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If you like working with other people’s money, then maybe day trading for a living is what you should be doing. This type of trading works daytime hours only, from the moment the stock market opens at 9am until it closes at 4pm in the afternoon, you can do a lot of trading in that amount of time. Or maybe you want to do day trading for livings with your own money, that way if you loose it, then you have no one to blame but yourself. However, it may be a good way to watch your money grow too. The following is the basic definition of what day trading is all about. Maybe it is your cup of tea, maybe not, only you can decide.

What is Day Trading?

Day trading for a living is when you take a position in the markets with a view of squaring that position before the end of that day. Day trading for a living mean a trader usually trades many times a day looking for fractions of a point to a few points per trade, however, by the end of the day he or she will close out all their positions. The goal of the day is to capitalize on price movement within one trading day. Unlike investors, the day trader will hold positions for only a few seconds or minutes, and never overnight.

What day trading really means.

The meaning of day trading is actually a misunderstood term. True day trading means not holding on to your stock positions beyond the current trading day, meaning your not suppose to hold on to your stock overnight. Trading this way is really the safest way to do day trading, this way one is not exposed to the potential losses that can happen if the stock marked is closed due to news that can affect the prices of your stocks. There are many people out there today who are not very good “day traders,” they are actually more like con artists just out to take your money. Because of greed, they will hold your stock overnight, setting themselves up for the catastrophic elimination of their capital. In day trading currency, the term “day trading” changes slightly. Because currencies can be traded 24-hours a day, there can’t’ really be any overnight trading. You can have open positions for longer than a day with active stop losses than can be activated at any time.

There are a few different types of day traders out there today, it can actually be subdivided into a number of styles.

Scalpers- This type of day trading involves the rapid and repeated buying and selling of a large amount of stocks within minutes or seconds. The goal here is to earn a small per share profit on each transaction while minimizing the risk.

Momentum Traders- This style of day trading involves identifying and trading stocks that are in a moving pattern during the day, in an attempt to buy such stocks at bottoms and sell at tops.

The advantages of day trading for a living is there are no overnight risks. Because positions are closed prior to the end of the trading day, news and events that affect the next trading day’s opening prices do not affect your client’s portfolio. Day trading for a living has a greater leverage on your client’s capital because of the low margin requirements as their trades are closed in the same market day. This increased leverage can increase your client’s profits if used wisely.

Leeanna is an expert author writing for Day Trading For A Living

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Profitable day traders and investors recognize that knowing how
to pick and trade stocks with momentum is among the fastest and
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encounter the best opportunities.

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It has been over four years since Arthur Anderson was indicted for destroying Enron-related documents in order to deter investigators. Anderson’s indictment on March 14th, 2003 set off a string of events that would forever change the face of corporate America. Once Anderson was convicted on June 15th, 2002, the indictments and convictions in the Enron case quickly grew. Between October 2002 and April 2003, seven individuals were indicted for various crimes relating to the Enron scandal, including Andrew Fastow, Ben Glisan and Dan Boyle. On January 14th, 2004, Andrew Fastow plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy in exchange for no more than ten years in prison. On July 9th, Kenneth Lay surrendered to the FBI and was indicted on accusations of being a participant in a conspiracy to manipulate Enron’s quarterly financial results, making public statements about the company’s financial performance that were false and misleading and omitting facts that were necessary to make financial statements fair and accurate. Although Lay surrendered to the FBI, he maintained his innocence on all counts.

On October 19th, a federal judge granted Lay a separate trial from Skilling and Causey on the charges of bank fraud and deceiving banks about using loans to buy Enron stock on margin. However, the judge ruled that the they would be tried together on the other charges. Before the trio could be tried together, Richard Causey plead guilty to securities fraud three days after Christmas in 2005. Causey entered a plea deal which called for a reduced prison sentence of five years in exchange for full government cooperation and forfeiture of over million dollars. If Causey had not entered the plea bargain, he could have faced ten years in prison.

The much awaited trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffery Skilling began on January 30th, 2006 in Houston, Texas. During the trial, the defense argued that there was never any wrong committed, but that the collapse of Enron was caused by a failure of market confidence. The defense also stated that thirteen of the sixteen Enron executive who pleaded guilty to crimes were actually innocent, but confessed because of the pressure exerted by federal prosecutors. On the other side of the spectrum, the prosecution argued that Enron’s leaders lied to investors and Wall Street about the true state of their financial affairs. During the course of the trial, eight former Enron executives testified against the Lay and Skilling, including the prosecution’s star witness Andrew Fastow. After almost a four month trial, the jury reached a verdict on May 25, 2006.

The jury found Jeffery Skilling guilty on nineteen of the twenty-eight counts of securities fraud and wire fraud, while acquitting him of an additional nine counts. Kenneth Lay was found guilty on all six counts of securities and wire fraud. Lay was also found guilty on four counts of fraud and false statements in a separate bench trial which began on May 18th. Skilling and Lay will be sentenced during the week of September 11th, 2006. Skilling faces up to one hundred and eighty-five years in prison, while Lay faces a total prison sentence of forty-five years.

More articles like these can be found at http://www.gotalkmoney.com

Discuss money, bank deals, and more at http://www.gotalkmoney.com

* This article is divided into three sections. The first section
is for beginners. The second section is for advanced traders.
The third section is for everyone.

Section #1. For beginners . . .

On this article I will briefly describe what the Forex Market is
for those who don’t know about this subject. Also I will
describe other trading opportunities that exist today on the
Internet. I think that trading is one of those dream businesses
that many people rush into, but to start trading online without
the required knowledge could be a big mistake.

What’s appealing about this business opportunity is the
financial freedom it can bring to your life. Successful traders
make lots of money working from home with their computers. Keep
in mind that on this business . . .

1) You don’t have to create any product.

2) You don’t have to advertise anything.

3) Basically you just invest some money and multiply it more and
more.

There are different trading opportunities on the Internet
nowadays. I think that the hottest of them right now is The
Forex Market. I will explain you why.

Currencies from many different countries were backed up by gold
about one hundred years ago. It was called The Gold Standard.
This basically meant that to print certain amount of paper money
a predetermined amount of gold was needed. Also you could walk
into the bank and request that your currency bills would be
converted to gold. Then you could leave the bank with the gold.

This was a treaty between many countries and it lasted a few
decades. Suddenly something happened that changed everything.
Due to economic circumstances The Gold Standard was changed into
a more flexible economic system.

Now, most countries were not required to back up their
currencies with gold anymore, as long as they backed up their
currencies with US dollars, everything was OK. Eventually this
didn’t work well either. So, at the beginning of the 70’s decade
this rule was totally abandoned and currencies started to float
freely on the market.

This means that since that era until present time world
currencies are not backed up by gold anymore, nor are they
backed by any other particular type of money either. There are
exceptions though. For example, some currencies of European
countries are pegged to the Euro. Their exchange rate is fixed.

The same happens with the US dollar in relationship with other
no so popular currencies. That’s another story that I won’t
explain right now. The point is that most currencies change in
value freely on the Forex Market today. Forex is an acronym for
Foreign Exchange Market.

For a long time this market was reserved only for ‘BIG
BROTHERS’. In order for you to access this market you needed
astronomical amounts of investment capital.

Everything changed with the computer age. As I have always said,
everything is easier on the Internet. So, new online brokers
emerged that allowed ‘the little guys’ play this game. Now
you can open an account with as little as $300 when you needed
millions just to think about starting on this business a few
years ago.

The good thing about this market is the huge leverage you get.
The brokers usually lend you up to 100 times as much as you have
for trading. What does this mean? For example, if you open an
account with 1,000 US dollars, you can control, as much as
100,000 units of the foreign currency.

Let’s say that the EUR/USD pair is trading at 1.2000. In that
case with 1,000 US dollars you can purchase approximately 80,000
Euros. The broker lends you the money to do it!

Anyway this is a very interesting topic but it is also wide. I
can’t give you all the details in here. So, I will proceed to
share some advanced ideas for advanced traders and then I will
tell you about other trading opportunities on the Internet.

Section #2. For advance traders . . .

Many traders are looking for the perfect trading system. They
want to find the Holy Grail of Trading, which is an entry
strategy that allows them to win, win, win and never lose. Even
advanced traders fail because of this. They can’t realize where
the money is made.

Online trading can be regarding and profitable but you have to
take it seriously. One of the biggest trading secrets of all is
that you should use proper money management techniques as well
as trading sizing strategies. That’s how the BIG DOGS make the
money.

Small traders know that they can’t be always right. There is not
such a thing as the perfect win, win, win and never lose
strategy. If something like that exists then very few people
know about it. Still, how do you think that many traders can be
profitable month after month, year after year? How can they be
consistently profitable?

I already gave you the answer above. The secret is on your money
management techniques and your trading sizing strategies. Also,
it is important to find a good entry and exit trading system.

If you combine these three aspects of trading above, you are
almost guaranteed to succeed at it. This is easy once someone
teaches you how to do it. Moreover, if you like this business
you will have plenty of time to practice your strategies before
you start trading with real money. In my book Easy Web Riches
you can find valuable information about this subject.

Section #3. For everyone . . .

What else can you do to make money on the Internet without
creating anything and without selling other people’s stuff? You
will find many other trading opportunities out there. For
example, there are advance techniques to trade on the Stock
Market that most people don’t know. These are strategies that
allow you to trade like a real professional.

Also there are other markets where you can make a lot of money.
Many people don’t know about The Futures Market. They have never
even heard about it. I find that some traders are also
interested in the options markets. You see, it is a matter of
choosing what is right for you.

The Futures Markets is a market where farmers, big corporations,
financial institutions and small traders, trade contracts on
commodities, which will be executed at some time in the future.
This market has existed for hundreds of years but today people
trade commodities on the Internet like stocks and currencies.

Options are derivative financial contracts. They derive their
value from the underlying securities, commodities, Futures
contracts, etc. Options can explosively multiply your buying
power, but they are dangerous too. They are always recommended
for advanced traders only, not for the novice.

As you can see, there are different trading opportunities for
you on the Internet. In fact there are others that I have not
mentioned here. There is money to be made on these markets.

Once you learn the details, profiting from this business becomes
quick and easy. Remember that this is a business in which you
don’t have to create anything nor sell anything either. All you
do is to invest your money and multiply it.

Copyright © 2005 - EasyWebRiches.com

Fact: The price of crude oil has risen over 100% in the last four years, and recently has traded near the $70 mark.

With all the turbulence in the oil markets following Hurricane Katrina and the more recent political problems with Nigeria and Iran, many investors are wondering whether they should put some money into oil. Of those investors, many decide after doing some research that the answer is a resounding yes. But that is about as far as they get.

The number of ways to invest in oil is staggering, reflecting petroleum’s deep integration with many facets of our economy: industry, transport, power generation, food production. Let’s take a look at a few of the more common ways investors can get started in oil.

Managed Funds For Oil?

One of the simplest ways to entangle your money with oil is to select a mutual fund that specializes in it. Areas of specialty differ, from the relatively high-risk funds that invest in exploration for new oil deposits to the relatively conservative funds that deal directly in oil company stocks.

The real advantage of this method is that you can get detailed information before throwing your money in, by contacting the fund you are interested in and requesting a prospectus. Inside you will find analysis of the fund performance in relation to benchmark funds, and general information about the fund’s philosophy and investing style.

What About Individual Stocks?

The number of major oil companies has been dwindling as diminishing oil reserves are bought out by the remaining giants. If you have any doubts as to whether oil production is in decline, consider British Petroleum - which no longer exists. They changed their corporate name to Beyond Petroleum. Clearly, they see an end to the current energy market somewhere in the future.

So, if there are going to be shake-ups in the oil market you should avoid putting your money in right? Not at all. In fact, as a result of Hurricane Katrina most oil companies pulled in record profits. The demand for oil isn’t going anywhere, and if production declines the oil companies can simply charge more for their oil. Higher prices mean higher mark-ups, which means higher profits. In 2004, despite declining reserves, Exxon posted their highest profit ever. A carefully researched portfolio of major oil company stocks may be a hot bet if you’re not into mutual funds.

Commodities, Commodities, Commodities:

A few general words about commodities. Perhaps the most risky, and conversely the most potentially profitable oil investment, is oil futures trading. A futures contract is an agreement to buy so many barrels of oil, at a set price, on a set date. If you know the price of oil is going to be way up a year from now, but you can lock in today’s prices with a future contract - well, you see how it could work.

The major obstacle to futures trading is up-front cash. Unlike stocks, where you can open and fund an account online these days with as little as $500-$1000, most commodity brokers are going to want a significant deposit of $5000 or higher. But if you have courage, money, and a keen trading sense futures are definitely an option.

While no investment should be made without extensive research, betting that the black gold is going to get more golden is an idea with strong fundamentals backing it.

Daniel Detlaf is a lifelong student, concerned citizen, and one-time day trader with oil on the brain. For more of Mr. Detlaf’s thinking visit:
http://www.pastthepeak.com

When I was in grade three I had this odious teacher that hated kids who squealed on other kids, regardless of the issue. It didn’t matter if you complained about someone stealing an eraser, cheating on a test, taking your lunch money, or socking you in the mouth…she didn’t want to have to deal with it. To her, integrity was found in silence.

If you were affronted by a fellow student and happened to mention it to her, she would respond by a) disregarding you, and b) pinning a long donkey’s tail fashioned out of construction on your behind with the words “tattle tail” emblazoned on it.(you had to wear it for the remainder of the day). I tried to make it look fashionable

Personally, I’d like to think that the lessons we learned in elementary school help us out later on in life. If so, I’m certainly glad that Sherron S. Watkins wasn’t in my class. As you may, or may not know, Sherron S. Watkins was the Vice President of Corporate Development at Enron who told then CEO Ken Lay in a now-famous August 2001 memo that financial fraud could destroy the energy trading firm. She said his response was to launch a “bogus” probe and try to have her fired.

It was less than four months before Enron collapsed into bankruptcy at a cost of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of stock-market wealth.

Enron’s downfall sparked a federal investigation that resulted in the multiple fraud and conspiracy charges for which Lay, 63, and Skilling, 52, are now on trial. The two face decades in prison if convicted.

Did anything positive come out of the Enron debacle? I think we can finger two silvery-gray lined clouds. First, it’s all about integrity. Ordinary people matter. Determination matters. Honesty matters. Diligence matters. There is a place for Truth.

Secondly…the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Sarbane Oxley Act of 2002 is considered to be one of the most significant changes to federal securities law. It came in the wake of a series of corporate financial scandals, including those affecting Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom.

Among the major provisions of the act are: criminal and civil penalties for securities violations, auditor independence / certification of internal audit work by external auditors and increased disclosure regarding executive compensation, insider trading and financial statements.

In the world of publicly traded companies, there is a lot at stake. Not only are the companies responsible for their staff, clients, partners, and customers, they’re also responsible to the every-day, well intentioned, share holder who has chosen, rightly or wrongly, to believe that what the company says is true…is actually True.

We need to be able to trust the people in charge. Whenever a company does something noteworthy, the CEO is often the first one to step into the limelight and take the credit along with a big fat bonus. (Lay raked in $150 million in income, bonuses and stock packages. He still sleeps soundly every night in one of his several mansions.) But, when things are bleak, some CEO’s seem to disappear into a world of meetings.

Integrity, honor and truthfulness aren’t just virtues meant for the third grade. They’re qualities for life…and what a better place the stock market (and society at large) would be if everyone lived these virtues more often.

While the stock market is still full of inherent risks…it may be just a little safer than it use to be. So hats off to Whistle Blowers like Sherron S. Watkins…and leave the donkey tails at home.

A seasoned investor with a keen interest in international business and current affairs, Whitefoot has been working closely alongside investor Peter Leeds for years who is an expert in penny stocks. With over ten years experience in the investing community, Whitefoot is devoted to uncovering the news, trends and ideas that shape the speculative markets on a daily basis.

STAGE ONE – IRRESPONSIBILITY - Pipe dreaming – You don’t have a clue about financial independence.

• It’s not fair

• It’s too much work

• Someone will take care of me.

• I’ll buy a lottery ticket

• Yes, but…

STAGE TWO – RESIGNATION – You are powerless and Financial Independence is a foreign concept.

• FI is not possible

• How can I possibly do this?

• I’ll never have enough.

• I’m doing my best (sigh)

• Nobody I know is making it.

STAGE THREE – WILLINGNESS – You shift and start to make noticeable changes

• Maybe I can get ahead.

• I understand I have to change and commit to a plan of action

• I now tell the complete truth about my finances.

• I know how much I owe, own and what my expenses are.

STAGE FOUR – ABLENESS – You prove that you can get on the FI Track

• I invest in my ability to make money

• I have taken care of things that limit my ability to make money.

• I am worth being FI

• I’ve stopped wasting/spending money on things I don’t really want or need.

STAGE FIVE – ON THE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE TRACK – It’s measurable and sustainable; a track record.

• I have $25,000 in the bank I don’t need

• I am regularly saving/investing between 15-30% of my net income.

• I enjoy how I make money

• If I make no more changes (and assuming no financial or market crisis) I’ll be financially independent within 10 years.

STAGE SIX – FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE – Yea!

• I work only because I want to.

• I have more than enough money to live on from passive sources.

COMMIT IN WRITING = RESULTS

So, my friend, where are you on the Financial Independence Stage? Please immediately circle where you are NOW. Be completely honest. This is about moving from where you are to where you really want to be.

Now, take a look and project where you would like to be in a year. Yes, this is going to take some work. But it is well worth it.

NOW make a commitment. Sign and date the information below as your commitment to yourself. Remind yourself that WRITTEN GOALS HAVE GREAT POWER!! If you don’t write it down, YOU WON’T ACCOMPLISH THIS. So, write it down now!

I ________________________________ am presently on STAGE _____.

I COMMIT myself to moving forward on Financial Independence this

Year and expect to be at or above STAGE ________________________.

By (Date one year from today) __________________________________.

If you were extremely resistant to this, don’t give up. It simply means; you resist “authority” or people telling you what to do, you are afraid of commitment, you have some level of fear around actually being able to accomplish your goals. Don’t let any of this stop you. Commit now.

Dr. Iris Fanning is a Nationally recognized Success Coach. Dr. Fanning is a graduate of Coach University, holds an Honorary Doctorate in Divinity, a M.A. degree in Psychology, Counseling & Guidance and a B.S. degree in Psychology. Additionally Iris is the self published author of “Change Your Life Right Now” c 2006 and “Do What You Love & Get Rich” c 2006. Dr. Fanning is also an in demand public speaker. Individual and group coaching is also available. Contact: coachiris@hotmail.com Please place Coaching in the subject line.

Dr. Iris Fanning - EzineArticles Expert Author

If you have been looking into trading systems, then you realized
that most published results are marked as hypothetical. This
fact might have made you a bit skeptical. Does it mean that the
system won’t work in real time?

The answer is no. Published results should always be marked as
hypothetical, even if they have been achieved in “real” trading.
Here’s why:

- It is impossible to predict the slippage when using stop or
market orders. Two traders, let’s say YOU and John, place an
order at the same time, and John might experience 1 tick
slippage, while you are filled right on your specified entry
price.

- You don’t know whether a limit order will be filled or not. If
your trading system requires the use of limit orders, you might
experience the following situation: Your order is filled, John’s
isn’t, and the market retraces. While you took some profits
using a limit order, John is still in the trade and sees his
profits shrinking, and in the worst case turning into a loss.

- Another factor is the account size: If John is trading a
rather small account, then his broker might liquidate his
position because he experiences an intra-day drawdown that
issues a margin call. Many electronic platforms are set up in
such a way that they immediately liquidate a position, even if
the market turns around and he would end the trade with a
profit. John then experiences a loss, while you might realize
profits on the same trade.

- What about the ability to withstand losses and your discipline
to follow the trading strategy no matter what? Let’s say that
after a couple of losses John decides not to follow the system
any longer, and that’s exactly when the system produces some
winners. You strictly followed the system and realized these
profits, while John is missing them.

- Published results are always PAST results. If more traders
would have been trading the system, the prices might have
behaved differently. There could be a difference in price
movement when 100 traders try to enter the market at a certain
price point instead of only 1 trader. And what if 1000 traders
placed a 2-lot order at a certain entry signal?

All these factors cannot be fully accounted for when publishing
the results. That’s why every serious vendor should mark his
results as being hypothetical.

Back to your question: “Does this mean that the system won’t
work in real time?”

No. It just means that you should be aware of the limitations of
past performance results.

No serious vendor can guarantee that a trading system will make
profits in the future, but professional development and thorough
testing of a system increase your chances of making money
dramatically. .

The fight continues to rage among traders who
use technical indicators and those who prefer
fundamental information to establish new
positions and to exit current positions.

The fundamentalist believe in knowing all the
facts about a company such as price earnings
ratios, sales growth, product margins,
management capabilities, cost of production,
cash flow, etc., etc. while the technicians
could care less about the latter and want to see
sector price trends and rank, the Relative
Strength Index, MACD (moving average convergence
divergence), stochastics, trend lines, chart
patterns and many more esoterically evolved
indicators.

Which method is the best?

There is no Holy Grail of trading and what
critics of either method forget that it is the
trader who adds the final nuance that results in
profit or loss. The more years a professional
investor has been working his plan the more
successful he usually becomes. The unsuccessful
ones have long since gone broke and are no
longer in the game.

It is somewhat difficult for me to give great
credence to fundamentalists as I am a technician
and have a very long profitable track record to
prove it; however, I do sometimes look at some
of fundamentals. It seems that the longer term
trader can do well with a fundamental approach
because the timing to buy or sell has a lag
time. He does not buy the bottom nor sell the
top, but who does?

The technical trader will ignore the
informational approach with the use of charts
and other indicators. Short term traders must be
technicians, especially day traders, as there
are no fundamentals upon which they can assess
their buys and sells.

Technical trading is based on the psychology
of the mass of traders that ride upon the hidden
values of the changing fundamentals. Charts and
other indicators tell the of the long term
health of a company, country or commodity as it
is shown in the price action. The fundamentalist
looks for the reason for a change to buy or sell
whereas the technician tries to find the change
in the price action to initiate buys and sells.

No matter what a fundamental trader’s position
he must be very patient. He may have a position
on for years. During that same period there will
be waves of highs and lows during which he
remains constant in his position. The technician
may trade the same equity several times buying
the low of the wave and selling the high
(hopefully). In commodities it is astute
trading, but when it is done in stocks and funds
it is called timing.

A combination of technical and fundamental
methods can give the best results. For the
average guy occasional trader I can only caution
him to be very careful. Very few intermittent
traders ever make money.

A successful trading approach requires
commitment. It is a business the same as owning
a shoe store or trucking company. You must give
it your all.

Like any business you have to work at it.

Al Thomas - EzineArticles Expert Author

Al Thomas’ book, “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy
It!” has helped thousands of people make money
and keep their profits with his simple 2-step
method. Read the first chapter at
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com
and discover why he’s the man that Wall Street
does not want you to know.

Copyright 2005

The stock market is a market of stocks, and breadth is a key indicator of the market’s health. When few stocks advance, while most stocks decline, then breadth is negative. The breadth of the market has been deteriorating recently, while most of the averages have strengthened. A deterioration in market breadth typically indicates the market will decline soon. Intermediate-term technical data (e.g. the VIX 200-day MA, NYSE Oscillator’s 50-day MA, SPX to VIX ratio, etc.) indicate SPX will fall below 1,250 at some point within the next month or two. Major resistance levels are 1,310 (daily, weekly, and monthly upper Bollinger Bands) and 1,316 (five-year high). First major support is the low 1,280s (rising 50-day MA, where SPX bounced on the early Jan pullback). However, an “irrational” market episode should be taken into account, where SPX may rise to around 1,350 before falling sharply.

The two charts below are same period daily charts of SPX and SMH. The charts show while SPX rose last week, somewhat similar to the early Jan rally, SMH fell. Semiconductor stocks have some fundamental problems (e.g. stronger competition and lower prices). However, if production and consumption were expected to remain strong, semiconductor stocks would rise. Also, HHH fell from 70 in early Jan to 56 Fri. So, internet stocks underperformed even more than semiconductors. Last week, the SPX chart shows, volume accelerated to high levels, while SPX rose sharply, which indicate that a short-squeeze took place. If enough short positions were covered last week, then profit taking may take place soon.

U.S. consumers have been living well beyond their means, over the past few years, through the Wealth Effects of financial markets (including the housing, stock, and bond markets). These Wealth Effects are financed by foreign capital inflows from the massive U.S. current account deficits, which reached $805 billion in 2005. When there’s an economic contraction, consumers attempt to at least maintain the same living standards they had in the economic expansion. Normally, consumers will use savings and then borrow for autonomous consumption. However, currently, the saving rate is low and debt levels are high for U.S. households.

So, U.S. consumers are not well prepared for an economic slowdown. U.S. consumption may stall, which will cause the U.S. current account deficit to shrink and foreign capital inflows to fall. Consequently, the Wealth Effects may disappear and U.S. households may not be able to pay their high debts, and saving may not rise. It’s uncertain when and how this adjustment process will take place. However, it could start anytime. Currently, SPX is in the second longest period in history without a 9% or more pullback. SPX hasn’t had a correction in over three years. The longest period was 3 1/2 years that ended in Feb 1994. The third longest period was 2 3/4 years that ended in early 1953.

Charts available at PeakTrader.com Forum Index Market Forecast section.

Arthur Albert Eckart is the founder and owner of PeakTrader. Arthur has worked for commercial banks, e.g. Wells Fargo, Banc One, and First Commerce Technologies, during the 1980s and 1990s. He has also worked for Janus Funds from 1999-00. Arthur Eckart has a BA & MA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He has worked on options portfolio optimization since 1998.

Mr Eckart has developed a comprehensive trading methodology using economics, portfolio optimization, and technical analysis to maximize return and minimize risk at the same time and over time. This methodology has resulted in excellent returns with low risk over the past four years.

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