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Forex brokers are more of a marketing machine than market makers. Forex brokers need a constant stream of new clients to keep making money since most of the new traders dont survive longer than a few months.

For enticing new clients, vast sums of money are spent on advertising by forex brokers. You can check this fact by going on Google and typing any forex related keyword. Almost all the ads will be by forex brokers. Each click costs them around $1.

One way is to announce forex trading contests that reward the winners with $2000, $1000 and $500 cash prizes. Who is the actual winner in these contests? Your forex broker!

This is like a lottery, only three win. The more you trade in order to win the contest, the more money your broker makes.

There is no check on the forex brokers. They can quote any rate to you. Forex brokers do this by adding 2 3 or even more pips to the interbank market pip spread

These 3 or 4 pips are the risk free profits that the brokers make for each round trip trade. You see why forex brokers are giving you free platforms and trading signals, only to make you start trading as soon as possible. Your broker will make more risk free money, the more you trade!

There is a practice used by forex brokers called Price Shading. For example, if the broker is convinced that Euro is on an uptrend and its price is going to rise, the broker will shade his price quote slightly higher to take advantage of the likely increase in Euro price.

One of the classic tricks used by many brokers is to trip stop losses with a single momentary blip. Brokers have all the information about stop losses placed by their clients. So, if he finds many stop losses at a certain level, there will be a momentary spike in the price feed that will trip most of the stop losses.

You cant do anything. It was a momentary spike, so small that it only tripped the stop losses.

Since, there is no central exchange to compare moment by moment prices, your broker can offer any excuse like there was sudden large order in the market or the broker feed is much faster and reflects true interbank rates.

Forex trading is an altogether a totally different beast as compared to stock trading. One of the major differences between the forex and stock markets is that forex markets are open 24 hour, 5 days a week while stock markets have fixed timings. For example New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 Pm. You can only trade stocks at NYSE during this time.

Continuous 24 hour action at the forex markets baffles many new traders. Forex markets have no central exchange. It is an Over the Counter (OTC) market that is spread over various locations in the world.

For a new forex trader, it becomes very difficult to understand when to trade and when not to trade as there is no formal open and close of the market. Many exhaust themselves by sitting in front of their computers all day. Fatigue them and make wrong decisions. An easy way is to divide the day between three 8 hour sessions.

Further divide each 8 hour session into two 4 hour sessions using a 4 hour chart. This division of 24 hours is logical as there are only three major money centers in the world that have the capacity to move the forex markets.

The three major money centers that affect the forex markets everyday are namely: Asia, London and New York. We will call our three trading sessions, the Asian, the London and the New York Session.

Asian Session: Most of the turnover in this market session is handled by Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Main players are the commercial exporters and the respective central banks. Since most of these central banks are in competition with one other, the price action during this session is jumpy and unsustainable.

London Session: London is still the forex capital of the world with deep and highly liquid forex market. Paris, Geneva and Frankfurt also are players in this session. The moves that originate in this session are very important keeping in view the amount of money needed to move a market this deep. These moves give you a lot of information about the market sentiments and positions.

New York Market Session: New York is second to London. Both New York and London overlap in the morning when New York is opening and London is closing. This is the best time of the day for savvy traders to trade as there is a lot of price action during this time.

The following table gives important times of the day that any forex trader needs to know: 00:00 GMT-Sydney Opens. 11:00 GMT-London opens. 15:00 GMT- London becomes very active. 17:00 GMT- London is active and New York opens. 18:00 GMT- London and Europe closes. 19:00 GMT- New York and Chicago getting ready for a close!

This overlapping between London and New York is when major price action takes place and new trends are formed or old trends are reversed. London is the market trend setter in fashion as well as forex.

If you have already heard the term reverse mortgage, it still sounds a little odd. If this is the first time you are hearing the term, it will probably sound like some kind of shady deal. Reverse mortgages are becoming more popular these days, but are they scams or are they legitimate?Is it really possible to sell your house back to the bank and still retain the deed to it? Will the bank really pay YOU the mortgage payments? Let’s review what a reverse mortgage is so these questions can be answered.

The name is somewhat misleading. A reverse mortgage is a loan that is structured like a mortgage, with YOU as the lender and the BANK as the buyer. In the U.S., homeowners wanting to initiate a reverse mortgage must be at least 62 years old, and own all or most of their home. These backwards mortgages are usually performed through a bank or broker. The homeowner essentially sells his or her house to the bank, in return for receiving periodic mortgage payments. Sometimes the payments can be structured as a lump sum, line of credit, or a combination of the three methods.

So what are the benefits to a reverse mortgage? First it provides a constant and dependable stream of retirement income. Many retirement plans such as 401(K) or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) generally increase in value, but are still tied to stock market interest rates. The amount of money they provide during retirement can vary. Social Security, Medicare, and other U.S. government programs have endangered funding, so they may not be reliable sources of income. A reverse mortgage can supplement a senior citizen’s income. The amount depends on the homeowner’s age, equity of the house, interest rate on the loan, closing fees, and a few other factors.

A common misconception about the reverse mortgage is that the bank eventually owns your house. This is not true! The deed remains in your name throughout the entire term of the process. Note that there is interest on the loan payments, but it is deferred until the loan is repaid.

The homeowner can remain living in the house during the entire term of the reverse mortgage. The loan becomes due when the homeowner moves out, or becomes deceased. At those times, the survivors/heirs can repay the loan themselves if they want to keep the house. They can also sell the home and repay the loan plus the interest in full. The money paid to the homeowner as mortgage payments must be repaid to the lender when the loan becomes due.

These odd mortgages can provide much needed financial support during retirement. It is a time when medical costs are likely to increase, so an additional source of income can really help. Use a reverse mortgage to help yourself or your aging relatives to gain the financial security in retirement that they worked so hard to achieve.

Buying Realtor In order to get the best deals on the market, you need to have a realtor who is plugged into the foreclosure market. Often, these realtors work directly for one or several banks in the area that are trying to get rid of distressed homes. These realtors can give you advice on the market, advice on how to bid for a property, and they often have connections with a mortgage banker who can get you financed in today’s market. How do you find this realtor? Ask around.

Mortgage Professional Find a mortgage broker who will work with you. A young broker is likely to be able to spend more time with you, one with experience will likely ad wisdom to the team. It is important they have the skill and desire to get you the lowest rates, and to close quickly.

Selling Realtor If you get the right buying realtor, they won’t have time to sell your home. They are too busy with their bank contracts. You need a selling agent that is well versed in your city, or even in your neighborhood. The key is to find an agent who is honest with you to price your home correctly to ensure a sale. Time is money when you are flipping a house. Price it wrong and you could carry a property months longer than you should. Mortgage, taxes and utility payments can easily run into the thousands of dollars and cost you time gong towards your next project.

Home Inspector If you don’t get this right it can cost a lot. Imagine buying a house without running radon tests or asbestos tests, only to find out months and tens of thousands of dollars later that you can’t sell because the beautifully remodeled home is contaminated. he key to choosing a home inspector is to make sure they hold certifications and can check your investment for mold, radon, lead paint, and asbestos. Also, if you pay attention to the home inspector reports, you will learn what to look for when you first visit a house.

Contractor As the investor, a lot of what you need to know to buy wisely is learned by working with your contractor. The contractor controls the pace of work. The contractor also spends your money for you. They help you to develop and adhere to a budget. Some people walk into an investment property, see holes in the walls and ceilings, and get scared off. I walk in, see those same holes, and know that for $400-$1,000 there are no more holes in the walls, the plumbing is repaired and I can move onto another phase of my renovation.

Suppliers Don’t buy retail you can save twenty to forty percent buying from a building supplier instead of Home Depot. Plus they usually deliver for free. Look them up in the phone book under “Building Suplies” To get an account, you need a company name, a credit card and a bank account, that’s it. Don’t buy retail!

Accountant Find one early, interview them and get their advice months ahead of time. This will make the tax season a whole lot easier and less stressful. This is not where you want to save money with turbo tax. Make sure they are familiar with real estate investing. Also don’t wait till after the first of the year. sometimes you can make changes in Nov and Dec that will salve you thousands. Make sure they have degree in accounting, they don’t actually have to be a CPA.

Attorney They can help you decide whether you should incorporate, form an LLC or go it alone as a sole proprietor. A real estate attorney can save you money on title work, can draw up rental/ lease agreements and can advise you on tax strategy when buying and selling your real estate. If you buy a commercial building a real estate attorney is a must.

Insurance Agent You need an agent you trust. Ask the tough questions so that your exposure will be at a minimum. Are you covered in case of loss from fire, flood, theft, or injured workers/ tenants. If your policy leaves you exposed in any one of these major areas, your work could all be done for nothing.

Friends & Family Two of my favorite words. They will give you advice which is often good. If you feed them well, provide a frosty beverage or two, and don’t overwork them, the friends and family work crew will have fun, make your job more fun and most importantly work for free. Jobs like light demolition, painting, cleanup and many yard projects can be handled by anyone who owns a home.