Gas prices surge 9%: Don't fear $4

By Jonathan Summers

Gas prices have surged nearly 9% over the past two weeks, but analysts say a revisitation of last summer's record highs of $4 a gallon is not on the horizon. Gasoline prices have risen about 18 cents during the past 13 days, with the national average hitting $2.226 a gallon on Monday, according to a survey by motorist group AAA. While prices have been on a tear, they are still some 46% lower from the all-time high of $4.114 a gallon hit last July

It's not surprising that prices have been moving higher as they typically increase ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, the unofficial start of the peak summer driving season. "A bump-up is to be expected this time of year but we're not on the way to another spike," said AAA spokesperson Troy Green. He said would be "surprised" to see prices reach $3.50 a gallon, barring unanticipated supply disruptions such as a hurricane, and he would be "shocked" to see $3.75 a gallon this summer.

Many analysts expect gas prices to continue climbing over the next few weeks, greatly because of rising crude oil prices, the main ingredient in gasoline. "Gas prices have trended higher in lockstep with crude prices," said Chris Lafakis, economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Crude is the biggest input in the price of gasoline." Oil prices have rallied some 73% over the past three months as signs the economy is headed for a recovery have raised bets that demand for oil and gas will rebound sooner rather than later. Oil prices edged lower Monday after closing at their highest level of the year Friday.

Despite the recent rises in oil prices, the fundamental backdrop for crude market does not support higher prices, analysts said. In addition, that may help keep gasoline prices in line. "There's some irrational optimism about the future," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service. "People are looking at the bright side and not the actual data points for supply and demand." Demand for oil is at its weakest level since 1995 and the nation's supplies of crude are at their highest since 1990, according to the Department of Energy. While there are some likelihood that demand for gas is firming up and that drivers are gradually increasing the number of miles they drive each month, the lousy economy is expected to keep a lid on gas prices.

For drivers, income is the number one issue when it comes to how far and how often they drive, Lafakis said. With unemployment at 8.9% and rising, consumers are likely to remain frugal, keeping downward pressure on gas prices. "In an environment where income growth is very weak or has declined, you're not going to get the kind of demand that is necessary to push gas prices to $2.50 or $3.00 a gallon," he said. "That won't happen this summer because the macro economic environment is putting a ceiling on gas prices. - 23208

About the Author:

Jonathan Summers is working with a Credit Recovery Agency that helps with Debt Collecting

Play Your Cards Right In Forex Trading

By Bart Icles

A lot of strategies are being used in forex trading. There are strategies that work, there are some that do not. Sometimes, simple strategies work well, sometimes complicated ones do. Whatever the strategies you are employing in forex trading, you should only be aiming for one thing, that is, be able to be on the winning end and not on the losing end. It is very helpful to be able o devise your own forex trading strategy to be able to develop a winning streak during forex trading.

The most important thing to consider in developing your own forex trading strategy is to be able to keep it simple to you. This is because the more complicated a forex trading strategy is for you, the harder it is to keep up with. You would need to keep up and keep track of a lot of things that will make you lose sight of your main goal, that is, to keep on winning and making good money during forex trading.

First thing to consider in forex trading is to be able to determine what your main objective is. Your objectives may vary from time to time, of course. During one trade, your objective might be to earn twice as much. In another, your objective might be to earn a million bucks. Whichever your objective is, it is bent on one thing, that is, to win and be able to earn money. To do this, your objective should be to be able to make consistent winning trades with the same strategy.

Whatever strategy you use in forex trading, you should always have one characteristic to adhere to. And what characteristic is that? Discipline. Why? Discipline will keep your emotions in check. As in everything, when you are in control of your emotions, you will be able to make sound decisions since you are in the right mental state. You will have the ability to focus on what you are doing. It will allow you to gauge when to put the stops. It will teach you how to stick to a plan and be successful in it.

In forex trading, the most important thing is to make sure that the system or the strategy that you will be using will function well and, of course, all the ins and outs of it should be like the palm of your hand. You should make your own set of rules and criteria to be able to determine which would or would not work. Of course, you should consider the forex signals that you can freely find anywhere, may it be online, the local newspaper, or a trusted friend who is also doing forex trading. - 23208

About the Author:

Forex systems is powerful when coupled with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Learning forex online system trading takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Excellent Property Investing Advice Leads to the RIGHT Real Estate Choices

By David Woods

Property investing advice is important if you really want it to be the avenue from which you can build your nest egg. Many newbie real estate owners try to learn the fine points of real estate investing the hard way (i.e., through trial and error) but this strategy can be expensive. It will be more beneficial for you listen and heed the advice of experts who are already successful in the property investment market. If you want to find out how you can spot and buy excellent real estate, read on!

The first step to successful property investing is to find positively geared property to purchase. This means that the amount of rent you stand to collect will be greater than the cost of owning the property. Property investment advice should consist of pointers on how to come across the best rates on real estate with the most chance of providing profits. Property investment education should also be covered, which in turn addresses property management. You can get these excellent pointers from savvy investors and coaches who have a proven background in spotting positive geared property.

Positive cash flow property can be located on the outskirts of major Australian capital cities. For example, go to outer areas like, Blacktown, Liverpool and Penrith. There are some suburbs closer to the Sydney CBD where positive cashflow properties are still available, but harder to find. Leichhardt and Annandale are some of these areas. By concentrating on only a few only locations, you'll be an authority on property prices in those markets sooner. This will allow you to spot real estate deals as soon as they are made public.

Learning about real estate steals takes a lot of patience and hard work. While plenty of property investment seminars will tell you to go out and find deals wherever they are, Property investing advice that promote concentrating your efforts on only a small number of neighborhoods is far more effective. This is exactly why you require the services of a coach and buyers agent. These authority figures will help you find property investments that are truly worth your time and money. Let these professionals work for you so that you end up investing your funds only in properties that are predicted to bring in the highest profits.

Financial contracts are always part of the discussion when buying an investment property. Poor funding choices can limit how much funds you have for real estate investing. Acquiring positive cash flow property doesn't mean you should not address funding astutely; that is, if you intend to buy more real estate in the future. Mortgage brokers cannot assist you with your financial problems for all your real estate possessions. This may stop you from going further with your property investing dreams. If you want an investment tactic that will help you achieve your goals, why not contact mortgage planners? - 23208

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Learn about property investment advice. Learn more on the topic of property investment seminars.

Do You Want to Know How To Trade Forex?

By Hal Urgeron

Foreign currency trading, a lot of people have heard of it in passing, but really have no idea to the money making potential that exists in this type of investing. One may often think that forex trading is for the 'big' ones, those involved in big business. But that is not always the case, in fact, there are a number of normal individuals who are into foreign exchange trading.

Different countries have different currencies. But not all currencies are traded in the FX marketplace. There are seven major currencies traded in the market. Forex trading is the buying and selling of currencies in pair. You can possibly do the trade without a currency pair. A typical example is the US dollars/Japanese Yen. Forex trading involves a lot of different things that not all newbie traders have a proper understanding.

Prior to utilizing your personal savings, you can practice through simulated trading and do a fake trade. Here you can incorporate all your trading ideas and see if they in fact produce profit. Don't be a scared to lose a certain amount of money, since any trade involves a good slice of it. But it doesn't mean that you should not limit your losses, that is why you make use of stop orders. And most significantly, you should become wiser from your bad trades.

A good forex trader by day should have discipline when trading. Make self-control a pattern in order to make sound decisions, and act in unity with trading systems/strategies. This way, you can do your trade in a regular and trustworthy way. Specific trading situations require an individual to make trades based on their pre-set criteria and parameters.

Another important thing to learn is forex trading psychology. You should know how to properly deal with all your losses, of course you can't expect to gain at all times. If for a short period you have made a lot of losses, perhaps its time to stop just for sometime. Don't be carried away in doing the trade, otherwise you may incur a lot of losses.

Execution services are available online, and it comes in two types: the internet-based discount brokers and the online systems or the EDAT. The first type varies on how customer orders are executed, reviewed, and confirmed. This causes delay in completing a trade. On the other hand, the EDAT enables the trader to contact specialists directly. This results to a much quicker execution and confirmation of the orders.

Software platforms that are especially designed for day traders are often used by the more serious ones because real time data are usually provided like stock ticker and quotes, market indices and averages, charting, market stories, and price alerts. However, you would need to make monthly payments because this type of software usually charges fees.

Becoming a day trader is easy, but only if you are quite serious with this kind of endeavors. Like any type of trade, it requires dedication, time and effort. If you are able to put all of these things together, then you will reap profits that you've never imagined. - 23208

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For more info on how to trade forex, go to Forex LMT Formula Learn about Tstrips at wallstreetcapitalfinancing.com.

Future Trading Systems : The Ultimate Convenience!

By Anne Vardell

Trading in stock futures can be risky and complicated. People buy stock futures to hedge their investments so that on one market blip either way up or way down will cause them to lose all their money. When buying a stock future, the two parties agree upon a fair price, which probably won't be too high or too low. This way, neither of you stands to lose everything in a volatile market. Though stock futures do specify a future date on which to buy a stock, futures contracts are not usually held to the expiration date, but bought and sold on a futures market based upon their relative values.

Anyone who desires to make money with stock futures contracts requirements to have the analysis skills of a monetary genius or operate a future trading system. Actually , even the geniuses operate future trading system. Investors who use future trading systems out net those who do not. a number of traders using these programs systematically over the long term make nearly 20% more on average than those who do not.

Future trading systems let investors to exercise futures trading with no committing any cash. This way, the investor are able to sharpen his or her skills by practicing with a lot of different market circumstances. Learning to do true time futures trading without using actual money is a good way for investors to study to trade based on aim conditions rather than emotions. Trading in stock futures based on emotion is a sure way to go broke .

But future trading systems are able to also be used to automate futures orders based on sure circumstances. It reduces the probability of human mistake and helps take the emotions out of the dealings.

In the United States, futures trades are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, which is an independent agency of the U.S. government. The CFTC has the authority to issue fines and other punishments to companies or individuals who break futures trading rules. Every Friday, the CFTC issues a report on the open interest of futures market participants. This is simply a measure of the total number of derivative contracts active on a particular futures sector. It is a way of charting the flow of money into and out of the futures markets.

This Commitments of Traders Report, or COTR, is used by speculators to help them make decisions on taking a short or long position. Two different theories of how to go about this are : to take whatever position is the opposite of the non-reported position; and taking the same position as commercial traders is the wise thing to do.

It positively isn't a lack of information that makes futures trading not easy and risky. Future trading systems may be used to sift through the mountain of info in order to create better options trading decisions. - 23208

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Anne Vardell's canadian online trading guide. Providing the best, up-to-date information on the best in day trading stock online tips!