Successful CTA Careers Can Take Years to Build

Posted by Bill Johnson | Investing | Sunday 26 April 2009 5:37 am
by Bill Johnson

Money is the bloodstream of the world, and commodities trading advisors play an important role in keeping the money flowing. According to the National Futures Association, a CTA is any individual or firm that directly or indirectly advises clients on the trading of futures or options contracts. CTAs must be registered with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in order to be professional money managers.

To become a CTA, there’s no formal education process. Although its advisable to first work at a trading firm prior to starting a CTA career, it doesn’t guarantee your success, nor is previous work with a firm required in becoming a CTA. Plenty of CTAs have no formal trading education and still have proven themselves successfully capable in this business However, first trying your hand with a trading firm can help determine whether you have a natural talent for the work.

Although there is no formal training process required, you still need the credentials. Even before applying to the NFA, you must pass the Series 3 exam. This 120-question, two-and-a-half hour test measures your understanding of the futures market, including its makeup and regulations.

There are numerous professional study guides available to help you prepare for the test. You can benefit from tips and test-taking suggestions, as well as try practice tests to keep you from being blindsided on test day.

First, you must determine if you are ready to become a CTA. How much success have you had playing the stock market over a long period time? A certain amount of success may be fleeting and simply a luck of the market. Real talent can sustain such success over an extended period of time through a variety of market conditions.

Also, consider your finances and personal situation. Starting an investment business is risky, and timing is everything. Unless your CTA firm has a substantial amount under management, you can pretty much count on not seeing a paycheck the first year or two. Even managing a $1,000,000 account with a 2 percent management fee would only earn you $20,000 a year, or $1,600 a month.

Not only that, but you’ll also face trading costs, technology costs, fees for traditional support as well as rent. It’s important to have secure savings before you even begin.

If you have a natural eye for investment, however, you should do pretty well in the long run. CTAs are a vital to the marketplace. Learning to spot the changes in the industry before they happen is the key to a sustainable and lasting career.

About the Author:
If you’re interested in learning more about this career would like to become a CTA the author recommends going here to learn more.

Choosing Florida Foreclosure Properties to Buy

Posted by Jeff Kaller | Real estate | Sunday 26 April 2009 5:34 am
by Jeff Kaller

A foreclosed property is a frequently purchased type of property. This is a situation in which a sale occurs after the home has been taken from the owners, and this purchase requires the buyer to pay cash for the property.

However, not all foreclosures do not head to auction right away. There are properties called bank owned or real estate owned (REO) properties where buyers can purchase these properties directly from the lender.

Buying foreclosure properties in Florida make a great investment.

A real estate agent who has a know-how on this kind of transaction is an important partner to have when purchasing foreclosed properties. An HUD-certified agent is highly recommended to get foreclosed properties through government programs. And an experienced and certified agent will ensure that you gain access to the most possible foreclosure listings.

Also, assessing the risks of buying a foreclosed property is very important. Buyers must be conscious of taxes and liens. If you’re buying from a bank, there is little risk because the bank will have taken all liens and taxes into account before offering the property. A bank owned home will also be unoccupied which means that you will not have deal with any type of eviction process. Also, you may be able to secure a mortgage on the home with better than usual terms because of the nature of the deal.

Next step is to make an appointment to see the property, and consider having a real estate assessor look at it with you to help you estimate the value of the property as it stands. Estimate how much it will cost to fix up the property, then consider your entire home buying budget as you make an offer. Keep in mind that you will need to pay back a portion of any liens on the property, which may be quite costly, so research these before making your offer.

Be guided accordingly in investing on foreclosure, pre-foreclosure, and short sales investing. Learn more from the expert on Florida foreclosure properties.

About the Author:
An expert in short sales, Jeff Kaller has over 10,000 dedicated students who have made money in real estate. To learn how you can make money in a declining economy, in as little as 9 days, visit Jeff Kaller’s site and become his protege!

What’s So Great about Bank Foreclosure Homes

Posted by Jeff Kaller | Real estate | Sunday 26 April 2009 5:20 am
by Jeff Kaller

Foreclosures are divided between pre-foreclosures which come from the filing of public notice to eviction and REO’s or Real Estate Owned which are houses taken by banks and are vacant right now.

For the real estate investors involved in the so-called real estate foreclosure investing as well as first time homebuyers prefer bank foreclosure to any other form of property buying because Real Estate Owned properties offer the safest, easiest method of acquiring property.

REO is when the property fails to sell at auction, or if the lender ends up as the highest bidder. The home becomes REO, or “real estate owned” by the bank. The lenders then try to sell these REO properties on the open market, often through a real estate agent or third-party marketing company.

In markets where real estate is entering a slowdown, especially in those areas where foreclosure filings -notices of default are increasing, lenders face downward market pressures. Consider this, lenders are not chartered to own and manage REO property. In fact, they face scrutiny and pressure from state and federal regulators to dispose of foreclosed properties quickly. Therefore, banks will not hold property. They will sell at auction, no matter what the price is. This process takes time, but favors those investors or homebuyers who are diligent and knowledgeable regarding when and in what time to purchase foreclosure property.

With bank foreclosure homes, you get the following benefits. No property title issue attached here. Once you close, you get title policy without exceptions. Also there are no back taxes because banks have paid everything at closing. The house is vacant, you can get here as much as I want before I close. Equity value is even already settled. There’s no need to argue about the correct amount of equity with the homeowner. You can also pick an area and start buying every good deal in sight. In this setup, you deal directly with the bank; you can eliminate the 6 % sales commission if they act fast before the bank lists the property with a real estate agent.

Buying bank foreclosure is the safest method of buying property. The process is easy and many risks associated with other forms of purchase are either eliminated or reduced in the bank foreclosure.

Generally, lenders are reluctant to share their REO lists with the public, although perseverance and knowledge can help, the best option is to develop a network of contacts. To buy bank foreclosure, scout for announcements or notices in the newspapers or from the courts. You can also contact a real estate agent for such notices or use a listing service.

Learn more about foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, and short sales investing from one of the experts of real estate. With 12 years of real estate foreclosure investing, learn his secrets and strategies in making it big in real estate in today’s economic slump. Read more

About the Author:
Learn how to do short sales and make money on bank foreclosures with Jeff Kaller, the expert in pre-foreclosure homes. Get his secrets to short sale investing that over 10,000 students have profited from. You could be making money in as little as 9 days…

The Phenomenon that is Bank Foreclosure Homes

Posted by Jeff Kaller | Real estate | Sunday 26 April 2009 5:06 am
by Jeff Kaller

The real estate and mortgage meltdown has been the hottest news story of the past two years, and by no means it is showing signs of cooling down. There has been dramatic changes in housing, real estate and lending nationwide which triggered an investor bonanza . Exceptional money-making and profit opportunities were created for regular people. And here’s the thing, according to the National Association of Realtors, there will be more than 1 million foreclosures over the next two years.

Foreclosure homes refer to the properties that have been foreclosed by a mortgage lender and are now for sale through foreclosure auction. Bank foreclosures must be purchased from a bank through the bank foreclosure REO department.

There are so many bank foreclosure homes available being sold out in so less than the amount compared to the actual market rates. The homes are being sold in low rates to get back on the actual amount of their loans. This is the reason behind the increasing demand of bank foreclosure homes in the market. People are trying their best to get these homes as they are available in such a low rates. The beaten-down real estate market is the perfect time to get fantastic deals on wonderful, equity-rich properties. You can buy houses, condos and even commercial real estate for so much less. After buying these bank foreclosure homes in such a low rates they can be resold for a higher amount in the open market. This is where the profits come in for institutions, investors, real estate agents and buyers.

You might be wondering how this spectacle came about. It’s no secret actually, real estate always go in cycles, the bust and the boom. But the current real estate slump is actually combined with, check this, irresponsible loans made by banks.

In the last few years, banks, in an attempt to lure borrowers, started to offer these really irresponsible types of loans. Irresponsible because all the vast majority of loans they’ve been using over the last five years are gone. From interest only loans, financing loans, and all the “creative” loans which have gotten so many Americans in trouble have vanished into thin air.

Accordingly, they’re called Adjustable Rate Mortgages or ARMs. This means you are able to get a house by paying interest only so you’re not paying any of the principle off. You get a three-year fixed rate and then it goes adjustable.

Banks thought they could make a bunch of money getting people into houses they couldn’t afford and it has backfired on them. Fast forward and now those adjustable rates are coming due. And homeowners are overwhelmed, they can no longer afford the mortgage payments resulting to foreclosure.

Learn more on bank foreclosure homes and secrets to foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, and short sales investing.

About the Author:
Learn how to do short sales and make money on bank owned property with Jeff Kaller, the expert in pre-foreclosure properties. Get his secrets to short sale investing that over 10,000 students have profited from. You could be making money in as little as 9 days…

OptionsXpress Review

Posted by edeltatc2 | Asset management, Commodities, Currencies, Financial advisors, Forex, Forex Learning, Investing, Investment Alternatives, Money Management, Mutual funds, Real estate, Stock market, currency trading, forex trading | Sunday 26 April 2009 12:00 am

Investors may not be familiar with OptionsXpress but the online broker is very popular in the trading community. As a winner of numerous awards, OptionsXpress is a great online broker that must be looked at if you are interested in options trading. This review takes a look at why.

Options Trading with OptionsXpress

optionsxprressAs its name suggests, OptionsXpress’ core competency is with options trading. With tools like its option Pricer and Xspreads, it’s very easy to keep track of option market to execute your trades correctly.

In addition, the online broker also has the most comprehensive options education available for its clients that I have seen. From the very basics to advanced topics, OptionsXpress has very easy to follow videos that guide and teach you.

No Hidden Fees with OptionsXpress

Unlike other brokers, OptionsXpress doesn’t charge for:

  • real-time or streaming quotes
  • standard withdrawals or deposits
  • maintenance costs no matter how much you have in your account
  • inactivity fees

Commissions with OptionsXpress

At first glance, the commission seemed high but OptionsXpress’ commissions for options is actually much lower.  The actual prices depend on how many contracts you trade but for anything that is more than 10 contracts, it’s much, much cheaper going with OptionsXpress.

Trade Futures and others with The Online Broker

With the name, you’d think that OptionsXpress is only offers an options trading platform but it also lets you trade stocks, bonds, funds, and others.  It is one of the only place I know that you can actually trade futures using the same account and it’s only $2.99 per contract.

Why You Might Want to Open an OptionsXpress Account

I opened an account for a cheaper way to trade options and to learn more advanced topics that the free education provide.  By looking at the website, they also seem to offer free webinars, free trading tools, free advanced research and a personal coaching program so once I’m done with the free educational videos, I will look further into that as well.  With very low commissions and no inactivity and maintenance fees, it makes sense for me to keep the account open and trade options when there are opportunities show up.

The account is free and opening process as quickly as 5 minutes, why not?

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