After months of debates and meetings to consider raising the debt ceiling, politicians (both Republicans and Democrats) waited until the last day to actually write the bill and vote on it. Even after all the compromising and dealing that went on, the bill is nothing more than allowing the federal government to spend more money than it has in the past.
Standard and Poors released a report Friday night announcing the downgrade of the United States credit rating from “AAA” to AA+” with a negative outlook. What bothers me more is the “negative outlook” comment than the loss of triple “A” rating status. Never in the history of the united States has the credit rating of the country was anything but triple “A” but to say that you (S&P) expect more negative issues to occur later on down the road. This morning S&P downgraded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as urging Washington to get their act together now or another possible downgrade can happen within the next two years. Washington’s demonstration of lack of solid reform ideas and true leadership skills to do what is necessary, has shown the world not to have confidence in the United States

So where can you invest your capitol so you don’t take a beating any more than you already have during the past four years? That is up to you. I can only suggest investments strategies or ideas that I believe to be the right choice. I’ve talked about this day coming for about ten months and how I’ve protected myself against this economic correction. I know there are quite a few of you readers out there took some of my advice and you’re happy you did. Especially since I’ve been talking about owning gold, silver and other precious metals to hedge against the loss of value in the dollar as well as equities on Wall Street. Gold has hit it’s all time high of $1,728.37 while silver held within it’s usual price range of $38-$40. While precious metals have climbed a great deal over the last year, analysts feel that gold isn’t done making new highs. Some feel this is the time where silver is going to gain traction to fall more in line with gold prices. Traditionally silver-to-gold prices have been a 16-to-1 ratio. With that in mind, silver should be trading at $108 per ounce.

I don’t expect anything good for to really happen to take us out of this recession for at least a year. As it is, Congress is on their five week vacation and Obama is still blaming others while trying to say that tax reform and medicare reform are the answer to economic prosperity. Until the federal government gets out of the way and lets the free market to do what should have happened in 2007-2009, before the bank and auto bailouts, we will continue on this path of no growth.

So invest wisely and tread lightly.

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Today, Wednesday, gold continued it’s climb on making a new high. today’s gold price is $1663.09 I expect it to continue to gain momentum over the remaining part of 2011 and quite possibly all the way to the elections.

Throughout the rest of this week, economic reports will be released and I wouldn’t expect anything good out of any of them. Initial claims, non-farm payroll, unemployment rate and consumer credit are the last of the major ones to come out this week. With these reports coming out as well as the looming condition of the country’s rating, gold will continue to climb and make wise investors a ton of money. Friday’s U.S. GDP data showed the economy stumbled in the first half of 2011 and came close to contracting in the first quarter.

We are not even into the recovery stage of this recession no matter what any politicians tells us. Some investors worried about the risk of a recession that could prompt the Fed to use more stimulus, feeding inflation. As it is, the Federal Reserve is already talking about what they can do to help get the economy moving again. With that thought alone with the possibility of QE3 and keeping interest rates low, investors are moving into the commodity sector. Silver has gained 3% in the last few trading days as well as other precious metals. The commodity (mainly gold) has always been a safe-haven for investor who are concerned about economic havoc.

The DOW has lost a lot of it’s gains made this year. The DOW lost 266 points on Tuesday and only gained back 30 point today. So now is the time to stop thinking about investing in silver and gold start owning silver and gold today.

If you’re not sure where to start with your precious metal purchases, take a look at a company I’ve been using for some time. Click here for my review of Straight Silver.

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If you’re a beginner investing in the stock market and have very little knowledge of how it all works, I would say no. Investing in stocks isn’t like it was back in the day when you either bought shares and held them or when the economy was on a tear and stocks climbed a regular basis. With the current situation (2011) we have, there are too many factors involved to try to make the easy money. Even a solid company with good fundamentals will be dragged down by the rest of the market.

Let’s look at Apple Inc., (NASDAQ: APPL) who is one of the leaders in their industry. The stock price is being pulled down because of the economy. Yes people are buying Macs and I-phones as much as they were in the last two years, but investor’s are concerned about their investments. They’re not sure if in the next quarter or even this fiscal year, if Apple can beat the expectation of the analysts. Three weeks ago, Apple shares were at $353.00 and closed today at $325.16 with a day’s low of $318.33.

Investing as a beginner isn’t easy. It’s hard enough in a good stable market, but these days it’s not the situation. If you want to invest money to help prepare yourself for the future, look into commodities like gold and silver. The U.S. economy is struggling and the dollar is not strong. Many rating agencies like Moody’s are thinking about lowering the credit rating of the United States. Gold and silver have been climbing at a steady pace and I don’t see it coming down like we see in the equity market.

Tread lightly before diving into buying equities. If you waited this long to start investing, then my advice to you is to wait a little longer until all this shakes out. We (USA) need to see a real turn-a-round in employment. Congress has to rein in the spending that the current administration is on and the housing market is far from becoming stable and secure. So what’s the rush? Use this time to study the different trading styles. Learn how to read charts and trends better. This way when the time is right, you’ll have more knowledge to be a better investor.

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How Is Option Trading Different

Option trading, whether it be for Forex, gold, or stock, is all built around the same principle.  Instead of buying _____ today, a person can purchase a no obligation option to buy _______ at today’s price at some point in the future.  Forex option trading is options applied to Forex, and can be used most practically to fix an exchange rate for a future transaction.  For example, let’s consider the sale of some European property to an American.  The price will be set in Euros, and a wise American will buy a Forex option as soon as the price is set.  He now knows the maximum amount in USD he will have to pay, but may be able to save thousands of dollars if the exchange rate moves favorably.  Best of all, if he can get a better exchange rate, he is completely free to do so without concerning himself anymore with the option he purchased.

Investing with Options

Forex option trading can be a great help when it comes to diversifying your Forex investment or eliminating risk.  Any trader can use a Forex option to invest in a currency pair for a set fee (a fully known amount of risk), and choose to only follow through on the trade if it goes in his favor.  He could also use options to effectively invest the same money in several different trades.  He would just have to buy several options, choose to exercise and cash in on only the one that is most profitable by trading on his option, then immediately trading back at the better rate.  For example, if the USD to GBP rate seems somewhat high (say 2 USD per GBP), Trader Tom will buy an option to trade pounds for USD next week.  Next week the rate has dropped to 1.8 and Tom can exercise his option to trade 1,000 pounds for 2,000 dollars.  He will immediately trade his 2,000 dollars for pounds at the new exchange rate (1.8) and get back 1,111 pounds.  Thus he has made 111 pounds minus the cost of the option in the first place.  Which brings up the most important point in Forex option trading, the cost of options can diminish or completely negate your profits.  In order for the option to be truly profitable you must receive more from a trade than you spend for the option.

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Most businesses, small and large, have a 401k plan. If you are self employed, you can set up an individual 401k fund so that you too can save for retirement. It is a simple process to begin. You fill out a form and choose which funds to use for your investing. There are bookshelves devoted to helping you decide how to invest your money but what it all comes down to is time and risk. How much time you have left in your working life and how much risk you are willing to tolerate. The way the stock market works is that you invest in funds and over time, those funds grow. The funds grow because the price of the stocks goes up and at the same time, you are constantly adding to the fund with your contributions.

How quickly those funds grow and to what extent depends on your tolerance for risk. On the one hand, a volatile stock, like gold, could (in the short term) yield a return of ten fold. You invest a thousand dollars and in a short time, you have made ten thousand. But, timing when to sell that stock is the key — gold is notorious for ebbing, so you need to get out of the stock before it falls. Most people do not have the time or talent to play the market in this way. Better to invest in mutual funds, which by their very nature, are less risky because they are made up of many kinds of stocks.

When you leave one job for another, you do not want to lose your hard work. That is where the 401k rollover comes in. By a simple process, you can bring your 401k plan with you to the new job. Many companies offer the 401k to new employees after 90 days or, sometimes, 6 months. When the time comes, you simply fill out the form and send it to your old employer. It sometimes takes weeks or months for the rollover to execute. Generally the fund manager is only going to calculate matching funds twice a year and so the rollover 401k happens during that time. Luckily, during this lull time, your account is still growing; it is just not getting any fresh influx of money from you.

The key to good retirement planning is to have a good grasp of how much money you spend right now (so that you can wisely choose how much to contribute to the 401k plan) and how much you will need for retirement. Once you have these figures nailed down, the hard part is done. Then you let time and the market work their magic.

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What Is a Commodity Mutual Fund?

Commodities are generally things that would be classified as raw materials, natural resources or agricultural resources, such as crops, livestock, and minerals. The supply and demand of these commodities directly affect the value of the investment. It would be wise to study various commodities and their performance over time before choosing which ones you want to invest in. By their nature, commodities are more stable goods that have fewer fluctuations, and fluctuations do not always coincide with those of the overall market, so they perform better in the long run. A committed investor would invest in commodity mutual funds; a person looking to suddenly strike it rich would not be interested in them.

That being said, steady performance by a mutual fund is no guarantee that it will continue to perform strongly in the future. Any investment, be it a standard stock trade, Forex investment, or commodity mutual fund, does carry some element of risk. Commodity mutual funds can be quite volatile at times. However, a mutual fund is generally considered less risky than a traditional stock, but more risky than a bond.

How to Pick a Commodity Mutual Fund

The best way to make a decision regarding commodity mutual funds is to request a prospectus from each company that you are considering investing in. A prospectus will tell you all about the company, including their financial performance, and whether or not investments carry fees or other charges. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that mutual funds publish a new, updated prospectus annually in order to provide accurate information to investors. After reviewing a prospectus, you should discuss your options with a financial adviser or broker to be sure you’re choosing the investment that is right for you. You can also use the Internet to research various commodity mutual funds. Prices are listed as net asset values (NAVs).

Remember that while commodity mutual funds may sound like a good investment, you still should be diversifying your investment portfolio, not investing all of it in commodity mutual funds, or you will be defeating the purpose. Take your time before deciding, and remove emotions and judgment from the equation. For example, when deciding between gold and hogs, don’t pick gold because gold is shiny and pretty and hogs are “dirty” animals. You should only be basing your investment decisions on the performance of the commodity, not what it represents.

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Essentially, these are gold-based funds that allow you to get a little piece of the action of a number of gold mining firms that are operating successfully today.

But how do you invest in a gold ETF? First, you have to figure out which type of mining company you are more interested in going with.

Considering Market Vectors Gold Miner ETFs

For those investors who would like to take advantage of a gold ETF for the purpose of mirroring the gold market right now, the best choice is to go with a large ETF. The Market Vectors Gold Miner ETFs allow this, as you get a piece of the most successful and established mining companies today.

Some examples of companies that will be included in this kind of fund are Barrick Gold, Goldcorp, and Newmont Mining. The thing to know about these companies is that they have the largest market shares possible in the industry, so their stock success will usually rise and fall with the price of gold. The risk of external factors is lessened when you go this direction.

Risk vs. Reward for Market Junior Vectors

These funds have less market cap, but they offer a potentially higher return for those people who have some tolerance for risk.

The nice thing about all gold ETFs is that they are outpacing the value of gold at the current time. That means that over the short term, you can truly take advantage of the rising gold value better with ETFs than with any other type of gold investment.

With junior mining companies, you also open yourself up to good possibilities, like hitting it big with a fund that includes a company that is bought out. These offer a bit more risk, but the fund-based aspect makes them less risky than investing in individual gold stocks.

Overall, the market for gold ETF funds is very inviting. Figuring out your tolerance for risk is the first step, then you can invest in these funds through either an online broker or your standard financial planner. Of course, you can also find other ways to invest in gold, such as gold bars, gold coins, or even gold mining stocks.

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While you can buy gold in coin form, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. One of the reasons why is the demand, but with demand comes supply. Thanks to the demand being high for gold at the moment, the supply is low, and many gold coins are being sold to companies so that people can continue to pay their bills. These are then being used not to make more gold coins, but to make gold jewelry as well as be in the private vaults of these companies for trade.

Luckily, there are still gold coins on the market that can be bought. One of the best companies to buy from is the United States Mint. They produce many different types of coin, including gold American Eagle coins as well as gold commemorative coins.

You can ensure that these gold coins are in perfect mint condition and that they will be collectible in the future. The value of many of these coins is so high that individuals are flipping them after a few short years. Thanks to the high gold prices, and these troubling economic times, you may also be able to buy gold coins from the government!

There are many third party sellers that say that they are authorized by the mint. While this may or may not be true, it is oftentimes much easier to buy gold coins for your local retailer or from the mint directly. This way, you can ensure the product is of the highest quality and that you are getting the gold coins that you truly paid for.

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This first post will explain the 401k rules that you need to be aware of before borrowing from your account. There’s lots of good points to consider in this article and it’s one that everyone should read before taking such a drastic move.

Ty Coon talks about stock market investing system over at Stock Market Investing Today. In his post, he talks about determining overall market direction and how to start setting up screens to identify stocks for further review.

We all have to start somewhere and Stock Market for Beginners provides insight into the world of the stock market with easy language that a beginner can understand. This site has covered other investing topics like gold investing and forex so as to give a complete investing perspective to a beginner.

If you ever wanted to know more about investing, Saving Cash Tips has a post about how you can learn to invest, and why it’s important. Many folks who lost money in the market over the past couple of years really didn’t know how to invest, and just put money into an account where they expected it to go up forever until retirement. Learning more about investing is a smart idea to protect your financial future.”

If you have, or will soon be leaving your current employer and have invested in the companies 401k plan, you will certainly need to understand the 401k rollover process.

We all dream of early retirement but only some truely make it their reality. At Retire Early Guide you can find posts to help you pay off your mortgage faster, effectively save for retirement, put money away for your children’s eduction and more!

That concludes this edition of The Investing Carnival. We would love to host again in the future. Don’t forget to leave a comment when you visit the sites. Tell them we sent you!

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Bullion market trades the gold at the major stock exchanges of the world. Investment in commodity market will require the user to get a Demat account, which is used to trade commodities like gold and metals. The Demat account will be associated with your online bank account and the bank will charge certain brokerage amount on the transactions made through this account. Once you have the logon details, you can start trading in gold at the concerned stock exchange of your country.

Investing in gold will require you to study the market trends and the demand of gold in the near future. You can study online reviews, read online journals and also check out Jim Cramer‘s site to get an idea about the gold investment. Remember to invest at the lower levels and sell at the higher price to earn maximum profits. The share markets must be monitored while investing in gold because whenever the stock markets crash or go low, gold prices automatically increase and any fall in the share or equity markets can be the right moment to enter the gold investment. The timing is very important while investing in gold and the right entry and exit timings will determine the amount of profit you make in the commodity market. Gold investment can do wonders, provided the investor take calculated risk and manages his portfolio in an organized manner.

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