get to learn the basics of the Adobe Photoshop CS. Make sure you develop your skills well with the Photoshop CS tutorial. This way you can do the amazing images through your own efforts and make a project album that you can be proud of.
Search Engine Rank: Google Page Rank Misconceptions - 2
In fact this is not so. Yahoo had a beta version of a ‘Web Rank’ visible for a while, ranking complete websites, but it is now offline. MSN has no equivalent as far I can ascertain. The term ‘PageRank’ is a trade mark of Google, which is why I refer to it as Page Rank and not PageRank. A small difference, but a significant one.
If you are one of those that believe that the more links you can get to your website the better, then you are wrong. When Google started the Page Rank frenzy by putting that little green bar on their toolbar, they didn’t realize the consequences of what they were doing. People fought to get as many links to their website as possible, irrespective of the nature of the websites to which they were linking.
That is misconception Number 2. You do not link to websites, you link to web pages, or should I say, you get links back from web pages, not websites. It is, after all, the link back that counts isn’t it? The link away from your site doesn’t count. Wrong! Misconception Number 3. The link to your web page counts no more than the link away from your web page. In fact, it could count less. You could lose out in the reciprocal linking stakes if your web page is worth more than the other person’s.
Let’s dispel that misconception right now. When you receive a link from a web page (not web site) you get a proportion of the Google Page Rank of that web page that depends on the total number of links leaving that page. When you provide a link to another web page, you give away a proportion of your Page Rank that depends on the number of other links leaving your web page.
The Page Rank of the website you get a link from is irrelevant, since that is generally the rank of the Home Page. You will likely find that all these great links you think you have from PR 7 or 8 websites are from a links page that has a PR of ZERO! So you get zilch for the deal. If you are providing them with a link from a page on your site even of PR 1, then you lose! Most people fail to understand that.
No incoming link can have a negative effect on your PR. It can have a zero effect, but not negative. However, if you have an incoming link with zero effect, and an outgoing reciprocal link with a positive effect to the target page, then you will effectively lose PR through the deal. Every web page starts with a PR of 1, and so has that single PR to share amongst other pages to which it is linked. The more incoming links it has, the higher PR it can have to share out.
If your page has a PR of 4 and has three links leaving it, each gets twice the number of PR votes than if 6 links leave it. Your page with a PR of 4 has to get a similar number of PR votes incoming as it gives away to retain its PR. In simple terms, if your PR 4 page is getting links from a PR 8 page with 20 links leaving it, you lose out big time! It’s simple maths.
No page ever gives away all of its PR. There is a factor in Google’s calculation that reduces this to below 100% of the total PR of any page. However, that is roughly how it works. You don’t get a proportion of the whole website ranking; you only get part of the ranking of the page on which your link is placed. Since most ‘Links Pages’ tend to be full of other outgoing links, then you won’t get much, and will likely get zero.
That is why automated reciprocal linking software is often a waste of time. If you want to make the best of linking arrangements, then agree with the other webmaster that you will provide each other with a link from equally ranked pages. That way both of you will gain, and neither loses. Some software allows you to make these arrangements.
Another misconception is that only links from external web pages count. In fact, links between your own web pages can be arranged to provide one page with most of the page rank available. Every page has a start PR of 1, so the more pages you have on your site then the more PR you have to play with and distribute to pages on your website of your choice.
Search engine rank can be improved by intelligent use of links, both external and internal, but Google Page Rank does not have the profound effect on your search engine listing that many have led you to believe. Good onsite SEO usually wins so keep that in mind when designing your website.
Search Engine Rank: Google Page Rank Misconceptions I
Google Page Rank is a buzz term at the moment since many believe it to be more important to your search engine listing than search engine optimization. If we ignore for the moment the fact that Page Rank is, in itself, a form of SEO, then there are arguments for and against that belief.
Before we investigate these arguments, let’s understand some fundamentals of search engine listings. First, most search engines list web pages, not domains (websites). What that means is that every web page in a domain has to be relevant to a specific search term if it is to be listed.
Secondly, a search engine customer is the person who is using that engine to seek information. It is not an advertiser or the owner of a website. It is the user seeking information. The form of words that is used by that customer is called a ‘search term’. This becomes a ‘keyword’ when applied to a webmaster trying to anticipate the form of words that a user will employ to search for their information.
A search engine works by analyzing the semantic content of a web page and determining the relative importance of the vocabulary used, taking into account the title tags, the heading tags and the first text it detects. It will also check out text related contextually to what it considers to be the main ‘keywords’ and then rank that page according to how relevant it calculates it to be for the main theme of the page.
It will then examine the number of other web pages that are linked to it, and regard that as a measure of how important, or relevant to the ‘keyword’, that the page is. The value of the links is regarded as peer approval of the content. All of these factors determine how high that page is listed for search terms that are similar contextually to the content of the page.
Without doubt, there are web pages that are listed high in the search engine indices that contain very little in the way of useful content on the keywords for which they are listed, and have virtually no contextual relevance to any search term. However, a careful investigation of these sites will reveal two things.
The first is that many such web pages are frequently listed highly only for relatively obscure search terms. If a search engine customer uses a common search term to find the information they are seeking, they will very rarely be led to a site that has little content other than links, but it is possible. The second is that they contains large numbers of links out to other web pages, and it can be assumed that they have at least an equal number of web pages linking back.
It is possible to find such web pages for many keywords. An example is on the first page on Google for the keyword ‘Data VOIP Solutions’. There is a website there that is comprised only of links. The site itself has little content, but every link leads to either another website that provides useful content, or another internal page full of more links and no content. That is how links can be used to lift a web page high in the SE listings.
Such sites frequently contain only the bare minimum of conventional search engine optimization, but the competition is so low that they gain high listings. You will also find them to contain large numbers of internal pages, every one of which contain the same internal and external links.
It is true, therefore, that it is possible to get a high listing without much content, but with a large number of links. However, is that a legitimate argument for those promoting links against content? Could you reasonably apply that strategy to your website? Could a genuine website really contain thousands of links to other internal pages and external pages on other websites, and still maintain its intended purpose?
In the second part of this article, titled ‘Search Engine Rank: Google Page Rank Misconceptions’ wI will explode some myths about Page Rank, and explain how many people are wasting their time with reciprocal links, and perhaps even losing through them. It may be that a linking strategy is not so much an option, as a choice between the type of website that you want: to provide genuine information or to make money regardless of content.
Improved search engine rank might be synonymous with Google Page Rank, but perhaps only if you want to sacrifice the integrity of your website.
Game Consoles (playstation 3, Apple Ipod), Mobile Phone Gadgets
Thrilling fighting sequence...fast track racing...a life of super hero in a virtual world... a game console helps you experience all these and much more. And such strong is the yearning, to enter the world of multimedia experience, that real life seems so boring at times. Specially liked by the young generation and gizmo freaks, a game console is a tribute to technology and innovation.
Talking about game consoles, the big names in the contemporary times are Sony's play station 3, Giga Pack, and Ninetendo Wii. Each of these devices has a unique USP attached to them – something that creates benchmark for the gaming industry.
Sony Playstation 3 is marked by swanky design, user friendly controls, and hi-definition games. Plus, it also offers the advantage of high-def Blu-ray movies in addition to standard DVDs, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, built in memory card reader and a whooping 60 GB of hard disk. It might be priced a little high, but such enthralling is the gaming experience that you would not mind to pay such a heavy premium.
To add more power and greater memory bank to the popular Playstation device, Sony has come up with a new offering. This new offering includes Sony PSP, a 1GB memory card and an all new PSP - collectively known as Sony PSP Giga pack. With this Sony offers its game console fans a never ending session of action packed fun and thrill.
On the other hand, Japanese manufacturer gives the doze of surreal excitement with Nintendo Wii. It features a wireless controller with three dimensional motion detection capabilities – first of its kind in the market. So, while you drive your vehicle at 150 Mph, you simply take advantage of the wireless control, for those quick escapes. Which means to more relying on ‘control’ and ‘action’ keys?
Such tremendous is the potential of game consoles that more and more manufacturers are entering the market. And with each new launch, there is a whole new set of excitement offered. So, take your pick and enter the world of multimedia fun!
Tips to Create an Adsense Niche Website
Earning money with Adsense means: building niche websites.
Talking about Adsense is fine... but earning money by working Adsense is better ;-)
And in order to earn money, you have to create a website.
I think that the best way to create a website is by using Joomla or php.Nuke. The advantage of these scripts is that they allow you to create an interactive site, a membership site, a community, a forum, etc. but it would be too difficult to use these scripts for the Internet marketer newbie ; so we will talk through creating your new website with a simple .html or .php template.
First of all, be organized: create a file in your computer called "weight loss" and add sub-files where you will store your files: images, articles, etc. This way you will find your documents when you will need some of them.
Select the subject of your niche site. It is recommended to focus on a subject that you know very well: a hobby or a passion. Choose the name of your new website - which will be also become your domain name. For example, if you plan to create a site dedicated to weight loss, choose a name like "weight loss guide" or something related.
Once you have your new site and domain name, select a template, some pictures, a header... in order to personalize your site.
As soon as you will have uploaded these files - template, images, header - write your first article which will be an introduction to your site. Introduce yourself, talk about your passion and inform your potential visitors that your site will be regularly updated.
Create a blog dedicated to your website. Each time you will add an article to your niche site, you will also post a description on your blog, include a link to the new article and ping your post.
Now that you have content on your site, you may add your Adsense blocks.
Here are some tips to maximise your Adsense earnings:
* Don't use the Adsense 486x60 sized ad as it is generally ignored.
* Embed your Adsense codes IN your content area (for example, let it fload on the right or on the left of your text).
* Preferabilly use Adsense 300x250 or 250x250 sized ads.
* Use colors that match with your site or simply use black Adense ads (they must not look as a simple block of ads).
* If you have written a very large article, put up to three Adsense blocks on your page.
* Check your page title and meta description in order to have relevant Adsense ads on your page.
* Change your page title to reflect exactly your page's subject.
* Track the number of clicks on your Google Adsense blocks and change their design if necessary.
It is recommended that you write your articles yourself but If you have difficulties to write an article yourself, you can write the principal lines of your article and then make a search to find similar websites. Select some articles that talk about the same subject than yours and pick up some ideas or sentences that you will rewrite with your own words and add to your own article.
If you are a very bad writer, you may choose to buy private label rights articles or reprint articles from article directories such as ezinearticles.com or goarticles.com.
Stay tuned for more infos about Adsense.
Make your Website Search Engine Friendly
he biggest prerequisite for the success of search engine optimization services is to have a website that is search-engine friendly. The most effective means of enhancing revenue generation is by having a stronghold on the traffic that has been diverted to your site. An appealing and easily navigable website can actually do the trick for you.
To create a website in accordance with search engine guidelines, you need to be aware of the following important factors:
1) To find success with SEO services, work on securing the foundation of your website. The prototype of a site comprises its architecture, design and internal linking structure. Work on making your prototype appropriate for search engines. Issues like colours, fonts, images, background, etc need to be dealt with at this stage. After the basic outline of your site is ready, you will have to embed the content part into it.
2) It is always advisable to use division tags rather than creating tables because the latter eats up a lot of space of your website. Tables make your files big in size, thus increasing the download time of your web page.
3) Web designing experts prefer to use cascading stylesheets to separate the content from general layout of the page. This not only makes a site more presentable, but also gives it an attractive feel.
4) It is important to use Heading (H1 and H2) tags in your source codes. Also ensure that your keywords are integrated in these tags – this will better your chances of being crawled by search engines' spiders.
5) As part of your search engine optimization process, you can use image alt tags to lay emphasis on your keywords. These tags are read as text by search engines, thus resulting in better crawling.
6) Incorporate your keywords in the Meta tags of your web pages. These are technical details fed in your programming codes and help search engines identify your pages easily.
After you have designed your website, run a validation check to look out for errors on your pages. This will help you in deciding as to which areas need improvement. Apart from this, work on your 'real' search engine optimization programme, including on-page and off-page services. All these aspects combined together will ensure that your website reaches on top of search engine result pages.
Using SEO Strategies To Get Free Traffic To Your Website
Free traffic can come from various places. Here are some of the places that you can receive free traffic to your site.
Directories
Many general directories also accept submissions for free. There are also many general directories that accept submissions for free. By submitting to free directories it allows a link that points back to your site. There are hundreds to thousands of directories on the web. The downside is that is very time consuming and one of the best ways to submit to all of these directories is to join a directory submission service. When looking at directory submission services make sure they offer the following.
1. A Test package to test their service. This should be inexpensive to try and if you decide to use the service make sure they refund you the amount you paid to test.
2. Make sure you receive the reports. A submission report and snapshot report. The snapshot report is a report the shows the directory with your information filled in. The ability to logon to the system to see the progress of your submissions
3. The ability to add more than one title, description, category and keywords.
4. Make sure the directory submission service offers a package that will continually submit your site to directories forever. You pay one price and as the directory submission service adds more directories your site is added automatically for no charge.
Articles
Articles will also bring link popularity. Writing articles are not difficult at all, before you consider writing though you need to research your topic so that you actually know what you're writing about. Due to its viral nature on the internet, articles that are published on websites and in newsletters of other ezine publishers will bring your website traffic. With each new article and publishing, your articles will reach more people building both traffic and branding
Ezine publishers hungering for good, quality information to provide to their subscribers will include some of these articles in their own publications. Soon, your articles are making their way across the Internet. Webmasters spend a lot of time looking for good content for their websites and for their ezines. When readers read your article they think of you as an expert in the field that you wrote about, this helps by gaining expert credibility and pre-selling the product.. Writing articles is an effective way of getting links.
Blogs
So an excellent way to generate lots of links is posting to blogs with your keyword as an anchor. Make sure the posts are not spam or the blog owner will delete your post. Read the blog and write something intelligent that's fits the blog theme. When writing make sure you fit in your keyword you are going to use to create the link back to your site.
List
You can build a very large mailing list, and by doing this will create bursts of traffic and some even say the list is more important than search engine traffic. Mailing list is used to send the messages to its subscribers; auto responders gather subscribers, and then it sends messages automatically. The whole idea is to have a constantly growing opt in email list of their targeted audience. In the long term the list will grow large enough to be very profitable to the site owner.
Optimization
Search Engine Optimization is a set of strategies to get highly placed in the results of a search, ideally on the first page, for free. All these will contribute to your page ranking higher for the keyword you are gunning for and allow you to earn money online with ease. Combining good on-page and off-page optimization is a deadly strategy for getting floods of free traffic that will let you earn money online non-stop.
The beautiful thing about free traffic is that it is always free.
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