Oil Futures Contracts Are A Sound Investment

By Derek Powell

Oil futures contracts are a solid investment, because they give you a variety of options with good risk management strategy. Of all the commodities, light sweet crude oil, commonly used for heating, jet fuel, diesel fuel and gasoline is the most popular around the world. It is commonly traded

With oil futures contracts, you have a legally binding agreement to purchase or sell a particular amount of oil at a certain price at a future time. The price is based on supply and demand at any given time. As the market has shown, supply and demand of oil fluctuates almost daily. Those who invest in future contracts have the option of a cash settlement or having the actual oil delivered to a specified location.

The unit of measure for an oil futures contract is a barrel. Typically, this will involve a variety of grades, consumed both internationally and in the USA. A typical contract equals 1000 barrels of oil, but for investment portfolio purposes, the agreement dictates 500 barrels of crude oil, and which is half the size of a typical futures contract.

The major exchanges for oil futures contracts are the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange. Trading could be for oil delivery in a few months or several years in the future. Typically, three months is the norm for a contract.

Several types of oil futures contracts exist. A short hedge contract, allows investors to buy futures to sell oil, whilst a long hedge agreement allows investors to buy futures to buy oil. Normally a portfolio includes a mixture of both, and for many years now, there's been an increased interest in oil amongst investors who consider them a better option to stocks.

Oil futures contracts are used most often in the risk management of portfolios. As investors buy and sell a security, they purchase or sell a future security with the opposite risk. This means that losses and gains balance each other and balance the risk in the portfolio between current and future market rates. If a portfolio is balanced there is less risk for loss.

Often times, oil futures contracts are utilized for hedging, particularly among businesses that make products or offer services that use oil, such as a utility company or an airline. But it's difficult to set a price for these products or services because oil prices change so frequently. Buying or selling future contracts for the commodity helps to minimize the risk and address constant fluctuations with oil prices.

Speculation is a major part of the makeup of the market where it relates to oil futures contracts. Investors hope to make a profit based on future price levels for the commodity. The major banks make up the majority of the speculators on a daily basis and are key players in the trading market. - 23208

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Author Derek Powell has a lot of data about oil futures contracts. Check out http://www.thecommodityblog.com for latest news.

Forex Trading System : Mystery Solved With Perfect Answers

By John Eather

Day by day, the forex market is expanding. One should be able to figure it out which is the perfect mechanism to tap into the potential of forex market for maximum profit. Most people use automated forex trading systems which are really popular nowadays, and are very helpful for the good profits in online forex trading.

Forex trading systems carefully monitor currency prices and fluctuations, which inform its decisions of whether or not to open a position for the trader. Additionally, forex effectively reduces risks for traders by evaluating take profits and stop losses, and making changes as necessary.

With so many options available in the marketplace, the potential trader has a lot of choices. Online resources are widely available that discuss the risks involved in utilizing a robotic trading system, and discuss the different options that may be appropriate for different consumers and their needs.

We are aware that online forex robots have helped people to reduce the risk of trading online to a great extent. But with that, has it also reduced the artlessness of the human emotions? So many times we find it a challenging to judge between the different transactions of the currency charges.

Introducing automation and technology into the equation allows for one to overcome the barriers presented by human error. There are, however, risks involved in forex trading systems. The calculations involved in designing the forex trading systems technology are easily researched on the web through forex resource sites.

There are no magical formulas that can completely eliminate risk in trading, and forex trading systems are no exception. There are still opportunities for error, and traders should not expect to experience exponential profits to be made with forex trading systems.

A challenge that may potentially arise is that traders may become overly dependent upon the forex system, and lose their ability to perform analysis of trading charts. As with any technology, one risks peril in becoming too reliant on the technology.

Man has created the machine, not vice versa. So we should always have control over the machine. These are some of the pitfalls of these automated forex trading systems. One may get some extra information about this from some of the good online forex resources available. If you keep in mind all these simple rules, then surely you will trade very well and earn through online forex trading. - 23208

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Before you start trading forex online, please sign up for John's fantastic ecourse and reports. Receive the best info about trading forex online. Go to Money Making Fx Trader to learn more.

Is Investing the Same as Gambling?

By Carter B. Banes

Gambling is a game, a contest. When you gamble, you take a chance that you will increase your money or lose your money. There's no way of knowing what will happen.

Some people play with investing like a game. When you invest your money, you believe that the company you invest in will be successful and the investment will increase in value. Some people who look at investing as a game want to make money, but they also enjoy themselves. Others just do it to make money. Why don't the others look at it as a game?

Investing is not a gamble. Some types of investments are so obviously not like gambling. For example, you may decide to put some money into government bonds. You are guaranteed the money back plus interest. It can't be a gamble if you know you're going to get money back. There is the smallest chance you won't get your money back, but that would have to be because the government is in a lot of trouble, and I think you'd have more to worry about than getting your money back.

When it comes to stocks, investing is still very different from gambling. When you buy a stock, you buy a piece of the company. You own part owner of that company. You are invested in that company which means when they make money, you could get dividends, or when they are doing well, the price of the stock will go up.

If you bet money at a horse race or put money down at a poker game, you own absolutely nothing. Whether or not you make money doesn't depend on the success of a business. It is completely by chance if yo make money.

You can use investing as another source of income. By investing, your money is working to earn money just as you do at your job. If you ever inherit or win a lot of money, never gamble it. Invest it in a low risk, stable investment and that money can grow exponentially over time.

For example, we'll say you inherit $10,000 for an Aunt. You could either choose to gamble it for double or nothing to $20,000 and then double it again for $40,000, etc. Sure, you could double it 10 times over, but the chances of you even doubling it the first time are very slim. You can pretty much assume you will not be able to double it ten times over. In you invested invested it into stocks and earned an average of 8% a year for 30 years, you would have over $100,000. Lose it all or multiply it by ten? - 23208

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How does the stock market work? Don't let the stock market keep you confused. Learn how to buy stocks to start safely investing your money today.

Using Forexyard for Your Success

By Jack Spencer

If you have been following the Forex market for any length of time, you probably already understand that it is impossible to trade directly with the market. In order for you to be able to do so, you must choose a broker that will place the trades for you. One of the easiest ways for you to do this is by choosing an online platform, such as ForexYard. Why is that the case?

One of the reasons why we choose a platform such as Forex yard is because it allows people who are just starting out with their trading practices to get started with ease. Through a series of online tutorials, you are walking through the entire process from beginning to end. That is why we always look for this whenever we are doing a review.

The reason why this is so important is because they can get somebody comfortable with trading on the Forex market rather quickly. When they have the reassurance of this kind of platform behind their trading, they seem to advance much more quickly in their knowledge and practices. Having a system well-established that you enjoyed using such as Forex yard is a good idea to have in place when you first start.

Of course, ForexYard is not only designed to be good for people who are just starting out with their trading practices. If you are an experienced trader, you will also enjoy this excellent platform. One of our favorite things about it is the fact that it has advanced tools which will walk you through the process as you continue to learn. It will help you to trade faster and also to make decisions which can affect the success of your trading in a positive way. You might not use all of the tools but it's nice to have them there.

These advanced tools are also good for people who are just starting out with their trading practices. The reason why this is the case is because you do not want to have to switch platforms as your knowledge continues to grow. By having all of the options that you would need, you will be able to grow into the program easily.

Another thing that we look for whenever we are reviewing a Forex platform is customer service. ForexYard does very well in this regard. By giving you a number of different options to contact them 24 hours a day, you can ask them any questions that are necessary, regardless of when you have them. For those of you that already understand how urgent some Forex questions can be, that can provide some real comfort.

Forex Yard is also excellent whenever it comes to giving you a variety of different deposit options. One of the things that we really enjoy is the fact that your money is immediately available whenever you make a deposit with a credit card. Although we would recommend that you avoid making a deposit with a bank check because of the delay, a bank wire would be acceptable.

All in all, ForexYard gives you the ability to work within the Forex market rather easily. Regardless of whether you are new to the system or if you have been doing it for quite some time, it is a platform that we recommend very highly. - 23208

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ForexYard Can Help Make Your Forex Trading Easier. Visit our Website for a Complete Forexyard Review

The Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing Risk Tolerance

By Korprit Zombie

Risk tolerance is critical for online stock market investing. When you're just beginning to invest in the stock market, you'll discover that each person has a risk tolerance that should be honored and taken into account. A professional financial planner worth his salt must understand this so he can help you determine your risk tolerance. Then, that person needs to help you ascertain which investments don't exceed that risk level.

Some folks believe that people's emotions are the only factor in determining investment risk tolerance. That's not the case at all. A lot has to be taken into account when ascertaining the elements that affect risk tolerance for you, and your emotions are only part of the equation.

Understanding your risk tolerance level, with regards to beginner stock market investing, involves the consideration of multiple factors. One is that you have to be aware of the funds you have available to devote to investing, and the other is your thorough awareness of the financial goals you're trying to achieve. As an example, if you want to retire in 15 years and you haven't saved any money at all, you will need to maintain a high risk tolerance and do some hardcore investing to have plenty of money to retire when you want to.

As a contrast, if you begin investing for your retirement in your early twenties, your stock market investing advice risk tolerance will be low. Developing the saving habit early will allow you to grow your money in a leisurely fashion. When you combine this with what you know about your emotional reaction to investing, the proper investment recipe for you will be revealed. It's hard to ascertain this for yourself, so experts recommend that people use a good professional who can expertly assess you risk tolerance and assist you with investing for retirement.

Knowing your risk tolerance will help you establish an investment style and allow you and the investment professional you choose to invest with confidence. In spite of their being multiple investment vehicles only three investment styles exist - and those styles are directly related to your personal risk tolerance. Those three styles are called aggressive, moderate and conservative. But I will save the clarification of those for another article. Those will be explained in a future editorial. - 23208

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Click for more information on online stock market investing advice and stock market investing for beginners.